Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After flying around the Endless Mountain Range, they quickly discovered a place that was clearly different from the rest.
In the empty area where a large number of trees were cut down, a mortal city appeared.
As for how to differentiate between mortal cities and cultivator cities, it was too obvious.
The height of the city wall, the existence of runes covering the walls, any obvious spiritual qi fluctuations in the city, and also the size and material of the buildings.
In any case, Jiang Li had never seen a cultivation city that only had two stories of simple wooden houses, or a ten feet tall city wall that could not block anything.
In this kind of paradise, there was actually a mortal city. If it was not a branch of the variant human race that was isolated from the world, it could only have been moved here by cultivators and developed to this day through the passage of time.
As for the goal, it was naturally the mortals’ cheap labor.
In fact, larger sects could use low-level disciples to be self-sufficient.
A sect like Ink Sect did not rely on numbers to begin with.
They did not have much manpower and the puppets that they needed to create required a large amount of spiritual wood.
However, they could not use the low-level disciples, who were few to begin with, to work in logging. That would be too wasteful.
Therefore, they needed one or even a few mortal cities nearby to work for them.
Even if the speed of a hundred mortals was only comparable to a Qi Refinement realm disciple, that was enough.
After locking onto the Endless Mountain Range through a certain method, the Iron Wolf Sect cultivators were not stupid.
Apart from sending the wolf cavalry cultivators to search the entire place thoroughly, they also found this place immediately.
As long as they could find some clues in this mortal city, they could follow the clues and find the location of Thousand Sieve City.
Jiang Li and the higher-ups of the Great Mountain Alliance lowered their flying altitude and landed in front of the city gate.
At this moment, three huge wolves emitting a metallic luster darted out of the city.
“Who is it?! The Iron Wolf Sect is handling matters here. All unrelated people, quickly leave!”
Jiang Li did not hide his tracks and was quickly discovered by the people from the Iron Wolf Sect.
On the back of the iron wolves, there were three Core Formation cultivators riding on them. They held a bone spear artifact in their hands. Coupled with the huge wolf beneath them, their strength could be considered quite decent.
After all, such a sect war often meant that there were benefits to be gained.
As for taking advantage of others, rogue cultivators were the most experienced.
Many rogue cultivators of the Eastern Region gathered here upon hearing the news.
No one liked such an uncontrollable factor. In order to prevent any accidents from happening in the future, the Iron Wolf Sect naturally wanted to drive them away.
Unfortunately, their Iron Wolf Sect had yet to join the Divine Judgment Hall and was not a famous large sect.
If they acted too arrogantly in the outside world, it was very likely that they would provoke some important figure before they could achieve their goal.
It would be a joke if they were wiped out in advance.
Swoosh!
A circle of invisible aura spread out. The originally noisy wind also quieted down at this moment.
The three iron wolves let out low whimpers. Their bodies fell to the ground and consciously shrunk to the sides of the road.
The three cultivators on the wolves’ back also trembled.
That was definitely a top-notch cultivator who had surpassed them!
They were on the brink of tears. They were just guarding the gate normally, so why did they end up in such a situation?
After the higher-ups of the Great Mountain Alliance released their auras, the three Iron Wolf Sect disciples decisively chose to play dead.
Their mission was not to provoke such a great enemy for the sect. It was their duty to report the situation to the sect later.
After entering this city formed by loggers, they saw that every family in the city was confined in their homes and under constant supervision.
However, under such circumstances, there was still no lack of pedestrians on the streets.
The rogue cultivators and small forces that came from all over formed an alliance that even the Iron Wolf Sect could not ignore. They could only provide an area for them to act independently.
The most dangerous place was the safest. It was indeed unexpected for the few people from the Ink Sect to suggest meeting here.
Jiang Li gestured, and the nine elders dispersed.
When the few of them walked together, they were indeed too conspicuous. In order to prevent any accidents, they kept a distance from each other and secretly guarded each other.
“Little brother, it’s you?”
After walking alone in this ordinary mortal city that did not even have a name, a voice suddenly stopped Jiang Li.
It was a tall, dark-skinned, and honest-looking middle-aged cultivator.
“Brother, what a coincidence.”
This cultivator had met Jiang Li before.
It was the cultivator who had reminded him to be careful of Wu Loulan of the Myriad Slaughter Sect in Phoenix Sun City.
Jiang Li took a closer look and discovered that this person was actually a Golden Core cultivator as well.
In the cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region, Golden Core cultivators were high-level elders of the various large sects even if they did not establish their own sects.
However, in the Eastern Region, he actually met one on the streets.
“Brother, my name is Jiang Li, how do I address you?”
Jiang Li did not hide his name. With his status, this kind of thing could not be hidden.
“Haha, I’m Zhao Tiangang. Little brother, you’re a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Why did you come here? Did you get separated from your elders?”
“Follow me. It won’t be good if the Iron Wolf Sect discovers us.”
They walked into a tavern by the street. The mortal shop attendants inside were nervously greeting guests.
It seemed that the shop was forced to open. They could not refute the orders of a cultivator.
For some reason, there were so many important figures here today at the tavern.
“Someone asked me to come here. Brother Zhao, what about you?”
Jiang Li habitually looked at the structure of this tavern. There was no spiritual qi, no traps, and the building materials were only ordinary wood. It should not be dangerous.
They found a corner table and sat down. Jiang Li did not touch any of the food in the store, but Zhao Tiangang asked for a pot of mortal wine to drink.
“There’s actually someone who would meet you in such a troublesome place. Little brother, don’t tell me you’re meeting someone from Ink Sect?”
Zhao Tiangang deliberately lowered his voice and transmitted it soundlessly, as if they were talking about secrets.
“Hehe, little brother, don’t be afraid. I actually came to find Ink Sect.”
“In the past, I’ve received Ink Sect’s favor. I came to the Endless Mountain Range to see if I can help.”
The other party smiled. It did not seem to be fake.
“Brother Zhao is so righteous. I’m in admiration. In this day and age, there are really not many people who know how to repay kindness.”
Jiang Li did not go out and walk around. He sat in the tavern and chatted with Zhao Tiangang.
The other party had been here all year round and had a huge advantage in information.
What Jiang Li was concerned about was the current situation of Ink Sect. How many top-notch cultivators were left, how many enemies came from the Iron Wolf Sect, and which famous rogue cultivators had appeared?
The other party seemed unwilling to reveal information about Ink Sect.
However, towards rogue cultivators, he could be said to be very familiar with them. For example, Eight Star Hand Liu Yong, Rock Construction Mountain Ku Gou, Purple-Robed Pan Gu, and others.
This time, the situation was not optimistic for Ink Sect.
After all, it was a sect that was at the end of its rope. How could it endure the bite of the Iron Wolf Sect, which was once a faction of the same level?
However, Ink Sect was skilled in mechanisms and weapon refinement, and they had a long history. It was said that there were a large number of treasures hidden within Thousand Sieve City. If they could make a profit from it, this trip would not be in vain.
At this moment, Jiang Li suddenly sensed something.
“It seems that the person looking for me has arrived.”
On the roof not far away, a small sparrow had appeared out of nowhere.
Jiang Li’s finger hooked lightly, and the sparrow flapped its wings and flew over before stopping in his hand. It looked around curiously, and its actions were vivid and no different from a real bird.
However, if one observed carefully, they would discover that the feathers of this bird were all thin leaves.
Although it looked harmless, it was a Wood Demon equivalent to a human Foundation Establishment cultivator.
This was naturally the wooden sparrow puppet that Jiang Li had enlightened on the spot.
Then, he returned it to Ink Sect and let them test it as a sample.
Of course, with their cautious nature, it was sealed after that, so Jiang Li was unable to rely on this to directly find the other party’s headquarters.
After negotiating the conditions, both sides agreed to meet in the logger city.
At that time, as long as they unsealed the Wood Demon, this bird would bring them to Jiang Li automatically.
Now that the bird had arrived, Ink Sect’s people were naturally nearby.
The wooden bird landed in his hand. Soon, a group of four walked over from the end of the street.
They wore ordinary clothes and wore hoods as they walked into the tavern.
When they approached, Jiang Li discovered that there was an old woman, an old man, and two beautiful women, one younger and one mature.
Ink Sect used puppets all year round. At this time, when they appeared in person, it did not attract any attention.
“My Wood Sparrow is here! Ah, it’s Big Brother Jiang Li!”
When the little girl saw the wooden sparrow in Jiang Li’s hand, she immediately cried out excitedly.
This was originally a puppet made by her. Now, it had been transformed into a Wood Demon by Jiang Li and was given life. The spirituality of this life form made this young lady treat it as a pet.
The elder beside her pressed her shoulder in time to stop the little girl from speaking.
The other young woman also stepped forward and bowed.
“Alliance Leader Jiang, Ink Sect is extremely grateful that you came to support us. My name is Zi Yao, they are Uncle Mei and Aunt Mei, and this is Xiao Yu.”
“In addition, you actually know Big Brother Tiangang? If only we had known earlier, we were just too cautious.”
The woman called Zi Yao was the leader of the four of them.
She spoke very politely. After she finished introducing, she suddenly turned around to look at Zhao Tiangang.
They had clearly known each other for a long time.
Zhao Tiangang was stunned for a long time before he reacted. Ink Sect said that they were going to welcome their esteemed guest today, and Jiang Li also said that he wanted to meet someone. However, he never expected that this esteemed guest would only be a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
“Cough cough, Jiang Li and I were just strangers who met by chance. I didn’t expect that Brother Jiang is actually the Alliance Leader of the Great Mountain Alliance. I apologize for my disrespect.”
Zhao Tiangang scratched his head and looked at Jiang Li in disbelief.
The people at the other tables also turned to nod. It seemed that this group of people were all from Ink Sect.
“This must be fate. However, you actually set up a secret base in the city. How ingenious. I can’t see any flaws in this tavern.”
Jiang Li glanced at this building again and still did not find any clues.
“This… hehe, the situation forced us to do this. This is not a place to talk. Let’s go back to Thousand Sieve City first.”
Zhao Tiangang got up and pushed a stone brick on the wall. The ground below immediately opened up to two sides, revealing a huge passageway below.
“What an exquisite design!”
Jiang Li looked at the passageway that appeared and could not help but praise.
“Because the construction of this tavern relies completely on mechanisms, it doesn’t use any spiritual qi. This is a cultivator’s blind spot. It’s even harder to be discovered.”
“There are so many of you hidden in this city, but none of you were discovered. Could it be that the mortals in this city have never seen you?”
Jiang Li was puzzled. To mortals, cultivators were like deities. As long as they took a look, their images would be engraved in their minds forever.
To think that they could still walk freely on the streets.
“This is the rule of our Ink Sect, we hide in the mortal world like ink in darkness.”
“Our habit of appearing as puppets was not developed recently, so the mortals here don’t know us.”
So that was the case.
It was said that the Ink Sect had a long history. After being defeated in a large-scale war many years ago, they had adopted such a low-profile sect rule.
Now, it seemed that it was really useful.
They walked all the way down. After more than a thousand feet underground where ordinary cultivators could not sense anything, they entered a wide underground passageway.
In this passage, Jiang Li was a little dumbfounded as he saw something familiar.
There was actually a subway in this tunnel?
Two straight, parallel metal tracks stretched along the passage.
The scene was indescribable in the cultivation world.
“Let me do it, let me do it!”
The little girl called Xiao Yu was very excited. She jumped to the side of a mechanical handle, grabbed it with both hands, and pushed it fiercely.
Soon, the rumbling of metal and wooden wheels gradually approached from afar.
Jiang Li’s expression could not help but become a little strange.
This was actually a train mechanism!
He had originally thought that Ink Sect’s underground passage would be like the other sects, using the earth vein to transport them.
He did not expect that they, who were proficient in mechanisms, would directly create an entire subway track.
There were many benefits like this. Ordinary underground movement methods, such as the Earth Vein Flying Shuttle, could only move along the flow of the earth vein and was not easy to control.
However, this carriage that was like a palanquin had its own mechanism. Even without the earth vein, it could still move forward.
The carriage stopped in front of him, and a puppet opened the door for them.
“Alliance Leader Jiang, please.”
They were inviting Jiang Li to head to their lair alone.
If Jiang Li brought those nine elders, Ink Sect might not be so straightforward.
Jiang Li stretched out his hand and pressed the Great Mountain Alliance’s Alliance Leader Token before explaining the situation to the elders.
He told them to calm down and be prepared to listen to his orders.
Alliance Leader Jiang cared more about his life than anyone else. He still had some confidence in protecting himself under such circumstances.
Upon entering the wooden carriage, he saw a few pulleys inside.
After a few maneuvers, the carriage gradually accelerated in a certain direction.
In the beginning, when they were under the city, they relied on pure mechanisms to advance.
However, after leaving the city, the power of the mechanisms began to combine the power of the earth vein and the spiritual qi of the array formation. The speed gradually increased, becoming faster and faster.
As it turned out, wheels on land might not be slower than flying.
Soon, they arrived at their destination.
There was the sound of gears turning everywhere. At the end of the passage was a huge mechanical structure.
Jiang Li could sense that they had arrived at the underground area below a mountain.
Sure enough, this Thousand Sieve City was built under the ground by digging out a huge mountain from the inside.
“We’re here.”
As the carriage slowed down, the passageway in front of the carriage gradually widened and lit up.
A large number of long lamps hung on both sides of the passageway, providing light to the underground Thousand Sieve City.
The few of them got out of the carriage, but what greeted Jiang Li was the sight of shiny crossbow arrowheads!?