"That is indeed a problem. We need to find a place where the Dao Palace wouldn’t dare to venture and then throw the Dao Stone there for everyone to observe. By the way, Li, you are familiar with the Edge Corner Airspace. Do you have any suggestions?" Xiang Beifei inquired.
Li Qianluo suddenly stared at Xiang Beifei with a puzzled expression, scrutinizing him from head to toe, and then unexpectedly reached out to tug at Xiang Beifei’s cheek.
"What are you doing?" Xiang Beifei raised an eyebrow.
"You called me Li, that’s strange. Are you the fake Xiao Bei?" Li Qianluo asked curiously.
"Didn’t I used to call you that?"
"You used to call me by my full name!" Li Qianluo said, hands on hips.
"It’s just a name, no need to make a big deal." Xiang Beifei shrugged.
Li Qianluo grinned and said, "I just feel like the sun rose from the west today."
"Alright, stop fussing, just answer my question. Where in the Edge Corner Airspace is a place the Dao Palace wouldn’t venture?" Xiang Beifei asked.
Li Qianluo sat down, seated opposite Xiang Beifei, and said, "Let me think. Actually, there are quite a few. For instance, the Great Desolate Realm—which the Dao Palace can’t enter although regular cultivators can’t either. Let’s ignore that place.
The Nether Water Realm of the Xuanming Tribe, the Dao Palace can’t enter that either. It’s an eerie water globe world, quite a match for the Rushou Tribe. It’s all wrapped in Ruishui River, called the Bitter Sea outside. Legend has it that there’s an entrance through the Bone Mountain Desert Stone Cave in the Great Desolate Realm."
"The Dao Palace is of the Houtu Tribe. Doesn’t breath soil work against Ruishui River? Are you sure they can’t enter?" Xiang Beifei asked.
"Although soil usually overcomes water, the Ruishui River of the Bitter Sea is quite bizarre. I’m very sure the Dao Palace can’t enter. Discussing this is meaningless, though, since the Dao Stone can’t be thrown there either." Li Qianluo stated.
"What about the Ju Mang Tribe? Isn’t wood supposed to overcome earth?" Xiaohei inquired.
"Actually, the five-element interactions aren’t that absolute. Even if you find the location of the Ju Mang Tribe, masters at the Ancestral Dao Realm can still enter. They don’t necessarily need to use breath soil. Once you reach the Ancestral Dao Realm level, breath soil is just one technique among many and not significantly countered." Li Qianluo shook her head.
She propped her chin, pondering which places in the Edge Corner Airspace met the criteria.
"You’re really stumping me here. The Edge Corner Airspace is vast, with many areas that the Dao Palace can’t completely explore, but where the Dao Palace can’t tread, other races usually can’t either. Finding a place where other cultivators can venture while excluding the Dao Palace is very difficult..."
Li Qianluo lightly tapped her cheek with her fingers. A moment later, she suddenly brightened up and said, "I remember there’s a mysterious and ghostly Kongcheng in the Edge Corner Airspace. No one knows where it came from. It’s rumored to be from eons ago in the ancient times and it’s called the Death City!"
"Death City?" Xiang Beifei furrowed his brow.
"Yes, Death City. Because once someone enters Death City, they practically don’t know how to leave alive. It is said that it’s filled with a terrifying oppressive force, even the Ancestral Dao Realm can’t set foot there." Li Qianluo explained.
"There’s a place like that?"
"Yes, supposedly—I’ve heard, mind you, I can’t guarantee the specifics—that inside Death City, there resides only one person—the City Lord of this Death City. Anyone entering this city would linked their fate with the city. Meaning, you can use the Death City to kill someone close to the person who entered—wherever they may be, the city will take their life!"
"That wicked?" Xiaohei asked in confusion.
As long as you’re intimately connected with someone entering Death City, trouble follows you, no matter where you are?
"Right, most people suffer misfortune out of seemingly nowhere, just because someone near them enters. Often, the unintentional involvement leads to death, so people call it the City of No Pretense. No one dares enter lightly because it might not only be them who dies, but also their close ones." Li Qianluo elaborated.
Xiang Beifei fell into contemplation.
This Death City, why does it sound so familiar?
Have I been there before?
"Anyway, for now, that’s all I can think of. This city I can assure you, the Dao Palace would never dare to enter. I just don’t know how to find it. It’s elusive, truly mysterious, very much like the Rushou Ruins. But at least some dare to enter the Rushou Ruins—Death City practically no one dares step foot in." Li Qianluo concluded.
Xiang Beifei and Xiaohei exchanged perplexed looks.
"Are you thinking what I’m thinking?" Xiang Beifei asked.
Xiaohei nodded, "That coffin! That melancholic guy who’s always sighing!"
"Who are you talking about?" Li Qianluo queried.
Xiang Beifei explained, "I think I’ve been to this Death City before."
Li Qianluo stared at Xiang Beifei in surprise, "You’ve been there?"
"Yes, when I first came to the Edge Corner Airspace, I crossed the border and saw a city. At that time, I just went in casually."
"You went in casually! You really have guts!" Li Qianluo admired.
"I didn’t quite understand the situation at that time." Xiang Beifei shrugged.
"But you came out alive! My gosh, you might be the first person to come out alive." Li Qianluo exclaimed.
"Is that so?" Xiang Beifei wasn’t too concerned about such fame. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁
"Did you see the City Lord of the dead city?" Li Qianluo asked again.
"I saw him, mystical and murmuring, like some kind of shaman."
"He didn’t do anything to you?"
"He challenged me to a poetry duel." Xiang Beifei said.
Li Qianluo was taken aback; it wasn’t what she had expected.
"The situation was quite complicated, hard to explain clearly."
Xiang Beifei only remembered that sighing guy who called himself Kongcheng, with red lanterns hanging everywhere in the city, not much else. After he left, the city disappeared.
"Since the City Lord didn’t kill you, maybe you could negotiate with him to throw the Dao Stone onto Kongcheng, then display it for everyone to see. That way, even if the Dao Palace wanted to make a move on the Dao Stone, they wouldn’t dare enter!" Li Qianluo’s eyes lit up.
Xiang Beifei spread his hands: "The point is, I don’t know how to find this city anymore."
"I see." Li Qianluo was a bit disappointed.
"Next time I return, I’ll ask my master uncle to see if he knows anything about that Kongcheng." Xiang Beifei said.
Li Qianluo nodded: "That’s all we can do. By the way, what about Chu Xi? Is he okay?"
"He’s right there! I’ve already helped him recover over the past few days." Xiang Beifei pointed to the other side.
Chu Xi was lying on the opposite bed, covered with a blanket, eyes closed, breathing evenly, sleeping quite soundly. The bed was simulated by Xiang Beifei using Spiritual Power, originating from Jiuzhou, soft and comfortable to sleep on, something the Human Race of Edge Corner Airspace could only dream of.
Li Qianluo tilted her head, looking at Chu Xi, and said: "Little guy, you’re awake, why not open your eyes?"
But Chu Xi didn’t move, still keeping his eyes closed as if he hadn’t heard.
"He woke up yesterday and has been pretending to sleep ever since, probably because he doesn’t trust us."
Xiang Beifei had the ability to wake the guy up, but he thought better of it. After experiencing such a nightmare, it’s normal for a child not to trust outsiders. Forcing him to speak was pointless, so he let him sleep.
After a while, he stared at Chu Xi, lost in thought.
"What’s wrong?" Li Qianluo noticed Xiang Beifei’s expression seemed a bit odd.
Xiang Beifei shook his head: "I’m not sure if it’s my illusion."
"What illusion?" Li Qianluo asked curiously.
Xiang Beifei looked at the pretending-to-sleep Chu Xi and said: "I’ve been treating him these past two days. Normally, the methods the Dao Palace used on him would have completely killed him. Anyone else would have died directly, but he survived mysteriously."
"Maybe Chu Xi was blessed with great fortune? Like how you came out of the dead city?" Li Qianluo suggested.
"No, I discovered there’s a special imprint on his soul. It’s this imprint that protected his soul’s lifeblood. He could have survived without my help. This imprint is strong and also very familiar, not laid too long ago."
Xiang Beifei’s Return to the Original State could determine the time the imprint was laid, roughly about a month ago.
"What imprint, let me see."
Xiaohei swaggered over, touched Chu Xi’s head, suddenly became surprised, turned his head to look at Xiang Beifei, and said: "Huh? This imprint, wasn’t it left by Feifei your dad?"