Yuan Ming left the Xu Mansion and found another inn in the city to stay at, while secretly releasing the soul crow to spy on the activities within Xu Mansion.

His uncles, being mortals, did not know much about the Shengye Sect. His cousin, Xu Tian, was a disciple of the Shengye Sect, and following him could help Yuan Ming find his way when he returned to the Sect.

However, it seemed that his actions at the abdication ceremony had already spread throughout the entire Shengye Sect, and joining under his real identity would attract too much attention.

In that case, it might be better to join the Shengye Sect as an ordinary disciple to avoid some trouble.

Upon further reflection, if he joined the Shengye Sect, he would eventually be exposed, which could potentially bring disaster to the Sect.

Yuan Ming made up his mind and decided to secretly follow Xu Tian and Luo Xing'er when they returned to the Sect, to find out the location of the Shengye Sect's gates. He planned not to get involved with anyone during this period. He would decide what to do once he found the Sect's location.

...

Three days later, Xu Tian said goodbye to his parents and, along with Luo Xing'er, set off on a flying boat, leaving Thunder City.

Yuan Ming, through the soul crow, saw this scene and immediately released his Jade Shuttle, following them from a distance.

Xu Tian and Luo Xing'er headed north and soon entered a huge swamp.

The sky in Thunder Continent was mostly gloomy, and this swamp area was even more shrouded in year-round poison miasma, where visibility was so poor one could not see beyond their outstretched hand, and all kinds of poisonous insects and fierce beasts lurked, deadly to any mortal who dared approach carelessly.

However, before entering the swamp, Xu Tian and Luo Xing'er seemed to have put on something that emitted a faint halo of light around them, not only keeping the poison miasma at bay but also causing the poisonous insects and fierce beasts to keep their distance from them.

Yuan Ming also had an anti-plague pearl left from exploring the Snake King Valley, and with his Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation, he too was not afraid of these poisonous insects and fierce beasts. However, before entering the swamp, he suddenly stopped, took out the Spiritual Beast Bag, and released Hua Zhi.

"Master, what place is this? The fog here smells so sweet and fragrant!" As soon as Hua Zhi landed, it took a deep breath, swallowing the nearby poison miasma, and even appeared to be intoxicated.

"Hua Zhi, lurk underground and advance with me," Yuan Ming instructed.

Hua Zhi nodded cheerfully and swiftly burrowed into the swamp's ground.

Yuan Ming then continued forward, fortunate that the soul crow he had released earlier was unaffected by the poison miasma and was still following Xu Tian and his companion, ensuring he did not lose track of them.

An hour later, a fine drizzle suddenly began to fall from the sky, and Yuan Ming followed Xu Tian and Luo Xing'er as they flew out of the swamp and into a mountain range.

Not far off, a massive gate hidden among lush greenery appeared intermittently through the light rain. Xu Tian and his friend flew to the gate and stopped, not entering but instead speaking briefly before they took to their magic artifact and flew off in the northwestern direction.

Curious, Yuan Ming left a soul crow to watch over the Shengye Sect's gate while he continued to follow them.

About half an hour later, Yuan Ming saw a giant protective shield under the gloomy sky, encompassing a city within the mountains.

Under the drizzle, a bluish giant protective shield enveloped the city Yuan Ming was observing.

The fine, silk-like raindrops fell, hitting the shield and disappearing in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace.

Below the shield, hundreds of intersecting streets and alleys were lined with countless houses and pavilions. Atop each house, four white Bright Pearls were placed at the roof's corners, their light interwoven and merging to illuminate the whole city brightly and clearly.

In the center of the city, a small lake spanning several dozen acres rippled gently, with a square paved with white jade bricks in the lake's center, connected to the main road by four jade stone arch bridges.

On the square, a twenty-zhang-tall Four-sided Pavilion rose from the ground, its body pale white while the tiles above shone a brilliant blue, as clear and sparkling as crystal.

At every edge of the protective shield, there was a massive city gate, slightly shorter than the crystal pavilion but far taller than the city's buildings. Atop each gate stood a Divine Beast Stone Statue, exquisitely carved, with scales and feathers depicted so lifelike that they seemed almost real.

Xu Tian and Luo Xing'er had not yet approached the shield when they voluntarily reduced their flying boat and approached one of the city gates on foot.

Yuan Ming also descended his Jade Shuttle in a distant valley, watching the two enter the city before slowly making his own way towards the city.

A sign hung above the city gate, bearing only three characters: "Little Lake City."

After paying a Spirit Stone as a toll, Yuan Ming was about to pass through the gate when he noticed some cultivators entering without paying. Curiously, he inquired and learned that cultivators who owned houses in the city were exempt from the fee, a fact Yuan Ming noted silently.

Once inside the city, compared to his earlier distant view, he felt even more immersed in its atmosphere.

The fine rain was blocked by the shield, making the city exceedingly dry. On the wide streets, pedestrians bustled, many of whom possessed cultivation.

However, after closely observing for a moment, Yuan Ming noticed that the pedestrians on the street subtly displayed two distinctly different styles of clothing.

One style was mostly long robes and skirts, predominantly red, with wearers often having jade ornaments around their necks and waists, their clothes fluttering like undulating flames.

The other style consisted mainly of brocade clothes and trousers, intermixing red and blue, with fewer ornaments on the wearers but more often carrying swords and blades.

As Yuan Ming observed the pedestrians, his expression suddenly changed, and he turned his head to look beside him.

"Fellow Daoist seems to be new to Little Lake City. Our meeting must be fated," said a male cultivator with a hooked nose wearing a crimson robe, who stopped and smiled at Yuan Ming under his gaze.

This person's cultivation wasn't high, only at the Qi Refining Fourth Level, but Yuan Ming was also using the Hidden Element Technique, suppressing his cultivation to the Late Stage Qi Refining level, so the other party didn't notice Yuan Ming's true cultivation.

"Seeing Fellow Daoist's spirited appearance, you must have come from Zhao Country, right? Do you need a guide by any chance?" the hooked nose cultivator said familiarly.

Yuan Ming looked at him, reminded of the broker Gu Yue he had encountered in Black Rock City, but he still shook his head, "Thank you, but I don't need a guide."

"Then, might Fellow Daoist need a map of Little Lake City? It's not expensive, just one spirit stone," the hooked nose cultivator persisted, flipping his right hand to produce a jade scroll.

"One spirit stone? That's expensive," Yuan Ming exclaimed in surprise.

"Fellow Daoist, this is honestly a fair price. Do you know how many shops there are in Little Lake City? Which ones are scams, which offer great value for money, which are run by the Great Sects, and which are established by the Scatter Alliance? Everything is on this map, just one spirit stone can save you so much trouble. Time is spirit stones," the hooked nose cultivator shook the jade scroll in his hand.

Yuan Ming, finding his words reasonable, decided not to haggle and took out a spirit stone to buy the map.

Upon receiving the jade scroll, Little Lake City was the largest cultivation market on the Thunder Continent, with cultivators from Da Jin and the nearby Zhao Country coming here for trading. The map not only clearly marked the locations of large and small shops in Little Lake City's market, but also included many helpful reviews about the shops.

Yuan Ming was pleased with the jade scroll, and quickly found a store called "Hundred Books Pavilion" guided by the map.

This was a shop specializing in selling classics. Upon entering, Yuan Ming saw seven or eight tall wooden bookcases neatly arranged in the shop, filled with various classics, all enveloped by a pale blue light.

A dedicated counter was placed next to these bookcases, inside of which were various uniform-style wooden boxes, containing mostly worn and tattered classics or jade scrolls, some even had only a single page.

Seeing Yuan Ming enter, a long-robed shop assistant immediately came over to greet him.

"Are you here to buy cultivation techniques, or sell them?"

"Does your shop have magic secret manuals for sale?" Yuan Ming asked.

"Our shop has a wide variety of magic secret manuals. Which specific type do you need? If you're looking for something basic, I recommend this one. It records many commonly used spells, all quite rudimentary, but plentiful in number and variety," the assistant thought for a moment and took a thicker book from the shelf.

"I'll take this one. Also, what are all these items in the counter being sold?" Yuan Ming nodded and pointed to the counter containing the wooden boxes.

"These are nameless secret books we've collected; most are incomplete, and some texts are not commonly used in the Central Plains. They're all inexpensive. If Fellow Daoist is interested, you could buy a few to study. However, once you leave the store, if there are any errors in cultivation, our store does not take responsibility," explained the assistant.

Yuan Ming shook his head and decided to purchase only the magic secret manual. Since it contained only basic spells, he spent fewer than thirty spirit stones.

After taking the spirit stones, the assistant retrieved a jade ruyi from a storage bag and gently tapped it on the magic secret manual. The pale blue glow enveloping the manual instantly shattered, transforming into a dim talisman that fluttered to the ground.

"This is a special sealing talisman made by our shop. It can only be opened with a specific magic artifact; otherwise, it will burn everything inside to ashes," the assistant, seeing Yuan Ming's curiosity, explained with a smile.

Just then, another customer, a man in brocade clothes with a long sword at his waist and a goatee, entered the store, and immediately another shop assistant went up to greet him.

Both the goatee and the assistant spoke in an accent that was different from what Yuan Ming usually heard.

"I noticed quite a few people in the market dressed like them. I wonder where they are from?" Yuan Ming gestured with his chin towards the man with the goatee and asked the assistant.

"Oh, they are from Zhao Country. Our Thunder State is on the border of Da Jin, which is adjacent to Zhao Country. Little Lake City is located at the junction of Da Jin and Zhao Country, so there are many cultivators from Zhao Country in this area," the assistant explained.

Yuan Ming suddenly understood and thanked the assistant before leaving the shop.

Having bought the magic secret manual, he then turned his attention to elixirs.

His cultivation currently needed a lot of elixir support, and coincidentally encountering such a sizable market, he naturally wanted to take a good look around.

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