Simultaneous travel: I am rampant in the domestic area

Russell continued his leisurely journey through this vast, mysterious world.

Heading north, they climbed mountains, traversed vast marshes, and finally crossed a sea to settle in a town called Tianqiong City.

The city walls are towering and magnificent, clearly the result of the meticulous construction by skilled craftsmen and array masters. Neatly armed demons and human cultivators patrol and stand guard on the walls, making it a rare place where humans and demons coexist.

A hint of surprise flashed in Russell's eyes, which quickly turned into greater interest. He entered through the south gate, where the city gate was wide and deep, and the flow of people was like a woven tapestry.

Upon entering the city, the first thing he saw was a group of people dancing in front of a temple to the beat of drums. He looked up and saw that it was a Dragon King Temple, so he wasn't particularly curious.

After all, Tianqiong City is located near the ocean, and the South Gate is the gateway to the sea. It would be perfect to have a Dragon King Temple there, so they didn't linger. They simply regarded it as a unique local custom and continued walking into the city.

The prosperity of Tianqiong City far exceeded his expectations.

The streets are wide and bustling with traffic, lined with shops on both sides, and filled with shouts and the sounds of bargaining.

Human merchants and demon stall owners lived side by side. There were merman merchants selling rare treasures from overseas, and human cultivators wielding exquisite magical artifacts, each promoting the rare treasures, spiritual herbs and minerals in their hands.

There were also lavishly decorated music halls and restaurants, where the sounds of string and wind instruments filled the air, mixed with laughter and song. The air was thick with the atmosphere of wine, women, and wealth, making it worthy of being the most famous den of iniquity in the surrounding major power regions.

This was nothing to Russell, but it was extremely shocking to other humans.

At this point in time, in the mainstream view of the outside world, demons are inherently evil. The first thought upon meeting them is always to strike first and kill them before considering anything else. The saying "those who are not of our kind are bound to have different hearts" is not just a saying.

"What would you like to buy, sir? Our beef is among the best in the entire Tianqiong City." At a beef stall, the owner's voice caught Russell's attention. Russell looked up and saw a tall, burly bull demon wielding a cleaver, looking at him with a smile.

"..." Russell couldn't help but rub his temples. He took back his previous thought; this city really was something special.

A bull demon selling beef—that's really a bit eerie.

However, one thing is true: his beef is indeed very popular. In the short time it took Russell to refuse, an old man who looked like a butler appeared in front of the stall.

He winked at the bull demon, slammed a gold bar onto the stall, and said, "Same as always, fresh."

"Alright! Please wait a moment!" The bull demon put away the gold bars, let out a heavy breath through his nostrils, and went into the alley behind him, carrying a knife and an empty bag. A few minutes later, he came out of the alley again, the bag in his hand now bulging, and handed it to the steward: "Fresh!"

The steward nodded with a smile, then turned and boarded the carriage to leave.

Russell, standing by the roadside, stared blankly at the bull demon's crotch.

Well, how should I put it? This world is still too tough; even a bull demon has been reduced to selling himself...

At this moment, Tianqiong City, although the end of the year has just passed, has already welcomed several light spring rains.

On this day, the morning mist had not yet completely dissipated, mingling with the unique aroma of cooking and the faint scent of incense, enveloping the entire city and adding a touch of haziness and mystery to it.

Russell also arrived in the city early to investigate.

During his travels over the past few days, he had noticed some strange things.

This city is extremely large, inhabited by more than 500,000 humans and demons. Its streets are crisscrossed and its markets are interspersed, offering everything imaginable.

There are twenty-five temples in the city, but without exception, they are all temples dedicated to the Dragon King.

There wasn't a single temple dedicated to any famous deities, heroes, or ancestors in human history.

Apart from the most magnificent and popular Longevity Dragon King Temple located in the city center, the other twenty-four temples all enshrine the same dragon god, Weinan Dragon Lord.

The so-called Weinan is the name of this sea area outside Tianqiong City.

What made him even more suspicious was that, at this very moment, every household, regardless of its height, wealth, status, or whether they were human or demon, had their doors wide open, revealing everything inside and offering no privacy whatsoever.

Some families were preparing incense and offerings, while others simply left their doors open, as if waiting for or welcoming something.

The air was filled with a festive clamor, yet there was also an indescribable sense of oppression.

Russell's mind stirred slightly, and he walked to the edge of a crowd watching the excitement. He happened to see a male cultivator dressed in ordinary monk's robes craning his neck to watch the commotion on the street. He asked, "Fellow Daoist, is there some grand celebration in the city today? Why is it so lively?"

The cultivator turned his head at the sound, glanced at Russell impatiently, and his lips moved slightly, about to answer, when Russell had already raised his hand and placed it on the top of his head: "Never mind, I'll see for myself."

The three souls and seven spirits were refined in an instant!
This guy was burdened with sins, and after just one glance, he had the idea of ​​killing Russell to steal his treasure. Russell immediately gave up the idea of ​​trying to get information from him and didn't want to waste any more words. He would find out what he wanted to know from his memory himself, which was simple, quick, and saved time and effort.

This cultivator's cultivation level was only at the Enlightenment stage, which, in traditional immortal cultivation terms, would be Foundation Establishment. He had no ability to resist Russell's Soul Search at all, and his entire body turned into ashes in an instant. The noisy crowd around him, whether mortals, low-level cultivators, or minor demons, all ignored this scene.

From the brief and fragmented memories of the monk, Russell quickly extracted the key information: what was taking place in the city was a grand ceremony to celebrate the birth of the dragon prince's offspring, called the "Dragon Prince's Blessing Ceremony," held to celebrate the successful birth of the fifth dragon prince of the "Weinan Dragon King," who ruled this sea area.

Russell, however, had no intention of offering any congratulations.

At the end of the road, there were sorceresses with their faces smeared with unknown pigments, waving banners and chanting things like "May the Dragon King protect you."

A group of sorceresses, their faces painted with strange and bright, unknown paint and dressed in elaborate black robes, swayed as they moved forward, carrying banners adorned with twisted dragon patterns and talismans.

"The common people suffer, yet Heaven shows no mercy..."

"May the myriad dragon spirits protect all people..."

"May the weather be favorable, and the rivers and lakes be calm..."

"May your livestock thrive and your home be peaceful..."

"I offer my humble servant, the Emperor's grace is boundless..."

"..."

They chanted incantations, and wherever they went, firecrackers exploded and drums beat faster and faster, as if trying to drown out other sounds. On both sides of the street, tens of thousands of believers, whether human or demon, knelt on the ground, their expressions fervent and devout, loudly echoing the shamans' incantations.

This long procession, led by the sorceress and surrounded by believers, resembled an eerie, colorful dragon, winding its way through the streets alongside flower-adorned floats.

The procession would stop in front of certain pre-selected households. Among these households were humans, demons, ordinary people with no cultivation, and low-level cultivators or demon cultivator families.

Without exception, when the sorceress and her procession stopped, the adults in these households instantly lost all color in their faces, leaving only a deathly ashen look of despair and numb obedience.

Then, amidst deafening gongs and drums and chanting, and under the fervent gazes of the surrounding believers, one by one, boys and girls with their hands and feet bound by red silk and their mouths stuffed with cloth were forcibly taken out of the open house and shoved into a carriage.

According to the information obtained from the soul search, ten days later, at the grand banquet held in the Weinan Dragon Palace, these young boys and girls will be offered as sacrifices to the guests from all sides, such as the aquatic demon generals under the Weinan Dragon King, the demon forces they rely on, and some human cultivators who have pledged allegiance to the Dragon King.

Russell stood with his arms crossed, watching coldly as the floats were filled with young boys and girls in the frenzied ceremony, without making any attempt to intervene.

It wasn't that he was inherently cold-hearted or that his cultivation had corrupted his mind, causing him to see all living beings as ants. Rather, among those sobbing children, he noticed an extremely incongruous presence.

In one of the floats, a child who looked only five or six years old had his eyes, hands, and feet bound with red silk, just like the other children. His eyes, covered by the red silk, revealed thoughts that were not appropriate for his age.

"Master, your disciple has boarded the float." Cheng Nian, transformed into a child, transmitted her thoughts through divine sense.

Not far away, at a tea stall, an old Taoist priest with a white beard, who was sipping a bowl of coarse tea, trembled almost imperceptibly in the fingers.

He was Cheng Nian's master, Tian Suizi.

Upon receiving his disciple's message, a complex expression flashed across Tian Suizi's cloudy eyes. He stroked his beard and solemnly said, "Nian'er, the old dragon of Weinan has unfathomable cultivation. This trip is likely to be more dangerous than safe. It's not too late to give up now."

Cheng Nian, bound in the float, smiled bitterly: "Master, you are right. I have been waiting for this opportunity for 113 years. If I give it up this time, I don't know when I will get another chance. Perhaps, there will never be another chance."

Upon hearing this, Amako finally put down the teacup she was holding, letting out a silent sigh.

He knew his disciple well; his will was as firm as a rock. Once he set his mind on a goal, not even a nine-headed dragon could pull him back. Moreover, this was a hatred that had been accumulating for over a hundred years, gnawing at his soul day and night.

Hatred is unlike any other emotion; it grows deeper and stronger with the passage of time.

Since that's the case, then so be it. As the master, he should do what he should do for his disciple.

Tian Suizi put down her teacup, placed a few copper coins on the table, stood up, picked up the sword wrapped in coarse cloth on the table, slung it over her back, turned around and strode towards the city gate. Her figure appeared somewhat hunched in the bustling crowd, but it also showed a sense of unwavering determination.

In the distance, Russell quietly withdrew his all-hearing device, a look of great interest on his face.

Slaying the dragon?

It shows both great courage and utter overestimation of one's abilities.

Judging from the memories of that unfortunate cultivator who was just searched, the Weinan Dragon King who rules this sea area is at least at the late stage of the Heavenly Immortal realm, and may even be higher.

However, the old Taoist priest Tian Suizi was only at the initial stage of the Earth Immortal realm, and Cheng Nian, who had transformed into a child, had only just touched the threshold of the Immortal path in terms of aura.

Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, Late-stage Celestial Immortal...

What an enormous chasm lies between them.

This is equivalent to sending a quasi-emperor to fight a mortal immortal one-on-one; isn't that a guaranteed death sentence?

Even a shill like Russell wouldn't dare to act so recklessly.

It's hard to imagine what kind of reliance this master and disciple had that made them dare to plot the assassination of a True Dragon Celestial Immortal at his peak.

Especially in this era where the rules are clearly biased...

Russell sensed the innate spiritual energy permeating the air, which was far purer and more domineering than that of later generations, and he was quite puzzled.

In the beginning of the primordial world, when the laws were stable, the three races of dragon, phoenix, and qilin, the protagonists of heaven and earth, were at the height of their fortune and at their zenith.

At this point in time, true dragons were not the rare ingredients of later generations, which could be captured at will by powerful beings and whose livers and marrow became delicacies.

At this point, the dragon race is strong in every sense of the word; it has both powerful mechanics and impressive numerical values.

In terms of physical strength, he possesses a top-tier physique from the primordial era; in terms of bloodline supernatural powers, he has a natal technique inherited from the Ancestral Dragon; and in terms of magical power cultivation, he has a profound accumulation of spiritual energy from occupying the spiritual veins of heaven and earth.

The undisputed version T0.

A true dragon at the late stage of the Celestial Immortal realm possesses enough strength to crush the vast majority of beings of the same level, and can even challenge some weaker gods and demons of higher levels.

This is interesting, and it's getting more and more interesting.

Thinking of this, Russell also separated a wisp of his divine sense to follow Tian Suizi, while he secretly kept an eye on Cheng Nian.

The float procession slowly paraded through the entire Tianqiong City amidst the chanting of shamans and the sounds of gongs, drums, and firecrackers. Finally, as night fell completely, all one hundred and eight pairs of boys and girls were collected.

The group arrived at the south gate.

At this moment, the city lord of Tianqiong City had already led a group of officials and representatives of aristocratic families to wait respectfully. Once they received the float procession, they all set off and arrived outside the city gate.

Outside the city gates, the once calm sea was now shrouded in mist. Hundreds of shrimp soldiers and crab generals stood in neat rows, exuding a fierce aura. Behind them were countless ornate floats stretching as far as the eye could see. Clearly, these were gifts collected from other coastal or aquatic cities.

What's even more striking is that, standing before the group of shrimp soldiers and crab generals is a tall dragon leader with a single horn on his head. The immense demonic power and water element fluctuations emanating from his body have clearly reached the level of an Earth Immortal.

The dragon leader was clearly acquainted with the City Lord of Tianqiong. He grinned, revealing his large mouth full of sharp teeth, as if to greet him, his voice like muffled thunder: "The City Lord is too kind. The Dragon King will surely bestow a generous reward upon you."

The Lord of Tianqiong City quickly put on a smile and cupped his hands, saying, "It is an honor for Tianqiong City to serve the Dragon King. Thank you for your trouble, Commander Jiao." (End of Chapter)