Immortality begins with inheriting the myriad arts of cultivation.

Five years later.

A streak of silver light flashed across the sky.

Li Ping stood at the bow of the flying boat, looking down at the densely packed cities and villages below, a thoughtful look in his eyes, while Meng Wanjun sat cross-legged inside the flying boat, cultivating.

Over the course of several years, he traveled eastward from Qing\'an County in the central part of the Great Zhou Dynasty. His speed was not fast, and he would land his flying boat in the county towns to search for spiritual materials.

Therefore, five years passed before they finally approached Lingxiao City.

Of course, his efforts were not entirely fruitless. Not long ago, when he passed through Guangde County, he had the good fortune to exchange a bottle of \"Eight Treasures Spiritual Spring Water\" from the local Demon Slaying Division commander in exchange for several bottles of third-grade pills.

According to the commander, he obtained this Eight Treasures Spiritual Spring Water from the Demon Slayer Bureau\'s treasury after making meritorious contributions.

He originally intended to use this Eight Treasures Spiritual Spring Water to wash the eyes of one of his descendants, to see if he could awaken his spiritual eye.

But before it could be used, Li Ping arrived.

Li Ping offered too much, so the commander of the Demon Slayer Division agreed to the exchange.

\"Having only been in the Great Zhou for a few years, I\'ve already successfully obtained one of the three materials, the Eight Treasures Spiritual Spring Water. Will the remaining Golden Dew and Supreme Yang Wood be far behind?\" As he pondered, a smile involuntarily appeared on Li Ping\'s lips.

Besides the spiritual materials, another thing that surprised him was the administrative system of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Unlike the cultivation sects of the Western Wilderness who indirectly rule the mortal realm through their respective royal families, the Great Zhou Dynasty has two administrative teams from top to bottom.

These were ordinary officials, such as prefects and magistrates, selected by the Great Zhou royal family through the Confucian academy system. They were mainly responsible for managing ordinary affairs.

In addition, there are the Demon Slaying Division Commanders and Captains dispatched by the Immortal Alliance. These positions are held by cultivators in the Core Formation and Foundation Establishment stages, respectively. They are responsible for managing the cultivation sects, families, and independent cultivators within the county, and also have the responsibility of eliminating demons and evil spirits.

Naturally, the Demon Slayer Division, possessing absolute power, held a transcendent position within the prefectures and counties.

However, while they possess a superior status, they cannot do whatever they want.

After all, although mortal officials do not have spiritual roots and cannot cultivate, they have grown up through the Confucian academy system and can be considered as outer disciples of the Confucian sect.

The Demon Slayer Bureau can be supervised to some extent by reporting to the Confucian Academy.

Moreover, the Demon Slayer Division did not hold an absolute dominant position in a prefecture.

The Demon Slaying Division must also respect some cultivation families and sects with Core Formation cultivators in charge, and requires their cooperation in order to complete some special demon slaying missions and maintain order within the territory.

In short, the Demon Slaying Division Commander\'s Office, the Great Zhou Prefecture, and the local sects and families check and balance each other, which can be considered a kind of \"separation of powers\".

In addition, there are those super sects that have produced Nascent Soul cultivators and hold a pivotal position within the Immortal Alliance.

Before them, the Demon Slayer Division could only obediently submit and humble themselves.

For example, Lingxiao City, which Li Ping is currently heading to, is located within Ningtai County and should theoretically be under the jurisdiction of the Ningtai County Demon Slaying Division.

The commander of the Demon Slaying Division of Ke Ningtai County was just a lowly Core Formation stage cultivator. Even if he had a few more lives, he wouldn\'t dare to cause trouble in Lingxiao City!

The Three Elders of Lingxiao are not only Nascent Soul cultivators, but also elders of the Immortal Alliance.

With the three of them working together, they became very influential within the Immortal Alliance, and the righteous, demonic, and Confucian sects all had to give them face.

How could a mere county-level demon-slaying bureau possibly manage this? Daring to meddle with Lingxiao City would be suicidal.

A multitude of thoughts flashed through Li Ping\'s mind as he looked at the magnificent and imposing city that appeared in the distance, a smile involuntarily appearing in his eyes.

We have arrived at Lingxiao City.

……

As the premier city for independent cultivators in the Great Zhou Dynasty, Lingxiao City is situated beneath a fourth-grade superior spiritual vein, and the entire city\'s area spanning thousands of miles is enveloped by the fourth-grade formation, the \"Ten Directions Locking Heaven Formation.\"

Above the city, ten five-colored auspicious clouds floated and guarded it, emanating a mysterious aura.

Within the city, one could vaguely see three auras as deep and vast as the sea, standing like pillars reaching to the heavens, stirring up the winds and clouds!

As the flying boat approached, colorful streaks of light began to appear in the surrounding air, but most of them were Foundation Establishment cultivators leading Qi Refining cultivators, with very few Core Formation cultivators.

Clearly, even in Lingxiao City, the number one city of rogue cultivators in the Great Zhou Dynasty, a Core Formation cultivator can be considered a high-level cultivator.

The cultivators in the escaping light swept past Li Ping with their divine senses, and they all turned away in alarm, fearing that they might offend this senior.

Li Ping was unimpressed, his gaze fixed solely on the massive city before him.

As he flew closer, he could see clearly that Lingxiao City was built on a towering mountain peak, except that the mountain\'s summit was flat.

It\'s unclear whether it was naturally so, or whether a high-level cultivator used great supernatural powers to remove the original tip.

Lingxiao City is covered by an array. Once you fly in, you will be attacked by a fourth-order array. The only way to enter is through the 108 city gates of various sizes around the city.

Li Ping and Meng Wanjun landed in front of the city gate, which was hundreds of feet high.

Li Ping scanned the group of cultivators guarding the city gate with his divine sense and was surprised to find that there was actually a Foundation Establishment cultivator among them. The fact that a Foundation Establishment cultivator was assigned to guard the gate showed the depth of Lingxiao City\'s resources.

According to the rules of Lingxiao City, even Core Formation cultivators must register their identity information to obtain an identity token and pay the spirit stones required to make the token.

Li Ping did not provoke the three Nascent Soul cultivators. He gracefully arrived at a pavilion next to the city gate, paid the spirit stones, and asked the old cultivator inside to make identity tokens for himself and Meng Wanjun.

Having just arrived in the Great Zhou, they had no enemies in the area, so there was no need to hide their identities. They openly shared their information with the other party.

Li Ping: Early stage of Core Formation, a rogue cultivator.

Meng Wanjun: Mid-Foundation Establishment stage, independent cultivator.

In no time, the two received their identity tokens and followed the crowd into the city.

As they walked, the space around them gradually became empty.

It turned out that the fellow cultivators had sensed the Core Formation stage aura emanating from Li Ping and had silently given up space to avoid offending their senior.

Li Ping shook his head inwardly, unconvinced.

In the cultivation world where power resides within oneself, no matter what rules are established, the fact remains that high-level cultivators overwhelmingly defeat low-level cultivators.

It\'s not that everyone on Earth is afraid of kitchen knives.

If a low-level cultivator offends a high-level cultivator, all they can do is flee for their life. How could they dare not respect a Core Formation senior like themselves?

Soon, Li Ping and his companion entered the city.

Since we plan to stay in this city permanently, the first thing to do is naturally to rent a cave dwelling and settle down.

Following the information he had gleaned from the Foundation Establishment cultivator guarding the city gate, Li Ping launched his flying boat and headed towards the center of Lingxiao City with Meng Wanjun.

Lingxiao City is centered on a fourth-order spiritual vein, and expands outward in sequence into ten ring-shaped areas.

The cultivators who reside in Lingxiao City habitually divide these ten areas into rings, excluding the Lingxiao Palace at the very center, and then proceed outwards to the first ring, the second ring, the third ring, the fourth ring... all the way to the tenth ring.

The further you go into the inner ring, the better the spiritual environment becomes, and the more abundant the spiritual energy becomes.

However, the inner three rings are the residences of the disciples and relatives of the Three Elders of Lingxiao, and are not rented out to the public. As for the Lingxiao Palace at the very center, it is the cultivation ground of the three Nascent Soul cultivators, and no one is allowed to enter.

Therefore, even if Li Ping is not short of money, he can only afford to rent a cave dwelling in the Fourth Ring Road at most.

Fortunately, Lingxiao City has a large spiritual vein, and even in the fourth ring area, the concentration of spiritual energy can reach the third-grade upper level, which is more than enough to support his cultivation.

Li Ping piloted the flying boat at a leisurely pace for a good half hour before finally flying from the outermost area into the inner fourth ring road.

Following the information he had gathered, Li Ping searched carefully and finally the flying boat stopped in front of a beautifully decorated palace.

The palace in front of them was the place where Lingxiao City was responsible for renting cave dwellings in the fourth, fifth, and sixth ring areas. In the short time they landed, they saw many cultivators coming and going, which seemed quite busy.

And from time to time, streaks of light descended from behind them.

Li Ping nodded slightly: \"Let\'s go in.\"

\"Yes, young master.\" Meng Wanjun quickly agreed, her eyes curiously scanning her surroundings.

Suddenly—

Li Ping stopped in his tracks and looked in confusion at the endless stream of light in the sky, but he saw nothing.

\"What\'s wrong, young master?\" Meng Wanjun asked curiously.

\"It\'s nothing, I just thought I saw someone I knew.\" Li Ping shook his head and stepped into the main hall.

He did catch a glimpse of a beautiful figure out of the corner of his eye that resembled an old friend, but when he looked closely, he couldn\'t see the person at all.

I don\'t know if he saw it wrong, or if the person had already flown away.

Considering that there are many high-level cultivators in Lingxiao City, it is not convenient for him to use his divine sense to search, lest he offend those high-level cultivators for no reason.

\"If she is really in this city, we will meet again sooner or later.\"

Li Ping didn\'t pay too much attention to this matter and focused his attention back on the matter of renting the cave dwelling in front of him.

Upon entering the main hall, Li Ping immediately saw dozens of stone tables set up deep inside. Behind each stone table sat a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and in front of them sat other cultivators, chatting from time to time.

Clearly, these cultivators were all there to rent cave dwellings. As for the Foundation Establishment cultivators behind those dozens of stone tables, they were probably the staff members in Lingxiao City responsible for this matter.

Besides the cultivators who were talking, there were still quite a few other cultivators waiting in the main hall.

However, Li Ping had no patience to wait here. He coughed lightly, took a step forward, and the aura of a Core Formation cultivator surged out from his body, covering the dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The expressions of everyone in the hall immediately changed.

\"Senior, would you like to rent a cave dwelling in this city? What are your requirements?\" A Foundation Establishment cultivator dressed in black robes jogged out from behind the hall and bowed respectfully to Li Pingping.

Li Ping concealed his aura and smiled at him: \"I do need to rent a cave dwelling. As for my requirements... the higher the concentration of spiritual energy, the better. A place of about ten acres should be enough.\"

Upon hearing this, the black-robed cultivator quickly led Li Ping and the other man into a private room at the back of the hall: \"Senior, please wait a moment while I check.\"

After saying that, he took out a jade slip and began to search carefully inside.

Li Ping merely glanced at him before silently waiting.

He knew that this jade slip was a set of magical artifacts made using special magic, consisting of a mother slip and a child slip.

As long as they are within a certain range, child files can share information from parent files and can make some simple modifications.

All the information about the cave dwellings within Lingxiao City should have been recorded in the master slip, while the stewards in the main hall each held a sub-slip.

In this way, they can find the cave information they need at any time by using the bamboo slip according to the conditions.

If any cave dwelling is rented out, they can use the slip of paper to modify the information of that cave dwelling without interfering with the normal work of the other stewards.

soon.

The black-robed cultivator\'s expression brightened, and he respectfully said, \"Senior, there are still seven vacant cave dwellings in the fourth ring area. The spiritual energy environment of these seven cave dwellings has reached the third-grade upper level, but the size and location of the cave dwellings are different.\"

\"Senior, you can consider which cave dwelling is more suitable.\"

As he spoke, he placed the bamboo slip on the table, ran his hand across its surface, and seven exquisitely crafted cave projections appeared one after another in the void before him.

Li Ping nodded slightly and began to examine the seven cave dwellings without any hesitation.

To his surprise, the rental arrangement for the cave dwellings in Lingxiao City was on a ten-year cycle, with a minimum rental period of ten years.

As for the rent, it\'s not considered expensive.

The most expensive one only costs 1,500 spirit stones for a ten-year rent, and the cave dwelling is about 20 acres in size.

That adds up to 150 spirit stones a year, which is much more expensive than the price Li Ping initially paid in his cave at Immortal Peach Mountain.

In fact, the Immortal Peach Mountain Cave covers a vast area of ​​a thousand acres, far exceeding the size of this cave. However, the spiritual energy environment of this cave has reached the upper-grade third rank, which is something the Immortal Peach Mountain Cave cannot compare to.

Considering the different environments of the Great Zhou and the Western Wilderness, with the Great Zhou having more high-level spiritual veins, and given that cave dwellings here are rented for a minimum of ten years, the prices should be lower, so this price is reasonable.

Having made up his mind, Li Ping checked the location of the cave dwelling again and found that it was situated next to a spiritual river flowing out of Lingxiao Palace. The environment was beautiful, making it a river view property.

Without further hesitation, he pointed to the chosen cave dwelling and said, \"This cave dwelling is fine; I\'ll take it.\"

Seeing Li Ping raise his hand and choose the most expensive third-tier cave dwelling, the black-robed cultivator couldn\'t help but show joy in his eyes. The higher the value of the rented cave dwelling, the higher his salary commission would be.

\"Alright, the rent for this cave dwelling is 1,500 spirit stones for ten years. I will process the formalities for you now, senior.\" He said impatiently, while looking at Li Ping with a smile.

Li Ping nodded, and with a casual wave of his hand, a mountain of spirit stones appeared on the table.

After the spirit stones were counted, the black-robed cultivator immediately began processing Li Ping\'s check-in by holding a slip of paper in his hand.

After all the formalities were completed, he took a cyan jade token from inside the hall and respectfully handed it to Li Ping: \"This is the cave dwelling token. With this token, you can freely enter and exit the cave dwelling. However, the token is only valid for ten years. If you intend to continue living here after the ten years expire, I will come to your door to serve you.\"

Li Ping smiled and put away the jade token, then walked out of the hall with Meng Wanjun.

\"Young Master, shall we go to the cave now?\" Meng Wanjun asked, sticking out her tongue.

Li Ping nodded: \"Okay, let\'s settle down first.\"

The next chapter is even more exciting: Chapter 344 Lingxiao City and the beautiful figure of an old friend. We look forward to your visit.