Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

After setting off from Heyu County, the entire team picked up speed.

He Ming and General He seemed unwilling to encounter the same troubles on their journey as before, so Yi Yang and his group stopped stopping in the towns along the way, extending their daily travel time to the limit.

The lead riders' exotic horses were tireless, and the elite Wind Chariot riders had iron buttocks, showing little reaction even after being bounced around on their mounts all day.

However, this rapid journey exhausted the thirty Zhenfu Guards under Yi Yang's command.

Although they were riding exotic beasts, their bloodlines were quite ordinary, and they needed to rest for a while every day. Despite being experts in the Inner Qi Realm, their thighs were not chafed, but they were still in great pain. Everyone on the horse was grimacing, but no one made a sound.

As a True Qi Realm expert, Xu Min was naturally in no condition. He occasionally glanced back at his brothers behind him and gestured with his eyes—endure it.

Yi Yang and his group were fine, but another group in the team was in serious trouble. Meng Kuo from the Punishment Division of Qingqu Prefecture and his men were clearly unable to withstand such a high-intensity march. Except for Meng Kuo, who was at the True Qi Realm, the rest of them were panting heavily.

The other leader, Commander He, didn't look so good. He hadn't expected his team to be so incompetent, but he didn't say much. The team had been on a forced march for the past few days.

As the group continued to advance, they were no longer traveling alone on the official road.

The further north you go, the more congested the roads become.

Carriages, cavalry, and even warriors on foot converged from all directions, crowding the originally wide official road to the point of being impassable.

Various flags fluttered in the wind, embroidered with sect emblems and family totems that Yi Yang had never seen before.

Qingzhou was under the jurisdiction of thirty-eight prefectures.

Every prefecture city is sending its most elite forces to Qingzhou City.

Everyone wants a piece of the lucrative "Commerce and Trade Bureau".

In the towns along the way, every inn was fully booked, and prices had more than tripled.

A simple bowl of meat noodles can sell for half a coin.

The thresholds of the weapons shop and the medicine shop are almost worn down by the crowds.

The most outrageous thing was a booklet called "List of Heroes," which was sold for five taels of silver a copy, and there was no market for it.

Xu Minhua spent a lot of money to get a copy, and when he opened the first page, he saw his master's name.

"Sir, you're number fifty-eight!" He approached Yiyang's horse, his face showing a hint of pride and excitement.

Yi Yang didn't speak, but just looked at the endless line of people in front of him, without feeling the slightest ripple in his heart.

This is the chain reaction brought about by the opening of the Trade Office. All the powerful figures from the thirty-eight prefectures under Qingzhou's jurisdiction are rushing to Qingzhou City. Those who have been conscripted, those who haven't been conscripted but want to try their luck, those who do logistics trading, those who sell information, and even fortune tellers and physiognomists have all sensed the business opportunity.

He was ranked fifty-eighth on the list, but there wasn't a single person at the Profound Realm on the list.

Ultimately, these people are just pebble on a chessboard; they don't even qualify to be pebble until they reach the Profound Realm.

With this thought in mind, Yi Yang was not blinded by the excitement.

He traveled during the day and delved into his mind at night to practice sword techniques. His progress in "Vermilion Bird Burning Flames" and "White Tiger Roaring at the Moon" increased every day.

Due to the delays caused by the Qingqu Prefecture's Punishment Division, the group finally arrived at the border of Qingzhou after eight days of travel.

As the group crossed a not-so-high hill, He Ming reined in the horses and pointed ahead, saying:

"arrive."

His voice wasn't loud, but it made everyone behind him stop.

Yi Yang looked up and followed the direction he was pointing.

He was stunned.

At the edge of the horizon, a city appeared.

Or rather, it wasn't a city.

It was a massive, endless black wall stretching between heaven and earth.

The wall is so high that even the clouds in the sky have to go around it when they get close.

The sunlight fell on the dark city walls, but it didn't reflect a single ray of light, as if even the light itself had been swallowed up by the giant city.

Countless wide official roads and waterways, like rivers flowing into the sea, converged from all directions toward the gate of that giant city.

Even from dozens of miles away, one could still see the dense crowds of people and vehicles at the city gate, like an ant colony.

Behind the city wall, the outlines of countless towering buildings can be vaguely seen, with flying eaves and brackets, layer upon layer. In the deepest part, there are even several palaces with golden roofs shimmering in the sunlight, like heavenly palaces in myths and legends.

"Gulp."

One of the guards behind Xu Min swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing.

Not just him.

All the Zhenfu Guards who came out of Suining Prefecture, including Xu Min, were stunned.

They had never seen a city like this in their entire lives.

Is this something a human could create?

"This is Qingzhou City."

He Ming's voice rang out from the front of the group, carrying a calm that seemed to come with a sense of familiarity, but if you listened carefully, you could also detect a hint of hidden pride:

"In the nineteen prefectures of the Great Yu Dynasty, every prefectural city was like this."

"This place gathers the most wealth, the strongest people, and endless resources that you can't even imagine in the entire state."

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over the guards behind Yi Yang, and warned them in a serious tone:

"But you must also remember this."

"In this city, let alone those in the True Qi Realm, even those in the Profound Realm or Grandmasters must obediently follow the rules here."

"A random passerby you bump into on the street might be a core member of a century-old family, or a descendant of a powerful figure on the Hidden Dragon List."

"So, everyone, keep your eyes open and watch your hands, feet, and mouths."

"If you cause trouble here, no one can protect you."

After He Ming's brief introduction, their team restarted.

As they drew closer, the oppressive feeling of that colossal city grew stronger.

When they arrived at the city gate, Yi Yang looked up but couldn't even see the top of the city wall.

The city gate alone was higher than the city wall of Suining Prefecture.

The process of entering the city went more smoothly than Yi Yang had expected.

The Xifeng Cavalry's black armor and tokens were the best passes. The guards glanced at the documents He Ming presented and skipped the inspection, letting him pass directly.

The group slowly entered the city with the flow of people.

The moment I stepped through the city gate, an atmosphere a hundred times more prosperous than that of the prefectural city rushed towards me.

The main bluestone road beneath our feet is wide enough to accommodate twenty horse-drawn carriages side by side.

The buildings on both sides of the street are at least five or six stories high, with carved beams and painted rafters, each with its own unique style, bringing together the architectural essence of the thirty-eight prefectures of Qingzhou.

The scale of the various shops far exceeded that of the prefectural city.

Just by glancing at the weapon shops selling magical artifacts, Yi Yang saw no fewer than ten.

The guards behind Yi Yang looked around like country bumpkins visiting the Grand View Garden, their eyes darting about, mouths slightly agape, as if they had never seen anything like it before.

Even Xu Min, who had just broken through to the True Qi Realm, was so shocked by the scene before him that he couldn't utter a word for a long time.

Yi Yang watched all of this silently.

His heart was far from as calm as it appeared on the surface.

Lu Quan'an is right. With his limited strength, he wouldn't even make a splash here.

Just then.

Suddenly, a commotion arose from the direction of the city gate.

The crowd seemed to be parted by an invisible force, retreating to both sides to make way for a wide passage.

A strange roar came from afar.

Yi Yang looked back.

A group of people were seen slowly entering from outside the city gate.

This group consisted of about a hundred people, with the leaders riding on a kind of beast that resembled a fierce tiger and had wings on its back.

Behind the monsters followed all sorts of strange mounts, including a giant wolf with three eyes, a giant lizard covered in blue scales, and even several jellyfish-like soft creatures floating half a foot off the ground.

The people's clothing and appearance were also completely different from those of the people of the Great Yu Kingdom.

Most of them wore short clothes made of animal skin or linen, with bronze skin, and their bodies were painted with various strange totems. Their necks and wrists were covered with bone ornaments and colorful stones.

A wild and untamed aura swept over us.

"They are from the Southern Frontier Witch Kingdom."

Upon seeing the team, He Ming's voice rang out from the side, introducing them with a touch of solemnity:

"They actually arrived ahead of schedule."

The arrival of the Wu Kingdom delegation plunged the entire street into an eerie silence.

The local people and martial artists looked at the group of visitors from a foreign land with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

The delegation moved forward at a moderate pace.

In the middle of the group, a girl sat on the back of a giant wolf with snow-white fur.

She looked young, about sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing a brightly colored linen dress, barefoot, with a string of small silver bells tied around her ankles, which made a crisp sound as the giant wolf moved.

The girl was extremely beautiful, with features that had a three-dimensional quality unlike those of women from the Central Plains. Her eyes were large and bright, like two obsidian stones, full of curiosity about everything around her.

Her name is Mu Yanluo, which is, of course, her real name.

To outsiders, she is known as Wu Yanluo.

She sat on the wolf's back, her little head turning back and forth, sometimes looking at the candy vendors by the roadside, sometimes at the red lanterns hanging in the restaurant, finding everything new and interesting.

"Is this the capital of Dayu? It's much bigger than our royal city."

She spoke softly in the language of the Wu Kingdom to a guard of the delegation riding a giant lizard beside her.

The guard, equally astonished, exclaimed, "Your Excellency, this place is indeed incredibly prosperous. I have never seen such exquisite buildings in my entire life."

Mu Yanlu stuck out her tongue and didn't say anything more, but her curious eyes continued to scan the crowd.

Then, her gaze met that of someone in the crowd.

It was an old man standing by the roadside, dressed in the uniform of an official from the Celestial Patrol Bureau.

He had a full head of black hair, but his face looked older than his age, and his eyes were cloudy. He looked quite ordinary.

However, at the very moment their eyes met.

Mu Yanluo felt her head buzz.

It was as if an invisible, cold hand had pierced through the distance of space and gently caressed her soul.

It was a kind of tremor that could not be described in words.

It was neither murderous intent nor intimidation.

Rather, it is a kind of overwhelming, irresistible, and absolute crushing force that originates from the level of the soul.

Like an ant that looks up and sees the sky.

The girl's face turned pale instantly.

All her strength seemed to be drained away in an instant, her body went limp, and she almost fell off the wolf's back, which was several meters high.

"My lord!"

The guards beside her were shocked and quickly reached out to support her.

"What's wrong?"

Mu Yanluo gripped the guard's arm tightly, her knuckles taut with the force.

She gasped for breath, her chest heaving, and for the first time, horror appeared in her obsidian-like eyes.

She steadied herself and looked in that direction again.

But the old man in official robes had already turned his head, put his hands behind his back, and slowly followed the procession in front of him.

His figure was inconspicuous in the bustling crowd.

Like a pebble thrown into a great river.

"I...I'm fine."

Mu Yanluo's voice trembled slightly, almost imperceptibly.

As she watched that departing figure, a storm raged within her.

Dayu...

Just how many terrifying entities are hidden in this country?

Even an ordinary old man standing on the street... possesses such unfathomable strength?

Yi Yang withdrew his gaze. He was somewhat curious about the girl from before; the aura emanating from her was strange. Her martial arts cultivation seemed to be concealed, but her spiritual energy fluctuations were unusually active, even stronger than some of the True Qi Realm Perfection guards in the delegation.

Yi Yang's cultivation of the stillness image in "Mind Monkey Guarding the Will Technique" has reached a near-perfect level. His divine sense has entered the "Breaking Illusion" realm, and his spiritual power has been integrated into his perceptual instincts.

When he looks at anyone, his gaze is unconsciously enveloped in a very faint layer of divine power.

Their eyes just met.

For ordinary martial artists, this layer of divine sense is too weak to be perceived.

But for someone with exceptionally sharp mental abilities—that would be extremely dangerous.

The spiritual power of the "Breaking Illusion" realm is not something that ordinary people in the Profound Realm can possess. You should know that people in the True Qi Realm cannot cultivate spiritual power. Only after one's strength enters the Profound Realm can one come into contact with cultivation. The "Breaking Illusion" realm is located in the second realm of divine sense.

Yi Yang's powerful divine sense was also one of his trump cards. It was not surprising that the girl was startled by him just now, or rather, it was surprising that the girl's spiritual power could detect the very faint fluctuation of divine sense in his eyes.

To avoid trouble, Yi Yang followed He Ming's group and blended into the crowd.