Douluo Continent: Long Live the Spirit Hall

"Pah! You lecherous scoundrel, can't you think of anything healthy in your head?"

"However, red hair is rare, and this person's hair is like flames."

"You're making a fuss over nothing. I've even seen people with naturally white hair."

"That's enough, stop discussing other people's appearances."

"We're almost at Zhongtian City. Everyone should get back into the swing of things and work hard during this time."

"Zhongtian City, I've heard it's very prosperous. I'd like to explore it properly."

"That's enough. We're here to participate in the Dzi Bead Competition, not for tourism."

……

As the carriage sped past, the young people on board couldn't help but discuss the young man's unusual appearance.

The young man riding a horse was none other than Yan, who had recently arrived in the Zhongtian Empire on the vast continent. After arriving, he learned a little about the situation and planned to go to Zhongtian City to broaden his horizons. However, he did not expect that things would be so lively during this time.

He has encountered three similar young teams of about ten people in the past two days, all of which were heading to Zhongtian City to participate in the Heavenly Pearl Competition.

"A team of this age, with such decent cultivation, must be from some country. The Heavenly Jewel Tournament is going to be interesting!"

Yan watched the carriage procession disappear into the distance, continuing his journey at a leisurely pace. He had overheard the group of young people discussing their affairs, but he didn't care. Instead, he was quite interested in the identities of these young people.

"Nether Flower? If I remember correctly, that's a very rare surname, and the aura emanating from that girl is definitely a bit off. A descendant of an Evil Bead Master? Interesting!"

Yan smiled slightly. Among the group of young people who had just been discussing him, several girls were the most enthusiastic. He noticed something about one of the girls, the one called Minghua, who seemed to be quite attractive.

"We're almost at Zhongtian City! Tianzhu Island looks very interesting!"

Yan rode his horse at a steady, unhurried pace. In the distance, a vast canyon appeared ahead, and there were noticeably more pedestrians passing by. He looked up at the sky and could vaguely make out the silhouette of a magnificent canyon.

From his current position, he could clearly see that, about several dozen miles away, enormous stone pillars of immense thickness rose into the sky and disappeared into the clouds.

It's impossible to tell just by looking at them how huge these stone pillars are, but the sight of all sixteen enormous stone pillars towering into the clouds still fills many people with awe.

At this moment, the group that had just overtaken Yan was also gazing at the towering stone pillar in the distance, and they couldn't help but exclaim in various amazement.

"Look, everyone, that's Zhongtian Mountain, the most iconic place in the entire Zhongtian Empire. Within the sixteen pillars of Zhongtian Mountain lies the entire Zhongtian City, and standing atop these sixteen pillars is Tianzhu Island, where the Haomiao Palace is located."

"The Zhongtian Empire has always been proud of this as the center of the continent. They certainly have reason to be proud, as such a spectacle is unique on the continent."

"It's breathtaking. These dozen or so huge stone pillars really seem to connect the sky and the earth; calling them pillars of heaven is no exaggeration."

"Hey! Sister Cai, look, that handsome guy we just saw is here too."

"Minghua, are you really in heat? You've been peeping at me so many times along the way."

"Sister Cai, don't wrong me. I just think this handsome guy has a lot of charisma."

……

A group of young people were talking quietly. At first, the topic was quite normal, but when two girls who had huddled together noticed Yan, the conversation went a bit off-topic.

Yan had been admiring the spectacular scenery of Zhongtian Mountain and Tianzhu Island, but he couldn't ignore the two beauties discussing him. His gaze shifted from the distance, following the sound to several graceful figures.

This carriage team of about ten people consisted of young people under the age of thirty, most of whom were only in their early twenties. There were both men and women among them, with fewer women but of quite good quality.

Two of them particularly caught Yan's attention; they were the two beauties he had been discussing most enthusiastically earlier. One was Minghua, and the other, judging from the whispers of the group, was probably named Caicai.

Yan's gaze narrowed slightly, first falling on the girl, who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. She wore a spotless white dress, and her large, bright blue eyes sparkled with intelligence. A smile played on her lips, adding a touch of girlish playfulness and liveliness.

Although the girl looked young, her figure was unusually mature. While she was still a bit less attractive than the Zhu family's cat sisters, whom Zhiyan adored, she was already considered stunning among her peers.

Minghua's figure and appearance are top-notch, and her playful and lively nature is very attractive. You can see that there are many young men fawning over her.

However, in Yan's opinion, the beautiful woman named Cai Cai, who was being held by Ming Hua, was more attractive, with a better figure and appearance.

Cai Cai is much larger than Ming Hua. She looks to be around twenty-four or twenty-five years old, and her figure is much more voluptuous and mature. If Ming Hua is a budding flower, then Cai Cai is a fully blooming flower and a completely ripe fruit.

She wore a long black robe decorated with gold threads, her long black hair was curled up and neatly combed back with a gold ring, and her fair and beautiful face always carried a faint smile.

Yan could sense the intangible elegance and nobility emanating from this beautiful woman, somewhat similar to Tang Yuehua and Xue Ke. That nobility emanated from within and was displayed naturally. She must be a woman from a noble family, or even a member of the royal family.

Yan's undisguised gaze fell on the girls, and they quickly noticed him. The group of girls stared at him while covering their mouths and whispering. Before long, the Nether Flower was pushed out and walked straight towards him.

The ghost flower swayed gracefully as she walked up to Yan and smiled slightly. Looking at Yan's calm and composed face, her smile deepened. She parted her cherry lips and spoke in an unusually charming voice, "Handsome, can we get to know each other?"

Minghua's voice has an indescribable allure, with a soft tone and a touch of coquettishness, yet it seems to contain a hint of coldness, a very peculiar but also very tempting feeling.

"Huh? Me!"

Yan seemed to have been startled by her earlier, turning his gaze away. His voice still carried a hint of confusion. If Minghua hadn't noticed that Yan was watching them, she might have actually been fooled by him.

"Of course it's you, handsome! We bumped into each other on the street just now, and now we've met again. Don't you think it's quite a coincidence?"

Minghua extended her slender, fair hand towards Yan, her gentle smile carrying a hint of amusement. "My name is Minghua. What's your name, handsome?"

"Me! Yan!"

Yan looked at the smiling girl in front of him, reached out and grabbed her soft and warm hand. He easily dissipated the power coming from her hand, then took her hand to his lips and gently kissed the back of her hand.

Yan kissed the beautiful woman's hand behind her back and said with a smile, "This is a custom from a country near my hometown. I hope you like it."

"Is there really such a thing as etiquette...?"

Minghua was slightly taken aback. Looking at the serious and handsome face in front of her, her jade-like face flushed red. She struggled slightly with her small hands, but not too much.

Yan didn't let go; instead, he tightened his grip a little, turning her small hand over and pointing to the lines on her palm, he said softly, "Do you know about the Underworld Flower? In my hometown, that country still studies palmistry. Your palm looks like..."

Yan chatted with the beautiful woman named Minghua for quite a while, and their relationship became unusually intimate in a short period of time. He held Minghua's two small hands one after the other to read her palms, and the girl's shyly looking up from time to time made even her companions in the distance unable to bear it.

"Minghua, come back quickly, we're leaving!"

Just as Yan was performing magic tricks while holding Minghua's little hand, Minghua's teammates called out from not far away.

"Oh! I have to go back now, goodbye."

As if waking from a dream, the girl broke free from Yan's grasp, blushed, bowed to him, and then fled back to her own group. Armed with the beautiful girl named Cai Cai, she quickly walked towards the carriage. Just before boarding, she turned back and waved goodbye to Yan.

"The Flower of the Underworld, the Flower of the Underworld, is quite nice. However, the evil bead master bloodline within her is far from awakening, though her life attribute is quite good."

Yan Yao waved goodbye to Minghua, watching the beauty's departing figure. He touched his nose with the hand that had benefited him greatly. The brief respite had given him a deeper understanding of Minghua.

"Zhongtian City, the Heavenly Pearl Competition, looks like I'll have to find a chance to create some more chance encounters!"

A smile crept onto Yan's lips. This Minghua was not only beautiful but also of unusual status; she could be used as a breakthrough point. He could honestly say that he wasn't attracted to her because she was pretty.

Chapter 497 Zhongtian City

Zhongtian City was bustling with activity during this period because of a major event for the younger generation on the mainland: the Heavenly Pearl Competition was about to be held in the Zhongtian Empire.

The Tianzhu Competition is a grand event organized by nation. Because it involves the division of interests on Tianzhu Island, each competition brings together elites from Tianzhu academies across the mainland.

Each year, the top four countries in the Heavenly Bead Competition, along with all participants, receive a token from Heavenly Bead Island. With this token, they can visit Heavenly Bead Island three times. The final competition will also be held on Heavenly Bead Island for the participants from the top four countries.

Heavenly Pearl Island is a sacred place that almost all Heavenly Pearl Masters on the vast continent yearn for. Heavenly Pearl Island is rich in many rare and precious medicinal herbs and mineral resources. The enormous profits from this naturally drive many Heavenly Pearl Masters to compete in the Heavenly Pearl Tournament.

When discussing Tianzhu Island and the Tianzhu Tournament, one must mention the Seven Great Empires and the Five Holy Lands. The Vast Continent is extremely vast, with dozens of countries, each varying in strength. Among them, the two most powerful empires are the Zhongtian Empire and the Wanshou Empire.

The Beast Empire occupies the entire northern border of the continent, covering nearly a quarter of the continent's area, making it a rather unique empire.

Totem worship is prevalent in the Beast Empire, where humans and beasts live together. The empire is largely composed of tribal communities, making it more of a tribal alliance than a nation.

Because the land in the northern frontier is mostly grassland and unsuitable for cultivation, and the people of the Beast Empire, whose main population is tribes, are not good at farming, they would directly choose to invade and plunder the south whenever food was scarce. Therefore, their relationship with many southern countries on the continent was particularly strained.

The Zhongtian Empire occupies a vast area in the center of the continent, mostly plains most suitable for cultivation, and its total area is even larger than that of the Ten Thousand Beasts Empire.

These two great empires occupied almost four-sevenths of the continent's area. Even the combined size of the Feli Empire and the Baida Empire, located in the western part of the continent, was less than half the size of either of these two great empires.

There are five second-rate countries like the Feli Empire on the vast continent. In addition to the Feli Empire and the Baida Empire, there is the Danton Empire in the south of the continent, and the Blancpain Empire and the Griffino Empire in the east of the continent.

These five second-tier nations, along with the kingdoms of Wan Shou and Zhong Tian, ​​occupy more than 90 percent of the continent's area.

The remaining twenty-odd small countries comprised the remaining ten percent. These remaining small countries were mostly located in buffer zones between the two empires, essentially safe zones demarcated to avoid direct conflict between the two empires. They were, in essence, surviving in the cracks between powerful empires.

Because of their absolute advantage in territory and population, the seven great empires produced many powerful figures and occupied an absolute dominant position, while other small countries, although occasionally producing powerful figures, found it difficult to shake the position of the seven great empires.

The seven great empires control more than 90% of the territory and population of the vast continent, and their influence is naturally enormous. However, above these seven royal families, there are several Heavenly Jewel Master forces that have always enjoyed a transcendent status, which are the so-called Five Holy Lands.

The Five Sacred Lands are five powerful forces located in five different places on the continent. They include the Valley of Affection, known as the First Valley of the Eastern Region; the Crimson Prison, known as the First Prison of the Southern Region; the Heavenly Evil Cult, known as the First Evil Cult of the Western Region; the Snow God Mountain, the First Peak of the Northern Region; and the Vast Palace, the First Palace of the Central Region. These are collectively known as the Five Sacred Lands.

These five holy sites are all guarded by extremely powerful dzi bead masters, and the dzi bead masters they are assigned each have their own unique characteristics.

Among them, the strongest are the Vast Palace of the Central Heaven Empire and the Snow God Mountain of the Myriad Beasts Empire. The most elite Heavenly Jewel Masters can take the head of a general from the midst of a vast army as easily as taking something out of a bag.

Therefore, even the royal families of various countries are unwilling to offend these five holy lands. However, the five holy lands are also very sensible, and since they mostly have good relations with their respective countries, they will protect important figures of those countries when necessary.

The most obvious example is the Beast Empire. Snow God Mountain is directly called a divine mountain in the Beast Empire, and the lord of Snow God Mountain can even decide the succession of the throne in the Beast Empire, which shows the status of this divine mountain.

The five holy lands enjoy a great reputation on the continent, but their relationship with each other is not very good. The Heavenly Evil Cult is known as the Evil Bead Master because its Heavenly Power attribute is easy to lose control. It has always been rejected by the mainstream Heavenly Bead Master group and usually does not dare to show its face.

Besides the Heavenly Evil Sect, Snow God Mountain also has strained relations with Blood Red Prison and Valley of Affection. The Ten Thousand Beasts Empire, which they support, frequently marches south and has conflicts with almost all the empires on the continent.

The Vast Expanse Palace has always maintained neutrality and never easily provokes trouble. It sits on Tianzhu Island above the Zhongtian Empire, the strongest country on the continent.

However, the Zhongtian Empire and the Wanshou Empire have always been at odds. It is precisely because of the deterrent effect of the Haomiao Palace that Xueshenshan does not dare to easily declare its support for the Wanshou Empire to launch a war.

This complex situation has allowed the five empires to maintain a delicate balance. ...As the capital of the Zhongtian Empire, Zhongtian City's grandeur and size go without saying.

When Yan arrived in this city, even with his extensive knowledge, he was still slightly shocked.

I didn't feel much when I looked at Tianzhu Mountain from afar, but when I got close, I could see how terrifying the sixteen thick stone pillars were. Each stone pillar was probably thousands of meters in diameter, and they towered into the clouds like pillars supporting the sky.

The city walls of Zhongtian City were also built on the foundation of these sixteen enormous celestial pillars. This city, covering an area of ​​five thousand square kilometers, is even larger than some small empires on the vast continent. It truly deserves to be the largest city on the continent, and can be said to be the largest city Yan has ever seen.

Upon closer inspection, it stretched as far as the eye could see. In other cities, farming and other agricultural activities were generally located outside the city walls, but Zhongtian City was so vast that all industry and agriculture were actually located within the city walls, or more precisely, within the outer city walls.

Without a doubt, Zhongtian City itself is like a small country. With such a giant city existing, the status of the Zhongtian royal family is almost unshakeable.

Above Zhongtian City, clouds and mist swirl, and it is said that the land supported at the end of the sixteen heavenly pillars is Tianzhu Island.

Because of Tianzhu Island, sunlight can only enter the city from the side. However, the churning clouds and mist obscure the view, making it impossible to see the entire island.

After entering Tianzhu City, the journey continued. Only when you reach the inner city of Zhongtian City can you be said to have truly arrived at the core of Zhongtian City.

Upon entering the inner city, Yan experienced an unusual level of bustling activity. Almost none of the buildings along the street were more than three stories high, and each building possessed a simple, ancient style, adorned with diverse carvings, exuding an ancient and mysterious cultural atmosphere that gave one a completely different feeling.

After entering the inner city, Yan asked a few questions from the passersby and then headed towards the imperial palace in the center of the inner city.

The Zhongtian Imperial City is located in the center of the inner city. Since the registration point for the Heavenly Pearl Competition is located at the main gate square outside the imperial city, this place is also very lively.

"This place is really lively! Found them, the Feli Empire team, Minghua, Caicai, Mingyu..." Yan arrived at the square outside the imperial city, which was more than a thousand meters long and wide. After searching around, he confirmed the whereabouts of the Feli team and then marked the Snow God Mountain team. Only then did he have time to take a look at the huge square.

In the center of the square, which is a kilometer long and wide, stands a huge statue that is thirty meters tall. The statue is of a man with long hair, an extremely strong body, and a pair of huge wings spread out behind him.