Chapter 11: Chao Ge City

Qin Chengming sat beside the woods outside the city, lost in thought through the entire night. As dawn approached and early risers began to gather, clamoring to enter the city, the noise finally roused him from his reverie.

Chao Ge City served as a gateway from the Eastern Sea to the Imperial Ocean Sect, and the entrance inspection was notably strict. Not only were cultivators stationed nearby, scanning with their spiritual senses at all times, but a colossal mirror stood beside the gate. Every person entering the city had to stand before it for a moment; only if the reflection matched their real self would they be allowed through.

The entrance fee was not expensive. Qin Chengming watched as an old man ahead simply tossed a fish from his box and was admitted. Unfortunately, he had no fish himself—he wondered if the fruit he had plucked from a tree the day before might suffice. His worries soon subsided when he saw several others offering fruit as their entrance fee.

The queue moved quickly, everyone familiar with the rules. Qin Chengming drifted forward with the crowd, soon finding himself before the mirror. His reflection revealed a man in disheveled clothing, wild hair, and only a presentable face. Embarrassed, Qin Chengming tried to smooth his hair, hoping to appear somewhat normal.

Cultivators from the City Lord’s Manor regularly rotated shifts at the gate, scanning for those who slipped through undetected.

Chao Ge City had once been plagued by rogue demon cultivators causing havoc, but such incidents had become rare in recent years. As a result, the inspectors were no longer as stringent as before.

With the soul mirror serving as the primary checkpoint, Wei Changqing, on duty, grew somewhat inattentive. He glanced lazily ahead and suddenly noticed a man before the mirror, dressed like a beggar, awkwardly primping as if posing. The sight was so absurd he couldn’t help but laugh aloud—a sound that chased away his sleepiness and restored his energy.

Qin Chengming was sensitive to the eyes upon him and immediately realized the laughter was directed at him. He wasn’t offended. When his time at the mirror was up, he placed his fruit in the collection box and proceeded into the city.

“Hey! You, the man draped in rags, stop for a moment.” Wei Changqing retrieved the bag of fruit Qin Chengming had just deposited and called after him.

Qin Chengming tugged at his “clothes.” If one didn’t recognize the materials, he truly did look as though he were wrapped in scraps.

He turned back helplessly. “Is there a problem? I paid the entrance fee.” He hoped there weren’t any special requirements, since he had seen several others pay with fruit.

Wei Changqing noticed the tension in Qin Chengming’s expression and realized his sudden shout had startled the man. He was about to explain, but upon seeing Qin Chengming fully, he paused, his gaze flickering. After a brief glance at the bag in his hand, he thrust it back into Qin Chengming’s arms and hurried away as if fleeing from a ghost, returning to his post to continue “slacking off.”

Back at his station, Wei Changqing didn’t spare Qin Chengming a second glance. Qin Chengming, however, looked back at him several times. Seeing Wei Changqing already closing his eyes in meditation, Qin Chengming finally turned to leave.

When he was far enough away, Qin Chengming weighed the fruit in his hand and stored it in his pouch. That man was truly interesting—likely worried that this “pauper” might starve in the city, he returned the fruit used as the entrance fee.

“No matter what, it was a gesture of goodwill,” murmured Qin Chengming as he continued toward the city.

Wei Changqing, seeing the strange man finally gone, glanced at the bustling street. At first, he’d thought the man was a beggar, but the fruit he had used as his entrance fee included two valuable spirit fruits. Moved by rare compassion, he wanted Qin Chengming to sell them for a bit of money; those spirit fruits were worth quite a sum, enough to improve his lot.

Yet, as he approached, he realized the man’s appearance was full of contradictions. Not to mention his flawless skin, which no ordinary person could possess, but the man’s eyes held neither awe nor fear for cultivators. Even when facing a guest officer from the City Lord’s Manor, his gaze remained calm, like a deep, indifferent pool—he looked at Wei Changqing as if he were a trivial character.

Wei Changqing had intended to offer some advice, but after seeing those eyes, he instinctively fled. Thinking about it, his face burned with embarrassment—how cowardly he had been!

“I wonder who that fellow is. Could he be a royal-class demon beast come to play? The soul mirror showed no anomaly—either he’s above royal rank or simply human. Who cares? The household cuts our monthly benefits in half and still expects us to work harder. If it weren’t for my reluctance to relocate, who would want to work under that lot?” Wei Changqing muttered as he watched the incoming crowd, occasionally scanning with his spiritual sense to prove he was dutifully working.

The ordinary guards beside him only saw Wei Changqing mumbling, thinking he was casting spells to detect anomalies among the people. Their respect for him grew; after all, other cultivators on duty here spent the entire day with their eyes closed, opening them only when they needed servants, appearing especially aloof.

Qin Chengming had just entered the city’s busiest commercial district. His eyes were busy taking in the wares around him, completely unaware that he had already been labeled as a royal beast by others—even if he knew, he wouldn’t care.

The goods sold here were vastly different from those in the Eighth Realm. There, everyone aspired to cultivation—even ordinary folk sought to enter the Way through martial arts. As such, most items for sale were related to cultivation. But along his way here, most items had no practical use: fine clothes and jewelry, beautiful but offering neither defense nor attack, decorative pieces with no effect, and expensive antique bottles devoid of spiritual energy...

Qin Chengming couldn’t fathom how people here would squander resources in pursuit of luxury and pleasure. When he witnessed two young people bidding over a useless antique vase, raising the price to over a thousand mid-grade spirit stones, he nearly wanted to hang them up and give them a beating!

Those were mid-grade spirit stones! Only mines of sufficient quality produced them, and in the Eighth Realm they were reserved as strategic resources—ordinary transactions or formations used only low-grade stones or materials. Was this world so wealthy that mid-grade stones were trivial? He wanted to squeeze in and see who the prodigal sons were, but the shop refused him entry due to his shabby appearance, so he had to turn away in frustration.

The prices on the street were outrageous. Qin Chengming browsed half the avenue and bought nothing, finding everything too overpriced. At these rates, all the spirit stones he possessed would only buy a few useless bottles or gaudy clothes with no effect.

He thought, as a dignified cultivator at the Soul Formation stage—though he’d been poor in his early years, since advancing to Nascent Soul and accessing higher secret realms, he was flush with wealth. Especially before the collapse of the Eighth Realm, he’d amassed a fortune in spirit stones and treasures—surely he couldn’t be poorer than those junior cultivators at the Golden Core stage!

In just a short while, Qin Chengming was so disheartened that he wandered in a daze, unconsciously listening to the extravagant prices called out along the street. Seeing bags of mid-grade and even high-grade stones traded, he clutched his pouch, his heart trembling.

He’d thought the spiritual energy here was so much weaker than in the Eighth Realm, so spirit stones must be even more precious. With no urgent tasks and so much wealth on him, he thought he could indulge a bit. Who would have guessed that, in just half a street, he’d learned what it meant to be extravagant—by others—and what it meant to be poor—by himself.