Chapter 71: Danlin Town and the Chip

  “Th—thank you very much, Big Brother!”

  Hearing this, Huo Qing immediately became overjoyed. Acc to the usual practices of the Fu Pins, a captive like him—taken for interrogation—would typically have to thank Imperial Heaven if he mao stay alive afterward.

  As for his shoulder wound, it was her extremely serious irely minor. For a cultivator, a few days of rest would have been enough for it to heal without affeg his mobility.

  At the moment, though, the injury still hindered his movements. Without assistahere was no way he could have made it back to town by m.

  If he entered those “jackal-like rogue cultivators” who prowled for corpses—or any ang squads retrieving bodies—there was no doubt they would gdly turn him into a genuine corpse!

  Once everything repared, they began their journey.

  From Huo Qing’s expnation, An Jing gained a rough idea of Danlin Town.

  Danlin Town was located a bit east of the Fu Pins’ tral region. As one of the rgest among the pins’ seveowns, it had a perma popution exceeding fifty thousand. Within its walls were eight major alchemy workshops, produ lines for everything from firearms to sword cases and various Magical Artifacts, and a highly advanced spirit herb cultivation industry.

  Nearly half of the medial pills produced in the Fu Pins came from this town. Many of the raw materials for the major enterprises in Xuay were also initially processed here.

  Moreover, certain specialized wood-attribute Magical Artifacts, oral spirit pnts, and bonded battle-type spirit pnts were also produced in Danlin Town.

  With An Jing’s speed, they quickly reached the outskirts of Danlin Town.

  Uher towns in the Fu Pins, which were dominated by enormous fur their ters, this town’s terpiece was a gigantic tree t over three hundred meters tall. Its opy shaded almost half the settlement, appearing from a distance like a small green mountain, its roots burrowing deep into the ground in sprawling humps.

  A dense cluster of white greenhouse tents spread around its base, drawing on the power of this colossal tree to cultivate numerous spirit pnts.

  This was the “Crimson-Leaf Greenwood.” It was the lushest pnt An Jing had ever seen iianyuan Realm. In this world, most vegetation was scorched and decayed by Demonic Qi and acid rain. Only this colossal tree tio thrive with vibrant life.

  “Perhaps there are simir giant trees hidden in the remote mountains of the Huaixu Realm,” An Jing mused, looking at the s trunk with genuine admiration. “The wonders of nature are truly incredible, produg such a majestic liviy!”

  “This is it…”

  Seeing the familiar blue-green behemoth, Huo Qing—who had spent the entire night with someone clutg his neck—finally breathed a sigh of relief. “I ’t believe I made it back.”

  At the end of the long night, dawn’s first light began to glow across the sky, and the chaotic battle cries that had echoed over the Fu Pins gradually faded. One by one, different voys emerged from the wilderness.

  Among them were many wounded people like An Jing and Huo Qing, leaning on one another and trudging back to their respective bases.

  “Phew, we’re safe,” Huo Qing remarked, the se with a slight sparkle in his eyes before exhaling again in relief. “Moments ago, the gang announced a temporary ceasefire, so we won’t interfere with the town’s usual daytime produ.”

  “We head bato town now, Big Brother.”

  “A message?”

  Huo Qing tapped his own forehead early. “It’s the chip. Barbarians don’t have them; only those in the Safe Zones or the cities obtain one.”

  “How intriguing. So, such a thing really exists?”

  “How would someone like me…a barbarian…eve a chip?”

  He asked the question the moment it surfaced, and An Jing’s tone bore an uncharacteristit of yearning.

  Huo Qing looked perplexed. “I’m not sure. I’ve had my chip since birth; every baby in the Safe Zones gets o’s essentially an ID.”

  “Whoever doesn’t have one is cssified as a ‘barbarian.’”

  Then he racked his brains, remembering a few rumors. “I’ve heard of barbariaing chips, but it’s supposedly very, very hard… I could find out more for you when I return?”

  “I’d appreciate it.”

  An Jing was not in a hurry. Merely knowing something like that ossible sufficed for the time being.

  His immediate priority remained using the Tianyuan Realm’s armaments ao evade the demonic sect pursuers from the Huaixu Realm.

  If he failed in that, all else ointless.

  Ramparts, trenches, and lofty fortificatied Danlin Town, making it feel more like a fortress than a mere town.

  The etlement was enclosed by lead-gray stonework. At each of the four main gates stood two unusual towers, remi of high-voltage pylons. Subtle lines of spiritual inscriptions shimmered across their surfaces, f four distination patterns.

  “A simplified version of the Four Symbols Demon-Suppressing Formation,” the Sword Spirit remarked. “North is the Bck Tortoise, west is the White Tiger, east is the Azure Dragon, and south is the Vermilion Bird—four dires, four sacred beasts, suppressing demons and densing qi. At the ter stands an Evergreen Vermillion Tree as the formation’s core node. Once fully activated, even a Purple Mansion True Person would struggle to break through.”

  “This little town is well designed, definitely uhe guidance of a true expert.”

  “The spiritual energy here is also much richer.” As he neared Danlin Town, An Jing sehe air growing fresher—there was a brisk sweetness, remi of mountain wilderness.

  He inhaled deeply, feeling his spirits lift. “There’s a huge differeweeowns and the wilderness—just breathing here is much better.”

  No exaggeration—An Jing believed that if the average life expecy for those in the wild was only forty or fifty, thehing this kind of air alone could grant town dwellers awenty years.

  Of course, givehless gang wars in town, that applied only to a natural death.

  An Jing brought Huo Qing to the southern gate, where the guards were impressively outfitted. They wore light-blue exoskeletal armor, vaguely remi of Ming-style armor from An Jing’s previous life, though each suit stood nearly three meters tall and redominantly structed of steel.

  These soldiers were clearly not part of any gang. They checked eadividual passing through the gate, sed and logged the data, and granted entry one by one.

  When An Jing’s turn came, he remained posed, calmly taking off his face c and gas mask—much to Huo Qing’s shock. Huo Qing had never imagihat the one who saved him, and had so ruthlessly pointed a gun at his head for answers, was actually a teenager.

  “A barbarian?”

  The gate guard found no record of An Jing’s features in the existiry logs but seemed uned. “First-time entry costs five merit points; after that, it’s o point per visit.”

  Naturally, An Jing had points. Before he could ask if he could pay with something else, Huo Qing quickly interjected, “I’ll cover him!”

  The payment process was straightforward. Huo Qing simply met the guard’s gaze, and a brief e glow flickered in his eyes. That was all.

  “Not weak at all…”

  After entering Danlin Town with Huo Qing, An Jing assessed the area with a pensive look. He could detect that some of the guards posted at the gates and towers were cultivators around the te-stage—or even peak—Qi Refining level, surpassing even the Medie Manor Lord’s power.

  Right after entering, they spotted a fully armed squad patrolling the streets.

  “With such a powerful military presence, why are there still gangs around?”

  An Jing couldn’t resist asking. Huo Qing, walking beside him, looked a bit puzzled. “The Town Garrison serves directly uhe mayor, and they’re definitely strong. But why would they bother with the gangs?”

  “We pay our taxes properly and don’t interfere with the mayht?”

  Realizing that An Jing truly was a barbarian with no knowledge of the town, Huo Qing proceeded to crify how the gangs operated.

  It turned out that these gangs were essentially “military forces” co-sponsored by major corporations in the Fu Pins.

  Take the Day-Tiger Gang, for insta was backed by three signifit Magical Artifact fes in the Fu Pins, along with several mining panies. Danlin Town’s main producer of “Clear Spirit Powder,” Treasure Light Pavilion, also supported them.

  On a higher level, those workshops and firms were themselves uhe umbrel of major panies and glomerates in Xuay.

  Moreover, the mayor of Danlin Town had been appointed by one of Xuay’s major glomerates. Both sides were effectively uhe same power structure—one was a direct military force, and the other was a local paramilitary alliance backed by various panies—so they had no cause to csh with each other.

  By trast, each gang represented a different corporate fa. Some might be business rivals, and others ht enemies.

  Simply put, whenever force was necessary, the gangs engaged in warfare. The corporations armed them to seize or destroy rival assets.

  —So, in a way, the gang rivalries here were also corporate battles?

  An Jing almost ughed at his own clusion. But on sed thought, if the gangs were just merary forces employed by big panies, his guess wasn’t too far-fetched.

  “We’re iown now. What’s our step?”

  As he pondered, after the exhausting night, An Jing’s stomach let out a loud rumble.

  To be clear—a martial artist’s stomach doesn’t simply growl untrolbly. An Jing was iionally allowing it to happen.

  “B–Big Brother…”

  Now that Huo Qing had seen An Jing’s real fad discovered how young he was, calling him “Big Brother” felt awkward. Yet, g a better option, he forced the words out. “You got me back to town safely, and I ’t express my gratitude enough. If you don’t mind, I’d like to treat you to a meal first, and then we discuss your payment?”

  “That sounds great.”

  An Jing, delighted, patted his stomad didn’t bother pretending otherwise. Although he was ihe town now, he didn’t have a single to his name; one could say he couldn’t take a siep without help.

  If he could get some money out of Huo Qing—or at least learn which shops purchased salvage—he could finally start gathering the ons and resources he wanted.

  (End of Chapter)