From a distance, Jinling City comes into view, resembling an ancient fierce beast crouching on the ground, with vast divine light soaring into the sky, enveloping the heavens in all directions.
"Tenth Tier Divine Spirits! And there are five of them!" Zhang Chen opened his Dharma Eye and gazed from afar, seeing the entire Jinling City shrouded in divine dao fortune, which even the Dragon Qi of heaven and earth couldn’t suppress.
"Once cultivators reach the tenth tier, the suppression of Dragon Qi on them is greatly weakened. This Jinling City is remarkable, to be able to nurture tenth-tier divine dao masters, and five of them no less. It must be known that back then in the entire Northern Land, Prince Pingbian’s Mansion gathered the fortune of the entire Northern Land but only nurtured one eleventh-tier Divine Dragon. Jinling City, with an area less than half of Prince Pingbian’s Mansion’s territory, has nurtured five tenth-tier beings; this shows its deep-rooted fortune." Zhang Chen’s eyes showed a hint of seriousness.
When cultivators reach the ninth rank, the distance between different systems shrinks infinitely, whether it’s the Immortal Dao or other Yin Spirit Dao cultivators, or those of the Incense Divine Dao, the gap between them is negligible. Everyone begins to comprehend the laws of heaven and earth and touch the power of universal laws; what everyone competes in is the mastery of divine techniques.
At this realm, the disparity in foundation becomes apparent. Some have sect legacies and don’t need to comprehend divine techniques from universal laws; they can directly use the divine techniques passed down by their sect. Some hold innate spiritual treasures, while others inherit unknown powers, further widening the gap between them.
"There are still five tenth-tier existences, but it’s unknown how many ninth-rank Yang Gods are hidden in the dark." Zhang Chen began to be on guard: "I must be cautious! I might survive and thrive! Though I now possess the ninth-level skill Sun Charcoal Fire, its power is mediocre and too singular; if I were to genuinely clash with a ninth-rank Yang God level master, I might not have the upper hand." Zhang Chen’s eyes showed caution: "However, the high level of divine spirits here means it’s easier for me to take advantage amid the chaos."
He intended to steal the power of incense to enhance his skills, but that wouldn’t do if the incense power were too little.
Jinling is rich with treasures and birthplaces of outstanding people, with Sun and Moon Essence converging; its population density far exceeds that of Prince Pingbian’s territory; otherwise, the incense within the small Jinling City couldn’t support nurturing five tenth-tier innate divine spirits.
"One among them has a magnificent aura, while the others are somewhat lacking, although possessing tenth-tier signs, they seem a bit lacking." Just as Zhang Chen was analyzing in his mind, a voice rang beside his ear:
"Is that Jinling City?"
A group of people stood in front of the carriage, gazing at the distant hazy outline, their voices full of weariness.
Because of the distance to Jinling City, everyone could only dimly see a silhouette, but precisely because they could only see this silhouette, it became more direct to sense the grandeur of Jinling City.
"Indeed, that is Jinling City." Zhang Chen replied.
"This entire journey has been tiresome, yet we have finally arrived." Mrs. Zhang sighed with emotion in her voice.
"The real test has just begun." Zhang Chen muttered: "Let’s eat first! A horse dies of exhaustion when seeing a mountain; though we now see the outline of Jinling City, it’ll take at least another day to reach there."
Upon hearing Zhang Chen’s words, the family began setting up camp to cook. Zhang Chen casually picked a blade of grass and placed it in his mouth, pondering the method of entering Jinling City. If the court finds out about their trail and hunts them down, and it’s Shen Qiu’s doing, then the other side must have already set everything up inside Jinling City to trap them.
"How should we proceed?" Zhang Chen’s eyes showed contemplation.
"What do you intend to do? If, as you say, the Shen Family harbors malice towards us, perhaps we should avoid them and quietly establish ourselves in a remote part of Jinling City. Given our current abilities, we won’t starve, and there’s no need to rely on the Shen Family," Mrs. Zhang expressed her concern.
"It’s not necessarily the Shen Family that is wary of us; perhaps it’s just Shen Qiu leading a faction with ill intentions towards us." Zhang Chen refuted Mrs. Zhang’s words. He was determined to visit the Shen Family because Mrs. Zhang had mentioned that there were things left by his mother there, which he couldn’t ignore.
"The more Shen Qiu dislikes our going to Jinling, the more determined we are to go. Not only go, but also surprise them directly at their doorstep." Zhang Chen decided.
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Zhang refrained from advising further, simply saying: "Our family listens to your judgment, whatever you instruct, we will follow."
Upon hearing Mrs. Zhang’s words, Zhang Chen said no more, continuing to think about entering the city.
To get into Jinling, the city gate is the first hurdle. Zhang Chen anticipated that if Shen Qiu returned to Jinling City ahead of them, he would definitely arrange something at the city gate.
"I’m not sure if my fake travel permit will work." Feeling a bit anxious, Zhang Chen next performed an escape technique disappearing from his original spot, reappearing at the gates of Jinling City, where hundreds of soldiers were stationed, constantly checking the travel permits of passing travelers.
Following the crowd, Zhang Chen intended to find a way to sneak in. However, as he got closer and saw the guards inspecting the travelers’ permits at the gate, his heart sank: "No chance."
"Name!"
"I am Wang Erniu!"
"Where do you reside?"
"Outside the city, West Gate Village."
"The accent matches, why are you entering the city?"
"..."
The guard compared the travel permit to the speech and appearance, making Zhang Chen’s eyelids twitch. With their questioning methods, there’s absolutely no chance for his family to sneak in.
Even if everyone tried to blend in separately, they couldn’t escape the scrutiny of the accent.
No need to mention anything else, just the issue with the accent alone makes it impossible to sneak in.
"It’s troublesome! I want to use Sand Merging Skill or invoke a swarm in Jinling City, but it won’t be advantageous. After all, the city has countless experts, and if I make too much noise, it will certainly attract the attention of the experts within Jinling City." Zhang Chen exited the queue and turned back, thinking of a plan.
"What can be done? How can I blend into Jinling City?" Zhang Chen walked among the green hills and clear waters, various thoughts flashing in his mind, unexpectedly stuck at the gate of Jinling City.
When he returned to the camp, Mrs. Zhang had already prepared the meal. Seeing the hint of worry between Zhang Chen’s brows, she asked, "Are you worried about the Shen Family affair?"
"I’m not worried about the Shen Family, I’m worried about how we can get inside the city gates. Jinling City’s investigation is thorough. With our flawed travel permits, sneaking in won’t be easy." Zhang Chen took the rice handed by Chengyu, sat on the stool, took a bite, and expressed his concern.
"What if we blend in with a large caravan?" Mrs. Zhang asked.
Zhang Chen shook his head: "That’s as difficult as climbing the heavens, we don’t know any large caravan, and we don’t have money, why would they help us?"
Upon hearing Zhang Chen’s words, Chengyu’s eyes flashed with a glimmer: "I have an idea."
"What’s the idea?" Zhang Chen turned to Chengyu.
Chengyu chuckled: "You have the ability to enter the city, why not ask the lady from Guangji if she has any way to get us in?"
Hearing Chengyu’s words, Zhang Chen’s heart moved, this is indeed an idea.
According to the psychology from past lives, if you want someone to help you, the most likely person to do so is someone who has helped you before.
"But I don’t know the lady’s whereabouts, can’t find her, how can I ask her for help? Unless you have the lady’s personal belongings, I can use the treasure to lock onto her aura and then find her whereabouts." Zhang Chen said.
"It’s quite a coincidence, when the lady bestowed an elixir, she left behind the sachet that held it, we still have it." Mrs. Zhang quickly put down the bowl, went inside the carriage to retrieve the sachet, and handed it to Zhang Chen.
It was a red sachet, embroidered with flowers in gold thread, small and delicate in size.
"Since I already owe her a favor, it doesn’t hurt to do this one more time." Zhang Chen put away the sachet, after the meal, he used the Escape Technique to enter Jinling City, came to a deserted corner and took out the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror, using it to absorb the sachet’s aura, then injected his magical power into the Treasure Mirror, whereupon the Treasure Mirror opened, the mirror surface flashed with light, mist rose, and a vast whiteness met Zhang Chen’s gaze.
"Such a white mirror! No, it’s such a big mirror!" Zhang Chen saw the mirror surface, his blood flow hastened, abruptly closed the Treasure Mirror, took a deep breath: "Don’t look indecently! Don’t look indecently! I’m definitely not such a vile person."
Shen Family
Inside a small courtyard
Steam rose in the room, a graceful figure was washing in the bathtub, suddenly Jiang Nan’s chest jade emitted a red light, hot energy spreading, startling Jiang Nan to lift her head, instinctively grabbing the bath towel by the tub’s edge to cover her graceful form.
"Someone’s spying! Using Divine Power against me." Jiang Nan’s brows furrowed, touched the jade hanging from her neck, with a hint of panic in her eyes: "This jade was left by my mother, said to be excavated from a great tomb in the Innate Era, capable of detecting mysterious power fluctuations..."
As the jade gradually cooled, Jiang Nan slowly stood up from the tub, unable to wipe the water, directly grabbed clothing to dress: "The Shen Family rules are strict, who dares to be so presumptuous?"
In a certain alley, Zhang Chen closed the Treasure Mirror, then tucked it into his sleeve: "Really awkward!"
"I intended to find the lady for introduction, then directly meet the Shen Family, unexpectedly this happened, I’m definitely not doing this deliberately." Zhang Chen muttered to himself.
"But the Jiang Family lady’s figure is really good!" Zhang Chen murmured, stepped into a nearby tea house, ordered a pot of tea, while sipping, calculating the time.