After leaving the Earthfire Mountain Range, and traveling for two more days, Chu Ming arrived at the nearest city to the Earthfire Mountain Range, Tieyuan City.
"As expected of an intermediate country!"
Standing in front of Tieyuan City, Chu Ming sighed in his heart.
Tieyuan City looked like an ancient dragon, its body extending for miles. The entire city was built out of volcanic stones, making it warm inside year-round and never cold. On the city walls, squads of the City Guard Army patrolled back and forth, their eyes sharp as blades.
In the Qingqiu Kingdom, Tieyuan City was only a small city, but in terms of grandeur, it was almost on par with the Great Yan City’s capital, Great Yan City, and in some aspects, it even surpassed it.
After paying the entry fee, Chu Ming entered Tieyuan City. The streets were bustling with the sound of vendors crying out, and martial artists and ordinary people mingled seamlessly.
"First, find an inn to stay at!"
It didn’t take long before Chu Ming found an inn in the center of Tieyuan City. The inn was quite busy with many guests. The employees were moving around to serve the guests, and beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads from all the activity.
"Guest, please come in. Are you here for a meal or a stay?"
As soon as Chu Ming entered, a waiter with a full smile walked over and softly asked.
Chu Ming said indifferently, his eyes briefly sweeping over the other guests in the inn, noticing a few warriors’ eyes flashing with a hint of surprise.
The waiter bent slightly forward, gesturing with his right hand respectfully. He quickly caught up after Chu Ming walked ahead of him.
"Hehehe, another one coming to die!" A gray-robed martial artist said calmly, glancing at Chu Ming’s back and talking to his companion.
"Who says otherwise? Though the Spiritual Source Fruit is a good thing, you have to be alive to take it!" His companion took a light sip from his cup, and agreed.
"Lately, there’s been a significant increase in young masters in Tieyuan City, all reportedly here for the Spiritual Source Fruit."
"If I were twenty years younger, I’d give it a try too!"
"You? Don’t think too much. Even if you were twenty years younger, you probably couldn’t handle one of their moves!"
Upstairs, although Chu Ming walked in the front, he heard every word of the conversation among the surrounding warriors, including those two gray-robed martial artists.
"Waiter, is there something special happening in Tieyuan City these days?"
Chu Ming asked blandly.
"Something special? Aren’t you here for the Spiritual Source Fruit too?"
This surprised the waiter. Originally, he thought Chu Ming also came for the Spiritual Source Fruit. Now it seemed he had misunderstood.
"Spiritual Source Fruit? Tell me more!"
Chu Ming took a piece of silver from his pocket and tossed it to the waiter. The waiter was ecstatic, placing the silver in his sleeve. Seeing no one around, he whispered.
"The City Lord’s son is going to host a tea ceremony, and the prize is two Spiritual Source Fruits. That’s all I know!"
"Are there any restrictions on participating in the tea ceremony?"
Chu Ming frowned, feeling tempted. The Spiritual Source Fruit was a spiritual medicine that True Dao martial artists refined, containing a vast amount of spiritual power. It was enough to elevate a True Dao martial artist below the True Dao Fifth Layer by one layer of cultivation. For ordinary Transcendence Realm martial artists, even refining a small amount could make their bodies explode, but Chu Ming’s Fire Element Body Forging Chapter had broken through to the Fifth Layer, his meridians were incredibly stable, making refining the Spiritual Source Fruit easy. One Cyan Source Fruit was enough to push his cultivation to the peak of the Transcendence Realm.
"All talented youths under eighteen can participate; the venue is at the City Lord’s Mansion!"
The waiter, already anticipating Chu Ming’s participation, added.
"Guest, this is your room. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask!"
Arriving at a doorway, the waiter gently opened the door with a wide smile.
Chu Ming nodded indifferently, stepping into the room, his eyes briefly scanning everything inside. He lightly closed the door.
He decided to participate in the tea ceremony the day after tomorrow. If he could obtain the Spiritual Source Fruit, that would be great. If not, seeing the talents around here would also be beneficial.
Taking out a Middle Grade Spirit Stone from his Storage Ring, Chu Ming began to circulate the "Burning Fire True Skill,’’ entering a cultivation state. Since breaking through to the Sixth Layer, the Burning Fire True Skill hadn’t shown any progress, which left Chu Ming somewhat helpless.
After all, if the Burning Fire True Skill broke through to the Seventh Layer, not only would Chu Ming’s strength greatly increase, but his cultivation speed would also improve significantly. However, breaking through to the Seventh Layer was evidently not an easy task.
At night, with the world shrouded in darkness, the wind making the windows creak faintly, Chu Ming lay in bed, in a semi-awake state. The Blue Red Sword was in his arms. Everyone else in the inn had also fallen into a deep sleep.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dozens of black shadows flickered in the air, leaving countless afterimages before they stood firmly on the inn’s roof. These shadows, dressed entirely in black, blended completely into the darkness, without the slightest trace of breath leaking. Their occasionally visible eyes were terrifyingly cold.
"Ghost Corpse, the target has been confirmed to be in the inn; we can act now!"
A low, hoarse voice came from a wide black robe. The wind blew slightly to reveal a desiccated body covered with dense poisonous insects, just a glance would startle anyone’s heart and mind.
"Hehehe... you better step back. We wouldn’t want my little things to scare you!"
A terrifying voice sounded from the side of another bloated black shadow. The surroundings were pitch dark, revealing only the ghostly fire in his eyes.
As soon as he finished, the other shadows shivered, retreating to one side without daring to get even slightly close.
"Sacrifice the Ghost Fire, go!"
The bloated shadow thrust out his withered five fingers, vaguely visible under the skin, green blood vessels. Wisps of green ghost fire rose quickly from his fingers and drifted towards the inn.
In a room of the inn, an ordinary person slept soundly. A wisp of green ghost fire drifted in through the window, without any warning or sound, everything proceeding silently.
That person was touched by the green ghost fire ever so slightly, instantly turning into ashes without uttering a cry.
Such occurrences happened repeatedly in the inn. Any room into which the ghost fire drifted, whether an ordinary person or a martial artist, turned into ashes.
In his room, Chu Ming, who had originally closed his eyes, suddenly opened them, flipping off the bed while the Blue Red Sword unsheathed. A sliver of white light shone, like silent flowing water in the night.
A faint sound rang out. Countless ghost fires flew under Chu Ming’s sword, and anything in the room touched by even a fraction of the ghost fire turned into ashes.