"What an audacious junior!" cried Immortal Xuan Yang. His voice shook the heaven and earth.
Wu Qi grinned coldly. All the cultivators before him were now tightly trapped by Spirit-Restricting Rope. The peak-stage Nascent Divinity cultivator was unhurt at the moment, but the powerful binding forces of the rope had crushed the bones of the few Nascent Soul cultivators. The Sword of Greedy Wolf flew whistling across these cultivators with a blood red gleam. In just a twinkle, it absorbed all their blood essence. Wu Qi issued a long cry, then spun and fled without the slightest hesitation.
"Old fools! Just you wait. I'll slowly kill your clan members one after another, until all of them are dead!" Wu Qi shouted with a loud laugh, that faintly vibrated the snowfield. While laughing wildly, he stretched his hands and slapped his own head and body, putting out the flame that was burning vigorously on his hair and clothes.
Eighteen celestial fiend puppets transformed into vague shadows and fused back into Wu Qi's body. At the same time, an auspicious rainbow light burst out from his body as he sped away into a far distance, disappearing within a blink of an eye. The raging flame sprayed out by Immortal Xuan Yang came and smashed onto the ground only after he vanished. The intense heat vaporized everything within an area of one hundred miles on the snowfield, while evaporating a great volume of seawater underneath the thick ice, and opening up a huge hole that measured nearly one thousand miles from edge to edge.
Wu Qi made his escape with the Chariot of Eight Horses once again. Even with their keen eyes, Immortal Chang Wu and the others could not even catch a glimpse of the magical treasure used by Wu Qi. What they saw was just a rainbow cloud, and a large sheet of auspicious gleam that shone from it. Apart from that, they did not find out anything else. At any rate, they concluded that Wu Qi was using an extraordinary treasure. It made them wonder what treasure was that, and how it could possess such an absurdly high speed.
Riding the Chariot of Eight Horses, Wu Qi fled for a distance of over ten thousand miles in just a twinkle. He took a few rounds on the planet aimlessly, then found a random area and retracted the chariot, landing once again on the snowfield. He gave the surroundings a careful glance coldly. He was in the territory controlled by Flying snow City. Off in a distance of roughly one hundred miles, he could vaguely see a cluster of dark shadows erected amidst the vast expanse of whiteness. Many sword beams were flying back and forth above these dark shadows. It was Flying snow City.
With a sway of his body, he changed into an ordinary looking, blue colored Daoist Robe. Then, he pulled out a mid-grade magical flying sword, transforming it into a yellow sword beam as he began to fly slowly towards Flying snow City. Trying his best, he lowered the speed of the sword beam, and it took him nearly an hour before he arrived at the outside of the city.
Flying snow City was built in the middle of several dozens of ice mountains that stood loftily in the snowfield. Strong and tall walls were erected between these lofty mountains. They were used to stop the wild wind that came from the vast and emptied snowfield. A thin layer of defensive energy barrier was seen extending up from the top of these walls, and was emitting a faint green glow. Countless snowflakes were rolled up by the strong wind and smashed on this energy barrier. It rippled, while producing deep buzzing noises that echoed off into the distance ceaselessly.
Wu Qi messed up his hair, then put up a rather sorry look as he panted while rushing toward Flying snow City's front gate. A few cultivators who kept guard at the entrance briefly sized him up, but did not find anything worth suspecting. So, he was let into the city.
Among the many cities in Xue Yuan Planet, not only were they occupied by a lot of native cultivators, they were bustling with numerous foreign cultivators as well. These people were either members of some hunting group, such as the one that Wu Qi had role-played just now, or they were here to harvest herbs or energy stones. All in all, people with various purposes would come and visit the city. The current look that Wu Qi put up was obviously of an insignificant man, and no one would give him a second look.
After entering the city, Wu Qi finally breathed out a faint sigh of relief. He stood under the eave of a shop at the street side, peering coldly through the city gate into the snowfield. He saw a large cloud of snow mist sweeping across the snowfield and approaching the city. A cloud was flying above the snow mist, as it carried Vagabond Qing Yi and his disciples, roughly several dozens of them, searching for Wu Qi's trace. Nevertheless, since Wu Qi had already entered Flying snow City, no matter how many rounds Vagabond Qing Yi had his divine will search around the city, he just could not find anything.
With his divine will plowing across the snowfield, and his immortal pressure faintly suppressing all the cultivators in Flying snow City, everyone knew that a grand and mighty Heaven Immortal had arrived. The leaders from various clans in the city were alerted. Nearly one hundred bright beams shot up from different spots in the city and came into the sky, then greeted upon Vagabond Qing Yi with utmost reverence. Among them, a few with the most prestigious status came before Vagabond Qing Yi and bowed their heads, as they listened attentively to his lecturing.
Wu Qi grinned. With a sway, he sneaked into a small alley, and when he came back out, his visage had changed, while he was wearing a dirty apricot Daoist robe. His face was ugly and ferocious, and with a pair of eyes that seemed to stay open widely all the time, he looked like a villain.
Behind his back was a clump of dark mist, amidst which, a small flying sword was darting sneakily in and out like a thief. It was the strange sign from the Gold Core in his dantian. With an arrogant and unbridled manner, Wu Qi swaggered across the street, pushing and knocking anyone that got in his way.
As Flying snow City was built in the middle of ice mountains, one could find several tens of lofty mountains in the city itself. Like enormous swords, they thrust their tips into the ocean of clouds in the sky. These ice mountains possessed a copious amount of natural energy. They were in fact, the places of residence for many powerful and influential clans and cultivators in the city. Along the valleys found at the foot of these lofty mountains many buildings were built, which was the area where ordinary people lived in the city and foreign cultivators carried out their activities. Streets twisted and winded around the foot of the mountains, interweaving into a very complex web. Along these rather narrowed, less than twenty feet wide streets, stood various shops, inns, and restaurants.
Wu Qi even saw two brothels along the street. Right in front of these brothels, a few gorgeously dressed girls were trying to seduce some passerby folks. Surprisingly, a few of them were female cultivators with a cultivation base of Xiantian realm, and a pretty decent Spirit Root. Wu Qi gave the brothels a few more glances with amazement. Shaking his head, he pushed away a few pedestrians with his shoulder, then put up an arrogant and unbridled face while humming an unknown tune, and swaggered into a large inn that was built around an ice mountain.
The inn had a plaque made from jade hanging on top of its front door, with two large golden characters engraved on its surface - 'Huixian Abode'. It was the largest and most luxurious inn found in Flying snow City, and it only served foreign cultivators. It provided everything that one expected to enjoy, and of course, came with a very expensive price tag. Not many people had that kind of wealth to spend here, unless they were some hunting groups that were fortunate enough to find and kill valuable demon beasts, or some lucky cultivators who happened to find some rare and precious spirit herbs.
Upon entering Huixian Abode, a luxuriously clad old man immediately greeted upon Wu Qi, together with four beautiful serving ladies. With a friendly and hospitable manner, the old man bowed deeply and said, "Welcome, my respectable Immortal! Are you here to stay? I am Su Tie, the Third Manager of Huixian Abode!"
Wu Qi gave Su Tie a glare, then tilting his head up high, he grinned and said, "Surely I am not here to lie stiff like a corpse! Stop talking rubbish! Do you have a single house which has its own entrance and courtyard? I have some friends coming to stay with me later. We need a larger place!"
Su Tie laughed dryly, then pointing his finger backward, he smiled and said, "My respectable Immortal, Huixian Abode is the best inn you can find in Flying snow City. You want a single house which has its own entrance and courtyard? We do have such a type, and we have plenty of them! Hmm, the best courtyards are the few that are built halfway up the snow peak behind us. They are surrounded by a copious amount of natural energy and splendid scenery, while all the furniture and decorations are the best!"
Wu Qi gazed at Su Tie, then casually tossed a bag full of upper-grade energy stones to him. Snorting coldly, Wu Qi said, "Fine, I'll stay there. Make sure it is properly clean, and I don't want anybody to stay nearby and disturb me. A few of my fellow disciples were seriously injured when they bumped into some powerful demon beasts. They need to borrow your place and heal up their injuries."
After a brief moment of pondering, Wu Qi pulled out an inner core of a great python from Black Dragon Spirit Ring, which had a cold characteristic, then threw it over to Su Tie. "Find a reputable merchant and auction off this inner core of a peak-stage Nascent Soul python. I want only upper-grade energy stones."
Actually, this inner core was a prey which Ying Zheng and his men killed in Meng Mountains. Since it was kept by Ying Zheng in the Black Dragon Storage Ring, it was of course, an inner core of an excellent quality. In fact, it contained a very powerful ice essence, which made the fist-sized inner core glint with a dazzling gleam. The cold gleam shone and reached a distance of nearly one foot. The white gleam was so bright that anyone who looked at it would feel their eyes hurt. On top of that, there was a clump of dense water vapor shrouding the inner core, giving it an extraordinary touch.
Su Tie held the inner core firmly with both hands. He could sense the pure, enormous ice essence in the core, which made his eyes flicker with bright gleams. Now, he could tell that Wu Qi must be a vulgarian who had recently killed a powerful demon beast. A customer like this must be well served! Just this inner core of a peak-stage Nascent Soul Snow Python would easily get over one hundred thousand upper-grade energy stones!
Most of the cultivators who lived in Xue Yuan Planet focused on practicing cultivation technique of ice or water element. The inner core of an ice element demon beast with such an excellent quality would definitely provide great help to their cultivation base. Therefore, even without finding a reputable merchant to auction it off, the clan behind Huixian Abode would also buy this inner core with a heavy price.
Su Tie gave Wu Qi a deep bow respectfully, then smiled and said, "Please rest assured, my honorable Immortal. You will definitely be satisfied with the price it is finally sold with."
Su Tie did not mention he would find a merchant and auction it off. At any rate, as long as he could pay Wu Qi sufficient amount of upper-grade energy stones, it made no difference to who actually bought the inner core in the end.
Wu Qi snorted coldly as he glared at Su Tie. Then, he walked out from Huixian Abode, came stealthily into a remote alley, and let Yan Qijun, Xiong Wanling, and He Qianqiu out from the Spirit Breeding Ring. After that, he let out nine celestial fiend puppets, transforming them into nine burly men with ugly and ferocious visages, helping the seriously wounded and unconscious Yan Qijun and the others into Huixian Abode. Of course, using a mystic technique in Scroll of Stealing, Wu Qi had slightly modified the look of Yan Qijun and the others.
Noticing that Wu Qi really brought three seriously injured cultivators here, Su Tie hurriedly called upon a few serving ladies, then brought Wu Qi and his company into the back of Huixian Abode, walked up along a winding passage and reaching into a snowy mountain. They finally halted before a finely constructed courtyard halfway up the mountain, which occupied a land with an area of tens of acres.
With much bowing and nodding Su Tie explained, "My honorable Immortal, this is Snowcloud Courtyard, the best courtyard you can find in Huixian Abode. Two small-scale energy veins converge in the courtyard, thus giving it abundant natural energy. Be it meditating or healing injuries, this is a perfect place," Glancing the unconscious Yan Qijun and the others, Su Tie bowed deeply and said, "Huixian Abode is having a very close relationship with the largest pill market in Flying snow City. My honorable Immortal, do your fellow disciples need some healing spirit pills?"
Wu Qi shook and said coolly, "Don't bother, we have our own healing spirit pills. Now watch those doors for me, and don't let anybody come and disturb us."
He glared at Su Tie, then brought his company and walked into Snowcloud Courtyard.
Suddenly, voices from several dozens of men echoed out in the sky above Flying snow City.
"Lock down the entire city and examine every single foreign cultivator!"