Chapter 1530: The Guide

Outside the ancient ruins, two figures quietly appeared.

These two were none other than Dean and Tianxing, who had returned after leaving.

After several months of recuperation, Tianxing's injuries had improved somewhat.

But the Soul-Calming Pearl had dealt him too great a blow; without thirty to fifty years, he couldn't hope to fully recover.

The two appeared here because Yihan and the others had lost contact.

Looking at the now-empty mountain body, both of their eyes revealed expressions of extreme shock.

"I never expected that the ancient ruins themselves were the greatest treasure!" Dean's eyes were filled with regret.

Had he known this earlier, he would have stayed here without leaving a step, never letting the Violet Extreme Hall escape.

Tianxing's mouth twitched, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "That brat, who knows how many benefits he's reaped! Right now, I wish I could crush him into pieces!"

The one who suffered the greatest loss was none other than Tianxing.

The Blood Soul Curse, cultivated at immense cost, had now been completely destroyed.

And he himself, to curry favor with Ye Yuan, had eagerly presented the Xuanhuang Cauldron as a gift!

In the end, he had even had his soul power devoured by the Soul-Calming Pearl, nearly perishing.

Now discovering that Ye Yuan had moved the entire ruins, how could he not be furious?

"Pfft!"

At the height of his anger, his injuries flared up, and Tianxing spat out a mouthful of old blood.

Dean glanced at him with some pity and sighed, "This is getting troublesome! This kid's origins are completely untraceable. The name 'Yuanye' appeared very abruptly. Now that he's gone, we have no leads to pursue."

Hearing Dean's words, Tianxing nearly spat out another mouthful of blood.

Nothing could be sadder than this—he didn't even know who his opponent was!

"Could it be... we just let him go?" Tianxing asked unwillingly.

Dean sneered, "Let him go? How is that possible! After suffering such a great loss, do you think the Palace Master will let him off? Rest assured, though we have no news of him for now, a genius like him cannot hide his brilliance! An alchemist who can trigger the Heavenly Resonance of the Dao—how could he be buried in the dust?"

...

The prosperity of the Imperial City was far beyond that of a Royal City, and not everyone was qualified to enter.

Entering the Imperial City required paying Divine Origin Stones.

Looking at the clearly marked prices on the city gate, Ye Yuan's mouth twitched involuntarily.

Ten-day temporary token: five hundred low-grade Divine Origin Stones.

One-year temporary token: five thousand low-grade Divine Origin Stones.

Ten-year temporary token: fifty thousand low-grade Divine Origin Stones.

Hundred-year temporary token: five hundred thousand low-grade Divine Origin Stones.

Permanent token: fifty million low-grade Divine Origin Stones.

In the Imperial City, anyone without an identity token would be directly executed.

Those who overstayed their token's validity would also be directly executed.

Such prices were simply unaffordable for ordinary martial artists!

The entire wealth of a Return to Void realm martial artist was only about a million low-grade Divine Origin Stones.

In other words, a Return to Void realm expert could spend all their wealth to stay in the Imperial City for only a few hundred years.

A few hundred years was but a blink of an eye for a Return to Void realm expert.

Moreover, spending so many Divine Origin Stones only bought an identity token.

To survive in the Imperial City, one also needed to find a place to stay, which was another considerable expense.

Thus, to make it in the Imperial City, one had to constantly earn money, and earn more money!

Yet, despite being so expensive, countless experts still flocked there.

The Imperial City and the Royal City were entirely different concepts.

Every imperial city, at the time of its founding, has a massive spirit-gathering array laid out beneath the earth.

The spiritual energy in the imperial city is extremely abundant; living here, even if you don't deliberately cultivate, the growth rate of your divine essence can match that of a royal city.

Therefore, no matter how expensive these identity tokens are, people still yearn for this place.

And the imperial city lord's mansion collects an astronomical number of divine essence stones each year.

"Next!" the city guard selling tokens said lazily.

"Two century-long identity tokens," Ye Yuan said calmly.

The city guard lifted his eyelids, looking at Ye Yuan with slight surprise.

Loaded!

Most people who buy temporary identity tokens opt for one-year or ten-year terms; century-long ones are far too expensive, and ordinary people simply can't afford them.

Ye Yuan could sense the richness of the imperial city's spiritual energy, which greatly tempted him.

If possible, he planned to settle here.

One million divine essence stones was just a drop in the bucket for Ye Yuan, who had a net worth of five billion.

"Tsk tsk, I wonder which royal city's young master this is, so rich!"

"Ah, the lives of the wealthy are always enviable."

"Comparisons drive people crazy; if only I had that much money, how wonderful it would be!"

...

The city guard gave Ye Yuan a meaningful glance and handed him two tokens.

Ye Yuan took the tokens calmly and left.

"Hey, another greenhorn. Probably won't last a few days in the city before someone finishes him off," the guard said to his companion with a laugh.

"Haha, that's not our concern, as long as they don't cause too much trouble," his companion laughed.

The two looked after Ye Yuan's departing figure with gleeful schadenfreude.

As soon as Ye Yuan entered the city gate, a group of men by the roadside greeted him.

"Hey there, little brother, you look unfamiliar. First time in the city, right? Need a guide? I'm A Si. Not to brag, but there's not a single street or alley in Sky Eagle Imperial City I don't know! Only ten divine essence stones a day, fair and square!"

"Little brother, don't listen to his nonsense. I, Hu San, am the real know-it-all around here!"

"Little brother, let me be your guide. I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"

...

A group of men chattered noisily, directly surrounding Ye Yuan.

The imperial city was far too vast to become familiar with in just a few days.

Many people who had lived here for a year were only very familiar with a small area.

Thus, the guide trade had emerged.

Newcomers entering the city for the first time were completely disoriented.

Ye Yuan was here to find Little Fatty; without a guide, he would likely take many detours.

Ye Yuan glanced around, directly tossed ten divine essence stones to that A Si, and said calmly, "You'll do. Take me to the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion."

This A Si seemed very slick and quick-witted.

With him as a guide, it might save a lot of trouble, so Ye Yuan chose him.

A Si took the divine essence stones and said excitedly, "Right away!"

With that, A Si led Ye Yuan away.

The other men showed disappointment, but once the two were far off, they started discussing among themselves.

"What a fat sheep! He pulled out a million divine essence stones without even blinking!"

"That A Si is too sly. He got the jump on us again."

"After this job, A Si probably won't need to work for a good while."

...

Ye Yuan had already left, naturally unable to hear these people's remarks. A Si was enthusiastically introducing the imperial city's customs and scenery to Ye Yuan, spittle flying.