Chapter 30: Giant City

"Creak—"

Mid-thought, the door was suddenly shoved open from the outside.

Xu Yuan, half-crouched on the floor, instantly turned his gaze, meeting Ying's silent stare.

Her tone was calm:

"Third Prince, we've arrived in Jingjiang City."

"..."

Ying still wore the same slightly sensual attire of a shadow guard as before.

Yet, her uninvited entry had left Xu Yuan speechless.

Silent gaze...

No, not quite. After glancing at Xu Yuan for a moment, she turned her eyes instead to the source crystal clutched firmly in his hand.

Silently gazing for two seconds, he turned away without a word.

"Click—"

The wooden door closed softly, and within the chamber, all stillness seemed as if the shadow had never passed.

Xu Yuan watched this scene in silence for a long time, and finally, with a helpless, faint laugh, he sighed.

Strength always carries its own pride—no matter where it exists.

If you look down on someone, you look down on them. You can't hold them to account.

To the household retainers and guest retainers, Xu Yuan, Xu Changtian, was indeed the Third Prince—only because of his father and his elder brother.

Without his father and elder brother, Xu Yuan was nothing at all.

Respect may be granted to you, but only on the surface.

If you don't desire that surface, then it is simply withdrawn.

They earned their livelihood through strength, not flattery.

If it were the original body, he might already be raging with inner insecurity and sensitivity. But Xu Yuan didn’t care.

Respect from others comes only from what one earns through oneself.

In a world where extraordinary martial power is the standard, once Xu Yuan's own strength grows, the attitudes of these visiting retainers will naturally shift.

What doesn’t matter? Why get angry?

Yet the look Ying'er gave him before leaving had solidified one thing in Xu Yuan’s mind.

This source crystal—indeed, it was a test left behind by his older brother.

If you can obtain it before reaching Jingjiang City, then it’s yours.

If not, Ying'er will simply grab you and take you away.

Hah~

Inhaling deeply, Xu Yuan stored the source crystal into his Shumi jade seal and then rose to continue dismantling.

Though not angry, the performance had to go on.

Only after tearing apart every piece of furniture—along with the bed—in Xu Changge’s chamber did he finally cease.

This time, after the dismantling, Xu Yuan felt no great fatigue; his stamina seemed vastly superior to that of the two-hound from his former household.

Taking another deep breath, he stood and walked to the wooden window, pushing open the tightly shut pane.

As a room designated for Xu Changge’s residence, it was equipped with a spell designed to block spiritual perception.

However, this spell only functioned when all doors and windows were fully closed.

To avoid being watched by Yi Er, Xu Yuan had not opened a single window during these days.

Once the window was pushed open,

the scene before him,

Let Xu Yuan's dark pupils snap shut in shock!

Before him lay a scene of majestic grandeur.

The sky was a deep, endless blue,

Above, amidst the cries of eagles and birds, scores—hundreds—of flying demonic beasts of varying sizes shrieked through the air.

Lowering his gaze,

A colossal city, vast and imposing, rivaling a first-tier metropolis from his past life, came into view!

Every corner of the city was clearly visible—streets and buildings lined up in meticulous succession, one ring following another. Wide avenues branched out in every direction, bustling with life, the flow of people stretching endlessly to the very edge of sight.

"...?" Xu Yuan.

This... This is the Jingjiang City from just a few flat maps in *Cangyuan*?

As he drew nearer, the enormous black phoenix beneath his feet descended, its flight height steadily reduced.

"Buzz—"

As the black eagle soared through the high skies, vaulting over the two-hundred-foot-tall city walls, Xu Yuan’s soul-intent caught the faint, fleeting trace of a ripple.

They had, it seemed, just passed through some invisible barrier.

"This is..."

Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes, instinctively extending his soul-intent outward to investigate.

But unfortunately, the black eagle flew far too fast, and the current reach of his soul-intent was entirely too limited.

By the time his perception rippled outward, the black eagle had already swept past the towering walls.

Helplessly, he withdrew his soul-intent, resolving to return to the city walls whenever an opportunity arose to see what that anomaly had been.

The moment this thought took root, Zhou Chen’s voice suddenly drifted down from the sweeping, winged eaves of the pavilion:

"Third Young Master is indeed gifted with extraordinary talent, to be able to perceive the Spirit-Testing Array upon just entering the cultivation ranks."

"........" Xu Yuan.

Clearly, the intent-soul he had just sensed had been detected by the person above.

"Who?" Xu Yuan whispered softly.

Zhou Chen leapt directly from the floor of the pavilion, flipping through the window into the side chamber, where he bowed with a cheerful smile:

"Zhou Chen."

Xu Yuan looked at the man's unkempt beard and recognized him as one of the individuals who had blasted open the cave sanctuary on the Hanging Sky Cliff earlier.

He must also be one of the guards left behind by Xu Changge to protect him.

Xu Yuan remained silent for a moment, then softly asked:

"What exactly did you mean by the 'Spirit Testing Array'?"

Zhou Chen bowed again with a cheerful grin:

"The Third Prince, having just begun his cultivation, wouldn't be expected to know this—it's entirely normal. Wild beasts are inherently untamable, and entering the city directly could easily lead to uncontrollable rampages that endanger people.

'If a beast wishes to enter the city, it must first pass through the Imperial Department of Strange Beasts or undergo the nine-tier examinations set by major sects. Only after successfully passing all tests will a special mark be implanted within its body—only then may it enter the city."

"..."

A flicker of astonishment passed through Xu Yuan's eyes.

Such a system existed in this world?

Pausing for a moment, Xu Yuan suddenly glanced downward at the vast, unending city below, his tone tinged with an oddity:

"Is there such a mark on every single building in Jingjiang City?"

Zhou Chen nodded slightly, as if it were the most obvious truth:

"Of course."

Upon hearing this, a wave of horror flashed across Xu Yuan's eyes.

Could it be that this world harbors such a vast array of defensive formations?

A host of questions surged into his mind at once.

How exactly was this colossal formation set up?

And where did the energy sustaining it originate?

As his thoughts flickered, unanswered, Xu Yuan simply quieted himself.

Pausing, he turned to Zhou Chen and asked:

"Then... what if there's no mark, and someone forcibly enters the city?"

Zhou Chen reached up, running a hand over his scruffy chin, then offered a slow, significant smile:

"There are still other defensive formations within the city."

Xu Yuan furrowed his brow: "Other formations?"

Zhou Chen did not reply immediately this time, but instead lifted his gaze toward the heavens, as though searching for something hidden in the expanse.

After a brief silence, a sudden grin split his face:

"Third Master, wait but a moment."

The words had barely left his lips when his figure vanished entirely from Xu Yuan's sight.

Channeling primeval qi into his eyes, Xu Yuan peered out the window, yet his gaze met with nothing but emptiness.

The bodyguards Xu Changge had left at his disposal were simply too swift.

Yet, a mere dozen seconds after Zhou Chen's disappearance,

Xu Yuan suddenly caught sight of a spectacular spectacle,

a demonic beast resembling a pterodactyl was plummeting through the vault of heaven at breakneck speed!

As Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes to fixate upon the sight, Zhou Chen's voice drifted effortlessly from behind him once more:

"Third Prince, look for yourself."

"......" Xu Yuan.

The surrounding strong ones vanished and reappeared with the speed of a ghost.

Nodding slightly, Xu Yuan fixed his gaze on the winged dragon plummeting downward.

The dragon fell from the sky, and as it entered the range of the spiritual detection array, its innate animal instinct caused it to wildly flap its wings in panic.

Yet, one of its wings had already been crushed by Zhou Chen, and despite the frantic flapping, it continued to fall helplessly.

At a certain height, a streak of white rainbow light coalesced in the sky above the great city and shot forth instantly.

Silently,

the winged dragon was instantly reduced to dust, its bones and remains utterly vanished.

"Third Prince, this is the fate of an unmarked beast attempting to forcibly enter the inner city."

Xu Yuan glanced at him:

"Hmm... though it's quite obvious, couldn't you just say it plainly?"

"........" Zhou Chen.

Clearing his throat to mask the awkwardness, Zhou Chen continued:

"Cough... well, uh... also, this array isn't only effective against beastly creatures—it can also defend against humans."

Xu Yuan remained silent for a moment, then suddenly asked:

"Does this array work on you too?"

Zhou Chen grinned widely and shook his head:

"Too slow, misses me entirely, and the power's rather weak."

Yet, pausing briefly, Zhou Chen sighed and added:

"Of course, these two formations are merely the standard safeguards. Most of the grand arrays within the city lie dormant in times of peace. Should they ever be awakened, even I could not hope to escape with my life."

Xu Yuan fell into a heavy silence.

The autonomous, self-correcting mechanisms of this world left him stranded in a vast and disorienting sense of unfamiliarity.

Zhou Chen offered a genial laugh, clapping Xu Yuan on the shoulder with the easy warmth of an old friend.

"Third Young Master, if the city were devoid of these arrays, the world under heaven would have descended into utter chaos long ago."