Qingfeng Li stared at the stocky man before him, lost in thought. He was considering whether he should join the Martial Alliance.
The Martial Alliance was a powerful organization and its influence spanned over the entire Crimson Fire Continent, with branches in the Imperial Cities of every country, but Qingfeng Li had his own considerations. He knew that, once he joined the Martial Alliance, he would be subject to their control and limitations. There were many stipulations that self-cultivators must obey once within the organization or they will incur punishment from the Martial Alliance.
Beside Qingfeng Li, Black Puppy and Li Yang were quiet; they were both individuals who had ascended to the Crimson Fire Continent from lower-tier planets. As they were unfamiliar with this continent, they could not provide any meaningful suggestions. Qingfeng Li had to make this decision by himself.
After a moment of silence, Qingfeng Li spoke, “Sorry, I don’t plan on joining any organizations for the time being.”
Hearing his words, the stocky man paused in surprise, a hint of disbelief flashing across his eyes. He was the Vice-Commander of the Martial Alliance’s Lingyun Imperial City Branch and held a lot of power.
Besides, the Martial Alliance was renowned across the entire continent. Their Commander-in-Chief, a powerful master of the Spirit Royal Realm, had once battled with the Crimson Fire Emperor over the control of the planet. That was how powerful he was.
Across the entire Crimson Fire Continent, people saw joining the Martial Alliance as something to be proud of; it was their badge of honor.
This was the first time that the he had ever seen someone refusing to join the Martial Alliance. For a moment, the stocky man stared at Qingfeng Li with a strange expression. He couldn’t understand what Qingfeng Li was thinking; this was such a great opportunity. Why did he refuse? Perhaps he did not know the benefits of doing so?
The stocky man looked at Qingfeng Li. “You may not know the perks of joining the Martial Alliance,” he said. “I can explain it for you. Once you become a member of the Martial Alliance, you can enjoy many benefits. You need only to make significant contributions to the Alliance in order to receive credit points. You can use these to exchange techniques, spiritual treasures, talismans, among other things. Even Supreme and Monarch Class techniques can be obtained through these credits.”
The middle-aged man stared at Qingfeng Li, his expression filled with pride. He knew that a self-cultivator’s greatest dream was to reach the Spirit Royal and Spirit Imperial Realms.
The Martial Alliance possessed such Supreme Class techniques, and many self-cultivators joined the Martial Alliance specifically in order to obtain them. He was confident that Qingfeng Li would not be able to resist the temptation.
But, in the next moment, the middle-aged man froze in shock. He saw Qingfeng Li shake his head again, saying, “I don’t plan on joining any organizations right now.”
With that, Qingfeng Li led Black Puppy and Li Yang away from the Phoenix Palace and walked into the distance.
“What an interesting guy.” The middle-aged man mused as he watched Qingfeng Li’s retreating form, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
The bulky man was a master of the Supreme Realm, First Level, but he had not mastered any Monarch Class techniques. It was for these techniques that he had joined the Martial Alliance himself.
Even the bulky middle-aged man himself could not resist the temptation of Monarch Class techniques. How was it that a young man, at the Spirit Emperor Realm Eighth Level, could?
The bulky man did not know that Qingfeng Li had practiced Immortal Class techniques. Whether it was the Heavenly Immortal Chant or the Mortal Purgatory Body, or even the Golden Flames, they were all Immortal Class techniques from the Ancient Era.
These Immortal Class techniques were far more powerful than the Monarch Class techniques the Martial Alliance offered. Naturally, Qingfeng Li wasn’t interested.
Blinking her slender eyes, Li Yang gazed at Qingfeng Li. “Big Brother Li,” she asked, “Where are we going now?”
Qingfeng Li thought for a moment, then said, “Let’s find an inn to stay at first.”
The inns in the Imperial City were exceptionally lavish, each one designed to be luxurious to the extreme. The exteriors were made of veluriyam, and the exteriors were paved in crystal; it made an extremely beautiful sight.
Qingfeng Li chose the biggest inn, called the Spirit Bamboo Inn.
The exteriors of the Spirit Bamboo Inn were also made from veluriyam, except this veluriyam was not white, but green. Amongst the green stone were segments of green bamboo. These were all shafts of Spirit Bamboo, extremely beautiful and exuding a spiritual aura.
What caused Qingfeng Li to choose this particular inn was its spiritual air and the serene environment within.
Qingfeng Li led Li Yang and Black Puppy inside. Just as they reached the door, they were stopped by an attendant.
The attendant was a woman with beautiful, pleasing features. She was tall and wore a qipao. This qipao, however, was no ordinary piece of clothing, but rather a spiritual garment. It had seal scriptures woven into the fabric, which glowed a faint golden light.
“Sir,” the tall woman said to Qingfeng Li, “what type of room would you like?”
Qingfeng Li smiled. “Tell me about the rooms in this inn.”
Nodding, the tall woman spoke again. “Of course. Our inn has three types of rooms. High-class rooms are five vitality stones per night. Mid-class rooms are three vitality stones a night. And lower-class rooms are one vitality stone a night.”
Qingfeng Li checked in the interspatial ring that Qingqing Mu had given him; he had one hundred vitality stones left.
Qingfeng Li knew that these vitality stones were accumulated by the Mu Family over several decades, yet Qingqing Mu had given it all to him. He was rather touched by the thought.
Qingfeng Li took out ten vitality stones and tossed them to the tall woman beside him. “Get me two high-class rooms,” he said.
Reaching out a snow-white hand, the tall woman caught the vitality stones and, after checking them for counterfeits, led Qingfeng Li upstairs.
Walking on the stairs, Qingfeng Li discovered that these steps were all paved with transparent crystals. They were extremely pretty. Crystal seal scriptures were carved into the surface, glittering with a white light.
Qingfeng Li got one room for Li Yang, while he stayed in the other with Black Puppy.
The furnishings in the Spirit Bamboo Inn’s high-class rooms were opulent. Even the mirrors were crafted from bright green spirit bamboo. They exuded wisps of spirit energy. When one took a breath, they could feel the energy opening up their pores.
Inside, the seating, tables, tea-ware, and beds were all made from spirit bamboo as well and exuded the same spirit energy.
Qingfeng Li spoke to Black Puppy beside him, “Before, in the Phoenix Palace, were you sure that the Third Princess was Mengyao Xu?”
Black Puppy blinked its eyes, its black tail wagging back and forth behind him. It said, “I felt that the scent Third Princess gave off was the same as that of Mengyao Xu. But she later used some technique to cover it up, and I couldn’t smell it after that.”
Qingfeng Li nodded, but the questions in his mind continued to pile up. He had a special feeling for the Mengyao Xu he had known on Earth.
On Earth, he had been trying to find Mengyao Xu the whole time. But in the end, he found nothing. He would never have thought that he would find her on the Crimson Fire Continent, on a Top-Tier Planet.