295 Arriving at Qingzhou City
“Since Master has made the decision, this disciple naturally does not dare to interfere. I can only wish Master a prosperous martial arts journey,” Qin Huai said.
He stayed in Huai Dan City for another two days before parting ways with his master, Sun Yuanshan, at the city gates.
“Brat, don’t forget to cultivate your poison techniques no matter where you go.” Sun Yuanshan looked at Qin Huai kindly. “Your family might lie to you, your good friends might lie to you, and your cultivation level might fall… But poisons won’t lie to you! This is the truth I realized when I was traveling in the martial world in my early years.”
“I will definitely remember it,” Qin Huai said, opening his chest and revealing the pocket of his modified robe. There were all kinds of poisonous things inside.
Sun Yuanshan nodded in relief. “Huai’er, please remember that. I’m sure you’ll have great achievements in the future!”
Qin Huai returned to the Nine Dragon Sect but did not stay too long. Two days later, he brought along a map drawn by Li Xiao that led to the most prosperous place in Qingzhou and began his journey.
Qingzhou was huge, with ten thousand miles between Lingjiang and Qingzhou City. If an ordinary person were to walk sixty miles a day, they would need nearly half a year to reach Qingzhou City.
However, Qin Huai had found a horse with a bloodline of demons that could travel thousands of miles in a day. He carried three bags and his treasured weapon, Silver Fox, and rode his horse all the way east.
Along the way, he saw that many cities were heavily guarded. Outside the cities, there were countless thin and miserable faces in ragged clothes. They had even encountered several battles with more than a thousand people on both sides.
They all cultivated the four-directional tiger-wolf technique, and each of them hung the flag of a different city. They were all battles between counties or small cities. The great world was in conflict, and the warlords were fighting for power. Countless ambitious people wanted to prove that they were the chosen ones in this life.
Ten days later, Qin Huai crossed a distance of ten thousand miles and looked at the map in his hand. “We’re almost at the gate of Qingzhou City.”
He gazed at the distant mountains and was about to walk out of the forest when he saw many commoners and martial artists rushing in the same direction.
Although Qingzhou City was called a city, it actually referred to a place that should be collectively called the territory of Qingzhou City. As the most prosperous place in Qingzhou, from the easternmost gate to the westernmost gate, it would take a thousand miles. It was one-tenth of Qin Huai’s journey, and one could see how huge Qingzhou City was.
Qin Huai walked slowly onto the main road. The people around him had dense blood essence fluctuations on their bodies, and even the weakest among them was at the blood refinement realm. It could be considered a grade higher than the experts in a small place like Pingnan City.
However, everyone in Qingzhou City seemed to be on the same level. Qin Huai saw a number of bone pattern realm experts, whose bodies emitted a faint aura that made the surrounding martial artists wary of getting too close.
“It seems that the bone pattern realm is present in Qingzhou City, and they are not too weak. At least they’re leaders,” Qin Huai observed carefully.
Although the number of bone pattern realm experts here was not as numerous as in Lingjiang, there were still many of them who did not have high status.
Qin Huai looked into the distance and saw a thick city wall that towered over a hundred feet. The wall exuded a sense of antiquity, and even from afar, he could hear the faint sound of metal clashing in his mind.
Below the city wall was a densely packed cluster of buildings that looked like a city outside the city.
“Young Master, is this your first time in Qingzhou City?” A toothless fellow blocked Qin Huai’s path.
Qin Huai’s expression turned cold. He didn’t want to get into trouble and cause unnecessary chaos.
“Hehe. In our line of work, wealth comes from danger,” the beggar spoke and before Qin Huai knew it, five or six people had already surrounded him with spears.
“Leave everything you have behind, including this horse, and I will let you live,” the strange leader demanded as he stomped his foot. A surge of qi and blood suddenly rose from his body, indicating that he was a martial artist who had refined his blood.
Qin Huai patted his horse coldly, and the steed with the bloodline of demons walked forward slowly.
“Find…”
Before the beggar could finish his sentence, he fell to the ground with a thud and foam came out of his mouth. Blood flowed nonstop. There was an axe in his hand.
The surrounding people were even worse off. Blood flowed out of their seven orifices on the spot, and their bodies turned black.
Qin Huai had an axe hidden behind his back, which he used to kill the gang members who tried to trick him. He picked up the experience orbs that had fallen from their bodies.
“Ding! You have collected a [Broken Axe Essence (Orange)], [Broken Axe Technique] Experience +12,333!”
“Ding! You have collected a [Broken Axe Essence (Purple)], [Broken Axe Technique] Experience +2,111!”
Qin Huai merely glanced at the broken axe technique. There was nothing special about it; it was just an ordinary cultivation technique. The Broken Axe Gang was probably just a small gang.
He didn’t care about this little episode. He searched the silver notes on everyone’s bodies, which totaled only a little over a thousand taels. Then, he continued walking toward the city gate.