The early morning sunlight pierced the sky, scattering across the earth.
In the mountains, the mist turned into a vast sea of clouds, ethereal and ever-changing.
Forest birds flapped their wings, taking flight, carrying twigs to their nests.
Their verdant figures twirled in the sea of clouds, light and agile.
But at that moment, a noise suddenly came from within the clouds.
The next instant, the vast sea of clouds parted to either side as a massive creature descended from above.
The boiling sea of clouds mixed with the howling wind, as the terrified verdant birds desperately flapped their wings to flee the terrifying giant.
Then, in a flash, the strong winds from high above tore the clouds apart, revealing the creature’s enormous form to the world.
The huge flags inserted atop the creature bore characters similar to those on the ancient city’s flags within the mountains.
[Refinement Demon Sect].
The verdant birds panicked and fled, flapping their wings to escape even further.
Such spirit birds of the mountains avoided humans in the city at all costs.
On the deck of the flying boat, Li Yuechan watched the fleeing bird and exclaimed in surprise.
“Wow! That’s a phoenix bird… Bro, there are phoenix birds in the mountains outside Magic Sword City? There must be abundant Immortal Spirit Qi here.”
Phoenix birds are spirit birds of the Path of Immortality, preferring to dwell in places rich with Immortal Spirit Qi.
Li Muyang, however, glanced at the departing phoenix bird and shook his head, “That’s just the most common kind of phoenix bird; it barely qualifies as a spirit bird and isn’t really rare.”
Even if the earth’s veins of Magic Sword City were indeed rich in Immortal Spirit Qi, this place, constantly inhabited by demon cultivators and filled with sky-high Demonic Qi, couldn’t possibly have any auspicious creatures of the Path of Immortality dwelling here.
At this moment, on the deck, all the Outer Sect Disciples were lined up, waiting.
They all wore their Outer Sect robes, forming neat, solemn ranks.
Li Muyang, Li Yuechan, and Guan Xiaoshun stood at the very end of the line, whispering secretly to each other.
The clouds and fog flowed past them, with grand mountains rising and falling in the distance, as the flying boat navigated through them.
From their high vantage point, they could glimpse a plain suddenly appearing among the peaks ahead.
The city walls of Magic Sword City were practically at the edge of this plain.
The fellow Outer Sect Disciples marveled at the extraordinary sight of the plain within the mountains, with only Li Muyang remaining speechless.
This Magic Sword City… indeed, it is Nancheng City!
Whether it be the vast mountains outside the city or the layout of the streets within, almost everything matched Nancheng City from the game.
How bizarre!
Thousands of years have passed, and this city hasn’t changed at all?
Just then, a familiar voice emerged from the crowd.
“…My hometown is this Magic Sword City. It’s said that in Ancient Times, humans and demons coexisted peacefully, an utterly unique phenomenon.”
The man surnamed Liu began to show off his knowledge of Magic Sword City.
“…It wasn’t until a thousand years ago that the Refinement Demon Sect took over the city, and life returned within its walls.”
“But even to this day, most areas within Magic Sword City are still vacant.”
“It’s rumored that ancient wraiths linger without rest, often emerging to kill people in the dead of night.”
“There are even legends that the cursed sword that once caused a great slaughter, still lies within the city, waiting to awaken and kill again.”
The man surnamed Liu exaggerated the hometown legends.
According to him, the city had been like this for thousands of years.
One wonders how the ancients built it, that after thousands of years, not a single building had collapsed or decayed.
The streets and houses within the city always remained as they were in the past, even the grass and trees in the city ceased to grow.
Furthermore, the city walls and streets were incredibly sturdy. Ordinary cultivators using magic artifacts to bombard them would find it very difficult to damage the buildings and alleys.
Li Yuechan secretly moved closer to Li Muyang’s ear and whispered.
“… Sister Ning said that this Demon Sword City seems to be cursed, that’s why everything within has been frozen in time for thousands of years, never to change again.”
In the midst of everyone’s conversation, the enormous flying boat smoothly landed at the flying boat ferry outside Demon Sword City.
The City Lord of Demon Sword City had already been waiting with a party to receive them, and the ferry burst into jubilant and festive music.
“… Demon Sword City’s Zhu Tao, warmly welcomes Elder Yan’s arrival!”
Li Muyang, walking at the very end of the procession, had no interest in the political flattery aimed at the dignitaries ahead.
Amidst the petals being thrown in welcome, he looked around curiously.
Although he had run around the city in the game, this was his first time outside it.
He hadn’t expected the world outside the map to be like this.
After the exchanges between the dignitaries concluded, they each got into their carriages amid more gong beating and drumming.
Once the carriages left, Li Muyang and the group of outer sect disciples were led by two inner sect disciples towards the city gates.
The dignitaries were off to a feast to refresh themselves from their travels, but this group of outer sect riffraff didn’t get such treatment and had to sort themselves out at the accommodations arranged by Demon Sword City.
Passing through the pitch-black city gate tunnel and stepping into the city, the streets and alleys that met their eyes were indeed in the style of the South River City from thousands of years ago.
Moreover, this city gate was very close to the residence of the Human Puppet Master, the game BOSS Li Muyang was currently challenging.
The farther he walked, the more familiar Li Muyang found the street scenes to be, practically identical to those in the game.
It wasn’t until they reached the lodgings arranged for them, the outer sect disciples, by Demon Sword City, and he saw the alley ahead that Li Muyang’s DNA almost reacted.
—Isn’t this the very alley where the Human Puppet Master resides?
The game’s scenes had actually come into reality… Could this be considered a pilgrimage to a sacred site?
Having been killed dozens of times by the Human Puppet Master in that alley, Li Muyang instinctively shrank his neck.
Having died so many times, he felt as if the eerie and spooky figure of the Human Puppet Master would jump out of a corner at any second.
Fortunately, reality was not the game, and Li Muyang safely made his way into the alley and was allocated his own room.
He, Guan Xiaoshun, along with four other outer sect male disciples, squeezed into a small courtyard.
There were three rooms in total, with two people sharing one room.
The best courtyard, where the Human Puppet Master resided, was occupied by the two inner sect brothers leading the outer sect disciples.
“Brother Li, do you want to go out for a stroll?”
After tidying up the room and settling down their luggage and bedding, Guan Xiaoshun asked, “Liu brother and the others plan to take a look around the city, and they invited the two of us to join.”
The Liu surnamed man, whose hometown was indeed Demon Sword City, also happened to live in Li Muyang’s courtyard.
Now that they had reached his hometown, he had volunteered to be the guide and proposed to show everyone around.
This group of outer sect disciples was cooped up in the sect on a daily basis and hardly ever saw the outside world. Now that they had finally made it to the city, they naturally couldn’t wait to explore.
But Li Muyang just shook his head, “No, you guys go ahead. I want to rest for a bit.”
As he saw Guan Xiaoshun and the other outer sect disciples leave the courtyard, Li Muyang closed his room door, lay straight on the bed, and closed his eyes.
The Game with the Fairies, activate!
What’s there to explore in this city of reality?
Since it’s a 1:1 replica, I’ll go explore in the game!
Curse that Human Puppet Master, your Grandpa Li Muyang is back!