Chapter 488: West Sixteen Tianji City

Aware of this, the young man chased even harder, shouting, "Kid, if you know what's good for you, leave your valuables, and I'll spare your life!"

Lu Ye had clearly seen through his intentions, so he no longer bothered to pretend.

As his words fell, Lu Ye, who was fleeing ahead, actually threw out a storage bag.

The young man was stunned, never expecting Lu Ye to be so obedient.

He had robbed many lone cultivators in the Cloud River Battlefield, but every one of them was stubborn and unresponsive to his threats. Most were caught and killed by him, while a few from the same faction managed to survive, though they still lost a considerable amount of valuables.

Since he wouldn't expose his identity by doing such deeds, even if someone wanted revenge afterward, they wouldn't know where to find him.

Therefore, seeing Lu Ye actually throw out a storage bag, he felt a momentary sense of unfamiliarity.

However, he reacted quickly, immediately veering off course. Before the storage bag could land, he scooped it up and continued his pursuit.

He didn't know what was inside the storage bag and couldn't open it immediately, but he wouldn't easily let go of such a rare, timid individual, especially since he coveted Lu Ye's spiritual boat.

"Lu Ye, he's catching up again," Yiyi reported from the spiritual boat, glancing back periodically to update Lu Ye on the situation behind them.

"Hide," Lu Ye said.

Yiyi immediately flashed and hid inside Amber.

Throwing out a storage bag was nothing to Lu Ye. All his current possessions were stored in a void-patterned storage space. The storage bag he carried was merely for deception, containing at most some water and food. He had hoped to use it to shake off his pursuer, but to his surprise, the man was relentless, clearly determined to stop him.

He took out his Ten-Directional Map to check.

The young man behind him shouted again, "Kid, leave your spiritual boat, and I won't chase you!" After saying that, he seemed to think the demand was a bit excessive and added, "Heavenly Dao bears witness!"

A highway robber asking the Heavenly Dao to bear witness nearly made the usually expressionless Lu Ye laugh.

Putting away the Ten-Directional Map, spiritual energy surged around him. With a soft rustle, a pair of fiery red wings unfurled behind his back. Under the sunlight, the wings resembled two flowing flames, breathtakingly beautiful.

Immediately after, Lu Ye put away his spiritual boat, applied a Windwalk enchantment to himself, and with a flap of his wings, soared forward at an even greater speed than before.

The young man pursuing him was instantly dumbfounded, staring blankly at the rapidly disappearing Lu Ye. He had never imagined that someone with such low cultivation would possess such a unique skill.

However, this only intensified the young man's eagerness. In his opinion, despite Lu Ye's low cultivation, possessing a fast spiritual boat and such abilities indicated an extraordinary background. People from distinguished backgrounds typically had abundant wealth, and robbing this one person would be more lucrative than robbing seven or eight others combined!

The young man immediately exerted all his strength in pursuit.

However, even with his full effort, he couldn't close the distance; he could only barely keep up, preventing Lu Ye from shaking him off.

That was enough. The young man didn't know what method Lu Ye was using, but any such method would surely consume a great deal of energy. For a cultivator with low cultivation, such a technique certainly wouldn't last long.

It must be said that the young man's judgment was correct.

The reason Lu Ye didn't frequently activate the Winged Spirit-patterns for flight was its high consumption, much greater than flying with a spiritual artifact. Especially with the added Windwalk enchantment, under this double consumption, even though Lu Ye was now at the third-layer Cloud River Realm, he couldn't maintain it for more than a few hours.

He didn't need to maintain it for too long.

Two hours later, the young man realized the problem as the silhouette of a city suddenly appeared before him.

Moments later, he watched as Lu Ye flew down into the city, disappearing from sight.

The Cloud River Battlefield did have cities, and quite a few of them. However, unlike the Spirit Stream Battlefield, there was no space for mortals to live in the Cloud River Battlefield's cities. In fact, there were no mortals at all in the entire Cloud River Battlefield; those who entered and exited were primarily Cloud River Realm cultivators from various parts of the Nine Provinces.

The cities in the Cloud River Battlefield were generally built around the Heavenly Secret Merchant Alliance. These cities didn't have unique names; they were usually called "Heavenly Secret City," with different numbers preceding them to distinguish them.

For example, the Heavenly Secret City Lu Ye was currently in was West Sixteen Heavenly Secret City, which was also marked on his Ten-Directional Map.

The city was quite large; after all, it was a place frequented by Cloud River Realm cultivators, so a small scale would be inappropriate. Each building was spaced far apart. From a high-altitude view, the city's buildings, large and small, were sparse, dotting the landscape like scattered chess pieces.

At the very center of the city was a colossal Heavenly Secret Merchant Alliance building.

Looking across the entire Cloud River Battlefield, cultivators fell into two types: those who possessed spiritual lands. These cultivators typically resided permanently in their spiritual lands, diligently cultivating and rarely leaving. Even if they did leave, they would arrange shifts with companions to guard the spiritual land.

Otherwise, it would be easy to encounter situations like what Lu Ye and Shen Xiaomao experienced previously, where they returned after an outing only to find their spiritual land gone.

The other type consisted of those without spiritual lands. These cultivators usually had no fixed abode, either traveling alone or with two or three friends, roaming the Cloud River Battlefield in search of opportunities.

Opportunities abounded in the Cloud River Battlefield, from descending spiritual talismans to numerous secret realms, all capable of providing cultivators with unexpected surprises.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, there shouldn't be cities in the Cloud River Battlefield, as most cultivators wouldn't stay in one place for too long.

However, the existence of certain special secret realms led to the birth of cities.

There were many types of secret realms in the Cloud River Battlefield; almost every day, secret realms would open in various parts of the battlefield. Some of these realms opened at fixed locations and times, while others remained open year-round in a single spot.

For instance, the Myriad Beast Domain secret realm that Lu Ye experienced last time, if the goatee elder from the Logistics Department was correct, would become a permanent secret realm. Any cultivator could enter it to seek benefits after paying a certain price.

However, the characteristics of the Myriad Beast Domain secret realm ensured it would only attract cultivators of the beast-taming lineage. Over time, a large number of cultivators would inevitably gather at the secret realm's entrance, eventually forming a city.

West Sixteen City was born this way. Nearby, there was a secret realm that opened once a month and remained open for five days. It was a labyrinthine realm filled with various traps and opportunities; entering it, one could find various spiritual talismans if fortunate.

Such a secret realm was naturally favored by cultivators. So, when the realm wasn't open, many cultivators would gather in West Sixteen Heavenly Secret City. Once the realm opened, those interested in gaining opportunities would enter it.

Many cultivators even resided here permanently, entering the secret realm once a month to seek opportunities.

Lu Ye wasn't familiar with the nearby secret realm; he had simply seen this Heavenly Secret City on his Ten-Directional Map and came here to take refuge.

There weren't many rules in the city, and flying wasn't forbidden. After all, the people coming and going were all Cloud River Realm cultivators, and without a powerful background, no one would bother to set up rules.

Periodically, people would soar into the sky, while others descended from above, fully embodying the bustling energy unique to cultivators.

The total number of cultivators in Heavenly Secret City wasn't excessive, but certainly not small; there were over a thousand people.

There were no streets in the city; buildings of various styles stood scattered, some serving as cultivators' residences, others as shops selling goods.

Cultivators came and went, appearing busy, and no conflicts occurred. After all, if conflicts broke out here, no one knew how many enemies they might provoke. They were all Cloud River Realm cultivators, no longer children, and wouldn't do things that could easily incite public anger.

Although Lu Ye had visited city-like places in the Spirit Stream Battlefield, the cities in the Cloud River Battlefield were entirely different from those in the Spirit Stream Battlefield.

After walking around and observing, he stopped before a spiritual fruit shop.

The shop had good business, with many cultivators entering and exiting. Lu Ye stepped inside and found a wide variety of spiritual fruits for sale. Some clearly came from different origins, and each fruit exuded a rich aroma, though he didn't know their specific effects.

He called over a shop assistant to inquire and learned that the spiritual fruits here came from various parts of the Nine Provinces, brought by cultivators from their respective sects. Regardless of the type, each fruit had a slight effect of replenishing spiritual energy.

Naturally, the spiritual fruits sold here wouldn't be too valuable.

Lu Ye asked about the prices and spent a hundred mid-grade spirit stones, buying four or five hundred spiritual fruits of various types, all of which he put into his storage space.

Walking out of the spiritual fruit shop, he casually took out two fruits, gave one to Amber, and bit into the other himself. It was surprisingly delicious, crisp and sweet.

A moment later, Lu Ye discarded the fruit pit and looked up at the building ahead.

The Heavenly Secret Merchant Alliance!

He had been in and out of many Heavenly Secret Merchant Alliances before, but this was the first time he had seen one of such immense scale.

Just the steps leading up to the Alliance probably numbered thirty-four, and the entire exterior of the Alliance was decorated lavishly, as if afraid others wouldn't know how wealthy they were.

He strode forward, ascending step by step.

Suddenly sensing something, he turned his head and saw a man in a green robe looking his way.

Their eyes met, and Lu Ye's brow lifted. It was the sword cultivator, Zhou Hai. He gave a slight nod in greeting.

The other man also nodded gently.

There wasn't much interaction; they didn't have much of a relationship, having only cooperated briefly in the Myriad Beast Domain a few days prior.

As for asking him to eliminate the young man who had previously harbored malicious intent towards him, Lu Ye didn't even consider it. With no prior relationship, why should he help?

Stepping into the Merchant Alliance, he was immediately greeted by an attendant.