Chapter 1460: Jialan City's Rules

Xu Yang's four-person team entered Jialan City, partly to give Meng Yue and the Ascetic Monk more time to solve the puzzles, hoping these two exceptional talents of this era in the Great World would join Xu Yang's team. On the other hand, Xu Yang also wanted to understand what made Jialan City unique, given its status as a critical strategic town at the border of the Eye of Heaven Divine Path and the Kunlun Divine Path.

Afterwards, Xu Yang cast a spell without hesitation, quickly collecting the complete memories of ten native residents within Jialan City. From the depths of their memories, he uncovered most of the city's secrets.

"It turns out this city-state is strategically located at the border between the Eye of Heaven Divine Path and the Kunlun Divine Path. As a result, its internal power structures are quite complex, making it one of the most important strategic towns. More importantly, over sixty percent of the city-state's economy revolves around forming mercenary groups to enter the Kunlun Abyss to hunt demonic beasts. The spoils from these hunts are then exchanged for corresponding medals. Once a certain level of achievement is reached, one can upgrade their medal status. This is, in essence, the city-state's exclusive ranking system.

"Mercenary rank medals are divided into nine levels. Experience is accumulated based on the number and quality of demonic beasts slain, and reaching a certain total point threshold allows one to advance their mercenary medal rank. According to Jialan City's internal regulations, only those with a mercenary medal of level five or higher can qualify as a 'free traveler.' Individuals granted 'traveler' status are authorized to journey between the Eye of Heaven Divine Path and the Kunlun Divine Path. In other words, unless one resorts to using immense power to forcibly break through the external barrier of the Kunlun Divine Path and directly intrude, Jialan City's mercenary medal system serves as the only legitimate channel connecting the two divine path regions.

"Perhaps due to this unique function, Jialan City frequently attracts top cultivators from both divine path regions. However, according to the regulations of these regions, Saint-level experts cannot gain passage between them simply by possessing a level five mercenary medal. This is because each divine path region has only one hundred Saints, who fundamentally represent the one hundred strongest orthodox cultivators within their respective paths. Their power is quite formidable. Allowing such powerful individuals to easily traverse the borders between the two divine path regions would pose a significant security risk to the other side. Therefore, top experts with Saint status who wish to enter the opposing divine path region via Jialan City must acquire an eight-level mercenary medal. Saints ranked among the top ten must even achieve the pinnacle glory of a nine-level medal to be granted passage.

"Given these regulations, Xu Yang's team of four temporarily decided not to enter Jialan City's mercenary ranks in their true forms. Appearing in their true forms would attract undue attention, which would not only bring unnecessary trouble but, more importantly, all four members of Xu Yang's team are currently among the top ten Saints within the Eye of Heaven Divine Path. Xu Yang himself has even attained the halo of the First Saint. If their true identities were discovered by the exclusive factions within Jialan City, it would undoubtedly cause a massive uproar throughout the entire city. If news of four top Saints, ranked among the top ten in the Eye of Heaven Divine Path, simultaneously entering Jialan City were to spread within this border city-state, it would likely cause significant unrest within the temples of the entire Kunlun Divine Path."

"Boss, you can handle all the arrangements," Long Kun said. "As for how we should act, we'll follow your plan alone."

Xu Yang nodded gently. "Of course, I have a plan, but implementing it will be quite difficult. The aura I currently possess is soul power condensed from an illusory body, but I am the only one who can achieve this method. The illusory bodies you three project haven't reached the same level of stability that allows me to perfectly imitate reality. If I rashly asked you to imitate my method and condense a simulated soul aura in the form of an illusory body, any potential flaw would only complicate matters. Therefore, the three of you will need to use a different method to conceal your true strength."

Hearing Xu Yang say this, Long Kun and the other two were somewhat puzzled. After all, while their strength remained top-tier in this current continental era, they could no longer fully adapt to many changes in order and rules. More importantly, a critical border town like Jialan City, located between two divine path regions, would certainly possess highly comprehensive methods to detect the soul strength of those passing through. If they weren't fully prepared and rashly attempted to travel under disguise, the consequences of being discovered would be unimaginable.

"So, Boss, what should the three of us do?" Long Kun asked. "Are we really expected to use our identities as top ten Saints to grind for a nine-level mercenary medal before passing through?"

Xu Yang gently shook his head. "Of course not. Not to mention how much time it would take to grind for a nine-level mercenary medal, even if you did, do you think the guardian teams of the Kunlun Divine Path are just for show? Powerful individuals like yourselves, entering another faction's territory as a team, would certainly be monitored constantly. In that case, our subsequent actions would be severely restricted. We must ensure absolute freedom of identity and and not be tied down by any power or entity; otherwise, we would be completely hampered and unable to accomplish anything."

Xiao Hua and the other two also nodded. "Then, Boss, how should we handle this matter?"

Xu Yang clearly had a plan in mind. "To achieve this, that Ascetic Monk fellow should be able to help, but I'm currently unsure if he can solve the puzzle I left for him. If he truly can, then this problem can be easily resolved by his own hand." Xu Yang said this because he had discovered during his previous battle with the Ascetic Monk that the monk had cultivated a "Pure Heart-Soul," an incredibly profound state of mind achieved through his practice of Buddhist cultivation techniques as an ascetic. In that state of mind, the Ascetic Monk's aura could be completely concealed within the current continental era. Since he could achieve this, helping the other three conceal their original auras would certainly be no problem. However, all of this naturally hinged on the Ascetic Monk's ability to solve the difficult problem Xu Yang had left for him. If he didn't even qualify to join Xu Yang's team, then relying on his power would be an even greater pipe dream.

"Alright then," Long Kun said, rubbing his palms eagerly. "Let's first explore Jialan City and at least grind for a level five mercenary medal!" He was already somewhat of a battle fanatic, feeling an inexplicable excitement whenever there was a fight.