Chapter 276: The Customs of Yulan City

The cave dwelling Di Qing rented, located in Rainwave City's inner district, appeared ordinary from the outside. However, upon entering, the space expanded to more than ten thousand times its visible size.

Luo Feng and the other three stepped inside together.

"I'll divide the space first," Di Qing announced. The vast interior then naturally partitioned itself: two small spaces were created in the corners, a public courtyard was left in the middle, and the remaining area was split into two equal halves.

"You can decide how to build out your internal spaces," Di Qing said. "I'll take the left one," Di Ming declared. "Then I'll take the right," Di Fu added. Having no other options, they proactively chose the two small corner spaces.

"No fees, and we get to follow Di Qing and Luo He, which provides protection. What more could we ask for?" They understood very well that without Di Qing and Luo He, their survival in the city would be hundreds or even thousands of times harder. "I've sent you a detailed intelligence report on Rainwave City. You should study it thoroughly first." After saying this, Di Qing walked off to his own section of space.

Di Ming, Di Fu, and Luo Feng also entered their respective spaces.

"This living arrangement isn't bad," Di Ming remarked, sensing the energy absorption rate. "The energy absorption speed here can reach thirty percent of my maximum."

"That's good. My strength is currently at a bottleneck, so my energy requirements are already low. Maximum energy absorption usually occurs during rapid growth phases; once at the limit, only a small amount of energy is needed for sustenance."

"The space is quite large," Luo Feng observed, looking at the empty area. With a thought, energy converged, naturally forming various palaces and pavilions, including a reception hall. He then stepped onto the highest level of a pavilion, happily took out a pot of wine, and began drinking while studying the Rainwave City intelligence report.

Rainwave City was created by cultivators and governed by the Elder Hall. The Elder Hall currently consisted of three Hall Masters and 327 Elders. One could apply to become an Elder upon reaching the Divine Emperor Late Stage of the Path of Enlightenment or the Half-Origin level. An individual could become an Elder if they could activate a portion of Rainwave City's defense system, and if their activation capability was extremely high, they could even become a Hall Master. Luo Feng, reviewing the information, noted, "Every Elder must be able to enhance Rainwave City's defensive capabilities. The Elder Hall is truly making a contribution." He looked closely at the details: once a member of the Elder Hall, one was required to reside permanently in Rainwave City to ensure its defense, unable to leave even a single step. Yet, all Elder Hall members were powerful enough to travel to the Dark Sacred Realm.

Every Half-Origin expert's greatest desire was undoubtedly to "break free from the cage" and find more opportunities to do so in the Dark Sacred Realm. However, Elder Hall members remained in the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm, never leaving Rainwave City. "Therefore, those who can become Elder Hall members generally have avatars. They only keep one avatar here, while their other avatars have already gone to the Dark Sacred Realm."

Luo Feng speculated, "The ability to have avatars also suggests that the core ruling members of Rainwave City's Elder Hall are likely from the Origin World." Luo Feng deduced numerous details: experts from billions of worlds typically did not possess avatars, and few would willingly remain in the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm once they had become powerful enough.

"Cultivators living in Rainwave City need one Origin Crystal every season, and they must also rent a dwelling, as all residences in the city are only available for rent." Luo Feng understood that these fees constituted the official income of Rainwave City. This income was used to support a group of law enforcement cultivators, maintain the city's defense system, and only the remainder was distributed among the three Hall Masters and 327 Elders. This revenue must be substantial to incentivize these powerful experts to keep their avatars here long-term. Below the Divine Emperor level, there were hundreds of millions of cultivators, while Divine Emperors numbered in the millions. Luo Feng observed from the report that Path of Enlightenment cultivators, who generally comprehended complete Grand Daos, did not find it particularly difficult to become Divine Emperors. However, those relying on bloodlines, while seemingly growing easily, found their ultimate growth limited by their bloodline strength; if their bloodline wasn't strong enough, they might remain stuck at the ultimate Divine King level. Rainwave City also had intelligence organizations that sold information on all Divine Emperors, but Luo Feng could not afford it. "Furthermore, the intelligence gathered on Divine Emperors cannot be truly comprehensive," he thought. For example, since Luo Feng had just arrived in Rainwave City, there was naturally no detailed information about him available externally.

"Brother Luo He," Di Qing's voice echoed, as he arrived at the entrance of Luo Feng's space.

"Brother Di Qing," Luo Feng immediately opened the entrance. "Is information on all Divine Emperors in Rainwave City quite expensive?"

Di Qing walked over, smiling. "It only covers about ninety percent of Divine Emperors at most, because some have quietly broken through and don't actively expose themselves, making it difficult to learn about them. Even the information sold only records what can be detected. Many Divine Emperors have hidden methods." Di Qing continued, "Regardless, you don't have to buy it immediately, but eventually, it's best to acquire a copy."

"Only with that information will you truly understand how many formidable entities are hidden in Rainwave City, and who should not be provoked," Di Qing explained. Luo Feng understood.

"This intelligence is very expensive, and it also contains a hidden Star-Day Method, which is strictly forbidden from being transmitted outside," Di Qing stated. "So, I cannot pass it on to you."

Luo Feng understood that gathering intelligence on so many Divine Emperors throughout the city would be incredibly difficult. If only a few copies were sold and then disseminated city-wide, the intelligence organization would suffer immense losses. "Rainwave City has an abundance of commercial resources," Di Qing said. "Here, Origin Crystals are needed everywhere. I'll lend you one hundred thousand Origin Crystals for now; you can repay me after our hunt." As Di Qing spoke, he waved his hand, and 100,000 Origin Crystals landed nearby, forming a sparkling small mountain. Luo Feng was genuinely touched by this gesture. Di Qing was already letting him live in the dwelling for free, even giving him half the space. If calculated, half the rental cost for a thousand epochs would be 5 million Origin Crystals, which Di Qing was essentially gifting him, and now he was lending him so much. Luo Feng was indeed at his poorest, having just arrived in Rainwave City.

"Thank you, Brother Di Qing," Luo Feng said simply. "As newcomers to the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm, this is when we need Origin Crystals the most. With them, we can purchase sufficient resources to strengthen ourselves."

Di Qing smiled. "By the way, when you go out to buy resources, remember one thing." Di Qing suddenly became serious. "Carry fewer Origin Crystals each time. In Rainwave City, if there's enough temptation, murder, robbery, and theft can all occur. Even if you have means to save your life, having your treasures stolen would be a significant loss." "I understand," Luo Feng nodded. After all, the earlier intelligence report had detailed that murder and robbery occurred occasionally, while theft and deception were more common because they did not involve loss of life, and official punishments were less severe. "Better to carry less; if it gets stolen, consider it tuition fee paid." Di Qing sighed, "Rainwave City's theft methods are diverse, with numerous techniques from various cultivation systems that you've never even seen." Luo Feng nodded slightly. Having familiarized himself with the intelligence, Luo Feng then left the dwelling alone to thoroughly explore Rainwave City, a place where he would likely be rooted for a long time.

Following Di Qing's reminder, Luo Feng was very careful, carrying only 5,000 Origin Crystals. "With all five of my avatars, I refuse to believe I can't protect these 5,000 Origin Crystals."

Luo Feng was meticulous; he carried no secret treasures, his most valuable possession being the 5,000 Origin Crystals. For this trip to the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm, Luo Feng had brought energy reserves equivalent to 1,200 times a perfect body's capacity. The energy reserves he left behind in his avatars on his home Origin Continent were minimal, but he was already invincible there, so those reserves were sufficient.

Within his five avatars for this journey, he also held a reserve equivalent to 200 times a perfect body's capacity, enabling them to operate at an extreme normal reserve level.

The moment Luo Feng left the dwelling, Rainwave City was enveloped in a colorful array of defense systems. These were controlled by the Elder Hall's three Hall Masters and 327 Elders. Invisible and colorless waves periodically swept through the city, and one such wave passed over Luo Feng.

In the innermost core area of the inner city lay a colossal cave dwelling. Deep within the dwelling, a figure bathed in light, seemingly forged from pure radiance, sat expressionless. A red diamond-shaped gem rested on its forehead, and within the gem, a vast amount of information was being rapidly processed. Detailed information on Divine Emperors throughout the entire city was being collected. A piece of information about Luo Feng was among them: "New city resident Luo Feng, dwelling at 99179 Tianshui District in Rainwave City's inner district. Suspected Divine Emperor. Currently residing in the same dwelling as Di Qing. Suspected to be from the same Origin World."

As this information was being collected, it was simultaneously transmitted to another mysterious entity. In another massive cave dwelling within Rainwave City's inner district, a colossal spherical creature resided. Faces occasionally protruded from its surface—some howling, some sleeping, some filled with hatred, and some laughing.

The spherical creature's surface also contained countless tiny pores, through which figures continuously entered and exited.

"Luo Feng, the newly arrived Divine Emperor, living with Di Qing, should not be poor."

"Let this newcomer experience the customs of our Rainwave City. He's likely from the most common Path of Enlightenment system; let him test the power of other systems." A command was swiftly issued: "Mo Yada, he's yours."

A short figure flew out from one of the spherical creature's many pores. The short figure cackled mischievously, having already targeted the newcomer Divine Emperor.

At this moment, the short figure's organization had already locked onto Luo Feng's location. As long as Luo Feng was in a public area within the city, he could not hide. The short figure sped directly towards Luo Feng.