Chapter 313: Shadows Enshroud

Rainfall City.

Fine rain drifted, blanketing the world. Luo Feng, alone and deep in thought, left his cave dwelling.

“The more I understand, the more I realize how difficult it is to ‘leap out of the cage,’” Luo Feng mused. His current goal wasn't to achieve a breakthrough in the Path of Life and Death, but rather to comprehend the profound mysteries of those Primordial Bloodlines—how they achieved a ‘naturally perfect unity.’ A naturally perfect unity would allow him to completely break free from the cage and reach a new realm.

“I've now studied all 323 types of early God-Emperor stage Primordial Bloodlines a full five times before temporarily setting them aside!”

Each new study session yielded gains!

However, the later sessions yielded progressively less. Luo Feng had been acquiring these Primordial Bloodlines for 1,500 eras now!

Most of these 1,500 eras were spent comprehending the early God-Emperor stage Primordial Bloodlines. Only recently did he begin studying the mid God-Emperor stage bloodlines, and he had just reached the 34th type.

“Each mid God-Emperor stage Primordial Bloodline brings significantly greater insights. Studying three or four of them consecutively makes my soul ache!” Luo Feng had been taking various auxiliary treasures during his cultivation over these approximately 1,500 eras, which put a heavy burden on his soul. He was only now beginning to rest.

“I can feel that each Primordial Bloodline I comprehend brings me closer to 'leaping out of the cage.' I must thoroughly research all these bloodlines; I cannot rush!”

Luo Feng cherished these resources. At this moment, he had a feeling that if he just spent some time and effort meticulously organizing and integrating his knowledge, his Path of Life and Death would soon reach the late God-Emperor stage.

However, Luo Feng was not in a hurry.

The deeper his accumulation, the more thorough his understanding of the Path of Life and Death, and the steadier the path he walked.

“No need to rush for a moment!”

“Once the Path of Life and Death reaches the late God-Emperor stage, I’ll be on a higher level than the three great Hall Masters. Even in the Dark Sacred Realm, I’d be an incredibly dazzling powerhouse!” Yet, with this realm now within his grasp, Luo Feng sometimes wondered if he was a peerless genius.

Other cultivators often faced a bottleneck they could never break through!

He, however, had naturally progressed step by step to higher levels. “Perhaps compared to other cultivators, I can more directly grasp the essence of the Dao!”

Luo Feng thought that he could directly see through and grasp the core essence of many paths.

Other cultivators, however, merely circled the periphery of the Great Dao!

“I find many cultivators to be mediocre, but perhaps in the eyes of Senior Yuan and others, even someone like me is considered mediocre!” Luo Feng chuckled.

For once, Luo Feng wasn't cultivating and had the leisure to appreciate the city.

“Hahahahaha…”

From a distance, a desolate laugh echoed.

Luo Feng turned his head to look. Yulan City was vast, and beside a lake, an old man was drinking wine, laughing sadly, with a hint of sorrow in his laughter.

Luo Feng could clearly sense it.

“A God-King Ultimate Realm cultivator.”

Luo Feng instantly saw through the elder’s strength. He immediately reined in his own aura, bringing it to the God-Emperor stage. Luo Feng walked over.

“Brother, why so sad?”

Luo Feng took out a flask of wine and tossed it over. The old man didn't mind, simply took the flask, took a sip, and his eyes lit up. He nodded, “Good wine, very good! I was just feeling a bit wronged earlier, but a laugh fixes everything, hahahaha!”

“Wronged!” Luo Feng looked at him. “I’m just a God-King Ultimate Realm cultivator, and I’ve been in Yulan City for so long. I do odd jobs, pay residency fees, cave dwelling rental fees, and so on. After hundreds of thousands of eras, I finally saved up some money!” The old man said, “I wanted to buy some pills to aid my breakthrough. I bought the pills, but on the way back, I found they were gone!”

“The pills are gone?” Luo Feng understood.

A God-King Ultimate Realm cultivator wouldn't simply lose treasures they carried! There was only one possibility—they were stolen!

He himself had been stolen from when he first arrived in Yulan City!

“We God-King Ultimate Realm cultivators are too weak. We don’t even notice when we’re stolen from!” the old man sighed with resignation.

“In the past, when I was stolen from, I didn’t care. But this time, it was the auxiliary pills I managed to save up for with great difficulty. They’re all gone in an instant. It’s too hard, too hard. Earning Primordial Crystals for cultivation is too hard, life is too hard, cultivation is too hard!”

The old man’s mood was complex, and he took two more sips of wine. Yet, he smiled again: “Although it’s difficult, at least in Yulan City, there are still cultivators!”

“Yes, at least there’s hope!” Luo Feng nodded. Aren’t all cultivators who come to Yulan City here to go further on the path of cultivation?

“Thank you for the good wine, brother!” The old man smiled. The days of cultivation still had to go on!

Luo Feng looked at him: “This is Yulan City, the normal life of the lower strata. It was the same for Difu and Diming when they first arrived; even finding the most ordinary work was difficult!”

In Yulan City, such low-level cultivators make up the vast majority, numbering in the hundreds of millions.

Hundreds of millions of cultivators, lacking the strength to hunt low-level Primordial life forms, could only try to serve the strong to earn some resources!

They were still subject to theft and had to pay residency and cave dwelling rental fees. “Hmm?” The old man, after walking away for a moment, suddenly paused.

He looked at the wine flask in his hand!

Inside the flask, an invisible force had sealed and hidden a Primordial Crystal!

This single Primordial Crystal was worth ten thousand ordinary Primordial Crystals! “Ten thousand Primordial Crystals?” The old man quickly turned, but Luo Feng was nowhere to be seen by the lake. He realized then that the man must not have been an ordinary being!

“Thank you, senior.”

The old man silently thanked him in his heart. Not daring to make a fuss, he immediately hurried quietly back to his own cave dwelling!

He certainly wouldn't dare carry so many Primordial Crystals on him! Luo Feng walked through Yulan City.

Throughout Yulan City, low-level cultivators were everywhere. Most of them didn't have long-term stable jobs!

Long-term stable jobs were a significant burden for many factions!

Even if only 20 Primordial Crystals were given per era,

over a million eras, the cost would be terrifying!

Therefore, most factions had relatively few long-term stable members. Most were temporary workers, hired when there was a lot of work and not needed when it was quiet.

“Even so, low-level cultivators are the easiest targets for theft!”

Luo Feng encountered several instances of theft while walking.

“Because they’re poor, weak, and can’t afford defensive secret treasures…”

Illusion Realm Maze!

“Whoosh!”

A flying vessel passed by in the distance!

Luo Feng sensed five cultivators inside. Judging by their auras, they appeared to be ‘early God-Emperor stage Dao comprehenders,’ who had just returned from a hunt.

“In Yulan City, even those who escape the lowest strata, Dao comprehenders who reach the early God-Emperor stage, usually have to risk their lives to hunt!” “Mid God-Emperor stage Dao comprehenders are mostly hunters, with only a few managing to secure important positions in major factions!”

Luo Feng mused.

Someone like Di Qing, a mid God-Emperor stage Dao comprehender, only got a position in the Pill Tower because of his connection to Luo Feng.

Otherwise, with so many powerhouses in the city, why would the Evergreen Tower Master need him? In the entire Yulan City, very few could be considered to live comfortably; over ninety-nine percent of the people struggled greatly!

Despite such hardships, everyone still came, all for the path of cultivation.

Luo Feng walked to the entrance of the ‘Insect Nest Cave Dwelling,’ one of the three great plundering factions.

Even from a distance, he could still see the colossal, spherical creature. Maniacal faces surfaced on its surface, and numerous pores on its body still had cultivators entering and exiting.

“The Insect Nest Lord!” Luo Feng watched calmly.

Although he wasn’t in a hurry to break through to the late stage of the Path of Life and Death,

even with his Path of Life and Death in the mid-stage, and his Life and Destruction paths both at the late God-Emperor stage, coupled with his research into Primordial Bloodlines over such a long period, Luo Feng's accumulation was too profound. With the secret techniques he had comprehended, Luo Feng didn't even pay much attention to the Great Hall Master, let alone an Insect Nest Lord! The Infinite Primordial Space contained countless Source Worlds and an even greater number of billions of realms!

Luo Feng thought,

“Cultivators from different worlds, even without the Insect Nest Lord, the Ghoul Inn Lord, or the Myriad Shadow Tower Master, would still have many practitioners engaging in theft and plunder!”

They would stop at nothing for resources!

In the thirty-five cities of the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm, every city was like this! Even if Luo Feng became the city lord and forcibly disbanded the Insect Nest and the other two factions,

the phenomena of theft and plunder would still be difficult to eradicate!

“Luo Feng came outside my cave dwelling and is staring at me.”

The colossal Insect Nest was the Insect Nest Lord’s physical body! Luo Feng simply stood outside the cave dwelling’s entrance, watching the Insect Nest, and the Insect Nest Lord naturally sensed him!

“I haven’t acquired a suitable mind-secret treasure yet!”

The Insect Nest Lord thought she could only endure for now.

“Once I get my hands on a mind-secret treasure, I’ll definitely make this Luo Feng understand the cost of provoking us!” Suddenly, a mental message echoed within the Insect Nest.

“Insect Nest Lord, I’m watching your colossal body right outside your cave dwelling. Are you pretending not to see me?”

Luo Feng’s voice came through!

“Luo Feng!”

The Insect Nest Lord glared at Luo Feng in shock and anger, also transmitting a message, “You’ve gone too far!” “You directly attacked me at the Pill Tower, yet it’s ‘too far’ for me to simply say a few words outside your Insect Nest cave dwelling?” Luo Feng transmitted back, chuckling.

The Insect Nest Lord fell silent.

“Your courage is far less than what the rumors claim!”

Seeing that the other party was silent and didn’t retort, Luo Feng said nothing more, immediately turned and left. The Insect Nest Lord endured it.

“He dares to provoke me; he must have some backing!” The Insect Nest Lord had a faint feeling, a premonition from her long years of life. While Luo Feng was strolling leisurely through Yulan City,

inside a very ordinary cave dwelling in the outer city area of Yulan City!

Two weak cultivators gathered.

“Get ready, the King will be entering Yulan City soon!” a thin cultivator transmitted mentally. “The King, you’re finally coming?”

The other aged cultivator was excited: “I’ll immediately mobilize our members. Everyone, prepare yourselves!”

“Only the leaders know about the King’s arrival!”

The thin cultivator instructed: “Below the rank of leader, it must be kept secret!” “Don’t worry, my subordinates all think it’s a routine infiltration and assassination mission. Infiltrating Yulan City for assassinations is common!” the aged cultivator responded.

“Only I know the true plan!” The thin cultivator nodded and transmitted mentally: “Prepare yourselves. Once you’ve entered Yulan City, you can mentally communicate with all of us leaders!”

The aged cultivator was quite expectant. He had waited too long. This time, they would tear apart Yulan City, and with hundreds of millions of cultivators there, they would surely have a satisfying feast. Once they devoured enough cultivators, they would have hope of regaining their freedom!

“Killing a single cultivator outside is difficult, but breaking into Yulan City means hundreds of millions of cultivators are just food before us. Be patient; that day… is coming soon!”

The thin cultivator smiled faintly.

End of Chapter.