CHAPTER 385: CHAPTER 385 CLOUD CITY

"Is it really possible?" Jiang Yuan was taken aback upon hearing this, thinking to himself, can even sect disciples be impersonated?

Originally, the sect token was literally just a token, not bound to personal information; anyone could use it... no wonder villains in stories often take tokens after killing and use them for misdeeds.

"We saved someone together at Wo Hu Mountain, so we can be considered comrades who fought side by side. It’s just vouching for Jiang brother’s identity, why not?" Xie Chenyuan handed over the token to him and added, "Many loose cultivators, when in trouble outside, would borrow the name of great sects. As long as they don’t commit crimes, no one will pursue it."

So that’s how it is! Besides, I only need to "buy a house and settle down" and won’t use the name of the Cloud Concealment Sect to do anything wrong.

Worried about encountering species discrimination, Jiang Yuan went into the brokerage specializing in renting and selling houses with the borrowed token, and deliberately changed to a new title to increase his affinity.

It’s unknown if the title worked or if the Cloud Concealment Sect’s token was highly effective, but the entire process was very smooth. With Xie Chenyuan’s suggestions, he selected a relatively spacious independent courtyard located in the ordinary demon cultivator residential area.

The broker enthusiastically helped negotiate a 20% discount, and he successfully bought the house for 960,000 Spirit Stones, securing residency with a token representing an official resident of Carefree City.

After setting up his new home, he explored the city to inquire about the prices of demon cores of different qualities and levels. When night fell, Jiang Yuan looked at his full storage bag, finally able to head to Cloud City and drop off his cargo!

"Oh? Jiang brother not joining the hunt?" Xie Chenyuan expressed slight regret upon hearing his plan, since last night was focused on rescue, they couldn’t assess their new friend’s combat abilities to gauge his realm.

Originally, he wanted to learn more through the hunt, but unexpectedly, the other party planned to go to a very remote city.

It was said that place was rich in spirit medicine, but Xie Chenyuan, being uninterested in alchemy, was more intrigued by hunting demon cores.

After politely declining the invitation, they agreed to go hunting in the Wilderness together sometime. Only then did Jiang Yuan quickly teleport to Cloud City.

[Cloud City: A city built atop the clouds, rich in mineral resources, rare demon beasts, and numerous spirit medicines.]

As soon as he teleported, just as the system introduction flashed in his view, everything went black, and two imposing demon cultivators in over three-meter tall armor greeted him.

[Iron Armor Guard: Member of the Iron Armor Corps under Cloud City Lord Mu Linglan, Black Panther Demon in the Third Layer of the Body Forging Realm]

Before he could clearly see the other party’s appearance, the system’s identification details popped up. The iron armor guard’s black, whip-like tail impatiently swung back and forth, seemingly harboring great hostility towards the newcomer.

"From Carefree City? Cloud Concealment Sect Outer Sect Disciple?" Obviously, the token recorded more information than Xie Chenyuan’s sect token, and upon seeing sect information, the guard’s hostility immediately dissipated, "Ah, you are a disciple of one of the ancient top ten sects, the Cloud Concealment Sect, my apologies.

I’ve heard the techniques of the Cloud Concealment Sect are unique, only recruiting human disciples, and humans are rare in these wilderness lands. Could it be that you’re recruiting disciples from the sinking human world?"

Jiang Yuan looked bewildered, only now realizing that Xie Chenyuan’s details indeed did not specify any demon cultivator breed. So he was a human from these wilderness lands?! Wasn’t there supposed to be a fallout between demon cultivators and humans?

"Talk less!" The other iron armor guard glared at his colleague, "Why inquire so much about others’ sect affairs?"

"Yes, yes, my apologies." The Black Panther Demon handed back the token, "I wish you well during your stay in Cloud City. Please, this way, besides verifying identity, a simple test is also required to ensure no evil cultivators practicing obvious evil techniques mix into the city, and there are some city rules you need to be fully aware of."

Jiang Yuan thought he had passed, but to his surprise, he was led into a small room beside them, and they thoroughly checked everything from species, occupation, to his purpose for coming to Cloud City, while also briefing a heap of rules.

"Teleportation inside the city is prohibited."

"Fights and brawls are not allowed inside the city."

"Entering and exiting the city requires inspection; leaving at night must return by night, and the gates are closed during the day, prohibiting any cultivator from entering or leaving..."

...

One rule after another drummed in his ears; as he listened, he speculated about what Cloud City might have gone through to form so many regulations. Clearly, the city had sacrificed some development to ensure maximum resident safety.

A quarter of an hour later, he finally received the stamped approval to step onto the new city’s streets, immediately engulfed by a completely different atmosphere.

Carefree City was filled with the scent of money and profit, whereas here felt more like a calm and peaceful village town. Even the City Lord’s Mansion at the city’s center was indistinguishable from common residences, and this architectural style permeated the entire city, making it hard to discern any wealth difference, whether in the center or outskirts, at least on the surface.

"Would you like to look at some spirit medicines, sir? These are specialties of Cloud City." As he casually entered a shop, the shop assistant warmly greeted and inquired about his needs for spirit medicines, then introduced different qualities and prices in detail.

Jiang Yuan widened his eyes as he noticed the descriptions and the system’s identification matched perfectly.

Just as Song Zhi said, the merchants in Cloud City didn’t exaggerate at all in their sales talk, creating a stark contrast with the fraudulent sellers at the Wo Hu Temple Market.

"I’ll take all of these, by the way, do you have any top-quality Fire Hemp Bamboo?"

"The Fire Hemp Bamboo is scarce around Cloud City, and we indeed don’t have any in stock, but we do have Fire Rhinoceros Wood, which has similar effects. Would you like to take a look?"

Jiang Yuan just declined the offer, and the clerk politely stood up to pack his goods, without any hard sell.

The shop assistant even refrained from denigrating competitors while praising their products and was courteous enough to direct him to a potential store that might sell Fire Hemp Bamboo as he left.

Upon entering the Wilderness World, this was the first time Jiang Yuan experienced such professional and thorough service, buying the desired spirit medicine without needing system appraisal or overpaying.

No wonder Song Zhi’s father lost everything doing business in other cities, unable to compete with the cunning merchants after living long in such an environment.

"Maybe I should consider opening a shop in Cloud City, regularly acquiring the spirit medicines needed. Wandering around for purchases is a bit time-consuming, but who can I rely on for such tasks?" Jiang Yuan pondered while leaving Cloud City through inspection, riding a paper crane toward his courtyard, thinking he couldn’t keep wasting time on such trivial matters.

For him, the most crucial main tasks were farming, upgrading, and building the courtyard. Whether it be spirit medicines or demon cores, they were merely important aspects of the courtyard enterprise and shouldn’t take up too much precious time.

"Xiaobai, Zhile, come see something new!" Just stepping into the courtyard, he couldn’t bother with the farm and workshop, he reached into his storage bag to grab a handful of demon cores to surprise them.