Chapter 204: Gubei Town

Gubei Town.

Located at the northernmost edge of the outer region of the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, Gubei Town sat at the boundary between the outer and middle regions. To enter the middle region, one must pass through here, effectively marking it as a dividing line between the two areas.

From Xuanlu Stronghold to Gubei Town, the journey passed numerous marketplaces and towns, making this the safest route into the Ancient Immortal Battlefield.

Beyond this point northward, however, stable rest stops were scarce.

Upon entering the middle region, celestial phenomena became increasingly fearsome, with swarms of powerful Cloud Beasts and decrepit hidden realm barriers that barely held together. Aside from a few precarious marketplaces, the vast middle region contained only three towns, each built within intact hidden realms and spaced far apart from each other.

Cultivators without sufficient strength typically stopped at Gubei Town, unwilling to venture further in.

Though called a town, Gubei’s scale was limited by the range of its hidden realm, consisting mainly of a single main street lined with shops, while true residents were few.

Shops lined the street, offering inns, medicinal pills, artifacts, spiritual materials, and even spirit-bound evil items.

Nearly every cultivator reaching Gubei Town was at the Foundation Building stage, and although the streets might appear deserted, business was highly profitable.

Gubei Town’s unique location drove up the prices of pills and artifacts here, and even the inns were as costly as small cave dwellings in Xuanlu Stronghold.

Fortunately, there was a Shadow Guard outpost here, sparing Qin Sang and his companions from this expense.

Qin Sang stood in front of the Shadow Guard outpost, gazing up at the sky.

Gubei Town had been built amidst a red desert, where raging winds swept up sand, blocking out the sun like an apocalyptic scene as they relentlessly battered the barrier. Among the sandstorms, streaks of fiery red light darted about—known as the Skyfire Flames.

The barrier’s glow fluctuated unsteadily, allowing the terrifying power of the celestial phenomena to be felt even within the hidden realm.

The residents of Gubei Town seemed unfazed, carrying on with their tasks without so much as a glance upward.

Due to the instability of the Ancient Immortal Battlefield’s space, deep within lay a landscape riddled with spatial rifts. Although the outer areas lacked these rifts, they were still affected by spatial disruptions, with fierce winds and lightning storms constantly raging high above. Occasionally, celestial phenomena emerged from spatial fluctuations, and the deeper one ventured into the battlefield, the more frequent and intense these phenomena became.

The celestial phenomena varied unpredictably. One moment, bone-chilling winds scoured the land; the next, skyfire rained down, only to be followed by heavy snowfall freezing miles of terrain. Sometimes, several phenomena even appeared simultaneously, with lightning crackling, earth quaking, and ice and fire colliding in a spectacular display.

During such celestial phenomena, Cloud Beasts grew even more active. Cultivators not only had to contend with these phenomena but also needed to stay vigilant against the Cloud Beasts. Fortunately, each celestial phenomenon had come with warning signs, allowing cultivators to find shelter in advance.

While the celestial phenomena raged outside, Gubei Town saw more activity than usual, as cultivators took the opportunity to trade and replenish their supplies.

"Daoist Qin, the outpost staff said this celestial phenomenon would end soon. Senior Brother Yin had ordered everyone to gather at the hidden realm’s entrance and depart as soon as it ended."

A gentle voice spoke from behind him. Qin Sang turned and saw a plainly dressed woman—his companion, Ascetic Yunqiong. He nodded in acknowledgment.

Glancing around, he noticed no sign of Senior Brother Mu and shook his head helplessly before following Yunqiong toward the hidden realm entrance.

This time, ten Shadow Guards had been assigned to the mission: four Foundation Building cultivators and six at the tenth stage or higher of the Qi Refining Realm.

Originally, only three early-stage Foundation Building cultivators would have sufficed.

For mining Qianyang Quartz, the primary challenge lay in concealing their presence to avoid detection by the Cloud Beasts. Once they entered undetected, harvesting the Qianyang Quartz, which had already surfaced above ground, posed little danger, making it feasible even for Qi Refining cultivators.

Their success depended on a cloud-shaped Cloud Artifact dispatched from Xuanlu Stronghold. When jointly activated by three Foundation Building cultivators, it could cover a large area and endure for an extended time, ample for mining.

In case of an emergency, they could reduce the Cloud Artifact’s coverage to free up personnel for protection.

The team had been set: Mu Yifeng, Qin Sang, and Yunqiong, along with seven Qi Refining Shadow Guards.

All three of them had already reached the early stage of Foundation Building. Qin Sang had resolved not to vie for merit, leaving Mu Yifeng as team leader, while Yunqiong seemed unlikely to cause any trouble.

Unexpectedly, just before departure, a man named Yin Xingge suddenly joined the team.

Yin Xingge hailed from the Medicine King Sect, while Yunqiong was a disciple of Misty Rain Tower. Both of these sects had long-standing traditions within the Small Cold Domain. Though neither sect had a Spiritual Realm elder, each boasted several Golden Core cultivators, making their power not to be underestimated. Sects like Medicine King Sect had formed alliances in Xuanlu Stronghold, gaining themselves a minor voice in decisions there.

Although Medicine King Sect wasn’t as powerful as Shaohua Mountain, Yin Xingge himself was at the middle stage of the Foundation Building Realm, the strongest of the four in the group. In the world of immortal cultivation, strength commanded authority, leaving Qin Sang and Mu Yifeng to follow his orders.

Qin Sang sensed Mu Yifeng’s displeasure, but fortunately, Mu Yifeng had the foresight to prioritize the bigger picture, choosing not to act on his frustrations, though his work had become somewhat perfunctory.

Qin Sang could guess that Yin Xingge was likely interested in the Qianyang Crystal.

The Qianyang Crystal was a rare spiritual material used in crafting astras, highly sought after by Golden Core cultivators for forging yang-based astras. If they managed to bring back a piece of Qianyang Crystal, everyone’s merit could instantly multiply tenfold, with the first person to discover it potentially earning a reward from a Golden Core master.

Whether Yin Xingge had received instructions from a Golden Core cultivator within his sect or was motivated by the allure of tenfold merit, it was clear that the Qianyang Crystal was his true objective.

Given its rarity, it was not guaranteed that a Qianyang Crystal would appear during every excavation. Otherwise, a Golden Core master would lead the team personally.

That said, it had been decades since the crystal last surfaced in this mine, and following past patterns, the chances of uncovering it this time had marginally increased, though still remained slim.

The two continued along the street, descending the slope.

The terrain within the hidden realm was a broken mountain, with the entrance at the base beside a small river.

Soon, they reached the street’s end and saw a river resembling a jade belt stretching before them. By the riverbank stood a wooden pier, where several seemingly old wooden boats floated, unmoving despite the flowing water. These boats, although appearing unmoored, were artifacts for entering and exiting the hidden realm.

Over a dozen people had already gathered at the pier, waiting for the hidden realm to open so they could depart.

Yin Xingge stood with six others. The other six Shadow Guards were at the tenth stage or higher of the Qi Refining Realm, three of whom were disciples of the major sects. Nonetheless, they dared not show the slightest disrespect to Yin Xingge’s orders and had arrived early to wait.

"Junior Sister Yunqiong, Daoist Qin..."

Yin Xingge nodded in greeting to them. Noticing that Mu Yifeng had not yet arrived, he subtly furrowed his brow but refrained from saying anything further.