Ye Qin and Nan Zhongjie walked behind, leading their horses, marveling at the old woodcutter’s tales.

Ye Qin asked, “I hear there are frequent fights among cultivators outside Xianyuan City. Isn't it quite dangerous for ordinary people like you to be around here often, Elder?”

The old woodcutter chuckled, “Heh heh, you immortal masters jest. Your lives are precious; how could you have a spare moment to spare for a mere mortal like this old man? If you encounter immortals battling, one merely needs to avoid them. No immortal master would stoop to the level of arguing with a commoner like me.”

Though the old woodcutter was sixty or seventy, his spirit was robust. Carrying a bundle of firewood, his steps were brisk, scarcely pausing for breath. Ye Qin offered to have him place the firewood on his horse, which flattered the old man immensely, though he refused to accept.

Under the woodcutter’s guidance, they wound their way through the vast Gobi Desert shrouded in white mist, circling through numerous places. After about an hour, they finally reached Xianyuan City.

From afar, they saw a city rising abruptly from the plateau desert, a corner of it faintly visible through the morning haze. Constructed from massive stones weighing ten thousand jin each, the city resembled a crouching, dormant tiger—its rugged, majestic aura was profoundly stirring.

When the three of them arrived at the city gates of Xianyuan City, they found them already crowded with one to two hundred people. Most were Qi Condensation cultivators like Ye Qin and Nan Zhongjie, predominantly those between the first and sixth layers. Of course, there were also a few secular mortals, like the old woodcutter. Everyone was bottlenecked at the gate, unable to enter for some unknown reason.

This was the first time Ye Qin had witnessed such a large gathering of cultivators, and he was secretly taken aback. With his cultivation at the fourth layer of Qi Condensation, he was utterly unremarkable among this crowd. Seeing that the other cultivators appeared calm and were queuing up to enter one by one, his heart quickly settled. He mused, I’ll get used to it.

Nan Zhongjie excitedly peered into the throng, clicking his tongue when he spotted cultivators at the fifth and sixth layers of Qi Condensation.

Dozens of solemn-faced guards, clad in full armor and wielding weapons, stood watch at the gates of Xianyuan City, meticulously scrutinizing every cultivator seeking to enter or exit. Only those who passed the inspection were allowed passage into the city.

The inspection process was quite tedious, causing the queue to move slowly.

To one side of the city gate stood a massive notice board, upon which several of the newest proclamations were posted. A significant number of cultivators were gathered around it, pointing at the wanted posters and murmuring amongst themselves with expressions of deep alarm. However, none of the secular mortals approached the board or paid much attention to the notices.

Ye Qin glanced at them from a distance, feeling somewhat puzzled.

Nan Zhongjie eagerly ran over to join the onlookers, but quickly retreated, startled, shrinking his head back. “It’s a bounty notice! Yesterday, someone committed a major homicide inside the city and is now being sought by the guards of Xianyuan City. That’s why they sealed the city early this morning for inspection.”

Ye Qin found this strange. “Someone actually killed another person inside the city? Does this happen often?”

Nan Zhongjie shook his head like a rattle-drum: “No, not at all. I stayed in the city for a year before, and most of the time, the gate didn't even require inspection; we could come and go freely. If I recall correctly, the city has only been sealed once or twice in all that time.”

The old woodcutter, standing nearby, chimed in, “Even when I only visit every few months, I only see such wanted notices posted once or twice. Anyone whose likeness makes it onto this board must have committed a serious murder within the city, leading to this city-wide pursuit and such strict scrutiny. Outside the city, though, immortal fights are more common, but no immortal master ever bothers about folk like us.”

Ye Qin looked at the woodcutter’s expression with surprise. It seemed the man harbored no fear for his own safety. Yet, thinking it over, it made sense: whether Righteous or Demonic cultivators, which one would have the leisure to bother a mere woodcutter?

He cast two more glances at the notice board, committing the portrait of the wanted cultivator to memory, lest he encounter the person later and not recognize him.

The queue at the main gate continued its slow crawl.

Cultivators and secular mortals were separated for entry; cultivators passed through the grand central gate, while mortals used a smaller side gate, where the inspection was notably less stringent. There were far fewer mortals, so they entered quickly. The old woodcutter soon bade farewell to Ye Qin and Nan Zhongjie, picking up his bundle and heading into the city.

On the main gate side, after nearly half an hour, it was finally Ye Qin's turn.

A table was set up before the gate, overseen by a middle-aged man who was the guard captain in charge of inspections.

Despite being merely a guard captain, this man was a master at the fifth layer of Qi Condensation, a full layer stronger than Ye Qin.

The other dozens of guards at the gate were also cultivators around the third or fourth layer of Qi Condensation. They wore identical, standardized armor and carried weapons made of a material Ye Qin couldn't identify, yet they radiated a potent spiritual energy. The chest of each suit of armor bore a strange emblem: three small swords crossed to form a pattern. Although Ye Qin couldn't name the armor or weapons, he could sense they were vastly superior to any mundane equipment.

The guard captain, with a great saber slung at his hip, sat lazily on a stool and barked at Ye Qin, “Produce your Immortal Travel Permit!”

“Immortal Travel Permit?”

Ye Qin’s expression shifted slightly, his heart startling. The Immortal Travel Permit—he did possess one, but it was taken from Nan Tianxiong, the patriarch of the Nan Clan. He had never known its exact function and kept it stowed away in his pouch. He certainly couldn't produce that specific token in front of Nan Zhongjie without risking unforeseen complications. Besides that, he had no other such permits.

Seeing Ye Qin stand there stunned instead of producing the permit, the guard captain asked with surprise, “You don't have an Immortal Travel Permit? Are you a newcomer to Xianyuan City?” A peculiar golden light flared in the captain's eyes; he seemed to be using some sort of scanning technique to probe Ye Qin.

Ye Qin flinched, but realizing it was only a probing spell, completely harmless, he quickly regained his composure and allowed the captain to examine him.

After the inspection, the guard captain found no evidence that Ye Qin was using concealment or transformation spells to disguise his appearance. He then picked up a stack of portraits from the table and carefully compared them against Ye Qin, confirming that Ye Qin was not among those listed as wanted.

The guard captain put down the wanted portraits and did not press the issue further. “Since you are new, an Immortal Travel Permit is not strictly necessary. State your origin: which nation and family do you belong to, or are you a rogue cultivator? You must register here before entering.”

Ye Qin immediately replied, “I am a rogue cultivator from the Wu Nation; I have no family.”

Hearing that Ye Qin hailed from a relatively obscure country, the guard captain scoffed dismissively. “The Wu Nation?” He turned to the other guards. “Hey, has any of you heard of such a small nation?”

The guards burst into laughter.

“Who knows? Perhaps there’s one tens of thousands of li away. There are so many small nations nowadays, popping up and collapsing, only to be built again. It’s not strange that one called the Wu Nation exists.”