Chapter 594 - 590: Nanshan Collection

Chapter 594: Chapter 590: Nanshan Collection

Summer days were supposed to be bright and sunny, with a vast, cloudless sky.

But today, dark clouds roiled in the sky above the City of Dawn. Powerful waves of energy blanketed the entire city.

It was like a great army pressing in, a legion of demons descending.

The City of Dawn’s defensive Grand Array was fully activated. It shone with a brilliant radiance, resembling a Divine Palace Celestial Jade.

Ten Soul Crystal Cannons were charged to their absolute limit. A single thought from the powerhouses manning them would unleash a terrifying volley. These were cannons capable of obliterating experts at the Peak of the Primordial Spirit Realm, and their deterrent power was absolute.

And for this very reason...

Even the powerhouses from the Core and Central Areas dared not act rashly.

After all, even though their factions had helped them tear through the regional Prohibitions to reach the Outer Area, the strongest among them were only at Hai Wen’s level—powerhouses ranked around fiftieth on the Divine General List.

Even with their strength, they did not dare to disregard the Soul Crystal Cannons.

"Hand over Hong Yu!"

"Otherwise, Soul Crystal Cannons or not, we will annihilate the City of Dawn."

Leading the charge were eleven top-tier powerhouses.

Their vitality surged, and with every word they spoke, Spiritual Qi thundered and boomed. Their presence was overwhelmingly aggressive.

These eleven were powerhouses from the Four Great Divine Cities and the seven great War Race Tribes of the Core Area. Only the first tribe of the War Race, the most mysterious and powerful one in the entire Core Area, had not sent anyone.

Behind them stood no fewer than a thousand people, representing various other factions.

Feng Xue Xin stood atop the city wall, his demeanor calm and composed. The Four-sided Divine Seal hovered above his head as he spoke evenly, "Hong Yu is not in the City of Dawn. He has long since departed. However, he left instructions. If anyone were to come looking for him, I was to give this to you!"

With a wave of his arm, a Memory Stone shot forward.

The Memory Stone shattered, and a Spiritual Fluctuation spread out, coalescing into Hong Yu’s image. His projected figure scanned the crowd, and an indifferent voice echoed from the city wall, "Tsk, tsk. To think so many of you would travel thousands of miles just for my sake. I’m truly honored. Alright, I’ll cut to the chase. You and I both know what you’re all coveting."

"I left this Memory Stone today to give you all a word of warning. If you want the Venerable Golden Bone, feel free to come and find me. I don’t care if you’re a city lord or a tribal chief—I won’t so much as blink. As long as you’re strong enough to snatch the Venerable Golden Bone from my hands, I will have no complaints. However..."

A torrential wave of Spiritual Power suddenly erupted from Hong Yu’s image, so immense that the expressions of the onlookers changed. His tone turned icy. "If anyone dares to harm a single hair on the head of anyone in the Hong Alliance, I will throw my life away to wreak havoc upon your factions. You might think I lack the strength, but I am more than capable of taking the Venerable Golden Bone down with me."

"Hahahaha! If you want to watch the Venerable Golden Bone detonate inside your Divine City or tribe, then by all means, make a move against the Hong Alliance!"

Hong Yu’s image gradually faded, but his brazen arrogance left a deep impression on everyone...

"If you’ve got the guts, come and find me. I’ll be waiting. But please, don’t force me to take you all down with me, hahaha..."

BANG!

The spiritual projection completely disintegrated.

...

Silence.

The crowd, which just moments before had been clamoring to annihilate the Hong Alliance and the City of Dawn, now stood with ashen, ugly expressions.

They could sense the absolute resolve in Hong Yu’s words.

They had no doubt that if they truly moved against the Hong Alliance, Hong Yu would hunt them down within their own territories. Hong Yu by himself wasn’t what was terrifying.

What was terrifying was the Venerable Golden Bone.

Hong Yu had already earned the Venerable Golden Bone’s acknowledgment. He surely had a way to make it self-destruct. The explosion of such a divine object would be nothing short of cataclysmic.

No one was willing to gamble with their lives and fortunes, much less an entire Divine City or tribe.

"Let’s go!"

"Damn it, that Hong Yu is a real lunatic."

"Looks like we really can’t touch the Hong Alliance or the City of Dawn. If that lunatic shows up in our territory and decides to take everyone down with him, it won’t be worth the price!"

"We have to get this news back immediately. Hong Yu can’t leave the True Dragon Battlefield. We must mobilize all available forces to find him. As soon as he’s located, we go for the kill and seize the Venerable Golden Bone!"

Though some were reluctant to leave just like that, the memory of Hong Yu’s resolute and vicious expression forced them to depart in frustration.

Instantly, a collective sigh of relief went through the City of Dawn.

That group of powerhouses had finally left.

If a real conflict had erupted, even with the City of Dawn’s formidable defenses, the outcome would likely have been mutual destruction.

Feng Xue Xin’s expression, however, remained grim. He turned to scan the crowd and declared in a solemn voice, "From this day forward, everyone in the Hong Alliance will devote themselves to cultivation and raising their strength. We cannot allow a situation like this to happen again. To gain a foothold in this world, we must be powerful in our own right. I refuse to be protected by Hong Yu having to threaten others with his life. Will you stand for that?"

"No!"

"Long live the Hong Alliance! We will never let others trample on us!"

The fighting spirit of the entire Hong Alliance surged, their morale soaring.

Feng Xue Xin nodded in satisfaction, but his expression didn’t relax. He slowly raised his head, gazing into the distance and murmuring to himself, ’I will do everything in my power to build up the Hong Alliance, to make it so strong that it’s no longer your burden, but a powerful asset for us brothers as we make our way in the world!’

...

About two months had now passed since the True Dragon Battlefield opened.

By now, the regional Prohibition between the Outer War Zone and the Central Area had weakened considerably.

Only someone with the strength of an Unparalleled Genius was needed to forcibly break through it.

Nanshan Collection was situated in the southern part of the Central Area.

As the name might suggest, Nanshan Collection was situated atop a ten-thousand-meter-high mountain peak. This mountain was called South Mountain.

South Mountain was immense. It soared ten thousand meters high, and its breadth was simply immeasurable.

However, Nanshan Collection wasn’t on the mountain’s surface. It was situated within the belly of South Mountain. The entire mountain had been hollowed out to build a massive city within.

Legend had it that South Mountain was once a priceless treasure.

Unfortunately, a great war destroyed the treasure, causing it to lose its spiritual nature and leaving behind only an empty husk. A War Race elder discovered the site and began to develop it. After long years of growth, it gradually became the Nanshan Collection of today.

A city within a mountain.

Ordinarily, the Four Great Tribes maintained order in Nanshan Collection, never participating in disputes. Both humans and members of the War Race could live peacefully within its walls.

The only condition was having enough money!

Every three years, a South Mountain Gathering was held, during which all sorts of rare and exotic treasures would appear.

Precious and rare items, such as the Cyan Lotus Earth Heart Fruit, artifacts of Ancient Inheritance, and more.

As well as more common things like ores or information on secret locations. The variety was dazzling; it had everything one could ask for.

It was widely acknowledged as the second most prosperous commercial hub. The one ranked first was in the Core Area: the Kuafu Auction House, controlled by the most mysterious and powerful of the War Race Tribes!

’So this is Nanshan Collection? Tsk, tsk. It’s hard to believe. A mountain this size, completely hollowed out, with a magnificent commercial city built inside!’ Dressed in a black robe that concealed his face, Hong Yu walked along the mountain path, marveling inwardly as he gazed at the majestic expanse of South Mountain, its peaks lost to sight.

Nanshan Collection wasn’t difficult to find. He had found the way to South Mountain not long after entering the Central Area.

He was dressed this way simply to avoid unwanted attention.

After all...

’The Hong Yu of today is quite the celebrity!’

With every major faction looking for him, he naturally didn’t want to expose his whereabouts.

"Entry fee! One Soul Stone!"

A long line snaked ahead. With the South Mountain Gathering Festival approaching, the number of visitors had swelled. Unless you had a residence permit, you had to pay the fee to enter.

Hong Yu made a rough estimate. With at least a hundred thousand people coming and going each day, that was an income of a hundred thousand Soul Stones a day.

He couldn’t help but be secretly astounded by the wealth of Nanshan Collection.

Of course, it was only after reaching the Central Area and interacting with some War Race powerhouses that he’d learned Soul Stones were the common currency in the True Dragon Battlefield.

The purchasing power of a single Soul Stone was equivalent to one hundred million Gold Coins in the outside world.

’I thought having a few thousand Soul Stones made me rich, but it looks like I’m just a broke-ass bastard!’ Hong Yu shook his head with a bitter smile. ’My first task after getting into Nanshan Collection has to be finding a way to earn more Soul Stones.’

How he would earn them was a problem for later.

For now, the priority was to get into Nanshan Collection and get a feel for the place.

"Here is my Soul Stone."

The guard was a War Race powerhouse who exuded a powerful aura, no weaker than Xiahuang Ba had been. And this was just a gate guard. He said flatly, "Here is your City Entry Token. Just refine it, and you will naturally learn all of the city’s rules and regulations."

"Got it."

Hong Yu took the Token and walked inside.

Although it was called a city gate, it was actually just a massive, shimmering portal, around which pulsed the powerful energy of an Array.

There were even four Soul Crystal Cannons, aimed squarely at the entrance.

Anyone who tried to force their way in would be met with a merciless bombardment from all four Soul Crystal Cannons.

’Holy crap, what a total rip-off!’

Hong Yu couldn’t help but curse as he walked and refined the City Entry Token.

There were over a hundred rules in Nanshan Collection. Some, like the prohibition on fighting within the city, were common enough. But the second and third rules left Hong Yu speechless.

After entering the city, unless you purchased a permanent residence permit for one hundred thousand Soul Stones, you had to pay a temporary residence fee of ten Soul Stones every single month.

Failure to pay would result in expulsion. Any resistance would be met with a death hunt by the Four Great Tribes.

The third rule was even more ridiculous.

Lodging in Nanshan Collection was split into two options: buying a residence or staying in an inn. The cheapest residences started at ten thousand Soul Stones, and that only bought you the right to live there for a year. A permanent residence cost an astronomical sum of at least a million Soul Stones.

Otherwise, if you were caught wandering the streets at night, the patrols would capture you, fine you one hundred Soul Stones, and then kick you out.

’A rip-off. A goddamn rip-off!’

Hong Yu thought with a bitter smile, ’It’s almost dark. I’d better find a place to stay, and fast.’

’Buying property is out of the question. First, it isn’t necessary. Second, Ma Le Gobi, I’m poor!’

Even though it was inside a mountain, Nanshan Collection was incredibly vast.

The city’s population numbered in the tens of millions. Humans were a minority; the inhabitants were mostly War Race powerhouses.

After asking for directions, Hong Yu finally found an inn called the Bright Moon Pavilion. He walked in to find the Shopkeeper absorbed in his accounts. Without looking up, the man said, "We have four grades of rooms: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. Yellow Level rooms are one Soul Stone a night, Profound is two, Earth is five, and Celestial is ten. Pick one."

"I’ll take a Yellow Level room."

Hong Yu rubbed his nose.

The Shopkeeper said flatly, "Yellow Level? All out."

"Er... Profound Level, then," Hong Yu said with a wry smile.

The Shopkeeper shook his head again. "Out."

Hong Yu was about to lose it. "You must have an Earth Level room, right?"

"Earth Level? Out of those, too."

Only then did the Shopkeeper finally look up and size up Hong Yu. "There’s one Celestial Level room left. Take it or leave it. You won’t find any rooms left at this hour. It’ll be the same story no matter where else you look."

The corner of Hong Yu’s eye twitched. He had no choice but to bite the bullet. "Fine. One Celestial Level room."

He had just paid and was about to receive the key when an indifferent voice sounded from behind him...

"I’ll take that room."