Ling Tian Sword God

Northeastern border of Jingzhou, Xunyang City.

Xunyang City is located at the junction of three regions, bordering Yangzhou to the east and Xuzhou to the north. Although it doesn’t compare to the bustling Panlong City, it is still a renowned metropolis.

Panlong City is a gathering place for southern warriors, but Ling Chen avoided going there to evade the surveillance of the Liu Family and the Tang Sect, lest he be tracked down quickly.

Even though he wasn’t afraid of people from the Liu Family and the Tang Sect, being alone and at a disadvantage, he knew it was best to stay low-key. After all, no one wants unnecessary trouble; avoiding issues is better than having more.

Ling Chen found a remote inn in Xunyang City to stay temporarily and then planned his next move.

In the central area of the city, Ling Chen arrived in front of a rather majestic building. The plaque above the entrance boldly displayed the words ”Fire Cloud Residence.”

The ”Fire Cloud Residence” is not a place for residence but a specialized cultivation site. It houses numerous Earth Fire Cultivation Rooms, where pure fire power is drawn from the earth’s core using array formations to accelerate warriors’ cultivation speed.

This is similar to the Storm Cultivation Room in the Five Nations Black Market, but of a higher rank.

Ascending the steps, Ling Chen walked in.

”Guest, which level of cultivation room do you need?”

Upon entering the ”Fire Cloud Residence,” Ling Chen was greeted by a seductive woman who swayed her hips as she approached, looking at Ling Chen with a smile.

”What are the levels available, and what are their prices?”

Ling Chen asked.

”It seems it’s the guest’s first time here. Our ’Fire Cloud Residence’ Earth Fire Cultivation Rooms are divided into ’Sky, Earth, Human’ grades. The Human-grade Earth Fire Cultivation Room costs one Spirit Nurturing Pill per hour, five pills for the Earth-grade room, and ten pills for the Sky-grade room.” Seeing Ling Chen’s young age and remarkable cultivation, the seductive woman did not dare to be negligent and patiently explained to Ling Chen.

Upon hearing this, Ling Chen’s gaze slightly tightened. An hour at ten Spirit Nurturing Pills means seven hundred and twenty pills for three days, which is undoubtedly a significant amount for an ordinary person.

”Then I’ll take the Sky-grade Cultivation Room for three days.”

Ling Chen didn’t lack Spirit Nurturing Pills now, having over three thousand on him, more than enough to last.

The seductive woman was somewhat surprised by Ling Chen’s decision; staying in a Sky-grade Cultivation Room for three days is no easy feat.

”Guest, the Sky-grade Cultivation Room is extraordinary; the pressure inside is enormous. Given your cultivation level, I think it might be difficult to cultivate there for three days. If you can’t endure it and come out early, we won’t refund the extra cost.” The seductive woman reminded him.

Seeing that Ling Chen was only at the Sky Apex Realm Third Layer, she deliberately issued a reminder. Even those at the Sky Apex Realm fifth or sixth level could not last two days in a Sky-grade Earth Fire Cultivation Room. Ling Chen wanting to stay for three days seemed nearly impossible.

”Thanks for the reminder, but that’s unnecessary.”

Ling Chen shook his head. He booked three days just to test the strength of the Sky-grade Cultivation Room, not intending to stay there for exactly three days.

Seeing Ling Chen’s insistence, the seductive woman no longer persuaded him. She pressed a mechanism, and with a ”boom,” the stone door inside the ”Fire Cloud Residence” rumbled open, revealing a deep passageway.

The seductive woman handed something key-like to Ling Chen and then said, ”Turn right up the stairs inside, and the cultivation room on the far right is yours.”

”Thank you.”

Ling Chen cupped his fists and walked towards the passage.

Watching Ling Chen’s disappearing figure into the passage, the seductive woman shook her head, ”So stubborn. He will only realize the mistake after failure.”

She had seen many arrogant young people like Ling Chen. The usual outcome was them emerging bruised and battered, only realizing her words weren’t false when it was too late. There were no regrets to buy in this world.

By now, Ling Chen could no longer hear the seductive woman’s musings. He had already passed through the passage and arrived at a spacious area. Here stood variously sized cultivation rooms, most of which were already occupied. Above the door of each room hung small red plaques; these plaques had different patterns, indicating various levels.

Following the circular staircase from east to south, Ling Chen noticed that the entire ”Fire Cloud Residence” seemed like a circular fortress. All the advanced cultivation rooms appeared to be thousands of meters deep underground, with intermediate rooms surrounding them and low-tier rooms even further out.

Descending further, Ling Chen could distinctly feel the increasing density of fire attribute energy in the air. The searing aura flowed everywhere, unlike the chaotic energy of volcanic areas that is hard to absorb. The ”Fire Cloud Residence” had a powerful ancient array, making the fiery energy more accessible for warriors to refine and absorb.

Ling Chen arrived at the cultivation room indicated by the seductive woman. He inserted the key into the stone door’s keyhole, and the door opened.

Before him lay a roughly hundred-meter-wide secret chamber, sealed on all sides. On the ground were numerous flame patterns, clearly part of an array formation, but just a segment of it.

Reaching the center of the secret chamber, Ling Chen assumed a cross-legged position.

After exhaling a breath slowly, he flipped his palm over. A red glow dropped down, and as the light dissipated, it turned into a fiery red token, about palm-sized, warm to the touch, ancient in design with no embellished patterns, yet exuding an undeniable grand, ancient atmosphere.

This token was retrieved from the corpse of the Fire Dragon Emperor in the Burial Dragon Ancient Land as a nameless iron plate.

This iron plate hadn’t shown any special features, but the Human Emperor was very supportive of it, which prompted Ling Chen to keep it.

This item had remained inactive, but after reaching the Fire Cloud Residence, it had notably become unusual, seeming somewhat restless.

”What mystery does this token hold?”

Ling Chen flipped the token, observing the front, which bore an exceedingly ancient character for ”fire.” Initially dull, after absorbing some fire attribute energy, a red glow began to pulse on the character, resembling flowing lava and appearing quite peculiar.

”Don’t rush it; place it in the center of the array formation, and let’s see if there are any changes.”

The voice of the Human Emperor echoed in his mind.

Following the Human Emperor’s guidance, Ling Chen placed the token at the center of the cultivation room’s array formation, then sat cross-legged again. The token wouldn’t change immediately, so he took this unique environment of the Sky-grade cultivation room as a chance to enhance the True Essence of Fire, given the abundant fire attribute energy present.