Cultivating To Immortality

"What a blessed and wondrous place." Fang Hong exclaimed from the bottom of his heart, his eyes filled with admiration.

This Qing Huang City was undoubtedly the most prosperous and magnificent cultivation city he had ever seen, fully deserving the profound heritage and grandeur implied by the word Holy Land.

After his emotion, Fang Hong slowly descended outside the city gates of Qing Huang City.

The skies above Qing Huang City were enveloped by an extremely powerful restriction.

With his current peak Void Refining Stage Cultivation, it was impossible for him to sneak through as he had in Immortal City; he could only honestly enter through the city gate.

At the city gate, Fang Hong noticed something quite interesting.

He saw the cultivators guarding the city checking those entering, and after asking, he learned that everyone entering Qing Huang City for the first time had to obtain an identity token.

This identity token was equivalent to a temporary residence permit; without it, one could not stay in the city at all.

Moreover, there were quite a few rules for this identity token.

Cultivators below the Divine Transformation Stage, even if they obtained an identity token, were not eligible for permanent residence in the city.

They had to pay a certain amount of spirit stones to the Azure Emperor Holy Land every month to continue staying in the city.

If they failed to pay on time, they would be teleported out of the city by the city's restrictions.

Only cultivators who reached the Divine Transformation Stage were eligible for permanent residence in the city.

Divine Transformation Cultivators could not only purchase their own residences but also cultivate in the city long-term without worrying about being forcibly expelled.

The city gate was clearly divided into several grades.

From the lowest Qi Refinement Stage, to the slightly higher Foundation Establishment Stage, Golden Core Stage, then Nascent Soul Stage, Divine Transformation Stage, Void Refining Stage, and finally, the Body Integration Stage.

Cultivators of each grade had a corresponding city gate to enter, maintaining orderly conduct.

Fang Hong naturally did not intend to hide his cultivation; he walked directly to the city gate designated for Void Refining Stage Cultivators.

Compared to city gates for other grades, this one seemed quite deserted.

After all, Void Refining Cultivators like Fang Hong were considered overlords throughout the Profound Fallen Realm, so their numbers were naturally not large.

Next to the Void Refining Stage city gate, there was a small house.

Inside sat an old man dressed in green, whose aura indicated he was only at the Early Stage Nascent Soul realm.

When the old man saw Fang Hong approaching, he quickly stood up, hurried to Fang Hong's side, his face beaming with a respectful smile, and greeted him, "Senior, is this your first time in Qing Huang City?"

"Indeed," Fang Hong nodded, responding in a calm tone.

"Alright, according to the rules of the Azure Emperor Holy Land, we need to verify Senior's strength.

Please use your magical power to strike that mirror."

The green-robed old man said, pointing to an ancient mirror hanging on the city gate wall.

Fang Hong did not hesitate and complied.

He raised his right hand, flicked a finger, and a stream of magical power shot out, striking the ancient mirror precisely.

Buzz.

The moment the ancient mirror was struck by the magical power, it suddenly emitted a hum.

Immediately after, the mirror surface rapidly turned crimson, emitting a dazzling light that illuminated the surrounding area in a fiery red hue.

Seeing the ancient mirror turn red, the green-robed old man's smile became even more respectful, and he quickly nodded, saying, "Senior's strength is extraordinary; you have passed the test."

"This is your exclusive identity token. With this token, you can reside permanently in the city."

As he spoke, the green-robed old man took out two tokens and presented them to Fang Hong with both hands.

One was red, and the other was gold.

Fang Hong took the two tokens, his gaze falling on the golden one, and asked curiously, "What is this golden token?"

The green-robed old man smiled and explained, "Senior, this golden token is an invitation issued specifically by the Azure Emperor Holy Land."

"If Senior is interested in joining the Azure Emperor Holy Land, you only need to present this token, and a master from the Holy Land will naturally come to receive Senior and handle your sect entry matters."

Upon hearing this, Fang Hong immediately understood.

This was quite convenient; he had originally planned to visit the Azure Emperor Holy Land to see if he could secure the position of an Elder, and with this golden token, it would undoubtedly save him a lot of trouble.

"Are there any special rules to follow within the city?" Fang Hong asked again.

After all, it was his first time in the core city of such a top Holy Land, so understanding more rules was always good to avoid inadvertently breaking taboos.

"Replying to Senior, there are no special rules within the city; you are free to fly, as long as Senior does not cause widespread destruction," the green-robed old man respectfully replied.

Fang Hong nodded, having a general idea now.

He asked no further questions, put away the two tokens, and then, with a flicker of his figure, transformed into a streak of light and flew directly into the city.

The green-robed old man watched Fang Hong's figure disappear into the city before turning back to his small house, continuing to guard the city gate, awaiting the next cultivator to enter the city.

Upon entering the city, Fang Hong slowed his pace and began to stroll leisurely along the streets.

He paid particular attention to the spirit medicine shops, pill formula shops, and materials shops; these were his main targets for this trip.

It must be said, a Holy Land truly was different; the shops here were complete, and the items sold were quite rare.

Although thousand years spirit medicine was still relatively scarce, some precious spirit medicine seeds could still be found.

As long as he had spirit medicine seeds, everything would be easy.

After all, Fang Hong possessed a powerful spiritual treasure like the guangyin stele; let alone thousand year spirit medicine, even cultivating ten thousand year spirit medicine was only a matter of time.

Next, Fang Hong almost scoured all the large medicinal pill shops in the city, buying all the good spirit medicine seeds.

In a few more days, his thousand year spirit medicine collection would become increasingly abundant, and by then, he would no longer have to worry about materials for whatever medicinal pill he wished to refine.

However, in terms of pill formulas, Fang Hong's harvest was somewhat unsatisfactory.

He visited over a dozen pill formula pavilions, and while he did see many varied pill formulas, he still couldn't find any high-grade pill formulas suitable for his current realm.

It seemed he would only be able to find high-grade pill formulas by going to the headquarters of the Azure Emperor Holy Land.

As for artifact refining materials, the situation was similar to pill formulas; most of what circulated on the market were mid-to-low grade materials, and he hadn't even seen a shadow of rare items that could improve the grade of a spiritual treasure.

Fang Hong could understand this point.

The more precious an item, the less likely it was to circulate on the market.

Cultivators often prioritized keeping good items for their own use, just like thousand year spirit medicine; what truly made it onto the shelves were merely ordinary goods.

To obtain treasures sufficient to improve one's cultivation, one usually needed to participate in various trade fairs among cultivators.

In such settings, cultivators would bring their respective treasures and exchange them for what they needed, often leading to unexpected gains.

Coincidentally, Fang Hong had just walked out of a shop called Qingyuan Commerce Chamber, holding an additional token, which was an invitation specially given to him by the guild's staff.

According to the staff, the Qingyuan Commerce Chamber would hold a large trade fair one month later, with cultivators from various regions participating, making it an extremely grand event.

Even more remarkably, this trade fair was held only once every ten years, and its preparation alone took several years, making it absolutely worth attending.