The Journey of Immortal Cultivation

Chapter 1020 - 558: City in the Mirror (Part 3)

The secretary earnestly invited twice again, but she still politely declined. He had no choice but to give up and promised before leaving that if Ning Xiaoxian encountered any problems in Central Capital, she could always find him at the Supervision Bureau.

After the secretary left, Qi Zai saw Ning Xiaoxian sigh and couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong with you?"

Ning Xiaoxian shook her head and said, "It’s nothing, let’s set off." So she led the group out the door.

Everything has pros and cons. For tens of thousands of years, Changtian locked the entire Hidden Stream in the Ba Snake Mountain Range. The benefit of this was stabilizing the foundation and combat strength of this army, but the downside was that Hidden Stream hardly had any roots in the mundane world. Take Central Capital for example, the industry and influence established by Ningyuan Hall were far inferior to those in Fengtian Prefecture. As she walked down this path, she saw large and small Immortal Sects and Demon Sects managing their industries in an orderly manner, making them wealthier by the day, and she admired them greatly.

She also understood that Ning Yu must have given it her all. But when it comes to doing business and accumulating wealth, it can’t be rushed—especially in a society based on agricultural civilization, where earning money requires a steady approach.

The Inner City is for dignitaries and cultivators to live in, so naturally, it is far superior to the Outer City in all aspects. Not to mention anything else, the main street dividing the market into East, West Market—"Qingyun Road"—has a road wide enough to accommodate more than ten carriages traveling side by side, all paved with White Jade Stone tiles of ten feet square, which has a luster surpassing that of Han White Jade Stone, creating an extraordinary aura at a glance.

The Heavenly Residence is on Qingyun Road. Although it has flying eaves and a grand and magnificent architectural style, the facade only occupies four or five storefronts, apparently much smaller than Ning Xiaoxian imagined. However, there is a constant stream of people coming in and out, none showing the least bit of surprise. This is because the sales assembly of Heavenly Residence in Central Capital is already well-known, and almost all the guests who come to attend know that the venue for the sales assembly is not actually within these few buildings.

As soon as they entered the door, a clerk warmly greeted them, verified the invitation issued by Heavenly Residence from Ning Xiaoxian’s hand, and went to the counter to retrieve more than ten Tokens, instructing the group to wear them on their waists as a pass to enter and exit. Ning Xiaoxian noticed that the Tokens issued to her and the others were purple-gold, identical in shape to the Red Copper Token she once found on Liu Manzi in Kunlong Mountain, differing only in color. Clearly, different colors have different meanings.

The clerk respectfully guided the group into the hall and arrived at the back hall. This hall was very large, with walls embedded with Bright Pearl Lamps, the lighting bright, yet it was fully enclosed without a single window, and everyone could only enter and exit through the door she walked through.

The back hall was empty, without even a chair, only the wall opposite the door had a lone large ancient bronze mirror hanging. The mirror was roughly ten feet high with an elliptical reflective surface as bright as a pool of Qiushui. Standing before it, she saw her image and those behind her, simultaneously noting that the mirror must be quite old, for the bronze frame was tinted with some patina, yet it did not cover the dense and intricate patterns on it. On the bronze edge, which was less than three fingers wide, there were more than twenty ancient formations she had never seen before, paired with many ancient, simple, and bold texts.

The clerk bowed and said, "Guests of Hidden Stream, please!"

The group was eager and ready, Ning Xiaoxian took the lead toward the mirror, then—walked straight into the mirror surface, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Because of her entry, the mirror surface rippled like waves of water, calming down only after a few breaths. The Hidden Guards exchanged glances and followed her in single file. After a dozen breaths, tranquility returned to the back hall. The clerk waited a moment, seeing the guests did not reappear with further requests, then turned and returned to the front hall.

As Ning Xiaoxian stepped into the mirror, she felt a faint coolness spread over her body, as if passing through a water curtain, and the scenery before her immediately opened up.

Even though she was mentally prepared, anyone suddenly seeing the scene before her couldn’t help but be stunned.

Inside the mirror, there was a self-contained world. She and the Hidden Guards who followed were standing on a small isolated peak. The crevices in the rocks underfoot were still growing thick moss. In front of her was an expansive Cloud Sea, stretching to infinity. The daylight was perfect, and a gentle Qingfeng blew in without any discomfort from the height.

Occasional coolness brushed her face. She looked up and saw the sky had started to drizzle down fine rain.

Numerous Immortal birds and spirit fowl were circling and flying leisurely between the peaks.

Above the Cloud Sea, more than ten mountain peaks pierced the fog to reveal their tips, fully adorned with green trees and red flowers welcoming guests with smiles. Each peak had splendid buildings and pagodas, majestic and hidden within the clouds and mist.

Between each peak, rainbows formed bridges connecting them, with many cultivators leisurely walking among them. From her vantage, people seemed small as ants, yet upon closer inspection, every single one had wide flowing sleeves, fluttering cloaks, appearing just like gods among immortals.

On the central and tallest peak stood the largest palace complex, notably the most majestic of them—a grand building carved with jade, emitting an innate radiance from its entirety, astonishingly spanning seventeen floors, each reaching a height of ten meters or more. Calculating thusly, the height of this grand building exceeded five hundred meters, nearly breaking through the sky, causing everyone to gaze upward. Compared to it, the buildings on other peaks paled.(To be continued. If you like this work, I welcome you to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)