All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 71 - 71 71 Danlin Town and Chips

71: Chapter 71: Danlin Town and Chips 71: Chapter 71: Danlin Town and Chips “Many thanks, big brother!”

Upon hearing this, Huo Qing was overjoyed—according to the customs of the native people of the Floating Dust Plains, his tongue, having been captured for questioning, should have been grateful not to be silenced afterwards.

His shoulder injury wasn’t too severe and wouldn’t trouble a Cultivator for more than a few days before it healed enough to not affect his movements.

But now, the injury made it difficult for him to move, and without anyone’s help, he really wouldn’t be able to make it back to town before morning.

If he encountered any of those ‘jackal and dog rogue Cultivators’ who picked over corpses or the small teams from other factions that collected bodies on the way, they would definitely not hesitate to turn him into a real corpse!

Once they were ready, they set out.

With Huo Qing’s description, An Jing also gained a general understanding of Danlin Town.

Located in the eastern central part of the Floating Dust Plains, Danlin Town was one of the largest towns among the seventeen, with a permanent population of over fifty thousand.

It housed eight major alchemical workshops, production lines for firearms, Sword Boxes, and various Magic Artifacts, as well as a highly developed Spirit Grass cultivation industry.

Almost half of the elixirs produced on the Floating Dust Plains and the initial processing of raw materials for many large enterprises within Xuanye City were all conducted here.

Besides, some special Wood Element Magic Artifacts, ornamental Spirit Plants, and the accompanying combat Spirit Plants were also produced in this place.

With An Jing’s speed, they soon arrived near Danlin Town carrying Huo Qing.

Its center was not like that of other towns on the Floating Dust Plains with a huge furnace, but rather a giant tree over three hundred meters tall, whose canopy shaded almost half the town, appearing like a green hill from afar with roots deeply burrowed into the ground, forming mounds.

Dense white tents covered the roots, using the power of this giant tree to cultivate many Spirit Plants.

This was the ‘Dan Leave Green Wood’, the most verdant plant An Jing had seen in the Tianyuan Realm; plants in this realm mostly appeared scorched and decayed due to the erosion of Demonic Qi and acid rain, but this giant tree brimmed with life.

“There may also be such giant trees deep in the mountains of the Embracing the Void,” An Jing gazed at the distant giant tree, feeling quite emotional, “Creation is marvelous indeed, to bring forth such a marvel!”

“It’s here…”

Seeing the familiar Danqing giant tree, Huo Qing, whose nape had been pinched all night, sighed in relief, “I’ve finally made it back.”

As the night passed and dawn’s first light appeared, the cries of battle on the Floating Dust Plains gradually ceased, and caravans from all over the wilderness began to return.

Among them were many like An Jing and Huo Qing, supporting each other as wounded soldiers, stumbling back to their respective strongholds.

“Phew, we’re safe.” Seeing this, Huo Qing’s eyes flickered with a faint light and he breathed a sigh of relief, “The gang just sent a message, saying that there’s a temporary ceasefire so as not to affect the town’s normal operations during the day.”

“We can head back to town now, big brother.”

“Sent a message?”

An Jing also noticed the unusual light in Huo Qing’s eyes and the sudden relief as if he had received some news, “When?”

Huo Qing pointed honestly to his own forehead and said, “It’s a chip.

The wilderness people don’t have it; only we in the safe zones and the city have this sort of thing.”

“Interesting, there’s such a thing?”

Now An Jing was also intrigued.

The technology and the creation of various Magic Artifacts in the Tianyuan Realm had indeed reached an extremely advanced level.

Although he was still unclear about the exact nature of the chip, it might be similar to some concepts he knew from his previous life.

If it really was the kind of brain chip he was imagining, could he attempt to get one?

If it had a wide range of functions, it felt like having a chip in the Embracing the Void would be like fighting at a lower dimension!

“How can someone like me…

a wilderness person…

get a chip?”

Thinking of it, An Jing asked with a rare hint of yearning in his voice.

But Huo Qing found it tricky, “I really don’t know about that…

My chip was there from birth, every newborn in the safe zones has one, as an identity proof.”

“Those without it are all ‘wilderness people’.”

At this point, Huo Qing racked his brains but could only recall some rumors, “However, I know there are indeed rumors of wilderness people getting chips, it’s just very, very difficult…

Should I go back and look for some information for you?”

“That would be much appreciated.”

An Jing was not in a hurry, knowing such a device existed was enough for him.

His main goal was still to utilize the weapons and equipment of the Tianyuan Realm to shake off the Demon Sect pursuers from the Embracing the Void.

If he couldn’t deal with that, everything else was just empty talk.

Danlin Town had walls, ditches, and towers; it was more of a small fortress than a town.

The entire town was encircled by a unique type of lead-gray brickwork, and at each of the four gates stood two strange towers, akin to high-voltage electricity pylons.

Flowing spiritual patterns and inscriptions flickered, sketching out formation patterns of four different colors.

“A simplified version of the Four Spirits Demon-Suppressing Formation,” the Sword Spirit commented.

“North Black Tortoise, Western White Tiger, Eastern Azure Dragon, South Vermilion Bird—four directions, four spirits, suppressing demons and condensing Qi, and in the center, a verdant evergreen tree as the central hub of the Great Formation.

Once fully activated, even True Persons of the Purple Mansion would struggle to break through.”

“This little town is well-built; there must have been guidance from an expert.”

“The Spirit Qi is also much richer.” An Jing felt the air become fresher as he neared Danlin Town; it had the sweet taste of mountain wilderness.

Taking a deep breath, he even felt a sense of exhilaration: “The difference between the town and the wilderness is too great; the air quality alone is far superior.”

No joke, An Jing believed that if people in the wilderness lived on average only forty to fifty years, then just by virtue of the air quality alone, townspeople could live a good twenty years longer.

However, considering the fierce nature of inter-gang conflicts within the towns, one could only refer to natural lifespans.

An Jing and Huo Qing arrived at the southern town gate, where the soldiers on guard were equipped with refined exoskeleton armor of a light-blue hue, somehow reminiscent of the Mingguang Armor of An Jing’s former life, but these were almost three meters tall and predominantly made of steel.

Clearly not members of any gang, the soldiers systematically checked the faces of all those entering the town, scanned them, and registered their details before allowing each person through.

When it was An Jing’s turn, he was unfazed, boldly removing his face mask and gas mask—which startled Huo Qing beside him.

He had never expected his lifesaver, who had so mercilessly interrogated him at gunpoint, to be a teenager.

“A wilderness person?”

The city guard did not find An Jing’s likeness in the previous entry records, but he didn’t seem to care much: “First-time entry fee is five Gold Deeds; subsequent entries cost one Gold Deed each.”

Of course, An Jing did not possess any such currency, but before he could propose using goods as a substitute, Huo Qing hastily spoke up: “I’ll pay for him!”

The payment process was simple; an exchange of glances with the guard, and a flicker of orange light in their eyes marked the completion.

“Not a low level of strength…”

After entering Danlin Town with Huo Qing and surveying the surroundings thoughtfully, An Jing sensed that the town gates and towers were guarded by Cultivators at the high or even peak stages of Qi Refinement, stronger than the Master of the Medicine Manor.

Inside the town, they immediately saw a large troop of armed soldiers patrolling the streets.

“With such strong martial force, why are there still gangs?”

An Jing couldn’t help but ask.

Huo Qing, on the other hand, seemed puzzled: “The City Guard Troops are under the direct command of the town mayor; of course their martial force is strong, but why should they interfere with the gangs?”

“We pay our taxes honestly; we’re not bothering the mayor, right?”

Realizing that An Jing was a wilderness person who knew nothing of the town, Huo Qing went on to explain the nature of the gangs to him.

It turns out that, in essence, the gangs were ‘military forces’ supported jointly by the major companies and enterprises of the Floating Dust Plains.

Take the Day Tiger Gang, for example.

It was backed by three large Magic Artifact forges and several mining companies on the Floating Dust Plains, with the Bao Guang Pavilion, which mainly manufactured ‘Breath of Pure Powder,’ as one of its supporters.

Further up, behind these workshops and companies, were the main companies and conglomerates of Xuanye City.

The mayor of Danlin Town was actually appointed by the conglomerates of Xuanye City.

The two were essentially part of the same entity—one was a directly affiliated force, while the other was a local military force cobbled together by smaller companies; there was naturally no need for them to make things difficult for each other.

It was different among the gangs, though.

They represented companies from different factions that might be competitors or have grudges against each other.

In short, when force was needed, the gangs went to battle, and the companies armed these violent groups to destroy targets of rival companies.

—So, are fights between the gangs here in some sense corporate warfare?

An Jing couldn’t help but find his own conclusion somewhat amusing.

However, on further thought, if the essence of the gangs was indeed that of mercenary groups employed by major companies, then the definition was quite accurate.

“Now that we’re in town, what’s next?”

Just as this occurred to him, An Jing, who had worked hard all night, felt his stomach churn, producing quite a noticeable sound.

Don’t be mistaken, a Martial Artist’s stomach wouldn’t make noise on its own; An Jing had stimulated it deliberately.

“Big, big brother…”

At this moment, having seen An Jing’s true face and learned of his actual age, Huo Qing found it a bit awkward to call him “big brother.”

But in the end, unable to think of any other address, he still managed to stammer: “You got me safely back to town, words can hardly express my gratitude.

If you don’t mind, I would like to invite you for a meal, and then we can discuss the matter of reward?”

“That would be great.”

With a successful ploy, An Jing patted his stomach and naturally wouldn’t decline.

Although he had blended into town life, he was penniless and could hardly take a step without money.

If he could pry some gold coins from Huo Qing or learn about shops where he could trade in his spoils of war, An Jing would be able to start purchasing the weapons and supplies he desired.

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