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Chapter 1012 - 664: The Master of Xuan City

Chapter 1012: Chapter 664: The Master of Xuan City

The female knight murmured as she watched Chenhai’s convoy, "This is the demeanor of a powerful nation. Guo Yi and I are both children of military families. He can already challenge Great Chen alone, while I... only feel fear when I see Jindeng."

Unlike Li Changhe and others with keen senses who had noticed the convoy in advance,

the female knight had caught a glimpse of Jindeng’s aggressively piercing stare out of the corner of her eye. In that moment, her body had tensed up.

Chen Yu consoled her, "It’s not his personal bravery that allows him to challenge Great Chen alone, but the powerful nation behind him. If Zhongshan Kingdom had the strength that made Great Chen cautious, you could slap him twice, and he wouldn’t dare to retaliate."

The female knight nodded slightly, seemingly agreeing with this statement. Her gaze became firmer.

She had come to Xuan City with the intention of entering the Inner city, and, ideally, meeting the incomparably beautiful Queen of Xuan City to garner either assistance or friendship for Zhongshan Kingdom.

Otherwise, trapped between two powerful nations, Zhongshan Kingdom’s fate would not be a good one.

Afterward, Li Changhe’s group of four and the female knight’s party traveled together, seeing more and more travelers along the way.

Some were noble sons and daughters of a small country, accompanied by quite a few guards. Others were renowned knights who walked alone. There were also obscure youths, who cautiously avoided everyone else as they drew closer to Xuan City.

The number of people was vast, in the hundreds or thousands, far exceeding Li Changhe’s expectations.

After all, the female knight had said that only those with an invitation could enter the Inner city of Xuan City, and Xuan City had issued so many invitations? What was there to compete for?

The female knight explained, "The Inner city of Xuan City is not open to outsiders, but the Outer city is accessible upon consent from Xuan City’s guards. Furthermore, the establishment of villages and towns in the surrounding area is permitted. So, you see, many people are heading to Xuan City to escape the ravages of war."

Xuan City, as a famous neutral city-state on the continent, is a destination for many women and children seeking refuge.

Those fortunate enough, perhaps with fair looks or some kind of talent, may be allowed to settle in the Outer city and receive education from Xuan City.

And for those less fortunate, Xuan City also agrees to let them build villages by the lake.

The only requirement is to worship the Lord of Xuan City, and in return, Xuan City will protect them.

Over time, near Xuan City’s large lake, many buildings and residents have emerged.

The layout of the city is very similar to that of Changan City Li Changhe saw in Great Tang.

These surrounding villages are akin to the estates outside of Changan City.

Crossing the long bridge into the Outer city of Xuan City is like entering the markets within Changan.

The Inner city is comparable to the Imperial Palace of Changan — the palace of the Queen of Xuan City.

The invitation Li Changhe holds is akin to a one-time token to enter the Inner city.

Indeed, if Xuan City truly had no interactions with the outside world, with no economic development or population movement, it would have declined long ago.

The surrounding villages and the Outer city are actually retained by Xuan City for external communications.

Soon, as the troop advanced, Li Changhe saw some female soldiers patrolling the main road.

They wore bright red leather armor and robes, with markings resembling a long-haired woman etched on the shoulders of the armor.

These were the soldiers of Xuan City, and according to official statements, their female warriors possess some sort of mysterious Protection that can inflict targeted damage on males.

With a significant damage bonus, even players have to be cautious, and this is one reason why the officials arranged for female teammates to accompany Li Changhe.

Ordinary soldiers aside, the real danger lies with the Queen and several priestesses, who are suspected of possessing Divine powers.

Once their damage bonus is elevated, their attacks become extremely fearsome, and male players might truly die at their hands.

As for the capabilities of these female soldiers, it’s still unclear, but they are all quite attractive.

As they patrolled the road, they surveyed the travelers with curiosity, like young children, whispering and discussing among themselves.

Of course, no one would think of them as naive and attempt to deceive or tempt them.

They are devout Believers of the Lord of Xuan City, and to dishonor them would mean making an enemy of the entire Xuan City.

The last man who tried that has grass two meters tall on his grave by now.

Even the most audacious ruffians would weigh whether they could survive the pursuit of Xuan City’s soldiers.

As for the lord of Xuan City...

Neither official intelligence nor clues from female knights provided a precise description.

It was said that the very first queen of Xuan City was the one who built the city with her own hands a hundred years ago.

Although she had passed away, as the status of Xuan City climbed,

in the end, she became a kind of faith for the people of Xuan City, always protecting those within from being affected by the wars of the outside world.

Even, she bestowed upon the believers special offensive strengths against men.

In fact, based solely on the information, Li Changhe might think that some higher divine creatures had endowed these believers with certain abilities.

After all, in theory, once reaching the demi-god level, divinities could grant powers to others through the faith of their believers.

Indeed, Li Changhe could also bestow strength upon others, like Sword in Wine.

After being infused with Black Mud by Li Changhe, Sword in Wine essentially became Li Changhe’s apostle, also known as a Black Mud Sufferer.

But this required Li Changhe’s personal impartation, and he couldn’t receive Sword in Wine’s faith, let alone bestow some strength on another solely through faith.

And the officials were certain that there were no demi-gods in this world, and the female warriors’ strengths did not come from some faith-based gift.

It was said that the traces of demi-gods were hard to hide.

Because, upon becoming a demi-god, one would establish their throne in the void and leave an eternal and unique mark in the void aspect of this world.

Even if a demi-god concealed their throne, the thick concentration of faith gathered by their believers would still leave traces in the void.

From this, one could infer that there were no demi-gods in this world, especially those worshipped by people.

Otherwise, Li Changhe and the others would not have been invited in.

Afterwards, Li Changhe crossed the bustling avenue and arrived at that magnificent and wide white stone bridge.

It led to the majestic city that was Xuan City.

It was hard to imagine how such a huge stone bridge, spanning a kilometer, was constructed in this era.

It was also understandable why this terrain was easy to defend but difficult to assault.

As long as one held the bridgehead, it would be difficult for the armies from the outside to threaten the inner parts of Xuan City.

If the armies from the outside built ships on the lake surface with the intention of attacking Xuan City from the water...

Li Changhe glanced at the calm lake surface.

All four players could sense something rather large slowly swimming through the lake.

"Hmm, quite a few tricks up their sleeves," thought Li Changhe, his interest piqued in the means of that queen of Xuan City.

Then, taking out the invitation, he was allowed to enter the long bridge under the astonished gazes of the passersby, as the guards let him through.

"This person... so strong!" an invitee murmured in shock as they watched the retreating figures of Li Changhe and his companions.

"Yes, to have collected four invitations," another invitee responded with emotion, "I almost drained my entire savings to obtain an invitation. And on the way here, I was afraid of being robbed."

"I mean..." the first invitee said, looking at Li Changhe’s back with admiration, "to actually bring three beautiful girls with him on a trip... he must be ridiculously strong in a certain respect!"

"Huh? Isn’t it just two? The one carrying the wine gourd... is that a woman?"

...

Elsewhere, on the bridge, Qiu Wentian frowned prettily and glanced back.

Then he muttered, "Why do I feel like someone is cursing me?"

"Not at all," Li Changhe said, startled, "I didn’t hear anything."

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