Chapter 291: Chapter 287: Entering the Imperial City

The Cangnan Empire was vast, and the Southern Border Prefecture was countless miles from its capital, the Imperial City.

The Cloud-Stepping Beasts were renowned for their speed, capable of traveling thousands of miles in a day, yet it still took Lin Hao and his two companions a full month to make the journey from the Southern Border Prefecture.

The Cangnan Empire was boundless, but the Southern Border Prefecture was so remote and impoverished that no one gave the trio a second glance during their journey.

Eventually, they even met Martial Artists who had never heard of the Southern Border Prefecture.

As a result, the trio endured dozens of battles along the way.

As they neared the Imperial City, they were ambushed by a band of roving brigands. They only managed to escape after Ling Xiao and Yang Peng were wounded.

To make matters worse, their Cloud-Stepping Beasts were stolen during the fight.

On this day, three youths in tattered clothes arrived outside the capital of the Cangnan Empire, the Imperial City.

These three were, of course, Lin Hao and his companions.

They had only just managed to shake off the brigands’ pursuit a short while ago.

The walls of the Imperial City were constructed entirely from incredibly hard granite, towering over a hundred feet high. They were majestic and imposing, exuding an overwhelming aura of power.

The tattered Ling Xiao clicked his tongue in amazement. "Worthy of the capital indeed. To think a mere wall could possess such might!"

He hailed from Celestial Jade City, the capital of the Southern Border Prefecture, but even he couldn’t help but be awed by the walls of the Imperial City.

The wide road leading to it was also paved with granite and was over ten meters across.

It was just past noon, and the sun blazed like a fire in the sky.

Their months of travel had taken them into the height of summer. The scorching sun baked the earth, making the granite pavement scalding hot to the touch.

Even so, the wide road was still packed with a ceaseless stream of pedestrians.

Cloud-Stepping Beasts, Fire Dragon Steeds, Three-Eyed Demon Wolves...

All sorts of exotic beasts could be seen everywhere.

Furthermore, the people coming and going all exuded powerful auras.

There wasn’t a single weak person among them; Martial Artists of the Blood Coagulation Realm were practically nowhere to be found!

Lin Hao saw youths entering the Imperial City accompanied by white-haired elders, as well as young women with their faces hidden by light veils, hurrying forward surrounded by attendants.

Clearly, these were the various great families and sects escorting their disciples.

"Senior Brother, look," Ling Xiao whispered from beside Lin Hao. "No one is actually riding their beasts into the city."

Lin Hao had already noticed this. Whether they were riding a Cloud-Stepping Beast, a Fire Dragon Steed, or even a Three-Eyed Demon Wolf, every rider would dismount before the city gates and lead their beast in by the reins.

And despite the sheer number of people entering, there was not the slightest clamor.

"These Martial Artists are unbelievably strong. So far, I haven’t spotted a single person with a cultivation level weaker than my own!" Yang Peng spoke up from the side, a fierce battle intent raging in his eyes.

"Yah!"

Just then, a sharp cry cut through the air, sounding particularly jarring.

A carriage pulled by four demon leopards, each over ten meters long, whistled past the trio and charged toward the city gate, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

"Heavens! Those are cubs of the Tier Three Devil Beast, the Fire Cloud Demon Leopard! Even as cubs, each one’s strength is comparable to a Martial Artist at the First Layer of the Soul Gathering Realm. To think someone is using them to pull a carriage... That’s astonishing."

Someone in the crowd exclaimed.

"That driver just glanced at me, and I felt my hair stand on end and my blood run cold. He’s definitely an expert of the Soul Gathering Realm."

Another person wiped away cold sweat, their heart still pounding with fear.

"Isn’t there a rule in the Imperial City that you must enter on foot? They’re so arrogant."

"You bunch of ignorant bumpkins. That rule doesn’t apply to the major divine sects. That was definitely the carriage of a divine sect, escorting their disciples to the Imperial Saint Institute."

Just then, everyone realized a massive shadow had fallen over the ground. At the same time, the cry of a great bird, sharp enough to pierce metal and crack stone, echoed from the sky.

It was a gigantic bird, more than twenty meters long. Its wings were spread wide, blotting out the sun.

Atop the bird stood several women, their robes fluttering in the wind, looking like celestial Lingbo Fairies.

The great bird flew over the city wall and vanished from sight in an instant.

"Heavens, that’s a top-tier Tier Three Devil Beast, a Flying Heaven Eagle! To be able to command it... a supreme expert of the Spirit Transformation Realm must have arrived!"

"No, rumor has it the Palace Master of the Misty Palace tamed a Flying Heaven Eagle long ago. It seems the Palace Master herself has come!"

"The Palace Master of the Misty Palace? The legendary number one beauty in the world! Come on, let’s hurry inside and take a look!"

The appearance of the flying beast whipped the crowd into a frenzy, and they all surged madly toward the Imperial City.

"Let’s go. We’re going in too." Lin Hao’s eyes narrowed as he started walking toward the gates of the Imperial City.

Once inside the city gates, the trio’s shock did not diminish; on the contrary, it intensified.

As far as the eye could see, buildings were packed together as densely as the scales on a fish, stretching on without end.

In the distance, what looked like a massive mountain had been sheared off halfway up, crowned with a vast complex of buildings.

The giant bird from before was just now descending into that complex, disappearing from view.

Needless to say, this complex had to be the location of the Imperial Saint Institute.

And even further beyond that stood a majestic palace complex.

That was the royal palace of the Cangnan Empire!

This wasn’t a city; it was a kingdom unto itself!

Ling Xiao and Yang Peng were like country bumpkins in the big city, gawking stupidly for a long time before they could even begin to process it all.

Lin Hao was less affected. After all, he had inherited Chu Tiandu’s memories, so a city of this scale was nothing remarkable in his eyes.

Snapping the other two out of their stupor, Lin Hao led them onward.

"Senior Brother, the Imperial City is huge," Ling Xiao said quietly after they had walked for a while. "We should find a place to stay first and get the lay of the land."

He had noticed several people looking at them with disdain.

After fighting their way here and getting ambushed by brigands right before reaching the city, their clothes were in tatters. Compared to the well-dressed people around them, they looked like beggars.

Lin Hao and Yang Peng were fine with it, but Ling Xiao came from a prominent family. Aside from the period after he met Lin Hao, he had always lived a life of luxury. Now, those scornful gazes made him feel as if he had thorns on his back.

He wanted to find lodging not just to gather information, but also, naturally, to wash up.

Lin Hao nodded. He had seen the looks too. Although he didn’t care what they thought, his clothes were genuinely uncomfortable.

As the capital of the Cangnan Empire, the Imperial City had a massive transient population, so naturally, it also had many inns.

The trio only had to look up to see several of them.

However, at the first two they tried, they were thrown out before they could even open their mouths.

With the sun high in the sky, the inns were bustling during peak hours. In their tattered state, the three were immediately mistaken for beggars.

At the third inn, before the attendant could shoo them away, Ling Xiao brandished a silver banknote.

"I’m sorry, sirs, but the inn is full," the attendant said, his face a mask of apology.

Ling Xiao assumed this was just a roundabout way of refusing them.

"You—!" This was the capital. Ling Xiao had been suppressing his temper, but now he couldn’t hold back his fury.

’Fucking snobs, judging a book by its cover!’

"Let’s go. We’ll find another place," Lin Hao said, stopping him. He then gave the attendant a slight smile. "Sorry to have bothered you."

Lin Hao had seen this sort of thing far too many times to have any interest in arguing with a mere inn attendant.

"Sirs, it’s not that I’m unwilling to take you in, we’re genuinely full. The Imperial Saint Institute is recruiting, so too many people have come. It’ll be very difficult for you to find a room in this area."

Although Lin Hao was in rags, he carried himself with an unusual air. That, combined with his courteous attitude, had pleased the attendant, who couldn’t help but offer a word of advice.

"Thank you, brother. Could you tell us where we might be able to find a place to stay?" Lin Hao asked with a smile.

The attendant hemmed and hawed for a long moment before saying, "If you’re not too picky... go straight from here, take a left at the first intersection, go all the way to the end, then turn right. You should be able to find a place to stay there."

Lin Hao thanked him and handed over a silver ingot.

The attendant quickly snatched it up. He then stared at their departing backs and snickered, a sleazy look on his face.

When Lin Hao and his companions followed the directions and arrived at their destination, they were stunned.

It wasn’t the dirty, chaotic slum they had expected. A canal stretched out before them, and the scenery was actually quite pleasant.

What gave them pause was the air of decadence that hung over the place.

This was clearly a red-light district.

Ling Xiao and Yang Peng both looked incredibly awkward.

Although Lin Hao was young, his prestige in the Heaven-Stepping Sect had already surpassed that of the Sect Leader, and the other two had long since come to regard him as an elder.

"Let’s go. Consider this a different kind of training. Besides, a place with all walks of life is perfect for gathering information." Lin Hao’s expression remained neutral as he led the way forward.

Eventually, the three of them stopped before the most magnificent building in the area.

It was a standalone building that covered a large area and had a very elegant name: the Mist Rain Tower.

"Well now, what lucky wind has blown you three here? Please, come in, come in!" A heavily made-up woman appeared as if from nowhere, grabbing Lin Hao’s arm with a wide, familiar smile.

Women in her line of work developed sharp, discerning eyes long ago. Though the trio was dressed in rags, they carried themselves with an extraordinary air. She could tell at a glance that Lin Hao, in particular, was their leader.

"Do you have rooms? We need three," Lin Hao asked directly, standing his ground without moving an inch.

"Well... we do, but there’s only one premium room left," the woman replied.

Lin Hao turned to look at Ling Xiao and Yang Peng.

"That’s fine, Senior Brother. You take the good room," Ling Xiao said hastily.

’Are you kidding me? Even the brothels are almost full. If we hesitate any longer, we’ll really end up sleeping on the streets.’

"I’ll follow Young... I mean, Senior Brother’s arrangements," Yang Peng also replied.

He had always called Lin Hao "Young Master," but had changed his form of address at Lin Hao’s request.

When traveling, the more low-profile, the better.

A peculiar glint flashed in the woman’s eyes for a moment before she was all smiles again.

She then called over a male attendant to take care of the trio before walking away, swaying her hips.

Lin Hao watched her go, and the male attendant immediately noticed.

"Heh heh, Young Master. You like her type? I can find you a few just like her right away," the attendant said with a sleazy grin.

Lin Hao just smiled without a word.

"But I’d advise you to wait. Many of the Mist Rain Tower’s girls will be performing tonight, and our head Courtesan is no exception."

"Just take us to our rooms," Lin Hao said, his voice cold.

The attendant wasn’t offended and quickly arranged their rooms.

As soon as he was gone, Lin Hao’s expression turned grave. He sent a voice transmission to the other two: "Go wash up. We need to stay together tonight. There’s something strange about this Mist Rain Tower. The Madam just now has an incredibly high cultivation level. None of us are her match."

"Senior Brother, in that case, let’s go to the Imperial Saint Institute as soon as we’ve washed up," Ling Xiao suggested.

The Imperial Saint Institute was close by; there was no need to invite unnecessary trouble.

Lin Hao nodded. When the Madam had grabbed his arm, she had been probing his cultivation. Although she had been subtle, Lin Hao’s Spiritual Sense was so sharp that he had noticed it immediately.

This was the Imperial City, and the Lin family—one of the four great families—was right here. If they discovered he had entered the city, they would undoubtedly hunt him down and kill him.

Initially, Lin Hao had planned to stay here for a while and gather information, but now it seemed far too dangerous.