High above, three spiritual boats left Lingxuan City under the cover of night.

Without any reluctance.

The entire Lingxuan City was left with only over ten thousand elderly mortals and a few dozen cultivators determined to defend it with their lives.

It had become an empty city.

The spiritual boats flew fast, traversing mountains and rivers, flying for a whole half day.

Eventually, they arrived at a mountain range shrouded in mist.

This mountain range spanned several hundred miles, all surrounded by fog.

Not to mention mortals, even cultivators would likely lose their way if they entered.

In the center of the encircling mountains was a basin.

The capital of the Fog Country, Fog City, was nestled in the valley of this basin; this was also the founding place of the Celestial Pill Sect.

Hundreds of feet high above, the spiritual boats slowly sailed into the mountains, surrounded by mist with very low visibility.

Lin Chen stood on the deck of the spiritual boat, looking at the mist around him.

He felt a slight stir in his heart and tried to release his Divine Sense, but it could only extend about a hundred feet before failing to go further.

"Tsk tsk, this natural mist formed by the earth’s veins... is much more useful than the Profound Mist Seven Illusion Array..."

"Indeed, this place is easy to defend and hard to attack."

Lin Chen nodded slightly, no wonder Wang Changchun abandoned Lingxuan City so decisively.

The array of Lingxuan City was established by humans, while the dense fog here is a natural danger, difficult to breach.

At this moment, Lin Chen received a transmission from Wang Changchun.

"Elders, steer the spiritual boats well and follow behind the main boat... Do not take the wrong path."

"The route to enter Fog City is complex. Moreover, the mist in these mountains is dangerous; even Golden Core Cultivators who inhale it will find themselves trapped in illusions..."

"Only by following the main boat’s route can we avoid the mist as much as possible."

With that said, the main boat where Lin Chen was began to change course.

The two spiritual boats behind followed closely, flying in a very intricate, cumbersome route.

Although it seemed only several hundred miles based on sensory perception, the spiritual boats flew for a whole half day.

During the flight through the misty areas, even Lin Chen felt slightly unsettled, nearly falling into an illusion.

And this was the most correct, least dangerous route.

It’s imaginable, if an ordinary Golden Core Cultivator were to become trapped in this mist without the correct route, their fate would likely be dire...

Until the evening of the next day, after passing through the last patch of mist.

The view suddenly opened up...

Hundreds of feet high above, Lin Chen looked down.

He saw a majestic Immortal City, spanning about dozens of feet.

A long, narrow river divided Fog City into northern and southern parts.

Cultivators and mortals coexisted here.

Marketplaces and shops were built along the mountains and water, the mountainous paths steep and quite impressive.

At the center of Fog City stood a thousand-foot-tall mountain.

This mountain was the residence of the Celestial Pill Sect.

At the mountain’s foot were vast Spirit Fields and Medicine Gardens, planted with various Spiritual Medicines.

The Celestial Pill Sect was a major sect in alchemy, providing a continuous supply of various pills.

The spiritual boats smoothly entered the bounds of Fog City, landing at the Celestial Pill Sect’s mountaintop.

During the descent, Lin Chen felt himself passing through an invisible barrier.

It seemed the entire Fog City was covered by a massive array.

Looking at the vast Fog City, Lin Chen sighed:

"The area of this city is afraid to be ten times larger than Lingxuan City..."

"The City Defense Array earlier separated the inner and outer mist and provided protection, quite remarkable."

Lin Chen nodded slightly, the mist outside the mountain was indeed a natural barrier.

Making this Fog City into a paradise isolated from the world.

Upon reaching the Celestial Pill Sect, Wang Changchun said loudly:

"All disciples and elders, act according to command... This place is the sect of the Celestial Pill Sect, no unauthorized actions."

"Next, I will arrange accommodation for all of you."

Due to years of warfare, occurring within the borders of Fog Country, the losses of the Celestial Pill Sect were even greater than those of Changchun Sect.

Therefore, quite a few caves had been vacated within the Celestial Pill Sect.

Lin Chen chose a relatively quiet place and moved in directly.

...

Meanwhile, outside Lingxuan City.

The Demon army grandiosely arrived outside the city.

The Blood Pupil Old Demon gazed at the easily obtainable Lingxuan City, excitement in his eyes.

"How long before we can break this array outside the city?" the Blood Pupil Old Demon asked.

"At most, one day." Several array masters in black robes and masks replied.

Upon hearing this, the Blood Pupil Old Demon nodded slightly, already somewhat impatient.

A hoarse voice came from his throat.

"Try to be quick..."

Sunrise and sunset, in the blink of an eye a day had passed.

When the chain array of Lingxuan City was completely dismantled, the Blood Pupil Old Demon could no longer suppress his excitement.

"Everyone, kill!"

He only issued a simple order, but upon rushing into the city.

His Divine Sense enveloped the entire Lingxuan City, and he was stunned...

"No, how can this be... Where are the people in the city?"

The Blood Pupil Old Demon was somewhat incredulous.

The vast Lingxuan City had actually become an empty city, most cultivators had already evacuated.

After breaking through Qinghe City, he had rushed to Lingxuan City at the first opportunity.

But he hadn’t anticipated Wang Changchun would be so decisive, abandoning the city and fleeing directly...

Leaving him with just an utterly useless empty city.

"Running away really fast, huh!"

The old demon Blood Pupil gritted his teeth.

"Come, send the orders down... advance southward, I want to bring the entire Fog Country under my control as soon as possible!"

...

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Wudu.

Lin Chen took out a monitor, clearly observing the situation in Lingxuan City and Qinghe City, thousands of miles away.

At this time, over a thousand cultivators from the Demon Path had already poured into the two cities, frantically looting city supplies and preventing any slip through the net.

When over a thousand cultivators rushed into the two cities, Lin Chen smacked his lips and said:

"Hmm, the time is almost right."

Lin Chen pressed a button.

Thousands of miles away, two gigantic mushroom clouds soared into the sky.

Covering hundreds of miles, the sky turned as bright as day.

Even separated by thousands of miles, Lin Chen could faintly sense the commotion in the two cities.

Years ago, to prevent Lingxuan and Qinghe cities from being occupied by the Demon Sect,

Lin Chen had planted the largest nuclear bombs in history.

Combined, they were equivalent to a million tons of TNT...

The terrifying power sufficed to leave Golden Core cultivators within miles bereft of survival.

Gazing at the white light on the screen and the cut-off signal, Lin Chen nodded with satisfaction.

"Tsk tsk, after this explosion, the Demon Sect will suffer a heavy loss again!"

"Wudu is temporarily safe."

"I should go and see other places now."

Lin Chen quickly sent a message to his master, indicating his intent to retreat into seclusion and impact the mid-Core Formation stage.

At the same time, Lin Chen left a puppet in his cave and then stealthily dived deep underground for thousands of miles.

Directly beneath Wudu, there was a safe haven left behind by Lin Chen.

Following the underground safe path, Lin Chen headed west, appearing thousands of miles away overnight...

...

Lingxuan City.

The massive explosion instantly swept through the entire city.

The whole of Lingxuan City turned to scorched earth within seconds.

Within the blazing flames, Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stage demon cultivators let out painful wails.

As for Qi Refining stage cultivators, they couldn’t even last a second, naturally feeling no significant pain...

When the entire Lingxuan City collapsed, only a figure surged from the flames.

It was the old demon Blood Pupil!

At this moment, the appearance of the old demon Blood Pupil was quite miserable; his clothes were in tatters, and large patches of his skin were burnt, vaguely emitting a scent of charred flesh.

At the instant of the nuclear explosion, Blood Pupil’s location was precisely near the nuclear bomb’s burial point.

Though he immediately used his protective True Essence, he was still heavily injured...

Now, flying high above Lingxuan City, Blood Pupil gazed at Qinghe City, also utterly destroyed hundreds of miles away.

Blood Pupil’s eyes were filled with boundless rage.

"Why! Why provoke me over and over again!"

"Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect! I am irreconcilable with you!"

Taking one last look at the ruins of the two cities, Blood Pupil flew alone towards the Demon Sect’s base camp.

In this battle, he had captured Lingxuan and Qinghe Cities, but the hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators he painstakingly cultivated over half a year, along with over a dozen Golden Core cultivators, were completely perished...

Even he himself was gravely injured.

And all he obtained, were just two empty cities.

...

Thousands of miles away, Lin Chen, transformed into the appearance of Xu Shi, found Wang Changchun.

Wang Changchun was astonished at how Lin Chen entered Wudu, but he still handed over the agreed five million spirit stones to Lin Chen.

Afterward, Lin Chen headed all the way to Changchun Mountain’s marketplace, collecting several million spirit stones from Jade Ghost there.

After completing all these, Lin Chen set out to leave Yanlai Realm.

High in the sky, Lin Chen stood on the Blue Jade Gourd.

A few auspicious clouds faintly encircled the gourd, boosting the speed of flying with magical artifact by several parts.

In just half a day, Lin Chen flew tens of thousands of miles, far away from the Righteous Alliance territory.

By now, the sky had turned late, and Lin Chen looked at the unfamiliar mountains and rivers below, recalling the "Records of Qing State" he once read, murmuring:

"The Righteous Alliance is located in the Eastern Domain of Qing State, a geographically remote position."

"And the true core area of Qing State is the Wenda Sect, with a history lasting tens of thousands of years, it is the true number one sect of Qing State."

"The sphere of influence of the Wenda Sect extends for tens of thousands of miles, even larger than the entire Righteous Alliance combined." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Among them, traveling from the Eastern Domain of Qing State to the Wenda Sect requires passing through three city fortresses."

"Human Path, Earth Dao, and Celestial Dao—once through these three cities, one can reach Wenda City."

Pausing, Lin Chen continued:

"Even the nearest Human Path City is nearly eighty thousand miles away from the Righteous Alliance, requiring several days of travel..."

"On this journey, who knows what dangers lie ahead, I must adjust my state to the best."

Lin Chen released his divine sense, precisely sensing a small town dozens of miles southwest, deciding to rest there for a while and continue his journey tomorrow.

Lin Chen changed his appearance and concealed his breath, pulling out a human skin mask specifically crafted in the High Martial World.

Thus, Lin Chen’s appearance became entirely different from before.

Performing the Bright Mirror Technique, Lin Chen looked at the new face in the mirror.

With a sword eyebrow and starry eyes, a rather distinguished appearance.

"Not bad, for the next long journey to the Wenda Sect, I will use a new identity..."

"Named Zhou Wu, nicknamed Fifth Brother Zhou will do."

Lin Chen transformed into a stream of light, appearing in the town’s marketplace.

Entering the marketplace, Lin Chen saw three large characters written on an archway:

—Cyan Jade Town.