After a moment of silence, Zhao Tianjiao hurried after Li Hongming and asked, “Brother Li, why did the inspection from before even go as deep as our souls?”
Without even turning his head to look at Zhao Tianjiao, Li Hongming said, “One sixty-year-cycle ago, the vengeful souls outside the Great Wall devised a unique possession technique that allowed them to masquerade as cultivators. They used that technique to try to infiltrate Great Wall City and assassinate the generals. From that point on, we took precautions against such methods. Everyone who wants to enter the city must first undergo a soul inspection!”
Zhao Tianjiao nodded and didn’t ask any further questions. Bai Xiaochun followed along cautiously with the rest of the group as Li Hongming led them into Great Wall City itself!
He could instantly tell that the place was different from East Sea City or World City. First of all… there were no shops anywhere to be seen. Although there were a lot of people present, most of them wore suits of armor, and had cold, expressionless faces.
This wasn’t really a city, it was… a huge military base!
The cultivators were all members of the five legions, each of which had their own section of the city to themselves. There was a harsh, stern atmosphere that weighed down everywhere, leaving Bai Xiaochun and the rest of the group feeling somewhat unsettled.
Even Zhao Tianjiao was affected.
When Li Hongming saw the reactions of Bai Xiaochun and the others, a cold smile appeared on his face, and a bit of scorn could be seen in his eyes. He obviously didn’t have a very good opinion of them, and were it not for the orders of the deva patriarch, he would never have lowered himself to the point of giving them a tour of the city.
As far as he was concerned, his current task was simply taking him away from fighting or cultivation.
“They’re nothing but a bunch of highfalutin kids from the sect, here to see what war looks like.” Although his heart was filled with scorn, he kept his face expressionless as he led them through Great Wall City.
Along the way, various cultivators from the five legions looked over at Li Hongming, and when they saw the type of armor he was wearing, would clasp hands and offer respectful greetings.
“Greetings, Colonel!”
“My respects, Colonel!”
Bai Xiaochun heard many such greetings being called out, and when he saw the looks of respect on the faces of the other cultivators, couldn’t help but be curious about the rank of colonel.
Zhao Tianjiao and the others were all wrapped up in their own thoughts as they looked around at the violet walls of the city.
Everything in the city was violet, including the buildings, and emanated a reek of blood.
“Great Wall City is divided into five districts, corresponding to the five legions. We are currently in the district assigned to the Skin Flayers, which is itself larger than all of World City.
“The Skin Flayers’ district is further subdivided into ten garrisons. As for that area over there… it belongs to General Bai Lin.” Li Hongming was currently pointing to an area with a vast, 300-meter-tall building that looked like a violet coffin.
The coffin was emblazoned with the sigil of the Skin Flayers, and emanated a very sinister air. As he looked around, Bai Xiaochun could see the looks of zealous devotion in the eyes of the cultivators when they looked at the huge coffin. It was the same even with Li Hongming.
“The other areas are similar, so I won’t take you to look at all of them.” Having led them on a rather circuitous route through the city, Li Hongming finally took them into a rather ordinary-looking courtyard.
Li Hongming looked up at the noon sun and then coolly said, “It’s getting late, so why don’t you rest up a bit. There’s a curfew at night, so remember that, and be careful.”
Bai Xiaochun looked up at the sun, and could tell that it was actually very early, and not anywhere close to night time. Li Hongming clearly didn’t want to waste any more time showing them around.
“I’ll escort you out tomorrow morning at first light.” With that, Li Hongming turned to leave.
Zhao Tianjiao was frowning, and seemed to be on the verge of saying something when Chen Yueshan took a step forward and said, “Brother Li, please wait a moment.”
Li Hongming stopped in place. If anyone else in the group had spoken up, he would have ignored them, but Chen Yueshan’s status was different. Frowning slightly, he turned to look at her.
“Brother Li, would you mind taking us up to the Great Wall to look around?” she said lightly, giving voice the words that Zhao Tianjiao had just been thinking.
After a moment of silence, Li Hongming slowly said, “There’s currently a battle going on, making it quite dangerous. If we go up, I can’t guarantee your safety. Are you sure you want to go?”
“Yes, we’re sure!” Zhao Tianjiao said, nodding his head.
Bai Xiaochun hesitated for a moment, but seeing how everyone else was nodding, he decided to go along. “We definitely want to go have a look!”
Li Hongming did nothing further to dissuade them. Turning in a different direction, he began to lead them toward the Great Wall itself.
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Chapter
468: Savage Giants!
It was some distance to the edge of the city where it connected to the wall. Even with Li Hongming leading them, it took the time it takes an incense stick to burn before they arrived.
As Bai Xiaochun stood there, looking up at the enormous wall, he felt so truly insignificant that it was suffocating.
Zhao Tianjiao and Chen Yueshan had the same feeling, as did the others in the group. The imposing pressure of the wall caused their hearts to race, their blood to boil, and their cultivation bases to spin rapidly.
Their reaction only served to increase Li Hongming’s disdain.
“Alright, get onto the stairs. In a moment you’ll get to feel what war is like.” As soon as Li Hongming stepped onto the stairs, ripples spread out in all directions, revealing what appeared to be more than 10,000 steps leading up to the top of the wall!
Zhao Tianjiao immediately stepped forward, and Chen Yueshan followed, pausing briefly on the first step before hurrying after Li Hongming.
From where Bai Xiaochun was standing, he couldn’t hear anything that was happening beyond the wall, but as soon as he stepped onto the stairs, he could instantly hear screaming and yelling. At the same time, his heart began to thump as if with the desire to do battle.
“Something’s off!” he thought. After looking around for a moment, he quickly hurried after the others.
Soon, the stairs were blurring by beneath his feet, and the sounds of screaming and yelling were getting more intense. Before long, he had reached the final stair, and was on top of the wall. At that point, the sounds of battle rang loudly in his ears.
He could hear agonized screams, enraged roars, and maniacal laughing, along with booms and rumbling that could shake lands and rock mountains.
The wall was so wide at the very top that a hundred people could patrol it in formation. And yet, it was still packed with cultivators, all of them wearing black suits of armor emblazoned with the sigil of the Skin Flayers, their murderous auras rising high into the heavens.
Some of them were operating the enormous magical cannons, sending destructive beams of light down ino the area beyond the wall. Others were at the ramparts, unleashing magical techniques and powerful attacks.
There were some who had flown off the wall and were fighting the mist-like clouds that were hordes of vengeful souls.
The deafening sounds of battle instantly assailed Bai Xiaochun’s mind, leaving him gasping in shock. However, he quickly recovered, and looked over to find Li Hongming staring at him in shock.