"This Xiao Qin is truly arrogant! The Immortals favor him and wish to recruit him, yet he is so unappreciative!" Xiao Man echoed after a moment of silence.
"Exactly!" the guard exclaimed, as if finding a kindred spirit. "Brother, as you travel across the Cang Xuan Continent, have you seen this Xiao Qin? Is he perhaps green-faced and fanged, capable of scaring children with his appearance?"
"Not at all. He's quite handsome, looks like a pretty boy," Xiao Man explained.
The guard glanced at Xiao Man, then turned away to chuckle softly. In his eyes, Xiao Man himself resembled a pretty boy. However, to maintain the amicable image of the Sky Demon Race, the man stopped laughing after a short while.
"I thought someone so arrogant would either be exceptionally majestic or incredibly ugly. It turns out neither is true," the guard said, escorting Xiao Man to the entrance of the inner city. "Brother Nangong, the token in your hand belongs to Elder Bai Niao. With this token, you may enter the inner city. I, however, cannot. Once inside, proceed directly to the Holy Temple to register. They will arrange your accommodation. After that, you need only await the Divine Lord's summons."
"Thank you, fellow Daoist."
Upon entering the inner city, Xiao Man did not go to the Holy Temple to register. Instead, he wandered around. There were humans in the inner city as well, likely promising talents the Sky Demon Race had 'rescued' from the outside.
"Man'er, there are the auras of several Nascent Soul stage great cultivators within the inner city." Nangong Yu had already retreated into the Tong Tian Pagoda's space as they approached Mount Futuo.
"I can feel it," Xiao Man replied softly. "The outer city has one Nascent Soul stage expert guarding it, while the inner city has several. They continuously bring in promising human talents, no wonder it's so difficult for humans to produce Nascent Soul stage great cultivators."
"Can you try to sense Tian Ze's location?"
"No," Xiao Man said calmly. "The entire Mount Futuo is locked down by a powerful spiritual force. If I rashly use my spiritual sense, I will certainly alert that person. Once alerted, our situation will become precarious."
"Then are you going to register at the Holy Temple now?"
"I've infiltrated here. How can I reveal my identity? Let's familiarize ourselves with the inner city's layout first." Xiao Man completely adopted the persona of a tourist, strolling through the inner city. The Sky Demon Race and humans lived similarly, but the demons were born with cultivation, a stark contrast to humans.
"Fellow Daoist, which sect do you belong to?" a human man approached, scrutinizing Xiao Man. "I was once a disciple of the Tian Ling Sect, Jiang Lan."
"Greetings, Senior Brother Jiang. I am a disciple of the Imperial Beast Sect, Nangong Yu." Xiao Man shamelessly used Nangong Yu's name to deceive. "Senior Brother Jiang, how long have you been in the Holy Land?"
"Not long, not long. I entered the Holy Land at fifteen, so it's been a hundred years." Jiang Lan smiled. "Junior Brother Nangong, how old are you?"
"Just over forty."
"So young?" Jiang Lan's eyes lit up. "We humans have a dedicated gathering place within the Holy Land. Junior Brother Nangong, being new here, likely doesn't know. Why don't I take you to see it? All our human cultivators gather here. I'll introduce you." Su Dan Novel Network
"That would be most excellent. Thank you, Senior Brother."
Jiang Lan led Xiao Man around the inner city. Humans who entered the inner city were invariably recruited by Jiang Lan and his group to Zhongzhou Street.
"Senior Brother Jiang, are there factions here too?" Xiao Man inquired, considering they were on Sky Demon territory. The Sky Demon Race aimed for long-term dominion over humanity, thus they would recruit exceptional human talents or those who had cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage to Mount Futuo.
"After all, this is where the divine race lives. There are far more divine race members. While there are interactions between the divine race and us humans, they are not frequent. Unless one's cultivation reaches the Nascent Soul stage like yours, Junior Brother Nangong, it's unlikely to become a Divine Envoy. Others can only live in the inner and outer cities. Our human gathering place is located at the boundary between the inner city and the outside."
"Do the divine race members bully us?"
Jiang Lan glanced around. "Hush, such words shouldn't be spoken carelessly."
Xiao Man mimicked Jiang Lan, looking around before lowering his voice. "Senior Brother, why can't it be spoken?"
"This is the Holy Land of the divine race. For us humans to live in the Holy Land is a tremendous honor. How can we be so ungrateful?" Jiang Lan spoke with immense deference, yet his expression was filled with mockery.
Xiao Man lowered his gaze. Indeed, the humans living here were not well-regarded, even if their cultivation was high.
"I understand."
"There are many rules here; you'll have plenty to learn." Seeing Xiao Man's understanding, Jiang Lan smiled. "By the way, I've heard that the cultivation of Imperial Beast Sect disciples is not very high. Why is your cultivation so advanced?"
"I am a recently joined disciple of the Imperial Beast Sect and have a good relationship with the young master, thus I was appointed as a guest elder."
"So you're an elder of the Imperial Beast Sect. No wonder I thought it was unusual. If the Imperial Beast Sect had such a talented disciple, they would have been here long ago."
"Do people with good talent get to live here?"
"Not everyone can," Jiang Lan explained with a smile. "The divine race has special methods for judging talent. If one's talent reaches their designated level, they can live and cultivate in the Holy Land. Nowadays, many of our people are in the guard."
"The guard?"
"That's the patrol soldiers." Just then, a patrol of guards passed by. Jiang Lan pulled Xiao Man to the side. One of the guards winked at Jiang Lan.
Jiang Lan smiled and nodded. After they passed, he said, "That's Chen Yu. His cultivation is at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, just one step away from entering the Nascent Soul stage. Once he reaches the Nascent Soul stage, he can participate in the Divine Envoy selection and become a Divine Envoy, able to freely enter and exit the Holy Land."
"Senior Brother Jiang, I heard that Tian Ze, the young master of the Tian Xuan Sect, has also entered the Holy Land. Is he also on Zhongzhou Street?"
Hearing Tian Ze's name, Jiang Lan immediately frowned. "The people of the Tian Xuan Sect are different from us."
"How are they different?"
"The people of the Tian Xuan Sect are talented, highly cultivated, and skilled in divination. Once they enter the Holy Land, they are heavily relied upon. They reside in Futuo City, not the inner city."
"Futuo City?"
"Mount Futuo is divided into the outer city, the inner city, and the central Futuo City. The central Futuo City is where the Divine Lord and the Divine Envoys reside, and it's the place we dream of entering." Desire flickered in Jiang Lan's eyes. "However, entering and remaining in Futuo City is incredibly difficult."
"Then why can the people of the Tian Xuan Sect stay in Futuo City?"
"Because the people of the Tian Xuan Sect are themselves apostles of the Divine Lord." Jiang Lan glanced at Xiao Man. "You probably don't know this, but the Four Great Sects are all apostles. However, the Tian Xuan Sect is a step above them. They can foresee good and ill fortune, so the Divine Lord highly values them."