The Kindan Monk Wandering in Xuanqin

After leaving the village, Qin Ran changed into another appearance. Without pausing, he continued rushing towards Mo, the capital city of Xuanqin.

Rushing all the way, after another day, he was nearing Mo. He stopped.

He remembered that Zhao Yaqing had said that there was a grand priest at the imperial court who was very powerful. Therefore, he could not just swagger into Mo.

The best choice for him was to disguise himself as an ordinary person to sneak in, then wait for an opportunity to act.

By now, it was already afternoon and the daylight was dim. Although it was no longer snowing, the sky was still gloomy.

At the city gate of Mo, there was a very long line of people who wanted to enter the city. Most of them were elderly and women.

He walked over and stealthily transformed into an old man as he silently joined the end of the line.

The ground was cold and wet, the sky was murky, and the long line was quiet without anyone speaking, but it also made Qin Ran feel that it was deathly still.

The line moved steadily and rhythmically forward bit by bit. This very civilized, orderly, no-cutting-in-line quality gave Qin Ran the feeling that he was in modern times.

After coming to Xuanqin Country's territory and taking a look around, he keenly felt that Xuanqin, this country, was very different from North Chu.

North Chu was just an ordinary feudal dynasty, but Xuanqin seemed more orderly and traditional...perhaps it could be said that she had more laws.

When he was close to the front of the line, Qin Ran noticed that everyone entering the city would hand over a letter and a black object he didn't recognize to the city gate guards. The guards would carefully read the letter and inspect the black object. Finally, they would ask the person entering the city some questions. Only after confirming everything was correct would they return the letter and black object and allow the person to enter the city.

"What is that stuff? It's so strict just to enter a city?!" Qin Ran knitted his brows. This gave him the feeling that he was not entering an ancient city gate, but rather going through a security checkpoint at a modern train station. One needed ID, train ticket, and to be checked for banned knives, flammables, and explosives. "Are Xuanqin's laws and regulations this strict?"

But either way, he didn't have those two things. As the line moved forward, he kept a close eye on what the people in front of him handed over to understand:

The letter was a letter of introduction explaining what business the person entering the city had. The letter of introduction was written by someone with some authority like the village chief or county magistrate. The black object was an identity badge, truly similar to an ID card. It contained the person's basic information - name, gender, date of birth, place of residence, etc. The questioning was to confirm whether the information you provided was accurate. Then they would also check if you were carrying any weapons.

"Is this something that would appear in a feudal dynasty?" Qin Ran felt somewhat blank.

Soon it was his turn. He pretended to fumble inside his clothes. At one point, he suddenly looked up, eyes brightening, as he silently activated the Phantasm Realm technique.

The city gate guard looked at him and saw him holding a letter of introduction and identity badge. Very naturally he took them and carefully inspected them, confirming there were no issues. Following procedure, he asked loudly:

"Are you carrying any knives, swords, or weapons?"

"No."

"Where are you from?"

"Anlu City."

"What business do you have here?"

"Seeking refuge with a relative."

"What relative?"

"A steamed bun seller in the West City, called Wu Dalang."

...

The guard asked some more similar questions and confirmed everything before letting Qin Ran enter the city.

Qin Ran walked past him and there was another guard who came to do a simple body check on him before finally allowing him fully into the city.

He had just walked through the city gate when he heard someone asking behind him: "General, why did that person not need an entry permit, identity badge, and letter of introduction?"

Earlier, he had cast the Phantasm Realm on the city gate guards, but did not cast it on the common people behind him.

"What do you mean he didn't have an identity badge? He had one! I checked it and confirmed it was correct! I'm doing everything according to the laws and regulations promulgated by His Majesty! Don't spout nonsense!" the guard yelled loudly.

But another person said, "I clearly saw he didn't have anything in his hands! You didn't look at anything!"

Seeing that quite a few people were adamant, the guard couldn't help but hesitate. Unsure, he turned back to call that person, but when he turned around, he discovered that person had already disappeared into the crowds.

"Don't spout nonsense, I personally checked it..." He could only turn back to scold those ignorant and quarrelsome common people.

Qin Ran had already entered the city, but on the main streets he saw that although there were people, most were elderly. There was little noise coming and going, not even peddlers' shouts. After walking for a while, the comings and goings were like zombies, giving the fleeting impression that this was a ghost town.

"What's going on with this Xuanqin..." He knitted his brows in thought. It was a good while before he came up with the descriptive word, "No vitality!"

This didn't seem like a prosperous and flourishing, formidable feudal empire, nor an ambitious country. Rather, it appeared wooden, traditional, overly orderly and stale, devoid of liveliness.

In his previous life, he had heard that golden ages in history were full of singing and dancing, talented scholars and beautiful ladies, flourishing culture and thriving martial spirit...

But he did not see any prosperity in Mo, the capital city of the legendary Xuanqin Empire...The supposed prodigal sons, dandies, scholars, he didn't see any.

After wandering this decaying city for a while, most of what he saw and heard were elderly people - very boring. Seeing that the sky had also darkened, Qin Ran found a random inn and went inside.

Unsurprisingly, the inn also required an identity badge to register information before one could check in. He had to use the Phantasm Realm to bewitch the owner before he could stay at the inn.

Night fell and the darkness gradually deepened. The cold wind blew snowflakes once more. The snow that had paused for half a day merrily floated down again late at night.

Qin Ran slipped out of the inn through the window and came to the streets outside. Pulling his cloak tightly around him, he got his bearings and rushed swiftly towards the imperial palace.

As the capital of Xuanqin, Mo City also did not have a colorful nightlife. Right after the curfew at 9 pm, not a single person could be seen on the streets Qin Ran walked. The long, wide streets were accompanied only by the cold wind and snow.

This was the territory of that grand priest. He didn't dare casually use any techniques, so his speed of travel wasn't too fast either, at most ghostwalking rapidly in the shadows of dark corners. Travelling like this, it took him over an hour before he neared the solemn and majestic black imperial palace.

Xuanqin valued black. Its military took pride in wearing black armor. Its officials pursued having a trace of black in their clothes. The emperor's dragon robe was black and gold. Presently, this imperial palace was also predominantly black.

Standing some distance away, Qin Ran looked at the imperial palace. He suddenly felt as if it were a demon palace - the kind of place a demon king in stories would live, looking at it made one apprehensive.

...So was he the hero in the story?

"Hope not!" he sighed to himself. Nowadays, hero and warrior were no longer words of praise.

Qin Ran stood there surveying, looking for a way into the imperial palace. After quite a while, he finally confirmed that with the imperial palace's level of security, if he didn't use any techniques, he really wouldn't be able to get in. He sighed, looks like he still had to use mystic arts...might as well go in through the front gate!

Just as he regained his composure and started moving forward, a voice suddenly called out from behind him, "Who goes there?"

He looked back to see it was a patrol squad dressed in black and gold armor and extremely luxurious equipment - clearly the imperial guards of the imperial city.

The one who yelled at him was the leader of the patrol squad.

Seeing that he didn't immediately respond, the leader waved his hand. Immediately someone behind him pulled out a crossbow and took aim at him.

"Halt where you are! Don't move!" the leader shouted, also signaling his men to surround Qin Ran.

"Alas!"

Qin Ran sighed. He had just stood there for a while, yet he was discovered. Were the defenses of this imperial city really so outrageous?

He shook his head and unfurled his cloak, utilizing his movement technique to vanish like water before the eyes of this squad of guards.

"A cultivator?!" The leader frowned.

"General, should we notify the Bureau of Spirit Control?" A guard asked him.

"The High Priest will know on his own..." He spoke, but paused for a moment before calling someone over, "Go notify the Bureau of Spirit Control."

His subordinate acknowledged the order and ran straight into the imperial palace.

Qin Ran had arrived at the foot of the imperial city. He was in a hidden state, imperceptible to the common eye. He stood at the base of the wall, craning his head up to look at the city wall... This wall was over thirty meters tall. Looking up at it from here, one could only feel that it stretched straight into the heavens.

Antique and majestic, this was another aura that Mo City exuded.

Qin Ran used his techniques to fly towards the top of the wall. When he had just flown halfway, he suddenly felt a sense of urgency. He vaguely sensed that there was something terrifying at the top of the city wall, a warning from his spiritual sense not to continue upwards.

He couldn't help but stop in place.

If this was his true body, he wouldn't have hesitated in the slightest, and would've fled far away already. But this was just an avatar.

He steadied his mind and continued flying upwards, suppressing his misgivings and pushing through to fly to the top of the city wall in one go.

Standing on the wide, nearly one zhang thick wall, Qin Ran looked ahead at the magnificent, majestic, solemn and reverent imperial palace. This mortal city gave him a sense of awe-inspiring might that made him feel fearful.

...It was this imperial city that made him afraid.

He took a step forward but didn't dare take another. Because there was something in front of him.

He raised his hand and slowly reached out. Very quickly, he touched something like a membrane. The instant he touched the membrane, it shocked him, sending the spiritual energy and magic power in his body boiling, making him feel as if he had been electrocuted. He subconsciously leapt backwards, almost falling off the city wall.

"A formation!" His expression changed greatly as he recognized this as a protective formation enveloping the entire city that specifically targeted magic power and spiritual energy. Any being with spiritual energy or magic power would be unable to pass through this formation. "What an exquisite formation!"

Qin Feng would never have imagined encountering a formation of this level in the mortal world! It was not far off from the protective mountain formation of the Daosword Sect!

"Who?!" Just then, he suddenly sensed a voice descend from the gloomy sky, piercing into his ears.

It was perceived rather than heard. The voice was targeted directly at him, as if the master of this sky was questioning him.

"Nascent Soul?!" Qin Ran was horrified. No longer daring to have any thoughts of entering the imperial city, he turned and jumped off the city wall, diving into the moat and disappearing.