Became

He took a deep breath and, after calming himself, carefully sensed the seals he had previously placed in each secret realm.

Because of the spatial barriers around the secret realms, his perception of those seals was extremely faint. Unless he deliberately reached out to sense them, he could practically feel nothing at all.

But now, when he focused his mind and tried to connect with the seals, he suddenly discovered that every single one of them had been broken!

In other words, Liao Pantu’s soul bodies had most likely already left those secret realms!

The realization caused the heart Yin Xuanzi had just managed to calm to immediately tense up again.

Liao Pantu’s soul bodies were no longer in the secret realms, and now his physical body had suddenly disintegrated into nothing.

Did that mean the boy had been killed outside, body and soul destroyed?

So thoroughly that even his physical body had turned to ashes…

At that thought, Yin Xuanzi knitted his brows tightly.

Had his junior brother really… died?

Yin Xuanzi felt an inexplicable surge of anger well up in his chest.

“Feng Xin!”

Two breaths later, a voice answered from outside the cave dwelling. “This disciple is here.”

“Immediately send people to those secret realms where your Martial Uncle was imprisoned and investigate the situation! Find out where his soul bodies went after leaving the secret realms as quickly as possible!” Yin Xuanzi ordered.

He wanted to see exactly who had dared to kill Liao Pantu, whom he himself had sealed away.

“This disciple obeys!”

[Ding—the city synthesis is complete. Host, please select a placement location.]

Six hours after Lin Xiao activated the synthesis function, the countdown ended, and the system notification rang out in his mind right on schedule.

It worked!

Lin Xiao rose to his feet. Mo Yuanjiao, who had come over a quarter of an hour earlier to wait for him, immediately asked, “Senior Brother Sect Master, is it ready?”

“It’s done. Come on, let’s call Liu Yunan and the others. We’ll go to the village first and let everyone know.” Lin Xiao’s lips curled into a delighted smile.

They had to inform the people living at the foot of the mountain first. Once the city was placed, the entire area they currently occupied would be incorporated into it.

Giving everyone advance notice would prevent the villagers from panicking.

Mo Yuanjiao used his lock ring to inform Liu Yunan and the others that the city was ready and would soon be descending into place.

When Liu Yunan and the others heard the news, they all set aside whatever they were doing and hurried to the foot of the mountain to gather.

Before construction on the city had begun, Liu Yunan had already spoken with Village Chief Du Liushui. Du Liushui had also privately given the villagers of Xiushui Village, as well as the families who had moved there over the past few years, a general idea of what was happening.

Although everyone had no idea exactly how the city would be built, when construction would begin, or how large it would be, that did not stop them from placing their trust in the Lingxian Sect. After learning the news, they were all overjoyed.

They had originally thought they would soon become townspeople, and that alone had been enough to make everyone happy for quite some time. They had never expected to have the chance to become city residents!

So, as soon as Village Chief Du received Liu Yunan’s notice, he immediately brought out the large iron pot that Lin Xiao had repaired for his family some time ago and began banging on it throughout the village.

“The city’s being built! The city’s being built! Everyone, come out! Our village is becoming a city!”

Although Village Chief Du did not go onto the main road commonly used by tourists and only shouted along the small paths within the village, many passing visitors still heard him.

Seeing the villagers who had been setting up stalls nearby brighten with delight at the news, the tourists curiously asked, “Wasn’t this place supposed to become a town? Why are you saying it’s becoming a city?”

One of the villagers explained, “It was originally going to become a town. Just look outside—can’t you see that huge stretch of wall? It’s already been built solidly. That’s what the immortals from our Lingxian Sect told us not long ago!”

“That’s right, that’s right. I heard they’re planning to establish some kind of trading center. The immortals said that more and more people will come to our village before long. A town won’t be enough—we need a city!” another villager added.

“I heard there might even be immortals from other places coming here in the future!”

“Oh, really? Then won’t this place become an Immortal Village?”

“What are you talking about? Once the city is built, it’ll be an Immortal City!”

The tourists nearby listened in confusion.

Could a city really be built just by saying so?

Moreover, aside from the outer wall around Xiushui Village, a few houses, and some roads that had been leveled and widened, this place was still nowhere near resembling a city. The gap was more than a hundred thousand miles wide.

Some tourists were half-convinced, while others did not believe it at all. They assumed the villagers were simply bragging, exaggerating the construction of a town into the construction of a city.

After all, country folk just loved to boast.

But whether the tourists believed it or not, the construction of Xiushui Village into a city was imminent.

The villagers of Xiushui Village did not care about the doubtful looks from the tourists. Over the years, as they had interacted with more and more people, their horizons had continued to broaden. Many of them were no longer as timid and overawed as they had once been when merely going to the market.

Of course, there were still people whose personalities had not changed and who remained just as they had always been.

When Village Chief Du arrived at the small manor they had given to the Lingxian Sect, accompanied by many villagers who had either been free or had temporarily set aside their work to come over, Lin Xiao and the others were already surveying the surrounding terrain.

They had already selected a general area beforehand, but now that the city’s exact form had been fully revealed, they had a direct reference to work with. Lin Xiao could therefore choose its placement more precisely.

When the people from the village arrived, the Lingxian Sect members who had been born in Xiushui Village enthusiastically greeted them.

Since the city was being built for Xiushui Village, even Lin Dayou and the other elders, who normally spent their days tucked away in the sect farming, had come along.

They had been quite enthusiastic when the town was being built. Now that it was going to become a city, the old men were even more excited.

After all, Xiushui Village was the homeland where they had spent most of their lives. Although they had now embarked on the path of cultivation, to them, only their way of life had changed. The feelings they held for their homeland remained the same.

While the elders exchanged greetings and reminisced, Liu Yunan and the other younger disciples stood obediently to one side and accompanied them.

Lin Xiao also politely greeted the elders before flying high into the sky. He took the synthesized city out of his private storage and began selecting its placement based on the city’s original phantom image.

The phantom image appeared before Lin Xiao and gradually expanded until it reached its normal proportions relative to the real world.

From the phantom image, one could see the city’s towering, sturdy walls; the crisscrossing sewer pipes within them; the various primary administrative buildings; the broad, level city roads; the many landscaped forests and gardens; and, most importantly, the central trading district.

Enveloping the entire city was a huge shell that could not be seen with the naked eye.

Its shape was precisely that of the Spirit-Dam Turtle Shell, which had cost one hundred thousand spirit stones.

With it, anyone who purchased an item registered at the trading center would need to provide proof of the transaction before leaving the city.

The shell also incorporated various defensive and order-maintaining formations, preventing cultivators from causing trouble inside the city while making it difficult for outsiders to break in.