Chapter 139 – Celestial City
The south desolate mountain woods, cutting across thousands of miles, it was vast without boundary.
Xiao Chen and company passed through many mountains and a great number of ravines. Walking past the endless sea of greenery, they could finally see the Celestial City.
The magnificent Celestial City, it was brimming with the vicissitudes of time. The city wall was tall and massive, it was about thirty meters tall, and more than ten steeds could run side by side on top of it. The tall city gate was even more majestic, it was just like a watchtower that fell from the heaven dome; simple yet imposing. It was truly fitting for such a famous city.
The moat was about ten meters wide, and a few dozen meters deep. Although the moat was filled with water lilies, and a shoal of fish was moving about, if one examined carefully, they could actually see ferocious crocodiles and bloodthirsty fishes roaming about.
Without a doubt, Celestial City was a grand and majestic ancient city. It was the most renowned city in the south desolate region.
There were all kinds of legends regarding this ancient city. It was possible to tell just from its name, “Celestial City”, that it had a connection to the celestial emperor. The ancient city was shrouded in a veil of mystery.
“We’re finally here.”
While looking at the big city in front, Xiao Chen walked over there with Tenax and company.
Walking past the suspension bridge, they got through the moat and entered the city gate. Surprisingly, no one came to interrogate or block this lone man.
Celestial City was a bustling and thriving ancient city; there was an endless stream of horses and carriages, the main street was bustling with activities, a great number of stores stood at both sides of the avenue, and the sound of merchants touting their wares could be heard.
“High quality lesser dragon skin, only for a hundred gold coins.”
“Thousand year ginseng, genuine old ginseng king.”
“New restaurant open for business, big discount on the first day of opening……”
“The strongest warbeast……”
“Candied fruits……”
It was truly a lively and bustling big city; people of all ages were crowded together on the streets. There were all kinds of people, it could even be said there were many different kinds of races. There were blondies with blue eyes, black-haired persons with tanned skin, green hair, yellow hair, and even the tall and bulky beastmen.
Xiao Chen and company pushed their way through the crowd. They were truly overwhelmed. He spent most of his recent days in the desolate forest, it felt so long since he entered this kind of big city.
The Celestial City had a population close to two million people. It was a big city not just in name, but also in reality. Just imagine how much resources they had to spend on a daily basis. Apart from importing the resources from many cities and towns in the surroundings, the most important was still the Grand Canal that flowed from the North. The canal made it possible to import an endless stream of supplies.
“Let’s go, we will be staying here for a long time.” Xiao Chen was very fond of the flourishing Celestial City. He led Qinguang Wang and company to forge ahead.
The crowd did not have any peculiar expression when they saw Keke and Tenax, because that was more than normal. There were quite a few warbeast castles in Celestial City, it was an extremely common practice to have a warbeast. In fact, there were so many people with exotic creatures on the main street.
Xiao Chen and company took up residence in a big tavern. After freshening up, they prepared to go take a stroll and familiarize themselves with the big city. The three skeletons did not accompany them, they were not interested in the city. The two little beasts on the other hand, were looking forward to explore this bustling city. All of these fresh experiences roused their curiosity. They followed Xiao Chen and set out together.
They walked about randomly, and asked for the direction to the warbeast street. They inevitably had to pass through the antique street to get there. The majority of the people who came to this place were the middle-aged and elderly people. Only these people would like antiques. Xiao Chen conveniently bought a few pendants on the way. Ignoring Keke and Tenax’s opposition, Xiao Chen put the pendants on them. There was a certain charm when the crystal clear ancient jades were paired up with them.
All of a sudden, Xiao Chen saw a familiar back figure at the corner of the street.
“Eh, how come she is also here?”
That was actually Yan Qing Cheng. She obviously hadn’t noticed Xiao Chen yet. Xiao Chen was in deep thought and observed at a distant place for a while. He found the imprint of the Undying Sect hidden in an antique store. That was obviously the Undying Sect’s little communication point.
Warbeast street; one warbeast arena after another lined up on both sides of the street. Loud beastly roars transmitted from the inside occasionally. Endless streams of people were coming and going on the main street, it was practically a boiling cauldron of voices. This place was clearly more bustling than the other areas of the city.
The color of the sky already darkened, but this was the warbeast street, everything had just begun. There were even more people participating in the warbeast arena at night. Xiao Chen felt a little hungry, he brought the two little beasts and stepped into a restaurant. The restaurant was facing the street and business seemed very good.
He did not choose a private room, instead Xiao Chen chose a seat by the window on the second floor. He listened to the others bragging while enjoying the meal.
“Hey, that was really too strange. That Lynx Dragon was not really a dragon, and yet, no worthy adversary appeared even after it swept the entire arena. What’s more, it is still in the growing stage.”
“In my opinion, that Lynx Dragon is still not a match for that gold-furred beast in the Hughes Warbeast Arena. That one is really too savage. It is still just a cub, but it tore apart a lesser dragon king that was about ten times its body weight.”
“That Frost Dracolion that appeared in the Morass Warbeast Arena was also very terrifying. It was only two meters long, but it actually crushed a fifteen meters long primal beast.”
“A lot of intellectual beasts have appeared in the warbeast arenas recently. All of them are of the rarely seen variety. I suppose if they are nurtured properly, they might grow up into a sacred beast later.”
“Exactly! The monsters that appeared recently are very strong, and they are still in the infancy stage. I bet they could be sold for a sky-high price. I wonder if those owners will sell them or not.”
“Hoh… although they are very powerful, they are only challenging some nameless warbeast arenas. Only those who can come out alive after challenging those warbeast castles can be regarded as out of ordinary.”
“Don’t you guys find it strange? How come all kinds of intellectual beasts appeared in Celestial City at the same time? And they all are of those rarely seen varieties. As far as I know, those might really be young sacred beasts. One that is capable of standing side by side the dragons and phoenixes.”
“Hush, lower your voice! I have also heard the rumors that there might be a few young sacred beasts that came from those big cities in the North. I don’t know whether it is true or not.”
“I heard on the grapevine that it was because the young Dragon Kings had made an appearance in those warbeast castles before. I suppose those people brought the sacred beasts here in hope of challenging the young Dragon Kings.”
“Is that true?! Those young Dragon Kings that came from the dragon island actually appeared here? How many have shown up?”
“I don’t know how many have showed up, but they definitely did make an appearance. Those people definitely brought the young sacred beasts here to challenge the little Dragon Kings. You should know that if they let the young sacred beasts fight with the little Dragon Kings, it will definitely allow the young sacred beasts to grow up faster.”
“It really makes people look forward to it. You think it’s possible for a sacred beast more powerful than the Dragon Kings to appear? Otherwise it is impossible for those people to take the risks.”
“I can’t wait! If that is really true, I daresay the warbeast castles in other big cities will respond instantly and rush towards Celestial City. When that time comes, there will definitely be a good show. Just think about it, the strongest warbeasts from a few dozen big cities, sacred beast versus sacred beast, dragon king versus dragon king, sacred beast versus dragon king. There’s so much to look forward to!”
……
Everyone in the restaurant was discussing spiritedly. It was exactly the time for dinner, every kind of news spread the fastest at this kind of occasion.
Xiao Chen felt this meal was really worth it. He got to hear many useful information. The Dragon Kings had appeared at this place, but which ones could they be? When he was still on the dragon island, Xiao Chen had seen those eleven Dragon Kings. He even knew who those Dragon Kings were following.
However, he heard that a chaotic warfare took place after the divine ship sent those people back to the immortal’s mainland. In order to fight over the Dragon Kings, even demigods had made their moves. Some Dragon Kings had probably changed owner a long time ago. It was still unknown whether Lawrence and Yizhen came out unscathed.
Sitting by the window, everything on the main street could be seen clearly. Although the color of the sky had already darkened, the stream of people was still flowing without an end in sight. Many warbeast arenas were already brightly lit.
“Bastard fatty……” Xiao Chen shouted. He actually saw the bastard fatty Zhuge Liang. That guy was currently holding a snow-white tomcat and taking a stroll. Behind him were a few bulky men leading a few lesser dragons. He looked like a self-indulgent guy.
“What the f—, WHO dares insult me?!” Surely, not many people had called this bastard fatty like this before. That’s why he started to look for the person immediately after hearing “bastard fatty”. He spotted Xiao Chen on the second floor of the restaurant just as he raised his head. Zhuge Liang’s eyes immediately glinted with gold radiance, as if he had seen a big pile of gold coins laying right before his eyes.
“So it was brother Xiao, hahaha…… this is too good, I finally see you again.” It was easy to tell the bastard fatty was very surprised. His two eyes emitted green light as he shouted, “Did you bring Tenax with you?”
When Xiao Chen and the bastard fatty left the restaurant together, they heard people talking behind their back, “Isn’t that the fatty from Amber Warbeast Castle? That guy’s eyesight is very keen. Don’t tell me, those little beasts with the youngster just now are some rarely seen warbeasts?”
Haha……” The bastard fatty was especially joyful. When he looked at Tenax, it was as if he had been slapped by money and beautiful women. After that, he turned his head back to look at Xiao Chen, and said, “Brother, I’m really too happy to be able to see you again. Last time was really too close. Damn it, we actually got lost in the uncultivated jungle and almost couldn’t make it back anymore. Forget about it, we should have a good talk tonight. This night is on me, this fat brother will let you play until you drop.”
The fatty was carrying the snow-white tomcat and walked beside Xiao Chen. He introduced from time to time, “When it comes to the most flourishing district, look no further than this area of Celestial City. There’s no place better than this. I’m not just talking about the warbeast castles. The best restaurants, red light districts, and casinos can be found here. Hehe, this fat brother will bring you to the best place to have fun……”
Looking at the bastard fatty’s smile, Keke really wanted to go up there and scratch him for a little while. It was stopped by Xiao Chen just in the nick of time. The tough little dragon was also grinding its teeth at the fatty constantly.
Not long later, they arrived in front of a dazzling castle. Xiao Chen was a little dumbstruck. This…… seemed like a castle only the imperial household would be permitted to build, if it was in the mortal world, that is. It was really too grand and magnificent.
“Hehe, how about it?” The fatty smiled — that was a lascivious smile no matter how they looked at it — before he continued, “This is the ⌈Moonflower Castle⌋, we will let loose at this place tonight. After a few days, we will go to the ⌈Spellbind Castle⌋ to appreciate some flowers. Hehe…… brother, I am indeed spending money in large amounts. You must know that even I am only willing to come to this kind of place once or twice a year. The standard here is the absolute best in the entire continent.” ⌈1⌋
1. Silva: P-Pink chapter incoming?