Chapter 261: The Floating City

The speed of the Purple Sky Imperial Compass was more than ten times faster than Su Che’s. A distance of over a hundred thousand miles could be covered in less than an hour. No wonder people said that the cultivation world was not very large for those at the Yuan Ying stage; it was like a backyard to those on the verge of ascending to the Spirit Realm.

Of course, Su Che had also heard that this cultivation world was just one among countless others—any star in the night sky might represent another vast world…

Purple Sky brought Su Che to an unnamed small town. In the distance, several large mountains could be seen. Both the nearby town and the distant mountains seemed extremely ordinary, reminiscent of his hometown, Cai Shi Town. Su Che really couldn’t guess what kind of insights he would gain by coming here.

Entering the residence of a wealthy family in the town, Su Che met an old man whose strength was unfathomable. With gray hair and a frail appearance, his face covered in wrinkles—these were merely illusions to deceive ordinary people. His true cultivation level was likely at least the early Yuan Ying stage, enough to inspire Su Che’s instinctive awe.

Moreover, Su Che could faintly sense a trace of demonic aura about him, leading him to suspect that this man might be a high-ranking cultivator of the demon race.

“Little friend Purple Sky, it’s been a while since you last visited. What have you been up to?” The white-haired old man’s voice was not old at all, though it carried a sinister and strange tone.

“The cultivation world is in chaos, so I’ve been busy,” Purple Sky replied indifferently. “In a few years, when it affects your demon race, you’ll have plenty to do too.”

“So, he indeed is a demon cultivator,” Su Che concluded in his heart.

“Chaos is good—I like to take advantage of it,” the white-haired old man said with a strange smile, implying something: “The more advantages I gain, the greater my chances of surviving the great calamity a hundred years from now.”

These Yuan Ying-level elders, including those of the demon race, must surely be aware of the impending disaster.

Hearing this, Su Che guessed that what Master Purple Sky meant by helping him gain insights might involve attending a trade fair or auction dominated by high-ranking Yuan Ying cultivators…

The three of them entered a large room in the inner courtyard. The room was bare except for a teleportation array on the ground.

“Old rule—ten thousand spirit stones per person as entry fee,” the white-haired old man said with a sinister smile.

“You wretched rat spirit! You charge openly, but why do you always have such a despicable expression?” Purple Sky shook his head.

“That’s just how I am born,” the old man replied nonchalantly, his whiskers twitching slightly. “It’s hard to change one’s nature.”

“A rat spirit?”

Su Che and Lao He were taken aback—this demon cultivator before them was actually a rat demon…
“Great, great!” Lao He laughed heartily. “Truly impossible to track down! This is the first high-level demon cultivator I’ve encountered up close, and it’s just a rat demon. For my fourth fusion, I’ve already found a solution. Master, your luck is getting better and better. It must be as the founding ancestor said—connected to the sect’s fortune, with both sides benefiting!”
“The third layer of the Immortal Prison hasn’t even been opened yet. What’s the point of talking about a fourth fusion?” Su Che thought to himself. “By the time I reach the Yuan Ying stage, this rat demon will have long disappeared.”
“That’s true,” Lao He’s enthusiasm faded.
Zi Xiao took out a bag of spirit stones, containing twenty thousand of them.
All expenses for this trip were covered by public funds. For the Tian Xuan Sect, twenty thousand spirit stones wasn’t much. But if it was just the entrance fee, then it could be considered extremely expensive—really, really expensive!
After receiving the spirit stones, the rat demon left the room. Clearly, Zi Xiao still had to pay for the spirit stones needed to activate the teleportation array.
“Demons aren’t good at crafting weapons or pills, and they have few ways to make money, which is why they’re always so stingy,” Zi Xiao explained to Su Che through telepathy.
“Ancestor, is the trading place we’re going to part of the demons’ territory?” Su Che asked via telepathy.
“It belongs to no one in particular,” Zi Xiao pointed upward. “It’s in the sky. It’s just that all the teleportation arrays to get there are under the control of the demons.”
Whoosh…
The teleportation array glowed, and moments later, Su Che and Zi Xiao vanished.
The next moment, Su Che found himself in the starry sky. Their landing spot was a large meteorite with a teleportation array on it. Standing on the meteorite and looking ahead, he saw a huge sphere floating in the starry sky. Though it was his first time seeing it, he exclaimed instinctively, “That’s our cultivation world!”
“Yes, you can call it a planet. More precisely, it’s called ‘Qi Yuan Star,’” Zi Xiao said solemnly. “Isn’t it astonishing? I was just as shocked the first time I saw it.”
“A planet?”
Su Che murmured, “Our world is actually a big sphere! I always thought it was flat, like a panel floating in the starry sky.”
“Whether it’s a panel or a sphere, it’s already great that you can imagine it floating in the starry sky,” Zi Xiao nodded. “At least you’re better than me.”

“So, the other cultivation realms are also large spheres like ours, right? Um, they should be planets, right?” Su Che asked again.
“Probably,” Zi Xiao shook his head. “I’ve never been to other cultivation realms either. They’re too far away. If you try to fly there, your lifespan will be exhausted, and you’ll die in the starry sky…”
The two stood on an asteroid, gazing at Qi Yuan Star, and talked for nearly half an hour, giving Su Che a completely new understanding of this world.
Planets, galaxies, endless starry skies, countless cultivation realms…
So where are the Spirit Realm and the Immortal Realm?
After waiting for a while, they saw a huge asteroid slowly emerging from the other side of Qi Yuan Star. On that asteroid, many tall buildings had been constructed, resembling a giant city.
“A floating city!”
Zi Xiao said in a deep voice, “It’s a purely neutral place for trading. No racial conflicts or personal grudges are allowed. Once you go there, you can only engage in simple trade.”
“A place so special for trading is actually under the control of the demon race?” Su Che was very curious.
“There’s nothing we can do,” Zi Xiao shook his head gently. “The demon race generally has long lifespans. Things remain in their hands for just a few generations. Our human sects have already seen dozens of generations rise and fall. Things change, and even our ancestors can’t remember some old grievances. How can we compete with them?”
Su Che nodded in agreement. “Heaven is fair. It grants humans infinite wisdom and boundless creativity, but it also brings insurmountable racial weaknesses.”
When that floating city got closer, still about hundreds of miles away, Zi Xiao used the Star Emperor Compass to fly toward it.
Flying towards each other, they covered hundreds of miles in less than fifteen minutes. Such speed amazed Su Che even more.
“There’s very little resistance in the starry sky, so flight speeds can be increased many times compared to normal. The exact multiple varies from person to person.”
Zi Xiao’s explanation taught Su Che a lot more.
The floating city before them resembled an upside-down mountain, with its tip pointing downward and the base upward. The base was circular, over ten miles in diameter. As a city, its area was naturally extremely vast.
After landing on the edge of the city, the two used their rapid movement technique again and headed toward the central area.
The buildings in the city were extremely tall, like small mountains. Even the land area of a single shop was comparable to that of a medium-sized village. As the saying goes, only a large shop can reflect the extraordinary status of its customers.

Zixiao continued, “Generally speaking, without reaching the later stages of the Golden Core cultivation, one isn’t qualified to come here to trade with others. But with me by your side, no one will bother you. Today, we’re just here to shop; there won’t be any intense conflicts with anyone. If you see people from the Taiyi Gate or the Wan Gui Sect later, don’t be surprised.”
Su Che nodded gently. Since the Floating City was a neutral territory controlled by the demon race, it meant that cultivators from the realms of immortals, demons, and beasts couldn’t cause trouble here. Even if they encountered mortal enemies, they had to wait until they returned to the cultivation world to settle things.
As they went deeper, Su Che saw many highly cultivated cultivators coming in and out of various shops. However, they all seemed to be at the later stages of the Golden Core cultivation or even at the peak of that stage. He hadn’t seen a single cultivator at the Yuan Ying stage yet.
“Even in the Floating City, true treasures can’t be found in these ordinary shops.”
Zixiao pointed at a towering tower that reached the sky in the center of the city and said, “Anything that might catch our eye has to be found in that Lingxiao Tower.”
“Lingxiao Tower!” Su Che nodded inwardly, thinking, “It’s located above the nine heavens in the Starry Sky Realm—calling it the Lingxiao Tower is truly apt.”
The Lingxiao Tower was also the tallest building in the Floating City. At the entrance on the first floor stood two burly men with fierce looks, resembling gatekeepers. Though they had human forms, their faces and bodies were covered in thick hair, their eyes were eerie, and fangs protruded from their lips.
It was unclear what kind of demons they were. Although they had reached the third stage of the Demon Core cultivation, their transformation wasn’t very smooth, and their half-human, half-demon aura was extremely intense.
These two gatekeepers seemed like mere decorations and wouldn’t stop anyone from entering the Lingxiao Tower. Su Che and Zixiao continued on without pause and entered the tower, reaching the first floor.
The first-floor hall had many counters, with items displayed on the shelves behind them. At a glance, Su Che recognized that these items were mainly raw materials and spiritual herbs. Clearly, this floor was dedicated to selling raw materials.
The Tianxuan Sect had plenty of such things, so Su Che didn’t lack anything. Without stopping, he followed Zixiao to the second floor.
As soon as they entered the second floor, a seductive and charming fox woman approached them. He could immediately tell her race because there was a hole at the back of her dress, revealing a fluffy silver-gray tail that swayed gently up and down, left and right.
In the Immortal Prison, Lao He muttered with envy, “What a beautiful tail!”

“There’s no need to envy her,” Su Che thought with a smile. “Your tail is quite good too right now.”
Now, Old Black, whose entire body was dark golden in color, had a long tail that resembled steel-whip magic weapons, segment by segment. It was believed that if his true form could emerge from the Immortal Prison, the power of this tail would certainly not be mere decoration.
Looking at this beautiful fox demon before him, Su Che couldn’t help but think, “During the first fusion, if it had been a red-tailed fox instead of a Yin Wind Rat, I guess the spirit of the Immortal Prison Pagoda would have taken on a woman’s appearance like this.”