Chapter 2: Villager Candidate Camp

Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui followed Xu Ming and left Feisheng Manor.
Feicheng was enormous; walking within its streets, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui couldn’t even run, as the spiritual energy in the city was pure primordial energy, exerting immense pressure.
Indeed, in the three layers of the universe, the outermost layer of spiritual energy was filled with various forms of elemental energy, quite complex. The middle layer, the primordial layer, consisted of a mixture of elemental primordial energy and various elemental energies. The core layer, the Divine Realm, was entirely composed of elemental primordial energy—no other energies derived from it existed.
As Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui walked through the city, they sensed that all the energy there was elemental primordial energy, and it flowed in clearly defined layers, causing them to show expressions of surprise from time to time.
Xu Ming, of course, also sensed their reactions. A smirk appeared on his lips, and his eyes flashed with pride, as if he was plotting something.
“Guys, judging by your speed, it will take you another ten days to reach the Temporal Hall. I’ll tell you some basic facts about the Divine Realm now. The Divine Realm has eight divine domains, and the Fire-Light Divine Domain is one of them. The city we’re in, Feicheng, is one of the 108 cities in the Fire-Light Divine Domain. These 108 cities have existed since the birth of the Divine Realm,” Xu Ming said with a smile as he walked ahead.
The roads in Feicheng were a kilometer wide, lined with beautifully blooming trees that stretched endlessly in both directions. Yet, there weren’t many cultivators walking on these roads. It was only the numerous beautiful buildings on either side that indicated there were still many cultivators living in Feicheng, though they were all practicing in their rooms.
Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui observed the scenery along the roads while listening to Xu Ming’s explanation.
“Captain, can we live in the housing here in Feicheng?” Qu Yi suddenly asked, staring at a towering, magnificent building.
Xu Ming laughed as if he’d heard the funniest joke. He looked at Qu Yi amusingly, shook his head, and said, “Qu Yi, you’re really creative. I’ve been in the Divine Realm for hundreds of millions of years, yet I still can’t buy a house here in Feicheng. If it weren’t for joining the distribution team, I wouldn’t even be able to live here. Ah, practicing in Feicheng is truly great. Once you go to the villages below, you’ll understand—practicing is simply impossible there.”

Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui stared in surprise at Xu Ming, clearly not expecting the environment in the Divine Realm to be so poor—only cities provided a comfortable place for cultivation, while other places were unsuitable. However, Qu Yi and the others quickly calmed down. For Qu Yi, having his Own Realm Ball meant he didn’t have to worry about where to cultivate.

Over the next ten days, Xu Ming took Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui around Li Fei City. Finally, the four arrived at the Time and Space Hall, where the time and space array of Li Fei City was located. The hall was crowded with people coming in and out. Cultivators traveling from Li Fei City to other cities or vice versa had to pass through this hall, making it the busiest place in Li Fei City.

Xu Ming led Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui into the hall and obtained a number. “You three have just ascended to the Divine Realm and are entitled to one free ride on the time and space array. In the future, if you want to come to Li Fei City, you’ll need to use Divine Crystals to take the array,” Xu Ming said with a smile, holding the “Ride” token. Divine Crystals were the universal currency of the Divine Realm.

Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui all nodded. A moment later, Xu Ming led them into the time and space array, which turned out to be an independent universe divided into 1,008 parallel spaces, each corresponding to one of Li Fei City’s 1,008 defensive cities. Xu Ming connected his consciousness to the array, entered the coordinates of Huo Xin Town, and waited for it to activate.

In an instant, the space changed, and Xu Ming, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui found themselves in a stable space with just one parallel space—completely different from Li Fei City’s time and space array. “Alright, we’ve arrived at the time and space array of Huo Xin Town. Let’s go out together now,” Xu Ming said calmly, already accustomed to the surprise on the faces of Qu Yi and the others.

Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui composed themselves, smiled at Xu Ming, and followed him out of the array back into the Time and Space Hall. There, the number of cultivators was much smaller than in Li Fei City’s hall. “Huo Xin Town is one of Li Fei City’s 1,008 defensive cities. Few cultivators have the strength to go to Li Fei City, so naturally, the population here is much smaller. I’ll take you to the villager candidate camp, where people from the villages under Huo Xin Town’s jurisdiction will come to select candidates. Once I escort you to the villages, my mission will be complete,” Xu Ming said as he walked ahead.

Along the way, Qu Yi also learned some of the rules of the Divine Realm from Xu Ming. As newcomers who had ascended to the Divine Realm, they all had to be assigned to villages where they had to do unpaid work before they could officially become members of the Divine Realm. Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui, having ascended near Fei City, naturally had to be sent to a village under Fei City’s rule.

“Captain, you’ve worked hard,” Qu Yi said with a smile.

Immediately afterward, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui followed Xu Ming out of the Time-Space Hall and onto the roads of Huo Xin Town.

In Huo Xin Town, the spiritual energy in the space was also composed of the primal energies of the Five Elements. However, these primal energies were thin and unstable, unlike those in Fei City, where they had clear layers and stable flow.

Qu Yi now understood that in every town of the Divine Realm, there must be a formation controlling the flow of these primal energies. The formations in the central cities were more powerful, while those in the peripheral towns were less so.

The four of them walked around Huo Xin Town for three days before arriving in front of a large estate. There was a stone plaque upright in front of it, reading “Candidate Camp.”

“This is the candidate camp for villagers. You stay here for now. People from the villages under Huo Xin Town’s jurisdiction will come to select you later. I need to go to a place in Huo Xin Town. I’ll be back here to join you in a few days,” Xu Ming said with a smile as he stood at the entrance of the estate.

Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui naturally didn’t ask where Xu Ming was going. They simply thanked him and calmly entered the candidate camp.

Inside the candidate camp, there were neatly built buildings, each with thousands of rooms.

Led by a staff member from the camp, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui entered one of the buildings and moved into three connected rooms right away.

Of course, as soon as the staff member left, Wu Yuan and Qing Wu Gui entered Qu Yi’s room.

“Haha, these past few days have been so frustrating! This Artifact God still won’t speak, and we don’t know anything about the Divine Realm. We just blindly followed Xu Ming. Well, now we just need to wait for the villagers to come and select us, then we can settle down in the Divine Realm,” Qu Yi said with a smile, sitting on a simple wooden bed.

Wu Yuan and Qing Wu Gui also sat down comfortably.

“Ugh, the rules in the Divine Realm are so many. It’s not like in our Immortal Realm, Demon Realm, or Monster Realm, where we can move around freely,” Wu Yuan immediately began to complain.

“It’s okay. The three of us have fully comprehended the laws of the Five Elements. Although we don’t understand why such a change has occurred to our soul orbs, I believe our cultivation speed is far faster than that of others in the Divine Realm,” Qing Wu Gui said calmly, showing great confidence.

In the Divine Realm, one also cultivates the laws of the Five Elements. However, compared to the Immortal Realm, cultivating these laws there is much more difficult. Some cultivators who have only mastered one set of laws must, after passing through the divine tribulation and ascending to the Divine Realm, continue to comprehend the other four sets of laws, a task that is countless times harder. In the Divine Realm, the primal energies of the Five Elements are mixed together in such high density that when mastering one set of laws, countless attributes surge at once. It is already very difficult for a cultivator to analyze and distinguish them, let alone further comprehend them—so great is the challenge.

At this moment, the Artifact God, who had remained silent for a long time, finally spoke up.

“Everyone, near Fei City, it’s better if I stay silent. Otherwise, my old friends will detect my soul’s fluctuations and realize I’m still alive. Then you three will be in trouble,” the Artifact God transmitted calmly.

Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui stood up in surprise upon hearing this.

“Artifact God, what did you just say? Do you have many enemies in the Divine Realm?” Qu Yi asked immediately.

Qu Yi only knew that the Artifact God came from the Divine Realm and was skilled in crafting artifacts; he didn’t know much else. Now, hearing the Artifact God admit that he had enemies there, he was naturally very surprised.

“My enemies are not comparable to you three even now. Enough talk. Just remember to keep getting stronger in the Divine Realm. When I recognize your strength, I’ll naturally tell you about my situation. By then, I’ll also need you to help me avenge myself,” the Artifact God said calmly.

Qu Yi replied right away, “Artifact God, don’t worry. No matter who your enemies are, I promise to help you avenge them right now.”

Without the Artifact God’s help, Qu Yi would likely have died long ago. After all, without his guidance, Qu Yi would have died from the conflict of the Five Elements’ energies within his body back in the Xianyun Sect, never having reached his current level of cultivation.

The Artifact God had shown him kindness and nurtured him, so Qu Yi naturally would not forget that.

“Ugh, I also promise you, Artifact God.”

“Me too,” said Wu Yuan and Qing Wu Gui simply.

“Very good. With you three here, my Instrument God’s efforts won’t have been in vain. Don’t worry; with my Instrument God by your side, your cultivation in the divine realm will still go smoothly,” the Instrument God transmitted calmly.

Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui nodded in agreement.

※※※

After leaving the village candidate camp, Xu Ming went to the mayor’s residence in Huoxin Town. Qu Wantian, the mayor of Huoxin Town, had had some acquaintance with Xu Ming in the past. Now that Xu Ming had come to Huoxin Town, he surely needed to pay him a visit.

In fact, Xu Ming had his own plans for bringing Qu Yi and the others to Huoxin Town. After all, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui had stayed on the Pearl Tree for ten days—a truly miraculous phenomenon that Xu Ming naturally kept in mind. Therefore, after taking a divine stone from Qu Yi, he stopped extorting him further, aiming to lower Qu Yi’s guard so he could carry out his own plans secretly.

Xu Ming entered the mayor’s residence and sat down in a hall. Soon after, a burly man entered the hall. As soon as he saw Xu Ming, his eyes lit up, his face broke into a bright smile, and he flew straight up to Xu Ming’s side, laughing heartily. This man was Qu Wantian, the mayor of Huoxin Town.

“Haha, old friend! It’s been almost a million years since you last visited me!” Qu Wantian spread his arms wide and shouted loudly.

Xu Ming immediately spread his arms as well and hugged Qu Wantian. After a while, they separated.

“Old friend, since we last met in the Savage Beast Mountains, we’ve only seen each other once. This time, I happen to have a escort mission here to your Huoxin Town. I really want to have a good meal with you,” Xu Ming said with a laugh.

Qu Wantian nodded vigorously.