Chapter 9: The Fort (Part 1)

The middle-aged Grand Sage was in a difficult position. If he refused Guo Shier’s challenge, he would lose all his reputation. Professionals from the Gu Xi Long family could die in battle, but they must never show cowardice—the competition within their family was even fiercer than that among the sects on the Advanced Continent.
“I… You, an outsider, have no right to duel with me!” He was already feeling fear.
Guo Shier laughed loudly, “Haha! A disciple of the Gu Xi Long family using such a weak excuse to avoid a duel? I doubt you even belong to that family!”
The other outsiders also laughed. They had long been angry but had no outlet, so they took this opportunity to vent their frustration.
The middle-aged Grand Sage’s face turned pale—he knew he was in big trouble. But after witnessing Guo Shier’s Moon Blade earlier, he dared not accept the challenge at all.
Ban Xi Long asked calmly, “What’s your name?”
The middle-aged Grand Sage’s face turned deathly white. He had seen Ban Xi Long before and knew exactly who he was. Trembling, he said, “Ban… Lord Ban… I… I am Yan Zhuling, a disciple of the outer sect…”
Ban Xi Long said, “As an outer sect disciple, do you dare to represent the Gu Xi Long family? Don’t you even have the courage to accept a challenge?”
The middle-aged Grand Sage collapsed, stammering, “I… I accept… I accept it…”
Ban Xi Long wore a cold expression as he said, “You no longer have the right to accept it. To be this cowardly as a family disciple is beyond my expectations. An Xi Long, come here!” The senior Grand Sage beside him hurried forward and said, “My lord.”
Ban Xi Long said expressionlessly, “Send these three to the Curseless Road. Perhaps fighting mutants will give them some courage!”
An Xi Long’s expression changed slightly as he quickly replied, “Yes, send them to the Curseless Road.”
Yan Zhuling was completely paralyzed, terrified beyond measure. Which professional from the Gu Xi Long family didn’t know about the Curseless Road?
Ban Xi Long turned and left. The authority he exuded silenced everyone. Professionals were highly sensitive—they could tell right away that he was a powerful figure, someone who could decide the fate of a Grand Sage at will, meaning his status must be extremely high.
The so-called Curseless Road was also a passage, even more dangerous than this place. Professionals who went there faced certain death almost every day, as they had to fight mutants almost daily.

Guo Shier also didn’t expect this outcome. He said to Zhou Xiaoling, “Ding ding, come with us!” He couldn’t possibly abandon Zhou Xiaoling; leaving her here would be far too dangerous. At this point, Zhou Xiaoling didn’t dare to be stubborn anymore. She knew well that staying alone here, surrounded by hostile people, was worse than following Guo Shier, as there might be a chance to escape back. She said, “Okay, I’ll go!” Taking Zhou Xiaoling with him, Guo Shier caught up with Ban Xilong. Ban Xilong glanced at them but said nothing, acting as if he hadn’t seen them. Soon, everyone arrived at the center of the camp, where there was a large teleportation portal. An Xilong instructed several grand masters to activate the portal. Activating such a portal required a significant amount of resources and was usually not done lightly. Guo Shier took Zhou Xiaoling and the Eagle Demon’s hand and stepped into the portal together. No one stopped them, and Ban Xilong paid no attention either. One after another, they entered the portal. Guo Shier counted silently for over sixty times, which was about a minute, before the three of them stepped out of the portal. He realized that the distance wasn’t too great. It was another huge platform, different from the one where they had been captured earlier—this one was even larger, with no end in sight. Even though he had seen much in his past life, he was still amazed by such a vast platform. There were countless large portals standing on the platform, at least several hundred. In the sky, flying vehicles of various shapes flew along predetermined paths, clearly under some kind of coordination. Outside the portal where Guo Shier and the others emerged, a circle of flashy flying vehicles of different designs was parked. It happened to be evening, with the sun setting, and magical lamps lit up, giving Guo Shier the impression of being at a modern large airport—though much busier than those in his past life. He felt as if he were in a dreamlike scene, with everything before him seeming unreal. Thick stone pillars stood on the platform, tens of thousands of them, covered in intricate runes. Among them, five stood out the most—one in each direction, plus a huge earth-yellow pillar in the center of the platform. The pillar was semi-transparent, with layers of runes as numerous as stars. Mist and clouds swirled inside it, and upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a magnificent sight formed by countless tiny runes.

Saka Kiryu noticed Guo Shier looking at the giant pillar in the center and said calmly, “That is the core of the talisman array that controls all access to the Ancient Kiryu Continent. It’s called the Wuchen Talisman Pillar… Don’t be surprised. If a continent can’t be sealed off, it’s not secure enough and doesn’t deserve to dominate the region… The four great ancient families all have something similar.”
Guo Shier asked, “Is this a large-scale talisman array?”
Saka Kiryu nodded. “Yes. This is the only entrance and exit to the Ancient Kiryu Continent, so the defense must be thorough.” A few great sage masters behind him flew to a nearby spot, and soon a very luxurious flying vehicle arrived. It was Saka Kiryu’s personal vehicle, and on the Ancient Kiryu Continent, it symbolized status.
When Guo Shier entered the flying vehicle this time, he found it completely different. The interior had clearly been meticulously decorated. The most striking feature was a human face skin hanging on the wall, with the runes fully visible, appearing extremely grotesque and terrifying.
The floor of the cabin was covered with a thick layer of fur from mutated talisman beasts, which was common. What was unusual was that the fur was sky blue, with white hairs that resembled waves. At first glance, it looked like the surface of the sea—very beautiful.
Only a few great sage masters could follow inside. Eagle Demon and Zhou Xiaoling followed Guo Shier and were also taken into the cabin.
Despite Zhou Xiaoling’s usual carefree attitude, she couldn’t help but become cautious here. After entering the cabin, she sat carefully behind Guo Shier. Eagle Demon also sat silently; neither of them spoke.
Saka Kiryu said, “Head straight home.”
The great sage master controlling the flying vehicle bowed and left. The vehicle trembled slightly and quickly rose into the air. After flying for about two hours, it slowly landed.
Guo Shier knew they had arrived, but he couldn’t see outside from inside the vehicle. He had no idea what the Ancient Kiryu Continent looked like, as there was no description of it in the inheritance records.
After getting out of the vehicle, Guo Shier exclaimed in surprise, “A castle?”
Saka Kiryu asked, “What castle? Oh, that’s not a castle.”
Guo Shier pointed at the large castles with spires in front of them. They resembled the castles in Europe from his past life, though not exactly the same. Scattered across the rolling hills, they came in various shapes. At first glance, there were at least a dozen castles.
Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “It looks like ancient castles.”

Ban Xi Long said, “You can call it an ancient castle… Here we call it a Xingbao. It indeed has a very long history. That black Xingbao is seven thousand years old, yet it’s not even the oldest one here. Well, this is the location of my family. These twenty-one Xingbao in this area all belong to me.” He casually drew a circle in the air.

Guo Shier Two nodded, not knowing what to say. The accompanying great masters were all astonished; they rarely saw Ban Xi Long be so amiable toward others.

Ban Xi Long walked slowly toward the massive ancient castle. Guo Shier Two and the others followed behind him.

The huge structure was incredibly magnificent, with city walls over 300 meters high, clearly reinforced with advanced runes. On top of the wall, which resembled a platform, many professionals were patrolling.

In front of the Xingbao was a large platform where numerous flying vehicles were parked. To the left was a well-tended forest, and to the right was a vast pond. The entire Xingbao appeared majestic and imposing.

Guo Shier Two guessed that Ban Xi Long was roughly equivalent to an emperor here. Sure enough, even before Ban Xi Long reached the entrance of the Xingbao, its gates slowly opened. Many maids and servants, along with a group of master-level experts, emerged and stood on both sides of the gates, waiting to welcome him.

At this point, Guo Shier Two began to suspect that Ban Xi Long might be an even more powerful expert than the Void Spirit Mirror—perhaps a super expert with a tangible altar? Since he had never seen Ban Xi Long fight, he couldn’t be sure. But in the Ban Xi Long family, it seemed impossible to occupy such a large area and control so many great masters without having a prominent status.

Ban Xi Long said, “This is my butler, Yi Qiao Ban Xi Long. You can call him Butler Yi Qiao. He’s in charge of all affairs in the Xingbao. Yi Qiao, this is Guo Shier Two. He will be part of our family from now on. Go and issue him an identity badge later.”

Yi Qiao Ban Xi Long wore a black robe with flowing sleeves. He was also a great master, a high-ranking one, with white hair and a kind expression. His naturally cheerful face made it easy for people to feel friendly toward him—no wonder he could become Ban Xi Long’s chief butler. He nodded and said, “Yes, Young Master!”

Young Master?

Guo Shier Two was puzzled. It seemed Ban Xi Long was an important figure in this family, but since he still didn’t fully understand the situation, he decided to observe first. He knew that in a large family, relationships were complex. As an outsider, it was best to stay low-key and avoid drawing attention.

A crowd of maids and servants surrounded Ban Xi Long as they entered the gates of the Xingbao.

Inside the fortress, open spaces were separated by various buildings, making it feel like entering a huge maze. The entire fortress consisted of corridors, stairs, and rooms—countless corridors, countless stairs, countless halls. Guo Shieru soon became dizzy after entering.
Eagle Demon and Zhou Xiaoling were not much better, merely moving mechanically with the crowd.
Guo Shieru couldn’t help but mutter, “Damn, I’m dizzy from all this walking!”
Yi Qiaoxilong was walking ahead. As a senior grand sage, he heard this low voice clearly and couldn’t help but smile. “At first, it’s hard to figure out directions. Once you settle down, I’ll give you the symbolic maps here; you’ll understand after taking a look.”
Guo Shieru blushed, while Zhou Xiaoling covered her mouth and laughed.