Chapter 1: Entering the City (Part 1)

Feng Yuan rode forward on his horse and asked in surprise, “Eagle Demon, what are you doing? Are you robbing our Black Eagle Horse Team?” The Black Eagle Horse Team had had slightly better luck than the Wild Wind Horse Team, but still hadn’t achieved much. They had been wandering around in the secret realm, finding neither talisman beasts nor talisman insects—nothing at all along the way. Reaching this place was purely by chance.
Eagle Demon said, “Old Feng, I’ve been lonely for over a hundred years. Won’t you chat with me?”
Feng Yuan replied in astonishment, “That’s not right, Eagle Demon. How did your strength rise so quickly?” Clearly, Eagle Demon was no longer a beginner-level Great Talisman Martial Artist; he was above that level, though not yet at the intermediate stage, but very close to it.
Eagle Demon chuckled and said, “Sorry, I’m no longer a wandering Great Talisman Martial Artist.”
Feng Yuan asked, “Have you followed Old Master Luo Jie?”
Eagle Demon replied proudly, “Wrong! I follow Old Master Luo Jie’s disciple—Guo Shier!”
Wild Wind Lao Xie said, “Old freak, stop chatting with that guy and charge ahead!” He was quite perceptive, realizing that the opponent blocking their path must have a reason, and the truth was surely behind them.
Qi Nanshan grinned. He slowly straightened his back, and an unparalleled aura surged upward. In an instant, his appearance completely changed. After all, Qi Nanshan was already a high-level Great Talisman Martial Artist. With the altar unlocked, there were no more barriers to further advancement. So when he amplified his aura, he suddenly advanced.
Like a violent gust of wind swirling around him, everything in the surroundings was instantly reduced to dust, including his warhorse, which turned into a cloud of blood mist spinning rapidly around him. Everyone was stunned, not knowing what Qi Nanshan was doing.
Only Luo Jie and Guo Shier understood why. Luo Jie whispered, “He actually advanced!”
Qi Nanshan’s roar was deafening, even scaring his warhorse into retreating repeatedly with cries of fear. Guo Shier gripped the reins tightly and said, “Advancing at this moment… I wonder if it’s dangerous.”
Wild Wind Lao Xie exclaimed in surprise, “What… what is he doing?”
Wild Wind Lao Du already sensed something wrong and shouted, “Retreat! Back off!”
Feng Yuan and Ma Shangdian behind him were also terrified, and they led the team to retreat as well. Eagle Demon stared intently at Qi Nanshan, muttering to himself, “Has he advanced? What kind of power will he possess?” He was extremely curious and envious, thinking to himself, “This guy’s luck is just as good as mine back in the day!”

The airflow completely enveloped Qi Nan Shan, preventing anyone from seeing his figure, as the roaring grew louder and louder.
Guo Shier was a bit worried. “Grandpa Nan Shan… Sigh, he must be able to advance smoothly!” He knew he tended to bring bad luck, so he didn’t want to make pessimistic guesses.
Luo Jie said, “Judging from my own advancement, Big Mountain will be fine… This altar is truly amazing!”
Roar!
Boom!
With a roar and a loud explosion, the airflow surrounding Qi Nan Shan suddenly burst apart. The immense pressure forced everyone to step back, staring in fear.
Everyone’s mouths dropped as they saw a tall, muscular man standing naked on the ground.
Guo Shier said in shock, “Damn! That’s too extreme!”
Chen Hong spat lightly and turned away, not daring to look again.
The numerous talismans on Qi Nan Shan’s body had completely disappeared, making him look like an ordinary person rather than a top-tier professional. He glanced at the crowd in confusion before realizing he was naked. He screamed, “Xiao Feng, get me some pants! I’m naked…” He had heard the term “naked” from Guo Shier.
Everyone burst into laughter.
Even those at the master level didn’t laugh, including Guo Shier. Because they witnessed a strange phenomenon—the talismans on Qi Nan Shan’s body had vanished, which defied the common sense of this world.
So far, masters like Kuangfeng Laoxie hadn’t realized Qi Nan Shan had advanced; they thought some accident had happened.
Qi Nan Shan muttered curses as he put on clothes. He was in such an embarrassing situation, but thankfully, everyone present was male. As for Chen Hong, he didn’t care at all—she was still a child.
When faced with embarrassment, one needed someone to take out anger on, and since he had just advanced, he also needed to assess his own strength. He directly challenged, “Laoxie, it’s one thing if you’re injured, but you old freak! Come fight me!”
Kuangfeng Laoxie was frustrated. Grumbling, he said, “Why me… Aren’t Feng Yuan and Ma Shangdian here?”
Qi Nan Shan moved suddenly, appearing right in front of Kuangfeng Laoxie’s horse, scaring the guy into letting out a scream as he leaped off the horse. He was terrified because Qi Nan Shan, who was originally fifty meters away, had appeared right in front of him in the blink of an eye.
Not only Kuangfeng Laoxie but even Qi Nan Shan himself was shocked, so he didn’t attack immediately, wondering how that was possible.
Kuangfeng Lao Du shouted, “Stop! Let’s go!” He knew he couldn’t force his way through.
Qi Nan Shan was annoyed. He turned to Feng Yuan and said, “Fight with me!”

Feng Yuan wasn’t stupid either. He said, “Let’s retreat!”
No one was an idiot. Whether it was the Wild Wind Horse Team or the Black Eagle Horse Team, they had all survived through blood and chaos. Seeing the strange changes in Qi Nan Shan, no one wanted to be a test subject.
Only after the two groups disappeared from sight did Qi Nan Shan come back to his senses. He asked, “They’re all gone? Sigh, really… It’s just a fight. What’s there to be afraid of…”
No one cheered. Everyone stared at him with strange looks, making Qi Nan Shan think he had some kind of flower growing on his body. He touched his chest and wondered, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Luo Jie laughed and said, “Da Shan, after you advanced… your strength should be at the level of a mutated talisman beast. Hehe, quite impressive. You actually scared them away.”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Grandpa Nan Shan is at least a level five mutated talisman beast, hehe.”
Eagle Demon was surprised. “Are there differences in levels among mutated talisman beasts?”
Guo Shier replied, “Of course. But… I’m not sure how they’re classified. However, I know that even if all of us put together, we couldn’t deal with a level seven mutated talisman beast. We wouldn’t be able to escape either—total annihilation.”
Eagle Demon exclaimed, “Are you joking? With so many masters here, we can’t even defeat a level seven mutated talisman beast?”
Luo Jie knew Guo Shier was referring to the mutated earth dragon. He said, “Eagle Demon, Shier is right. A level seven mutated talisman beast is beyond our capabilities. It’s simply too powerful.”
Eagle Demon asked, “Old man, have you seen one?” Then he realized he’d said too much and quickly added, “Hehe, I didn’t mean to. I was just curious.” According to Luo Jie and Guo Shier, if he had seen a level seven mutated talisman beast, he would already be dead.
Luo Jie and Guo Shier replied in unison, “Yes!”
Eagle Demon smiled bitterly. “Old man, are you playing with me?”
Luo Jie laughed and said, “It was a severely injured mutated earth dragon. Hehe, we were lucky… It still had a last breath, that’s why we, a dozen of us, could barely kill it.”
Eagle Demon exclaimed in amazement, “Damn, there are such things?”
Guo Shier briefly described what had happened. Eagle Demon sighed, “That’s insane luck. Hehe, too bad I wasn’t there…”
As soon as Eagle Demon finished speaking, the scenery before everyone’s eyes vanished quickly. In the blink of an eye, they were back in the grasslands.
Time’s up!

Luo Jie smiled in satisfaction. “Not bad, we’ve managed to keep the altar’s secret for now.” In truth, he knew it was almost impossible to keep the secret, especially with the addition of Eagle Demon’s friends, some of whom had even reached the rank of Grand Symbol Warrior. Still, he was satisfied that they could keep it secret for the time being.

Soon after, the Gale Horse Squad and the Black Eagle Horse Squad appeared, along with a few members of other wandering squads. As soon as they showed up, they rode away quickly, not daring to stay even for a moment.

The members of the Gale Horse Squad and the Black Eagle Horse Squad didn’t say another word either; they immediately scattered in different directions. They were too fearful to provoke Luo Jie and his group any further.

Luo Jie sighed. “Only fifteen days… I thought we’d have to stay there for half a year or a year. Heh, with this, we might still make it to the West Symbol Gate’s assembly.”

Qin Lang stepped forward and asked, “Elder, shall we set off?”

Luo Jie smiled. “Wait a moment. Let’s say goodbye to Eagle Demon and his friends.”

Eagle Demon had the same idea. He nodded at Luo Jie and turned to leave. Only a dozen or so of his true friends followed him, some of whom had joined the Luo family. The rest said their goodbyes to each other and rode off into the vast grasslands.

Guo Shier looked at Qi Nan Shan from head to toe. After a while, he said, “Grandpa Nan Shan, you’re not as handsome as my master!”

Qi Nan Shan already looked younger than Luo Jie. After advancing in rank, his appearance became even younger. Once his wrinkles and beard were gone, his long horse-like face became visible, especially his chin, which protruded outward like a shovel, giving him a distinctive look. Qi Nan Shan touched his face and laughed. “Why should I be handsome? As long as I can fight, that’s enough. Sigh, Elder, what about training my body in the future?”

Luo Jie replied, “I don’t know either, Da Shan. I’m not even sure about my own situation… There’s no need to rush. We have time to figure it out slowly.”

Guo Shier said, “Master, Grandpa Nan Shan, if we get the chance in the future, we can go to the Secret Realm of Tranquility again. Maybe we can find other places. Heh, if we can find cultivation books, that would solve our problem.”

Eagle Demon said goodbye to his friends and returned to Guo Shier’s side. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but ask, “Shier, what is the Secret Realm of Tranquility?”

Guo Shier smiled. “It’s a secret realm that leads to other continents.”

Eagle Demon already knew that there were other continents in this world besides the one they inhabited. He asked, “Shier, do you know where such secret realms are?”

Guo Shier smiled. “I do, but they open only once every thousand years.”

The Eagle Demon said disheartenedly, “Then forget it. Hehe, a thousand years! I can’t live that long.”
Guo Shier smiled slightly and didn’t explain further. Anyway, they wouldn’t go now—Anyway, they wouldn’t go now—at least not until his strength reaches the level of a Grandmaster of Runes..
Qin Lang looked up at the sky and said, “Elder, we should leave. We need to reach the next resting place as soon as possible—it’s going to snow!”
Luo Jie nodded and said, “Da Shan, take command. Let’s go!”
Qi Nanshan said, “Qin Lang, I’ll lead the way with you. Everyone, follow!” He and Qin Lang rushed ahead on their horses. Guo Shier shouted, “Follow!” The horse caravan set off in a rush.