Speaking of territory, Daze County was twice the size of Xinming County, abundant in resources.
Throughout the entire county, there were eighteen cities of various sizes.
The city where the Tian Clan's ancestral land was located was commonly known as "Tian City." It wasn't originally named this, but over time, most people only remembered the word "Tian."
The Secret Realm of Seven Stars Tower was situated here.
The fields on both sides of the official road appeared to have been uniformly planned, looking neat and perfectly symmetrical. They could be perfectly overlapped with the official road as the center.
The main city itself was also square and symmetrical, resembling a heavy black block from a distance—the bricks used to build the city walls were all black, neat and solemn. They were more like iron than bricks.
The carriage stopped beneath the city gates, and only then did they look up to discover that the city's original name was a single character: "Ji."
Ji City.
This character was also perfectly square, devoid of any personal style. All it contained was the strictness and neatness of each stroke.
Looking at it gave people a feeling that was difficult to express clearly.
"Seeing this character gives me a sense of urgency!" Jiang Wang said.
Li Fengyao glanced at him but said nothing.
The character "Ji" in its original form depicted a person approaching a food vessel to dine. It carried meanings of "about to" and "approaching."
The carriage calmly entered the city.
Whether it was the prestige of the City Crushing Marquis Manor in Qi State itself, or the current relationship between the Chongxuan Family and the Tian Clan, nothing inappropriate would happen here.
Everything seen with their eyes—shop fronts, streets, markets—was all neat and orderly.
Ji City was just like the character "Tian"—perfectly square and tidy, every part divided equally, neither more nor less. It was unclear whether the Tian Clan had given this city its style, or if such a city had nurtured one of Qi State's most prominent noble families, the Daze Tian Clan.
Xiao Tong drove the carriage along the wide streets. Pedestrians consciously walked on the roadside, and even the vendors were neatly arranged on both sides of the street without a single one occupying the road.
Although it was called driving, "Qu Hei" actually didn't need to be urged. Xiao Tong only had to say "left" or "right," and it would adjust its direction itself. Jiang Wang suspected it was a pure-blooded demon beast, rather than some mixed-breed with demon beast bloodline. Those were indeed rare mounts, but Jiang Wang had seen them before, and their spiritual intelligence was far inferior to "Qu Hei."
Speaking of which, the Tian Clan and the Chongxuan Family had exchanged interests—trading ten years of development rights for Chongjia Island for Tian Antai's position as Pacification Commissioner of Rizhao County. Both sides benefited, but in reality, only Chongxuan Sheng personally suffered losses.
Chongxuan Sheng's initiative to ask the Tian Clan for Seven Stars Tower quota this time also showed his intention to disregard past grievances and mend relations with the Tian Clan.
This was also to prevent the other party from helping Chongxuan Zun, because it was actually Chongxuan Zun who had initially facilitated the exchange of interests between the two families. Both sides had reasons to continue cooperating.
However, although Chongxuan Sheng had obtained quota from the Tian Clan, Jiang Wang did not wait for the Tian Clan's reception.
He and Li Fengyao's master-servant pair both stayed in an inn in Ji City, quietly waiting for the Seven Stars Tower to open.
The Seven Stars Tower opened when the star power was at its peak in September. This day was not fixed. In previous years, there had been Septembers where the star power never reached the threshold. Those years were called "Years of Silence," in contrast to "Years of Brilliance."
There were also years when the Seven Stars Tower opened but treasures were scarce, and participants gained little—these were called "Years of Dim Stars."
According to information released by the Tian Clan, this September, the star power in Ji City would reach its peak between September 12th and 14th, so the opening time of the Seven Stars Tower was set within this range.
Based on the information he had memorized, previous openings of the Seven Stars Tower had lasted up to one month at the longest and nine days at the shortest.
Jiang Wang could almost certainly determine that he would miss the September Blessed Land Challenge in the Illusory Void Realm. He was used to the decline in Blessed Land rankings; his only regret was missing another opportunity to fight against strong opponents.
Although he and Li Fengyao now called each other "Xiao Wang" and "Sister Fengyao" and had traveled together to Ji City in the same carriage, they actually didn't talk much along the way. Both were immersed in their respective cultivation.
It was the same after arriving at the inn.
They had booked three guest rooms: one for Jiang Wang, one for Li Fengyao and Xiao Tong, and one for Qu Hei alone. Its food was also not handled by anyone else—all prepared personally by Xiao Tong.
Hmph, just a horse that pulls the carriage.
This thought had risen and fallen in Jiang Wang's mind countless times along the way, but he had never voiced it. It was obvious that this demon horse had a bad temper.
After entering the room, it kicked and shattered all the tables and chairs, sweeping with its hooves and tail. The innkeeper rushed up with a pained expression, while Xiao Tong "paid" silver ingot by ingot beside him, waiting until Qu Hei had completely "renovated" the guest room into an empty space with only a large bed without a canopy remaining—so why give it a separate room?
There were many things Jiang Wang couldn't figure out.
For example, why every guest room in this inn was identical—the material, arrangement, and even orientation of the tables, chairs, and beds. His room and the room before Qu Hei's "renovation" were practically indistinguishable.
Did everything have to be so identical, so symmetrical?
There was not a trace of individuality to be seen.
Ji City was not a city where he felt comfortable, but no matter where he was, cultivation remained unchanged.
Jiang Wang sat cross-legged on the bed, momentarily forgetting both self and surroundings.
The Soaring Dragon Dao Meridian traveled further into the fog of ignorance, and the map of the entire Five Prefectures Sea in his mind became clearer. He had approached the First Inner Prefecture where the flickering divine ability seed resided several times, but Jiang Wang ultimately chose to pass by.
As Jiang Wang's own strength grew stronger, his Heaven and Earth Solitary Island was also expanding. However, this process was even slower.
As usual, he stopped before the "warning line," the Soaring Dragon Dao Meridian turned back, and the Heaven and Earth Solitary Island settled, completing today's cultivation.
Jiang Wang didn't delay, and in the next moment, he had already entered the Illusory Void Realm.
Traveling with Li Fengyao all this way, he hadn't had the chance to enter the Illusory Void Realm. Although entering the Illusory Void Realm was very concealed and had never been discovered, there was no need to show it off like presenting a treasure.
【Ranked eighth in the Soaring Dragon Realm, lost the Honor "Illusory Void Six Harmonies Cultivator."】
Such a notification sounded.
The competition in the Illusory Void Realm was also fierce; a moment's inattention meant losing Honor.
Fortunately, his ranking hadn't dropped much. It seemed that at the Soaring Dragon Realm level in the Illusory Void Realm, his strength was still solid.
Regardless, the benefits brought by Honor could not be abandoned.
After a brief adjustment, Jiang Wang began a new match battle.
...
"Yin Star Power again, and again..."
In a small building within the Tian residence, a soft voice spoke.
"Interesting."
The voice faded.
The small building had two floors.
If all of Ji City was one large character "Tian."
Then the Tian residence was a small "Tian" character wrapped within the large "Tian" character.
And this two-story building in the Tian residence was the dot at the very center of the "Tian" character.
As the center of the Tian residence and even the entire Ji City, this small building's appearance was extremely bizarre.