Chapter 224: The High Heavenly Plain, The City of Night

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The chip crackled under the flow of magical power, transforming into countless tiny particles, rapidly reshaping.

Eventually, it became a delicate hairpin.

Lu Xuan turned around and placed the hairpin on Cheng Lingzhu’s head.

Lin Hong and Lin Yan’s identities were still usable.

When they became followers of the Eternal Yin Spirit Ghost Mother, their “existence” disconnected from their family’s network.

Their consciousness was replicated, becoming part of the Eternal Yin Spirit Ghost Mother.

If the Ghost Mother wished, she could extract their memories and “resurrect” them.

In this era, paper currency was no more. Backward areas used physical goods like food and weapons for trade, while major cities like The High Heavenly

Plain universally used electronic currency, making it necessary to refine a chip.

There were considerable savings in Lin Yan and Lin Hong’s accounts, which could save a lot of trouble if needed.

At the city’s checkpoint.

“Beep beep… zzz… Identity verification passed, identity verification passed.”

The 3D virtual images of Lin Hong and Lin Yan appeared. Lu Xuan and Cheng Lingzhu had already used illusions to disguise themselves, leaving no flaws even under the robots’ scans.

Hiding one’s destiny from the heavens meant a 360-degree flawless disguise, capable of deceiving even the highest heavens, let alone a machine.

Even gene testing wouldn’t reveal any issues.

The two walked in confidently.

Upon entering the City of Night, Cheng Lingzhu let out a “hmm” sound.

The city was simply too “dazzling.”

Colorful light screens displayed various advertisements, causing light pollution everywhere, bright and noisy.

Even street vendors were shouting, “Heavenly Farmer Sect energy supplements! Heavenly Farmer Sect energy supplements! Expiring in less than a month! All genuine and new!”

“True Understanding of Crane Style Qi! True Understanding of Crane Style Qi!

Official trial version, unlock seven days of access!”

“Protein block delicacies, century-old store, large quantities at low prices!”

“Want disks? Want disks?… WI Company master tapes leaked, absolutely collectible edition…”

Apart from the disk vendor, the other vendors were tax-paying and conducted legitimate business in the City of Night.

Naturally, where there were sellers, there were buyers.

“Got Heavenly Farmer Sect energy supplements? Boss, you’ve got wide connections… Give me five.’

“This is the genuine Crane Style Qi? Why is it so much cheaper than online?”

“A hundred-year-old store in the City of Night? Wasn’t it bombed by a nuclear weapon just over seventy years ago?”

“Give me a bowl of energy block fried noodles… Don’t add MSG to the noodles, it burns easily.”

The place was bustling with activity.

To the right of Cheng Lingzhu, a shop filled with pink light emitted a frivolous aura.

Under the neon lights, a revealingly dressed holographic girl advertised, with a synthesized electronic voice from behind.

“Fuuko’s Dual Cultivation Experience Shop, for the most authentic Dao

Companion experience…”

“Don’t look!”

Cheng Lingzhu jumped onto Lu Xuan’s back, covering his eyes.

Lu Xuan steadied her, preventing her from slipping.

The girl’s legs were long and strong, tightly clamping around his waist.

“Hey, are you underestimating my self-control?”

Lu Xuan felt the pressure on his back as he commented, “Don’t talk about mere dual-cultivation puppets, even when the Saintess of the Spirit Charm Sect invited me, I…

“Hmm?”

Cheng Lingzhu raised an eyebrow, “The Saintess of the Spirit Charm Sect?”

Lu Xuan promptly closed his mouth.

Cheng Lingzhu’s beautiful eyes grew serious.

“…You heard wrong, didn’t you?”

Lu Xuan replied without changing his expression. “What Saintess? I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Cheng Lingzhu scoffed, shaking his body, “Go on, continue.”

“Alright.”

Lu Xuan sighed, “Well, as you know, the path of cultivation is long and lonely, and one encounters various temptations when traveling alone.”

Cheng Lingzhu hummed in agreement.

“I consider myself not very restrained, but I can still hold my ground against certain temptations.”

Lu Xuan paused.

“Like that year when the Spirit Charm Sect held their Dao Inquiry Conference… Ah, the serious kind of Dao inquiry.

The first prize was the [Warm Jade Scabbard]. I just happened to want a matching accessory for my sword.

Only after winning did I realize they were actually referring to their sect’s Saintess. It turned out to be anything but a straightforward sword sheathing…”

Learning the truth, Lu Xuan fled in a hurry.

Cheng Lingzhu wrapped her arms around his neck, “You stood up their Saintess and they didn’t blame you?”

“Of course not.’

Lu Xuan replied smugly, “I used a fake name.”

He had used the name Ji Lingchen when he registered for the competition, foreseeing potential risks and taking precautions.

Later, when Ji Lingchen gained some cultivation and traveled through the Archean Eon World, he occasionally heard about the name [Ji Lingchen, Worse than a Beast].

Feeling offended, he even mentioned this to his good friend, Lu Xuan, the True Master Lu, during a spirit crane correspondence.

The well-informed True Master Lu said it was normal.

It was probably just a case of a namesake, nothing unusual.

Ji Lingchen remains in the dark to this day. “You really tarnished your reputation out there.”

Cheng Lingzhu chuckled behind her hand.

Of course, she trusted Lu Xuan completely. If she really suspected that Lu Xuan had concubines outside, Cheng Lingzhu would have been too scared to ask.

“By the way, what do you think of these stores?”

Lu Xuan pointed to a dual-cultivation experience shop nearby.

Cheng Lingzhu pondered, “Too revealing… very direct, a bit… too blatant.”

Even though the Archean Eon World had many dual-cultivation sects and brothels, they were not as overt as the brothels here, which were so straightforward.

Lu Xuan pointed in another direction.

“Take a look over there.”

In a dark, narrow alley, someone was robbing a poorly dressed person, and the assailant was also in tattered clothes.

There were also women at the entrance of the alley, enticing customers while holding their children, their exposed skin revealing broken electronic components.

“This should be… A very advanced civilization, right?”

Cheng Lingzhu thought of the Yuan Star they had visited before.

Compared to this world, Yuan Star’s technological level was much lower.

They hadn’t even managed to leave their own planet. But even with its problems, the lives of people on Yuan Star were much better off than here.

So advanced, yet so impoverished.

“Where the granaries are full, they know honor and shame.”

Lu Xuan looked at the revealing billboard models and the women selling their bodies for an energy bar with their children in tow, sighing:

“When capital and power are concentrated in the hands of a few, sects… Er, corporations control everything, and ordinary people become tools and property, the world turns out like this.”

Cheng Lingzhu pondered, “But isn’t the Archean Eon World also controlled by large sects with dominion over cultivation resources? Why hasn’t it turned out like this?”

Due to the influence of spiritual energy.

Even a common person without any cultivation in the Archean Eon World, in the absence of disease or disaster, could easily live over a hundred years.

Thus, the population of the Archean Eon World was substantial, but it never experienced a population explosion beyond the world’s capacity.

As a large realm, the Archean Eon World was also “growing” every day, expanding faster than the population growth rate.

This didn’t even count the numerous small worlds captured and integrated into the Archean Eon World, forming new parts of its landscape.

“Two points.”

Lu Xuan pondered, “Firstly, our world is different from this world. True cultivators don’t need ordinary people.” “This world views commoners as resources and assets, able to be exploited for value, but for the sects and cultivators of the Archean Eon World, commoners are of no use.”

Upon reaching the Golden Core stage, one could sustain life solely on spiritual energy, without needing food, drink, or even breath, known as feeding on clouds and consuming Qi.

Many cultivators still eat out of habit and pleasure, but they forget about these things when busy.

Higher realm cultivators, especially after reaching the Nascent Soul stage, don’t even need spiritual energy.

External items are of no use in their cultivation unless it’s something like the blood of a true immortal or the bones of a true dragon, which are rarely seen in a lifetime. Breakthroughs depend on enlightenment, seeking answers within.

The focus is on the mind, such is the path of cultivation.

Even the few Celestial Sovereigns who gather the faith of the world do so to fulfill great vows and establish their paths. The power of faith boosts the nation’s fortune and feeds back to the people. No one chooses to absorb the power of faith for themselves..