8mi Chapter 519 : Black Hawk City
Chapter 519 : Black Hawk City
On a state-crossing flying vessel, Xiao Mochi and the other three set off for the Western Regions.This time, Qi Zhengju had entrusted the four of them with a mission.
In the Western Regions, there was a city called Black Hawk City.
Black Hawk City was an independent city-state, belonging to no faction whatsoever.
Its city lord was named Fang Ran.
Fang Ran had provoked a demonic sect in the Western Regions. That sect had left behind a ruthless warning: they would refine every single citizen of Black Hawk City into pills—and not one member of Fang Ran's family would be spared.
Because the previous lord of Black Hawk City had once shared a bit of friendship with Bailu (White Deer) Academy,
Bailu Academy dispatched Xiao Mochi and the other three together to help Black Hawk City resolve this crisis.
All four of them were late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, only half a step away from the Jade-Purity Realm.
And the demonic sect that had sworn to refine all of Black Hawk City was merely a Nascent Soul–level sect—its sect master at most a Nascent Soul cultivator as well.
So in Qi Zhengju's view, for the four of them to go handle this matter in Black Hawk City shouldn't be too difficult.
Of course, the difficulty wasn't small either—it could be said they would be opposing an entire sect.
Still, it wasn't impossibly hard, nor was it trivial. It was the kind of task that was perfectly suited to serve as a trial.
After all, reading ten thousand books and traveling ten thousand miles—by the Headmaster's standards, the four of them had already read plenty.
But blindly burying oneself in books was useless.
They needed to go out into the world, see it for themselves, and verify what they had learned against reality, one piece at a time. Only then could their Dao-hearts truly be forged.
And a place like the Western Regions—where righteousness and evil intertwined—was especially suited for them.
Half a month later, Xiao Mochi and the other three arrived at Black Hawk City in the Western Regions.
The city lord personally came out to the gates to welcome them.
Fang Ran treated them with great respect—clearly regarding them as his lifeline.
After learning more from the four of them, they discovered that the sect hostile to Black Hawk City was called Rouge Sect.
Rouge Sect was an all-female sect.
Their cultivation methods were extremely similar to the Joyous Union Sect—essentially draining yin to nourish yang.
Only, Rouge Sect's "business" was even broader.
Draining yin and nourishing yang was merely one of their cultivation methods. Their main business was seducing princes and nobles of various mortal dynasties, or enticing disciples of different sects, squeezing benefits out of them.
Sects like this were not uncommon in the Western Regions.
And the reason Black Hawk City and Rouge Sect had come into conflict was because not long ago, Black Hawk City's young lord had fallen in love with a woman from Rouge Sect.
But that woman had been deliberately sent by Rouge Sect to seduce the young lord, in order to infiltrate and gain control over Black Hawk City.
One part of their plan was simple: if the opportunity arose, they would kill Fang Ran.
Once the young lord took power, the woman who had seduced him would naturally become the city lady—giving Rouge Sect enough control over Black Hawk City.
Black Hawk City would become yet another major foothold for Rouge Sect.
However, Fang Ran discovered Rouge Sect's plot and intended to strike that woman down.
Yet the young lord, bewitched beyond reason, actually joined hands with that woman to attack his own father.
He even stole and used one of Black Hawk City's treasured artifacts.
In the end, although Fang Ran won—killing the Rouge Sect woman and imprisoning his own son in the dungeon—the city lord himself was left gravely injured.
That city-protecting treasure was also shattered.
In short: although Fang Ran won, Black Hawk City's fighting strength plummeted, and even its magical treasures could no longer be used.
At this point, Rouge Sect naturally would not let Black Hawk City off the hook.
Under the banner of "avenging their disciple," they came to demand an explanation from Fang Ran.
But what explanation? What revenge?
They had simply seen that the city lord was at his weakest, and wanted to seize the chance to occupy Black Hawk City.
A place like the Western Regions—just like the Northern Wastes—pushed the law of the jungle to the extreme, and in some respects, went even further than the Northern Wastes ever did.
Because no matter what, the Northern Wastes was still part of a dynasty. The imperial court's restraint over the regions wasn't strong, but it wasn't weak either.
But in the Western Regions, there had never been a great unified dynasty.
Demonic sects and Buddhist orders fought endlessly against each other.
Across this land, no one knew how many factions existed—mostly it was simply: you swallow me, I swallow you.
Now, Black Hawk City had already been sealed by a formation set up by Rouge Sect.
Cultivators below the Golden Core Realm could enter—but could not leave.
And inside Black Hawk City, most were ordinary commoners.
How many were cultivators? Let alone Golden Core cultivators.
As the city lord was a Nascent Soul cultivator, Fang Ran could have left.
But no matter what, he refused to go.
Generation after generation, the Fang family had lived in Black Hawk City. He could not abandon the people within the city and flee alone.
That stirred a bit of emotion in Xiao Mochi and the others.
Walking along Black Hawk City's streets, the people still carried on with their daily lives.
The formation had only been active for a month, and the city's resources were still very abundant.
Not only could they endure one month—even if the formation remained for three full months, Black Hawk City could still hold out.
Every city stockpiling a certain amount of supplies was already common sense in the Western Regions—
because you never knew when disaster would strike.
But the problem was: Rouge Sect would not give them that much time.
At most, in another month, the formation would fully activate.
Black Hawk City would become a gigantic pill-refining furnace.
And when that happened, everyone would die, leaving behind nothing but an empty city.
When Xiao Mochi and the four of them first headed toward Black Hawk City, what they saw in the towns along the way were the citizens' hopeless eyes.
They knew they were going to die.
In every person's gaze there was no light.
Yet there were also those who still believed in their city lord, believing that Fang Ran would surely save them.
To stabilize public morale and prevent an even greater outbreak of chaos, Fang Ran announced the arrival of Xiao Mochi and the three of them.
And at a public gathering, he shouted loudly:
"These four are mighty experts from Bailu Academy! They can help us break the formation—there is hope for everything!"
"There is hope!"
"There is hope!"
"There is hope!"
Everyone raised their arms and cheered, their hearts filled with joy!
And Xiao Mochi and the three truly were skilled in formations. They felt fairly confident about this array.
But before long, they realized—
the formation surrounding this city was not nearly as simple as they had imagined.