93 Secluded Mountain Prefecture (1/2)

It was dawn.

The rain had stopped and the air was humid. The scenery was clear.

A group of carriages were moving steadily along the wet pathway. There was a youth dressed in green and his eyes were glittering. He seemed to be excited and was engrossed in a discussion. ”We will be reaching the Secluded Mountain Prefecture soon!”

”Xia country is vast and geographically, it can be separated into 3 Prefectures…... Lieyang, Qinghe and Cangshui counties belong to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture and the Prefecture City is at the heart of it. This city is way more prosperous compared to other counties and the master of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture is the most powerful in the entire Secluded Mountain Prefecture! Legend has it that he is a spiritual knight who can harness nature's elements!”

His face was flushed with excitement, as though this was his first trip away from home. With a little pride, he added. ”I have a small family business in the city...”

”Haha…..Master Yu, you are too humble! How can the scale of your family business be considered small?”

Fang Yuan was dressed in a thick clothing as he rode a green donkey by the side of the carriage. He was enjoying his chat with the youth in green.

Inside, he was still displeased. 'It looks like Elder Han is still being cautious of me…..Unfortunately, he thinks he can cheat me, but he doesn't know that he is actually helping me instead….'

After Elder Han had recovered, without hesitation, he sent a few spiritual objects as payment.

However, what made Fang Yuan speechless was that even though after Elder Han had seen him growing the Vermillion Jade Rice, it was obvious that he did not want Fang Yuan to grow stronger. However, the spiritual objects Fang Yuan received from him was not a common type like the Emerald Grass. It was a Thousand Year Frozen Fruit and similar other plants which required a few hundred to a thousand of years for the plants to grow to produce their effects!

Although such spiritual plants were considered precious, Fang Yuan would probably not have the chance to witness these plants to bear fruits. He had no choice but to accept them anyway.

The amount Elder Han paid for his treatment was considerably great in terms of the spiritual plants he gave.

Unfortunately, Elder Han didn't know that Fang Yuan would be satisfied with just the Vermillion Fruit as growing it successfully would aid Fang Yuan in strengthening his [Botany].

'Of course…...to reduce the time taken for the spiritual plants to grow, the spiritual fertiliser can only help to a certain limit. I will still have to improve my botany skills. Furthermore, there's no way for me to obtain any more spiritual plants from the Spirit Returning Sect. I hope there will be takeaways from the Prefecture City!'

With that thought, he left the Flower Fox Ferret back in the secluded valley and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle back in the Green Peak to guard these places. On the other hand, he was carefree as he rode a green donkey to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture.

The trip there was relaxing and smooth, although they encountered some troubles along the way. After doing a few good deeds, he was noticed by the hired master who was passing by in a caravan. They were impressed by Fang Yuan's martial arts skills and invited him to travel together.

This caravan, which was called White Cloud, was also heading towards the Secluded Mountain Prefecture and the youth named 'Yu Xinlou' was the hired master of the caravan. Fang Yuan hesitantly accepted their invitation under pressure and joined the caravan. Not long after, they struck up a conversation.

The Secluded Mountain Prefecture City was of a different level compared to the other counties. Disregarding everything else, the young people from the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City would be more well-informed as compared to those in the other counties.

'Even the disciple in the Spirit Returning Sect might not know about spiritual knights…...For myself, if I didn't read a few books about it, I would probably be ignorant now…..”

Fang Yuan felt slightly ashamed of himself before Yu Xinlou's voice was heard.

”Brother Fang, since you are able to achieve the 6th Gate by the age of 20, you are considered a talent in this Prefecture City. You might have the chance to get a glimpse of Wu Zong in future…..”

To Yu Xinlou, being a [Martial Artist (6th Gate)] was very impressive to the point it was hard to put in words. In comparison, he himself was not even a [Martial artist (4th Gate)], which meant that Fang Yuan was way stronger than him.

”Brother Yu, you think too highly of me. There are many other powerful people in the Prefecture City. With my cultivation level, how am I considered powerful?”

Fang Yuan smiled and glanced at the old man who was riding the horse carriage.

This old man was a Martial Artist (9th Gate) and had the cultivation level of the 4 Heavenly Gates. He should be the secret bodyguard of this caravan.

As the conversation took place, the old man had been worriedly keeping an eye on him. However, he could neither tell how powerful Fang Yuan was nor could he tell that his own cultivation level had been exposed to Fang Yuan.

'It looks like…..Yu Xinlou doesn't know that this old man is the most highly skilled in the whole caravan, but the few inner force experts are all aware…..Hehe, was he raised by a pig?'

Fang Yuan laughed in his heart and pitied Yu Xinlou.

He was not entirely convinced that Yu Xinlou deserved to be the rightful heir to the caravan.

'With my magical energy, I can make use of the Blood Magic Manual and a small trick from my dream disciple cultivation to hide my cultivation level easily…..'

Seeing that it was effective even against a 4 Heavenly Gates martial artist, Fang Yuan was convinced that his trick to hide his cultivation level was worth it.

At least, without elemental force, no one could see through his concealment.

'What if I encounter Shi Yutong? The chance of my cover being blown will be 50%.....'

Fang Yuan squinted his eyes and was casually talking to Yu Xinlou. At the same time, in his mind, he was trying to figure out the secrets of his dream world. Suddenly, a cheer was heard. ”We have reached the Prefecture City!”

”Oh! We are here already?”

Fang Yuan was surprised. He nudged his donkey to approach the front of the carriage.

After a turn, a gigantic city appeared right in front of Fang Yuan's eyes.

The first impression Fang Yuan had on the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City were the tall city walls!

Dark and tall, they were majestic structures stuck into the ground. The shortest wall was at least 35 yards in height!

What was the concept behind building such tall walls?

Even a martial artist who had inner force would find it impossible to climb over the tall wall to enter the city!