The rumbling of the array’s operation echoed for dozens of li in every direction.
As the white light slowly faded, a single figure stepped out from within.
The person had waist-length hair, a fresh and refined beauty, and wore pure-white luxurious robes with wide sleeves and a green satin sash tied at the waist.
At first glance, one would imagine a young lady from some noble house out on a solo excursion.
Once the white light fully dissipated and the array returned to stillness, Shen Qingci stepped out of the teleportation array.
His steps were unsteady.
He braced himself against the wall with one hand and began dry-heaving, the contrast with his initially elegant and refined image jarring enough to make anyone do a double take.
“Ugh… I can’t take it… Teleportation arrays are still too bumpy… blegh—”
Not only Shen Qingci, but every other cultivator who had traveled with him through the array to Inclined Moon Immortal City was also leaning against the wall with pale, miserable faces.
Teleportation arrays were the most efficient way to travel between immortal cities, but they had plenty of drawbacks.
Setting aside the exorbitant activation cost and the fact that they could only transport Golden Core cultivators at most, the physical reactions alone made it clear just how rough the journey was.
After dry-heaving for a while, Shen Qingci finally recovered.
“Inclined Moon Immortal City…”
He descended from the open-air platform housing the teleportation array.
He was now in the northwest district of the city.
Although he had arrived in Inclined Moon Immortal City, He Shu had left no useful clues.
Shen Qingci felt like a headless fly with no idea what to do next.
“He Shu would never send me here for no reason. But what exactly does she mean by ‘once you arrive, you’ll know what to do’?”
With no clear objective, Shen Qingci could only act on his best guess.
His first decision was to head for the city’s most famous landmark—Drunken Moon Lake.
He flew openly above the immortal city, looking down at the sea of lights below.
As a newly developed immortal city that had been growing for over a thousand years, Inclined Moon Immortal City possessed its own unique charm.
Dozens of zhang-tall crystal obelisks that glowed faintly in the night were scattered throughout the city, alongside an intricate network of waterways.
“These crystal obelisks are the foundation of Inclined Moon Immortal City’s grand array. They were created by the first City Lord of Inclined Moon. They adapt to the local environment and draw spiritual energy directly from the moonlight to supply the city array. Every year they save the city an unimaginable amount of spirit stones.”
Although he had never visited Inclined Moon Immortal City before, Shen Qingci—as a veteran spy of the same generation as He Shu—possessed an extensive knowledge base. Recognizing the crystal obelisks was not surprising.
He sped toward Drunken Moon Lake.
The observation platform had already appeared at the edge of his vision.
Shen Qingci did not conceal his aura.
The majestic pressure of a Golden Core cultivator drew countless gazes from below as he flew overhead.
“Who is that flying above? Some ancestor from the city?”
“Probably an outsider Golden Core. I’ve lived here for years and I’ve never seen that person before.”
“Looks like a female Golden Core cultivator. Judging by her direction, she seems to be heading for Drunken Moon Lake.”
Inclined Moon Immortal City was only a new city, the same size as Flowing Flower Immortal City—a mid-tier immortal city.
Its strongest cultivator, the City Lord, was merely Nascent Soul.
A typical mid-tier immortal city had no more than ten Golden Core cultivators, twenty at most.
Shen Qingci’s sudden appearance immediately drew the attention of every local faction in the city, including the City Lord’s Mansion.
He descended slowly onto the three-story-high observation platform and walked to the wooden railing. He rested one hand on it.
The other cultivators nearby instinctively moved a little farther away.
Shen Qingci paid no attention to their small movements.
He simply stood quietly, admiring the scenery before him.
A gentle breeze rippled across the lake.
The water shimmered under the moonlight, scattering silvery-white light.
Schools of starlight koi, their bodies glowing a soft blue, swam leisurely through the water.
Every so often a fish head would break the surface and release a bubble.
“Such a beautiful sight. Truly a masterpiece of nature.”
This place had once been the battlefield of a great cultivator clash, yet over the long passage of time it had transformed into the current Drunken Moon Lake.
Drunken Moon Lake also had another name—“Drunken Immortal Lake”—because one of the Jade Water Immortal Kingdom’s finest wines, Drunken Immortal Brew, was made using water from this very lake.
As he gazed at the scene before him, a sudden, inexplicable flash of inspiration struck Shen Qingci.
“This view… could it be…!”
“The south wind knows my heart, the moon sets and frost fills the sky!”
He had caught the spark of insight. The verse slipped from his lips—the exact code poem tied to He Shu’s identity!
The moon’s reflection floated serenely on the water.
The lake’s surface shimmered like frost.
The quiet, peaceful night could not hide the shock that filled Shen Qingci’s face.
“Excuse me… are you Lord Shen Qingci?”
***
Mu Xinlian hid inside a narrow alley.
Using the cover of night, she cautiously poked her small head out from behind the corner.
She wore a black cloak, her face concealed by a veil.
After glancing around and confirming no one was nearby, she darted into another alley.
She weaved through the streets for a long time before finally slipping into a fairly well-known inn.
Mu Xinlian rented three adjacent rooms in a row. She quickly went upstairs and entered the rightmost room.
The room was pitch black.
Mu Xinlian pressed her back flat against the door, merging herself into the darkness.
Her heart pounded wildly. Ever since leaving He Qingyuan’s home, Mu Xinlian had felt someone’s divine sense locked onto her.
At first she thought it was He Qingyuan’s, but as time passed she gradually realized she was being followed.
She had no experience being tailed.
The tension made her desperate to shake off the unseen pursuer.
The inn’s array suppressed divine sense and blocked external scanning.
It had originally been set up by the innkeeper to protect guests’ privacy, but Mu Xinlian was now using it as a temporary shield against the tracker’s divine sense.
She pressed her ear to the door and listened carefully for the slightest sound in the hallway.
But the corridor was completely silent.
Mu Xinlian let out a long breath and relaxed her tightly wound nerves a little.
She whispered to herself, “Whoever’s been following me is at least at peak Foundation Establishment!”
All the way here she had remained within the range of the other party’s divine sense.
She had tried extending her own divine sense to its limit, but had found nothing.
The feeling of being in the open while the enemy remained hidden had placed enormous psychological pressure on her.
Moving quietly to the window, Mu Xinlian took out a life-sized mannequin stand from her storage artifact and placed it on the sofa.
Then she crawled on her stomach toward the table, reached up, and turned on the spirit-stone lamp.
The small night-light came on.
Its modest glow was partially blocked by the mannequin stand, casting the silhouette of a seated figure onto the window paper and creating the illusion that someone was sitting by the window.