The righteous path punishes Heaven

Chapter 132 Entering the City

The illusory hand grabbed Zhang Yunling and Xue Minghua together, then slowly withdrew, and the torn sky gradually returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

The Western Desert, the pyramids.

Zhang Yunling stepped forward, cupped his hands and bowed to the purple-robed man sitting there, saying, "Junior Zhang Yunling greets Brother Sun."

It turned out that the person was none other than Sun Jie, the extraterrestrial demon who wielded the power of space.

Sun Jie waved his hand and laughed, "Alright, alright, no need for that. How's the immortal artifact collection I asked you to help me with?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunling summoned the Immortal Sword and said to Sun Jie, "Brother Sun, I didn't know this sword was a celestial weapon at first, but it was too late when I found out. This celestial weapon seems to recognize its master; it has already become my natal magic weapon. What do you think..."

Sun Jie shook his head and said helplessly, "Since that's how it is, then so be it. Right now, all we have in our possession are the Vajra Bracelet, the Banana Leaf Fan, the Jade Bottle, and the Penglai Umbrella. We still need to work even harder."

Zhang Yunling asked in confusion, "To be honest, I gave the Vajra Bracelet and the Jade Bottle to someone else. How can Brother Sun get them back?"

Sun Jie raised his right hand, clenched it into a fist, and said, "As long as you bring these immortal artifacts to me for a look, no matter where they end up, I can retrieve them at any time with my will."

Xue Minghua, standing to the side, watched Zhang Yunling and Sun Jie chatting away, his expression of shock growing even stronger, because the purple-robed cultivator inside this pyramid was a notorious bully in their Western Regions.

Although few people venture into the Western Desert, anyone who gets close to the pyramid is killed by this purple-robed cultivator, their cultivation completely drained, and even their soul is devoured.

With his early Nascent Soul Realm cultivation, he couldn't possibly discern the true level of this purple-robed man, and he dared not actually use his divine sense to investigate.

However, Zhang Yunling and the man in purple robes acted as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other for many years, chatting with him casually. Xue Minghua also gained a deeper understanding of Zhang Yunling at this moment. Although this young man looked young, he had a profound and unfathomable background.

Zhang Yunling said to Sun Jie, "Brother Sun, the Western Desert is too vast. My brother and I have already used up a lot of spiritual energy to get here. Please use your Formless Hand to take us to the city again."

Sun Jie nodded: "Okay, but you can't borrow any more immortal artifacts from me, otherwise you might end up giving them away to someone else."

Then, Sun Jie waved his sleeve, his right hand enveloped in a layer of purple light. He stretched his hand forward, and a spatial rift appeared above Zhang Yunling and Xue Minghua's heads. A phantom hand emerged from the rift, grabbed the two of them, and then slowly withdrew.

A strange feeling swept over them, and in the blink of an eye, the two of them traveled from the Western Desert to a populated urban area.

The hand landed, placing the two of them beside a grove of trees on the outskirts of the city. Zhang Yunling bowed towards the spot where the Wuxiang Hand had disappeared, expressing his gratitude. He didn't know if Sun Jie could see it, but he still wanted to express his thanks.

He then turned to Xue Minghua and asked, "Minghua, do you know where we are right now?"

Xue Minghua gazed at the town not far away, and after seeing two flags planted on the beacon towers of the city wall, he confirmed the location: "This is Firemelt City, a city under the jurisdiction of Yage, one of the twelve disciples."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunling followed Xue Minghua's gaze and saw two black flags with a flame pattern on them planted on the city wall.

Zhang Yunling asked, "The Twelve Knights? Is this Yag also a member of your Royal Knights?"

Xue Minghua shook his head and explained, "No, no, no, of course not. The Royal Knights are specifically for protecting the safety of the Western Regions, similar to the army of the Roman Empire. They have tens of thousands of members, and their lowest profession is a second-tier high-level magician. They all have to take orders from the Twelve Disciples."

"The Twelve Disciples serve directly to the Black Queen, the master of the empire. Although there are only twelve of them, each disciple has the strength of at least a second-tier mage. The Black Queen entrusted the twelve cities of the Roman Empire to the management of the Twelve Disciples, who worked with the Royal Knights to maintain the stability and peace of the Western Regions."

Zhang Yunling frowned and asked, "How do the ranks of magicians compare to the cultivation levels of cultivators?"

Xue Minghua patiently explained: "A first-tier magician corresponds to the Qi Refining stage of a cultivator, a second-tier magician corresponds to the Foundation Establishment stage, and a third-tier magician corresponds to the Golden Core stage. Just like cultivators, advancing from the Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul stage is a great leap in a cultivator's strength. The same applies to magicians. Advancing from a third-tier magician to a first-tier magic master is equivalent to a cultivator advancing to the Nascent Soul stage."

"Once you reach the level of Archmage, it becomes extremely difficult to advance to the next rank. The second-rank Archmage, where the Twelve Disciples are, corresponds to the Nascent Soul Realm in the cultivation realm. The third-rank Archmage corresponds to the Dao Inquiry Realm. Finally, becoming a Grand Archmage corresponds to the highest realm that a mortal cultivator can reach—the Mahayana Realm."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunling felt an immense pressure and exclaimed in disbelief, "So, the Roman Empire has tens of thousands of legions with at least late Foundation Establishment cultivation levels, and all twelve disciples are at the Nascent Soul stage?"

Xue Minghua nodded: "That's exactly right."

This massive amount of information struck Zhang Yunling like a thunderbolt, but he quickly organized his thoughts, because he had a clear goal in coming to the Western Regions: to seek revenge.

"She's not from the Dao Tian Continent to begin with. She must have her reasons for coming to the Western Regions. I can't delay any longer; I must find a way to locate her as soon as possible," Zhang Yunling thought to himself.

A moment later, Zhang Yunling turned to Xue Minghua and asked, "By the way, Minghua, weren't you a member of the Royal Knights before? With your status as a first-tier mage, you must have held a high position in the Knights."

Xue Minghua spread his hands and said helplessly, "No, I left the Royal Knights five years ago in order to find Morika's whereabouts. Once you leave, you can never serve as a Royal Knight again without the recommendation of the Twelve Disciples or the higher-ups of the Knights."

Zhang Yunling frowned and pressed, "You're already a Magister. Compared to those low-level people who are only second-tier magicians, shouldn't someone with your high-level combat power be able to return to the fold so easily?"

Xue Minghua patted Zhang Yunling on the shoulder and shook his head, saying, "Yunling, don't be too hasty in everything. Have you forgotten what the old man with the gourd said before? I am an outsider who has traveled from another world, and I will be suppressed by the Heavenly Dao. Being able to cultivate to the first-level Archmage is already my limit."

"Back then, I was strong enough to be a high-ranking member of the Knights, but as time goes by, everyone improves. They won't let someone who's stuck at the level of a junior mage return to the Knights."

Zhang Yunling sighed, remained silent for a moment, then looked up at the town ahead. The banner of Yag, one of the twelve disciples, fluttered in the wind. He asked, "How do we enter this city?"

Xue Minghua thought for a moment and replied, "I have the citizen badge of the Roman Empire, so I can go in. But you're from the Dao Tian Continent, and it's a very complicated process and a lot of money for outsiders to get a citizen badge..."

“No need…” Zhang Yunling suddenly interrupted Xue Minghua, because he saw the two soldiers standing guard by the city gate starting to change shifts with the other two soldiers.

He recalled how he had infiltrated the Qiankun Sect four years ago through Shen Xiaonan's introduction, and then the Quanzhen Sect through Ren Jixing's introduction. He had mastered one trick and relied on it for everything. This time in the Western Regions, he would do the same thing again.