"How could I dare trouble the City Lord?" Forden Wayne replied with a surprised, grateful smile.
"What are you saying? Are you free today? Want to take a walk with me?" Rockwell Nance said with a smile.
"Where does the City Lord want to go?" Forden Wayne asked, puzzled.
"I'm taking you to pill-gambling." Rockwell Nance smiled.
"Pill-gambling?" Forden Wayne's pill-refining skills were indeed among the best of the city lords, but when it came to gambling, he remembered that beggar from last time and felt emasculated.
"Among all the city lords, you're the one with the most potential, aren't you? What, not giving me face?" Rockwell Nance's words carried a hidden meaning—even if Forden Wayne didn't want to go, he had no choice. After much persuasion from Rockwell, he finally agreed to go pill-gambling with him.
Whether it was Rockwell Nance's plan or not, many pill-refining shops in the city couldn't withstand Forden Wayne's skill, and he won several rounds in a row, grinning from ear to ear.
Meanwhile, Rockwell Nance himself left the city and headed to the White Family.
Rockwell Nance didn't return until late at night. He found Forden Wayne, who was still basking in his winning streak, and asked with a smile, "How was it?"
"Thanks to the City Lord's luck, my hand was pretty good today. I refined some quality pills and won several rounds." Forden Wayne said proudly, grinning.
"Oh? That's not bad. Interested in winning even bigger?" Rockwell Nance stared straight at Forden Wayne, making him feel uneasy.
"What does the City Lord mean?" Forden Wayne shook his head, confused.
"I'm planning to attend the Hundred-Year Grand Festival. There will be plenty of gambling houses there. Want to join me?" Rockwell Nance revealed his intentions.
Upon hearing 'gambling houses,' and after today's winning streak, Forden Wayne nodded excitedly. "I've been wanting to see the Hundred-Year Grand Festival. I didn't expect the City Lord to be going as well."
"Alright, get ready. We'll set out tomorrow, hit bigger gambling houses, and win even more!" Rockwell Nance laughed heartily. Forden Wayne, thinking Rockwell was going just to gamble, was thrilled to have such a powerful backer and eagerly agreed.
Especially in big cities, these gambling houses offer all kinds of wagers: pill-refining, weapon-forging, anything you can bet on, someone will gamble on it—and the stakes are huge.
Such places are coveted by many—some come for the spectacle, others to seize opportunities.
The Hundred-Year Grand Festival was already approaching, and the city closest to the Central Province was bustling—this was the most prosperous, most crowded place in all of the Eastern Continent.
Right at the border between the Central Province and the Eastern Continent, merchants flowed in and out, and the city kept expanding, eventually surpassing all others in the East. Here, many sects and clans had stationed their merchants—and even the pillars supporting those merchants.
Such a big city was full of hidden experts—anyone you traded with might be a top master. One careless move could offend a major clan or sect, so unless you had real skill, you wouldn't dare come here.
This custom meant the city was packed with hidden experts—so many that no one wanted to offend anybody. Everyone just minded their own business and made their own gains. With the border between two regions, there were tons of treasures, making it a great choice for anyone looking for opportunities. Bored cultivators flocked to the gambling houses, sometimes even seeking out women.
Looking at the bustling city before him—Skyline City—Evan Yang was at a loss for words. This super city of millions was the first he'd ever seen in person. The wide corridors were big enough for dozens to walk hand-in-hand, and the houses lining the streets were extravagantly luxurious.
"So, what do you think?" Jax Jia asked the stunned Evan Yang.
"It's truly extraordinary." After several days of travel, Evan Yang had passed through three tier-one cities to get here. Those cities had already amazed him, but this super city left him shocked for a long while.
"That's just the surface. The reality is even scarier. Take that building, for example—what do you think would happen if you attacked it?" Jax Jia pointed to a three-story house nearby.
Evan Yang had never experienced it, so he shook his head. "What would happen?"
"Your attack wouldn't work on it—unless you reached the Core-Breaching stage. Some buildings even reflect attacks, and look over there." Jax Jia pointed at various structures around them.
"No way!" Evan Yang's eyes nearly popped at Jax Jia's explanation.
"There's a lot you don't know. Just take your time and blend in. There's still a month until the Hundred-Year Grand Festival, and in half a month, the preliminary competition starts. You'll see plenty of unexpected things then." Jax Jia explained confidently to Evan Yang.
"Preliminaries in half a month? What's the rule for that?" Evan Yang didn't know what the preliminary competition meant.
"The Hundred-Year Grand Festival is a contest between cultivators from the Central Province and the Eastern Continent. The preliminaries are just for the Eastern Continent, and then the major sects and clan alliances decide who gets to enter the Festival." Jax Jia saw Evan Yang's confusion and teased him like a country bumpkin.
Evan Yang, used to this, kept asking, "So how do I participate?"
"You've already passed the initial review." Jax Jia rolled his eyes at Evan Yang's confusion.
Evan Yang was truly baffled. "What initial review?"
"No idea. Anyway, the alliance already approved your initial review, so you're in the Human-grade Pill Duel at the Hundred-Year Grand Festival. How you passed, I have no clue. I'd like to know myself—maybe those big shots watched you refine pills?" Jax Jia looked Evan Yang up and down.
"Last time it was those clans; now they're just announcing I'm participating. What's going on?" Evan Yang grew more curious about the old beggar's true identity—maybe it was because of him that Evan got promoted directly.
Jax Jia didn't get what Evan Yang meant, thinking it was just his master forcing him to come.
Seeing Jax Jia's look, Evan Yang sighed, "Let's go, show me around."
"Not even a hint?" Jax Jia pressed, unhappy that Evan Yang wouldn't mention his master. Evan rolled his eyes. "Would you believe me if I said I don't even know myself?"
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"Ugh." For the first time, Jax Jia saw Evan Yang moved. He quickly led him around Skyline City, quietly pointing out which shops, streets, families, and sects managed what.
Gradually, Evan Yang realized that anyone running a shop in Skyline City had serious backing. Some major clans and sects even controlled entire streets, and these powers didn't interfere with each other, creating a well-balanced structure.
When they reached a gambling house, Jax Jia pointed, "See? That's one of the famous gambling houses."
"Gambling house? What do they do?" Evan Yang was curious, having never heard the term before.
Jax Jia was stunned by Evan Yang's ignorance, then rolled his eyes and launched into an explanation. Evan finally understood and said, "Let's take a look inside."
"You want to gamble?" Jax Jia asked, surprised.
"No, it's rare to find such a place in the city—let's just see what it's like." Evan Yang did want to try his luck for some gains, but given his special status, he chose to keep a low profile and simply check out the scene.
Seeing Evan Yang's honest demeanor, Jax Jia had no choice but to go in with him.
The gambling house was huge—according to Jax Jia, it ranked third in the whole city. They gambled on everything. Evan Yang, skeptical, went inside and found they really did gamble on everything. Some unruly heirs even gambled women, which made Jax Jia furious.
"How many floors are there?" Evan Yang asked, curious as he stood in the atrium surrounded by corridors and small rooms.
"Five floors. The first two are open to everyone. The third requires a crystal fee. The fourth is for big shots in the city, and the fifth is nearly reserved for those mysterious figures who never show their faces," Jax Jia said, gazing upward.
"Is there a difference?" Evan Yang tried to use his spiritual sense to look up, but something blocked him.
"Don't bother. Here, spiritual sense is blocked to prevent cheating. Above the third floor, they're all big private rooms—group gambling spaces. Usually, the whole city is notified, and it's lively. Each floor is said to be an independent space," Jax Jia clicked his tongue.
"Each floor is an independent space? Is it a spatial formation?" Evan Yang knew a bit about formations. If it was a true space, it had to be a spatial array. A good formation could hold hundreds, even tens of thousands, while that strange formation last time seemed endless—only extraordinary arrays could do that.
Jax Jia nodded, "Didn't expect you finally know something."
"Ugh." Evan Yang wanted to smack him—how could he be so snarky? If he hadn't grown up in a village, then lived isolated in the Lesser Yang Sect, and spent all his time cultivating or dealing with trouble, he wouldn't have had a chance to see the whole continent's affairs.
Seeing Evan Yang's reaction, Jax Jia grinned. "Done looking? Let's go."
"Not staying?" Evan Yang asked, curious after Jax Jia finished his tour of the interior.
"Didn't we finish? You're not planning to gamble, are you?" Jax Jia gave Evan Yang a strange look.
Just then, laughter rang out. A young man was surrounded and mocked by a crowd. His clothes were simple, but more importantly, he wasn't an ordinary person—he was already at the Foundation-Building stage, yet still the butt of everyone's jokes.
The young man ignored the crowd and confronted a well-dressed noble, "I'm not convinced!"
The noble sneered, "Cheating dog, this is your last chance. Still won't admit defeat? Ha!" The others laughed along.
"You—you give me back my things!" the young man shouted angrily.
But the staff threw him out, and he was chased straight to the door.
The noble, looking pleased with his winnings, smirked as he left with his entourage. Passing by Evan Yang, he was drawn by Evan's ragged clothes and sneered, "Even a beggar dares to come here for a free ride."
"Blind dog judging people." Jax Jia, never one to be bullied, snapped back as soon as he heard the insult to Evan Yang.
The noble, who had been about to leave, turned back to look at Jax Jia and sneered, "You get the kind of friends you deserve."