Loyal Heart Roaming the Skies

The Chiyang County is located in the southern part of the Qi Kingdom. This place is rich in mineral resources, and the people here are mostly engaged in iron casting, with fires burning all year round.

Looking down from high above, the entire Qi territory appears red.

Hence the name Chiyang.

As the saying goes, "The Qi Kingdom's armor is in Chiyang, and the Chiyang troops are in the south."

Nanyao City is where the Lian family has been operating for many years.

Although it is not the county seat, it is even more prosperous than the county seat.

When many people mention Chiyang County, they can only think of Nanyao City, and they can't even remember which city is the county seat.

The city lord of Nanyao City is always from the Lian family, and it is clear that the Lian family holds a high position in Nanyao City and even the entire Chiyang County.

The Lian family is not originally from the Qi Kingdom. After their homeland was destroyed, they migrated to the Qi Kingdom.

Now it is famous throughout the world.

There are five recognized holy places for forging weapons in the world, and the one in the Qi territory is the current Lian family in Nanyao.

As the carriage raced along the wide road, Jiang Wang occasionally lifted the curtain to look at the scenery outside the window during his cultivation practice.

He thought of something strange to him. There were no engraved formations on the official roads of the Qi Kingdom. Moreover, many Qi people were seen leisurely strolling in the wilderness along the way.

He saw clearly that many of them had no cultivation.

In fact, he noticed this when he entered the Linhai County, but at that time, he was focused on preparing to explore the Tianfu Secret Realm, so he ignored it.

Now he couldn't help but ask, "Why don't the official roads of the Qi Kingdom need engraved formations? Isn't it dangerous for Qi people to go out in the wilderness?"

The coachman driving Jiang Wang's carriage was from the Zhongxuan family and had been serving the Zhongxuan family for generations.

In prestigious families like the Zhongxuan family, there are many such generational servants, who are more reliable than ordinary hired servants in the market.

He didn't dare to neglect the esteemed guest of Zhongxuan Sheng, but he was indeed puzzled. "What kind of danger is there in the wilderness?"

Jiang Wang pondered for a moment and asked again, "Doesn't the Qi Kingdom have any fierce beasts?"

The coachman scratched his head. "The most we have around here are some deer and foxes. They can't be considered fierce beasts, right? There might be some tigers, leopards, jackals, and wolves in the mountains over there."

Jiang Wang fell silent.

He wanted to ask where the Qi cultivators obtained the Opening Meridian Pills, but this coachman was destined not to know the answer.

This person didn't even know what fierce beasts were.

In the Zhuang Kingdom, the first thing almost all commoners had to remember before going out was "Do not leave the official road."

Because the wilderness was full of danger, with fierce beasts running rampant.

Even the official roads were not completely safe. Those merchants were almost risking their lives to travel around.

The cultivators in the Zhuang Kingdom had to regularly patrol the areas near their residences and eliminate hidden dangers.

In the Qi Kingdom, ordinary people could freely go to the wilderness for outings and sightseeing.

They were all ordinary people, but they were born in different countries, and their lives were so different.

This was a living situation that made Jiang Wang envious.

He casually summoned a Yunhe and picked some interesting things to write down his recent observations.

At the same time, he informed his sister that he had successfully explored the Tianfu Secret Realm and reserved the Internal Palace of Divine Powers for her. He told her to work hard. Of course, he skipped over the dangers and only mentioned the fantastical aspects.

He also talked about the delicious food in the Qi Kingdom, tempting An'an's appetite. The letter was already full.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Wang picked up his pen again and wrote a letter to Ye Qingyu, thanking her for taking care of Jiang An'an. He briefly mentioned his progress in cultivation and discussed some issues related to Dao techniques.

Because he had encountered fierce beasts in many countries along the way, except for the Yun Kingdom and the Qi Kingdom. So, in the end, he casually asked where the Opening Meridian Pills in the Yun Kingdom came from.

After finishing the two letters, the coachman reminded him that they were almost arriving at Nanyao City.

Jiang Wang then stopped writing and watched as the Yunhe dispersed into the clouds.

For now, he had temporarily stopped in the Qi Kingdom, and he was not worried about the Yunhe getting lost. But the Qi Kingdom was thousands of miles away from the Yun Kingdom, and the round trip would take more than ten days.

...

Nanyao City was tall and majestic. Even before approaching, one could already feel the heat, and the entire city was filled with a scorching sensation.

The streets were bustling and noisy.

The people of Nanyao City were generally tall and strong, with reddish-black skin.

Perhaps because they lived by the furnace all year round, their tempers were hot. Jiang Wang occasionally saw people bargaining with vendors, and the disputes were so intense that it seemed like they were about to fight.

"Will you sell this for fifty dao coins?"

"Forget it!"

"I saw someone else sell it for forty dao coins!"

"Then go find that person!"

"I'm looking for you!"

"I won't sell it!"

...

Jiang Wang silently put down the curtain.

The currency commonly used in the Qi Kingdom and its affiliated countries was mainly dao coins, with gold and silver as secondary.

The use of dao coins in the Zhuang Kingdom had its historical reasons, which had nothing to do with the Qi Kingdom and was different from the common use of ring coins in the Daoist countries.

The dao coins of the Zhuang and Qi Kingdoms were completely different in terms of shape and details. Of course, Qi dao coins were much sturdier than Zhuang dao coins.

This city of Nanyao was different from all the cities Jiang Wang had seen since entering the Qi territory. The entire city had a somewhat distant atmosphere, probably inheriting the ancient customs of the country that had already disappeared in the long river of history.The Qi Kingdom was vast and rich, having conquered many other nations and incorporated them into its own territory. As a result, one could encounter a variety of customs within the Qi Kingdom, but none of these threatened the strong rule of Qi.

Riding in the carriage of the Zhongxuan family, Jiang Wang encountered no obstacles and smoothly arrived at Lian Que's residence.

Lian Que lived in the central district of Nanyao City, in a spacious mansion.

Upon hearing the announcement, Lian Que quickly rushed out of the door.

He had probably been waiting for a long time, and without any pleasantries, he pulled Jiang Wang towards the clan's sword furnace.

The so-called sword furnace, as the name suggests, was the place where the Lian family specialized in forging swords - the Lian family had different weapon furnaces for forging various types of weapons.

The one Lian Que was going to use was naturally the best one. Only this furnace could represent the Lian family's sword furnace.

The fire seed of this furnace was said to have been brought by the ancestors of the Lian family when they migrated from their old country, and it has been burning to this day. Having endured through the ages without extinguishing, it carried a certain historical weight.

When one mentioned the Lian family's sword furnace, it was this one.

Ordinary outsiders were not allowed to enter, but with Lian Que leading the way, it was a different story.

Especially since Jiang Wang was the owner of the sword to be forged this time, according to the rules, he was entitled to observe by the side of the sword furnace.

As he delved deeper, Jiang Wang became increasingly astonished.

He had thought that Lian Que was just forging a passable magical weapon for him, but judging from this sword furnace, it was far from that.

Before he even approached the sword furnace, he saw broken swords stuck in the ground like a forest.

He couldn't distinguish the quality of these broken swords, only feeling that each one was sharp and intimidating.

Following Lian Que along the small path in the sword forest, twisting and turning, it seemed to follow some kind of formation. Then, his eyes brightened as he saw a huge, fiery red furnace.

This furnace was about the size of an ordinary house, with the stove facing outward, like the gaping mouth of some monster.

The furnace fire was almost constantly burning, occasionally leaping up.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

What he felt was not the furnace fire, but the heartbeat of an ancient beast.