“Dongluo City, member of the United Nine Cities.” Inside the jade slip was also a map of the Black Lands, marked with the location of Dongluo City, which wasn’t very far away. 2
By now, Meng Hao was familiar with the power structure of the Black Lands, thanks to his more than one hundred followers. Other than the Black Lands Palace and the United Nine, the Black Lands were inhabited completely by Rogue Cultivators. In some cases, groups banded together to form small-scale powers. Some were strong, some were weak, but regardless, they existed in a state of disunity.
As far as the United Nine, it was made up of nine of the Black Lands’ most powerful Cultivator Clans, and the cities that had grown up around them. They had banded together and formed an alliance to stand up against the power of the Black Lands Palace.
The ingredient Meng Hao needed was a Spirit Orchid Leaf, a medicinal plant that wasn’t particularly rare. That having been said, it wasn’t something that the small-scale powers would have. It would only be available in one of the nine major cities.
According to the information he’d received, Dongluo City would be holding an auction soon. Medicinal pills would be up for sale, as well as medicinal plants. As for the Spirit Orchid Leaf, it could actually be consumed directly to treat injuries, so of course people would be willing to purchase it.
Meng Hao flicked his sleeve as he left the region of his Immortal’s cave for the first time in more than a year. Transforming into a beam of prismatic light, he shot like lightning off into the distance.
Thanks to the Primordial Heavenly Replenishing Pill, his hair was now black once again and his eyes were filled with abstruseness. He wore a green gown, and his features were handsome and refined. On his forehead was mark that looked both like a scale and a feather, and yet was neither. Overall, he appeared completely extraordinary.
As he flew away from the Immortal’s cave, the meat jelly and the parrot followed him.
As they flew along, the parrot continuously chided the meat jelly, who squabbled back endlessly. It went on for a few days, with the two of them occasionally getting into blows. Finally, the parrot used its trump card. It went on with a series of “Do you want to know?” questions, which resulted in the meat jelly transforming into a small bell which the parrot fastened around its leg.
The parrot finally came to rest on Meng Hao’s shoulder, perched there with an arrogant look on its face that said that it was a one-of-a-kind ancient Celestial bird, esteemed in Heaven and Earth, unique in all creation.
The ground beneath them was pitch black, with occasional black-colored plants growing up from the soil. It all looked very sinister. The entire time, Meng Hao didn’t stop once; following the information on the map, he flew straight toward Dongluo City.
On one particular evening several days later, a green city appeared up ahead. It wasn’t grand and majestic, but rather, square in shape, and apparently constructed from vegetation.
The city walls were created from interwoven plants. The greenness created by the plants made the city stick out conspicuously from the black soil.
In the middle of the city, trees grew up. All of the trees had massive amounts of branches growing out from them, which were also interwoven to form layers. The city as a whole seemed to be formed of two levels, one on the ground, the other in the sky.
There was a third level, which was formed by a single, enormous tree, the interior of the city. From a distance, the city looked very bizarre. Meng Hao’s eyes began to shine.