Eternal Stream city was incredibly large, at least around 200 kilometers in each direction, almost as large as Green Rivers city. The entire city was surrounded by a sturdy steel wall that was covered with a coat of silver paint, giving it a beautiful sheen.
The reason it was called Eternal Stream city was because of the centerpiece of the city, a steep mountain that had a gorgeous, deep-blue waterfall cascading down the entire side of it. The waterfall ended in a small lake that diverged into several streams that snaked through the city, even going past the wall and vanishing into the distance.
The buildings of the city were neatly lined up, a set of distance between each building, and followed an organized system where the buildings at the edge of the city were only one floor tall, and then got progressively larger the closer they got to the waterfall. The largest buildings were around six stories tall, each one looking like a large mansion that only the richest could own.
Liang Chen didn't immediately go look for Lei Qiang, there was something else he wanted to do first. He stopped a few passersby, asking them about the various butcher shops in the city. He knew the name of Huo Yantian's old butcher shop, but not where it was located, so he could only ask others about it.
After asking the ninth person, he finally got the answer he was looking for, getting detailed directions. Once he reached the butcher shop, which was called Heaven's Slicer, he didn't even bother trying to properly negotiate. He immediately presented the owner with a sum of money so large that there was no chance he was going to say no. He had delivered very detailed information about the Mystic's Hidden Realm, so he had plenty of coin on him at the moment.
After acquiring the deed and keys to the butcher shop, he stuffed it all into an envelope and signed it with Huo Yantian's name. He then brought the envelope to the home of Huo Yantian's parents, and after making sure that he had gotten the right house, he slid the envelope under the door and left.
Huo Yantian was the second of the three people that had died while Liang Chen was traveling with Yi Huang's caravan. He was another person who had been kind to Liang Chen, as well as another one of the people whose death contributed to Liang Chen learning a valuable lesson, so Liang Chen had made sure to remember what Yi Huang said was Huo Yantian's dream.
After dropping off the envelope, Liang Chen headed for the military academy that was located close to the center of the city. The military academy was a strange place, it was a large open training ground surrounded by four long buildings that were colored a glowing orange and engraved with the symbol of the Blazing Clouds nation, a collection of fiery clouds that formed a circle.
One of the four buildings was marked with the words 'Visitor Waiting Room' so that was the one Liang Chen entered. The building was rather sparsely decorated, only containing a few couches and tables where people could rest while waiting for the one they were looking for.
There was a short counter located at the back of the room, three young people, two boys and one girl, standing with straight backs behind the counter, they were the ones who would notify the one you were looking for that you had arrived. Once Liang Chen entered the room, the three people gave him a quick glance, their eyes lighting up with a mixture of fear and awe.
Liang Chen ignored their gazes and walked up to them, stating who it was that he was looking for. He had no idea where Lei Qiang lived, so he could only come here in hopes that they knew where he lived. But rather than tell him where Lei Qiang lived, the three youths just told him to enter the eastern parts of the training grounds, as he would find Lei Qiang there. It seemed like Lei Qiang had returned to the military academy after leaving the hidden realm.
Liang Chen thanked the three youths and then passed through the door they pointed at, the door behind them. Passing through the door brought him to the wide-open training grounds, where the ground was covered in a thick layer of sand.
There were groups training in formations or engaging in sparring all over the training grounds, so Liang Chen followed the directions painted on the walls of the building behind him, quickly reaching the eastern parts of the training ground. He easily spotted Lei Qiang, who was currently shouting at a group of about 100 youths that were performing a basic set of martial arts moves. He casually made his way over, calling out to Lei Qiang.
"Hard at work I see, Qiang."
The youths that were training quickly turned to see who dared refer to their Lieutenant so casually, but their breaths caught in their chests when they saw Liang Chen. The tall and sturdy Lei Qiang also turned around. His slight stubble was now shaven clean, his brown hair tied into a ponytail rather than a bun. Once he spotted Liang Chen, his face lit up with a pleasantly surprised smile.
"Chen!? You've already left the Mystic's Hidden Realm?"
Lei Qiang was about to walk over to Liang Chen but then seemed to remember something. He turned towards the youths that were staring at Liang Chen, shouting at them in a stern voice.
"Alright, you lot, stop gawking! Continue with the basic training, give me 100 sets!"
The youths quickly regained their wits, continuing to perform the martial arts moves that they had been performing earlier. Lei Qiang waved over a short raven-haired girl who looked like she had reached her early twenties, pointing at the youths.
"Garrison Commander Youyin, make sure that no one slacks on their training."
After Youyin gave a nod of her head, casting a glance at Liang Chen, Lei Qiang walked over to Liang Chen. He glanced at the training youths, who were still casting glances at Liang Chen, shaking his head with a wry smile.
"You'll have to forgive them for staring, they don't often get a chance to see someone mentioned in the Mortal Titan list."
Liang Chen tilted his head slightly, curious about this Mortal Titan list, but Lei Qiang gave Liang Chen's shoulder a heavy pat before he got to voice his confusion, dragging him away with a bright laughter.
"Come, come! You have surely come for the promised drinks!"
Liang Chen could only shrug his shoulder and save the question for later, following Lei Qiang away from the training ground. Lei Qiang brought Liang Chen away from the military academy, leading him to a two-story house located a few kilometers away from the military academy.
The house was completely square and had a small garden decorated with a single well and a round table and three chairs. The house was the same silver color as most other houses in the city, the only thing setting it apart from the others being the number written next to the door.
Sitting at the table in the garden was a tall and charming lady with black eyes and deep orange hair, as well as a young girl with brown hair and black eyes. The tall woman was clad in a loose yellow robe and looked to be about 30 while the young girl looked like she was only around two or three years old. Once Lei Qiang and Liang Chen reached the house, Lei Qiang quickly called out.
"Wen'er, this is the friend that I told you about, Liang Chen."
The woman, Wen'er, stood up, picking up the young girl and walking over to Lei Qiang and Liang Chen with a calm smile. She handed the young girl to Lei Qiang and then gave Liang Chen a polite bow. After being handed the young girl, Lei Qiang introduced both of them to Liang Chen.
"Chen, this is my wife, Xue Wen. And this is my daughter, Lei Qiuxun."
Liang Chen had already known that Lei Qiang was married, but he hadn't expected him to already have a child. Liang Chen returned a polite bow, giving a standard greeting.
"Greetings, sorry for the intrusion."
Xue Wen gave a light wave of her hand, telling him not to worry about it. Lei Qiang spoke a few words with his wife, who then entered the house and allowed Liang Chen and Lei Qiang to sit down around the table. Xue Wen came back after a bit, carrying a tray that held two clay cups and a large pot filled with fragrant wine. Liang Chen tasted the wine, which turned out to be rather warm and spicy, his face changing slightly as he hadn't expected it. Lei Qiang slapped his forehead after seeing Liang Chen's reaction.
"Ah, sorry, I forgot about your age, let me get you something else."
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Lei Qiang wanted to stand up, but Liang Chen waved his hand and stopped him, drinking another sip of the wine.
"No need to worry. It's a strange flavor, but it's not bad."
This was the first time Liang Chen had ever drunk wine, so he hadn't been clear on what he should expect from the taste. The taste wasn't bad, to the point where he could understand why people might choose to drink it when they relax.
Lei Qiang sat down again and the two started to chat while drinking, talking about all sorts of topics, like the cities where they came from, the people they knew, what they had experienced during their travels. After spending a bit of time casually chatting, Liang Chen decided to bring up his earlier question.
"Qiang, about that list you mentioned earlier, that Mortal Titan list, what is it?"
According to Lei Qiang's words, Liang Chen had been mentioned in this list, and it seemed to be a rather big deal. Lei Qiang couldn't help but cock his head slightly after hearing Liang Chen's question, seemingly quite surprised at the question.
"You don't know about it? It's one of the lists that the Eternal Dragon Pavilion gives out, it serves as a sort of ranking list. The other lists are called Spiritual Titan, Heavenly Titan, and finally Titan Slayer. Each list ranks the top 100 people of their cultivation level. Mortal Titan ranks the Heaven's Gate realm, Spiritual Titan ranks the Soaring Immortal realm, Heavenly Titan ranks the Primordial Immortal realm, and Titan Slayer ranks the Transcended Immortal realm."
Now it was Liang Chen's turn to be surprised, such lists actually existed? He had not spent a lot of time in the Eternal Dragon Pavilion, nor had he spent a lot of time with other cultivators outside of the hidden realm, so it wasn't strange that he had yet to hear about them, as the lists didn't really matter inside the hidden realm. But after understanding a little about the lists, another question popped up in his mind.
"If it ranks the top 100, why did you say that I was mentioned by the Mortal Titan list?"
Liang Chen had yet to properly test out his full strength when he used all his means, but he wasn't so arrogant as to believe that his meager strength put him in the top 100 cultivators of the Heaven's Gate realm on this planet. Lei Qiang merely shrugged his shoulders, giving a quick explanation.
"You got an honorary mention because of the things you did in the Mystic's Hidden Realm. You didn't get a rank, it just stated that if you used all your means, you had the strength to heavily wound or even kill someone at the late stage of the Heaven's Gate realm."
Lei Qiang acted casual, but he had been utterly shocked when he saw the update to the Mortal Titan list and read about the things that Liang Chen had done. Had he already grown that strong in the little time they hadn't seen each other? Liang Chen's eyebrows furrowed slightly, slowly sipping some wine.
"Because of the things I did in the hidden realm? How did the Eternal Dragon Pavilion learn about that?"
He asked the question, but right after the words left his mouth, he managed to reach an answer on his own. It had been around half a month since he and probably many others left the Demon's Graveyard, so it wasn't strange for some to spread the news about what he had done to protect Yan Ling. His thoughts were quickly proven true when Lei Qiang swiped his bracelet and took out a gray slip of jade, handing it to Liang Chen.
"You don't know? You are actually quite famous right now. About half a month ago, a large number of people were thrown out off the Mystic's Hidden Realm, and with them, they brought a large amount of information about things that had happened in the hidden realm, including your slaughter and some of the other things you had done. They even gave you a few different titles, take a look for yourself."
Liang Chen grabbed the slip of jade and sank his mind into it, scanning the information within it. The contents of the jade slip were actually the various lists that Lei Qiang had mentioned, allowing Liang Chen to quickly read through them and memorize them. After he finished memorizing all of them, he couldn't help but shake his head in exasperation.
"Seems like their information network is rather vast, but what's with these titles? Scourge King, Blood Tide, Bloody Lightning? Who comes up with these tasteless titles?"
The information about him not only mentioned the slaughter he pulled off thanks to the doping but also mentioned the battles against the Moon Dragon sect and the Ghost Soul sect, so it seemed like some of the people who had taken part in that battle had survived and left the hidden realm.
Other than those battles, the information even contained speculations that it was Liang Chen who had killed Liu Daning and his men, as the state of Liu Daning's men matched what happened to some others who had been killed by Liang Chen's poison. The information also contained three possible titles for Liang Chen once he became strong enough to secure a spot on the list, Scourge King, Blood Tide, and Bloody Lightning. Facing Liang Chen's exasperation, Lei Qiang could only shrug his shoulders with a slightly amused smile.
"The higher-ups of the Eternal Dragon Pavilion usually come up with a title, but in other cases, like yours, they just give them whatever title people call them."
Liang Chen's expression changed slightly. People actually called him by those titles? But feeling exasperated about it wouldn't help, so he could only throw those feelings to the back of his mind, thinking about some of the other names he had seen on the lists.
Rank 89 on the Spiritual Titan list, Bloody King Yan Ying. Rank 3 on the Heavenly Titan list, Furious Volcano Qing Lan Yong. Qing Lan Yong was ranked third on the Heavenly Titan list, but it also mentioned that his current strength was unknown, so there was a chance that his rank should be higher. The list wasn't quite accurate on Qing Lan Yong's strength, but now he had at least gotten an even clearer image of the strength he would need if he wanted to kill Qing Lan Yong.
Lei Qing let Liang Chen keep the slip of jade, as it wasn't really hard to get one. The two continued to drink and chat, Xue Wen bringing them new pots of wine whenever they emptied one. As the sun started to approach the horizon, Lei Qiang glance at it slightly.
"so, Chen, how long are you intending to stay here?"
Liang Chen also glanced at the nearly setting sun. He gave it a bit of thought, sipping some cold wine as he responded.
"Not long. I will leave this city before the sun fully sets."
If he left before the sun fully set, he could return to Wind's Whisper city using the same caravan he had used to get here, something that suited him perfectly, as he would have to head north if he wanted to reach Myriad Flowers Valley. Lei Qiang gave a slight nod of his head, letting out a light sigh as he raised his cup.
"A shame, but you probably have many things that you need to do. Should you ever feel like it, you can just come to find me again, I'll always keep some wine ready for you."
Liang Chen's lips curled into a light smile, giving a nod of his head as he raised his own cup, clinking it against Lei Qiang's.
"I'll make sure to take you up on that offer once I have time."
It was nice to have a place where he could come to relax whenever he left the Storm Wolf sect in the future. It wasn't a home, but it was still a place where he felt welcome, so it was good enough for him.
The two spent a few more minutes drinking before Liang Chen stood up, bidding Lei Qiang farewell. Lei Qiang also stood up, following Liang Chen to the edge of the garden, patting him on the shoulder.
"Goodbye Chen, don't forget to take care of yourself."