Leaving the Moon Tower, Tian Long didn’t fly very far. Instead, it laboriously flapped its wings, bobbing up and down as it dragged its fat rump toward another Moon Tower in the distance.

This Moon Tower was slightly different from the previous one.

The outer surface of the tower was covered in fine, grayish-white, thread-like strands. These dense threads were tangled together in some places and merged into sheets in others, resembling a fishing net. Depending on how old they were, some areas showed a transition from gray to grayish-white to pure white.

Compared to the previous Moon Tower, the flow of traffic on this one’s stone bridge was much heavier.

A ceaseless stream of vehicles flowed back and forth across the stone bridge.

Occasionally, flying figures would flash past above the traffic.

"This is the Weaving Tower. It’s responsible for producing all sorts of fabrics. Ship sails, blankets, curtains—all kinds of woven goods come from here. The output is staggering. This one tower supplies the entire high-end textile market for the Inner City." Tian Long had clearly received a good education, as it explained things very clearly.

"The Weaving Tower... So the raw materials here..." Lin Hui trailed off, asking a question.

"Mhm. Similar to the Fog Dragon from before, a single Ice River Weaver is imprisoned at the top of this tower. It’s a giant spider from the Fog Area, about the size of a town. Its silk is endlessly extracted to weave all sorts of products," Tian Long said with a nod.

"Don’t tell me every Moon Tower here has a creature like that on top?" Lin Hui was slightly taken aback.

"Pretty much. After all, the Fog People founded this city. They couldn’t develop various technologies on their own, so the quickest way was naturally to find suitable monsters from the Fog Area and put them to good use. One Ice River Weaver has been alive for over two thousand years and can still produce silk endlessly. Tell me, where else could you find such useful labor? Aside from giving it some food, you don’t have to give it anything else," Tian Long sighed.

"...’When you put it that way, it’s true... No wonder the Inner City doesn’t lack for any kind of product. If everything runs on this model, I can understand it.’" Lin Hui stared at the grayish-white silk on the Moon Tower’s surface, lost in thought.

"But don’t get sidetracked. The place we’re going isn’t here, it’s a little farther on," Tian Long said, then continued flying forward.

They flew past this Moon Tower and through a sparse, transitional district filled with a sea of white flowers.

"Why are so many flowers planted in these districts?" Lin Hui asked casually as they passed through.

"Because some of the Original Blood like it. If you don’t plant them, you die. Then they find someone else to do it," Tian Long replied nonchalantly.

"..." Lin Hui was speechless. Only now was he beginning to grasp the sheer dominance of the Original Blood.

"When we get there, it’ll be the only place on the ground where the Original Blood and ordinary people like us cross paths. If you see anything, don’t be impulsive. You must hold back, or it will be extremely dangerous," Tian Long added, giving a careful warning.

"Don’t worry, I can control myself," Lin Hui nodded.

By now, the two had left the main road with the heaviest traffic and were heading toward a side route on the outskirts of the city district.

The side streets had very little traffic. Only occasionally would a vehicle carrying a heavy load pass them, coming from the opposite direction.

The drivers were also mostly in full armor, their faces hidden. Every single one of them was unidentifiable.

Every vehicle, every person, moved with their heads bowed, silent as statues, utterly lifeless.

After flying another hundred meters or so, Tian Long waved a small wing, and a suit of white, full-body armor appeared before Lin Hui.

"Here, here, put this on quickly. In this place, you need to cover your face, figure, and skin as much as possible."

"Why?" Lin Hui didn’t object. He caught the heavy armor as it fell toward him and looked at Tian Long.

"Because the eyes of the Original Blood lords cannot be allowed to see anything ugly. No, I should say, if it’s not beautiful, it cannot be exposed to their sight. Otherwise, you’ll be in danger."

Tian Long answered seriously.

"You must have a face that meets their aesthetic standards. You must have flawless skin. You must be at least one meter ninety tall. You can’t make any unpleasant sounds, and you can’t make any ugly or undignified movements. If you accidentally violate any one of these rules, you will die."

"..." Lin Hui had lost count of how many times he’d been rendered speechless.

He obediently put on the armor, covering his entire body, and followed Tian Long, continuing to fly forward.

"What about you?" he asked.

"Easy for me." Tian Long took a deep breath, and its body instantly began to shrink rapidly. Soon it was only the size of a baby’s fist. It flew behind Lin Hui’s helmet, wrapping its wings and claws around the wing-like pattern on the back.

Then, the feathers on its body quickly changed color, turning the same white as the helmet.

Just like that, the bird became a perfect part of the armor.

"Keep going forward. See that giant, spiral-shaped white rock ahead? That’s called Cloud Port. Go there."

Tian Long’s voice, now right next to Lin Hui’s ear, was as faint as a gnat’s buzz.

Lin Hui acknowledged and, unleashing his Body Technique, quickly ran toward the spiral-shaped white rock formation in the distance.

"By the way, if you’re lucky, you might be able to buy some rare and interesting things here. At Cloud Port, you’ll sometimes run into powerful individuals who are in a hurry to leave but can’t afford the Moth Car fare. To raise money quickly, they’ll sell off treasured items they normally cherish."

It took them a few minutes to finally reach the base of the giant, white spiral rock.

A ceaseless stream of cargo vehicles and armored people were emerging from the circular roads coiling around the outside of the spiral rock.

No one spoke. All the armored people kept their heads down, hurrying along in silence.

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, a sharp whistle came from overhead.

Lin Hui looked up and saw a streak of white light, like a shooting star, fly in and land precisely on the peak of the giant rock.

"That’s an Original Blood or some other powerful individual coming to take a ride. The weakest people who come here are at least High Priests or top-tier Grandmasters, because ordinary people can’t afford the Moth Car fare," Tian Long whispered in his ear.

"Let’s go. Head up, and walk at the same speed as everyone else."

"Okay."

Lin Hui nodded and started up the mountain, moving against the flow of traffic.

There were about a dozen people heading in the same direction as him, but their number was far smaller than those coming down the mountain.

Lap after lap, no one used a Body Technique to rush ahead. Everyone just walked up the mountain at a steady, quiet pace.

Lin Hui didn’t ask why Tian Long had told him to walk up so slowly.

But he soon found out the reason.

"Lou Xing, you piece of trash, come and get me! HAHAHAHA!! With your pathetic cultivation, all you’re good for is eating shit behind my ass!!"

A coarse, boisterous male voice suddenly rang out from the mountain path above.

Immediately after, a tall, handsome man with red hair and red eyes appeared on the path ahead. He was dressed in a magnificent white robe with gold trim and was riding a jet-black steed over two meters tall, charging madly down the mountain.

The horse’s speed far surpassed that of any livestock Lin Hui had ever seen.

Its speed was even comparable to his own without using Special Effects.

In an instant, because it was moving too fast, the black steed slammed into two armored people by the roadside who couldn’t dodge in time.

There were no gasps of surprise, no screams of pain.

Just an invisible distortion that flickered through the air.

The two armored people vanished instantly, as if they were marks on paper erased by a rubber eraser.

The steed charged straight past, flashing through the middle of Lin Hui’s group before speeding away and disappearing into the distance.

Immediately afterward, another horse—a white one—came galloping down from behind.

This time, the rider on the white horse was a cold-looking man with black hair and red eyes.

The man’s features were as delicate as a woman’s, but his gaze was bone-chillingly cold.

"Keep your head down!" Tian Long’s voice, tinged with urgency, reached Lin Hui’s ear.

He quickly complied and lowered his head.

SWISH!

The next instant, an armored person in front of him was abruptly overtaken by a flash of red shadow.

Only the lower half of the body remained, standing rigid for a second before pitching forward and collapsing to the ground.

It was as if the armored person had been bitten in half by some incredibly sharp maw that had devoured the top part. The wound at the severed waist didn’t even spurt blood; it was instantly cauterized shut.

Only after the corpse had fallen to the ground did the man on the white horse flash past, chasing after the one in the distance.

Once he was completely gone, sounds of relief could be heard from the remaining armored people all around.

"Good, he’s gone. Those black-haired Original Blood are the most neurotic!" Tian Long sighed.

"Why... why was he killed?" Lin Hui looked at the half-corpse in front of him, at a loss for words.

’I could have dodged the first person’s speed,’ he thought, ’but I didn’t quite understand their method of attack.’

But he couldn’t even see the second Original Blood’s attack clearly.

Whatever had appeared in that instant was something that even his enhanced dynamic vision couldn’t track.

It wasn’t a matter of being fast enough to dodge, but of being able to see it in the first place.

If you couldn’t even see it, dodging was naturally impossible.

’Besides,’ he thought, ’the first two were killed for being in the way, but what about this last person? I couldn’t see how he provoked that second Original Blood at all.’

"Who knows. Maybe he lifted his head a fraction too high. Some Original Blood don’t permit the gazes of mortals to fall upon them without permission. The moment they notice it, it’s a capital offense," Tian Long whispered.

"..." Lin Hui was gradually forming a preliminary impression of the Original Blood.

"Let’s go. Should we continue? The higher we go, the more Original Blood we’ll encounter. But the dangers might also increase," Tian Long said. "Are you sure you want to keep going?"

"Could it get any more troublesome?" Lin Hui paused, then asked.

"Of course. The ones who control Cloud Port are the Yun Family, one of the Original Blood Nobility. Their tempers are even more troublesome," Tian Long said softly.

"Troublesome in what way?" Lin Hui couldn’t believe anyone could be worse than the two just now.

"Well, let’s put it this way. In the Core Area, the Yun Family dislikes seeing any non-Original Blood thing moving within their line of sight. If you move, they’ll freeze you in place so you can never move again. So, you need to be alert and stop all movement before their gaze falls on you. Become a living statue," Tian Long sighed.

"..." Lin Hui was simply at a loss for words.

"And the worst of them all is one Original Blood family. When their family members are in the mood, they like to play a game of ’dismantling dolls’."

"What’s ’dismantling dolls’?"

"You know how you’re wearing armor that covers your whole body? So they can’t see your face, figure, or skin inside. The people from this family, when the mood strikes them, enjoy tearing off your armor and ripping off your clothes to see the face, skin, and figure of the person inside," Tian Long continued.

"And then...?" Lin Hui asked after a moment of silence.

"Then it’s the same as the other Original Blood. If the person inside isn’t good-looking enough after they tear off the armor, they’ll kill them on the spot. If they are good-looking, they’ll take them back to play with. And when they get bored, they’ll toss them into the Deep Domain as materials," Tian Long replied.