Yu Jiang opened a passage, looking all mysterious, not telling where it would bring them.
“Do we require going through a spatial gate to reach Crow City?” Xia Fei asked, curious.
Yu Jiang smiled. “But of course. Crow City isn’t here; rather, it’s built on a desolate planet. It’s a secret location.”
Xia Fei was stunned as he followed Yu Jiang through the gate, arriving at a dark place.
Like a mid-century castle, Crow City was surrounded by a large swamp, with the cries of wild beasts that could be heard echoing from afar. It appeared as if this planet was not as peaceful as he thought.
Xia Fei, Yu Jiang, and Gu Tong’s arrival had broken silence here, as a large murder of crows took flight from the swamp, their beady bloodred eyes gleaming like jewels. The darkness around them made their red eyes stand out even more so.
In comparison, the castle was a lot more subdued. Due to the passage of time, the castle was dark and damp, with plenty of nameless plants creeping along the walls. There was even a huge crow which was observing its surroundings as it stood atop the highest point of the castle.
It was gloomy, scary, and deserted.
Crow City could easily be mistaken for Dracula’s Castle from the human legend.
Xia Fei could not help but knit his eyebrows. From the moment he took a foot in this place, he could already feel a tingling sensation creeping up on him. It was said that the place was dedicated to warrior cultivation. It ought to be a place that was vibrant and masculine since it was where plenty of warriors would be, with their blood all pumping!
Elites were all within the city walls training hellishly, yet Xia Fei saw no signs of anybody hard at work, and the desertedness of the place made his hair stand on end.
Gu Tong struggled to fight a cold war within himself. He had the lowest cultivation out of the three here, which was why he was the first to find the atmosphere of Crow City inhospitable, but it might also be because he immediately associated this place with Snake Isle.
Yu Jiang’s expression turned grim as he pointed to the castle in the distance, stating in a serious tone, “That is Crow City. As one of the foundations when the Yu family established itself in the Law Realm, if our continuous research and study of spatial tear and fissure techniques are our software, then Crow City is the hardware which propels our warriors toward success. All of the most prominent warriors in our clan have once cultivated here.”
Xia Fei nodded, not saying a word. The strangeness of Crow City had left him feeling somewhat restless.
All of a sudden, a weird sound from the direction of the castle traveled out, and with Xia Fei’s keen senses, he immediately sensed that it came from underneath the castle.
This howl sounded like a wail, a wail that invoked blood! It was extremely mournful!
Gu Tong’s body went limp as he promptly sank to the ground, knees first, nearly fainting over just from hearing that wail!
Xia Fei hurriedly went over to support him. “Instructor Gu, are you okay?”
Gu Tong was pale, unable to say a word even after some time passed.
Yu Jiang said in a deep voice, “That just now was the first major mystery of Crow City, the Fiend’s Bloodcry. It has existed ever since the Yu family’s ancestors first discovered Crow City and can be heard every once in a while. It is still in the day now, but come nighttime, the cry will be even more intense, and anyone without a substantial cultivation will be unable to withstand it.”
With that said, Yu Jiang glanced over at the pale Gu Tong and muttered to himself, “Too weak of a cultivation and a lack of determination. Staying in Crow City too long won’t do him any good. This is why no warrior who hasn’t made it past level 6 is allowed to visit Crow City.”
Xia Fei frowned as he asked, “Instructor Gu, can you hang in there still?”
Gu Tong was ashamed as he admitted, “It’s just a heart spasm. It’s fine.”
Getting up, Xia Fei said, “Patriarch, actually, my request for Instructor Gu to accompany me to cultivate here in Crow City is but a sham. I really just wanted to use the opportunity to get him off Snake Isle. If you don’t mind, I hope to have Instructor Gu transferred to work at Roaring Tiger Park.”
Yu Jiang chuckled. “You should’ve said so earlier. How could I not have known that small scheme you’ve got going. Let’s send Gu Tong back first then. Report to Roaring Tiger Park after a few days of rest. He’ll be under your employment from here on out.”
It was as if Gu Tong had received amnesty; given his cultivation, staying any longer in Crow City was a torment. Besides, though Roaring Tiger Park had only two exotic beasts, someone would come by to seek Xia Fei’s ability to tame beasts every once in a while, and Xia Fei would take 70% of the fees charged, with the remaining 30% shared between the employees of the park. Gu Tong’s addition would allow him to receive an allowance which was slightly higher than what he had gotten before, and that could be considered as a repayment of the kindness he had shown back then.
Gu Tong was immensely grateful and was sent back by Yu Jiang; Xia Fei reinvigorated himself and proceeded toward Crow City with Yu Jiang.
The Fiend’s Bloodcry continued, letting out a distressing wail every few minutes. Xia Fei realized that he needed to resist this mournful wail actively, for letting it pass through uninhibited would easily injure him as time went by!
Using his mental energy to defend against this cry was a sort of training for the body!
Yu Jiang looked over to Xia Fei with immense satisfaction. “You’ve performed splendidly. Back when I brought Yu Hua over, he spent a full half a month adjusting to this, yet all you’ve taken is but a handful of minutes.”
Xia Fei thought nothing of it as he jested. “The sound is indeed frightening, but if I can be shaken by a mere sound, then I should just give up on being a warrior. If this castle truly has some monsters inside, then I really want to look at them.”
What he said was the truth, for Xia Fei had always had quite the heavy curiosity since young.
Unexpectedly, just as Xia Fei finished his words, the Fiend’s Bloodcry suddenly sharpened, worsening from before. It was as if the fiend had heard Xia Fei’s words and had risen in defiance.
Xia Fei was unamused. He did not believe in ghosts or spirits before he met Phantom. Now…
Yu Jiang burst out laughing. “I’ve said it before, but the Fiend’s Bloodcry is the first major oddity of Crow City, and it isn’t nonsense.”
Entering the city, Xia Fei noted the surrounding warmth around him, and he calmed down considerably. It appeared like there was this portentous energy filling the entire city.
“The energy around is abundant, and it’s all Origin Energy that cocoons the entire city,” Phantom mused. He had a natural sensitivity toward energy, and he voiced his observation aloud upon entering the castle.
“The reason why Crow City is used by the Yu family as a critical location for warriors to promote and cultivate is that the bricks used to construct this castle contained Origin Energy, and they’re all purified crystals to boot,” Yu Jiang pointed around as he narrated. “No fewer than a million grade 3 Origin Crystals were used building this castle, and it has a unique construction, too. The Origin Energy here could radiate naturally, and warriors that spend a long time basking in it will achieve things with half the effort.”
Xia Fei was quite surprised to learn that every single brick used in Crow City contained Origin Crystals! A castle that cost a million grade 3 Origin Crystals to build? It looked like the original owner of this place had had wealth that triumphed over what a nation would hoard.
This was when the Fiend’s Bloodcry could be heard once more, and Xia Fei could hear it even more distinctly while standing in the great hall. The mournful wail let out pierced right into his heart.
He used his mental energy to resist this call, all the while keeping a placid expression. It was not possible to tell if there was anything off with him.
A man in his fifties approached from a faraway darkened hallway as he clapped his hands, moving closer toward Xia Fei and Yu Jiang until he reached their side, saying, “This must be Xia Fei, whose name has been becoming rather famous in the clan, huh? He sure lives up to expectations; the great hall of Crow City is where the Fiend’s Bloodcry will be at its most intense, yet he’s actually able to stand here looking completely unaffected by it. Brother Xia Fei sure has quite the tenacity!”
Bowing to Family Patriarch Yu Jiang, the man laughed. “I am the head administrator here in Crow City, Yu Peng. Good day to you both, Patriarch Yu and Brother Xia.”
Returning the greeting, Xia Fei took the opportunity to inspect the man closely. He noticed that Yu Peng looked very similar to the man Yu Jin whom he had met before; both were short and muscular, like a halved tower of dark metal, his triangular eyes shining with brilliance.
However, the difference was that Yu Peng carried an affable smile on his face, looking to be a lot friendlier than Yu Jin. His tone was very easy-going as well. Different from Yu Jin, his aura of killing intent permeated even as he walked.
“Yu Peng has been supervising Crow City for thirteen years already and is very experienced. If you have anything you need, feel free to look for him,” Yu Jiang said.
Yu Peng patted Xia Fei on his back and nodded. “The old patriarch has told me to spare no cost in order to let you join the coming Dragon Ascension Conclave! Just in grade 4 Origin Crystal alone, I’ve already prepared a hundred for you. You may retrieve them for use whenever. Plus, the biggest and best cultivation chamber has been booked so that you can be the sole user of its facilities.”
Xia Fei thanked him profusely. A hundred grade 4 Origin Crystals! That was indeed a large sum. It seemed that the Dragon Ascension Conclave was very important to the Yu family. Despite how big the Yu family was, with a population that reached a million, the days in the clan were not exactly filled with abundance. To provide Xia Fei with a hundred grade 4 Origin Crystals at one go just showed the great determination Patriarch Yu Jiang had for this matter.
Looking over, Yu Peng suddenly said to Yu Jiang, “Patriarch, since Brother Xia Fei has shown such great tenacity, why don’t we bring him to the cells for a visit? In recent years, only three Law Adepts with level 9 cultivation were able to withstand the pressure from the Fiend’s Cell. The first being yourself, the second Yu Hua, and the third Yu Xiaobei. Perhaps Brother Xia Fei can be the fourth!”
Yu Jiang smiled as he stroked his long goatee. “That is indeed a possibility. Why don’t we give it a shot?”
With that said, Yu Jiang turned to Xa Fei and solemnly said, “It’s fine if you can withstand it, but don’t force yourself if you can’t. Though we managed to withstand the pressure, it’s only after we managed to accustom ourselves to the call, not the moment we arrived here in the city like you right now.”
Xia Fei nodded. He had plenty of experience of being jailed in this lifetime. He first stepped into space as a result of being imprisoned, but this was the first time Xia Fei had heard of anything like the Fiend’s Cell.
Next to the great hall was a secret passageway, and after pushing away a thick wall, they traveled down a long and dark corridor.
Yu Peng continued to provide an introduction to the place as they moved forward. “This secret passageway has been discovered a long long time ago, leading straight to the castle’s dungeon. The Fiend’s Bloodcry there is incomparably tremendous, and thus it’s called the Fiend’s Cell.”
“In the millions of years after, countless people have tried to uncover where this strange cry is coming from, only to be met with failure. There’s even an ex-patriarch who was found inexplicably dead in the dungeon.”
Xia Fei frowned. As the corridor went deeper, that mournful wail became clearer, and Xia Fei had to use even greater mental energy just to keep it at bay.
This mysterious sound was not deterring Xia Fei in the slightest; instead, it stirred an intense desire to resist inside him. Not just Xia Fei, even Peacock Blue and Furball were keen to meet their mettle. Xia Fei would time and again mollify the two, getting them to settle down.
A dark red door, which reached over five meters, stood before them. On it was a head, a sculpted head of a savage fiend. Both its eyes were encrusted with a blood red jewel, very similar to the eyes of the crows out in the swamp.
Standing in front of the door, Yu Peng undid the heavy chain and stuck a key into the keyhole.
“Are you ready? Behind the door is the dungeon, and that is where the Fiend’s Bloodcry originate from. It’s not too late for you to have regrets,” Yu Peng announced in a somber voice.
Xia Fei firmly nodded his head, expressing his intention of taking a look inside.
With a push with Yu Peng’s one arm, he pulled open the metal door!
Instantaneously!
A desolate and sharp roar blasted out, and Xia Fei momentarily felt dizzy!
