Zhenbei City, the Mysterious Junior Sister

At dawn,

Shen Yunshu woke up from her dream and saw her senior sister sitting by the fire, her back to her. She immediately felt a little embarrassed.

Last night, we were supposed to take turns keeping watch, but she overslept. She had just escaped a hellish place and was a little too relaxed.

In fact, it wasn't just Shen Yunshu who was like this; Liu Mei also didn't get up last night. These two girls hadn't had a good night's sleep in Qingfeng Temple, and their minds were always on guard.

Now that I've left Qingfeng Temple, the tension that had been building up for so long suddenly eased, and I couldn't control myself, falling into a deep, restless sleep.

Yu Zhao understood them, so she didn't wake them up. Since the two girls called her "Senior Sister," it was only right that she take care of them in such a small matter.

But while understanding is important, education is still necessary.

Seeing that they had woken up, Yu Zhao said slowly, "This is the last time. You must not be so careless in the future. The path of cultivation is fraught with danger at every step. You must always be vigilant."

The two women understood that this was the wise advice of an elder, so they obediently bowed and then carefully cleaned up the traces. After a while, the three women left the dilapidated temple.

They headed in the direction of Zhenbei City, as Shen Yunshu had indicated.

Two thousand miles is a long distance for ordinary people in this ancient context, but it is not considered long for Qi Refining cultivators like Yu Zhao.

If it were Yu Zhao on his own, he could arrive in an hour, but because of Shen Yunshu and Liu Mei, both low-level Qi Refining cultivators, the speed was much slower.

Shen Yunshu was only at the first level of Qi Refining, and Liu Mei was only at the third level of Qi Refining. They were both quite fragile and naturally could not withstand the tearing force brought about by high-speed flight.

After half a day, around noon, the three women finally arrived at the east gate of Zhenbei City.

There was a long queue in front of the city gate; many people wanted to enter the city.

The crowd included both mortals and cultivators, and Yu Zhao even sensed several auras among them that were no weaker than Qingfeng Laodeng's.

In other words, there are several Foundation Establishment Ancestors among the crowd!

In Qingfeng Town, a Foundation Establishment cultivator can be called an ancestor and act with impunity, but here, even Foundation Establishment cultivators have to obediently queue up to enter the city.

Is this the essence of a great city?

What surprised Yu Zhao was not only that, but also that the city wall of Zhenbei City was very majestic, so majestic that it seemed to reach straight into the sky.

Yu Zhao probed with her divine sense and "saw" a statue hanging on the towering city gate tower. It was a phoenix with bloodshot eyes.

As soon as their divine senses met, Yu Zhao felt a pang of fear and quickly withdrew them.

He exclaimed inwardly:

"What kind of being is it?"

This Zhenbei City is far more unfathomable than she imagined!

While waiting in line, Yu Zhao asked Shen Yunshu beside her, "Junior Sister, how much do you know about Zhenbei City?"

Shen Yunshu was lost in thought when she heard Yu Zhao's voice. She didn't react for a moment and looked over blankly, "Senior sister, what did you just say?"

"Senior Sister asked you how much you know about Zhenbei City," Liu Mei added from the side, placing her slender hand on Shen Yunshu's shoulder and leaning closer with a playful expression.

"Junior Sister, you've been acting strangely ever since you saw Zhenbei City. What's wrong? Is this your hometown?"

"Sixth Senior Sister, please don't make fun of your little sister."

Shen Yunshu silently took a step back, dodging the claws that were trying to cause trouble, and looked at Yu Zhao, saying:

"Replying to Senior Sister, I have limited knowledge of Zhenbei City. I only know that Zhenbei City is a military town, ruled by Zhenbei King Shen Qingcang, and there are five major forces in the city."

Besides the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, the other four major forces are the Shen Family, the Dongyang Sword Sect, the Luoyue Sect, and the Holy God Sect. As far as I know, all five forces have Golden Core cultivators in charge, with the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion being the most powerful. It is rumored that the Zhenbei Prince may have already entered the Nascent Soul realm!

They chose this place because it was a dangerous place, and their master, who was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, would naturally not dare to act recklessly in Zhenbei City.

Hearing Shen Yunshu's words, not to mention Liu Mei, even Yu Zhao was greatly shocked.

Golden Core cultivators and Nascent Soul experts, how powerful must they be?

They couldn't imagine it.

Thinking of this, Yu Zhao became even more vigilant and whispered a warning to the two girls, "After entering the city, you must keep a low profile. Junior sister, your appearance is too eye-catching. Try to make yourself a little uglier. Also, don't call your senior sister Liu 'sixth senior sister' anymore. Call her 'second senior sister' instead."

Remember this: our master is a rogue cultivator, and there are only three of us disciples.

The two girls obediently listened, but Shen Yunshu was very dissatisfied with her senior sister's statement that she was eye-catching. She thought to herself, "It's obvious that you are the most eye-catching, senior sister."

Little did she know that Yu Zhao wasn't referring to her appearance, but rather to her strange charm.

Junior Sister Shen Yunshu's charm is outrageous. Regardless of gender, everyone will have a good first impression of her, and over time it will develop into liking her.

She gets the treatment typical of a female protagonist in a female-oriented novel.

This charm is a double-edged sword; it may bring trouble, but it may also bring opportunities.

Therefore, Yu Zhao was both afraid and fond of her. After explaining things to the two women, she thought of other issues and asked Shen Yunshu:

"You just said that the Prince of Zhenbei's surname is Shen. Is he related to that Shen family?"

"Yes, the Prince of Zhenbei comes from the Shen family, but for some reason, the Prince of Zhenbei and the Shen family fell out. Therefore, the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion and the Shen family are hostile forces. Although they have never directly fought each other, they are like oil and water."

"Oh?" Before Yu Zhao could say anything, Liu Mei became interested and spoke first. She stared at Shen Yunshu with a playful look in her eyes, a smile playing on her lips:

"Junior Sister, you also have the surname Shen. Are you related to the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion or the Shen family?"

"No, Shen isn't a very rare surname; it's just a coincidence."

Liu Mei and Yu Zhao didn't believe this claim at all; it would be a miracle if their junior sister had no connection with these two forces.

Seeing that the other party seemed unwilling to say more and stubbornly refused to admit it, the two women did not press the matter. Liu Mei then said, half-jokingly and half-seriously:

"I think it's possible. The three of us weak women need the protection of a powerful force. Junior Sister, why don't you sacrifice yourself and go to the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion or the Shen family to establish a kinship?"

Liu Mei's words were mostly a joke. She knew that her junior sister must have some kind of relationship with these two parties, but her junior sister's silence must be due to some unspeakable reason.

She would never force someone to do something they didn't want to do.

But after she spoke, she noticed that her junior sister looked thoughtful, as if she was really considering it. Liu Mei quickly spoke up:

"Junior Sister, I was just joking. Don't take it seriously. We can't afford to provoke such a force. Besides, even if we succeed, we'll probably lose our freedom. We finally escaped one dangerous situation, and I don't want to fall into another."

Whether it's the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion or the Shen family, they are essentially families. Once you join such a power, especially through kinship ties, you will inevitably have to prioritize the interests of your family in the future.

Liu Mei didn't want things to turn out this way. Having family protection was good, but the same goes for the family; once they provided protection, they would inevitably demand it back in double measure.

Liu Mei understood this principle, and Yu Zhao was also aware of it, but Shen Yunshu clearly had a different opinion.

However, she didn't say anything at the moment, but was just thinking about it in her mind.

"Let's go into the city first, we can talk about other things after we get there."

As they talked, Yu Zhao led the two women forward. By the time they finished talking, it was almost their turn in the queue.

Not long after, Yu Zhao arrived in front of the city guards. One of the guards was writing something down with a brush. When he saw Yu Zhao and his companions, a look of surprise flashed across his eyes.

Amazed by the beauty of the three women.

I was also surprised by their temperament: one was as aloof as a fairy from the heavens, one was charming and beautiful, and the other had a heroic and domineering air about her.

Yes, the heroic spirit and domineering aura refer to Yu Zhao. Yu Zhao has the soul of a man, so naturally, his eyebrows and eyes have acquired the heroic spirit of a man.

In addition, she is serious and unsmiling on the surface, and the cultivation method she practices is moderate and peaceful, which makes her temperament very elegant and upright. She gives people the feeling that she is a righteous person at first glance.

As for what's inside, that's another matter.

Seeing their distinguished bearing, the gatekeepers unconsciously looked at them with more respect and their tone of voice became much more polite.

"Where do the three fairies come from? What brings them to Zhenbei City?"

"Reporting to General Yu," Yu Zhao stepped forward, clasped her hands in a salute, and said, "My two sisters and I have been cultivating in the mountains with our master. This time, we came down the mountain to travel the world. When we passed by your esteemed place and saw its magnificent scenery, we were filled with longing and wished to visit the city."

As he spoke, Yu Zhao discreetly handed the interrogating soldier a storage bag containing a dozen low-grade spirit stones and some gold and silver.

This storage bag, along with the spirit stones and gold and silver inside, were the belongings of a certain senior brother. After that senior brother was refined into a pill by the master, these low-grade spirit stones and gold and silver naturally did not catch the master's eye, so they were given to Yu Zhao.

Now that it's been given away, it's a good use of resources. Don't be fooled by Yu Zhao's seemingly generous gesture; he's actually quite heartbroken inside.

He muttered to himself, "You bastard, you actually dared to take that job? Just you wait, I'll make you pay me back with interest sooner or later."

Seeing how sensible and refined this girl was, the city guard couldn't help but grin, admiring her even more. His face beamed with joy.

"Our Zhenbei City is indeed very nice. May I ask what your name is, fairy? If you wish to stay permanently, I can issue you a household registration. With a household registration, you will be a citizen under the Prince's rule, which will save you a lot of trouble."

Seeing how polite the girl was, he felt a surge of kindness and thought that if the three beautiful girls didn't have household registration, they would probably face a lot of trouble in the city.

"Thank you for troubling me, sir. My name is Yu Zhao, and these two are my junior sisters, Liu Mei and Shen Yunshu."

Judging from what the officers and soldiers were saying, this household registration had a life-saving effect in the city, so naturally they had to open it.

I got three household registrations in exchange for a little spirit stone and gold and silver. It's a good deal.

I'll let you off the hook for now.

The city guard was completely unaware that his momentary act of kindness had pulled him back from the brink of death.

Otherwise, given Yu Zhao's vengeful and petty nature, she would find an opportunity to kill this guy sooner or later.

Soon, the three household registration forms were completed. Yu Zhao had thought the form would be a piece of paper, but it turned out to be a jade tablet with information such as name and place of origin engraved on it.

Yu Zhao sensed spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from the jade tablet. She felt that the jade tablet was not just a simple household registration certificate, but seemed to be a magical artifact in itself.

Is the Prince of Zhenbei really that wealthy and powerful?

After playing with it for a while, Yu Zhao put it away, bid farewell to the city guard, and led the two women into the city.

The city was much larger than she had imagined. Yu Zhao felt that the area of ​​Zhenbei City was comparable to a large city in her previous life.

The city streets are wide and lined with shops, some selling mundane items and others selling what cultivators need.

The coexistence of immortals and mortals was something Yu Zhao didn't quite understand. The gap between mortals and cultivators was too great. Even a cultivator at the first level of Qi Refining could kill a group of mortals with a wave of his hand.

Even if this mortal cultivates martial arts, it's the same.

With such a scene of immortals and mortals living together, wouldn't the King of Zhenbei be afraid that one day a cultivator would lose control and cause a bloodbath in the city?

Or does the King of Zhenbei have some method to control cultivators, or protect mortals?

Yu Zhao couldn't figure it out, so she decided to ask directly. She asked Shen Yunshu, who was beside her:

"Junior Sister, aren't you afraid something might happen in this city where immortals and mortals live together?"

Those who have practiced cultivation know all too well how destructive a cultivator can be.

Liu Mei was also very curious about this question, and she looked at Shen Yunshu expectantly.

Shen Yunshu actually knew the answer to this question. She took out the household registration certificate and showed it to the two of them. "Senior Sister, Senior Sister Liu, look at this household registration jade tablet. It is actually a magic artifact with an array on it."

In Zhenbei City, countless household registration jade tablets formed a large array, which severely weakened the power of cultivators' spells.

Moreover, this household registration jade tablet can lock onto a target. If any cultivator dares to kill someone indiscriminately, the deceased's household registration jade tablet will turn into a mark, locking onto the murderer.

Under the watchful eye of the King of Zhenbei, it's difficult to escape the city. Therefore, Zhenbei City is actually quite safe, and even Golden Core cultivators dare not casually harm anyone.

Yu Zhao was quite surprised. This Prince Zhenbei was truly generous. She became increasingly interested in this Prince Zhenbei and wanted to see what kind of powerful person he was.

To be able to govern Zhenbei City so well and to force all cultivators to behave obediently... this person is probably a ruthless and ambitious figure waiting for the right time to act!

However, this has nothing to do with Yu Zhao. She is just a minor cultivator in the Qi Refining Realm, still struggling to survive. It is difficult for her to meet such important figures, and she cannot fathom what these important figures might be planning.

While listening to Shen Yunshu recount the local customs and culture of Zhenbei City, the three women strolled along the streets, searching for a place to stay.

Shen Yunshu's understanding of Zhenbei City far exceeded what she claimed to know. The more Yu Zhao listened, the more she felt that this girl was from Zhenbei City.

How can someone who isn't a local know so much?

However, another question immediately arose: if she was born in Zhenbei City, how did Qingfeng Laodeng bring her to Qingfeng Temple?

In this Zhenbei City, Old Deng, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, is no match for her. Judging from Junior Sister's knowledgeable demeanor, she doesn't seem like someone who can be fooled by Old Deng.

The more Yu Zhao looked at her junior sister, the more she felt that she had many secrets. Was it really appropriate to keep someone with so many secrets by her side?

Yu Zhao somewhat regretted bringing this girl along; people with many secrets often have more potential troubles.