Cultivation of immortality begins with an eighty-year-old eunuch.

Chapter 544 Valley of Ten Thousand Demons! The Imperial City!

"It's acceptable." Chen Fan walked to the railing and looked ahead.

At the edge of the sea of ​​clouds, a long, dark outline is faintly visible.

It was a majestic mountain range stretching between heaven and earth, its steep slopes as if carved by a knife and axe, its peaks piercing the clouds, their summits covered in snow, gleaming with a golden-red light in the setting sun.

"That's the Tianduan Mountain Range," Han Yueshan said, pointing to the mountain range. "Once you cross the Tianduan Mountain Range, you'll reach the territory of the Great Yu Imperial City. At the speed of the Cloud Piercing Boat, we can arrive at the Imperial City by noon tomorrow."

Qin Dao interjected, "City Lord, I heard that the rules for this year's national competition are somewhat different from previous years?"

Han Yueshan nodded, his expression slightly grave: "It is indeed different. According to news from the imperial court, this year's national competition for the Nascent Soul group will no longer use a one-on-one arena elimination system. Instead, all participants will be placed in a secret realm with a seven-day period to be ranked based on their points for hunting demonic beasts."

"A secret realm?" Qin Dao was taken aback. "What kind of secret realm?"

"The Royal Hunting Grounds, the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons," Han Yueshan said slowly. "That's where the Great Yu royal family keeps demonic beasts. It covers thousands of miles and contains no fewer than a hundred Nascent Soul level demonic beasts, and even a few Deity Transformation level demon kings. Participants enter to hunt demonic beasts and earn points, and are ultimately ranked according to their points."

Qin Dao gasped, "A Nascent Soul level demon king? Isn't this sending the candidates to their deaths?"

"The activity area of ​​a Nascent Soul level demon king is in the deepest part of the Ten Thousand Demon Valley, isolated by restrictions set up by the royal family. They won't easily venture to the outer perimeter." Han Yueshan shook his head. "Of course, if someone is foolish enough to deliberately trespass into the depths of the restrictions, they are courting death and have no one to blame but themselves. In every national competition, there have always been a few reckless cultivators who, overconfident in their strength, challenged demon kings, only to become food for demon beasts."

"Fellow Daoist Chen, the secret realm competition is completely different from the arena competition. On the arena, victory or defeat is determined by strength. In the secret realm, besides demonic beasts, you must also be wary of other participants. In every national competition, many cultivators have not died at the hands of demonic beasts, but rather from the machinations of fellow humans. Although your strength is considerable, you must be extra careful when you arrive at the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons."

Chen Fan nodded without saying anything more.

Han Yueshan continued, "The competition format for the disciple group is also different. The disciple group will no longer have a separate competition, but will enter the Ten Thousand Demon Valley as attendants of Nascent Soul cultivators. Each Nascent Soul participant can bring two disciples into the valley, and the points earned from hunting demonic beasts can be shared with the accompanying disciples. In this way, the ranking of the disciple group will be directly linked to the performance of the Nascent Soul group."

Qin Dao scratched his head: "Doesn't that mean the stronger a Nascent Soul cultivator is, the higher the ranking of their disciples?"

"Exactly." Han Yueshan nodded. "Therefore, when allocating the number of accompanying disciples, each prefecture will prioritize assigning the strongest disciples to the strongest Nascent Soul cultivators. On the list I showed you earlier, the names of accompanying disciples were marked after each Nascent Soul candidate. Fellow Daoist Chen, although you were selected as the top disciple, since you are also a guest elder of the City Lord's Mansion, you are entitled to choose your own accompanying Nascent Soul cultivator according to the rules. My suggestion is that you come with me into the valley."

Chen Fan pondered for a moment, then nodded.

Zhuo Ma Han Yueshan's cultivation was at the peak of the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. Although he was not the top among the Nascent Soul candidates in the thirty-six prefectures, he was by no means a weakling.

More importantly, as the city lord of Huangzhou City, Han Yueshan's understanding of Wan Yao Valley far surpasses that of ordinary candidates.

Following him into the valley will be greatly beneficial, both in terms of gaining points and avoiding danger.

"Then it's settled." Han Yueshan smiled slightly, then looked at Qin Dao, "Deputy General Qin, you have served me for many years, so you will also enter the valley this time."

Qin Dao clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your subordinate obeys."

The spirit boat continued its journey forward.

The outline of the Tianduan Mountains became clearer and clearer, and the snow on the peaks shimmered silvery-white in the moonlight.

As the Cloud Piercing Boat flew over the mountain range, its hull trembled slightly, caused by the turbulent airflow above the mountains.

In just a short while, the spirit boat passed through the airflow layer and regained its stability.

After crossing the Tianduan Mountains, the scenery suddenly opened up before us.

It was a vast plain, crisscrossed by a dense network of rivers, a fertile land stretching for miles.

In the center of the plain, a majestic city rises from the ground, its walls over a hundred feet high, constructed entirely of white jade, gleaming softly in the moonlight.

At each of the four corners of the city wall stood a tall tower, with huge spirit stones floating atop them, emitting a faint spiritual light that enveloped the entire city in a transparent protective shield.

The Imperial City of Yu the Great.

Even from hundreds of miles away, one could feel the immense power emanating from that city.

That wasn't the aura of any one person, but rather the accumulated foundation of the entire city over thousands of years!

It is the result of countless layers of formations and the intertwining and fusion of the auras of countless cultivators, ultimately forming the majesty unique to this imperial city.

The cloud-piercing boat slowly descended and flew towards the imperial city.

As they got closer, the details of the imperial city became clearer.

The array patterns on the city wall were densely packed, each one more than ten times more complex than the defensive array patterns of the Desolate Continent City.

The city's buildings stand side by side, with palaces and pavilions arranged in a harmonious and orderly manner. The magnificent imperial palace at the very center is particularly imposing, its golden roof gleaming under the moonlight.

A huge post station was set up dozens of miles outside the city.

Dozens of spirit boats of various sizes were moored in the post station, each one ornately decorated and bearing the insignia of various prefectures.

Clearly, candidates from other states had already arrived.

The cloud-piercing boat slowly descended at the edge of the post station.

As soon as the boat came to a stop, a squad of guards in black armor came to greet it.

The leader was a captain at the mid-stage of Core Formation. He glanced at the flags on the Cloud Piercing Ship, then bowed expressionlessly and said:

"Lord Han of Huangzhou City, please follow me to the post station to rest. The national competition will officially begin in ten days, and someone will come to inform you at that time."

Han Yueshan nodded and led everyone off the spirit boat.

The post station's inns covered a vast area, with each of the thirty-six prefectures' candidates assigned a separate courtyard.

The courtyard assigned to Huangzhou was in the most remote corner. It was quite large, but the location was so remote that even the guards patrolling the post station rarely passed by.

Qin Dao looked at the crooked courtyard gate and his lips twitched: "The last seat again."

Han Yueshan didn't care and pushed open the courtyard gate to go inside:

"There are advantages to sitting at the back; at least it's quiet. People from other prefectures are crammed into the central courtyard, constantly bumping into each other, inevitably leading to infighting. Living in the back is much less troublesome for us."

Chen Fan wholeheartedly agreed.

Everyone chose a room to rest.

Chen Fan's assigned room was on the west side, and outside the window was a desolate bamboo forest with withered and yellow bamboo leaves, clearly indicating that no one had taken care of it for a long time.

He closed the door, sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, but did not rush to cultivate. Instead, he quietly spread out his divine sense.