A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

After that brief conversation, the group continued onward in silence, and only after walking for several thousand more feet did the wind gradually begin to subside.

At the same time, the giant shadow that Han Li had spotted in the distance earlier was revealed to be a pair of black mountains that were situated right next to each other.

The mountains were riddled with pits and craters, all of which were the result of wind erosion.

There was a massive canyon nestled in between the two mountains, and at the center of the canyon was a black fortress that was thousands of feet tall.

The fortress was quite rugged in appearance, with three huge forts up above, while down below were the tall and sturdy black city walls.

Inside the canyon, all of the wind was kept out by the mountains and the fortress, so the conditions were far more forgiving.

Upon arriving at the gates of the fortress, Chen Yang removed the cloth from his face and shook off the sand in his clothes before making his way over to a stone platform outside the gates, then slammed a hand down onto a large gong hanging above the platform.

After the gong was struck, an opening suddenly appeared above the fortress gates, and several figures peeked out of the opening before someone yelled, "Open the gates, Captain Chen Yang's back."

This was followed by a burst of rumbling and some mechanical clicking, and the black fortress gates slowly opened inward.

The group entered the fortress, following which the stone gates swung shut behind them.

Upon entering the fortress, Han Li immediately discovered that the interior was quite different from what he had imagined.

The area inside the fortress was quite large, several thousand feet in size, and there was a giant brazier hanging on the walls every few dozen feet. Some type of beast fat was being burned in the braziers, and it wasn't giving off any smoke, but it did release a faint rank odor.

Significant parts of the fortress's interior was taken up by all types of gears and mechanical structures, and at the center of the fortress were three giant stone pillars around each of which was a winding stone staircase that led to the three forts up above.

There were quite a few people in the fortress, all of whom were busy carrying out various tasks, and Chen Yang's subordinates were leading various types of beasts toward the right side of the fortress, while Chen Yang and Han Li's trio remained standing in the hall.

Before long, they were approached by two crimson-robed scribes, each of whom was holding a thick book in one hand and a brush dipped in red ink in the other.

Chen Yang seemed to be very familiar with these two, and one of them, a round-faced man with a small horn on his glabella, smiled and remarked, "It looks like you made quite a bountiful trip, Captain Chen Yang."

"Indeed, we were very fortunate not to have come back empty-handed"

The other scribe was a man with long ears and a square face, and there was a cold look on his face as he took a glance at Han Li's trio before asking, "What category do these three fall into?"

A slightly awkward look appeared on Chen Yang's face as he replied, "They're guests of mine, and they wish to join our Green Goat City. As for which category they fall into, that'll have to be decided when I meet with the city lord."

"I'm afraid that's inappropriate, Captain Chen Yang. According to the rules, newcomers must be categorized as soon as they enter the city," the square-faced scribe said as his brows furrowed slightly.

The other scribe hurriedly began playing the role of mediator, tugging on his colleague's sleeve as he said, "Surely we can trust Captain Chen Yang. He's one of the city lord's most trusted hunting captains, and it's not like he's outright refusing to categorize these three newcomers, so let's just wait until he meets the city lord."

The square-faced scribe hesitated momentarily upon hearing this, then nodded in response.

"I suppose it can't hurt."

A grateful smile appeared on Chen Yang's face as he said, "You have my thanks. I'll have to trouble the two of you to tally the spoils of our hunting trip, please accept these as a small gift."

He reached out and subtly handed the two scribes a pair of beast cores as he spoke, an offering that the two scribed naturally gladly accepted.

Following their departure, Chen Yang turned to Han Li's trio as he said, "I have to go and meet with the city lord later, so I'll arrange a place for the three of you to stay first."

"Who were those two?" Han Li asked.

"They're the two scribes of our Green Goat City, and they're responsible for tallying the spoils from hunting trips and registering newcomers," Chen Yang replied.

"What are the categories that he was talking about?" Han Li asked.

"There are two categories that all newcomers fall into upon arriving in our city, namely acquired citizens and defected citizens. Acquired citizens are higher in status, able to join the city guards or hunting parties, and they'll also receive more resources, whereas defected citizens are lower in status and can only serve as manual laborers and receive lesser resources," Chen Yang explained.

"These categories are used to determine the social hierarchy, right?" Han Li asked.

"Come with me, I'll tell you more about it as we walk," Chen Yang said with a smile, then began to lead the way toward the left side of the fortress.

Han Li and Shi Chuankong exchanged a glance with each other before following along.

"According to the rules of our city, all newcomers must undergo an appraisal before being registered, following which roles will be arranged. However, I've seen your power with my own eyes, so I wanted to request the city lord to skip that process and have the two of you become my subordinates. I'm assuming the two of you would prefer to stay together, right?" Chen Yang asked.

"Isn't that against the rules?" Shi Chuankong asked.

"Rules are made by people, are they not? If I follow the regular procedure, only for the two of you to be assigned elsewhere, then I'll be kicking myself. Having said that, as for whether you'll be undergoing an appraisal, that'll be up to the city lord," Chen Yang said.

Han Li nodded in response.

"With your powers, I don't think it'll take very long at all before both of you become captains of new hunting parties. When that time comes, I hope you won't forget about me," Chen Yang chuckled.

As the conversation continued, the four of them passed through three stone archways to arrive before a cave that had been carved into a mountain.

Only then did Han Li discover that Green Goat City had actually been constructed within artificial cavities inside the two mountains.

Directly across from the cave was a humanoid stone statue, the subject of which resembled a human with no devilish features, but their facial features were very blurry and indistinct.

"Is this a statue of the city lord?" Han Li asked.

"No. This is an extremely old statue, even older than Green Goat City, and even our city lord doesn't know who created this statue. Perhaps only City Lord E Kuai of Profound City knows how this statue came into existence," Chen Yang replied.

"I see," Han Li said.

"The left peak of Green Goat City is split up into four levels. The level we're on right now is the refinement level, and it's where all of the city's armor and weapons are produced, as well as all of our pills are refined. Most of the armor and pills that are produced go straight to the city lord for him to distribute as he sees fit, while only a small portion are released to be sold in the few shops in the city," Chen Yang introduced.

"What about the other levels?" Shi Chuankong asked.

"The level above this one is where the defected citizens reside, while the level above that one is where the acquired citizens live, and the top level is where the city lord's manor is situated. You can take a rest in my manor while I go to see the city lord," Chen Yang replied.

After that, Chen Yang led Han Li's trio on a brief tour of the bottom level, then led them up a spiral staircase to the third level.

This level was far smaller than the bottom level, and it was also clearly less populated. There was a wide road that stretched into the heart of the level, and the road was lined with entrances to cave abodes.

Chen Yang's cave abode was situated near the middle of the path, and it was one of the better and more spacious cave abodes in the area.

Han Li's trio followed Chen Yang into the cave abode, upon which they were immediately greeted by a woman and three men.

Among them, the three men were dressed in servant attire, while the woman's clothes were also a drab gray color, but they had been tailored to fit her extremely well and perfectly accentuate her curves.

However, her looks could only be described as ordinary, and she was not particularly beautiful.

"These are also technically defected citizens, but they're also my personal property. If you're interested, you can have some fun with this maidservant of mine. Women are a precious resource here, and not everyone gets to have one," Chen Yang said in a direct and straightforward manner.

"I'm a little weary from our journey, so I think I'll take a rest first," Han Li replied, turning down the offer in a tactful manner.

"In that case, you can go and make yourselves at home in the guest rooms while I go and meet with the city lord," Chen Yang said.

He then turned to the four servants and instructed, "Make sure to look after my guests well."

After that, he departed from the cave abode.

The woman stepped forward and extended a slight curtsey, then led Han Li's trio down a passageway to the guest rooms in the cave abode.

Following her departure, both Shi Chuankong and Daoist Xie left their guest rooms to gather in Han Li's room.

After the door was closed, the three of them sat down around a stone table.