Qin Chuan had heard of many city names, such as White Tiger City, Qilin City, and Azure Dragon City, but they were generally names of auspicious creatures or mythical beasts.
It was very rare to find a city named after such a ferocious beast. For example, there were some cities on the continent whose names alone were unsettling, like Devil City.
Actually, it wasn't anything special; for example, Taotie City sounded quite imposing, but city names weren't chosen arbitrarily.
Therefore, Taotie City might have some connection to the Taotie, some historical allusion, or something similar to it.
The name was easy to remember, so Qin Chuan didn't think too much about it. He decided to explore first, perhaps visiting the Tower of Babel later, and then continue searching for information about the Nine Heavens Mystic Goddess Palace or the Nine Heavens Demoness Cloud Palace.
The two found a carriage.
"Where are you two going?" the driver asked with a smile.
The carriage was quite luxurious. Qin Chuan thought for a moment and said, "The most famous place in Taotie City."
"Alright!"
Qin Chuan didn't know what the most famous place was, but the driver did. Besides, they were going somewhere anyway, so Qin Chuan wasn't particular.
Wherever they went was fine.
When they arrived, Qin Chuan realized where he was.
The Taotie Temple!
This was the most famous place in Taotie City. The overall shape of the temple was a gigantic Taotie, and even now, the material it was made of was unknown.
Magnificent and spectacular!
No wonder it was called Taotie City; now he finally understood. The name of this city was truly fitting. Seeing the temple gave Qin Chuan a certain feeling about Taotie City.
This city wasn't an ordinary city. Also, the faction of this city was probably not the righteous path…
Factions exist everywhere. Qin Chuan had encountered them before. Good and evil cannot coexist; where there is good, there is evil. Factions exist invisibly, driven by interests and human nature.
Just as where there are people, there is conflict and strife.
Even the concepts of good and evil aren't absolute; some reform and return to the righteous path, while others fall into demonic ways, willingly becoming demons.
The Taotie is a ferocious beast, belonging to the Demonic Cube faction in ancient times, thus symbolizing that the Taotie City's faction is also the Demonic Cube.
At this level, factions are not inherently good or bad, nor are they fundamentally defined. It's just that the demonic path takes shortcuts, and shortcuts often involve actions against the natural order.
Take cultivation, for example; some people need a hundred female infants to master a single technique—this is considered a heretical path.
Good and evil are judged to a certain extent in this way, along with the human heart. The righteous path is based on righteousness; outwardly, one cannot engage in acts of murder, arson, or robbery for personal gain.
At least outwardly.
Even explicit rules forbid it. Even if done secretly, one's character is severely damaged, and one is ostracized by the world. This is the gain and loss of a righteous person.
The demonic path is different; one doesn't need to worry about so many things and can use any means necessary because it's the way one's identity dictates, and it's a choice.
Human nature is inherently good, and human nature is inherently evil. In the blink of an eye, there are many righteous people who wear the mask of hypocrisy.
Some people are on the demonic path, yet they do truly great good, because great good appears as evil.
Qin Chuan doesn't care too much about factions. For example, Chu Shiqing and the others are in the Nine Heavens Mystic Goddess Palace, which is considered the righteous faction.
But the Demon Lord is in the Nine Heavens Demoness Cloud Palace, which is an opposing force to the Nine Heavens Mystic Goddess Palace, so in a sense, he should be
considered on the demonic side. He will definitely have to face them in the future.
Thinking of them, Qin Chuan feels a little impatient to meet them.
He can't enter the Taotie Temple; he can only watch from a distance. Because the Taotie Temple is very large, it's best to watch it from afar; it's very impressive.
After standing there for a while, Qin Chuan noticed a problem.
A little of his essence and spirit was absorbed, but he wasn't greatly affected, just a little tired.
Hmm, interesting.
No wonder they don't restrict people from coming to watch; it turns out it's to absorb essence and spirit.
The drained essence and spirit won't actually have much of an impact; it can be recovered in a few days of recuperation. This is truly the style of the demonic path.
There are cultivators in this Taotie Temple; these people are likely the actual controllers of Taotie City.
Interesting!
Perhaps it's worth making contact with these people; maybe we can get some information about the level of existence of the Nine Heavens Mystic Goddess Temple from them.
Yu Qing also frowned slightly, looking towards the Taotie Temple. Qin Chuan could tell from Yu Qing's expression that she had figured something out.
Just then, an aura fluctuated, and two people walked towards them.
Qin Chuan frowned slightly; these two people possessed powerful auras, their eyes sharp as eagles, and they walked towards Yu Qing with a hint of arrogance.
Qin Chuan felt that something might be about to happen today.
The two men weren't particularly handsome, but they were incredibly strong. Looking at Yu Qing, their eyes gleamed. Qin Chuan shook his head helplessly; there's a reason why beautiful women are considered a source of trouble and misfortune.
Beautiful women are always fought over, that's profit, that's selfishness, that's the relationship between selfishness and power.
"Gentlemen, our Palace Master invites you," said the middle-aged man on the left, the one with the scar on his cheek.
"Why invite us?" Qin Chuan asked.
"Fate," the man uttered simply.
"Can we not go?" Qin Chuan asked.
"No!" the man replied without batting an eye.
"What if we don't go?" Qin Chuan asked, narrowing his eyes.
"You can try," the man smiled, a cold laugh.
Evil Temple, evil forces, evil sects.
"No one can stop me from going," Qin Chuan said with a smile.
Qin Chuan naturally didn't intend to go in. Who knew if there were traps inside? If he were to capsize, he'd have nowhere to cry.
This was the Nine Heavens Land—he didn't know exactly where in the Nine Heavens Land, but since this place belonged to the Nine Heavens Land, it was full of infinite possibilities.
"That's not up to you," the man said, reaching out towards Qin Chuan's shoulder.
Qin Chuan raised his hand, meeting the man's hand.
The man didn't dodge.
*Snap!
* Their hands met in the middle with a loud, crisp sound, as if bones were shattering.
And indeed, it was the sound of bones breaking.
Of course, it wasn't Qin Chuan's hand that broke.
The man heard the sound of bones cracking, but instead smiled, a cruel smile on his face as he looked at Qin Chuan.
"Young man, you're arrogant and ignorant. What are you thinking now?" the man said mockingly, looking at Qin Chuan.
Qin Chuan was stunned, looking at the man: "My thought is, are you in pain?"
Huh?
The man was a little confused, instinctively looking at his hand, and instantly dumbfounded; his hand was unrecognizable…