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**
The sun blazed high in the sky, casting its brilliant light across a cloudless heaven.
The slightly yellow sunlight, carrying intense heat, continuously poured down from above.
Under this scorching weather, even the trees lining the roadside drooped slightly, looking a bit lifeless.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Suddenly, several figures streaked through the sky like bolts of lightning, appearing overhead in an instant.
"Tianbei City… Looks like we've arrived."
One of the green-robed young men smiled as he gazed at a massive stone monument over ten meters tall on the roadside below.
"Huuu~"
Seeing the stone marker, a small figure dressed in purple let out a long sigh of relief.
Hands on her hips, she complained loudly, "We're finally here! These past few days of flying have totally worn your lady out!"
"We only took five days to get here because someone kept holding us up," A silver-haired beauty in white robes suddenly stepped forward and replied flatly.
"Eh…"
Hearing this, Zi Yan immediately found herself at a loss for words.
After all, during the journey, if it weren't for her insisting on picking those rare high-quality medicinal herbs she smelled along the way…
They probably would've arrived at Tianbei City much earlier.
But she had never once admitted fault in her life.
Her gem-like purple eyes shifted slightly before she rebuked, "I— I was worried Lin Feng wouldn't have enough herbs to practice with! Definitely not because I was greedy!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Feng and Xiao Yixian both twitched at the corners of their mouths.
This little girl was basically admitting it out loud…
"All right, let's get moving. We've entered Tianbei City's territory, so our destination should be just up ahead."
Lin Feng shook his head and said to the two girls.
With that, his wings fluttered, and he soared back into the sky, flying straight toward the distance.
Seeing this, Xiao Yixian's delicate body shot out like a flash of lightning, closely following behind.
As for Zi Yan, she lifted her head and looked curiously at the sky above.
For some reason, she felt an inexplicable pull, like something was calling to her through the void, guiding her forward.
It felt as if—just by passing through space—she could find home.
Snapping back to reality, the little girl quickly flapped the purple wings on her back and flew to catch up.
Tianbei City, located in the Northern Region of Central Plains, was a modest city under the jurisdiction of Wind Lightning Pavilion's Northern Division.
Inside the city, two major families—the Han Clan and the Hong Clan—held control.
"So this is Tianbei City… Compared to Xi Yun City, this place is clearly inferior."
At the city gate, Lin Feng gazed at the towering city walls with slight disappointment on his face.
Although he had already heard that Tianbei City wasn't as developed as Xi Yun City…seeing the gap with his own eyes still left a sense of dismay in his heart.
"Well, of course. Xi Yun City even had the ability to construct spatial wormholes, while this place clearly doesn't. Anyone with a brain knows which one is more advanced."
A slightly annoyed voice came from within Lin Feng's storage ring—it was Tian Huo Zun Zhe.
After a short pause, the old man urged again: "Come on, brat, check if there's any word about Heavenly Flames in Tianbei City. Now that we're back in Central Plains, even this old man's feeling impatient!"
"…Let's go."
Lin Feng didn't argue. Turning to the two girls, he nodded.
After all, Tian Huo Zun Zhe had been trapped in that dark underground magma world for so long, all alone.
Now that he had returned to the surface, it was only natural for him to want to come back to life, to see the wider world again.
The group entered the city from the southern gate.
Though this city couldn't quite compare to Xi Yun City, it was at least well-planned, and the bustling crowds gave it a decent amount of vitality.
Overall, it didn't look too bad.
After pulling over a passerby and asking some questions, they learned the following:
Inside Tianbei City, the northern part belonged to the Hong Clan, while the southern part was under the control of the Han Clan.
These two families were essentially the city's dual overlords.
With an unspoken agreement, they had split the city cleanly in two, each ruling their respective half without interfering in the other's affairs.
As it happened, the area Lin Feng and his group currently stood in belonged to the southern side.
After confirming the Han Clan's general location, the group set off swiftly in that direction.
Thanks to the directions, it didn't take long for them to arrive in front of a large estate.
"Excuse me, this is the Han residence. May I ask what business you have here?"
Seeing the group approaching directly, one of the guards at the estate entrance quickly stepped forward to question them.
"We knew Han Yue back when we were at Jia Nan Academy. We're just passing through and came to pay a visit," Lin Feng said with a light smile.
"You knew the young lady… and Jia Nan Academy… Are you perhaps her schoolmates?"
Hearing these familiar names, the guard suddenly recalled that their young miss had indeed spent time at Jia Nan Academy.
Realizing this, he respectfully cupped his fists and said, "Please wait a moment. I'll go inform the clan."
With that, he turned and walked through the estate gate.
Before long, two women—both with slightly cold expressions—returned to the entrance with the same guard.
Among them, the more mature one had brilliant silver hair that shone with radiance.
It was none other than Han Yue, whom Lin Feng had met a few times during his days in the Inner Academy.
The figure beside her bore some resemblance to her beautiful face—but compared to Han Yue's mild coldness, her aura was even more distant and indifferent.
Her curvaceous figure, wrapped in a violet robe, was especially alluring.
As they drew closer, the silver-haired woman seemed to recognize Lin Feng and the others.
A faint joy quietly emerged on her frosty face.
"Senior Zi Yan… Lin Feng… I didn't expect you'd leave Black-Corner Region and come all the way to the Central Plains. It's truly a pleasant surprise to see familiar faces so far from our old school."
Approaching them, Han Yue's pink lips lifted slightly as she spoke with a rare trace of cheer.
With the appearance of this smile, most of her previously icy expression seemed to melt away.
After all, she and Zi Yan had shared a good relationship back at Jia Nan Academy.
Now that Zi Yan had traveled across vast distances to visit, it would be unthinkable for her to treat her coldly.
As for Lin Feng, when she first met him years ago at the academy, he was already a fourth-tier alchemist.
Now, several years had passed—he might even be capable of refining fifth-tier pills.
An alchemist of that caliber… her Han Clan had exhausted every effort just to recruit one.
If Lin Feng was willing to become a guest elder of the Han Clan, their family's foundation would no doubt soar.
Both Lin Feng and Zi Yan were incredibly talented.
Forming close ties with them now could bring unimaginable benefits in the future.
Seeing a familiar face, Zi Yan, who had been a bit listless from the long journey, suddenly recovered all her energy.
Her petite figure quickly jumped to the front of the group.
After sensing that Han Yue had reached the Seven-Star Dou Wang level, she grinned and said: "Hehe~ Han Yue! I didn't think you'd already advanced to Dou Wang in just over two years. If I hadn't broken through to Dou Huang a few months ago, you might've actually caught up to me!"
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