Btth: The Rise of Qingshan

On the streets of Black Rock City, Yan Qingshan composed himself. After circling a few times to make sure he wasn't being followed, he headed towards another bustling area in the city center.

Black Rock City wasn't his final destination this time, but rather a transit point. His visit to the Miteer Auction House was due to its size, authority, and resources, but he still left empty-handed.

Large cities like Black Rock City were equipped with civilian flight transport teams by the empire. This was the best way to travel long distances in underdeveloped areas like the Jia Ma Empire. In places like the Central Plains, they directly used space wormholes, which were much faster.

The flight transport center in the city center was an official organization, with its office located on a spacious square. On the large square, a dozen large flying birds were resting.

These birds were called Thick-Winged Birds. They weren't magical beasts, but rather giant flying birds with extremely gentle natures, the easiest to be tamed by humans.

However, due to their small numbers, only empires had the strength to build such flight transport teams.

These Thick-Winged Birds were military-controlled resources. In times of imperial war, they would be forcibly reclaimed by the imperial military, and only returned to civilians after the war ended. Therefore, many of them had experienced brutal wars.

Yan Qingshan arrived at the front desk, where a woman greeted him with a smile, "Sir, where are you headed?"

"Tager Desert, Rock Desert City!"

Yan Qingshan took out a map of the Tager Desert he had purchased, on which he had marked a place name, Rock Desert City, a small city in the Tager Desert, not particularly special or prosperous.

After looking at the map, the receptionist's smile froze, but she maintained a calm tone as she pointed to another landmark on the map,

"Sir, our Thick-Winged Birds generally have fixed flight routes. To go to the Tager Desert, we can only reach Mo City. You can transfer from Mo City."

"I'll charter a Thick-Winged Bird to Rock Desert City alone, 10,000 gold coins, is that enough?"

Yan Qingshan didn't say much and directly offered money. Having inherited all the assets from the cliff cave, he was now a wealthy man. Problems that could be solved with money were not problems.

In any world, the wealthy had privileges. After he offered gold coins, the female attendant immediately smiled again and led him to a VIP room to wait for the arrangement of his exclusive flight mount.

Along the way, some attractive female attendants walked ahead, intentionally or unintentionally showing off their hot figures and sexy curves, even hinting that arranging the flight mount would take some time and there were VIP rooms available for rest.

…

The distance from Black Rock City to the Tager Desert was not short. Even at the speed of a first-rank flying magical beast, it would take at least three days to arrive.

Rock Desert City, which Yan Qingshan wanted to visit, was not on the original route, so he needed to adjust the route. The total flight time would be at least five days.

The flying magical beast spread its wings steadily in the sky. A wooden house was built on the back of the giant bird, providing rest for long-distance passengers and staff, which was equivalent to an otherworldly version of an airplane.

Yan Qingshan watched the blue sky and white clouds outside the window gradually darken, and finally a crescent moon appeared on the horizon. Under the moonlight stone, Yan Qingshan shook his head, his eyelids a little sore.

"Sir, this is today's dinner. Is there anything else you need?"

A sexy and beautiful otherworldly version of a 'flight attendant' came to Yan Qingshan, dressed boldly and revealingly, even with a deliberate hint of seduction. One of them was actually the female attendant he had seen during the day.

"No need, I'm going to cultivate. I need a quiet environment. You can go down! If I need anything, I'll call you!"

Yan Qingshan wasn't particularly interested in certain things. It wasn't that he had become a saint or anything. His current body was still only fifteen years old, his birthday hadn't even passed yet. In his previous life, he would have been a middle school student. It was too early to lose his virginity at this time.

Moreover, for that kind of thing, not that he had particularly high standards, but at least he should be careful the first time! It wasn't that he was in a hurry for that kind of thing.

Yan Qingshan's refusal naturally disappointed the female attendants, but after seeing the tip he casually left, they all smiled again. After getting the benefits, they would naturally satisfy their gold master. They left one by one and even took turns guarding the door for Yan Qingshan.

The entire flight mount was chartered by him alone, and everyone on the mount served him alone. Naturally, no one would come to cause trouble. The journey of more than five days was quite peaceful.

…

Six days later, in the east of the Jia Ma Empire, in the Tager Desert. Rock Desert City was just a small city, even smaller than Wutan City. The entire city was built from black stone mined nearby, which was a unique bright color in the Tager Desert, which mostly consisted of yellow earth.

In an open area 500 meters outside the east gate of Rock Desert City, a giant flying magical beast slowly landed. On the back of the flying magical beast was a wooden house, which was clearly a rare flight mount in Rock Desert City.

A young man jumped down from the room on the back of the flying magical beast. The feeling of being on solid ground was quite good.

After the young man walked away for about ten meters, the flying magical beast rose again and left into the distance.

Yan Qingshan pulled up the hood on his back with a slight frown. It was noon, and the weather in the desert was quite dry and hot.

The scorching sunlight shone down from the sky, baking the ground beneath his feet, constantly emitting suffocating heat.

The heat rose, and the excessively high temperature even made the vision in front of people's eyes a little blurred and distorted. In this environment, nearly 80% was fire-attribute and earth-attribute spiritual Qi.

Except for earth-attribute and fire-attribute Dou Qi cultivators, people with other attribute constitutions wouldn't feel comfortable.

One side of water and soil nourished one side of people. The natives of the Tager Desert were mostly fire-attribute and earth-attribute. The suppression of this environment on wood-attribute was naturally very large.

Of course, the most suppressed was water-attribute. In this kind of place, it was almost impossible for local water-attribute powerhouses to grow up.

Yan Qingshan adjusted his robe, which was shaded and ventilated. Not only was it not hot, but it was also a bit comfortable. He had bought it last night when the mount stopped at Mo City. Flight mounts didn't fly continuously for long periods and always needed supplies along the way.

…

Rock Desert City wasn't large. The entire city was built from locally mined black stone. The desert wasn't all yellow sand but also had mountains and rocks.

It was just that due to scarce rainfall and severe desertification, yellow sand almost covered everything on the surface. Many rocks and mountains were hidden under the yellow sand. Mountains like those around Rock Desert City that could directly mine black rocks were rare.

Rock Desert City was inconspicuous among the many cities of the Jia Ma Empire located in the Tager Desert. The overall strength of the entire city was even far inferior to Wutan City.

The layout of Rock Desert City was similar to Qingshan Town. Apart from the city lord's line, there were no large families. Outside the city lord, those who ruled the large and small territories in the city were large and small mercenary groups.

Among them, the strongest force was the Sand Mercenary Company.

The leader of the Sand Mercenary Company, Luo Bu, dominated Rock Desert City with his Dou Grandmaster cultivation and was a figure even the city lord feared.

However, this information wasn't very useful to Yan Qingshan, because he didn't come to dominate or cause trouble. As long as he was a little careful, he wouldn't cause any trouble.

Cities in the desert were basically built along water sources, surrounded by oases or underground rivers. Rock Desert City was naturally no exception.

The Black Stone Mountains next to Rock Desert City, which were the source of the black stone used to build Rock Desert City, had an underground river flowing silently for countless years, nourishing everything around it.

The ancestors of Rock Desert City found the underground river here, built a city with stone, and channeled the water of the underground river to run through Rock Desert City, artificially creating a desert oasis.

Moreover, they knew how to manage it without wasting water, allowing this city to take root and grow in the Tager Desert.

The north side of Rock Desert City was the outlet of the city's canal, which ran through the entire city. It was also the area where the entire city washed clothes. Some laundry women who struggled to survive here relied on washing clothes for mercenaries to earn money to make a living.

Of course, there were dark corners under the light. This was also a place where some men sought pleasure. Some laundry women also did some prostitution business.

In the corner of the northeast canal with the least amount of canal water, a thin, small figure quietly washed a pile of clothes. Men and women passing by involuntarily quickened their pace when they saw her, their eyes filled with a hint of disgust.

Even the mercenaries whistling as they looked for young women did the same. Occasionally, two new faces, after inquiring about the little girl, also changed their expressions.

Perhaps exhausted from working for so long, the girl was a little tired, and she unconsciously pulled up her sleeve, revealing a snow-white wrist. However, on her snow-white wrist, some dense blue scales shimmered with light.

When she revealed her arm, the smiles of those still chatting nearby gradually faded, and some people's eyes even faintly held a hint of disgust.

The crowd gradually dispersed, and those already walking quickened their pace.

The girl was sitting on the cool black stone, taking out a handkerchief to wipe away sweat, the smile on her lips still shimmering in the sunlight.

But when she noticed the surrounding situation, the smile on her face disappeared, and she became unusually lonely.

Tears streamed down her delicate face, and the little girl silently pulled down her sleeves and resumed her work. This time, even if her sleeves were soaked by the river water, she didn't pull them up again, and her hand movements became faster.

Clearly, she wanted to finish her work quickly and leave this place as soon as possible. Although she was familiar with the eyes around her, she couldn't accept their disdainful gazes.

The pitiful, despised, thin girl quietly finished her work. She didn't notice that, at some point, a figure had appeared behind her.

After washing and wringing out the clothes one by one, the girl neatly folded them and placed them in the basin. She lowered her head, picked up the wooden basin, turned around, and prepared to leave.