The two of them—one human and one egg—walked for half a day before the egg finally lost its patience and muttered to her, "Don't you know Spells? Why not just fly on a sword? If you keep walking on two legs like this, it'll take you a whole year just to reach the mortal realm."
"What's the difference between taking a walk in the Demon Race territory and taking a walk in the mortal realm?" Tang Li asked with a lifeless, faint sneer.
"Of course there's a difference! The Demon Race territory is no place for you to live. If you stay here any longer, I'm afraid you'll destroy the world. You need to get out more and look at nice things."
The egg raised its index finger and said earnestly, "Besides, we can go gather news about the Yunyan Sect. Who knows, maybe that place has already been reset, and the System Star has sent a new system to guide a task-runner through missions?"
"Why are you so sure it will come?"
"Because I signed a contract with it. Once we succeed, I'll give it one-tenth of my power. If we fail, it has to triple it and give it back to me."
Tang Li poked it with a bamboo stalk and said through gritted teeth, "Then why didn't you say so earlier? If you'd said that earlier, who would've been willing to stay in that dark, damp, freezing hellhole of a Demon Palace?"
The egg clutched its rear and hopped to the side. "Well, what do you suggest we do now? At your pace, it might take eighteen years just to reach the Yunyan Sect."
"Ha." Tang Li remained silent, doing nothing but mock it endlessly.
After half a year of walking, they finally reached Devil City—the border where the realms of the demons, spirits, ghosts, and humans converged.
The spirit realm was called the Spirit World, the demon realm was the Demon Race territory, the ghost realm was the Ghost Realm, and the human realm was the Jiuzhou Continent.
Devil City was the only place in this world not governed by any race.
Because she possessed an undying body buff, Tang Li didn't bother with any disguises or concealment; she just swaggered openly right into Devil City.
At the city gates, she complained loudly and oblivious to those around her, "Such a low name. Talk about zero taste."
Her words stirred up a storm, and immediate, guarded glances washed over her from all directions.
Only after entering the city did Tang Li realize her mistake. The city wasn't called Devil City because it had demons and ghosts living together—it was called Devil City because it was shared by both demons and ghosts.
She pressed a hand to her forehead and corrected herself, "I didn't expect the city's name to be so literal."
Devil City had originally been called Ghost City, a territory belonging to the ghosts. Later, the Demon Race invaded. When the Demon Clan saw the advantages to be had, they wanted a slice of the pie too, and not long after that, the human race also attacked under the banner of executing justice on behalf of heaven.
In the end, nobody won, and the city became a neutral ground for covert transactions among all four races.
There were no rules here; only the strong were revered. Therefore, most people who came here to trade wore ghost masks and black cloaks.
After years of untamed development, Devil City had grown into the largest city under heaven, gathering all the treasures, talented eccentrics, and whispered rumors of the world.
As long as one had sufficient chips, anything could be obtained with ease.
Tang Li didn't care about the reputation of Devil City; she just wanted to steal a mount. After all, walking was slow and exhausting, and at her speed, it might genuinely take her ten or eight years to reach the Yunyan Sect.
She strolled casually down the street, secretly observing the trading methods and currency.
After watching for a long time, she couldn't make heads or tails of it because everyone used cloaks to conceal their identities during transactions, acting all mysterious.
Having spent a long time with her, the egg naturally understood what she was thinking. Seeing her expression, it knew she must be cooking up some bad idea again, and softly advised her:
"Please don't go killing people at random again. We just need to find an inn's stable and steal a fast horse from there."
"Oh," Tang Li replied, rolling her eyes at it.
She wanted to ask a passerby for directions, but the moment anyone saw her, they hurried away.
"What's going on?" she muttered in puzzlement, touching her face.
Could it be that she looked ugly? Surely not. She had looked in the mirror; this was her appearance from the other world, and Axi frequently used a sour tone to tell her she was pretty. Did her looks simply not match the aesthetic of this world?
"Ahem, fellow cultivator, are you perhaps wondering why no one is answering you? Five spiritual stones."
A voice sounded behind her, belonging to someone dressed in ragged green clothes and wearing a single-shouldered cloak.
Tang Li turned around at the sound.
The person was about her height, and their voice carried an ambiguous tone that made it impossible to tell if they were male or female. Although their clothes were very tattered, looking like something a beggar would wear, they were remarkably clean—especially the trouser legs, which didn't have a single speck of dirt. The most eye-catching feature was the bare midriff, exposing a set of six impeccably sculpted, razor-thin abdominal muscles.
This compelled Tang Li to take a couple of extra glances.
"One spiritual stone to touch them once," the person said casually, noticing Tang Li staring at their stomach.
Tang Li rolled her eyes at them and said in a cool voice, "Why won't they talk to me?"
"Five spiritual stones," the person said, holding out five fingers to her.
Tang Li turned and walked away. She had already walked half a year's worth of road; finding an inn was just a trivial matter of taking a few extra steps.
"Hey, hey, how about three? Two? One? Fellow cultivator, one spiritual stone, and I'll let you touch them for free once," the person hurried after her, whispering at her back.
Tang Li walked briskly toward an unattended mask stall. A sign stood in front of it: *One spiritual/ghost stone per mask, pick as you like.*
She turned back and, right in front of that person, tossed five spiritual stones at the toad statue guarding the stall, casually picking up a ghost mask and putting it on.
Seeing her do this, the person could only shrug and sigh helplessly.
Once she had the mask on, Tang Li grabbed a random passerby and asked for directions to the inn.
Hearing her pleasant voice, the passerby dazed out and spilled everything they knew.
As it turned out, there was only one inn in Devil City, and only people of high status were allowed to stay there. Everyone else had to leave the city before dark, as low-status entities were not permitted to lodge within the walls.
The tallest building in the city was the inn itself, located right in the very center and named the Thirteen Springs Inn.
Throughout Tang Li's questioning, the "beggar" who had been tailing her leaned against a pillar with arms crossed, looking Tang Li up and down.
Once Tang Li finished asking, the "beggar" whistled at her. "Fellow cultivator, do you need me to show you the way? I know the ropes to get you inside without exposing your whereabouts to anyone."
Tang Li raised her middle finger at the person and turned toward the tallest building in sight.
The person froze, lowered their head with a very faint laugh, and quickly hurried to catch up with her again.
"My name is Liu Yiyi." Walking right behind Tang Li, the person spoke in a breathy, delicate voice, as if enduring something.
Tang Li glanced back at her. Through the mask, Liu Yiyi smiled softly at her—a gaze that seemed to shed a burden she had carried for a very long time.
Suddenly understanding, Tang Li wore a complex expression as she turned back around to continue on her way.
She knew that Liu Yiyi, like her, was not from this world. Liu Yiyi telling her name just now was likely a test.
Yet she could not trust Liu Yiyi so easily. Perhaps their goals were different, and since it was already difficult enough for her to return home on her own, taking on dead weight would only make it a hundred times harder.