202. The wall

The journey to the Corpse Lands wasn’t easy, and even with spirit beasts pulling their carriages, it still took two full weeks. The first three days passed quietly, with both Chen Ren and Princess Yanyue choosing to cultivate in silence inside the carriage. Traditional cultivation wasn’t something Chen Ren enjoyed—he much preferred using his businesses to grow—but with nothing else to do on the road, he forced himself to sit still and cycle his qi. At the very least, he was grateful the princess didn’t try to pry deeper into him during those days.

Whenever they stopped to rest or eat, Tang Boming would immediately start asking who exactly they were travelling with. Chen Ren didn’t see a point in lying; the truth would come out sooner or later. And he had to admit—the expression on Tang Boming’s face when Chen Ren finally revealed that the royal princess herself was travelling with them was priceless. The poor man didn’t believe a single word until he saw Princess Yanyue with his own eyes and even spoke to her guards.

After that, Tang Boming practically exploded with questions. They didn’t end. He bombarded Chen Ren, Anji, Yalan, and even Zi Wen with theories and assumptions. Princess Yanyue enjoyed every second of it, especially when Tang Boming confidently started a conspiracy theory that Chen Ren was most likely some abandoned royal bastard. Chen Ren couldn’t even blame him; explaining his connection to the princess and how she found him through his dao was too complicated. So he didn’t explain a thing. If Tang Boming wanted to build wild fantasies in his head, that was his problem.

Instead, Chen Ren focused on the road ahead. Around the fourth day, they left behind the safer plains and began entering a stretch of mountains and forests. That was when the benefit of travelling with royal guards became impossible to ignore.

Beasts prowled in the shadows. Spirit birds circled above. Tracks of stronger creatures lined the path. But every time danger showed its face, Princess Yanyue’s guards crushed it within seconds.

Any beast foolish enough to think it had a chance quickly found itself incapacitated. Chen Ren didn’t even have to lift a finger nor did anyone from his sect. The princess’s royal guards handled everything with the kind of calm efficiency that made even high-ranked spirit beasts look like small annoyances.

Chen Ren understood why. To become a royal guard, one had to survive trials he probably couldn’t even imagine. These cultivators had undergone strict training, brutal missions, and endless competition. Throwing down beasts on a road was nothing to them.

They even set up the camp whenever they stopped. Tents went up in minutes, and it followed everything else needed for good rest. All in all, thanks to them, the journey was smoother than Chen Ren had expected.

As they drew closer to the Corpse Lands, Princess Yanyue also began cultivating less and talking more. Since Chen Ren was still traveling inside her carriage, he couldn’t escape the conversations even if he wanted to. Luckily, most of her talk focused on the Corpse Lands—its dangers, the terrain, and the undead beasts that wandered the outskirts.

Of course, she still tried to poke around his dao and pry into how he managed to run so many businesses at once. Chen Ren was convinced she already knew most of the innovations he brought into the market, and he suspected she assumed he was hiding much more. She wasn’t wrong. But he didn’t give her anything to work with.

Instead, he let her speak.

And she did.

She told him, in full detail, what she expected once they reached the Corpse Lands, how the Guardian sects would definitely approach them the moment they found out she was there, how none of them could be trusted, not in a place like the pagoda. And how even Established sects would posture, probe, or try to measure their strength alongside most nobles who would send their own groups to climb the pagoda.

“There are a few nobles I trust,” she said at one point. “But understand this, Sect Leader Chen, nobles never move without their own agenda. Even if they don’t betray me, they’ll still want something out of the pagoda for themselves.”

Chen Ren understood it well. He didn’t interrupt, didn’t question unnecessarily—he simply listened. Every bit of information the princess shared was valuable, and he knew that in the long term, all of this would help him far beyond the pagoda. Even in business, knowing who moved where, which nobles had influence, and how Guardian sects acted would give him advantages no other merchant could dream of.

But as the journey stretched on, he noticed something else.

Princess Yanyue was getting more anxious.

Not the panicked kind, more like someone holding excitement and tension in the same hand. Chen Ren saw her eyes light up every time she talked about the pagoda. Her words became faster. And then, a second later, she would pull back and speak about dangers again.

It made sense. She’d been studying this place for years. Pouring over everything she could find. And now she was finally heading straight toward it.

Of course she would be eager.

But she wasn’t reckless. Not once did she talk about treasures, or fortune, or snatching opportunities. Every topic she brought up was about what might go wrong, what he should watch for, avoid, or prepare himself against.

At one point, she looked straight ahead and said quietly, “My brothers won’t be there. They’re still buried in their politics, and they would never walk into a place like the pagoda. But all the nobles present will be working for them.”

She shifted her gaze to Chen Ren.

“So avoid making any partnerships with them unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

Chen Ren nodded. “Then what about the Guardian sects?”

Princess Yanyue exhaled slowly. “They’ll leave us alone… mostly. But once we climb the wall into the Corpse Lands, they will come forward to greet me. It’s inevitable.”

From the side, Yalan muttered, “Is it even wise for you to openly reveal your identity, given the nature of the pagoda?”

Princess Yanyue didn’t flinch at the question. “Maybe it’s not. But my face is well known throughout the empire. I can’t hide it even if I wanted to. It’s better to be upfront than pretend in a place where everyone is already watching.”

Chen Ren exchanged a brief glance with Yalan.

Then, he nodded. “I understand that. But… I don’t think any sect or noble will be crazy enough to go after you. If the emperor finds out, wouldn’t they be destroyed?”

Princess Yanyue’s expression went blank for a moment. Then she shook her head.

“You overestimate how much I’m loved by my father,” she said quietly. “Three years ago, one of my stepbrothers died to a beast. My father didn’t even attend his funeral. He said that any child too weak to live doesn’t deserve the royal bloodline.”

Chen Ren stared blankly. For a moment, he wondered if it was a joke or exaggeration, but the princess looked completely serious.

“To him,” she continued, “you are only worthy if you have the strength to survive this world. The nobles know that. The sects know that. And neither group has liked me for a long time.”

Her tone didn’t change, but for a moment Chen Ren saw her face darken as if she was recalling some bitter, exhausting memory that did not belong to someone so young.

Chen Ren wondered if the emperor was a lunatic or simply too obsessed with strength to remember his own children were human. He’d always known royal families had concubines and dozens of heirs… but treating them as disposable was on another level of messed up.

Before he could speak anything about it, Princess Yanyue straightened.

“Don’t worry. I know how to take care of myself. And my guards will always be near me. At least after the first few floors. I’m sure you’ll find me inside the pagoda, Sect Leader Chen.”

“I will,” Chen Ren said. “I know my part of the deal.”

She smiled faintly, and before he could think more on it, Yalan leaned forward.

“I believe we are close.”

Chen Ren immediately craned his neck toward the window, and froze.

A massive wall rose in the distance. Not a normal defensive wall. Not even a city wall. A fortress wall, stretching so far to the left and right that it vanished into the grey haze.

It looked like a barrier built to separate two worlds.

The stone was dark, almost black, stacked so thick that no siege weapon could possibly break through it. Even from the carriage, he could see claw marks, scorch marks, and crumbled sections where something enormous had smashed into it in the past.

Beyond it were… the Corpse Lands and the Pagoda of Eternity.

Even from a distance, Chen Ren could see the faint silhouette of the pagoda rising even higher behind it. And it seemed to dwarf everything else.

It pierced the sky so sharply and cleanly that—for a moment—Chen Ren wondered if it was even real. Taller than any structure he had ever seen, grander than the crude sketches Princess Yanyue showed him.

A structure like that should’ve been seen long ago. Should’ve been known. Should’ve been recorded. Yet it had been hidden beneath the Corpse Lands until recently.

And seeing it with his own eyes… Chen Ren finally understood why the entire empire was moving toward this place.

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He sat back in his seat and exhaled. “The pagoda is massive, and the wall… it looks very impressive.”

Princess Yanyue nodded. “Yes. It has many arrays built into it. Its only purpose is to keep the undead trapped inside the Corpse Lands. We’ll also be staying here for a few days before the pagoda opens. I’ve already arranged rooms.”

Chen Ren accepted that with a quiet nod, choosing not to speak further. He simply waited as the carriage rolled closer and closer to the massive barrier of stone and arrays.

An hour passed before he felt the speed slow to a crawl. Then the carriage fully stopped.

The door opened.

One of the royal guards bowed toward Princess Yanyue and said, “We are here, Princess.”

She stepped out, elegant as always, and Chen Ren followed her down. Everyone else from the Divine Coin Sect and the Tang clan was already outside, standing near their carriages.

The sheer scale of the place stunned him for a moment.

The entire area in front of the wall was overflowing with people—disciples from countless sects, noble entourages, rogue cultivators, merchants, and even mortals hoping to sell supplies. Carriages lined both sides of the wide clearing, tents were already raised, and dozens of cultivators were walking around with their weapons out.

Quite a few of them paused when Princess Yanyue stepped into view. A few more stared when they noticed Chen Ren walking beside her.

“You’re going to attract a lot of attention here, Sect Leader Chen,” Princess Yanyue said casually. “I hope you get used to it soon.”

Chen Ren didn’t respond. Instead, he spread out his qi sense, trying to feel anyone dangerous… and found nothing out of the ordinary. Most here were strong, but not terrifying. Some were hiding their qi on purpose—locking it down so completely they felt like mortals—but their robes, badges, weapons, and posture gave them away easily.

As he scanned the crowd a second time, he noticed a small group standing off to the side.

A hooded man in front. Two people behind him.

The man’s face was mostly shadowed, but Chen Ren could feel his gaze clearly, even through the crowd.

For one brief moment, their eyes met.

There was something cold about him, something sharp and angry hiding beneath the hood… but before Chen Ren could focus on it, the man turned away and left with his group, disappearing into the sea of cultivators.

Chen Ren frowned.

He didn’t know who that was. But something in his chest told him that it wasn't the last time he was seeing him.

Chen Ren finally tore his gaze away from the crowd and turned toward his own group. Zi Wen, Tang Boming, Yalan, Feiyu, Hong Yi, and Luo Feng were making their way toward him. Little Yuze followed after his master, Whiskey sitting on his back. Both of them decided to tag along at the last moment and were attracting good attention.

But then he noticed something and paused.

Wang Jun wasn’t in Anji’s hands.

Maybe sensing his question, Anji reached him first and leaned in, speaking quietly so only he could hear. “I left Master in the carriage. I’ll retrieve him later… once there are fewer eyes on us.”

Chen Ren nodded. “Good. For now, let’s keep moving.”

Ahead of them, Princess Yanyue was already walking with her guards toward the entrance built into the massive wall. Her steps were calm and confident, completely unbothered by the stares she was receiving.

Chen Ren started after her, the rest of his group falling into step behind him.

As they approached the wall, he found himself staring again.

It really was one of the most impressive things he had seen since arriving in this world.

Not because it was beautiful—visually, it was nothing more than a giant slab of stone stretching endlessly in both directions.

But the runes…

Up close, the carvings covering every inch of the wall were no longer just decorative patterns. They were runic arrays. Thousands of them. Each rune connected to another, flowing into the next like an endless tapestry of qi inscriptions.

Even with his limited array knowledge, Chen Ren could tell how complicated they were.

Most were clearly defensive—layers upon layers of protection. But he also spotted some that were offensive arrays, their structures sharp, precise, and terrifyingly efficient.

He tried to study them more, but Princess Yanyue’s voice pulled him back. He hadn't noticed her coming back to talk to him.

“Do you like the wall arrays?”

Chen Ren nodded, his eyes still drifting over the carvings. “Yes. They’re… impressive.”

Her smile widened in obvious pride.“My grandmother created them with her disciples.”

Chen Ren immediately turned to stare at her. “She must have spent decades learning arrays.”

Princess Yanyue’s expression softened, almost fond. “More than decades. She was known as the best array master in the entire empire.”

Chen Ren held back the urge to ask more about Princess Yanyue’s grandmother. There would be time for that later. For now, he simply followed her and the guards as they circled around the massive wall.

After almost half an hour of walking, a long staircase finally came into view, wide stone steps carved directly into the wall itself.

Dozens of people were gathered around, some resting, some climbing, some staring in awe. But the moment Princess Yanyue’s royal guards appeared, the crowd shifted aside like water splitting around a stone. The guards cleared a path with practiced ease, and Chen Ren couldn’t help feeling important. Almost like a VIP.

Yalan must have noticed the faint change on his face, because her voice sounded in his mind a moment later.

“Don’t get relaxed. There’s a lot of demonic energy around. I don’t know how bad the pagoda will be, but you’ll definitely have a hard time just being in the Corpse Lands.”

Chen Ren sighed silently. “

Hopefully the same isn’t true for the pagoda.”

“I don’t think so,”

Yalan replied.

“But you never know.”

They soon started climbing the stairs, ascending one at a time.

But even after two hundred stairs, he couldn’t see the top. The path just kept curving upward. Unsurprisingly, the others handled it well—Zi Wen, Yalan, Tang Boming, and even the others climbed steadily. Only Anji was breathing a little heavier, but she didn’t stop.

Another two hundred stairs passed before Chen Ren finally saw light spilling in from above. A few more steps, and he stepped onto the top of the wall.

He stretched his back with relief and took a moment to look around.

The top of the wall was wide—practically a battlefield in size. Dozens of tents, cultivators, banners, and temporary camps were scattered everywhere. Qi signatures floated through the air, strong and weak, some suppressed, some openly flaring with pride.

He scanned the area, checking if anyone felt familiar. And just then, he noticed a group of about thirty cultivators walking toward them.

Princess Yanyue let out a slow breath beside him. “Here they come.” Chen Ren turned to look at her.

But just as the group got close enough to make out their faces, her expression shifted, her eyes narrowing with surprise, then irritation.

Chen Ren looked at her. “What happened?”

Princess Yanyue’s jaw tightened. “A few noble sons, daughters, and retainers are coming to greet us… and the one leading them is someone I know very well.”

“Who?”

Her lips pressed into a thin line. “The seventh prince, Yuelan” she muttered. “My stepbrother.”

***

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