West of the Magic Beast Mountain Range on the Yulan Continent, the land was divided into the Holy Alliance and the Dark Alliance. The leading kingdom within the Holy Alliance was — the Fenlei Kingdom!
Fenn City served as the capital of the Fenlei Kingdom.
It was also the Holy Capital of the Holy Alliance, because the headquarters of the Church of Light was located in the western district of Fenn City.
The entire city was mainly divided into two parts: the East City and the West City. The East City was governed by the Fenlei Kingdom, while the West City was managed by the Church of Light. Because Fenn City was both a royal capital and a holy capital, its prosperity was second to none on the entire Yulan Continent.
Fenn City sprawled across an enormous area, housing well over a million residents, and ranked among the top five largest cities on the entire Yulan Continent.
As evening fell, Lin Lei and Hillman entered Fenn City.
"Wow."
Walking along the main thoroughfare of the East City — Xiangxie Avenue — Lin Lei felt his eyes going dizzy from everything he saw. The little Shadow Mouse, Bei Bei, had been told by Lin Lei to hide inside his clothes, but even Bei Bei peeked out one eye to look outside. "Squeak, squeak squeak~~" The little Shadow Mouse was practically bursting with excitement.
Fortunately, Xiangxie Avenue was bustling and noisy enough that no one noticed the sound.
"Quiet." Lin Lei gently patted the little Shadow Mouse, and Bei Bei obediently fell silent, though it continued to relay its excitement to Lin Lei through their soul connection.
Xiangxie Avenue was paved with smooth blue-gray flagstones, wide enough for several carriages to travel side by side. Along both sides of the street stood hotels, clothing shops, weapon stores, bars, and various other commercial establishments. Meanwhile, rows of tall, straight pine and cypress trees lined both sides of Xiangxie Avenue.
Noblewomen and young ladies strolled along the street in fashionable attire, chatting and laughing with one another.
Some of the noblewomen noticed Lin Lei's reaction and exchanged quiet, mocking laughs, occasionally pointing at him. It was obvious that Lin Lei had the air of a country bumpkin visiting the big city, and the nobles of the capital naturally felt a sense of superiority over people from the countryside.
"Hmph, no manners." Lin Lei furrowed his brow, quite displeased by the noblewomen's pointing and whispering.
Having received proper family education from a young age, Lin Lei quickly suppressed his excitement deep inside, presenting a much calmer exterior.
"Lin Lei, what do you think of Fenn City? It's the number one city in our Holy Alliance." Hillman walked alongside Lin Lei at the edge of the street, and upon seeing some warriors or the occasional mage pass by, he remarked, "Lin Lei, powerful warriors and mages are a common sight in Fenn City."
Lin Lei smiled and nodded. "The books say that Fenn City is the political center, economic center, and artistic center of the Holy Alliance."
"It's a paradise for the wealthy and the influential." Hillman nodded with a sigh.
Amid the bustling crowds of Xiangxie Avenue, luxurious carriages frequently passed by. After leading Lin Lei on a stroll along Fenn City's main road, Hillman found a modest inn for them to stay the night.
There was a small restaurant next to the inn, and Lin Lei and Hillman had their dinner there.
That evening, inside the inn.
Lin Lei shared a room with Derinkoort. The room held two beds, and the moment they stepped inside, the little Shadow Mouse Bei Bei leapt out from inside Lin Lei's shirt and immediately began scampering around him, squeaking excitedly.
"I know you're hungry — eat." Lin Lei tossed the whole roast duck he had brought from the restaurant onto the floor nearby, and Bei Bei eagerly began tearing into it.
"Lin Lei, get some rest early. We need to go for the magic test tomorrow morning." Hillman reminded him.
"I know, Uncle Hillman." As he spoke, Lin Lei walked over to the window and drew back the curtains.
The inn was three stories tall. Lin Lei and his companions were on the second floor. Buildings of three stories were simply unheard of in Wushan Town, but they were extremely common in the royal capital of Fenn City — in fact, there were buildings even seven or eight stories high here.
Looking out through the window, people still streamed up and down the street below.
"Ahh, it's been a while since I've seen a big city." A shimmering mist of light drifted from the Coiling Dragon Ring and coalesced into an old man with a full head of white hair and beard. Derinkoort stood shoulder to shoulder with Lin Lei, gazing out at the streets below.
"Grandpa Derinkoort." Lin Lei greeted him at once.
"So, Lin Lei, now that you've arrived in a big city, how does it feel?" Derinkoort asked with a smile.
"Not that special." Lin Lei said with a pout.
Derinkoort, however, sighed. "You've only just arrived — you don't understand what a major city is like. There are all kinds of lavish spending venues here: grand auctions, for instance, where the wealthy can spend hundreds of thousands, even millions of gold coins on a single item."
"A million gold coins?" Lin Lei's throat went dry at the mere thought.
That was an unimaginable fortune. His own family probably couldn't even scrape together a hundred thousand gold coins.
"The wealthy are numerous here. Money, power, beautiful women — the competition is fierce. People die every single day. Corpses are frequently found in the stinking gutters of Fenn City's slums, and those corpses might very well be some noble or another."