Shi Feng was filled with curiosity about the Upper District. Just as he was about to step off the moving escalator, a voice reached his ears.
"Hold on!"
The voice belonged to none other than Yan Wuming — a lean, short-haired youth.
"Can I help you?" Shi Feng asked, puzzled.
He was rather curious about Yan Wuming himself. In the Divine Realm, Yan Wuming's image had been tall and imposing, nothing like an elegant Holy Demon Lord at all — more like a war god gazing down upon the masses. In person, he was merely a green teenager, though his eyes burned with an unimaginable fighting spirit.
"What's your name?" Yan Wuming asked.
"Shi Feng," Shi Feng replied simply.
"Shi Feng? I'll remember that!" Yan Wuming murmured the name several times, then fixed Shi Feng with a serious gaze. "I lost the mental battle to you this time, but I'll reach the Special-class mental level soon enough. When that happens, I'll challenge you again!"
"Challenge me?" Shi Feng let out a chuckle and shook his head. "I'm afraid I really won't have the time. I'm quite busy."
He wasn't lying. Setting aside the matter of Bai Qingxue and Watercolor Rose, there was a mountain of guild business on his plate, not to mention a whole host of quests he still needed to handle.
Before, he hadn't had the strength. Now that he had reached Tier 4, there were many things he could finally start doing.
So he genuinely had no time to entertain Yan Wuming's challenge.
"That's not for you to decide!" Yan Wuming completely brushed aside Shi Feng's refusal, his voice ringing with iron resolve. "My goal is to become the number-one person in the Upper District of Yuantian City, and you are my first obstacle. I can only get closer to my goal once I've defeated you!"
"So you really do enjoy challenges," Shi Feng said, not particularly surprised. He thought for a moment, then continued, "How about this — I'll give you a chance to challenge me. As long as you meet the condition, you can challenge me anytime. How does that sound?"
"Name it," Yan Wuming said with absolute confidence.
"Do you play the Divine Realm?" Shi Feng asked.
"I've been playing for a while." Yan Wuming looked at Shi Feng with a hint of confusion. "Don't tell me you want me to defeat you inside the Divine Realm first?"
Nearby, Ke Rui burst out laughing.
"You really are confident. Do you even know who he is? You want to beat him in the Divine Realm?" Ke Rui couldn't help but glance at Yan Wuming.
"Doesn't matter who he is — I will win!"
Yan Wuming showed not the slightest flicker of doubt. He did have a few questions about Shi Feng's identity, but those were minor details. Beating Shi Feng was what mattered.
"No, you've misunderstood," Shi Feng said with a smile. "I'm not asking you to defeat me in the Divine Realm. You just need to defeat one of my friends."
"Fine." Yan Wuming nodded. "Tell me his name. Once I reach Tier 3, I'll defeat your friend quickly, and then I'll come challenge you!"
"Her name in the Divine Realm is Ziyan Liuyun," Shi Feng said. Seeing Yan Wuming agree, he felt a measure of relief. "You can find her at Silverwing City. If you can beat her, I'll accept your challenge."
When someone of Yan Wuming's caliber came knocking of his own accord, Shi Feng naturally wasn't about to let the opportunity slip. If he could bring the future Yan Wudi into Zero Wing, it would be like adding wings to a tiger — a massive boost to the guild's peak combat power.
"No problem. I'll go find her right away!" Yan Wuming showed no hesitation whatsoever, his expression still brimming with confidence.
Ke Rui's gaze toward Yan Wuming shifted ever so slightly, however.
It was, unmistakably, a look of sympathy.
"I hope you don't lose all hope when you actually meet that Ziyan Liuyun," Ke Rui murmured to herself, silently praying for Yan Wuming.
She had witnessed Ziyan Liuyun's strength with her own eyes. Even the old monsters of those super-guilds couldn't beat her, and the Legendary raid leader of Illusion Realm Mythology — the Saint Spear Demon — had only managed to draw.
Wanting to defeat the current Ziyan Liuyun, there were probably only a handful of people in the entire Divine Realm who could even stand a chance.
"Let's go."
Shi Feng glanced at Ke Rui, who was silently praying for Yan Wuming, shook his head with a smile, and headed straight toward the distant street.
Ke Rui's face lit up with excitement the moment she heard they were going to register. She grabbed Shi Feng and dragged him toward the tallest skyscraper at the foot of the mountain, leaving Yan Wuming behind to wait silently for a guide to arrive.
The moment Shi Feng set foot on the floating mountain, he felt both body and mind fill with a sense of vigor and fullness. The gravity — over three times that of the outside world — no longer felt nearly as difficult to endure.
"Is this what the true Upper District is like?"
Shi Feng's mind reeled with astonishment.
Threefold gravity would make movement a struggle for ordinary people. His own exceptional physical fitness meant he didn't find it too burdensome, but his body still felt thoroughly uncomfortable.
Yet here in the Upper District, that discomfort had simply vanished, as though some kind of special energy was constantly nourishing his weakened body. Under the dual effects of high gravity and that restorative force, his constitution was being continuously strengthened, pushed to levels utterly unimaginable in the outside world.
Compared to the grueling training required outside, life in the Upper District made the whole affair look like a joke.
With a physique this powerful, as long as the body sustained no serious damage, living to a hundred and twenty years old would pose no problem whatsoever.
"Now you understand just how different the world of the Upper District is from the world you know," Ke Rui said with a smile as they walked. "People who live here see their physical strength improve every single moment, without needing any kind of exercise at all. In the end, their bodies won't lose out to those body-refinement masters on the outside."
"There have always been rumors that Upper District humans live to a hundred and fifty. In truth, a hundred and fifty years is just the average lifespan for people in the Foundation Layer. You saw the mountainside and the summit — those are the Middle Layer and the Top Layer. The people who live there have truly terrifying physiques and lifespans. The Middle Layer's current average measured lifespan has already reached a hundred and eighty years, and the Top Layer has broken through the two-hundred-year barrier. That surpasses the very limits of human longevity."