Chapter 7: Fenlai City
On the Yulan continent, west of the Warcraft Mountain Range, the land was divided into the Sacred Alliance and the Dark Alliance. The leading kingdom within the Sacred Alliance was none other than the Fenlai Kingdom!
Fenlai City was the royal capital of the Fenlai Kingdom.
It was also the "Holy City" of the Sacred Alliance, for the headquarters of the Radiant Church was located in the western district of Fenlai City.
The entire Fenlai City was primarily divided into two major parts: the East City and the West City. The East City was governed by the Fenlai Kingdom, while the West City was administered by the Radiant Church. Precisely because Fenlai City was both the royal capital and the holy city, its prosperity was second to none across the entire Yulan continent.
Fenlai City occupied an extremely vast area, housing over a million residents. It was one of the top five super-cities on the Yulan continent.
In the evening, Linley and Hillman entered Fenlai City.
"Wow."
Walking along the main street of the East City, the "Champs Elysees Avenue," Linley felt as if his eyes were dazzled. The little shadowmouse, Bebe, was ordered by Linley to hide inside his clothes. Bebe secretly poked out one eye to look around. "Squeak, squeak, squeak~~" The little shadowmouse was also incredibly excited.
Fortunately, the Champs Elysees Avenue was bustling and noisy at the moment, so no one noticed the sound.
"Quiet," Linley immediately patted the little shadowmouse gently. Bebe obediently stopped making noise but communicated its excitement to Linley through their soul link.
The entire Champs Elysees Avenue was paved with smooth bluestone slabs, wide enough for several carriages to travel side by side. On both sides of the street were hotels, clothing stores, weapon shops, bars, and various other commercial establishments. At the same time, a row of neat, tall pine and cypress trees lined each side of the avenue.
Noble ladies and young misses, dressed in fashionable attire, chatted and laughed as they strolled leisurely along the street.
Some of the noble ladies nearby, seeing Linley's reaction, snickered among themselves and occasionally pointed at him. Clearly, Linley's reaction was that of a "country bumpkin entering the city." The nobles of the royal capital naturally felt a sense of superiority over country folk.
"Hmph, no manners," Linley frowned, displeased with the pointing and laughing of those noble ladies.
Having been educated by his family since childhood, Linley quickly suppressed his excitement deep within his heart, appearing much calmer on the surface.
"Linley, what do you think of Fenlai City? It's the largest city in our Sacred Alliance," Hillman said as he walked with Linley along the street. Seeing some passing warriors or the occasional mage, he sighed, "Linley, in Fenlai City, powerful warriors and mages are very common."
Linley nodded with a smile. "According to the books, Fenlai City is the political center, economic center, and also the art center of the Sacred Alliance."
"This is a paradise for the rich and powerful," Hillman nodded and sighed.
On the bustling Champs Elysees Avenue, luxurious carriages frequently passed by. Hillman took Linley for a stroll along the main road of Fenlai City, the Champs Elysees Avenue, and then directly found an ordinary inn to stay in.
There was a small restaurant next to the inn, and Linley and Hillman had their dinner there.
That night, inside the inn.
Linley and Delin Cowart shared the same room. The room had two beds. As soon as they entered, the little shadowmouse, Bebe, jumped out from inside Linley's clothes and immediately ran around Linley, squeaking incessantly.
"I know you're hungry. Eat up," Linley said, tossing the entire roast duck he had brought back from the restaurant onto the floor nearby. Bebe immediately pounced on it excitedly, tearing into it.
"Linley, get some rest early. We need to go for the magic test tomorrow morning," Hillman advised.
"I know, Uncle Hillman," Linley said, but he walked over to the window and pulled open the curtains.
The inn had three floors, and Linley and the others were staying on the second floor. Three-story buildings were nonexistent in Wushan Town, but they were very common in the royal capital of Fenlai City. In the capital, there were even seven- or eight-story buildings.
Looking out the window, he could see the street outside still bustling with people.
"Whoosh, it's been a long time since I've seen a big city," a hazy stream of light flew out from the Dragonblood Ring, transforming into an old man with white hair and beard. Delin Cowart stood shoulder to shoulder with Linley, looking down at the street below.
"Grandpa Delin," Linley immediately greeted him.
"Linley, how do you feel now that you're in a big city?" Delin Cowart said with a smile.
"It's nothing special," Linley said with a pout.
Delin Cowart sighed and said, "You've only been here a short while; you don't understand big cities yet. Here, there are all kinds of extravagant places for consumption, like large auctions. Some wealthy people might spend hundreds of thousands of gold coins, or even millions, to buy a single item."
"Millions of gold coins?" Linley felt his throat go dry.
What kind of fortune was that? His own family probably couldn't even scrape together a hundred thousand gold coins.
"There are indeed many wealthy people. The competition for money, power, and beautiful women is fierce. People die here every day. In the slums of Fenlai City, bodies are often found in the filthy ditches. Those bodies might even belong to some nobles."
Delin Cowart smiled faintly. "But to stand firm in this world, what you need is your own strength."
"Don't rely on others' mercy. Everything depends on yourself," Delin Cowart said, looking at Linley.
The Dragonblood Warrior bloodline within Linley also made him naturally combative and bloodthirsty at heart.
"If anyone threatens me or threatens my family, I will kill them," Linley said firmly. Having read many books about the ups and downs of noble families, Linley understood very well that mercy to an enemy is cruelty to oneself.
If you let an enemy go, that enemy might kill your loved ones.
"But my strength is still very weak right now," Linley thought, recalling the contemptuous looks from those noble ladies when he first entered Fenlai City. In the eyes of those upper-class people, he was just a poor country boy.
With a faint smile, Linley got onto the bed, sat cross-legged, and began to meditate to train his mental energy.
Meditating to train mental energy essentially involved using various methods to consume mental energy until it reached a baseline, then recovering it through sleep!
In the dantian at his chest.
A hazy, earthy-yellow mist drifted within the middle dantian. This earthy-yellow mist was the earth-element magical power refined from earth elements. According to Delin Cowart, from a first-level mage to a sixth-level mage, magical power appeared as a mist. As the level increased, the "quality" of the magical power would improve, and its density would increase.
Upon reaching the seventh-level mage, magical power would condense into a liquid.
Thus, the transition from sixth-level to seventh-level mage was a significant hurdle!
"This kid Linley is so diligent, even training his mental energy at night," Hillman thought to himself, seeing Linley sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. Whether for a mage or a warrior, mental energy was extremely important!
******
The next morning, on Greenleaf Road in East Fenlai City. Greenleaf Road was one of the main thoroughfares of Fenlai City. Most of the buildings along both sides of Greenleaf Road were luxurious mansions, along with some buildings belonging to the kingdom. Among them, the tallest building was the church of the Radiant Church.
The Sacred Alliance consisted of six kingdoms and fifteen duchies, all controlled by the Radiant Church.
The Radiant Pope held the highest authority; the Pope had the power to depose a kingdom's king! Therefore, even in the East City of Fenlai City, the tallest building was still the church of the Radiant Church.
This morning, a large crowd had gathered at the entrance of the Radiant Church. The vast majority of people there were nobles dressed in elegant attire. Carriages had nearly filled the open square in front of the church, and the nobles were exchanging pleasantries with each other.
Linley and Hillman had also arrived here at this time.
"Uncle Hillman, there are so many people here today. Many nobles have brought their children," Linley said to Hillman with a smile. At this moment, the little shadowmouse, Bebe, was curled up inside Linley's clothes, occasionally peeking out with its little eyes to look around.
Hillman nodded and said with a faint smile, "Nobles? Any mage who graduates from the top magic academy, Ernst Academy, can easily become a count in a kingdom."
"A count of the kingdom?" Linley understood immediately.
Obtaining a noble title from a kingdom wasn't too difficult, but obtaining one from an empire was much harder. After all, any one of the four great empires could rival the entire Sacred Alliance, and they were far beyond what the Fenlai Kingdom could compare to.
"Oh, Lord Dole, you've come too?"
"Hebel, I'm here for my son, of course. Hess, come and meet Uncle Hebel."
Not far away, a group of nobles were exchanging pleasantries. For the magic enrollment test, the registration fee alone was ten gold coins. And once admitted to a magic academy, the tuition fees were even higher. For an average magic academy, the annual tuition was several hundred gold coins! Ordinary families simply couldn't afford it. However, if their children were admitted, nobles would naturally come forward to sponsor them.
But not all magic academies had expensive tuition.
For example, the top magic academy, Ernst Academy, because it accepted very few students, waived all tuition fees for children belonging to the Sacred Alliance! After all, those who could enter Ernst Academy were all geniuses with limitless potential.
"Hmph, those commoners and country folk come too, just daydreaming?" some nobles in the distance sneered.
Among the several hundred people gathered in the square, there were also some commoners or small-town nobles like Linley. Generally, small-town nobles were also looked down upon. Most nobles in the royal capital were quite arrogant and looked down on others.
"Linley, don't bother with them," Hillman said in a low voice.
Linley glanced at that group of nobles and said with a low laugh, "Uncle Hillman, I won't bother with people like them." Under years of education from his father, Hogg, Linley wouldn't care about those royal capital nobles who thought themselves above others.
The entire square was clearly divided into two circles: one was the circle of nobles talking loudly, and the other was the commoners or small-town nobles.
At this moment, two warriors in battle armor stood at the church entrance, blocking outsiders from entering.
After a while, a priest in a black robe slowly walked out. He stopped at the church entrance and said with a smile in a clear voice, "The magic test will now begin. The recruitment personnel from the various magic academies are also ready. Anyone who wishes to take the magic test, please follow me into the hall."