Chapter 158: The Boy


    After passing through the border defenses of the Rhine Empire, the group continued to travel for several more days.


    One day, a peculiar mountainous terrain appeared before them.


    "This is the Anlos Mountain Range, stretching tens of thousands of miles from south to north. And this mountain range has a very peculiar feature. Look."


    Sasor, who was from the native Rhine Empire, pointed to the towering mountains in front of them and gave everyone a free lecture.


    Upon hearing this, everyone looked over. The scene before them made everyone exclaim in surprise.


    "This mountain range..."


    Han Ming was very surprised. In terms of span and height, this mountain range could be considered average in this other world, but what really caught everyone''s attention was that the side of the mountain range facing them was a sheer vertical cliff, completely unlike the steep slopes of ordinary mountains. It looked as if someone had cut the mountain range in half with a single stroke.


    Sasor smiled and explained, "The terrain of this Anlos Mountain Range is peculiar. As you can all see, the side facing us is a ninety-degree right-angled cut. According to legend, tens of thousands of years ago, a powerful being cut this Anlos Mountain Range in half with one strike, leaving only half of the mountain range. Look again. Isn''t the side of this mountain range facing us a very rare straight line extending into the distance?"


    Upon hearing this, everyone looked again and indeed saw that the mountain range extended in a straight line all the way to the ends of the horizon.


    "It is precisely because of this bizarre terrain that it has formed a natural defense line for our Rhine Empire. When enemies attack, it is very difficult to cross this Anlos Mountain Range. The only way through is a canyon in the middle. Only this place can lead directly to the Rhine Empire. If there are foreign invaders, we just need to guard this canyon named Guihun well, and everything will be fine."


    The group continued to talk as they headed towards the Anlos Mountain Range.


    After more than half a day, the group finally arrived at the foot of the Anlos Mountain Range. Sure enough, there was a narrow canyon only a few dozen meters wide directly in front of them. From a distance, such a narrow place would be impossible to detect.


    There were nearly a thousand border troops stationed outside the canyon.


    After explaining their intentions to these border troops, the group entered the narrow canyon.


    Han Ming looked around inside the canyon. The space here was very narrow, probably accommodating less than a hundred people side by side at a time. Compared to the Anlos Mountain Range that soared into the clouds, this canyon was undoubtedly an excellent defensive fortress.


    There were also thousands of border troops stationed in the middle and rear of the canyon. Seeing Han Ming and the others coming, these border troops curiously sized up this group of people.


    Han Ming and the others friendly smiled and greeted the border troops.


    After crossing the canyon, the group advanced for another three days or so. In the distance, the faint outline of a cluster of low black buildings appeared.


    "That is the Frontier City of the Rhine Empire ahead."


    Sasor pointed to the large expanse of low black shadows in front and explained.


    "Where is that place?"


    Han Ming noticed a large gray area on the right side of them in the distance. Some dilapidated buildings could be faintly seen, seemingly the ruins of a city. Judging from the general outline, its desolation and age could be discerned.


    Sasor smiled and said, "That is a rather famous area in the Rhine Empire, called Ghost City. Hehe, there are quite a few low-level small magical beasts and some lower-level undead creatures inside. Our Rhine Empire is different from your Mont Empire, which has the advantage of being close to the wilderness forest for natural exploration and treasure hunting. Compared to the wilderness forest, Ghost City is child''s play. Generally, experts from the three countries of our Northern Alliance continent who want to explore and seek treasures usually go to the Mont Empire, then enter the wilderness forest, or the Magical Beast Forest that stands between the Mont Empire and the Cabo Empire. But those dangerous places are not within the capabilities and courage of everyone to enter, so Ghost City has become a famous place in our Rhine Empire, a paradise for some low-level strength people."


    Sasor paused and then said, "In Ghost City, it is generally very difficult to obtain magical beast cores. If I remember correctly, generally speaking, it is already very remarkable to produce a third-level magical beast core within a hundred years. I suppose none of you are interested in such a small place, so we don''t need to spend more time investigating it."


    The group had previously heard that this place was called Ghost City. At first hearing, it sounded quite similar to the Ghost Domain inside the wilderness forest, and some who hadn''t heard of this place were a bit eager to try. Now that they knew there wasn''t anything good here, they gave up the idea. And some who had originally known about this place didn''t intend to stay at all and were already far ahead, heading towards Frontier City.


    After another day, the group finally arrived at Frontier City.


    There was already a flying airship dock here.


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    People parted ways here. People from the Cabo Empire boarded the airships to the Cabo Empire, and the native experts of the Rhine Empire boarded the local airships and flew back to their hometowns.


    Some of the Mont Empire''s experts who remained also expressed their desire to wander around here, and most of them left.


    Shang Que told Han Ming that Phil''s uncle''s family was in the Rhine Empire, and they couldn''t stay in Frontier City with Han Ming this time. They had to go pay respects to Phil''s uncle.


    Upon hearing this, Han Ming nodded slightly with a smile, knowing that after the fall of the Mont Empire, the major forces of the Mont Empire had flocked to the Rhine Empire, and Phil''s own family would definitely go to her so-called uncle''s house. Shang Que and Phil were probably going to pay respects to both sets of parents.


    A son-in-law always has to meet the parents-in-law, and besides, Shang Que wasn''t ugly either.


    "Han Ming, how about... you also come and stay at my uncle''s place for a few days. You can also recuperate for a while. After all, your injuries haven''t fully healed yet."


    Phil first gave Shang Que two pleading looks. After seeing Shang Que nod in agreement, she hurriedly and joyfully extended the invitation to Han Ming.


    They were going to meet the parents, so of course, Han Ming wouldn''t be silly enough to join in the fun. Moreover, Kulo''s whereabouts were unknown. With her strength, she shouldn''t encounter any difficulties. If she escaped from the Mont Empire, it was very likely that her first stop would be Frontier City. Han Ming still wanted to meet up with Kulo here.


    He shook his head and smiled, politely declining Phil''s kind invitation.


    Phil knew Han Ming''s predicament. The two had previously caused some misunderstandings. Seeing Han Ming decline, she understood that she couldn''t force him and could only leave with Shang Que regretfully.


    In the blink of an eye, only Han Ming was left here.


    Han Ming was concerned about the demon army in the Mont Empire and didn''t have the mood to stroll around Frontier City. He casually found a small inn and checked in.


    In the evening, he casually had dinner and then went to the rooftop of the inn, quietly looking at the crescent moon in the sky.


    The demon army, with nearly a million troops, had captured Fila City in one day, but they definitely couldn''t easily conquer the entire Mont Empire. Capturing the imperial city of Fila was just their first step. Next, they would probably disperse their forces and sweep through all the cities of the Mont Empire.


    Although the demon army was elite, nearly a million troops were not enough to flatten nearly a thousand cities in the Mont Empire in a short period of time. At this moment, similar situations to Fila City must be happening everywhere in the Mont Empire.


    Previously, the wind-type old man in the Ghost Domain said that if the demon army gathered more than a million troops, they could sweep across the entire Northern Alliance continent. But Han Ming now had a different view. This demon army was definitely not just trying to flatten the Northern Alliance continent. They probably wanted to completely dominate the three major empires of the Northern Alliance continent as a springboard for their large-scale attack on all of humanity.


    From this perspective, if they really flattened the Mont Empire in the future, they would surely leave a large number of troops to garrison the Mont Empire and need even more support when attacking the other two countries. In other words, the humans of the Northern Alliance continent still had some time.


    At least one year, at most two or three years, the Rhine Empire and the Cabo Empire were still safe.


    Having thought through this link, Han Ming''s heart was slightly settled. As long as there was still time, humans still had a chance to counterattack.


    Deep into the night, Han Ming still had no trace of sleepiness. He sat cross-legged on the rooftop and began to slowly circulate the magic energy within his body. His magical strength was not far from breaking through to the sixth level. He could feel it now. And at this time, his small magic crystals were almost exhausted. Taking advantage of the two months of free time, he planned to go exchange some magic crystals tomorrow and use these two months to break through to the second level, sixth stage.


    At this moment, Han Ming had an urgent desire to improve his magical level. Especially when he could only summon the Nine-Headed Snake King with a large magic crystal instead of using his own strength, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness. And this urgent desire to improve his level had reached an unprecedented height.


    Improving martial skills and the use of magic could enhance a person''s strength, but it could not increase a person''s magic capacity and quality level.


    Han Ming sat with his eyes closed, carefully feeling the slowly circulating vortex of magic energy within his body. The core that belonged to him seemed a bit brighter than before, while the core of the Nine-Headed Snake King beside him remained motionless, only occasionally drawing a small amount of magic energy from Han Ming''s core to sustain life.


    The night grew deeper, and a cool breeze blew over. From below, there came a faint sound of crying.


    Han Ming was attracted by the crying and slowly opened his eyes.


    He stepped lightly to the edge of the rooftop and looked down. In a small corridor outside the inn, a boy about fourteen or fifteen years old was sitting in the corner, hugging his knees and crying.


    The boy''s clothes were tattered. At first, Han Ming thought he was a little beggar, but upon closer inspection, it was not the case. The clothes the boy was wearing were obviously not something an ordinary family could afford. Although they appeared to be quite luxurious on a normal day, they were now full of holes, revealing the boy''s dirty skin underneath.


    His blond short hair was messy, his little hands were covered in dirt, and there were multiple minor wounds on his body, with some dried blood still visible.


    "Could he be a wealthy child from the Mont Empire who has fallen on hard times?"


    Han Ming felt very sympathetic towards the boy. He gently jumped down from the rooftop, careful not to startle the boy.


    "Are you homeless?"


    Han Ming slowly walked up to the boy and squatted down slightly.


    The boy was sobbing softly. Seeing someone speaking, he quickly lifted his mud-covered face, his big watery eyes looking at Han Ming but not saying a word.


    Han Ming carefully examined the boy and saw that he had an extremely delicate face, destined to be an extremely handsome man when he grew up. His temperament was also different from ordinary people, faintly revealing a hint of nobility and pride.


    "What''s your name?"


    Han Ming asked softly.


    The boy stared blankly at Han Ming, still refusing to speak.


    Han Ming had no choice but to reach into his storage bag and fumbled for a while, pulling out two shiny gold coins.


    "Here, go find an inn to stay in and buy a set of clothes to change into. If you save on food and drink, these two gold coins should be enough for you to live on for more than half a year."


    Upon seeing the gold coins, the boy''s eyes lit up. He snatched the coins from Han Ming''s hand and greedily looked at the two gold coins in his hand.


    Seeing this, Han Ming frowned slightly, wondering why this boy, who didn''t seem to be from a poor family, was so fixated on gold coins. Did he have an urgent need for money?


    After getting the gold coins, the boy still refused to speak.


    Han Ming smiled slightly and stroked the boy''s hair, but the boy suddenly moved his head away, dodging Han Ming''s hand.


    "Hehe, stay at the inn where I am tonight. It''s very cheap, only ten coppers. It''s a bit shabby, but it can barely serve as a shelter." Han Ming smiled, walked back to the inn, and looked back at the entrance. He saw that the boy was still squatting in the corner, staring at him blankly.


    Han Ming smiled and didn''t say much. His body moved, and he flipped up onto the rooftop of the inn.


    The boy, seeing Han Ming''s agility, couldn''t help but be impressed, his eyes revealing an intense look of longing.