Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

Jian'an City, the city adjacent to Wushuang Castle, existed only in the stories of others for Mo Yuming.

Although nearly a year has passed since he left the canyon and set foot on land, Mo Yuming's activities are still confined to this tiny castle, which is as small as a sesame seed and has a population of less than 10,000.

Now that we've made up our minds to conquer Jian'an City, we must first go into the city, investigate, and get a feel for it before making a plan.

This city, located at the northernmost tip of Uju, is shaped like a gourd, with its walls winding and undulating along the terrain.

The entire castle is like a dazzling pearl, nestled in the towering mountains and valleys that face each other to the east and west, making it the only city in Yuzhou that stands deep within the Monster Mountain Range.

The towering, cloud-piercing cliffs of the Monster Mountain resemble a giant horseshoe, tightly embracing the castle. The entire castle has only one entrance and exit, with sheer cliffs on both sides, making it a strategically important and easily defensible location.

The direction of the gourd mouth naturally leads to the Valley of Heartbreak. The city wall here is majestic and imposing. Although the entire city wall is only a few dozen feet long, it is made of extremely hard rock and is more than twenty feet high, almost thirty feet high.

This city wall has witnessed countless years of vicissitudes. Over the long years, the stones on the wall have been exposed to the sun, rain, wind, and frost countless times, and the traces of its original construction have long since faded, as if it has become one with nature.

The wall was covered with moss, like a mottled painting.

The city wall at the other end of the city appears noticeably thinner, though it still retains its majestic appearance.

However, the materials used to build the city walls were no longer exclusively rock, but were increasingly made of bricks.

The height of the city wall was also significantly reduced, to only about ten zhang (approximately 33 meters). Judging from the construction time, it was clearly built many years later, perhaps because as time passed and more and more people settled in the castle, it was gradually expanded.

If you stand on high ground and look down at the city, you will find that the city center still retains traces of an ancient city wall, like a mark of time.

The long-time residents of the city often referred to the northern part as the inner city and the southern part as the outer city. Although the city was not large in area, it housed over 100,000 people.

In addition to the 50,000 troops stationed there and nearly 30,000 of their families, there are also nearly 70,000 to 80,000 permanent residents, who are mainly engaged in businesses such as hotels, restaurants, and selling magic crystal ore.

Nearly 50,000 transient residents also stayed in the castle for short periods, mostly merchants and江湖人士 (jianghu figures) traveling between the two continents.

Military service here mainly exists in the form of household-based conscription. There are no fixed age or geographical restrictions for conscription, and most soldiers serve for decades until they grow old.

Moreover, they were stationed in one place and rarely migrated, so most soldiers married and had children locally and settled down.

Jian'an City's main defenses were against enemies coming from the direction of Wushuang Castle, highway robbers, and unexpected magical beasts.

Therefore, the main force was deployed in the inner city. Because Mo Yuming had captured the commander and the expedition had ended in failure, the lord of Jian'an City was furious and ordered the blockade of Wushuang City.

Currently, soldiers are stationed on the city walls, while hidden sentries are lying in ambush, sealing the city gates as solid as an iron barrel, making them impregnable. A protective array has also been activated to prevent even top-tier experts from entering the castle unimpeded.

The news that Mo Yuming had many Heavenly Realm experts around him had spread like wildfire to the city lord's ears, causing him great worry and anxiety.

For security reasons, merchants entering and leaving the castle are subject to extremely strict checks. Only those holding a special pass issued by the city lord can freely enter and leave the castle, and the number of passes is limited each day.

The checks upon entering the city were like sieves; anyone with a cultivation level of mid-earth rank or above would find it difficult to pass without special proof.

In particular, those elderly men with white hair and youthful faces, even if they only have the cultivation level of the early Earth Rank, are strictly prohibited from entering the city. As a result, more than 90% of the merchants from Yuzhou are unable to leave the city, and most outsiders also find it difficult to enter Jian'an City.

However, even if the city gates were sealed tightly, if anyone could still enter or leave Jian'an City, then it would not be able to stop Mo Yuming from entering the city.

In fact, Mo Yuming had anticipated this long before the city lord sent troops to attack Wushuang City. He had secretly instructed Jia Shan, who was reselling magic crystals in Jian'an City, to bribe the main officials guarding the city walls with a large sum of money.

Having grown up in Jian'an City since childhood and frequently traveling between the castles, Jia Shan naturally became as close as brothers with the stationed soldiers.

How could those officers and soldiers suspect that Jia Shan was Mo Yuming's man? Therefore, Jia Shan entered and left the castle as if it were empty.

Six months ago, Jia Shan's business grew rapidly, snowballing as he frequently traded magic crystals in Jian'an City.

He was generous and made friends all over the world, much like Lord Mengchang, and his reputation soared in Jian'an City.

Because Jia Shan's magic crystals are of superior quality, come in a wide variety, are reasonably priced, and are always readily available, any shop in Jian'an City that sells magic crystals will immediately seek to purchase a certain type of magic crystal from Jia Shan if it becomes out of stock.

Later, Jia Shan's business expanded, no longer limited to reselling magic crystals, but also involved in gold and stone medicinal materials, and rented shops in the city to further expand his business territory.

However, Jia Shan's business model is different from others. He did not use his own advantages to suppress his peers. Instead, he took the initiative to contact his peers, helped them solve their problems, and promised that he would give all his peers a 30% discount when they came to him to purchase goods. He would never steal his peers' customers by lowering prices.

As a result, in recent years, Jia Shan has become famous in the business world of Jian'an City, and has become the leader in the field of magic crystal trading.

Whenever soldiers and officers in Jian'an City needed magic crystals for cultivation, they would ask Jia Shan for help, and Jia Shan would always take good care of them and never let them down.

Over time, many of the generals in the garrison camp became close friends with Jia Shan, maintaining close and intimate relationships.

With Jia Shan, a key pawn planted a year earlier, Mo Yuming and his group entered the seemingly heavily guarded city with minimal effort.

Under Jia Shan's personal guidance and accompaniment, Mo Yuming began his investigation in Jian'an City, both overt and covert. They traversed the streets and alleys, delving into the homes of ordinary people, leaving no corner unexplored.

After several days of investigation, Mo Yuming finally grasped the basic situation of Jian'an City, and even found out the background of the city lord of Jian'an City.

It turns out that this Lord of Jian'an City was not from a prestigious family, but a distant cousin of the Marquis of Da Chi Hou Guo in Long State. He had gained the Marquis's favor by presenting him with a rare treasure, and was thus granted the title of Lord of Jian'an City.

Although Jian'an City is located in a somewhat remote and desolate area, it has extremely important strategic significance—it controls the only transportation route between the entire Yuzhou continent and Yingzhou.

As a result, trade here is very frequent, and the economic benefits are naturally quite considerable.

Unfortunately, this city lord was an absolute villain. Relying on his meager kinship with the Marquis, he was arrogant and domineering in his daily life.

Not only did they treat the people in the city terribly, but they were also extremely vicious and greedy.

To satisfy his own selfish desires, this person often devised various pretexts to impose exorbitant taxes and levies, wantonly plundering the people's wealth.

He always dealt with the daily management affairs of Jian'an City perfunctorily, never truly putting his heart into its operation and governance.

Back when Commander Zhuang was still alive, these two were even more like-minded and colluded to oppress the people, making the city a chaotic place where the people suffered greatly.

Previously, with his high-level Xuan Gong cultivation of the eighth level of Earth Profound Realm and dual attributes, Commander Zhuang was a tyrant in the city, bullying men and women, and no one dared to speak out.

Later, when Zhuang Qianhu was suddenly captured by Mo Yuming, the high-ranking city lord realized that he was not safe.

Only when his life was threatened did he restrain himself, ordering the garrison in the city to impose martial law and raise the defense level of Jian'an City to the highest level. He also hid in the city lord's mansion all day, afraid to come out, lest he follow in the footsteps of the thousand-household commander.

He also immediately dispatched a special envoy with generous gifts to Shangyuan County to seek help.

After learning about the city lord's background, Mo Yuming decided to launch a surprise attack on the city lord's mansion, carry out a decapitation operation, and wipe out the city lord and his henchmen. He would then promote some of the more upright officials to manage the city, thereby achieving the goal of taking control of the city without bloodshed.