The morning mist did not simply lift; it was burned away by the radiant spiritual glow of a metropolis that defied every law of mortal architecture. As the Silver Wing rounded the jagged cliffs of the coastline, the City of Nine Cauldrons revealed itself, a vertical titan of gold, bronze, and spirit-iron. The city was built across nine massive floating plateaus, each suspended by gargantuan chains that pulsed with a low, rhythmic thrum of energy. At the dead center of each plateau sat a namesake bronze cauldron, as large as a fortress, acting as a spiritual lung that breathed Qi into the heavens.
"The Nine Cauldrons," Ye Chen whispered, her voice a fragile thread of sound against the roar of the harbor. Her hood was pulled low, but Qin Feng could see the tremble in her hands. "In my past life, I stood upon the Ninth Plateau, looking down at the world as if it were a chessboard. Now... we start at the base, where the air tastes of coal and desperation."
[DING! Location Discovered: The City of Nine Cauldrons.] [New Mechanics Unlocked: 'Reputation System' & 'Alchemy Trade Control'.] [World Announcement: A new 'Foundation Master' has entered the Central Continent! Initial Karma: Neutral.]
As the ship docked at the lowest harbor, a chaotic mess of damp wood and rusted iron, the sheer scale of the Central Continent's activity slammed into Qin Feng's senses. Thousands of cultivators moved with frantic purpose. Some flew on glowing swords, leaving trails of light in the smoggy air, while others rode massive spirit-beasts that shook the docks with every step. The air was a thick, cloying cocktail of expensive medicinal pills, raw sewage, and the hum of a million voices bargaining for their lives.
Manager Su Meiling walked up to Qin Feng, her silk fan fluttering with a nervous speed she hadn't shown during the Kraken attack. "Master Qin, we have arrived. My guild will handle the entry tallies, but you must be invisible. News of the Sea-God's Sentinel's death has already reached the 'Ear-Eaters' of the First Plateau. They are looking for a 'Shadow-Slayer' to recruit... or to eliminate before he can upset the balance."
"I'm not here to play politics, Su," Qin Feng said, his Eclipse Sunderer now wrapped in a coarse, grease-stained cloth to look like an ordinary miner's tool. "I'm here for the resources to fix what was broken."
"Then your first stop is the Lower Cauldron Market," Su advised, her eyes darting to Ye Chen. "But keep your wife's face hidden. On the First Plateau, beauty is not a virtue; it is a commodity. There are 'Collectors' here who serve the young masters of the higher plateaus. They have a hunger for fallen nobility."
They stepped off the gangplank and into a world of vibrant cruelty. For Qin Feng, who had spent a decade in the crushing silence of the spirit mines, the noise was an assault. But his Eclipse Vision began to filter the chaos. He didn't see people; he saw flows of Qi. He noticed that the "currency" here wasn't just gold; it was Cauldron Tokens, small bronze coins minted with the essence of the city's pillars.
As they navigated the muddy streets of the First Plateau, a group of five men in blood-red uniforms stepped out from an alleyway, blocking their path. They bore the jagged mark of the Crimson Fang Gang, the primary enforcers of the lower slums.
"Stop right there, mountain rats," the leader sneered. He was a man at the 4th Layer of Foundation Establishment, his Qi smelling of cheap wine and stagnant blood. He ignored Qin Feng, his eyes locking onto the elegant silhouette of Ye Chen beneath her cloak. "Welcome to the First Plateau. The entry tax for foreigners is one hundred mid-grade spirit stones... or, if you're feeling penniless, your 'sister' there can spend a night at our guild house to pay your debt."
Ye Chen's fingers twitched toward the hilt of her blade, a cold, killing intent beginning to seep from her pores. Qin Feng placed a hand on her arm, stepping forward. To the thugs, he looked like a common mortal, powerless, dusty, and bowed by labor.
"I don't have a hundred stones," Qin Feng said, his voice as flat as a grave. "And my wife doesn't serve dogs."
The leader's face twisted into a mask of mockery. "A miner with a backbone? That's rare. Usually, you lot just dig until you die." He reached out a meaty hand, intended to grab Qin Feng's throat and crush his windpipe.
[SYSTEM: Target 'Crimson Fang Thug' identified.] [Detection: Low-tier Foundation Qi. Weakness: Fractured Dantian from over-consumption of low-grade pills.] [Action: Level 1 Face-Slapping Opportunity.]
Qin Feng didn't draw his pickaxe. He didn't even flare his aura. He simply caught the leader's wrist in mid-air. With a slight, almost lazy twist of his hand, the sound of dry timber snapping echoed through the market. The leader's arm was forced into an agonizing, backward angle.
"AAAGH! My hand! Kill him! Gut him like a pig!" the leader wailed, collapsing to his knees.
The other four thugs lunged with jagged short-swords, their Qi sparking with messy red light. Qin Feng moved with a surgical grace born from years of dodging tunnel collapses. He didn't punch; he tapped. Four precise strikes with his two fingers hit their solar plexuses, injecting a needle of Eclipse Qi that instantly froze their meridians.
The thugs were sent flying back into the stalls of a nearby spice merchant, their bodies going limp before they even hit the ground. The market crowd, a collection of cutthroats and desperate merchants, fell into a stunned silence. They had seen violence before, but never something so... clinical.
"Wait," Qin Feng said, looking at the groveling leader. He reached down and snatched the man's heavy belt-pouch, filled with clinking bronze tokens. "You mentioned a tax. I believe this covers our 'contribution' for the next year."
[DING! 5,000 EXP Gained!] [Reputation in 'First Plateau Slums': Feared.] [Loot Acquired: 250 Cauldron Tokens, 1x Map of the Second Plateau.]
"We need to move, Husband," Ye Chen said, her voice a sharp blade of caution. "The Crimson Fang is just a branch of the Blood-Altar Sect. They have eyes everywhere on this plateau. By sunset, our descriptions will be in every tavern."
"Let them watch," Qin Feng replied, his eyes scanning the floating plateaus above. He saw the Second Plateau, where the air was clearer and the buildings were made of polished stone. "If we want to reach the 7th Layer before the month is out, we need a Tier 3 Alchemy Cauldron. And those aren't sold in the mud. We're going up."
They retreated to a dilapidated inn at the edge of the market district, a place where the shadows were deep enough to hide even an Empress. Inside the room, Qin Feng pulled out the Heart of the Deep-Walker he had harvested from the Sentinel. The orb pulsed with a dark, primordial hunger that made the air in the small room grow cold.
"Ye Chen, with your knowledge of the Old Ways and this core... can we forge a breakthrough?"
Ye Chen touched the glowing orb, her eyes reflecting the ancient power. "This is the essence of a calamity. To refine it, we need more than just a fire. We need to infiltrate the Alchemy Guild on the Third Plateau. But to enter, you must prove you are a Master of the Flame, not just a warrior."
Qin Feng looked at his calloused hands, the hands of a man who had only ever known how to break things. A slow, dangerous smile crept across his face.
"Then tomorrow, I learn a new trade," he said, looking at the massive chains that connected the worlds. "The City of Nine Cauldrons thinks it's a hierarchy. I'm going to show them it's just another mountain waiting to be mined."
[NEW QUEST: 'The Ascent of the Nine Cauldrons'.] [Objective: Infiltrate the Alchemy Guild and obtain a Tier 3 Cauldron.] [Reward: Path to the 7th Layer & Ye Chen's Soul-Mending Technique.]