Not long after, a city at least ten times larger than the border city in the northwest appeared before Ning Beichen and his companions.
The walls of this city were even higher, and the guards were even stricter. Especially on the city walls, dense arrays of large crossbows were mounted, estimated to be at least a thousand in number.
Facing such a heavily fortified city, even Ning Beichen couldn't guarantee he could breach it. Through such a direct comparison, it became clear why the northwest border city was known as a backward, impoverished, and barbaric place.
However, Ning Beichen sighed inwardly. He didn't feel any joy because the walls were higher and the guards more stringent; instead, he felt sadness.
Human survival in this world was not easy. Compared to the billions of people in his own world, the number of beasts here was greater, and the number of humans was smaller.
In terms of strength, beasts were generally more powerful than humans.
Even though Ning Beichen seemed to have easily subdued two beast kings, one had to remember how many people in this world could compare to Ning Beichen.
Therefore, Ning Beichen saw more sorrow, the sorrow of humanity, the helplessness of humanity, and the difficulty of human survival.
"Boss, this is Sunset City, the third largest city on the Central Continent."
The person Ning Beichen had spared their life respectfully introduced him to Ning Beichen.
The three people Ning Beichen had spared at that time had now all pledged their allegiance to Ning Beichen and become his subordinates.
"Let's go in."
Ning Beichen and his group rode their beast kings towards the city gate.
"Stop!"
As they approached Sunset City, the crossbows on the city walls immediately aimed at them, and a contingent of soldiers appeared within the city.
It wasn't that they were intentionally being difficult, but Ning Beichen and his group riding two beast kings would make anyone nervous.
Ning Beichen and his group stopped and dismounted from their mounts, sending someone to communicate with the soldiers.
The soldiers confirmed that the beast kings had recognized their masters before they were allowed to enter the city. However, the two beast kings could not enter human residential areas and had to be kept in designated locations. Ning Beichen understood this.
Although they had subdued the beast kings, if a beast king were to go berserk among humans, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Of course, one might ask if there were any exceptions for special privileges to bring beast kings into the city.
Undoubtedly, there were such exceptions, and not a few.
But Ning Beichen didn't care about these things. They had no place to stay upon arriving here, so there was no need to bring the beast kings into the city.
Although Sunset City was not the largest or most central city on the Central Continent, Ning Beichen chose it as his first destination.
Here, he had gathered enough information about the Central Continent.
The next tasks were to find a place to stay and to secure funds.
However, the issue of money was no longer urgent. They had hunted many prey along the way and collected valuable materials, which were enough for them to exchange for money.
It was also fortunate that Ning Beichen had spared the lives of those three individuals, otherwise, Ning Beichen would have been unaware of many matters concerning the Central Continent.
Yang Qianrou and the others were also visiting the Central Continent for the first time. Like Ning Beichen, they were lost, and no one had any prior experience.
After exchanging resources for money, Ning Beichen and his group found a place to stay within the city.
As it was close to the mountains, many hunters and merchants traveled north and south. Therefore, renting or buying a house here was not difficult, but obtaining a good location would require a significant amount of money.
"This is the Southern Garden, also the best place for cultivation here. It occupies a small hilltop by itself, but the price here is a bit steep, esteemed guests, what do you think..."
"This place will do."
Ning Beichen was quite satisfied with this location.
"Very well, we can sign the contract now. After signing and paying the money, you can move in."
Ning Beichen nodded and asked Yang Qianrou to go and sign the contract and pay.
Although buying this place had cost them most of their money, having a place to stay was very important for all of them.
Ning Beichen knew that he would eventually leave this place, so he asked Yang Qianrou to sign the contract. After all, they had followed him from the northwest border city and would remain here for the rest of their lives, so this was considered a home for them.
With their residence secured, Ning Beichen and his group settled down.
Next, Ning Beichen needed to continue gathering information about the Central Continent and find the Ancestral Court, as Ning Beichen had a vague feeling that the Ancestral Court was the key to his leaving this world.
However, the Ancestral Court was extremely mysterious, and almost no one knew its location. Perhaps the people of the Three Great Families had clues, but it would require careful planning.
The first step in this was to gather information about the Three Great Families and the various sects scattered throughout the Central Continent, and to understand their strength, rather than acting like barbarians and charging in directly.
The Three Great Families had stood firm on the Central Continent for so many years, Ning Beichen did not believe their strength was merely that little. He wouldn't rest easy without thorough investigation.
Although he was confident in his own strength, believing he could escape even if he couldn't win, Yang Qianrou and the others could not. Ning Beichen had not brought them here to die.
In addition to these, they also had to find ways to earn money, as they had more than twenty mouths to feed collectively and could not simply deplete their resources.
The investigation would naturally be handled by Yang Qianrou and his group, so Ning Beichen, as the leader, wouldn't have to personally get involved.
Within a few days, they had gathered a considerable amount of information.
The best piece of news was that the foremost sect on the Central Continent, the Heavenly Sword Sect, was currently recruiting disciples.
However, joining the Heavenly Sword Sect would not be easy, as they would have to compete with people from all over the Central Continent for a spot.
Ning Beichen had no interest in joining the foremost sect, but he supported his subordinates. After all, if he were to leave in the future, Yang Qianrou and the others would at least have a powerful force to protect them, preventing them from being targeted.
It was important to remember that their airship was stolen, and they had not yet encountered trouble, meaning the original owners had not yet found them.
Furthermore, Yang Qianrou and the others had not come to the Central Continent to merely live; they were here to improve their strength.
In the past, people from border cities would join various sects, which was one of the ways for sects to select disciples.
Sects needed talent to develop. Without Ning Beichen's intervention, according to past practices, those who emerged alive from the ancestral land in the northwest border city would be chosen by various sects.
But with Ning Beichen's involvement, the situation had changed. Now, they needed to find sects to join themselves.
"Boss, I don't want to go. I want to follow you."
Unexpectedly, Yang Qianrou did not wish to join a sect but wanted to follow Ning Beichen.