He thought for a moment and decided to go take a look at the city walls.

He hadn't been up onto Zhenyue City's walls yet.

Forty meters high and sixty li long, with an arrow tower every fifty meters.

He wanted to see for himself just how sturdy this Great Xia fortress in the South Pole Region truly was.

Lin Feng strode toward the nearest set of stairs leading up the wall.

Behind him, the doors of the Adventurers Guild kept opening and closing as a steady stream of people moved in and out.

Selina still sat behind the counter, greeting the next Adventurer with a smile.

...

The steps Lin Feng climbed were wide and polished smooth, providing a steady footing.

The city guards saw someone approaching and were about to question him, but when their eyes fell upon the purple-glowing equipment he wore, they swallowed their words, bowed slightly, and stepped aside.

Having stood guard on the walls for years, they knew exactly who they could stop and who they couldn't.

Lin Feng climbed the forty-meter height in one go without even breaking a sweat.

Standing atop the wall, his field of vision suddenly opened up.

A panoramic view of Zhenyue City spread out beneath him; the inner city walls were like a square iron barrier, firmly enclosing the Lords Mansion, Council Hall, national treasury, and core warehouses in the center.

Outside the inner city, the warehouses and barracks of the northern district were neatly arranged, and soldiers could be seen training on the drill grounds in the distance.

In the residential area of the western district, cooking smoke curled upward from thousands of chimneys, drifting in the breeze like a thin veil.

Further away, the grassy waves of the Golden Ear Plain stretched to the horizon, its golden stalks swaying in the wind like a frozen ocean.

The road, like a grey ribbon, extended from the east gate, winding through fields and villages before vanishing at the edge of the horizon.

Lin Feng leaned against the battlements, watching for a long time before turning to descend the wall.

It was time to go back and rest; he had to set out early tomorrow morning.

The room Zhenyue City had arranged for him was in a detached courtyard on the eastern side of the inner city.

The courtyard wasn't large but was quite exquisite, with blue brick flooring and several clusters of green bamboo in the corners that rustled in the breeze.

The main room was a bedroom; the bed was tidy, and the freshly changed bedding emitted a faint scent of soapnut.

A pot of hot tea and several plates of snacks sat on the table, the tea still steaming, evidently just delivered.

Lin Feng leaned his Wildfire Spear against the bed, sat down in a chair, and took a sip of tea.

The tea was warm and sweet, even better than the tea at Wangyue Tower.

He leaned back, closed his eyes, and mentally reviewed tomorrow's itinerary.

From Zhenyue City to Kara Holy City was a thousand li; at his and Liu Zhenshan's speed, they would arrive by the afternoon.

Tieba Kingdom, the Orc Army, forty thousand troops, a level 40 War Lord, a level 39 Prophet, a level 39 Sword Saint...

His fingers tapped twice on the armrest of the chair before coming to a stop.

He opened his eyes, stood up, walked to the bed, and lay down.

The bed was soft and the bedding warm; he closed his eyes, and his breathing gradually grew steady.

...

A dreamless night.

Early the next morning, Lin Feng woke up just as dawn was breaking.

After a quick wash, he slung the Wildfire Spear onto his back, pushed open the door, and walked across the inner city's bluestone path toward the west gate.

Zhenyue City hadn't fully awakened yet; the streets were sparse with pedestrians, save for a few early-rising vendors pushing carts.

The blacksmith shops hadn't opened, and the signs of the pharmacies swayed gently in the morning breeze.

The west gate was on the western side of the city; several guards stood on either side of the gatehouse, straightening their backs and placing their right fists against their chests as they saw Lin Feng approach.

By the time Lin Feng exited the city gate, Liu Zhenshan had already arrived.

He wore deep purple battle armor and carried a greatsword on his back.

Seeing Lin Feng emerge, Liu Zhenshan strode forward to meet him. "Good morning, Lord Lin! How did you rest last night?"

Lin Feng nodded. "Good morning, Deputy City Lord Liu. I rested very well, thank you for the arrangements."

Liu Zhenshan waved his hand and turned to look westward, his gaze passing over the grassy waves of the Golden Ear Plain toward the distance.

After a moment, he withdrew his gaze and nodded to Lin Feng. "It's getting late, let's go."

The two stepped forward simultaneously without further words. Two figures blurred out from the west gate of Zhenyue City, galloping toward the Grey Tundra to the west.

The rising sun in the east cast their shadows onto the grass of the Golden Ear Plain—one long and one short—like two arrows loosed from a bow.

The grassy waves of the Golden Ear Plain receded rapidly beside them, the wind whistling past their ears with the scent of earth and dry grass.

They maintained the same speed, neither leading nor falling behind.

The passive effect of the windchaser boots triggered automatically as they ran.

With a displacement of over three meters per second, stacks of "Windchaser" accumulated beneath his feet, causing his agility to climb.

With five stacks maxed out, Lin Feng's total agility held steady at over sixty, and the force lifting his body and sensing the air currents never faded.

After running for about four hours, the sun had risen from the east to directly overhead, its light becoming fierce.

The scenery on both sides of the road gradually changed; the golden grassy waves of the Golden Ear Plain began to ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) thin out, and the tall grass dispersed into clusters, revealing the grey-brown soil beneath.

The temperature began to drop—not in a gradual, slow decline, but as if they had crossed an invisible threshold, the heat in the air being sucked away by something.

The wind blew from the west, carrying a damp, cold aura that felt like cold water being splashed against the face.

Lin Feng's constitution was high, so this slight change in temperature was nothing to him.

But he could clearly feel that this place and the Golden Ear Plain had two different climates.

After another ten minutes of advancing, a natural boundary appeared on the plain ahead.

The line was so distinct it didn't seem natural; to the east were still the golden grassy waves of the Golden Ear Plain, while to the west was a grey-green, low-lying mossy plant that densely carpeted the ground.

There was no transition or buffer between the two landscapes; it was as if someone had drawn a line on the ground with a knife—one side was summer, and the other was winter.

Liu Zhenshan slowed his pace and pointed at that boundary line, his tone carrying a hint of solemnity.

“That over there is the Grey Tundra. The dividing line between the Golden Ear Plain and the Grey Tundra is also the border between the Tieba Kingdom and Zhenyue City.”

Lin Feng stopped and stood on the boundary line; a single step's distance, yet the temperature difference was at least twenty degrees.