Gusts of wind covered Liu Mei and the others a moment later, as they all started to fly towards the Northern Sovereign as well.

However, just as the Northern Sovereign was about to depart, the Grand Elder looked at her and said in a regretful tone

''Senior, I have to lead the inner court Elders and the rest of the disciples back to the sect, so I can't come with you just yet, but I will come find Shun Long and the others in the Northern Sovereign's city, half a year from now.''

The Northern Sovereign seemed to have forgotten about this matter since she was preoccupied with the changes in the core region of the King's Palace.

With the golden skeleton having disappeared from the core region of the palace, the black thunderclouds around the King's Palace had also started to vanish,

Although the aura of the Daos inside the King's Palace was much weaker than before now that the golden skeleton had disappeared, it was still a treasure ground for cultivators who wanted to comprehend their Daos.

Since the Grand Elder was responsible for the Holy sect's group, he had to be the one to take them back to the sect as well. Otherwise, if the inner court Elders met with another accident like the snea attack of a powerful magic beast like the Wind wyrm, it was very likely that their entire group would perish without the Grand Elder's help.

''Alright, Kang Wen. I will see you in half a year.'' The Northern Sovereign didn't have any misgivings about leaving the Grand Elder behind as her body shot to the skies a moment later, carrying Shun Long and the others along with her as she flew out of the King's Palace.

...

The Northern Sovereign was flying at a leisure pace, but her speed had already exceeded the Grand Elder's 'Darkness Eagle' by many times, covering a large amount of distance with every passing second, and in less than a day, the outline of an enormous city finally appeared on the horizon.

The Northern Sovereign slowed down her speed even further as she approached closer to the huge city that seemed to span for countless miles, before she turned to look at Shun Long and asked with a warm smile

''Shun Long, do you know the history behind the 4 provincial cities of the central region?''

''4 provincial cities?'' Shun Long shook his head since he was indeed unfamiliar with most of the powers of the central region.

Although the Grand Elder had mentioned the Northern Sovereign's city and the other 3 cities in passing half a year ago, he hadn't mentioned any special details about those cities.

He had only said that the Northern Sovereign's city was the strongest power within the northern part of the central region, and that no other power could contend with it.

Even though there were rumored to be a couple more experts who weren't much weaker than the Northern Sovereign herself, none of those experts could even think of shaking the Northern Sovereign's city.

Shun Long was indeed slightly curious why that was the case.

The Northern Sovereign smiled even wider as she pointed at the city in front of her before she continued

''Indeed. In each of the 4 parts of the central region, there are 4 provincial cities, namely the Northern Sovereign's city, the Southern Sovereign's city, the Eastern Sovereign's city, and the Western Sovereign's city.

As you can guess, those 4 cities are indeed all connected and each of the 4 cities is protected by a single city lord.

Each one of the 4 city lords is a peak Sovereign realm expert whose strength is nearly unmatched at the same level of cultivation, able to easily trump others with their strength and stand at the peak of the Sovereign realm.

Additionally, aside from the city lords, in every city, there are a dozen other Sovereign realm experts hidden as well, along with more than a thousand protective formations, all set by 2-star formation masters!

Heh, even if a peak Sovereign realm expert attacked my Northern Sovereign's city while I am away, that person won't have a chance to forcefully breakthrough the protective formations and enter inside.''

Liu Mei and the others were all stunned when they heard the Northern Sovereign's words.

Aside from the city lord, there were a dozen other Sovereign realm experts inside every city? The Holy sect itself was rumored to have just a single Sovereign realm expert, and that person was the mysterious sect master who had yet to show his face even once, and yet each of the 4 cities had a dozen Sovereign realm experts?

If one counted in the city lords as well, didn't that mean that the 4 cities combined had more than 50 Sovereign realm experts, 4 of whom were even at the peak of the Sovereign realm?

Additionally, what kind of concept were a thousand protective formations set by 2-star formation masters?

''No wonder others don't dare to challenge the Northern Sovereign's city! With a thousand protective formations alone, even without a single Sovereign realm expert guarding it, it's unlikely that anyone can forcefully break past the cities defenses and enter inside.''

As this thought appeared in his mind, Shun Long stared at the city in the distance with renewed interest.

Although his strength was nowhere near enough to let him carve a 2-star protective formation just yet, his knowledge was enough to let him at least analyze it.

The Northern Sovereign had a deep look in her eyes as she stared at the massive city in the distance, before she continued a few moments later

''Although the 4 provincial cities are strong and are able to stand independently in the central region, there is actually an even stronger power behind them.

One of the 3 strongest powers in the entire central region... the Tianxuan dynasty!

Each of the 4 city lords, including myself, is in reality, a subordinate of the lord of the Tianxuan dynasty.

Shun Long, are you interested in joining my Northern Sovereign's city and the Tianxuan dynasty?''