Li Xiu quickly emerged from the coffin and began to survey his surroundings, but what he saw left him momentarily stunned.

He discovered that the coffin was actually on a beach, and scattered across the white sand were several metallic coffins, arranged haphazardly and abundantly all over the visible beach.

Li Xiu was shocked to realize that this seemed to be an island, at least the areas within his sight were all surrounded by the ocean.

Red Sand City also has places close to the sea, but there's no sea near Red Sand Main City, even if you drive to the seaside, it would take more than an hour to reach.

Not to mention, this looks like an island, he didn't feel like he had taken a boat, how did he end up on an island?

Seeing the masked figure completely ignoring him and walking ahead, nearly out of sight, Li Xiu hurriedly chased after him.

The beach was flanked by dense forests, with many unfamiliar plants that Li Xiu couldn't use to identify the geographical area.

The masked figure led Li Xiu along a stone path into the forest, and after a short walk through the woods, Li Xiu witnessed a breathtaking scene.

Most people have played with spinning tops, even if they haven't, they've certainly seen them, but who has ever seen a spinning top as large as an island?

Li Xiu saw a gigantic spinning top, or more accurately, a mountain resembling a spinning top standing on the ground.

But this mountain was exceedingly peculiar, it was incredibly narrow where it connected to the ground, resembling the tip of a spinning top, while it grew wider as it ascended, culminating in a mammoth island-like expanse at the top.

Atop that spinning-top-like mountain was a colossal city, with all its buildings pure white, as if carved from alabaster.

This city, seemingly constructed in heaven, when viewed up close, presents an overwhelmingly intense visual conflict.

This prompted Li Xiu to recall an ancient poem: The White Jade Capital above, Five towers and twelve cities. Immortals stroke my head, Let me live long with my hair tied.

Such a wondrous and enigmatic Spiral City, not to mention witnessing it, even dreaming of such a city would never have crossed one's mind.

"Aren't the people who built the city worried that the connection to the ground might sever? That Spiral Mountain looks like it could collapse at any moment..." Li Xiu pondered internally.

The masked figure remained silent, simply leading Li Xiu forward.

As Li Xiu approached, discovering the entire base of Spiral Mountain was a massive basin, he was even more stunned.

Inside that vast basin stood countless enormous ancient gates, erect like gravestones in a cemetery.

Many humans wearing Bronze Masks either flew on magical creatures to the gates or rode flying swords back to the city.

The scene was enough to astonish even Li Xiu, who had seen much of the world; Trial Takers and magical creatures rarely seen outside were commonplace here, as if anyone without a magical creature ride would be embarrassed to go out.

Li Xiu finally understood why Longevity City hadn't occupied all the Trial Gates worldwide.

There must be thousands of Trial Gates here, with so many gates nearby, anyone can choose whichever one they wish to enter, so why waste time traveling to distant locations? It's entirely unnecessary.

They only need to control the gemstone mines worldwide, continuously acquiring gemstones to open gates.

The scattered Trial Gates globally weren't worth their time or effort.

"Where exactly is this place? Is it really near the Southern Cross Federation?" Li Xiu wondered to himself.

"Do you have a flying magical creature or contract?" the masked figure asked Li Xiu.

"No," Li Xiu replied, shaking his head.

"Then climb up yourself," the masked figure pointed toward the city and said, "That is the gateway to Longevity City; once there, someone will register your details and arrange your sustenance and lodging."

With that, the masked figure's ring transformed into a dragon-like magical creature, flying him toward Longevity City's gateway without giving any regard to Li Xiu.

"Are all Longevity City residents this indifferent?" Li Xiu didn't mind, assessed the surroundings for a while, then proceeded along the downward stone steps into the basin filled with Trial Gates.

The stone steps led directly to the gateway of Longevity City, but Li Xiu couldn't quite grasp how to ascend that mountain, which was narrow at the base and wide at the top—it wasn't like he could cling to the ceiling like a gecko.

Occasionally, people flew by on magical creatures, and once Li Xiu descended the steps to the ground, he promptly summoned the Pink Nightmare for transportation.

In such a place, a magical creature was perfectly normal, unlike outside, where it needed to be concealed.

Li Xiu rode the Pink Nightmare onward along the stony path, but soon realized a problem.

Within this basin, quite a number of people resided, and on either side of the stone road were clusters of shack-like houses, where people in tattered clothing stood by the roadside or watched him from within their homes with strange expressions.

"Who are these people? How can there be so many individuals resembling beggars or scavengers within Longevity City?" Li Xiu noticed that the shack-like areas not only housed adults but also plenty of men and children, growing ever more perplexed.

This was entirely contrary to his conception of Longevity City—a gathering place for the world's elite.

The Longevity City atop Spiral Mountain very much fit Li Xiu's image of Longevity City.

But the areas below the mountain appeared akin to a slum, completely overturning Li Xiu's understanding.

As Li Xiu was riding the Pink Nightmare forward at full speed, he suddenly saw someone on the road ahead blocking his way.

He had no choice but to stop the Pink Nightmare, sizing up the person obstructing him.

The figure was a tall, ragged man, with a cross-shaped scar on his cheek, lending him a somewhat menacing appearance.

"Your life, I claim it," the man spread his arms, conjuring a blood-red spear that trembled in his grasp, its violent spearhead aimed straight at Li Xiu's chest.

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