I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Starting from Liuhua County, the convoy traveled smoothly on the wide and flat official road.

The carriage at the very front was extremely large, with protective array patterns inlaid on the outer walls. It was pulled by four snow-white horses with dark red hooves.

These horses carry a trace of demonic blood, making them not only incredibly endurance but also exceptionally stable when running, so that passengers can barely feel any bumps while sitting in the carriage.

Zheng Yifei, dressed in an inconspicuous outfit, rode an ordinary black horse, following Liu Zhengyi's carriage at a leisurely pace.

Li Jianfeng, Ye Xiao, and Wang Changsheng were scattered in other parts of the caravan, seemingly casually, but actually protecting the two carriages in the middle.

Liuhua County is only 800 li away from Yuanyang Prefecture.

Zheng Yifei sat on horseback, watching the trees on both sides of the official road slowly recede into the distance, feeling somewhat puzzled.

The distance of eight hundred miles is something that a Nascent Soul cultivator can reach in half an hour at most if they fly at full speed.

Even if a Foundation Establishment cultivator were to pilot a flying magic weapon, it would only take half a day at most.

However, Liu Zhengyi chose the most traditional way of traveling by horse-drawn carriage. At the speed of the Snow Dragon Horse, with its frequent stops and starts, it would take at least a whole day to reach Yuanyang Prefecture.

Around noon, the caravan stopped to rest at an official post station beside the main road.

The guards were busy feeding the horses hay and water, while Su Wanqing and Zhao Ling got off the carriage behind them to get some fresh air.

Zheng Yifei took a pot of freshly brewed hot tea from the innkeeper, walked to the pavilion where Liu Zhengyi was resting, poured a cup and handed it to him.

"Sir, have some tea to soothe your throat."

Zheng Yifei sat down on the stone bench next to him, hesitated for a moment, and then asked the question that had been bothering him: "Sir, although the journey to the prefectural city to take up our post is not too far, taking a carriage is still a bit slow."

"We are all cultivators, why don't we just fly through the air or use flying magic treasures to travel? Wouldn't that save a lot of time?"

Liu Zhengyi picked up his teacup, about to drink, when he heard this and paused.

He turned his head, looking at Zheng Yifei with some surprise, and after a long while, he chuckled and said, "Yifei, you've been in Dong Shenzhou for over a year now, don't you know the rules here?"

"Rules? What rules?"

Zheng Yifei was taken aback.

"No-fly zone"

Liu Zhengyi put down his teacup, pointed to the azure sky above, and said slowly, "In the Eastern Divine Continent, apart from the imperial messengers who use their power to transmit urgent military intelligence and communications, and the local police stations and city defense battalions who can use flying magic weapons or their own cultivation to fly when performing official duties, no one else, even if you are a powerful expert in the Refinement Void stage or the Integration stage, is allowed to fly freely over cities and on official roads."

If discovered by the Sky Patrol Bureau, the consequences range from confiscation of magical artifacts and hefty fines to complete disqualification from cultivation and imprisonment.

Zheng Yifei frowned slightly, puzzled: "Isn't this rule a bit too unreasonable? Golden Core cultivators can fly with their own magic power, and Foundation Establishment cultivators can also drive flying magic treasures as long as they have a few spirit stones."

Wouldn't it be more efficient if everyone flew around more? Why set such a rigid rule?

Liu Zhengyi glanced at Zheng Yifei, shook his head, and said with a hint of world-weariness in his tone: "You only see the efficiency of high-level cultivators, but you don't see the survival of those at the bottom."

The no-fly zone is for fairness, and also to prevent the world from descending into chaos.

Liu Zhengyi drew a circle on the stone table and continued to explain: "Although the Eastern Divine Continent is rich in spiritual energy and has countless natural treasures, the distribution of resources is extremely uneven."

The vast majority of spiritual veins, mines, and high-level cultivation techniques are controlled by the imperial court and those aristocratic families that have been passed down for thousands of years.

Don't be fooled by the abundance of Nascent Soul and Divine Transformation cultivators in the capital city; looking across the entire Eastern Divine Continent, over 80% of cultivators spend their entire lives stuck below the Golden Core stage.

"Eight or nine out of ten Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining stage cultivators simply cannot afford expensive flying magic treasures, nor can they afford to use teleportation arrays that consume huge amounts of resources."

How did they survive? By selling their labor. They worked as escorts for security companies, drove carriages at inns, built ships at shipyards, and carried loads at the docks.

Liu Zhengyi paused, looked into Zheng Yifei's eyes and said, "If the imperial court does not prohibit flying and allows high-level cultivators to use flying magic treasures for transportation at will, those aristocratic families can send a few Nascent Soul cultivators to use large flying magic treasures to load goods, and they can cross several prefectures in half a day."

Should the low-level security escort agencies still operate? Should the inns still do business?

Those low-level cultivators who rely on these trades to make a living will all lose their jobs. If tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of low-level cultivators have no way to survive, how can this world remain peaceful?

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yifei was suddenly jolted.

Before Liu Zhengyi could finish speaking, he picked up his teacup, took a sip, and continued, "In order to ensure the employment of these low-level cultivators, the Eastern Divine Continent Alliance not only issued a no-fly order, but also formulated extremely strict rules specifically for storage-type magic treasures."

The storage space of storage bags and storage rings has been uniformly restricted by the Alliance's Array Master Guild, and it is explicitly stipulated that storage magic items can only be used to store personal belongings, magic tools, pills and other small items.

It is absolutely forbidden to use it to transport bulk commodities such as grain, ore, and timber over long distances.

"Anyone who dares to use a high-level storage ring to smuggle bulk commodities will be prosecuted for treason and their family and clan will be exterminated once discovered."

Liu Zhengyi sighed: "The imperial court is doing this in order to forcibly reduce the efficiency of transportation and return the circulation of bulk commodities to land-based carriages and water-based boats."

In this way, inns, post stations, security escort agencies, guards, and laborers along the way all had food to eat, and society could function stably.

"Of course, besides protecting the livelihoods of the underprivileged, the primary purpose of the no-fly zone is for safety."

Liu Zhengyi lowered his voice: "There are other countries surrounding the Tianlong Dynasty. The borders between these countries stretch for tens of thousands of miles. If flying is not prohibited, high-level cultivators from enemy countries can simply fly into the sky and silently cross the border to cause trouble in the heartland."

With the no-fly order in place, the sky became a no-go zone; anyone daring to fly there would become a sitting duck for the city's defenses and the Sky Patrol.

After listening to Liu Zhengyi's long speech, Zheng Yifei fell into a long silence.

He was still using the mindset of Earth to measure this world.

On Earth, the more developed the transportation and the faster the flow of goods, the faster the social development. But here is the world of cultivation, where great power resides within oneself.

If we follow the model of Earth, allowing flight and not restricting storage magic treasures, then those powerful families with high-level cultivators and massive resources would immediately be able to monopolize the entire transportation industry.

They could transport grain from the south to the north in an instant, controlling all the flow of goods and pricing power.

Efficiency has indeed improved, but only a small group of people at the top of the pyramid benefit.

The price is that countless low-level cultivators lose their jobs and their only means of obtaining cultivation resources.

Without a place to live, lower-level cultivators will inevitably take desperate measures.

The turmoil in the cultivation world is far more terrifying than rebellions among mortals. A Foundation Establishment cultivator driven to desperation can take hundreds or even thousands of lives by self-destructing in a city.

"Your insight is profound, sir. I have learned a great deal."

Zheng Yifei bowed respectfully in agreement.

He finally understood that this seemingly outdated no-fly order was actually the cornerstone that maintained the operation of the vast cultivation society in the Eastern Divine Continent.

It sacrificed efficiency to maintain social stability, thus preserving a breathing space for lower-level monks.

"Good that you understand."

Liu Zhengyi smiled and stood up: "The prefectural city is not like a county town. There are countless rules. When you work in the prefectural city, observe more, listen more, and ask fewer questions. As long as you don't cross the court's bottom line, with your abilities, you will definitely be able to make a name for yourself."

After resting for half an hour, the convoy set off again.

As dusk fell, the afterglow of the setting sun spilled onto the official road, and the outline of a massive, breathtaking city finally came into view.

Yuanyang Prefecture.

Compared to the low earthen and stone city walls of Liuhua County, the city walls of Yuanyang Prefecture were hundreds of feet high and were made entirely of a kind of black, hard rock.

On the surface of the city wall, there were faint, complex array lights flowing around, radiating a chilling pressure. The city gate was so wide that it could accommodate ten carriages passing side by side.

At the city gate, an eighth-rank official from the Bureau of Records, dressed in a blue official robe, had been waiting for some time with several attendants.

Upon seeing Liu Zhengyi's carriage, the official immediately stepped forward and bowed respectfully: "This humble official is the Prefect of Yuanyang Prefecture. I have come to greet Prefect Liu. The Prefect, upon learning of your arrival today, specially ordered me to wait here to welcome you."

Thank you for your trouble.

Liu Zhengyi lifted the carriage curtain, nodded slightly, and adopted the airs of a superior.

Under the guidance of the officials, the convoy successfully passed through the city gate checkpoint and entered the main urban area of ​​Yuanyang Prefecture.

Upon entering the city, Zheng Yifei and his companions were awestruck by the bustling scene before them.

The streets were as wide as a plaza, with buildings on both sides boasting ornate carvings and soaring into the clouds. Shops displayed a dazzling array of magical artifacts and elixirs, radiating an alluring spiritual glow. The streets were bustling with traffic and pedestrians.

Zheng Yifei used his divine sense to sense the area and found that among the cultivators walking on the street, Foundation Establishment stage cultivators were as numerous as hairs on a cow, Golden Core and Nascent Soul stage cultivators were also everywhere, and he could even occasionally detect a few faint auras of the Deity Transformation stage.

The overall strength here is far superior to that of Liuhua County.