Entering the City

Whistling down from the mountaintop, Xiao Ming approached the pitch-black city gate after a little over ten minutes.

As he neared the gate, Xiao Ming gradually slowed down, eventually switching to a leisurely walk. He joined the line behind the crowd and quietly waited to enter.

Perhaps because Black Mark City was about to hold an auction, the flow of people here was exceptionally heavy.

Besides scattered lone travelers in small groups, Xiao Ming also saw many convoys flying merchant banners.

Right in front of Xiao Ming was one such merchant convoy. It was quite sizable, with around a hundred people.

Among them, the strongest were only at the Dou Shi realm.

Daring to do business in the chaotic Black Corner Region with such strength, the owner of this merchant convoy seemed rather lacking in sense.

But that was not actually the case. The lower classes of the Black Corner Region were much the same as those of the Jia Ma Empire—they were ordinary people.

Though the people here were more bloodthirsty and less principled.

Their talent was still about the same. A Dou Shi might very well be the highest point they could reach in their entire lives.

In the Black Corner Region, a Da Dou Shi truly counted as a minor expert.

For merchant convoys that traveled in groups like this, as long as they did not encounter a large band of mounted bandits in the wilderness, their safety was actually fairly well assured.

And in most major cities dominated by powerful factions, as long as they paid those factions enough money, they would not end up having their goods stolen and their entire convoy slaughtered.

The people of the Black Corner Region did not engage in production. These merchant convoys had contributed greatly to keeping the Black Corner Region thriving.

Since they brought steady profits and increased activity, the factions in these cities were not foolish enough to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs.

Of course, nothing was absolute.

That was all based on the premise that you did not possess anything too valuable. Otherwise, the Black Corner Region would hardly live up to its reputation as the most chaotic region.

Standing behind the convoy's carriages, Xiao Ming looked up at the enormous black city wall, his gaze sweeping over the three large words, "Black Mark City," in the center of the gate.

His gaze slowly lowered, finally settling on the dozen or so men in fitted black clothes standing at the gate.

Like city guards elsewhere, they required everyone entering to pay a hefty admission fee.

If such an entry fee were imposed in an ordinary empire, it would probably trigger a riot outright.

Yet in the Black Corner Region, it was nothing unusual—one could even call it a local specialty.

"Get the hell out of my way! Stop hopping around in front of me, you little bastard!"

Just as Xiao Ming was observing this city with its distinctly typical Black Corner Region style, an irritable curse suddenly rang out not far ahead of him.

Xiao Ming shifted his gaze and saw that it was a bald, burly man. Perhaps tired of waiting, he grabbed the frail man in front of him with one hand and lifted him up.

"Ah..." The moment the bald man finished speaking, the frail man he had lifted suddenly twisted around, and a dagger swiftly slid out from his sleeve.

The dagger flashed coldly as it stabbed fiercely at the bald man's throat. Fortunately, the latter reacted quickly and jerked his neck back. The dagger missed its mark and pierced half an inch below his throat instead. Blood immediately sprayed out, followed by a shrill scream from the bald man.

After severely wounding the bald man in one strike, the frail man twisted his body like a loach, slipping free from his clothes before rolling headfirst into the nearby bushes and vanishing.

"Bastard! I'll tear you apart!"

With bloodshot eyes, the bald man pulled out the dagger and, having lost all reason, charged into the bushes as well. After a long while, a scream identical to his earlier shriek came from within the thicket, only gradually fading after some time.

Standing on the carriage frame, Xiao Ming watched the patch of woods with an indifferent expression.

From that final scream, he knew that the bald man would probably not survive.

He had seen dozens of similar incidents over the past ten or so days.

At first, he had found them rather novel. After all, the bald man was far stronger than the frail man. The gap between them was enormous, yet the weaker man had defeated the stronger one, which was indeed worthy of note.

But after seeing it often enough, Xiao Ming had come to take it in stride.

The rule of the Black Corner Region was that there were no rules. Therefore, one must never judge people here by their appearance or apparent strength. Every year, the corpses of people like that bald man could nearly fill an entire city.

After all, no one who could survive in the Black Corner Region was ordinary. Every single one of them was an Old Scoundrel.

Elsewhere, if you were not ruthless, you could not stand firm. Here, if you were not ruthless, you could not survive.

The fight between those two was merely a small interlude. It gave the people waiting in line something to watch, but hardly anyone sighed over it.

The line slowly advanced. After waiting nearly half an hour, it was finally the convoy in front of Xiao Ming's turn.

When the convoy reached the city gate, its leader swiftly handed over a large bag of gold coins.

Xiao Ming had sharp eyes and clearly saw that while the man handed over the large bag of coins, he was also concealing a smaller pouch in his hand.

The indifferent-faced man in black accepted the gold coins and casually weighed them. His expression softened somewhat. Without wasting words, he waved his hand and allowed the merchant convoy into the city.

Once the convoy left, it was Xiao Ming's turn.

Standing before the crowd and not wishing to cause trouble, he followed their example and slipped some gold coins to the black-clothed man before him.

The man weighed the small pouch in his hand. Seeing that Xiao Ming was alone, he said nothing and casually waved him through, signaling for him to hurry inside.

Walking slowly along the street, Xiao Ming's gaze continually swept over the shops lining both sides.

To be honest, the Black Corner Region was chaotic to an absurd degree, especially in these major cities.

He had only walked less than a hundred meters after entering the city, yet he had already seen no fewer than ten fights, including several bloody knife battles.

Could shops operating in such a chaotic environment really make money?

Without some strength, they would probably be robbed every day.

Shaking his head, Xiao Ming sidestepped a severed hand flying toward him and stopped thinking about such trivial matters.

Instead, he began making plans for what came next.

He had successfully entered Black Mark City. The Secret Realm would open tomorrow, so he should find an Inn to stay in for the night and set off early tomorrow.

But before looking for an Inn, he still needed to prepare for entering the Black Region Great Plains, such as getting a map.

Without a map, Xiao Ming feared that he would not even be able to find his way out of the Black Region Great Plains.

Avoiding several bloody street clashes, Xiao Ming turned past two street corners. After walking for more than twenty minutes, his searching gaze finally stopped on the signboard of a small shop. On the pale red plaque were two ancient-looking words: "Cartography Pavilion."

"Do they have maps of the Black Region Great Plains here?" Xiao Ming murmured inwardly. He quickened his pace and entered the small shop, which appeared to receive few customers.

Only after entering did Xiao Ming discover that the shop was not as cramped as it looked from outside. Its interior held far more than met the eye.

The fairly spacious room was lined with neat wooden shelves arranged in rows. Maps of various colors sat on every shelf. A few people were currently standing before them, their noisy conversations drifting through the shop.

Clearly, this shop was not exactly bustling with customers, but it did have a few.