Entering the City, Crimson Flame Lord

A distance of one hundred fifty thousand li was not too far.

With Lu Yuan bursting forth at full speed, it took only about a dozen breaths.

Soon.

The outline of the Crimson Flame Ancient City came into everyone's sight.

Ancient, weathered, ruined.

That was the first impression everyone had upon seeing this city.

The city walls were full of gaps, weeds grew rampant inside, and not a trace of life could be seen.

Qing Wuji flew to Lu Yuan's side, gazing at the Crimson Flame Ancient City, and said, "This Crimson Flame Ancient City has quite a reputation."

"Oh?"

"Inside the city, there's a very powerful Ghost named the Crimson Flame Lord. It has existed since the birth of the Divine Martial Heavenly Ruins, and to this day, no one has been able to kill it," Qing Wuji said.

"You're worried I can't handle this Ghost?"

Lu Yuan asked with a smile.

Qing Wuji nodded, then shook his head, and said, "A little, but more importantly, the stronger the Ghost, the larger the Law Crystal inside it. So this Ghost will attract a lot of people."

The value of a Law Crystal mainly depended on its size—the smallest were only the size of a thumb, while the largest could be as big as an ox's head. The bigger it was, the higher the value.

Lu Yuan smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. The more people who come, the better. Kill them all at once, and then we can search in peace."

Hearing this, Qing Wuji smiled from the heart.

"I like this confident look of yours. Hope you can follow through. I don't want to get killed off—this young master has a bright future ahead."

"Scram!"

Lu Yuan cursed with a laugh, then turned to the others and said, "Whoever kills a Ghost gets its spoils. How much you harvest depends on your own skill. If you run into a life-threatening danger, shout for help, and whoever's close by should go assist."

"Yes, Captain Lu."

"Alright, let's enter the city."

With that, Lu Yuan was the first to step inside.

His goal was simple: he wanted all the Ghosts with Law Crystals the size of a fist.

Especially that Crimson Flame Lord—if he succeeded in killing it, the Law Crystal would be at least the size of a human head, if not an ox's head.

A Law Crystal as big as a human head, if put up for auction, would have a starting price of at least ten billion Star Source Crystals.

For Lu Yuan, who was currently very poor, this was practically a treasure trove.

Not long after entering the city.

Lu Yuan encountered his first Ghost.

This Ghost was over two meters tall, with eye sockets the size of fists, inside which flickered ghostly green flames.

Its entire body was deathly pale, with even bony growths forming a layer of bone armor over its skin.

Still, it vaguely retained a human shape.

Spotting Lu Yuan, the Ghost brandished its nearly half-meter-long claws, let out a wailing sound, and charged at him.

Lu Yuan showed it respect by clenching his fist and smashing it straight into its face.

Boom!

The long street shook, and the dust accumulated over ten thousand years was swept clean in an instant, leaving nothing behind.

The Ghost was directly blasted into powder, scattering completely with a light breeze.

But in that instant of the Ghost's death.

Lu Yuan seemed to see a look of relief on its face.

A blue crystal the size of a fist lay quietly on the ground.

Lu Yuan walked over, bent down to pick it up, blew off the dust, and held it up to the sunlight for a closer look.

The crystal emitted a faint blue glow, beautiful and enchanting, with a strange allure. Staring at it too long felt like being drawn in.

"Off to a good start."

Lu Yuan smiled, then tucked the blue crystal into his storage ring.

Though it wasn't large, only the size of a fist.

This single Law Crystal was worth tens of millions of Star Source Crystals.

"Keep searching."

Lu Yuan looked around and continued moving forward.

The Crimson Flame Ancient City was vast, but Ghosts were scarce.

Thinking about it, it made sense—the Divine Martial Heavenly Ruins had already opened over a dozen times, with tens of thousands of people entering each time, and every opening was a gluttonous sweep like a Taotie.

By now, Ghosts had almost become a rare species.

Apart from a few particularly powerful Ghosts still lingering, the weaker ones had already been swept clean.

Another direction in Crimson Flame Ancient City.

Nangong Muyue was also leading a group sweeping through the city.

Nangong Muyue was truly stunning, with a delicate oval face and a figure that curved in all the right places. She wore an ice-blue long dress, her temperament fresh and cool.

But she wore an icy expression toward everyone, as if they all owed her money.

Just then.

A young man ran up to Nangong Muyue, panting and out of breath. "N-Nangong Senior Sister, we found them. There really are others in the city besides us."

Nangong Muyue's face was cold as she asked, "Did you see which continent they're from?"

"The Dark Continent. I recognized one of them—Qing Wuji, the Young Master of Qingling Star Travel."

The young man answered without hesitation.

"The Dark Continent!"

A strange light flickered in Nangong Muyue's eyes. She said to everyone, "Stop searching for now. Let's deal with all the Dark Continent people first."

"Yes, Nangong Senior Sister."

Unlike the Dark Continent, which had split into five teams, everyone from the Bright Continent was in a single group.

So on the surface, the Bright Continent's group strength was almost the strongest among all the continents.

Over here, Lu Yuan and his group had no idea that someone was already charging in, ready to take them out. They were still searching for Ghosts.

Boom!

Another pile of clutter in the street was blasted clean by a fist wind.

Lu Yuan withdrew his fist, another Law Crystal in hand.

"Half a day, and I've only found five Ghosts. Our predecessors really didn't leave anything for us!"

Lu Yuan complained.

"This won't do either. The efficiency is too low."

He was very dissatisfied with his current gains.

His thoughts inevitably turned to that Crimson Flame Lord.

"Let's go straight for the Crimson Flame Lord. One Crimson Flame Lord is worth at least ten Ghosts."

Having made up his mind, Lu Yuan was about to move.

But just then.

A piercing scream tore through the sky.

Lu Yuan's head snapped around, his gaze sharpening.

"That direction—it's Qing Wuji and the others."

Without hesitation, Lu Yuan immediately rushed toward the source of the scream.

"Too weak. Is this all the strength of one of the Dark Continent's most famous prodigies?"

Nangong Muyue held an ice-blue long sword in her hand. The entire blade radiated a chilling cold, and the moment this cold touched the ground, it froze the entire surface into a sheet of ice.

This was an Extreme Dao Saint Artifact.

In front of Nangong Muyue, Qing Wuji had blood at the corner of his mouth, a bloody hole in his chest from which cold air continuously seeped.

Qing Wuji's face was purple-blue. Even so, he still shielded the prodigies of Qingling Star Travel behind him, not retreating half a step.

Faced with Nangong Muyue's taunt.

Qing Wuji did not deny it. He only said coldly, "Nangong Muyue, I am not your opponent."

Nangong Muyue's icy face showed no expression at all.

"Of course you're not my opponent. You're not even qualified to be my opponent. Killing you is nothing more than taking out the trash to me. As for Lu Yuan, he barely has the strength to be my opponent. But the result is the same—you all die!"