Heroes from All Walks Gather for a Grand Event (Please Keep Reading)

Huo Yuhao traveled for three straight days before reaching Xilu City, a city in the Heaven Dou Empire near the Star Dou Great Forest.

This city had an extremely long history. It had been among the first batch of cities founded when the Heaven Dou Empire was established.

It had endured the Heaven Dou Empire's split and the Sun Moon Empire's invasion.

That had much to do with Xilu City's close proximity to Shrek City.

In fact, there had originally been quite a few cities around the Star Dou Great Forest.

Those cities had all been established to make it easier for Soul Masters to hunt Soul Rings.

Countless Soul Masters and merchants had flocked there, gathering for a grand event.

That prosperity had also spurred the economic development of the entire Heaven Dou Plain in one stroke, turning Shrek City into the undisputed center of the continent.

However, more than two thousand years ago, the Body Sect had emerged in the Star Dou Great Forest and slaughtered Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts on a massive scale.

This had enraged Di Tian, setting off the first recorded large-scale beast tide!

Under the command of several Fierce Beasts from the Core Circle, countless Soul Beasts had indiscriminately attacked every human city.

The Heaven Dou Plain had borne the brunt of it.

Countless cities near the Star Dou Great Forest had perished beneath the tide of Soul Beasts.

Only the cities around Shrek City had escaped disaster.

After that assault, the Heaven Dou Plain had been thoroughly cleared out. Its former prosperity was gone, and virtually no one had dared establish cities around the Star Dou Great Forest again.

The current layout of the Heaven Dou Plain's cities centered on Shrek City, with the other cities forming a pincer formation along its two sides to encircle the Star Dou Great Forest.

This ensured that if another beast tide erupted in the future, Shrek City could keep it from spreading beyond the Heaven Dou Plain.

Di Tian simply lacked the brains to see that this was a Douluo Continent version of an island-chain blockade deliberately arranged by some Sea God Pavilion Master.

Moreover, this blockade continued to creep closer to the Star Dou Great Forest as Shrek City expanded.

This arrangement had also laid a solid foundation for the Spirit Pagoda's future construction of Star Dou Fortress.

If even one Soul Beast had possessed a little brains, they would never have allowed this situation to develop.

They should have launched an unprecedented beast tide at any cost long ago. Even if they could not destroy Shrek Academy, they should at least have carved out a passage through the Heaven Dou Plain.

Otherwise, the Soul Beasts were frogs in slowly boiling water, dry bones in a grave.

Even if the Spirit Pagoda had never appeared, another organization would have built Star Dou Fortress in the future.

Perhaps the Federation, perhaps Shrek.

No one would give up such a rich piece of meat as the Star Dou Great Forest.

Humanity remained restrained and had yet to bare its fangs solely because Di Tian was too strong—strong on an entirely different level.

Unless the God Realm intervened, no one could withstand Di Tian's Dragon God Claw.

Huo Yuhao entered Xilu City an hour before its gates closed.

The guards at the gate here were much like those in Xuanfeng City. They merely gave people a cursory glance before letting them through.

They were practically useless.

They had not even carefully checked whether the Shadow Cat was a Soul Beast, despite Huo Yuhao having deliberately disguised it with Spiritual Power.

Huo Yuhao had heard about this situation from a gate guard who had visited the Medical Hall in Xuanfeng City. The main reason was that they feared offending powerful Soul Masters.

To those Soul Masters, killing them was no more difficult than killing chickens.

Those guards only earned five Silver Soul Coins a month. That was considered high in Xuanfeng City; many places paid just one Silver Soul Coin. Why risk their lives for that little money?

As long as they gave people an occasional look, did some superficial work, did not slack off too openly, and fired a couple of arrows when Soul Beasts attacked, they had already earned their imperial wages.

If anyone wanted them to work seriously, that would cost extra.

After entering Xilu City, Huo Yuhao headed straight for its bustling commercial district.

Places like this were crowded and served as the city's hub of information.

With a casual sweep of his Spiritual Power, he could roughly grasp the city's power structure.

What surprised Huo Yuhao somewhat was that the class divide here was even greater than in Xuanfeng City!

There were three classes here: commoners, Soul Masters, and nobles.

Commoners occupied the lowest rung. Although nobles and Soul Masters were separate classes, there was some overlap between them.

There were a great many nobles here, each dressed more extravagantly than the last and attended by ever-larger entourages.

He did not see any truly powerful nobles. Most were around the level of Soul Grand Masters.

Yet many nobles had several slaves by their sides, and any commoner who saw them had to lower their heads and could not look up.

It was practically the Celestial Dragons brought to life.

Huo Yuhao frowned. He remembered that the Heaven Dou Empire had abolished slavery long ago.

Why were there still slaves here?

What was Xilu City's lord doing? The laws of the Heaven Dou Empire clearly prohibited the existence of slaves.

It was a feudal empire, for goodness' sake. How could it move backward through history and regress all the way to slavery?

Huo Yuhao used the same old method. He found the best restaurant in the area, ordered several dishes, and gathered information through his Spiritual Power while eating.

Those who could dine here were either wealthy merchants, Soul Masters, or nobles.

The common trait among these people was that they possessed a great deal of information.

From their conversations, Huo Yuhao pieced together the truth of the city from scattered fragments.

Xilu City was near Shrek City and could be considered Shrek City's vassal.

Every year, it offered a large quantity of treasures to Shrek City's Treasure Gathering Pavilion, including but not limited to Soul Bones, rare metals, Rare Herbs, and Whale Rubber.

Because it groveled hard enough, Lin Huiqun, the Sea God Pavilion member in charge of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion at Shrek Academy, came to inspect Xilu City every year.

She also took the opportunity to let certain petty criminals know that this place was under her protection.

Her presence allowed Xilu City to cling directly to the Sea God Pavilion's thigh.

In reality, the cities around Shrek Academy all had more or less some connection to Shrek's upper echelons.

As a result, the Heaven Dou Empire did not dare touch these cities. Even their tax revenues were sent directly to Shrek City.

And because these cities nominally belonged to the Heaven Dou Empire, a large number of Heaven Dou Empire nobles gathered here for a grand event!

Here, those nobles could openly use slaves and operate casinos, brothels, and bloody arenas.

They did so precisely because the Heaven Dou Empire did not dare interfere, while Shrek, seeing that they had kept up their tributes, could not be bothered to interfere.

It had turned this place into a peculiar kind of lawless zone.

After gathering all the information and eating his fill, Huo Yuhao left the restaurant and searched the streets for a place to stay.

Honestly, compared to this place, even Somalia seemed orderly and peaceful.

After walking around for only a short while, he saw a group of heroes from all walks of life showing off their unique talents.

First, Huo Yuhao encountered five pickpockets at once. Before he could use Telekinesis on them, they started fighting among themselves.

Unable to hold back, Huo Yuhao used Telekinesis to knock them all unconscious, then casually tossed them into a stinking ditch.

Then he saw a group of robbers by the roadside activate their Martial Souls, cover their faces with black cloth, and rob a jewelry store.

The shop owner turned out to be a Soul Elder. He killed one robber on the spot, and the rest immediately fled after throwing down the stolen goods.

The shop owner then chased them through several streets.

He also saw a god-man who seemed drunk, his face flushed red, grabbing stray cats and dogs all over the street and using his scissors Martial Soul to shear all the fur off their heads.

The Shadow Cat was so frightened that it curled up on Huo Yuhao's shoulder, not daring to move at all.

Huo Yuhao sighed helplessly, knocked the bizarre barber unconscious with Spiritual Power, and casually tossed him into an alley.

Then he stroked the Shadow Cat's head and said, "Don't be afraid. You're a Hundred-Year Soul Beast. He's an ordinary person without even a trace of Soul Power. What are you afraid of?"

Where the hell has this brought me?

"It's like immortals packed shoulder to shoulder."

"Is this Gotham City?"

Thank you, big shots, for keeping up with the chapters, for the monthly votes, and for the tips. This little mouse can only stick its butt up in gratitude. Orz