Outside Guja City

Mu Qian wasn't some bleeding heart.

Of the people at the city gate, nine out of ten couldn't afford the fee. As time passed, more and more people gathered beneath the walls—at least several hundred.

Although he didn't know why they viewed the world outside the city as a living hell, if these people truly had the courage to act together, most of them could storm their way in, even against a Soul Grandmaster who had only just passed level ten.

Unfortunately, servility had long since taken root deep in their souls. Faced with the enormous machine that was the empire, they didn't dare entertain even the slightest thought of resistance.

Instead, some people eyed the queue behind them and began entertaining other ideas.

Of course, they didn't dare rob anyone in plain sight at the city gate. They could only turn their attention to those who hadn't gathered enough money.

Before long, a commotion broke out beneath the walls, but the guards did nothing. They seemed to be used to it.

Mu Qian sighed softly. Human nature...

This was the sorrow of the times—or perhaps Star Luo had already rotted to its core.

No wonder the imperial family would be replaced a thousand years later.

"What are these people so afraid of?" Mu Qian couldn't make sense of it.

If something truly terrifying was out there, why had he made it all this way without incident?

"Ugh, I'm just five silver coins short. What am I going to do?"

The middle-aged man in front of Mu Qian kept shaking his head, his voice tinged with despair.

Mu Qian rubbed his nose. After thinking for a moment, he tapped the man on the shoulder.

"Hello. Sorry to trouble you, but could you tell me what's going on? Why are all these people desperate to get into the city?"

At the same time, he took out a Gold Soul Coin and waved it in front of the man.

No matter the era, a hefty reward was sure to bring out a volunteer.

Especially when the other person was waiting for money to save his life.

"A Gold Soul Coin!" the man exclaimed, hope flaring anew in his eyes.

But a moment later, he hurriedly covered it up and glanced around, afraid someone might see.

"Answer my question, and it's yours," Mu Qian said quietly.

The man scrutinized it repeatedly, and once he was sure the Gold Soul Coin was genuine, he looked at Mu Qian differently.

Instead of looking at him like a lifesaver, he looked at him like an idiot. "You don't know?"

"A demon appeared around here!"

"A demon that can kill people without a trace!"

"A demon?" Mu Qian was surprised.

He hadn't run into any danger on the way here.

"Why do you say that? Have you seen it?" Mu Qian pressed.

"No." The man shook his head. "Everyone who's seen the demon is dead. Not even their bodies remain. Touch them even a little, and they turn to ash and scatter away!"

As he spoke, intense fear crept into the man's eyes, as if he were remembering something terrible.

"Next!"

While they were talking, they had reached the city gate.

The man quickly snatched the Gold Soul Coin from Mu Qian's hand and hurried over to the soldiers, bowing and scraping as he began paying the fee.

Mu Qian thought it over and didn't make an issue of it, nor did he keep pressing the man in front of the soldiers.

There was probably nothing else he could learn by asking. In this situation, the man might not have said anything more anyway.

It seemed something really had sparked widespread panic. Otherwise, people wouldn't have abandoned their homes and the places their ancestors had lived for generations to flee together.

Before long, it was Mu Qian's turn.

Under the envious and astonished gazes of those around him, he simply tossed the soldier five gleaming Gold Soul Coins.

The more than twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins he had would last him a long time. He wasn't going to worry about spending these.

Compared with a certain protagonist who'd had a miserable start, Mu Qian's beginning couldn't have been more comfortable.

Even if he spent all his money, countless Spirit Bones still lay in his Soul Tool.

Of course, he wouldn't easily sell something like a Spirit Bone.

A man's riches could be his undoing. Unless Mu Qian wanted to spend every day being hunted without end, he'd better not.

The guard captain at the gate looked at Mu Qian in surprise.

He hadn't expected a child dressed in ill-fitting clothes that looked like they'd been picked up off the ground to be able to produce five Gold Soul Coins outright.

Even among the few people who'd paid to enter that day, nearly all had scraped the fee together with silver and copper coins mixed in.

Mu Qian was the first like this.

But the guard didn't care about any of that. All he cared about was whether the boy could pay enough.

After entering the city, Mu Qian was surprised again.

Villagers sat everywhere on the ground. The plaza inside the city gate was already packed, and everywhere he looked, the streets and alleys farther away were in the same state.

Mu Qian couldn't help but smile wryly. It seemed he'd be using the sky as his blanket again tonight.

That wasn't necessarily the case, though. Not everyone could afford a hotel, so it depended on whether any rooms were still available in the city.

Mu Qian didn't hurry to leave. He went to a secluded corner and, making sure nobody was watching, leaped twice to reach the top of the city wall.

He wanted to see what terrifying thing would happen after dark to make these people so afraid.

Mu Qian wasn't worried about this so-called demon. If it really posed a danger, he would have run into trouble during his journey by now.

He looked up at the sky. There were only a few minutes left before night fully fell.

Mu Qian took a map from his ring and studied it.

Unlike in the original story, the two great empires of Douluo Continent lay on opposite sides of the land, and both bordered the Far North.

At the point where the two empires met, right in the center of the continent, lay its largest gathering place for Spirit Beasts: the Star Dou Forest.

As for Spirit City, where Spirit Hall was based, it lay along the central axis of Douluo Continent, bordering the southern part of the Star Dou Forest.

Besides these places, there were many Spirit Beast habitats of various sizes within the two empires.

Mu Qian had already reached the level-thirty bottleneck. Since he'd come to the Star Luo Empire, he planned to follow the route connecting the Spirit Beast habitats, obtain his third Spirit Ring, and then visit Star Luo City.

First things first, he needed to pin down the timeline. So far, all he knew was that this was still the era when Spirit Hall ruled. He didn't know the exact year.

He'd actually reached level thirty long ago and could have left the Far North to look for a suitable Spirit Ring.

But Snow Maiden had told him to solidify his foundations before reaching his third ring. Once he broke through level thirty, he would face the long process of comprehending the elements, and his cultivation speed would slow down then as well.

Mu Qian's Martial Soul was special. He needed to comprehend more than one element, and the effort required was beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

At the same time, his strength at the same cultivation level was also worlds apart from that of other Spirit Masters.

Of course, the main reason was that Mu Qian was still too young, and Snow Maiden couldn't leave the Far North, so she didn't trust him to travel alone.

Fortunately, his cultivation had continued to accumulate. Mu Qian conservatively estimated that after obtaining his third Spirit Ring, he might jump straight to nearly level forty.

Before he knew it, the light had grown dimmer and dimmer.

Mu Qian came back to himself and fixed his gaze on the crowd outside the city gate.

By now, the area outside the city gate was completely shrouded in despair...