Entering the Inner City

Fasinuo Province

Suotuo City

A girl with a generous figure, dressed in a tight black leather outfit and black high heels, walked slowly down the street. She looked around unhurriedly, as though searching for something.

If Jiang Mingyang had been there, he would have recognized her at once. The girl was Zhu Zhuqing.

Zhu Zhuqing was wandering through Suotuo City. After spending some time gathering information, she had learned that a young Soul Master named Dai Mubai lived there.

Zhu Zhuqing had two reasons for coming here, though they could also be considered one:

First, she wanted to see what kind of person Dai Mubai was.

Second, if he proved decent, she wanted them to grow stronger together and fight side by side against their fate.

Zhu Zhuqing had not gone straight to Dai Mubai because she wanted to see the real him: Dai Mubai as he normally was.

Not a Dai Mubai who put on a diligent act in front of his fiancée while hiding his true nature.

Suddenly, Zhu Zhuqing's gaze sharpened. She stared at the entrance of a hotel called the Rose Hotel, hardly able to believe her eyes.

A broad-shouldered, handsome man with a touch of ruggedness held a young woman in each arm, while two more young women followed behind him. His golden hair fell down his back, and each of his eyes had a double pupil.

The woman on his left looked identical to the one in his left arm, while the woman on his right looked identical to the one in his right arm.

They appeared to be two pairs of twins.

Zhu Zhuqing could scarcely believe what she was seeing. She looked again to make sure. Golden hair, double pupils... it had to be him.

In particular, only members of the Star Luo Imperial Family on the Douluo Continent had double pupils. Was this truly her future husband, Dai Mubai? A wave of sorrow washed over Zhu Zhuqing.

Dai Mubai then led the beauties to the counter. The manager of the Rose Hotel hurried out to greet him and asked, "Young Master Dai, trying something different today? Shall I give you your usual private room?"

Dai Mubai was clearly in a fine mood. He smiled and said, "My usual private room? There are four of them! Find me a big one."

He lowered his head and teased the two beauties in his arms. "Don't you think I'm right?"

The two beauties hastily agreed. "Yes, yes! Young Master Dai is right!"

Dai Mubai smiled, his eyes gleaming with the pride of conquest. He looked utterly triumphant.

"Well said," Dai Mubai added lightly. "That's the right answer. I'll reward you two properly later!"

The two beauties smiled flirtatiously. "Oh, Young Master Dai! You're so naughty!"

Dai Mubai laughed smugly. "Haha!"

The manager of the Rose Hotel seized the chance to chime in, nodding eagerly. "Young Master Dai, we'll make sure you enjoy yourself this time."

Zhu Zhuqing was not far away, and as a Soul Master, her hearing was keen. Neither Dai Mubai nor the manager had lowered his voice, so she heard every word of their conversation.

Zhu Zhuqing was now certain that the man before her was probably her fiancé.

The disadvantage of the age gap between him and Dai Weisi had already been difficult to overcome. Yet here he was, acting like this. At his age, how could he even sleep at night?

Zhu Zhuqing felt helpless. How are we supposed to win? Dai Mubai, why won't you work harder?

There's already a Soul King on the continent who isn't even sixteen. Why can't you put in some effort? Forget anything beyond that—even reaching Soul King at eighteen would be enough to win!

But why won't you try at all? That Soul King under sixteen is still traveling everywhere, hoping to grow stronger. You bear such a heavy burden, yet you're here indulging yourself!

Zhu Zhuqing fell silent. Her brows drew tightly together, and despair crept over her. She had endured countless hardships and fled pursuit all the way to the Heaven Dou Empire just to find him, so they could work together to break free of their fate.

But how could he be like this? With a fiancé like him, how could we possibly win?

Slaughter City

Jiang Mingyang had spent two days in the outer city and had come to understand it somewhat.

Unlike the inner city, killing was forbidden in the outer city. Those who lived there could hardly be called strong, and most could only survive by selling their blood.

After spending some time there, Jiang Mingyang found nothing particularly remarkable about the outer city.

Besides, he had come to Slaughter City to grow stronger, obtain Divine Slaughter's Domain from the original story, and gain as much recognition as possible from the Asura God King.

Jiang Mingyang therefore decided without hesitation to enter the inner city and fight.

The moment he passed through its gate, the criminals waiting there to hunt new arrivals fixed their eyes on him.

"Oh, a newcomer. Looks like we'll finally have fresh Bloody Mary again. Heh... heh heh... heh..." said a skin-and-bones man lurking in a corner of the gate, his voice thick with murderous intent. It had been far too long since he had drunk any Bloody Mary.

As if by common agreement, several criminals summoned their Martial Souls at once. Their practiced movements suggested this was hardly their first time.

Martial Souls could be used in Slaughter City, but Soul Skills could not. That left most Soul Masters with beast or plant Martial Souls at a disadvantage.

Among the criminals charging forward was one whose Martial Soul was bamboo. It was decent enough, but it still put him at a disadvantage compared with most weapon Martial Souls.

Jiang Mingyang summoned his Martial Soul, and the enhanced Sword Heart brought about by his fifth Soul Skill activated silently.

Although Jiang Mingyang could not use his other Soul Skills, his fifth was, in essence, an advanced application of Sword Heart rather than a Soul Skill in itself. That meant he could use it.

Jiang Mingyang swung his sword twice in an instant. The two men lunging at him from the left collapsed, clutching their heads with pain etched across their faces. Fighting was the last thing on their minds.

Jiang Mingyang turned in a flash and sent another sword strike at the man charging from his right.

After taking the blow, the man dropped from his leap and landed in a daze. His eyes went vacant, as though he had lost consciousness.

Jiang Mingyang smiled. That struck him right in the soul. Not bad!

He took out a vessel, cut open the dazed man's artery, and let the blood flow freely.

He repeated the process until he had collected blood from all three, then walked away.

Once Jiang Mingyang had left, the people who had only dared watch from a distance outside the gate rushed toward the three bodies.

After all, as weaklings living in the outer city, they had access to scant resources. Most supplies were in the inner city, and everyone was short of food!

In an instant, another scramble broke out!

Some of the sharper ones realized that the three bodies lay inside the inner city and were the first to start fighting.

After entering the inner city, Jiang Mingyang found that it was not actually as chaotic as the outer city.

Of course, that was only how it appeared on the surface.

There were two reasons the inner city seemed less chaotic:

First, the Hell Slaughter Arena drew much of the killing away from the rest of the inner city.

Second, the cost of fighting was far higher. In the outer city, a fight might end in injury; in the inner city, it ended in death.

Everyone had become cautious. Even the strongest feared a sudden reversal, so they generally prepared thoroughly before a fight.

The most chaotic places in the inner city were the Hell Slaughter Arena and the area outside its doors.

After all, the world had never lacked people who liked to ambush others. By waiting outside for a match to end, they could attack someone badly wounded and usually win with ease.

For anyone heading to the Hell Slaughter Arena, there were therefore two truly dangerous moments:

The first came when they were killing inside the Hell Slaughter Arena.

The second came when they left it.

Jiang Mingyang planned to watch a match in the Hell Slaughter Arena first. If he charged in blindly and something went wrong, wouldn't he be finished?

When you had nothing, you had to bluff. Once you had something to lose, you had to play it safe.

When heaven and earth first opened, there were no people. Emperor Mingyang molded yellow earth into humans. The work was so demanding that he had no strength to spare, so he dragged a rope through the mud and lifted it to make people. Thus the rich and noble were people of yellow earth, while the poor and lowly were people of the dragged rope.

"Emperor Mingyang Creates Humans"