The sea wind stirred Xu Qing’s hair and caused his baggy pants to ripple. He seemed like an unsheathed blade as he stood there with cold eyes watching the woman rush off in another direction. He hesitated. He didn’t want his first act in the city to be a killing, so he looked away and continued toward the inn. However, as the saying went, the tree may wish for quiet, but the wind will not subside.

As the sea breeze hit the shore, it seemed a fight was brewing.

Among the eight burly men chasing the woman, one had a vicious scar on his face. He seemed to be the leader. Seeing what was happening, he laughed coldly and said, “I don’t care what’s going on here. Grab that boy for me. He has the fluctuations of the sixth or seventh level of body refinement, so he’s probably got some merit points!”

His underlings split up, some of them running to grab the woman, and the others heading toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing frowned as he sized up the situation. The four men coming after him were all cultivators, and they seemed to be in the sixth level of Qi Condensation. From the look of it, they focused on body refinement.

He really didn’t want his first act in the city to be a killing, so he backed away from them and growled, “I don’t know her.”

“It doesn’t matter, whoreson! It’s bad luck for you either way!”

One of the burly men laughed coldly and launched a fist strike. The other three also prepared attacks, with one of them pulling out a blade. The moonlight shining on the weapon made it obvious it was coated in poison.

There were some people in the world who loved to dance in front of the gates of hell. Xu Qing had hoped to avoid a fight, but since these people were coming at him with killing intent, he had no choice. Without a word, he stopped in place and retreated no further.

Then he lunged forward as fast as lightning, moving past his attacker’s fist and putting his left hand on the man’s forehead. The speed with which he moved was nothing short of astonishing.

A popping sound rang out. There was no scream. Xu Qing was already as strong as the great circle of body refinement, and thus, his movement caused the man’s head to instantly explode. Blood and gore rained down in a mist as Xu Qing walked forward, his expression calm. Bypassing the blade held by the next opponent, Xu Qing used his shoulder to strike a blow.

The blade wielder’s torso shattered.

Next, Xu Qing launched ranged fist attacks at the two remaining men.

They tried to retreat, but the pulse of the attack moved through the air and slammed into them, caving in their chests and causing blood to erupt from their mouths. They fell to the ground, dead.

In the space of two breaths of time, Xu Qing had killed all four men.

The sight of this caused the other four men to stop and stare at Xu Qing with their jaws hanging open.

“M-mis… misunderstanding… we….” stammered the leader. Gone was his arrogant attitude from before, and he was literally shaking. Seeing the cold look in Xu Qing’s eyes, he stumbled backward, his mind reeling.

As he did, Xu Qing started moving.

A moment later, the other three men in the group coughed up mouthfuls of blood as gaping holes appeared in their temples. They toppled over, dead.

Walking past them, Xu Qing wiped the blood from his hands and then went after the fleeing leader.

When Xu Qing killed, he made sure to wipe out any and all potential calamities.

In a flash, he was right in front of the man, whereupon he raised his hand. Before he could drop it, though, the man started babbling.

“Fellow Daoist, I work for the Night King. Don’t do anything rash….”

Xu Qing’s hand stopped moving, and he looked at the ashen-faced, trembling man. “Are you a Seven Blood Eyes disciple?”

Looking surprised, the man replied, “Not Seven Blood Eyes, but—“

Before he could finish, Xu Qing’s hand dropped onto the man’s skull. A thump rang out, and blood sprayed.

Xu Qing bent down and searched the corpse. Then he looked off into the night. Not being familiar with the layout of the city, he didn’t bother trying to find the fleeing woman, who was long gone. However, he would remember what she looked like.

Looking at the corpses in the street, he was trying to decide what to do with them when he suddenly turned in the direction of the inn and tensed in preparation for a fight.

Standing just outside the door of the inn was an old man who had appeared there moments ago. He wore the robe of an innkeeper, had a hunched back, and the sallow skin of his face had age spots. He looked somewhat sickly. Seeing Xu Qing looking at him, he flashed a smile full of yellow teeth.

“Interested in selling those corpses, boy? I see eight of them. I’ll give you ten spirit coins a piece.”

Xu Qing was taken aback. This was the first time he had ever heard of someone buying corpses. Instead of answering the old man, he looked back and started sprinkling Corpse-Ravaging Powder on the corpses.

The old man just shook his head. “Ah, what a pity. Recently killed corpses are the freshest.”

When Xu Qing was done, he looked back at the inn and wondered if he should really stay there.

Seeing his hesitation, the old man smiled. “I can tell you’re new around here. I’m the only place open right now. Everywhere else is closed. It’ll cost you 80 spirit coins or 80 merit points. We offer fair prices to all.”

“Merit points?” Xu Qing said. He had heard the woman at the teleportation portal check station mention the same thing.

The old man grinned. “You really are new here, aren’t you? You’ll learn more about merit points later. Suffice it to say, they’re worth the same as spirit coins.”

Xu Qing frowned. Everything here was so strange. Spirit coins and merit points were worth the same. Corpses could be sold. And rooms were expensive.

“Don’t be stingy, now!” the old man said with an insincere smile. “Nights in this city are anything but peaceful, and all the other inns are closed by now. Plus, I only have two rooms left.”

Xu Qing looked up at the sky to determine the time, then turned back to the old man. As he considered what to do, he noticed a shadowy figure suddenly rush toward the inn entrance, trailing blood as he ran.

It was a cultivator. Without a word to the old man, he handed over a bag of spirit coins and then disappeared into the inn.

“Now I only have one room left,” the old man said, patting the bag.

Xu Qing decided to just pay for a room. After handing over the spirit coins, he went inside to a room on the second floor. Before going inside, he looked over the balcony at the old man, who was now smoking a pipe behind the main counter.

“What do you buy corpses for?” Xu Qing asked.

The old man looked up at him and smiled. “I have a pet that loves to eat them. Sadly, you didn’t want to sell. But if you have more corpses to sell later on, let me know. I’ll give you a good price.”

With a final look at the old man, Xu Qing entered the room. After inspecting everything for safety, he opened the window and looked out into the night.

The city was dark, but the moon hung high in the sky, covering the city in a veil of gauzy light. Off in the distance, he heard the cry of the sea birds, and the crash of the waves. There were lighthouses casting beams of light out over the water, and he could just barely make out huge ships floating in the port.

Seeing all this, he thought back to what the young woman at the teleportation portal had said. Now more than ever, he felt like this city was a deep pool of water filled with hidden dangers. He now knew where the smell of blood came from. In fact, he had just added to it. Actually, other than the nice buildings and clean surroundings, this place wasn’t very different from the other places he’d lived.

This really is a world of chaos.

Right now, his biggest priority was the entry assessment.

I shouldn’t have trouble passing the assessment, but I should still make sure I’m ready. And I should plan what to do afterward. I still have to worry about Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior. He’s the biggest threat to me now. I have to get stronger as fast as possible so that I can kill him.

Such thoughts occupied his mind as the night grew deeper. He did not hear the sound of mutant beasts or grues, but the wind carried with it the faint sound of shouting and raucous laughter, making the darkness seem alive with humanity.

Xu Qing ignored all that and took out the small cloth bag he’d taken from the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect. He had examined it briefly while on the road, and had been shocked. The bag seemed small, being only the size of his palm. However, it opened into a different space, which contained enough room to fit a small table. Xu Qing had heard of items like this back in the scavenger basecamp. They were called bags of holding. Whether in the slums or the basecamp, items like this were incredibly rare and valuable. In fact, you couldn’t even buy them.

Losing this bag of holding was going to be a huge blow to the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect. And that wasn’t to mention that it contained a medicinal pill bottle. In that bottle were over thirty dustpurging pills.

And even more amazing than that, Xu Qing found 111… spirit stones!

Xu Qing had never seen spirit stones before, but one time at dinner, Sergeant Thunder had talked about them. They were rarer than spirit coins, such that one spirit stone was worth 1,000 spirit coins. They contained immense spirit power, and could even be used for cultivation purposes if necessary. Even one spirit stone was incredibly precious.

Compared to the bag of holding and the spirit stones, all the other things he took from the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect weren’t worth mentioning.

After examining everything, Xu Qing put them in order. One thing was certain: he was rich. From the time he was small until now, he had never possessed such wealth.

If I pass the entry assessment, then this should be enough to keep me going in the city for a while, and further my cultivation…. With that, he closed his eyes to start his daily cultivation routine.

Regardless of where he ended up, or how the entry assessment went, Xu Qing had to keep furthering his cultivation. That was the foundation of everything, and the best way to make sure he stayed alive. In the chaotic world he lived in, even things that seemed as certain as the sun rising and setting… could change at any time.

Anything was possible.

The only thing that didn’t change was that the weak were the prey of the strong.

Furthermore… in Xu Qing’s experience, the more people there were in a place, the more danger there was. After all, people had treacherous hearts that were often hard to read. And that was truer than ever in this dangerous and mysterious capital city of Seven Blood Eyes.

To Xu Qing, this place might as well be a forbidden region.

Just a different type than those from before.