Another hour passed, and when darkness had fallen, Ming Qi finally stood before the incomparably large city gate of Killing Star City.
Looking up at the absurdly tall city gate, Ming Qi couldn't help but gape.
"Holy crap! Why did they build such a massive gate?"
At this point in the night, not many people were entering or leaving Killing Star City.
The young men and women, along with a giant white tiger, standing before the absurdly tall city gate didn't attract much attention.
Killing Star City has always been a gathering place for unusual individuals, and such a presence with a demonic beast was quite common. However, Mo Changli's delicate and charming appearance and slender figure attracted many passing male cultivators.
Some even approached her.
Seeing that the gate's location was a dangerous place, Ming Qi decisively chose to enter the city.
However, as soon as he stepped onto the long path in front of the gate, someone immediately stopped him.
Two intimidatingly burly monks stood in front of Ming Qi, one on each side. One of them muffledly said, "To freely enter and exit Killing Star City, please show me your pass."
A pass?
"I don't have one."
Ming Qi blurted out without a second thought.
He truly didn't have a pass.
"Hehe." Upon hearing Ming Qi didn't have one, the burly man chuckled and replied, "No, well, no more. Then please buy a pass first, or leave."
Ming Qi, mindful of his new arrival status, kept a low profile and immediately inquired about the price of the pass.
But the price the man quoted made Ming Qi want to curse. What the hell was this? A pass with a time limit?
The gatekeeper explained it clearly: a one-day pass cost one mid-grade Yuan Crystal, a ten-day pass cost nine mid-grade Yuan Crystals, and a one-month pass cost twenty-five mid-grade Yuan Crystals.
A one-year pass cost two hundred and fifty mid-grade Yuan Crystals.
Well, the gatekeeper stopped talking at this point. "A year? Would I stay in this place for a year?"
As a newcomer, Ming Qi had to keep a low profile. Without further ado, he took out eighteen mid-grade Yuan Crystals and handed them over. "Give me two ten-day passes."
Ming Qi handed the Yuan Crystals over, but noticed the gatekeeper didn't take them immediately.
At this point, another gatekeeper said, "Hey, man, your tiger counts as one too."
Ming Qi was stunned, his eyebrows almost raised. So, even a pet has to pay a toll?
Despite his anger, Ming Qi maintained a composed expression. He pulled out another nine Yuan Crystals and handed them over. Only then did the burly man put away the twenty-seven Yuan Crystals and fish three diamond-shaped tokens from the storage pouch at his waist.
The diamond-shaped tokens were inscribed with the date in a unique technique, along with two imposing characters: "Kill Star."
With the pass in hand, the two men and the tiger were finally able to enter Kill Star City unimpeded.
Kill Star City was even larger than Ming Qi had anticipated. The entire city was probably nearly a hundred miles in radius. Such a large city was so rare that even sects like the Biyou Sect couldn't compare.
Walking along the city streets, Ming Qi passed by numerous luxuriously decorated restaurants, mingling with all sorts of cultivators. It was late at night, and the restaurants were bustling with business.
Furthermore, along the way, Ming Qi noticed a number of mercenary signs.
Immortal Mercenaries are undoubtedly a brand new term in the outside world, but in Killing Star City, they're ubiquitous and seemingly quite popular.
Mercenary shops are generally small. For these immortal mercenaries, a storefront is simply a place to negotiate missions. Even a small, spacious space can be used to negotiate deals.
It can be said that Killing Star City is home to the most powerful and terrifying immortal mercenaries in all of Xilan Province. Among them may even be murderous demonic cultivators or hidden alien races.
Regardless of origin or background, once you arrive in Killing Star City and obtain the status of an immortal mercenary, you can use this channel to obtain what you desire: Yuanjing, equipment, and beautiful women.
Outside of the city, Killing Star City also has its own way of accepting orders, with many twists and turns that Ming Qi is currently unaware of.
Along the way, Ming Qi saw many mercenaries swaying and groggily drunk, but no one dared to underestimate these drunks who could barely walk.
He also spotted the streets of prostitutes, bustling with red sleeves and extravagant lanterns.
Murder, restaurants, and brothels seemed to be the lifeblood of the immortal mercenaries in Killing Star City, who concealed their true identities.
After wandering for a long time, Ming Qi still couldn't find the Private Dragon Mercenary Group's storefront on the streets of Killing Star City as the Tian Clan woman had mentioned. It seemed the Private Dragon Mercenary Group wasn't strong enough to even afford a storefront.
Desperate, Ming Qi found a shop and asked the owner about it.
It turned out to be the storefront of a mercenary group called Blood Sword. The owner was a middle-aged man with the ninth level of the Acquired Realm. When Ming Qi approached to inquire, the owner was slurring his liquor.
The owner perked up at the sight of a young man and woman approaching, assuming they were there to discuss business.
But as soon as Ming Qi opened his mouth, he noticed the middle-aged owner's expression darken.
Ming Qi, a man of the worldly wisdom, immediately produced a mid-grade Yuan Crystal and handed it over.
Low-grade Yuan Crystals were no longer practical in Killing Star City.
After receiving the Yuan Crystal, the middle-aged shopkeeper's expression brightened slightly. He asked calmly, "You want to inquire about someone? Tell me quickly. I'm very busy."
This guy clearly didn't want to talk any more, but Ming Qi knew it. He immediately smiled and said, "I only want to know where the members of the Private Dragon Mercenary Group are now."
"Private Dragon Mercenary Group?" The shopkeeper blinked, pondering for a moment. He then touched the bottle of wine and said, "It seems like there really is such a group. It seems like it was last year. They failed to complete a mission for their boss and were immediately terminated from their contract. They've been hiding in the Lower City District west of Killing Star City ever since."
"Where is the Lower City District?"
Ming Qi immediately understood. The woman with the long sword had told him about their boss and the contract they had spoken about during the battle with the Private Dragon Mercenary Group that day.
That day, Captain Silong let Ming Qi go, and this was the result.
"Lower Street District is the poorest and most chaotic area in Shaxing City, just west of the city. Be careful if you go there." The middle-aged shopkeeper looked at Ming Qi with amusement, then at Mo Changli, and then said with a sly smile, "You look so tender and delicate, you can't imagine how many hands will be reaching for your thighs and buttocks in Lower Street District. Be careful not to get stripped naked, hahaha..."
The middle-aged shopkeeper finished his words and laughed unrestrainedly.
Mo Changli blushed slightly, gritted his teeth, and turned and walked away.
After walking a distance, Ming Qi stopped and asked Mo Changli, "Should we go to Lower Street District?"
Clearly, Ming Qi was still somewhat concerned about the chaos and squalor of Lower Street District, so he wanted to ask Mo Changli's opinion.
"Go, why not?"
Mo Changli raised an eyebrow, a murderous aura emanating from his proud face. He gritted his teeth and declared, "Whoever dares to raise his claws, I'll castrate him!"
Ming Qi gave a helpless smile and teased, "Even if you castrate him, wouldn't it be a disadvantage if he was touched?"
"You!"
Mo Changli hadn't expected Ming Qi to directly tease her. She was momentarily unsure how to respond.
Ming Qi smiled and said, "You're an expert at disguise, aren't you? Just change your appearance."
Ming Qi knew Mo Changli's disguise techniques. If he wanted to avoid harassment in the Lower City, changing his appearance was indeed a good option.
"No!"
Unexpectedly, Ming Qi's self-proclaimed proposal was rejected outright by Mo Changli.
Unable to understand what this girl was thinking, Ming Qi didn't bother to explain. If she didn't want to change, then so be it. After all, with two of them and a tiger, three powerful Innate Realm warriors, they weren't someone anyone would dare to bully.
Without further ado, the two of them made their way through the bustling, brightly lit streets, heading west.
Shaxing City was enormous, and the journey from the south gate to the west took quite a while.
By the time they reached the west, more than half an hour had already passed.
Ming Qi and the others were still in the west, not yet in the lower city, but the scene they saw was already a bleak one.
The houses were low, the ground was jumbled, and the streets were filled with the smell of garbage. Even giant rats occasionally scurried by.
"This place is truly filthy," Mo Changli said grimly.
Ming Qi sighed and said, "It's hard for your friend to stay in such a dreary place just for me."
"For you?"
Mo Changli's eyes widened upon hearing this, his expression filled with astonishment.
Seeing Mo Changli's drastic change in expression, Ming Qi spread his hands and explained with a smile, "Perhaps their employer tried to steal my property that day, and as a result, your friends were defeated by me..."
"Oh..."
Upon hearing this, Mo Changli nodded in realization, relieved that it wasn't due to some special reason.
The two men and the tiger continued forward. Not far ahead lay the Lower Town, where many cultivators with melancholy faces hurriedly walked.
The Lower Town was like the slums of Killing Star City, filled with unremarkable immortal mercenaries and rogue cultivators.
The moment Ming Qi and Mo Changli appeared in the Lower Town, he immediately felt many eyes on them.
Ming Qi extended his spiritual sense aura, carefully monitoring the surrounding movements.
While the Lower Town was mostly populated by downtrodden cultivators, there were still a number of powerful but shabby villains who couldn't make a name for themselves.
As expected, not long after entering the lower city, Ming Qi saw seven or eight men with malicious intentions hanging around them.
Soon, one of them came up and stopped Mo Changli.
"Girl, come play with us. I guarantee you'll be satisfied. It's boring to be with this hairless brat."
As he spoke, the unshaven man reached out and touched Mo Changli's sexy buttocks.