After a brief discussion with them, Long Chen set off with the small team of cultivators. The only person he was familiar with was Shao Yu. The others looked fierce; they spoke little with Long Chen and red at him with enmity in their eyes. Their boss, Du Jiu, did not speak much either,pletely ostracizing Long Chen and Shao Yu.


    Long Chen knew that Du Jiu was just trying to find an excuse to keep him close. He had not figured out Long Chen’s capabilities yet and was worried that Long Chen had some trump card that they could not deal with. Otherwise, he would have attacked already.


    Du Jiu led them through the district. They walked on the cold, dark-brown ground covered with fine sand made of metal. The soil was mixed with the metal, making the ground as hard as steel. Every step they took created a <em>crunch</em>, a result of the metal grains rubbing against each other.


    Du Jiu and the others walked at the very front. One of therge men walked up to him and said in a low voice, “Boss, when will we make a move on that brat? He doesn’t look strong to me. I can chop him into two!”


    “We’re not in a hurry. If we encounter any dangerter, let him rush in front. I want to figure out his capabilities first. The brat is a bit mysterious, so we must not act rashly,” said Di Jiu with a cold chuckle.


    “Mysterious?” Therge man smirked and turned to nce at Long Chen. He could not see anything special about the brat and cocked an eyebrow. He then returned to his position and cracked his knuckles.


    Long Chen did not hear their conversation, but based on the way they were speaking into each other’s ears, he could easily guess what they were talking about. He privately chuckled to himself. He had two objectives here. First, he wanted to learn more about this ce from Shao Yu. Second, Shao Yu was a good person—at least he was good to Long Chen. Long Chen knew that if Shao Yu followed them, he would either die or be cannon fodderter, so Long Chen wanted to help him if he could.


    “Brother Yu, tell me about Iron City. What is it?” Long Chen asked, walking up to Shao Yu.


    “You haven’t heard much about the Ancient Graveyard, so you don’t know about it. The ancestors of the Ten Thousand Nations Territory havee here many times. The first time they came, they suffered major casualties, so they learned their lesson and set some rules which the whole Ten Thousand Nations Territory agreed to abide by. The Nine Great ns enforce these rules, but they also follow them. The cities are part of the rules,” said Shao Yu wistfully.“Could you tell me the specifics?” Long Chen asked.


    “The Ancient Graveyard is divided into five districts, namely the Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth Districts. We are currently in the Metal District. The majority of thend across these five districts is devoid of people, save for special spots in all the districts. These are abandoned cities left behind from the Ancient Era, for example, and there are many Iron Cities in the Metal District!”


    “What are these Iron Cities for?” Long Chen asked.


    Shao Yu chuckled and said, “Within the Metal District, the Iron Cities are ces we can rest in. You might know this—the Ancient Graveyard is filled with treasures, and these treasures are often in strange ces. If there ever were treasures inmon ces, the ancestors have taken them already. Everyone is almost always immersed in killing because they are fighting over these treasures and killing to merge their Ancient Tokens to get out. As a result, most people will die here. The Ten Thousand Nations Territory suffered casualties too severe, so the ancestors gathered to set some rules. For example, since there were basically no treasures in the cities, the Nine Great ns banned fighting in the cities, and everyone abides by this rule. Everywhere else is dangerous, but to us, the Iron Cities of the Metal District will be safe since killing is forbidden! If anyone is discovered to have broken this rule, they will be persecuted by the Nine Great ns!”


    Shao Yu said all of this in one breath, so he was panting afterward. He grinned at Long Chen and said, “Of course, we came to the Ancient Graveyard to kill. Riches are to be gained through risk and danger. We cannot stay in the Iron Cities forever. That was why they set another rule. No one is allowed to stay in a city for more than a month or they will be automatically kicked out! Boss Du Jiu’s n is to set up a base in the city, then search and fight for treasures outside. We can fight outside, then if we suffer losses, we can return to the city so that the losses are not too major.”


    Long Chen nodded.


    “As long as the city has the Nine Great ns guarding it, they will enforce this rule. But if the Nine Great ns are not based in a city, then the rules don’t count there. They left before us, so if we head in this direction, we will find a city. Then we won’t need to be as afraid as we are now,” said Shao Yu.


    The cities offered a ce for the cultivators to rest and recuperate for a while. This was the convenience that the Nine Great ns offered to regr cultivators. But Long Chen had another idea.


    <em>If regr cultivators that are based in the cities find treasure, they’ll likely be watched and targeted by the Nine Great ns. With these rules, not only can the Nine Great ns stake a im on the cities, they can also reap many other benefits, </em>thought Long Chen.


    He suddenly thought about the matter of merging the Ancient Tokens and asked, “How does merging the Ancient Tokens work?”


    “You don’t know?” Shao Yu was shocked.


    When he saw how clueless Long Chen looked, he said, “One of the root causes of the killing in the Ancient Graveyard is the fighting over treasures. The second root cause of killing is the merging of Ancient Tokens. Every person has an Ancient Token, but they are gray in color. This token records our essence level after entering the Ancient Graveyard, so it knows our approximate strength. One year after it opens, the route back to the Ten Thousand Nations Territory will open once more, and only the people whose Ancient Tokens have turned gold will be qualified to leave. I don’t know what happens to those who are left behind.”


    “How many other Ancient Tokens do you need to merge yours with in order to turn it gold?” Long Chen was very concerned about this.


    There was a sh of resignation on Shao Yu’s face when he said, “Someone has made the approximate calction. People of our level will need to kill ten equal-level opponents to turn it gold. People one level above us will need to kill fewer than that. As for people on the same level as the Divine and Demon n leaders, they always leave easily every time, so the requirement for them is likely very low. The ones who suffer are people like us in the bottom rungs. I really don’t know who will merge with my Ancient Token in the end.”


    Every time, more than ten thousand people would enter the Ancient Graveyard, but only hundreds returned, maybe even fewer. This showed how terrifying the massacres were. There was only a one-in-a-hundred chance of living. However, those who survived basically became ultimate masters. That was why many people wanted toe in and take a gamble, despite knowing the risk!


    Riches were gained through risk and danger!


    “I can’t leave in the end if my Ancient Token doesn’t turn golden. The Ancient Graveyard opens every ten years. Wouldn’t that mean that there are still people from the previous batch who have not left here?” Long Chen asked.


    “You’re smart to think of this question so soon. I was also wondering the same. This is the most mysterious part of the Ancient Graveyard.” There was fear in Shao Yu’s eyes.


    “Why?” Long Chen asked.


    “I hear that when the killing is almost over in the Ancient Graveyard and only about a thousand or so people remain, hundreds of people are left behind. There are always some Seventh or Eighth Earthly Martial Stage cultivators among those people, who have lifespans of centuries. It should be easy for them to continue living in the Ancient Graveyard. However, the strange thing is that whenever a new batch of people enter, the people from the previous batch are nowhere to be found. Not even their corpses are found. We don’t know why …”


    Long Chen squinted.


    <em>The distributed Ancient Tokens, the transporters, the merging of Ancient Tokens … All these factors indicate that the Ancient Graveyard is clearly controlled by someone. It feels like someone else thinks this is a game where we fight over treasures. We are in a chess game, but who are the ones ying? The people of the Three Royal Territories?</em>


    Long Chen was no idiot, so he quickly thought of this. The people who did not achieve a golden Ancient Token and were left behind could likely be “cleaned up” by the people who organized this game. After cleaning them up, they would set up the next game every ten years.


    There were sure to be eyes high up in the sky looking down on these ants fighting for their lives.


    <em>Indeed, the strongest ones have infinite privileges. Weaklings like me can only be toyed with. </em>Long Chen was extremely unwilling, but he could not do anything. He could not even defeat the young master of the Divine n, let alone others.


    He could not even protect Xiang. Long Chen saw the truth for what it was—he was too weak! If he went to the Royal Territory, he would only humiliate himself!


    <em>Right now, I must increase my cultivation level as soon as possible, then search for more treasures of other elements. I need toplete the cultivation of the Five Emperor Seals soon too. Very few people in the Ancient Graveyard have an Emperor-tierbat technique like this. </em>