The town of Jue Wang. This ce truly lived up to its mood. However, this only applied to a minority, such as evil spirits.


    Devilish cultivators were rarely seen, and even then, by Xie Qing''s standards, they were very weak and not worth his attention. However, there were indeed many people here.


    Comparing the mortals here with those in the outer world, the youth saw a difference only in that they lived much longer and possessed greater physical strength.


    Other details, unfortunately, were unknown to Xie Qing. Most of this information was what he had managed to dig up.


    At the entrance to the city, there was also a special formation. Xie Qing distinctly felt his aura being scanned three times, and with each scan, the attempts to prate his soul became more and more distinct.


    Of course, the youth would have been foolish to allow someone to examine his soul, so he merely snorted and resisted. Surprisingly, the formation or whoever was behind it was not very persistent and retreated after checking the devilish Qi in his body.


    Xie Qing was a bit surprised.


    "Hmm, I thought they would demand to open my soul for examination. Who would have thought they would retreat?" the youth pondered as he entered the city through the unguarded gates.


    The entire city had quite a developed architecture, and there were clearly more entertainments here than in the two cities Xie Qing had visited during his short stay in this ce.


    To his great surprise, there was also a red-light district here, where a brothel operated under the same name as in the previous city.


    "A branch of that vixen?" the youth thought for a moment, then shook his head: "In any case, I won''t go there. I don''t need any more trouble on my soul."


    Last time, he immediately encountered an abnormally strong individual. If it weren''t for the strange circumstances, he would have been exposed. In the worst case, he would have been killed.


    Therefore, the youth decided to distance himself from such dangerous ces where individuals with strange pasts gathered.


    ***


    In one of the bars in the town of Jue Wang. For inexplicable reasons, the usually quiet establishment was now inplete chaos.


    The bartender looked at the person in front of him with obvious fear, who was twirling a ss in his hand. His name was Zhang Xin.


    With long, pitch-ck eyes like coal, his disdainful gaze pierced the skin of every passing evil spirit. However, he was much more weing towards humans.


    And not without reason, for he himself was a human. But he was also... a devilish cultivator. Because of this, the bartender feared him.


    Being an evil spirit, most of them had to be either ves of devilish cultivators or food. Either way, it was not the best fate—even as ves, they would never see good days.


    Evil spirits were strong from birth, that was true, but... devilish cultivators had a hundred and one ways to counter them. It was not umon for a superior evil spirit to end up as a ve of a devilish cultivator.


    And today, the bar named "Bar Ming," which meant darkness, was filled with a gloomy atmosphere.


    In normal times, evil spirits liked to gather here and have a few sses of strong alcohol. But with the arrival of the uninvited guest, Zhang Xin, most of the patrons fled, afraid of bing ves or, worse, food for the cultivator.


    "Pfft!"


    Zhang Xin let out a disdainful snort as he felt the cautious and frightened gazes of the evil spirit staff. It was toote for them to run away.


    The bartender was sweating as if it were 80 degrees Celsius (176°F) outside.


    "Hmph. What is this crap? Is this your signature alcohol? I thought it would be at least a little tasty, but this is just swill for cheap ves. Pfft, even my horse drinks better alcohol than this!" Zhang Xin said in a disdainful and irritated voice.


    Waving his hand with clear cruelty in his eyes, he threw the ss against the wall. Pieces of ss flew in all directions, injuring several members of the staff, but no one dared to make a sound.


    "I-I''m sorry, sir! This humble servant will do everything possible to find the best alcohol for you right away! P-please, don''t kill..."


    Looking at the bartender who bowed and apologized, Zhang Xin licked his lips. He enjoyed this feeling—superiority over others.


    "Hahaha!" Zhang Xinughed out loud, chuckling unhealthily, thinking: "Finally! I went through the preparation in the sect and can now go outside! I''m so tired of enduring the humiliations from the sect elders... I had to act like a servant in front of those inner court disciples! Inside the sect, I''m an insignificant person, but in the outer world, I''m a king!"


    Zhang Xin belonged to the Sect of Bone Circle, which was managed by Ma Lu. The special cultivation technique of this sect required careful preparation.


    The most important thing was that they paid the most attention to people who brought the most sacrifices! Because... Zhang Xin was at the Soul Nascent stage of cultivation, which was already a certain requirement for entering the main court!


    However, in the sect... he was only an outer court disciple.


    "Sigh... but I''m still on a mission. I need to bring a hundred thousand souls, or else I won''t see a promotion!" Zhang Xin frowned and snorted, looking annoyed: "Or else go to that abandoned region! The Devil''s Blood Flower only grows in the Jueming Mountain Range! It''s dangerous even for a cultivator of my level..."


    Zhang Xin sighed. The Devil''s Blood Flower was a special type of nt that could concentrate arge amount of devilish energy. They also grew quickly.


    If arge number of them were nted near a cultivation cave, one could quickly achieve a breakthrough! Therefore, for outer disciples, this flower was almost a blessing.


    Moreover, if one "gifted" this flower to an elder, one would not have to worry about being bullied within the outer court! Zhang Xin licked his dry lips and smiled.


    "Come on, bastard, bring me something decent. If I''m not satisfied, I''ll punish your soul!"


    "Y-yes, sir!"


    The bartender rushed off as if a herd of enraged bulls were chasing him, which greatly amused Zhang Xin. He chuckled and sprawled out on a chair.


    "Hey, you," he said in azy voice, pointing at an attractive waitress who was an evil spirit.


    "Y-yes?!" the girl replied in a squeaky, shocked voice, clutching the hem of her dress.


    "Hehe…e here," the man said with a slight lustful gleam in his eyes, licking his lips. He looked over her body and stopped at herrge breasts, then chuckled like a hyena: "You know, it''s been a long time since I''ve rxed… and you''re going to help me with that."


    "G-gentleman… I…"


    The waitress almost cried when she heard the man''s words. She looked hopefully at one of the staff members, but he could only turn his head with a heavy expression.


    Seeing this, the girl''s face showed despair, and her eyes seemed to be empty. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.


    On one side was her lover who had abandoned her, and on the other was the lecherous devilish cultivator.


    "I…"


    The girl bit her lip and was about to take a step forward, but… the door to the bar suddenly creaked open, and a calm, deep male voice sounded.


    "Hey, is this bar open? I''m tired of looking for ces to drink. All the others are closed for some reason."


    And this voice brought confusion to everyone. Zhang Xin was furious, and his mood suddenly plummeted. He turned his gaze towards the door and was about to shout, but he quickly stopped himself.


    "This…"


    First, he was shocked by the beauty of the unexpected guest. And then… he sensed his aura.


    "Soul Nascent – 6th stage! How is this possible! Could it be that another member of the sect hase to this city?" Zhang Xin began to feel nervous.


    Thest thing he wanted was to be polite to the strong. That would be too humiliating, especially considering his performance just minutes ago.


    The man standing at the door raised an eyebrow when, even after a minute, there was no response to his question. He shook his head, and his long white hair covered his right eye.


    "Hmm? What''s with the strange silence, are you all deaf?" the youth frowned, acting as arrogant as possible. Then he let out an interested sigh, turning his gaze to Zhang Xin: "Oh?"


    "…!"


    Zhang Xin inexplicably became nervous. Although the difference in power between them was not that great… just one look from the youth drained the man of his strength. It felt as if Zhang Xin had encountered an elder from the main court!


    However, just as suddenly as the feeling had appeared, it vanished just as quickly. The youth''s cold gaze turned friendly.


    "So, you are a fellow Daoist. How should I address you?" Xie Qing asked with a smile, not bothering to mention his own name.


    This sudden warm attitude towards him made Zhang Xin stand up, not daring to show his rudeness. He introduced himself with a strained, maximally false, and ttering smile.


    "What a pleasant encounter. I am Zhang Xin from the Sect of Bone Circle!"