27: Black Flame City and a New Beginning

After the ambush at Black Wind Ridge, the atmosphere in the caravan became exceptionally heavy. The guards were vigilant day and night, not daring to relax even a little. Captain Mu Li personally guarded Xiao Chen's carriage, clearly treating him as a key protected target.

Xiao Chen didn't say much about this, only focusing more on his own cultivation. During the day, he studied the "miscellaneous records of the soul" and intelligence files on Black Flame City, while at night, he used the "Spirit Nurturing Art" to restore and enhance his soul power, occasionally trying to synthesize some power storing pills and qi recovery powder to maintain his proficiency.

Along the way, they encountered several small-scale disturbances and probes, but all were repelled by the vigilant guards. Xiao Chen didn't easily make a move again; his Soul Impact, though strange, consumed a lot of energy and couldn't be used as a regular method.

Heading east, the terrain gradually became flat, and the climate grew dry and hot. Towns along the way became increasingly sparse, replaced by vast, desolate Gobi Desert and occasional oases. The air was filled with the smell of sulfur and saltpeter, indicating that they were approaching the chaotic Black-Corner Region.

Half a month later, the outline of a massive city finally appeared on the horizon.

It was a majestic city, dark red throughout, as if built from huge volcanic rocks. The city walls were towering, radiating a scorching and rugged aura under the intense sun. Banners fluttered on the city walls, and some fierce-looking guards could be vaguely seen patrolling. Above the city, a faint, distorted heatwave seemed to shroud it, giving people a sense of oppression and danger.

Black Flame City! A crucial town on the eastern border of the Jia Ma Empire, and one of the gateways to the Black-Corner Region!

"We're here! We've arrived!" A cheer erupted from the caravan; the fatigue of the long journey seemed to vanish, replaced by a complex emotion mixed with excitement and nervousness.

Captain Mu Li rode his horse to Xiao Chen's carriage and said in a deep voice, "Young Master Xiao Chen, we've reached Black Flame City. This city is a mix of dragons and snakes, and its rules are very different from the interior of the Empire. Please be extremely careful after entering the city and try not to act alone."

Xiao Chen nodded, lifted the curtain, and looked at the approaching dark red city. He could feel various complex and powerful auras permeating the air; Fighter and Fighting Master were everywhere, and he could even occasionally detect some subtle fluctuations of Great Dou Master level!

"It truly is a chaotic place..." Xiao Chen took a deep breath, but his eyes sharpened. Danger also meant opportunity!

The caravan slowly drove into Black Flame City's massive city gate. The city guards merely casually inspected the goods, collected the entry tax, and then waved them through, clearly quite familiar with the Mittel Family's caravan.

Inside the city, a wave of noise assailed them. The streets were wide but uneven, flanked by buildings of various styles: stone houses from the Jia Ma Empire, wooden or adobe structures from the Chu Yun Empire and the Mulan Empire, and even some bizarre shops with skull or beast bone signs. The pedestrians were a motley crew: mercenaries in imperial uniforms, mysterious figures in black robes, burly men with bare chests and fierce tattoos, and exotic women with revealing clothes and captivating eyes... The air was a mix of sweat, alcohol, blood, and various spices.

Here, there was no order, only the naked law of the jungle! Xiao Chen's soul perception was filled with various greedy, vigilant, and violent emotional fluctuations.

The caravan stopped in front of a large building with a sign that read "Mittel Auction House." This was the Mittel Family's stronghold in Black Flame City, even larger than their branch in Wutan City.

A steward-like figure was already waiting at the entrance. Seeing Mu Li, he quickly greeted him: "Captain Mu Li, you've worked hard on this journey! The goods have been inventoried and stored. Brothers, please go to the back courtyard to rest first."

Mu Li nodded, then turned to Xiao Chen and said, "Young Master Xiao Chen, a guest room at the auction house has been prepared for you. Miss Ya Fei instructed that all your expenses here will be covered by the auction house. If you need anything, just tell the steward here."

"Thank you, Captain Mu Li." Xiao Chen cupped his hands in thanks. He knew that their cooperation had temporarily come to an end here. The path ahead was his to walk alone.

Under the steward's guidance, Xiao Chen settled into a quiet but well-equipped guest room in the auction house's back courtyard. He declined the maid arranged by the steward, closed the door, and immediately spread out his soul perception to carefully examine the surroundings.

After confirming it was safe, he breathed a sigh of relief, sat on a chair, and began to plan his next actions.

The primary goal was to improve his strength! A Spirit Movement Late-stage soul realm could only barely ensure self-preservation in Black Flame City. He needed to quickly push for Spirit Movement Peak-stage, and even try to break through to the next major realm! At the same time, he also needed to start accumulating energy to prepare for replicating higher-grade items in the future.

Secondly, to gather intelligence! Clues about the Illusory Spirit Realm ruins, information about the distribution of forces in the Black-Corner Region, and news about any potential Heavenly Flames... all of these required him to actively seek them out.

Finally, to find resources! Black Flame City was close to the Black-Corner Region, so various rare medicinal herbs, magic cores, and ores should be much more abundant than in Wutan City. He needed to use his funds and pills to acquire more useful resources.

"First step, familiarize myself with the environment, then go to the market." Xiao Chen made up his mind. He changed into an inconspicuous gray cloth robe, slightly concealed his appearance (using dirt to slightly alter his skin tone and contours), and then hid some gold coins and pills in different places on his body before quietly leaving the auction house.

Black Flame City's market was much more chaotic and rough than Wutan City's. There were no fixed stalls; most people simply spread a cloth on the ground, displayed their goods, and loudly hawked them. The items sold were diverse, ranging from ordinary medicinal herbs and magic cores to blood-stained weapons, incomplete Dou Technique scrolls, and even some slaves chained up!

Xiao Chen mingled in the crowd, his soul perception quietly scanning one stall after another, searching for items containing high energy and useful information.

[Scan: Third-tier fire-attribute magic core (damaged)... severe energy loss, recovery value 80 units. Asking price 500 gold coins. Too expensive, abandon.]

[Scan: Unknown beast bone... suspected remnants of a fifth-tier magical beast, energy almost depleted, recovery value 5 units. Asking price 10 gold coins. Not worth it.]

[Scan: Incomplete Yellow-tier Middle-grade Dou Technique 'Gale Leg'... weak energy reaction, high energy required for replication. Useless.]

Most of the items were either junk or overpriced. Xiao Chen wasn't discouraged and continued to search patiently.

Suddenly, his soul perception was drawn to a stall in a corner. The vendor was an Elder wearing a cloak with a cold aura. In front of him were only a few dull-colored, irregularly shaped ores and a tattered, blurry-covered book.

Xiao Chen's gaze fell on that book. The material of the book seemed very special, neither paper nor leather, and a few blurred characters were written on it in an extremely ancient script. More importantly, his soul perception detected that within this book, there seemed to be an extremely faint, yet exceptionally pure, soul energy fluctuation!

"System, Scan that book!" Xiao Chen thought.

[Scan: Unknown Soul Tome (damaged)]

[Grade]: ???

[Composition]: Special material, contains ancient soul seals and information fragments, energy almost annihilated.

[Replicable]: No (Insufficient energy, insufficient authority, rule-level blockade)

[Recoverable Energy]: 50 units (Warning! Forcibly recovering will lead to complete loss of information!)

[System Evaluation]: Suspected remnant of an ancient soul cultivation secret art, extremely high value! However, over 90% of the information is incomplete, and direct cultivation carries immense risks! It is recommended that the host's soul realm reaches the Spirit Realm (corresponding to Dou King) before attempting to decipher it.]

Remnant of an ancient soul cultivation secret art!

Xiao Chen's heart pounded! He hadn't expected to encounter such a good item right after arriving in Black Flame City! Although severely incomplete and extremely risky, being evaluated as "extremely high value" by the system definitely meant it was no ordinary find!

He suppressed his excitement, walked to the stall, pretended to casually flip through the few ores, and then picked up the tattered book, asking indifferently, "Elder, how much is this book?"

The cloaked Elder raised his cloudy eyes, glanced at Xiao Chen, and said hoarsely, "One thousand gold coins."

One thousand gold coins! Xiao Chen's mouth twitched. This old man really dared to ask for that much! A tattered book that was practically waste paper, asking for a thousand gold coins?

"Elder, are you joking?" Xiao Chen put down the book and shook his head, "This book is so tattered, the words are illegible. At most, it's an antique, worth a few silver coins at best."

The Elder snorted coldly: "Buy it or don't. If you don't recognize good stuff, don't touch it."

Xiao Chen knew that in such a place, he couldn't appear too eager. He sighed, turned to leave, but walked very slowly.

Sure enough, when he had taken a few steps, the Elder's voice sounded again: "Eight hundred gold coins! Lowest price!"

Xiao Chen stopped, turned back, and said, "One hundred gold coins. I'll buy it as a decoration."

"Five hundred! No less!" The Elder seemed to be wavering.

"Two hundred! Two hundred at most!" Xiao Chen insisted.

After some haggling, they finally settled on three hundred gold coins. Xiao Chen, enduring the heartache, paid the money and carefully put away the tattered book. Although it cost three hundred gold coins, if it truly was a remnant of some ancient secret art, he had definitely stumbled upon a huge treasure!

Leaving the stall, Xiao Chen was in a good mood and continued to browse the market. He spent a few tens of gold coins more, buying some cheap ores with decent energy content and a few good-quality medicinal herbs, considering it a small harvest.

Just as he was about to return to the auction house, his soul perception suddenly caught a commotion and shouting from ahead.

"Damn it! Little bastard! How dare you steal my stuff! You're tired of living!"

"Beat him to death!"

"..."

Xiao Chen looked in the direction of the sound, only to see several fierce-looking big men punching and kicking a thin figure. The thin figure was curled up on the ground, clutching his head, not making a sound, but from his tattered clothes and exposed skin, numerous hideous scars could be seen.

Xiao Chen initially didn't want to meddle; such things happened every day in a place like Black Flame City.

But just as he was about to leave, his soul perception, inadvertently sweeping over the thin figure, suddenly froze!

He felt that within the thin figure's body, there seemed to be an extremely subtle, yet exceptionally pure and powerful... fire-attribute energy fluctuation! This energy was different from any Dou Qi or magic core energy he had felt before; it was more violent, and more... spiritual?!

Could it be... a Heavenly Flame?!