After discussing with them for a while, Long Chen set off with this small team of warriors. The only one he was familiar with here was Shao Yu. The others were quite fierce and rarely talked to Long Chen. They looked at Long Chen with a lot of hostility in their eyes. As for the boss, Vulture, he didn't say anything and completely isolated Long Chen and Shao Yu.
Long Chen knew that this Vulture just wanted to keep him by his side. He still didn't know Long Chen's strength. He was worried that Long Chen had some trump cards that he couldn't resist. Otherwise, he would definitely make a move.
Under the lead of Vulture, everyone walked on the cold dark brown ground. The ground was covered with fine metal sand, and the ground was quite hard. The underground soil must have been mixed with metal, which made the ground as hard as real steel. When everyone stepped on it, the iron sand rolled and made a rustling sound.
Vulture and the others walked at the forefront. One of the sturdy men walked to Vulture's side and said in a gloomy voice, "Boss, when will we make a move on that kid? I don't think he has any strength. I can cut him into two pieces."
"Don't worry, if we encounter any danger later, let him rush in front. I will first figure out his strength. This kid is a bit mysterious, we can't make a move easily." Vulture sneered and said.
"Mysterious."
The burly man smiled coldly. He turned around and glanced at Long Chen. He couldn't see anything special about this brat. His brows twitched. He returned to his seat and rubbed his fist a few times.
Their voices weren't heard by Long Chen, but the two of them whispered to each other. Long Chen could guess what they were talking about. He sneered in his heart. The reason why he was here was for two purposes. One was to learn more about this world from Shao Yu. The second was that Shao Yu was a good person, at least to Long Chen. Long Chen understood that if Shao Yu followed them, even if he didn't die this time, he would definitely be cannon fodder next time. For Long Chen, he would help if he could.
"Brother Yu, why don't you tell me about this steel city? What is it all about?" Long Chen walked over to Shao Yu's side and asked.
"You haven't heard of the Primordial Cemetery, so you don't know. In fact, the ancestors of the Myriad Kingdoms Domain have already come here many times. The first time they came here, they suffered heavy losses. Later on, they learned their lesson and established some rules. These rules are implemented by the entire Myriad Kingdoms Domain and are jointly supervised by the Nine Great Clans. Even the Nine Great Clans have to abide by these rules, and the city is one of them." Shao Yu said with a sigh.
"Tell me the details." Long Chen continued to ask.
"In the Primordial Cemetery, there are a total of five regions. They are the Glazed Gold Region, the Greenwood Region, the Heavenly Water Region, the Abstruse Fire Region, and the Thick Earth Region. We're currently in the Glazed Gold Region, and within these five regions, a large area is desolate and uninhabited. However, there are some special places within every region, and those are some abandoned cities left behind from ancient times. For example, within the Glazed Gold Region, there are quite a few steel cities."
"What's the use of these steel cities?" Long Chen asked.
Shao Yu chuckled, "In the Glazed Gold Domain, the steel cities are where we rest. You should know that the Primordial Cemetery is filled with treasures. These treasures are in some mystical places. Even if there are treasures in ordinary places, they have already been taken away by our ancestors. In order to fight for these treasures, almost everyone who comes to the Primordial Cemetery will be in a state of slaughter. In order to seize the treasures in the hands of others, and also to fuse with the Ancient Tomb Medallion and obtain the qualifications to leave, many people will lose their lives here. The losses of the Myriad Kingdoms Domain are too heavy, so our ancestors joined together to set some rules. For example, because there are basically no treasures in these cities, the nine great clans have listed these cities as forbidden areas for battle. The nine great clans all abide by this rule, and any place is dangerous. However, to us, the steel cities of the Glazed Gold Domain are safe, because killing is forbidden here. If you are discovered, you will be punished by the members of the nine great clans who are stationed there."
Shao Yu said a whole bunch of things in one breath. After he was done, he panted and looked at Long Chen with a chuckle, "Of course, we've come to the Primordial Cemetery to fight. After all, wealth comes from danger. We can't stay in that steel city forever, so there's also a rule that no one can stay in a city for more than a month. Otherwise, we'll be automatically expelled from the city. Our boss Venomous Vulture's plan is to use the city as a stronghold and search for and fight for treasures in the surroundings. If we fight outside and suffer losses, we'll return to the city. This way, we'll be absolutely safe."
Long Chen nodded. So that's how it is.
"As long as it's a city guarded by the Nine Great Clans, they'll follow this rule. If there's no Nine Great Clans guarding it, of course, that city doesn't count. The Nine Great Clans have moved before us. As long as we move in this direction, we'll definitely be able to find a city. At that time, we won't have to be as apprehensive as we are now," Shao Yu said.
The purpose of those cities was indeed to provide the cultivators with a place to rest and relax a little. This could be considered as a convenience that the Nine Great Clans provided to the ordinary cultivators. However, Long Chen had another thought.
"As long as those ordinary cultivators go to the cities and obtain treasures, they might be under the Nine Great Clans' surveillance. The Nine Great Clans can use this method to occupy the cities, and on the other hand, there'll be many benefits," Long Chen thought.
He suddenly remembered the matter of the Ancient Tomb Tokens and asked, "What's the situation with the Ancient Tomb Tokens you mentioned?"
"You don't even know this?" Shao Yu's face was full of surprise.
Seeing Long Chen's bewildered expression, he could only continue, "The fight for treasures is also the source of the slaughter in the Ancient Graveyard, and the fusion of the Ancient Grave Medallion is another source of slaughter. Every one of us has an Ancient Grave Medallion, but it is gray in color. This Ancient Grave Medallion records the information of our True Yuan after we enter, and knows our approximate strength. After a year, the passage to return to the Myriad Kingdoms Domain from the Ancient Graveyard will reopen. Only those who have fused the Ancient Grave Medallion to gold will have the qualifications to leave. As for the others, I have no idea.
"How many other Ancient Tomb Tokens do we need to fuse to reach the gold level?" Long Chen was more concerned about this question.
A trace of helplessness flashed across Shao Yu's face, and he said, "Someone has roughly calculated. If it's at our level, killing a dozen or so opponents of the same level will allow us to reach the gold level. If it's a level higher, the amount will be even less. As for those at the level of the God Race and Demon Race, they can leave safely every time, so the requirements for them probably aren't too high. The ones who suffer are us lower class people. I really don't know who will fuse with my Ancient Tomb Token in the end."
Every time tens of thousands of people came to the Ancient Graveyard, only a few hundred could return, or even less. From this, it could be seen how terrifying the killings in the Ancient Graveyard were. The chance of survival was almost one percent. However, those who survived basically all became peerless experts, so even if they knew it was death, there were still many people who wanted to come in and fight for their lives.
Riches were sought in danger.
"Without fusing with the gold level, in the end, one cannot leave the Ancient Graveyard, and the interval between every opening of the Ancient Graveyard is around a dozen years or so. Doesn't that mean that there are many people who entered last time who haven't left?" Long Chen thought of this question and hurriedly asked.
"You're really smart to be able to think of this so quickly. Back then, I was also puzzled by this question. This can be considered the most mysterious thing in the Ancient Graveyard." When Shao Yu spoke of this, there was a bit of fear in his eyes.
"What's going on?" Long Chen asked in confusion.
Shao Yu said, "I heard from others that every time the killings in the Ancient Graveyard are about to end, there are basically over a thousand people still alive. Among them, a third already have the gold Ancient Tomb Token, and the remaining several hundred people are left here. There are even some martial artists in the 7th or 8th level of the Earth Martial Realm. These people have a lifespan of several hundred years, and can easily live in the Ancient Graveyard. But the strange thing is, every time the Ancient Graveyard opens, a new group of people enters, they will discover that the previous people have all disappeared, and even their corpses can't be found. I don't know why this is …"
Long Chen's eyes narrowed.
"The distribution of the Ancient Tomb Tokens, the Teleportation Formation, the fusion of the Ancient Tomb Tokens, and so on, clearly shows that the Ancient Graveyard is controlled by someone. And when we come to the Ancient Graveyard to compete for treasures, it feels like a game in the eyes of others. We're in a chess game, and who are the players? The people from the Three Great Imperial Regions."
Long Chen wasn't an idiot. He very easily thought of this point. From this point, it was very likely that the people who hadn't fused into the gold Ancient Tomb Token and were left here were 'cleaned up' by the people who set up this game. And after cleaning up, every ten years or so, they would come and set up another game.
There must be some eyes in the darkness that were observing Long Chen and the other ants that were risking their lives in the vast sky.
"As expected, the strong have boundless power, and the weak like me can only be manipulated by others."
Long Chen was extremely unwilling in his heart, but it was a pity that he was powerless. He couldn't even suppress a young master of the God clan, let alone other people.
He couldn't even protect Xiao Lang. Long Chen clearly recognized the reality, and that was that he was really too weak. With this kind of strength, if he went to the Imperial Regions, he would only be asking for humiliation.
"Currently, I should increase my realm as soon as possible, then find treasures of other attributes and earn money to complete a heaven-defying battle skill like the Five Emperor Seals as soon as possible. In the Ancient Graveyard, there shouldn't be many people who would use a Royal level battle skill."