The Ancient City Manifests

Because Su Muchen gave Zhou Tong a generous amount of spirit stones, Zhou Tong shared every detail about the town, even some of the local legends, without holding back. Then, he led Su Muchen to a residence before taking his leave.

"Young Master, please come in."

The innkeeper greeted him respectfully.

According to Zhou Tong, this was the largest inn in the town, and it also offered cultivation rooms. Most cultivators chose to stay here.

"A medium-grade cultivation room."

Su Muchen considered for a moment and tossed the innkeeper a hundred low-grade spirit stones.

The innkeeper's eyes lit up, and he happily led Su Muchen to a cultivation room.

Upon entering, Su Muchen keenly noticed that the room was engraved with both concealment and spirit gathering arrays. These not only prevented ordinary people from spying but also concentrated spirit energy, making cultivation easier.

However, being cautious, Su Muchen casually set up another array to prevent prying eyes.

"Shadow Elder, I need you to investigate the matters surrounding the ancient city!"

"Understood, Young Master."

Shadow Elder was a Void Riding Realm expert. In these lower regions, unless there was a specific array targeting him, no one could detect his presence. Entrusting such matters to Shadow Elder was the most appropriate choice.

"A mysterious ancient city, I didn't expect such a wondrous place to exist in the lower regions!"

Su Muchen was filled with interest in the ancient city, and a glint flashed in his eyes. He was certain that this strange ancient city couldn't be simply about high-grade spirit stones. Based on his experience, it must contain other, even more precious treasures, perhaps even rare and exotic items he had never seen before!

Thinking of this, the corners of Su Muchen's mouth curled slightly upward, and he secretly mused, "This ancient city is worth exploring thoroughly."

However, Su Muchen also knew that the dangers within were considerable.

"Fortune favors the bold!"

In this world where the strong prey on the weak, strength is the only truth!

Su Muchen took a deep breath. Although Shadow Elder was powerful, gathering information would still take some time.

"It's time to improve my strength!"

Su Muchen opened the system panel. He currently had a whopping 12,000 villain points, which, although not a huge amount, was enough to boost his strength to a new level.

"Raising my cultivation level too quickly would make it flashy but not substantial. I'll hold off on that for now and see what techniques are available!"

"While the Holy Sect's techniques are powerful, they aren't the strongest in the world! It seems I need to find one from the system to cultivate anew!"

While the Holy Sect's techniques were considered top-tier in the Central Region, they weren't enough for Su Muchen.

Su Muchen opened the system shop and selected the technique category. Despite having prepared himself mentally, he still gasped at the techniques within the shop.

"Heaven-Devouring Demon Technique, the cultivator who masters this technique can directly devour a world with a single gulp!"

"Nine Heavens Divine Maiden Art, created by the Nine Heavens Divine Maiden in ancient times, mastering it can destroy a world!"

...

Looking at the countless top-tier techniques, Su Muchen wanted to exchange for them all, but the number of villain points required extinguished his excitement.

The better the technique, the more villain points it required. In the end, Su Muchen spent 10,000 villain points to exchange for the Mystic Heaven Fist.

As the name suggested, the Mystic Heaven Fist, when cultivated to its peak, could shatter stars with a single punch.

Soon, a massive amount of information flooded Su Muchen's mind, and within a few breaths, he had mastered the Mystic Heaven Fist.

"Worthy of the 10,000 villain points I spent!"

Feeling the terrifying power contained within his body, Su Muchen was extremely satisfied.

"I need to prepare some life-saving items!"

Su Muchen didn't dare to be careless. The ancient city's mystery made him feel uncertain.

"I almost forgot, there's still a gold treasure chest that hasn't been opened!"

Su Muchen suddenly remembered that after killing Lin Yuan, the system had given him a big gift.

"Open!" Su Muchen gently tapped the treasure chest.

"Congratulations to the host for obtaining 1 Array-Breaking Talisman and 1 Random Teleportation Talisman."

Finally, Su Muchen spent another 1,000 villain points to exchange for a Spirit-Sealing Talisman.

This Spirit-Sealing Talisman was indeed worth the 1,000 villain points it cost. It could seal the cultivation of anyone at or below the Void Riding Realm.

The only flaw was that it could only seal one person and could only be used once.

However, that was temporarily enough for Su Muchen.

"Young Master!"

At that moment, Shadow Elder returned, bringing the information he had gathered to Su Muchen.

"So, that guy didn't lie to me!"

Combining the information Shadow Elder had gathered, Zhou Tong hadn't deceived him.

That night, the full moon arrived. Su Muchen, having prepared everything, appeared in the town.

At this moment, many cultivators had already gathered outside. Although the ancient city was incredibly dangerous, the greed in people's hearts had overcome their reason.

After all, if one succeeded in making it out alive, their future would be guaranteed to soar!

However, Su Muchen noticed that most of them were rogue cultivators.

That was understandable. These rogue cultivators didn't have the support of a sect, and the resources they obtained were pitiful. The appearance of the ancient city was clearly an opportunity for them.

"Fellow Daoist, are you also planning to seek treasure in the ancient city?"

Just then, a man approached Su Muchen.

Su Muchen glanced at him and nodded.

"That's great."

The man's face lit up.

He continued, "This ancient city is of mysterious origin. Many people enter and die for no reason. So, how about you join us?"

Through introductions, Su Muchen learned that the man was named Li Mu. He had organized a team in advance to explore this mysterious ancient city. According to Li Mu, their team had recruited a cultivator who had actually emerged from the ancient city before!

Su Muchen, who hadn't had any thoughts about joining a team, suddenly became interested upon hearing this.

"Brother Mu, who did you manage to trick into joining your team this time?"

Along the way, countless people seemed to be familiar with Li Mu, joking with him and sizing up Su Muchen.

"Unlike you guys, all a bunch of swindlers, I actually bring people inside!"

Li Mu naturally retorted, and soon, Su Muchen followed Li Mu to their temporary camp.

Three men and two women were already waiting there. When they saw Li Mu and Su Muchen, their eyes lit up, but their brows furrowed as they looked at Su Muchen.

"Come, let me introduce you. This is our new team member – Su Muchen."

Li Mu didn't notice the others' expressions and excitedly introduced Su Muchen to the group.

Soon, everyone became familiar with each other. The two women were sisters, named Shen Yue and Shen Qing.

Although they were sisters, their personalities were completely different. Shen Yue, the older sister, was lively and outgoing, while Shen Qing, the younger sister, was more introverted and didn't speak much.

"Ah Mu, is this person reliable?"

The one who spoke was a burly man named Qian Shan, whose cultivation was second only to Su Muchen, at the seventh level of the Yuan Transformation Realm.

He looked at Su Muchen with ill intent. After all, he had previously been the one with the highest cultivation in the group.

Apart from Wang Ming, who had entered the ancient city before, and Sun Bin, who was always quiet and unremarkable, he also had some say in the team.

But now that someone with a higher cultivation level had arrived, he naturally felt threatened.

Li Mu didn't think too much and nodded with a smile.

"Don't worry, this fellow Daoist is reliable!"

Li Mu had already spoken, so Qian Shan could only snort coldly and remain silent, but he continued to glare at Su Muchen.

Su Muchen didn't pay any attention to him. The reason he joined this team was entirely because someone in the team had entered that strange ancient city before and was much more familiar with its inner workings than he was. Rather than wandering around aimlessly, it was better to follow them, which would save him a lot of trouble and allow him to glean some useful information from them.

Since Qian Shan had approved, the others naturally wouldn't say much.

Soon, everyone became acquainted with Su Muchen, and the atmosphere became harmonious.

Soon after, it was late at night, and a bright moon hung high in the sky. The bright moonlight illuminated the earth, making it almost as bright as day, which could be considered a marvel.

"Look! The ancient city has appeared!"

At that moment, someone suddenly exclaimed. Everyone followed the sound and looked, and an ancient city slowly appeared before them.