Chapter 60

The ability to construct such a formidable city in the old era demonstrates the prosperity of the empire, and it is no wonder that the human race eventually stood out among the many enslaved races, defeating the dark descendants and carving out a territory on the Eternal Night continent.

Throughout the empire's thousand-year history, heroes have emerged in abundance. Countless geniuses and great figures have illuminated the starry path like rainbows in the sky, tearing through the endless darkness that enveloped human history and opening up new spaces for survival.

The 23rd emperor of the empire once made a bold and famous statement: "If our world has no sunlight, then we will create our own sun!" He was also the only human strongman to have deeply penetrated the uppermost continent of the dark races, although his final whereabouts and the derailment and fall of the Xuguxing planet disappeared from history.

Even today, the empire spans four continents, gradually becoming more conservative and less aggressive, but it still boasts a wealth of talent.

In the imperial court, the two jewels of the empire, Lin Xitang and Zhang Boqian, one internal and one external, one civil and one military, maintain the overall situation. In the military, the eight marshals each guard a direction. The four Heavenly Kings, as top human strongmen, are unparalleled, like the stabilizing force of a sea, standing in opposition to the many great lords of the dark races. Each name is a legend to be looked up to!

It is now the middle of the night, yet the gate of this ancient and mighty city is still bustling with pedestrians. A cool breeze blows, and the breath is not as corrupt as on the wasteland, but rather carries a vibrant and vigorous vitality.

In Qian Ye's chest, something seems to be leaping. It is not the restless hunger for flesh and blood, but a long-lost surge of passion.

What fills his entire field of vision is the legendary Eternal Gate!

Unless it is a major battle against the dark races, the city gates are never closed. Anyone who can pay a silver coin as an entry tax can enter the city freely. Even if the city guards know that the person under the disguise is a dark race, as long as the tax is paid, they will let you in. As for the shouting and fighting, that can wait until after you enter the city.

This bold tradition comes from Peng Huaiyuan, the city lord of Dark Blood City seven hundred years ago.

Peng Huaiyuan, a general of the empire, was a man of humble origins, a life of military service, and countless battles. At the time, Dark Blood City was under attack by the demon and werewolf armies. All the generals in the city advocated closing the gates and holding out, but Peng Huaiyuan slammed the table and shouted, "Today, I will open all four gates and see who dares to come and fight!"

Peng Huaiyuan indeed opened the city gates, personally led three hundred brave soldiers out of the city, and charged straight into the center of the dark alliance army, personally beheading the main general and cutting down the central flag! The twenty-thousand-strong dark alliance army thus collapsed and retreated a thousand miles.

After this battle, Peng Huaiyuan died of severe injuries in the city lord's residence seven days later, and the empire lost another brave general.

The emperor of the empire, upon learning of this, personally wrote a couplet: "Who dares to wield a sword and ride a horse, but my General Peng!"

From then on, Peng Huaiyuan's name spread throughout the land.

As a military man, no one did not know General Peng, and Qian Ye was naturally very familiar with his deeds. Peng Huaiyuan's strength was not particularly great and did not rank among the top in the military at the time, barely reaching the first-class level. However, in this battle, his courage and valor, "though millions of enemies, I will go," inspired every soldier.

The city gates of Dark Blood City are rarely closed, yet the dark races are at a loss against it. Historically, it has fallen three times but was quickly recaptured by the empire. Each major counterattack not only involved the empire's expeditionary forces but also the hunters, lone wanderers, adventurers, and even the rebels who had haunted for centuries, all contributing their efforts.

Since Qian Ye heard about the "Eternal Gate" in the Red Scorpion military history class, he has always wanted to see it with his own eyes. It is said that each piece of blue stone used to build the city tower is engraved with many names, those of the heroes who sacrificed themselves for the city's establishment, prosperity, and survival over nearly a thousand years. At the time, he never thought he would stand here as a black-blooded polluter and fugitive.

However, the shadow of death is gradually fading. In the two battles where he blocked Yan Laohu and Qi Yue, Qian Ye hardly felt the obvious bloodlust. The faint dawn light that emerged after the garbage dump battle seems to be slowly expanding into a light of hope. Thus, the youthful and military zeal and bravery that Qian Ye had once suppressed began to rise again, until it was completely ignited by the content of the deal with Qi Yue and the bloodline.

Therefore, Qian Ye abandoned his original plan to find a quiet small town to live in. He had lost everything, including the surname "Lin" that he had always been proud of, and carried the almost impossible order given by the Red Scorpion captain. Now that he saw a chance to start anew, how could he not take a bold step!

In this city filled with legends and reality, chaos and evil, the most precious thing is freedom and opportunity.

Here, there is a lack of order, but no nobility; here, strength is supreme, yet it is a different kind of fairness. In Dark Blood City, as long as you have talent, work hard, and have a little luck, you can carve out a vast world.

Perhaps Qian Ye is not yet very clear on how to uncover the conspiracy as remote as the uppermost continent, but he knows the first step should be to return, to go back to the crowd that once made him fear.

Qian Ye simply tidied up, transformed into an ordinary scavenger, and mixed into the crowd to enter Dark Blood City. When he dropped a silver coin into the tax box at the city gate, he was initially worried that a scavenger taking out a silver coin might attract too much attention, but he found that the guards didn't even bother to look at him, their faces full of the expression "I knew you were in disguise."

At this moment, behind Qian Ye, a group of beggars walked over, each casually dropping a silver coin into the tax box and swarming into the city. This left Qian Ye, who was coming for the first time, staring in amazement.

In Beacon Town, beggars were just beggars, with hardly any copper coins in their hands. How could they be like the beggars here, who even had gold shining in their pockets when they took out money.

It seems that the strongmen who go out on missions transform into various forms, no wonder the guards are not surprised.

Qian Ye entered Dark Blood City, inquired around, and found a small inn to stay in the Nantang District, which borders the slums.

This location is very convenient, with a mix of people around, bars, mercenary guilds, and two larger gangs all located in this area. Just two blocks from the city center is the famous Black Copper Street, a street lined with weapon and equipment shops.

Qian Ye studied the city map in his room for a while and decided to first get rid of the black goods he had.

The Hornet was Qi Yue's personal sidearm and should not be kept. The Dawn Light and the Level 1 Elemental Rifle were too inferior for Qian Ye to bother with. The Golden Rose was indeed a good item, but its overly luxurious decoration made it more suitable for selling for money. If the decorative patterns were scratched in battle, the gun's value would immediately drop by a third, which would be a meaningless waste.

As for the black crystals, they could not be casually disposed of. There were significant issues with those pieces. In theory, goods traded with the bloodline should not leave any traceable marks, but the channels for circulating such high-quality black crystals in the entire empire are limited. Qian Ye's lack of knowledge does not mean that the fence would not see through it, potentially alerting the masterminds.

Before leaving, Qian Ye decided to change his appearance again. In a large city with a mix of people, frequently altering some facial details is a very practical small trick. It doesn't require much modification; just changing the eyebrows, eyes, adding a beard, or altering the hair can significantly change a person's overall appearance.

Qian Ye took out his disguise kit, stood in front of the mirror, and began to carefully modify his appearance. The first things to deal with were the eyebrows and eyes. He felt his eyebrows were not thick enough, so he carefully drew a few strokes, and the entire face's style immediately changed.

Now his eyebrows were sharp like swords, adding a lot of heroism to his face, making him look dashing... and beautiful.

Qian Ye was very dissatisfied with the last adjective, so he washed off the eyebrows and redrew them, making the lines much softer. Then the entire person looked unusually charming and very... beautiful.

Qian Ye's face turned dark after a few more attempts.

He realized a very bad thing. If he completely changed his appearance, it wasn't a big problem, but if he just wanted to modify facial details to affect others' visual judgment, the result would be quite strange, similar to the effect of women's makeup, beautifying, and gender-neutral.

This might be what most women dream of, but Qian Ye was furious, punching the mirror and angrily saying, "Damn! How did it turn out like this!" He almost wanted to go back and retake the disguise course.

Qian Ye's appearance had indeed changed a lot, very different from when he first entered Beacon Town. His original face was handsome, inheriting the masculine style of the Tiger Scorpion, making him a handsome young man. However, after being polluted by black blood, his body became stronger, but his physique looked more slender.

When Qian Ye first arrived in Beacon Town, he was often harassed because of his appearance. Later, he severely punished a few blind guys, which finally solved the trouble. But he never thought that one day, a little makeup would make him so beautiful!

Now, even if he stood in front of his former Red Scorpion comrades, few would recognize him.

"Whatever, this is good. No one will recognize me, damn it, I'll just dress up as a woman!" Qian Ye consoled himself, resignedly taking out fake beards and wigs, deciding to do a full disguise and not be lazy.

At this moment, Yu Renyan and several Dark Blade warriors also appeared at the entrance of Dark Blood City. Since they no longer needed to track scents and