After Chen Bugu entered Obsidian Town, he decided to first meet up with Liu Shifu and the others.
Perhaps because Obsidian Town was quite large, he didn’t sense where “Amon” was located.
Walking on the streets of Obsidian Town, Yan Kuan and Lin Xiaoxiao marveled at everything they saw.
The street ground was wide and clean, paved with bluestone, and every fifty meters on both sides of the road there was a bright street lamp, with the lamp base powered by an electric-type electrical crystal.
Various buildings lined both sides, primarily constructed of stone, with white-painted walls that looked simple and elegant, and key areas also featured grey metal connections, resembling a blend of ancient Baroque style and modern architecture.
Among these buildings, there were unique characteristics based on their different uses.
There were taverns with huge wine flags, blacksmith shops with low awnings at their entrances, stores with wooden signboards and colorful flags, and magic book stores with exquisitely carved stone window frames.
Chen Bugu and his companions had stayed in the Initial Forest for a long time, and now walking in the middle of the road, it felt as if they had suddenly advanced a thousand years in civilization.
Different races of various forms also strolled on the streets; besides the Magic Lizard Clan, there were also Dwarfs, small in stature but with muscular bodies and long beards.
There were Storm Clansmen with two horns on their heads, pointed beaks, dark skin, tall and slender figures, and a pair of huge wings on their backs.
And there were Naga, with a fin on top of their heads, slender arms, human-like upper bodies, and lower bodies that transformed into a snake tail covered in countless smooth scales.
The various races moved about the streets, seemingly accustomed to each other's presence, not interfering with or caring about one another, yet painting a marvelous picture.
“This reminds me of a movie I watched when I was a kid called ‘The Lord of the Rings’; it was also like this, with all sorts of races.”
It was clear that Yan Kuan was very curious about everything in Obsidian Town, always running here and looking there.
“Where do we go next?”
Bai Ting looked at Chen Bugu; he led the way, far less surprised by the town than the others, instead seeming to know his way around, heading towards a certain direction with familiarity.
“We’ll go find Liu Shifu, Teacher Lin, and Wang Bin first.”
Of course, Chen Bugu was familiar with Obsidian Town; he had spent over a year here in his previous life.
Of course, this wasn't because Obsidian Town was so great, but mainly due to his strength.
Obsidian Town could provide shelter to Awakeners; except for occasional beast tides rushing the town, as long as you didn't go out, you would hardly encounter any danger.
The bright streetlights, the various goods displayed at shop entrances, and the shouts of the Alien shop assistants at the tavern doors all told you: it was safe here.
Obsidian Town had already taken the rudimentary form of a small society, and even a simple monetary system had emerged, with crystals being the best general equivalent here.
The energy contained within high-grade Black Iron Grade magical beasts was enough to condense beast crystals, and beast crystals were also the highest denomination of currency.
Beast crystals produced by Black Iron Nine-Star and Black Iron Seven Stars magical beasts were fist-sized green crystals, but the higher the grade, the fewer impurities inside the beast crystal, and the more transparent it was.
However, not everyone had the qualifications and strength to hunt high-grade Black Iron Grade magical beasts, so a lower-grade currency—black obsidian—was derived.
Black obsidian is a low-grade crystal that can be used to slightly enhance equipment, obtained by killing a mid-grade Black Iron Grade magical beast called a Black Crystal Beast.
The exchange rate between black obsidian and beast crystals is roughly 100 to 1, meaning 100 fist-sized black obsidian can be exchanged for one beast crystal.
If one couldn't even kill a Black Crystal Beast, they could choose to do odd jobs in town to earn some remuneration.
In fact, most of the survivors in this town did just that.
Except for a small number of forces that would spontaneously form exploration teams to hunt outside, most survivors would at most choose to clear out magical beasts around Obsidian Town.
Moreover, even when going out to clear magical beasts, they would often make overly thorough preparations.
For instance, to hunt two Black Iron Five-Star magical beasts, ten Black Iron Five-Star Awakeneds would often be dispatched to ensure absolute certainty.
The advantage of doing this was that the casualty rate among Obsidian Town's survivors was extremely low; unless they encountered uncontrollable sporadic events like beast tides, in most cases, Obsidian Town's survivors would not suffer significant casualties.
But the downside was that most Awakeneds would get used to this way of life, with slow breakthroughs in evolution levels, remaining stagnant at the same level for a long time, and once they encountered certain situations, they could only lament their own lack of strength. Yes, Chen Bugu was in this situation in his previous life.
Though war and bloodshed would take countless lives, they often tempered the strong.
When entering the city, Jiang Sisi had said that there would be a beast tide soon.
In his previous life, when Chen Bugu arrived at Obsidian Town, the beast tide had already ended, and less than two months after that, Jiang Sisi left Obsidian Town.
Five hundred kilometers southeast of Obsidian Town, High Heaven City stood majestically, the most central location in “Middle Earth,” where a hundred races gathered and experts were as numerous as clouds.
The resources of Obsidian Town were not enough for Awakeneds to break through the Black Iron Grade shackles, so most strong individuals, after reaching Black Iron Eight-Star or Nine Star strength, would leave Obsidian Town early and head towards High Heaven City.
Chen Bugu was not worried about the beast tide.
Obsidian Town was the only town on this plain; a large number of Awakeneds gathered here, and the life energy was exceptionally rich, so it was not surprising that it attracted beast tides. For Obsidian Town, there would be casualties, but they would not be fatal.
The most urgent matter was to find Liu Shifu and the others first.
Before they parted ways, Chen Bugu had given Liu Shifu three yun ling fruit and a large starfall crystal, telling them to find a human force called “Unyielding Hall.”
Within Obsidian Town, there were only two pure human forces: “Unyielding Hall” and “Cross Street.”
“Cross Street” was large in scale, with numerous personnel, peaking at no less than a thousand members, because they accepted almost any human Awakened who came.
This also led to a more complex member composition, with people from various countries, a mix of elites and scoundrels, and relatively chaotic management.
“Unyielding Hall,” on the other hand, was a purely Chinese force, only recruiting Chinese people who met their standards, and those who joined often needed to pay a self-recommendation fee.
Because of this, the number of people in “Unyielding Hall” was much smaller than in “Cross Street,” with the entire force having only about a hundred people.
However, the Hall Master of “Unyielding Hall” was a Black Iron Nine-Star Chinese person, powerful and extremely protective of his own; basically, anyone who entered the hall, regardless of their strength, was protected by him.
As their own people would say, the self-recommendation fee was never paid for nothing.
“We’ve arrived.”
After Chen Bugu led Bai Ting and the others through several alleys, they finally stopped in front of an ancient-looking gate.
Looking up, a black wooden plaque hung above the gate, and on the plaque, three large characters seemed to have been carved out forcefully with a blade.
Each stroke of these three characters cut deep into the wood.
The blade carried the essence of a brushstroke, with balanced curves and straight lines, strong and powerful, grand and magnificent. Just by looking at it, one seemed to feel the cold glint of countless blades and swords flashing before their eyes.
Those three characters were none other than: Unyielding Hall!
