Chapter 115: Dark Moon City

Following the path forward, it didn’t take long for Rod to arrive in front of Dark Moon City. What he saw there shocked him—far from being as simple and dilapidated as he had imagined, it was incredibly luxurious, on par with even the largest towns outside, and comparable to the capital itself. The magnificent city walls, tall and imposing, gave off a sense of awe. People came and went at the city gates, including many members of other races besides the demons, which could be told from their appearances—they must belong to the beast race.

Inside the city, there was tremendous noise; even standing here, one could hear the clamor from within. It was a bustling and lively place. Following the crowd, Rod moved forward and soon reached the gates of Dark Moon City. Only then, standing beneath the walls, did he realize just how insignificant he was. The towering walls were no less formidable than those of Iron Bar Town’s defenses.

Two rows of guards stood at the gates, all fully armed and looking extremely imposing. Sensing their strength, Rod inwardly smiled bitterly. Truly the demons—truly from the heart of Darkness. Even these ordinary guards were already at the saintly level, with their leader possessing power on par with a god, almost a demi-god, similar to himself. Such a lineup was merely the gate guards here; outside, they would undoubtedly be formidable warriors who dominated their domains.

With a sigh, Rod thought to himself that the warriors inside Darkness were hardly worth anything, then continued on.

“You! Where’s your pass?” Just a few steps ahead, Rod was stopped by a guard who approached him warily and snapped at him in a low voice.

Briefly stunned, Rod remembered the pass. He quickly took out the token he had obtained from Sognar before Lilith left. Lilith hadn’t explained what the token was for, nor did he know if this was what was meant by a pass.

“Black Dragon race?” The guard glanced at the token and then at Rod, his expression strange. “Respected Lord Sognar, I’m sorry for my offense. Please come in!” In an instant, his attitude changed completely. He respectfully handed the token to Rod, his eyes filled with admiration.

Receiving the token, Rod inwardly smiled bitterly. Of course he knew why the soldier’s attitude had changed so drastically—it was undoubtedly because of the token in his hand.

The Black Dragon clan, Sognar—that was Sognar’s identity. Dragons, this powerful race, must reach the advanced stage of the divine level to evolve into human form; only then can they take on a human shape. And his current appearance clearly signaled to this guard that he was a powerful being at the advanced divine level.

At any time, anywhere, the strong deserve respect—especially in a place like the Source of Darkness, where strength represents status. With power, you’re the boss; without it, you’re nothing. Although those at the advanced divine level aren’t considered the absolute strongest, they are definitely among the elite. Even though the demon race is powerful, there aren’t many at this level. No wonder this guard reacted in such a way.

Retrieving his pass, Rod followed the crowd into the city. However, the conversation among several burly men nearby caught Rod’s attention! These were typical demons, likely at the imperial level in terms of strength, which meant they were only average among their kind.

“I heard there are some great treasures at this trade fair. Have any of you brought anything valuable to exchange?”

“Jones, forget about those things. Let’s be realistic—those aren’t within our reach. Stop dreaming!”

“Yeah, it’s better to be practical. I heard many outsiders are coming to this trade fair, including many strong members of the magical beast race. It seems Silvermoon City has also sent people. They’ve been very successful on the continent lately—who knows what good things they’ll bring?”

“I heard many people are coming for that particular item. It seems there’ll be competition this time. Not only has Silvermoon City sent people, but the other two towns have too, plus the dragons!”

“I guess the dragons have the best chances. You all know what they’re good at, right? No one can compete with those greedy guys in a fair fight, and their strength isn’t weak at all—each one of them is incredibly powerful. I think they have a good chance this time!” said the first speaker with a sigh.

Standing beside them, Rod listened to their whispers, smiling inwardly. These guys were quite interesting, with excellent gossip skills. At the same time, Rod grew greatly interested in this trade fair. No wonder it was so crowded today—seems many people had come from all directions to attend.

Touching the magic bag in his arms and feeling its heavy weight gave him some confidence. Perhaps he could obtain some things he wanted at this trade fair. At the same time, Rod also planned to sell a few magical beast cores he had obtained deep in the Source of Darkness—there was no use keeping them on him.

Entering the city, Rod was deeply impressed. Truly one of the four major demon tribes’ cities, with magnificent architecture and a grand scale. The streets were bustling with people, and shops lined both sides, creating a noisy atmosphere. Shouts and cries of vendors filled the air, and various races could be seen on the streets. What caught Rod’s attention the most was a type of magical beast that resembled the Purple-Winged Thunder Eagle, the king among flying magical beasts. He had seen them described in the “Compendium of Beasts.” It was said that their strength could rival that of the demons, with adult Purple-Winged Thunder Eagles almost reaching quasi-divine levels, or even divine levels. Once they reached divine status, they could transform into human form, though their appearance would still retain that of the Purple-Winged Thunder Eagle. The five or six people appearing ahead were likely members of this race—human bodies with eagle heads, looking extremely strange!

Such scenes were common once inside the city, as there were countless similar races. According to Lilith, aside from the dragons and the three other major magical beast families—these four races could transform into humans at divine levels, becoming indistinguishable from ordinary people—other magical beast races would retain their original features even if they reached that level, like the Purple-Winged Thunder Eagles. Thus, many oddly shaped creatures could be seen in the city!

Rod even felt as if he had entered a zoo, where anything could be encountered. This trade fair was truly remarkable, attracting many people.

After walking on the streets for a while, Rod realized the most important thing: here, transactions were no longer conducted in currency. Gold coins seemed useless to the people here; they used magical beast cores or various materials for trade—in simple terms, bartering! This method of trading was quite interesting!

At the same time, Rod was secretly glad that transactions here were based on bartering. If he had to use gold coins, he wouldn’t have many left—after all, almost all of his few gold coins had been taken by Sognar and Lilith.

Upon closer thought, the items left in his magic bag were mainly some magical beast cores, materials, and various other things, which could come in handy here.
“Hey, you’re still so arrogant, huh? Let’s see if you really think you can get away with it.”
“Why do you guys want to steal my things! I’m not giving them to you!”
The arguing voices ahead caught Rod’s attention. Looking ahead, he saw a large crowd gathered there, watching. Out of curiosity, Rod walked forward.
Pushing his way through the crowd, he saw two people in the center. Was one of them not one of those from the Purple-Winged Thunder Eagle clan he had seen before? The other was a girl who appeared to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a graceful appearance. Her long black hair was tied back, and she was dressed in simple green clothes.
The girl was holding a gemstone that emitted a colorful, glassy glow. Clearly, the guy from the Purple-Winged Thunder Eagle clan wanted that item.
Seeing it, Rod’s eyes narrowed instantly—not for any other reason, but because he also had one. He had even used it to trick Sognar in order to obtain Sognar’s treasure, and luckily managed to get it back later. Despite having it for so long, he still didn’t know its purpose. He could only sense a powerful energy within it, but he couldn’t determine its nature or use.
“Girl, I don’t care who you are. I want this item today. Here are two dark-type magical beast cores of the late Saint level and one quasi-divine-level magical beast core. You must practice dark magic, right? If I’m not mistaken, you’re still at the early Saint level. Heh, these items would be a huge fortune for you. What do you say?”
The Purple-Winged Thunder Eagle man paid no attention to the people around them. In the next moment, he took out three magical beast cores from his pocket and placed them in front of the girl as he spoke to her.

As soon as the threebeast cores appeared, they emitted a pure energy, drawing sighs from those around them. Although these threebeast cores were not among the best in the Source of Darkness and could even be considered average, using them to exchange for that mysterious object in the little girl’s hand seemed somewhat wasteful. Especially one of them, a quasi-divine-levelbeast core, which was of top quality. Even within the Source of Darkness, divine-levelbeast cores were quite rare, as divine-level magical beasts did not appear easily nor were they easily killed. More importantly, they usually had their own families and factions behind them. Even ordinary divine-level powerhouses would not dare act rashly, otherwise, they would face terrifying retribution.

Many people couldn’t understand why this man wanted to trade these things for something that seemed utterly useless.

“Hmph, the Purple-Winged Thunder Eagle clan really knows how to take advantage. Do they really think threebeast cores are enough to exchange for Chaos Crystal?” Just as Rod was also puzzled, a disdainful sneer suddenly came from beside him, making his heart jump. He turned to look in that direction.