Arriving at the bustling city center, Feng Qi followed the civet cat into a magnificent palace.
The palace was vast, standing in the heart of the city, occupying nearly a third of the entire area.
As they walked further inside, Feng Qi looked around, marveling in his heart.
The decor here was nothing short of luxurious, with the cobblestones of the roads made of jade. Statues lining the way were crafted from rare materials, radiating waves of spiritual energy.
Such extravagance was rare among domain races.
Even those races with great power would not use such lavishness to decorate their palaces.
Wasting resources on meaningless decoration was considered a wasteful practice by many factions.
In the competitive environment, the best use of resources was generally to enhance the core strength of a race.
The palace was enormous, and the crowd flowed constantly within it.
Everywhere, there were gambling tables.
The first floor they were on, according to the civet cat, was the area with the smallest resource gambles. The upper floors contained more exciting and intense betting games.
As they walked along, Feng Qi noticed that the jade gambling tables were surrounded by people of all shapes and sizes.
Excited shouts, sighs, and angry rebukes filled the air.
Through the civet cat's introduction, Feng Qi had gained a rough understanding of Fate City's situation.
This city was somewhat similar to Shadow City, existing in an independent space within the Void World, and was created by a powerful being known as "Fate."
The civet cat also gave a detailed introduction to the history of the Fate City Lord.
According to the civet cat's description, the Fate City Lord had once been the heir to a superpower, enjoying massive resource allocation from a young age and never needing to worry about resources.
As he grew older, however, the Fate City Lord was unable to find a direction that interested him.
Until one day, he encountered his first gamble.
It was a gambling match between his elders and another powerful clan, where the younger generation was used to settle a conflict of interests.
The Fate City Lord, as the heir, was chosen to participate in the gamble.
The outcome of the match was that the Fate City Lord emerged victorious. It was that very gamble that made the Fate City Lord fully dedicate himself to something for the first time. He felt the thrill and tension of the gamble, even the pressure.
From then on, the Fate City Lord fell in love with the heart-pounding nature of gambling.
Over the years, the Fate City Lord established various gambling events.
Though he initially participated personally, over time, he began to withdraw and focus more on observing the psychological changes of the gamblers, experiencing the thrill of gambling from a god's perspective.
It was through the Fate City Lord's efforts that this very Fate City was built.
In the past, the Fate City Lord had been seen as a wastrel by his elders, but with the collapse of his race, the "gambling city" he built remained.
During the city's peak, visitors came in droves.
Every day, vast resources flowed through the city, with clan leaders risking their entire tribe's wealth on a single bet, only to lose everything in one night. Some forces grew rich overnight, using the resources they won to lead their races down new paths.
Currently, Fate City hosted tens of thousands of different gambling games.
As long as someone was willing, there was always someone willing to engage in a bet.
Feng Qi couldn't help but marvel at the scene as he observed the bustling sights along the way while listening to the civet cat's explanation.
When he asked the civet cat where the Fate City Lord was now, the civet cat replied that it didn't know.
The Fate City Lord had built Fate City tens of thousands of years ago. Perhaps he had already passed away, or maybe he was still watching the various gambling games from the shadows, but he had not appeared in person since then.
The whereabouts of the Fate City Lord remained a mystery.
However, Fate City continued to operate under the rules set by the Fate City Lord, and no one dared to defy them.
It wasn't that no one dared to try, but rather that Fate City had a complete protection mechanism for its guests.
The allure of wealth, the immense resources, naturally stirred envy.
This was a problem that the Fate City Lord had considered when building Fate City.
According to the civet cat's tale, the Fate City Lord, in order to perfect the city's system, used the race's treasured artifact and exchanged it with another race for a flawed miracle that could suppress the flow of energy.
Under the cover of this miraculous object, the spiritual energy, elements, and other forces within the city could not be controlled or released.
Upon hearing this, Feng Qi immediately tried to circulate the blood energy within his body.
Just as the civet cat had said, he found that the energy within his body was completely uncontrollable.
Suppressing the strength of all the gamblers was simply one way to prevent violent conflicts in Fate City. There was also a long-standing law enforcement team within the city, which wore miraculous derivatives and had extraordinary power within the city.
The law enforcement team was a powerful safeguard against physical conflicts.
There were many other safeguards in place as well.
Under the Fate City Lord's management, the rules of this place were very well-established.
The civet cat also explained that the turtle shell jade they used to enter wasn't just a directional transport passage; it also served as an identity verification for Fate City.
Life forms possessing this identity marker had already opened personal accounts within Fate City and had permanent use of a storage room beneath the city.
At this moment, the civet cat had already read the password information of the turtle shell jade and was leading Feng Qi to the treasure vault beneath the palace to check whether any wealth remained from the race that opened the account.
When Feng Qi asked if identity verification was necessary, the civet cat shook its head, saying it was not required.
Fate City only recognized the turtle shell jade as proof of identity, and who held it was irrelevant.
After all, many races had vanished over time, and countless account holders had been replaced by new generations.
Hearing this, Feng Qi couldn't help but nod.
From the civet cat's explanation, it was clear that the rules here were entirely designed to protect the visitors.
Moreover, Fate City did not take a percentage of the winnings from the gamblers. The city's operation was entirely sustained by the consumption of its guests in various entertainment facilities, and by the energy produced from the core miracles.
In other words, the Fate City Lord provided the venue and protection, but never profited from the visitors' hands.
It could be said that it was like "using love to generate energy."
After listening to the civet cat's introduction, Feng Qi couldn't help but marvel again at the Domain World—truly nothing was impossible here.
There were lifeforms fighting for the rise of their races, and then there were special beings like the Fate City Lord.
Following the crystal stone-paved stairs, Feng Qi followed the civet cat to the underground world of the palace.
Feng Qi didn't know how many levels the underground was divided into. He arrived at the twenty-eighth floor, which was an expansive underground square. A main road split the square in half, and rooms on either side were marked with symbols he couldn't understand.
The civet cat led him to the door of a room in the center of the square. With a wave of the flaming fan, a stream of light shot out from it, hitting the symbol above the door.
The door shook and slowly opened inward.
The civet cat pointed to the room inside and smiled, not moving forward.
"Rules are rules; as the guide, I cannot enter a guest's private vault."
"What happens if you break the rules?"
"You'll die," the civet cat said, shaking its head with a smile.
After understanding the reason, Feng Qi stepped into the room, his excitement building.
What greeted him was a room of about 200 square meters, but the sight inside made Feng Qi blush in embarrassment.
He had thought it would be filled with resources and wealth, but to his surprise, the room was completely empty, already cleared out by the previous owner.
Thinking back, it made sense.
That clan had been undergoing an extermination war at the time; how could they leave important resources lying here to gather dust?
After browsing around, Feng Qi found only a few books.
Unfortunately, he couldn't read the writing on them.
When he exited the room, he found that the civet cat was still waiting outside.
He tossed the books to the civet cat and asked whether they had any value.
The civet cat flipped through the books, then shook its head.
"This is a clan genealogy. It might be valuable to that clan, but it's useless in Fate City."
"Can you read the writing on these?" Feng Qi asked curiously.
"Of course. Learning the languages of various races is a required part of the growing process for the new generation of our clan before they become guides… though there are still many languages we can't learn."
"Could you translate it for me?" Feng Qi asked, curious.
The civet cat politely nodded, then began explaining the contents of the books.
After hearing the explanation, Feng Qi had a rough understanding of the clan's situation.
The genealogy didn't record names or personal histories, but rather key milestones in the growth of the clan.
The clan was called the "Tail Spike Clan," and it had risen thanks to Fate City.
At the time, the Tail Spike Clan was a weak faction but happened to find the turtle shell jade on a battlefield and handed it over to the clan leader.
The clan leader didn't realize its special nature.
It wasn't until three generations of clan leaders later that, by accident, one of them activated the turtle shell jade and connected with Fate City.
It was as though a door to a new world had been opened. The Tail Spike Clan leader was greatly shocked by the grandeur of Fate City, but while here, the clan leader dared only to observe and never participate. The stakes were so high that a single game could cost more than the Tail Spike Clan could bear.
It wasn't until the 23rd year after first entering Fate City that the Tail Spike Clan faced the risk of extinction. Faced with a rival force that they couldn't defeat, the clan leader thought of Fate City again.
This time, the clan leader brought the entire clan's wealth to wager.
He wanted to gamble the entire clan's future and risk it all.
Fortune smiled upon the Tail Spike Clan leader. His first game at Fate City doubled their wealth in just a few seconds, and the following rounds were even more favorable.
In a single night, the Tail Spike Clan leader gained wealth that he never dared imagine.
Then, the clan leader splurged at Fate City, purchasing powerful equipment and resources brought by other visitors. Using these resources, the Tail Spike Clan managed to overcome its near extinction crisis.
It was this fortuitous turn of events that gave the Tail Spike Clan the chance to rise above its previously weak status, and their overall strength began to grow rapidly.
This was a small example of the stories of overnight fortune in Fate City.
Many races had changed their fates here, but even more races had fallen into ruin.
When the civet cat closed the genealogy, it looked at Feng Qi and smiled.
"In Fate City, there's a saying that has been passed down: one game gives life, one game gives death; one game is heaven, one game is hell."
"Under the Fate City Lord's watch, there are opportunities to change fate, but also madness that can destroy entire clans."
From the contents of the Tail Spike Clan's genealogy, Feng Qi gained a deeper understanding of Fate City.
Next, the civet cat led Feng Qi out of the underground vault and up to the second level of the palace.
This was the resource trading center.
Here, many races were conducting trades with their chips.
Since there were many different races visiting Fate City, each carrying resources of different value, the value of resources needed to be assessed here and exchanged for universal currency.
The universal currency used for resource assessment in Fate City was Blood Stones and Crystal Stones.
Blood Stones were one of the almost universally accepted currencies in the Domain World. Feng Qi had learned how to make Blood Stones from Old Mist. The process required refining and filtering the impurities from blood, which would then create a Blood Stone.
Blood Stones were further categorized into four grades based on the quality of the blood used:
Blood Food Grade
Blood Spirit Grade
Blood Spring Grade
Blood Source Grade
Different races had different naming conventions for these grades, with even finer distinctions, but these were the four main grades.
Blood Stones were not only currency but also an important cultivation resource.
This currency had both universality and practicality, meaning it didn't need to be anchored to any specific valuable item.
The other universal currency was the Crystal Stone, which was made similarly to Blood Stones. However, Crystal Stones were primarily used by mentalist races, though they were also accepted among flesh-based lifeforms. They were light golden in color and were crystallized from condensed spiritual energy.
Many visitors didn't carry these two types of currency but still wanted to participate in gambling games. They could exchange weapons, equipment, ores, and other resources for the universal currency on the second floor of the palace.
It was the universal currency that served as the stakes in these gambling games.
The betting game, however, cannot directly bet on weapons and equipment.
It is difficult to quickly evaluate the value of weapons, equipment, and other goods within a short time, and there is a possibility of counterfeit goods entering the game. Therefore, universal currency is the only circulating chip.
But there are exceptions—one of them is miraculous artifacts.
The value of a miraculous artifact cannot be measured by any universal currency. According to the civet cat's description, there was once a powerful clan leader who, after losing a lot in a game, pulled out a miraculous artifact to use as a bet.
Even though his opponent did not have a matching stake, the leader, already blinded by his losses, wagered the entirety of the opponent's wealth on this miraculous artifact.
The opponent accepted the wager.
Although the stakes were high, in the opponent's eyes, it was a completely unbalanced game.
The value of a miracle is limitless, but the opponent could use valuable resources to gamble, betting a little to win a lot. Such opportunities rarely occur in Fate City.
To view this from a human perspective, it's like someone pulling out a trillion to bet your entire fortune.
And this game had a 50% chance of winning for each side, with no possibility of cheating.
Everyone who comes here is a gambler.
Faced with such an imbalanced game of interests, no one could resist the temptation.
It was inevitable that the opponent would accept this gamble.
In the end, the gamble succeeded with a small bet, and the clan leader who bet the miraculous artifact lost everything.
This unparalleled gambling game is still recorded in Fate City's annals, one of the legendary games in the city's history.
As Feng Qi wandered through the trading area, initially planning only to take a casual look, he quickly became anxious.
There were too many valuable items in this trading area.
For example, there was a pearl capable of rapidly extracting spiritual energy in a range and turning it into spiritual crystals.
Human civilization was still in the early stages of developing the spiritual realm. Machines for extracting spiritual energy were quite underdeveloped. If Feng Qi could bring this pearl back to Star City, it would greatly accelerate the construction of the spiritual domain there.
There was also a black mirror, half the size of a person, which could clearly reveal the internal structure of the human body when one looked into it. It could also enlarge and shrink, and different spiritual energies flowing within the body would appear as different colors in the mirror, making it extremely useful for innovations and developments in cultivation techniques.
There were also group enhancement items similar to the War Horn in Lei Ting's hands.
A spirit-sealing formation array that could cover an entire city to improve its spiritual energy quality.
Other items included blueprints for mechanical engineering, and so on.
Among them, the item that most caught Feng Qi's attention was a replica of a miraculous artifact.
It had no physical form, just a floating black hole, which was collected through a special ring.
The function of the item was to throw any material into it, and the black hole would then combine the materials into a weapon and spit it out.
In addition, the black hole had an internal panel for adding materials. It could browse a catalog of weapons, find a suitable weapon for the user, and then search for the required materials in the catalog. Once the materials were provided in the correct proportions, the weapon would be produced, and it could even produce items in bulk.
Although it was not a true miracle, just a replica, the value of this item still made Feng Qi salivate with envy.
The seller of this weapon was a three-meter-tall, broad-shouldered, red-skinned giant.
It was clear that the giant had also lost badly in the gambling games, otherwise, he wouldn't have offered this treasure—an item that could change the fate of an entire race—for exchange for universal chips.
Feng Qi considered trading for it, but when he heard the red-skinned giant demand one billion regular-quality Blood Stones in exchange, he decisively gave up.
What does one billion Blood Stones mean? When he and Old Mist had joined forces to refine the Silver Moon Clan, they only managed to obtain just under one hundred million regular Blood Stones.
This price was truly shocking.
But Feng Qi still thought the replica miraculous artifact was worth that price.
With this equipment-manufacturing black hole, it was essentially like having a super factory capable of arming an entire race.
By clicking on an internal template and dumping materials into it, one could mass-produce various types of equipment.
Moreover, there would be no defective products during the manufacturing process. The resource conversion rate was one hundred percent. It was practically a mobile weapon factory, a true divine tool.
Feng Qi had barely walked a short distance through the second level when he had already seen many valuable items.
But as a penniless man, he could only look.
There was no way he could steal anything here.
This place was shrouded by miraculous powers. Although his physical strength was great, his blood energy was suppressed by the miracles, and he couldn't control his energy through his consciousness. His combat ability was greatly diminished, making it impossible for him to stir up any trouble.
The only ones who could steal here, according to his information, were Old Mist from the future, the Psionic Race, and the Blood Soul Clan from the future.
Right now, he couldn't think of anyone who could rob this place under the suppression of miraculous power.
Unless Old Black was released early and came here.
That would surely lead to a chaotic massacre.
Under Little Black, all beings are equal.
As Feng Qi continued to wander forward, dazzled by the countless treasures, he saw too many items suitable for human development. But without even a single Blood Stone on him, he couldn't offer anything of equal value to trade.
While looking around with longing, Feng Qi suddenly thought of something that might actually be valuable in his possession. He turned to Xiao You.
"Xiao You."
"Yes, Boss, are you planning to sell me?" Xiao You asked seriously.
"Sell my ass. Hand me the soul pearl that stores the ancient evil spirit."
When he got the soul pearl, he didn't have the spatial bracelet, so the soul pearl had been stored in Xiao You's possession.
"Okay, Boss."
Xiao You solemnly saluted Feng Qi, then summoned the spatial black hole. With a small hand, he fumbled inside it and then retrieved the faintly glowing soul pearl, handing it to Feng Qi.