As the sun set, golden rays illuminated the valley, casting long shadows of Chen Bugu and his group.
After more than four hours of arduous trekking, Chen Bugu and his companions finally exited the valley.
Standing at the valley entrance, just as the sun was setting, Chen Bugu squinted, looking towards a direction several kilometers away.
Yan Kuan and the others hadn't expected that upon exiting the valley, the terrain before them would become even lower.
They felt as if they were standing on a high slope, gazing out at a vast, low-lying plain.
Following Chen Bugu's gaze, a few towering city walls could vaguely be seen about four or five kilometers away.
"Let's go, we need to hurry. We must reach the town before the sun fully sets."
As Chen Bugu spoke, he walked over to a large tree at the valley entrance, leaped into the air, picked several red, conical yan fruit, and then tossed them to the others.
"Eat these before we enter the city, otherwise communication will be a troublesome issue."
After Chen Bugu finished speaking, he took a bite himself.
These fruits were called "yan fruit" by people; they tasted similar to apples, slightly sweet, and could be eaten for sustenance, but their greater purpose was translation.
There are many races in the Zero Realm, and their languages are not mutually intelligible.
That Chen Bugu could understand the Muka Tribe's language in the secret realm created by Kefuke was due to Kefuke's ability; it didn't mean there were no communication barriers between humans and the Muka Tribe.
However, the yan fruit perfectly solved this problem; after eating this fruit, all racial languages become mutually intelligible in each other's ears.
Since he saw them now, he might as well pick and eat them to avoid being overcharged once they reached the town.
Chen Bugu had previously reminded Old Liu and the others to find a fruit tree at the valley entrance and eat the red conical fruit before entering the town, as this would reduce some trouble.
Bai Ting and Yan Kuan and the others didn't ask for the reason; having come this far, their trust in Chen Bugu no longer required any questions.
After eating the fruit, the group descended from the valley entrance and soon arrived on the vast plain.
The sun gradually set, and the curtain of night began to spread across the plain.
Chen Bugu and his group finally reached the town before darkness completely enveloped the land.
Yan Kuan looked at the massive black city wall before him and unconsciously swallowed.
The black city wall was about twenty meters high and several li long, constructed from countless enormous stone blocks.
"Chen Bugu, is this the small town you mentioned?"
Yan Kuan looked at the city wall before him, which resembled the most robust outer wall of an iron fortress, bearing no resemblance to a small town.
"Yes, Obsidian Town. Basically, this small town is the first stop for all initial Awakeneds who come to the Zero Realm."
Yan Kuan looked at Chen Bugu's serious explanation, momentarily unsure whether he misunderstood the concept of a "small town" or if Chen Bugu's mind was troubled.
Just as Yan Kuan was at a loss for how to complain, he saw a fire pit Ignite every 50 meters along the top of the city wall.
There was a surge of people on the city wall, seemingly guards, but they were a bit far, and Yan Kuan couldn't quite make out their appearance.
It was night; this was a normal city gate guard procedure.
Chen Bugu led the group to the city gate.
This massive gate was ten meters high and over seven meters wide, composed of gray metal, appearing incredibly sturdy.
Chen Bugu looked at the enormous city gate before him, raised his hands, and a giant blue fireball appeared above his head.
In the dark night, the giant blue fireball was exceptionally eye-catching, and the guards on the city wall immediately spotted Chen Bugu and his group.
"Please let us enter the town!" Chen Bugu shouted loudly.
After shouting, he could clearly see several figures on the city wall whispering to each other, seemingly discussing whether to open the gate.
Chen Bugu held the giant fireball, waiting for a full minute, but the enormous city gate still showed no sign of opening.
Then, a sound came from the city wall; a lizardman wearing soft armor leaped onto the city wall and shouted at Chen Bugu and the others. Although it was a strange language, thanks to having eaten the yan fruit beforehand, everyone understood it.
"Obsidian Town will not open tonight! Human monkeys, get out of here, don't be a nuisance!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Bugu's face darkened.
The plain at night was not safe; otherwise, Awakeneds from various races wouldn't all retreat into the town as soon as night fell.
There were no other towns within a hundred li radius of Obsidian Town; at this moment, the city wall guards not opening the gate was tantamount to putting Chen Bugu and his group in danger.
Chen Bugu simply stopped speaking; the giant blue fireball in his hand was gradually turning purple as spiritual power was infused into it.
The race on the city wall resembling lizardmen was the Magic Lizard Clan, always at odds with humans.
But even if the Magic Lizard Clan and humans were usually at odds, they should still maintain appearances; not letting them into the city now was undoubtedly declaring war on the human race, and the other humans inside the city could not possibly stand idly by.
These fellows dared to openly provoke the human race like this, which most likely meant there were no human guards participating in the defense of this section of the city wall.
Since that was the case, he could only make a bigger commotion; as long as the human guards on the city wall noticed them, Chen Bugu and his group would still have a chance.
Thinking this, Chen Bugu forcefully threw the giant purple fireball above his head towards the city wall.
The enormous purple fireball whistled through the air and exploded above the lizardman's head.
Han Badou had already telepathically informed Chen Bugu that this lizardman was likely at the Black Iron Five-Star level, so Chen Bugu held back.
The giant purple fireball had an extremely high temperature, and Chen Bugu wasn't sure how badly the Magic Lizard would be injured if hit, so he only controlled the fireball to explode above the Magic Lizard's head, without directly launching an attack.
Chen Bugu was inherently low-key; if not for necessity, he wouldn't want to stir up trouble as soon as he arrived in Heiyao City.
After the purple fireball exploded, the Magic Lizard Clan on the city wall seemed enraged; he raised the bow in his hand and fired an arrow at Chen Bugu and his group.
Seeing this, Chen Bugu decisively summoned Bi Yu Wei Lan from his storage ring; Water Element and Wood Element immediately gathered, and the originally plain wooden bow revealed its true form.
A water arrow shot straight out.
The two arrows collided in mid-air, and the arrow shot by the Magic Lizard Clan was directly pierced by the water arrow.
The water arrow, with undiminished momentum, shot straight towards the soft armor on the Magic Lizard Clan's chest.
"Thud!"
After a dull thud, the Magic Lizard Clan was hit by the water arrow and fell backward, landing on the city wall.
Seeing this, the remaining guards all placed their bows on the city wall.
In the firelight, countless cold glints were aimed at Chen Bugu and his group.
Just as Yan Kuan was about to raise an earth wall as cover, something seemed to happen on the city wall, and the bows were inexplicably retracted.
Then, less than thirty seconds later, the city gate opened.
A familiar figure appeared before Chen Bugu and the others.