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The Dark Star County City was the closest county city near the Grasslands. Due to its proximity to the Grasslands and the frequent visits by demonic cultivators to the city, the city had a reputation for violence.

Moreover, the Dark Star city\'s location made it a hotspot for all kinds of cultivators to gather together and mingle. The city was frequented by all kinds of cultivators. Its proximity to the main entrance of the Grasslands also made it a market hub for goods that come out of the Grasslands.

From demonic beast pets to rare herbs, everything could be obtained here in the Dark Star City. Such a city would obviously have a black market in it as well. In fact, the black market of the Dark Star City is considered to be one of the biggest black markets in the entire Dragon Scale Continent.

With such a reputation, it is inevitable that several unsavory characters usually frequent the city. A long time ago, there used to be several clashes between cultivators of both the righteous faction and the demonic faction in the city. Due to frequent clashes, the order of the County City was really in disarray and even became very dangerous to live in.

A century ago, one enterprising County Governor who took office in the city, prohibited all fighting in the city. He supported neither the righteous faction nor the demonic faction. He simply wanted the cultivators to not fight within the city. 

If it was anyone else, then the cultivators would have not bothered to listen to the County Governor. However, this particular County Governor had the surname of Xing. The Xing Clan was the imperial family clan. Offending them would be tantamount to suicide for cultivators in the Star Empire.

Moreover, this particular County Governor didn\'t just bank on his clan\'s status. Righteous cultivators might be wary of offending the Imperial family, however, it wasn\'t the case with the demonic cultivators. Even some loose cultivators will be willing to offend the Imperial family if the benefits are enough.

The County Governor knew that it would be impossible to completely eradicate such things with the backing of his clan alone. Fortunately, he was also strong. He imposed the iron law in the city with no fear of offending any factions. The emperor at that time was the County Governor\'s brother.

With the full backing from the Imperial family and his own strength, the County Governor successfully wrangled the situation into control after years of bloody conflict. Things began to calm down and some order was established in the Dark Star County City.

However, the problems didn\'t just stop there. 

Due to the location and other factors that are unique to the city, a lot of murderers and criminals began to use this place as a haven. Due to his own principles, the County Governor was unable to root them out entirely after these criminals started creating a ruckus in the city. 

This led to a lot of dissatisfaction from the righteous factions. In a bid to soothe the wounded pride of the righteous factions, the County Governor decreed that anyone who enters the city from outside should wear a mask. Those who were not native to the city and were found without a mask would be kicked out of the city unceremoniously regardless of their affiliation.

Initially, the cultivators were skeptical about how much the law would be imposed. But, the County Governor once again showed his determination and proved to everyone that his words were the law. On one particular occasion, the County Governor even kicked out a Holy Son of one of the hegemonic factions to prove his point.

Ever since then, non-natives of the city have been required to wear masks to enter the Dark Star City. With the identity of the murderers and criminals masked, the righteous factions were left without much cause to complain about. Since there was no identification, they couldn\'t put pressure on the County Governor.

Across the Dragon Scale Continent, the Dark Star city was also called the City of Masks. The County Governor who brought peace to the city was revered by the residents as the Blood Mask Governor. Still now, no one has dared to violate these rules while entering the Dark Star City.

Even though the Blood Mask Governor had retired from the official position, it is rumored that he is still living in the Dark Star City. A century ago, the Blood Mask Governor was at the Nascent Soul realm. Now, no one knows his current cultivation. He was rumored to be one of the few Ascendent Beings present on the Dragon Scale Continent. Hence, no faction wants to test things out by violating the rules.

It was said that the Blood Mask Governor had a violent temper. He was afforded the title of Blood Mask Governor because of his bloody methods and implementation of masks. Even now, there are horror stories regarding the bloody methods employed by the Blood Mask Governor while bringing peace to the city.

After Duncan learned that he was in the vicinity of the Dark Star City, he let go of his concerns and immediately made his way over there. After traveling for two days non-stop, Duncan entered the Dark Star County City with a simple plain mask, he had fashioned from a tree bark, on his face.

The guards at the city didn\'t make an issue regarding Duncan\'s mask. It was a pretty normal thing. First-time visitors to the city often more simple masks. However, they would eventually buy masks that were more elaborate and meticulously designed. 

The rule of non-natives wearing masks in the city has evolved into a cultural thing of the city in the last few decades. Masks that were exquisitely designed and refined by several craftsmen have become a trend in the city. The business of the masks was one of the most lucrative businesses present in the city.

A properly refined mask that has several additional features like defense, identity obscuration, and other aspects would fetch a high price in the market of the Dark Star City. These days, having a proper mask is considered to be a status symbol in the city. Even natives who live in the city have joined in the fun.

Thus, the guards didn\'t pay any attention to Duncan\'s simple mask.

Walking into the city, Duncan saw a lot of cultivators roaming around with all kinds of masks on their faces. Even female cultivators had exotic masks on their faces. Animal prints, ancient writings, menacing designs, beautifully modeled masks, colorful masks that brought out vibrancy, and several other kinds were commonplace on the streets. 

Duncan watched the various kinds of masks for a while before making his way to a nearby bar. The Dark Star city had been on his places-to-visit list for some time now. The unique culture of the city really interested Duncan a little bit.

It was said that some masks that were refined by artifact crafters even had the ability to obscure one\'s cultivation level from prying eyes. Duncan wanted to see if he could grab hold of one such mask. It would definitely come in handy.

After entering the bar, Duncan chose a corner seat and sat down leisurely. He ordered the most valuable drink that was being served and rested casually while listening to the talks all around.

It was a habit he had picked up in his youth. When drinks went in, people\'s tongues started wagging ceaselessly. If one listened to these talks carefully, they would glean a lot of information from casual comments.

In his hometown, Duncan had used this trick to pry out information several times. Moreover, in that mortal town, the people were relaxed and had no filter for their mouth when they started drinking. Even his interest in Bessa began because of one drunken man praising her skills to the sky.

As Duncan sipped his wine and listened to the conversations, he began to gather some much-needed information about both the city and the recent events in the cultivation world in general. Bars like this were places that were frequented by loose cultivators a lot. They exchanged their views on current events with each other.

Soon, Duncan\'s tactic paid off and he was able to glean several key information that he needed urgently. For one, there was going to be an auction held in the Blue Wind Society Hall in the next week. This auction was touted to contain several rare treasures. People from all over the Star Empire were flocking to the city to participate in the auction.

What surprised Duncan the most was that the Blue Wind Society Hall was auctioning a rare treasure by the name of Millenium Spirit Milk as one of its main attractions. And it wasn\'t just a few drops either. This time the Blue Wind Society Hall was auctioning a complete bottle of spirit milk that contained around a hundred drops.

Duncan had learned about Millenium Spirit Milk in the annals of the sect. It was one of the rare heaven-grade treasures that could only be chanced upon and not searched after.

Millenium Spirit Milk is basically the essence of condensed spirit qi that is in the form of a crystal white liquid. One drop of it is enough to raise the cultivation level of low-level cultivators severalfold. For Transformational Experts, they have even more of a miraculous effect.

While the cultivation realm of a Transformational Expert wouldn\'t increase drastically after consuming the spirit milk, it would help them condense their cultivation further and aid in their transformation to become Ascendant Beings. Even Ascendent Beings find spirit milk useful if they are older than several centuries. 

A Millenium Spirit Milk is exactly the kind of thing all sorts of forces would lust after. Hearing that such a treasure was going to be auctioned made Duncan\'s heart pound. While he knew that it wasn\'t his turn to enjoy such rare treasures yet, he couldn\'t help but salivate about the possibility of it and dream about it.

One of the reasons Spirit Milk was sought after was the rarity of their existence. Until now, no one is clear about the conditions required for the spirit qi in place to condense into spirit milk. The older the spirit milk, the more powerful it is. Millenium Spirit Milk is as old as it could get. 

Auctioning one drop of it was bound to attract attention. However, the Blue Wind Society Hall\'s willingness to take out an entire bottle containing a hundred drops was really monumental. 

Duncan knew that this would create shockwaves soon. No wonder all the loose cultivators were discussing it in broad daylight. He wouldn\'t be surprised if all the major forces made an appearance at the auction. 

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