168: All forces entered the city

"Hmph, if you can't afford spirit stones, then get lost. Don't whine here, making it seem like our Qingtian City is begging you to enter."

"That's right, if you don't have spirit stones, hurry up and scram. Our city is extraordinary, and if we dare to charge you so many spirit stones, it's certainly worth the price."

Seeing the Old Thing's expression, as if they were taking advantage of others,

the two young gatekeepers reprimanded him without ceremony.

They were originally being kind by letting these people into the city, and collecting spirit stones was merely symbolic.

After all, there's no free lunch in this world, and if the spiritual energy environment inside the city were truly paid for with spirit stones, ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones a day wouldn't be enough.

If these people weren't willing to enter, they wouldn't care.

"You..."

Being shouted at by the two young men, the Old Thing's face flushed crimson with shame.

But he didn't dare to get angry.

Because he couldn't see through these two young men at all, and if he dared to show any unusual movement, these two young men might just kill him.

So, the Old Thing paused, gritted his teeth, and with a heavy heart, took out a storage bag and handed it to the two young men.

"Two young friends, this is 3.23 million mid-grade spirit stones. All my clansmen and I want to enter the city."

For small families like theirs, if they didn't enter the city, when the beast tide spread to Qingtian Sect, they would definitely die without a burial place.

Therefore, to ensure the continuation of his entire family, he had no choice but to spend a huge sum.

After all, if the spirit stones were gone, they could slowly accumulate them again after the beast tide passed.

But if the people were gone, then truly everything would be gone.

"Hmph, Old Thing, if you had been so straightforward earlier, why would we have wasted so much breath?"

One of the gatekeepers took the storage bag and carefully checked the quantity of spirit stones inside.

After confirming the spirit stones,

he looked at the Old Thing and his clansmen behind him and said, "All of you, go in!"

"Good, good!"

The Old Thing immediately nodded upon hearing this, waving to his clansmen behind him, "Follow me into the city."

With that, he was the first to walk into Qingtian City.

His clansmen also didn't hesitate, following closely behind him into Qingtian City.

"Those who want to enter the city, hurry up and enter! When the demonic beasts arrive, our Qingtian City will close its gates."

After the Old Thing led his clansmen in,

the gatekeeper shouted loudly at the cultivators who were still hesitating.

Hearing the young man's shout,

soon a large number of small families and sects quickly stepped forward to pay spirit stones and enter the city.

These small factions couldn't afford to lose, so they would rather go bankrupt than fail to preserve their entire faction.

"Hmph, ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones per person, that's too expensive. These people from Qingtian City are clearly taking advantage of the situation."

"Isn't it taking advantage? All the spirit stones we've accumulated for so many years are gone just to enter the city once. It's simply too dark."

"Exactly, we just won't go in. When the demonic beasts arrive and reach the Mountain Gate of Qingtian Sect, I don't believe the people of Qingtian Sect won't come out to clear them."

"Right, as long as we hold out until Qingtian Sect makes a move, there will be no more danger, and we can save a large amount of spirit stones."

Seeing a large number of small families and sects queuing up to pay spirit stones and enter the city,

some slightly larger factions stood still, watching with mocking expressions as those who paid spirit stones entered the city.

Qingtian City's exorbitant entry fee was clearly taking advantage of the situation; they wouldn't be such fools.

This was the Mountain Gate of Qingtian Sect.

As long as the beast tide rushed here, Qingtian Sect, for the sake of its reputation, would definitely not allow demonic beasts to block its sect entrance.

Therefore, if they could hold out for some time during the beast tide, waiting for Qingtian Sect to send people out to clear the demonic beasts, they could save this huge sum of spirit stones.

Just as a group of people were secretly calculating, the ground began to rumble.

Dense swarms of flying and walking beasts, carrying thick smoke, surged towards Qingtian Sect.

Although most of these demonic beasts were below the Human Venerable Realm, their sheer numbers were overwhelming, appearing particularly terrifying.

"Hiss, the demonic beasts are here, the demonic beasts are here!"

"Two young sirs, let's pay the spirit stones after we enter the city. The demonic beasts are not far from us now, and there's no time to queue up one by one."

"Yes, two young sirs, please let us enter the city first. Anyway, once we're inside, we can't run away."

Seeing the overwhelming demonic beasts approaching,

the leaders of the various small factions still queuing to pay spirit stones and prepare to enter the city pleaded with the two young gatekeepers.

Now that the demonic beasts were right before their eyes, if they continued to queue like this, they would be eaten by the demonic beasts before they could enter the city.

"Alright."

One of the two young men nodded, then scanned all the surrounding factions, big and small, and shouted, "Now that the demonic beasts are here, those who want to enter the city can pay the spirit stones later. Those who don't want to pay spirit stones, prepare to play with the demonic beasts."

After speaking, the young man wasted no more words and turned to walk into Qingtian City.

The other young man did the same, following closely behind him, returning inside Qingtian City.

He had done all he could. If these people wanted to enter the city and also get a free ride, then they could only let them fight the demonic beasts one-on-one.

"Quick, quick, let's enter the city!"

Seeing the two young men return,

the leaders of the small factions at the city gate who wanted to enter didn't stop, calling to their juniors to quickly surge into the city gate.

They didn't want to fight with the demonic beasts; the dense swarm of demonic beasts looked truly terrifying.

Once everyone was inside,

and confirming that no other factions would enter, the two young men quickly closed the city gate.

Seeing this scene,

the leaders of the factions who chose to stay outside to save spirit stones shouted to their own personnel.

"Everyone, don't panic! This is the Mountain Gate of Qingtian Sect. As long as we hold out for a while, the people of Qingtian Sect will come out to clear the demonic beasts."

"That's right, once we overcome this crisis, I'll give you more rewards."

A group of people called their faction members, relying on the city walls of Qingtian City to form a huge defensive circle, preparing to resist the impact of the demonic beasts.

Inside Qingtian City.

After a large number of small factions entered the city, they all exclaimed in shock upon feeling the spiritual energy within Qingtian City.

"Hiss, the spiritual energy here is so rich! I've never absorbed such dense spiritual energy before."

"It's too dense! No wonder the people of Qingtian City charge ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones as an entry fee. With such a rich spiritual energy environment, ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones is definitely worth more than its price."

"It's truly worth it! If I could use spirit stones to cultivate in Qingtian City, I would definitely cultivate in Qingtian City for my entire life!"

A group of people inhaled the rich spiritual energy, their faces showing intoxicated expressions.

Before entering the city, they indeed felt that the entry fee of ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones was too expensive.

But after absorbing such rich spiritual energy, they no longer thought that way.

Qingtian City provided them with a city for refuge, and also such rich spiritual energy for them to absorb; it was practically charity.

The Old Thing who had previously complained about the expensive entry fee was now standing by the city gate, also greatly excited.

Just in this short while,

the minor realm that had been stuck for many years was directly broken through by the rich spiritual energy upon entering. If anyone were to say that Qingtian City's entry fee was expensive now, he would definitely jump up and give them ten big slaps.