“Alright,” Chen Zhou replied, then accepted the tokens handed to him by the middle-aged merchant. He then absorbed each token using his own. Finally, the data on Chen Zhou's token showed the following:

Name: Chen Zhou.

Rank: Level 3 Magician.

Record: 101.

Magic Coins: 94.

Chen Zhou's level and battle record do meet the requirements, but why are his magic coins still decreasing?

Chen Zhou looked at the middle-aged vendor with a puzzled expression.

"These tokens were all handpicked by me. The ones with relatively few negative numbers in magic coins are among the least; the rest are all negative, and the negative numbers are quite large," the middle-aged merchant immediately explained innocently.

It seems that most of the tokens in this burning arena have a negative number of magic coins. Even if you want to absorb the demonic energy in the tokens and gain battle achievements, you have to bear the risk of having a negative number of magic coins.

"Alright, it's fine," Chen Zhou said nonchalantly. He hadn't actually entered the Magic City Shop yet and didn't have anything he wanted to exchange, so he didn't care about the Magic Coins. As long as it wasn't a negative number, it was fine. Chen Zhou didn't want to be erased from the system of the Burning Field for no reason, because he still owed Magic Coins.

"What are you planning to do next?" the middle-aged merchant asked. Chen Zhou was practically unmatched on this ninth floor, and the two forces were at peace. For Chen Zhou, there was absolutely no point in staying here any longer.

"What else can we do once we enter the eighth floor?" Chen Zhou asked without hesitation.

“If you go to the eighth floor, Railway and I, along with some relatives from the Advanced Alliance, have decided to go in with you,” the middle-aged merchant said after thinking for a moment.

"With my strength, I'm not confident even going through that teleportation channel. The others are alright, but for you, the chances are really slim." Chen Zhou said frankly. The middle-aged merchant's strength was already at the bottom in the tenth level, and even if he entered the ninth level, he would still be at the bottom. Entering that teleportation channel would depend entirely on himself. How could Chen Zhou feel at ease letting the middle-aged merchant enter the teleportation channel?

With his current strength, the middle-aged merchant would be throwing his life away if he went into that teleportation portal!

"Even so, I can't stay on this ninth floor forever. Staying on this ninth floor is just waiting to die," the middle-aged merchant said directly.

"Why do you say that?" Chen Zhou asked in surprise. The ninth floor is now much safer than the tenth floor. There are no duels here. It is a stronghold of major forces. Why does this middle-aged merchant say that?

“This peaceful situation is entirely due to you. Once you leave, the Ninth Layer Army will not let the Advanced Alliance go no matter what,” the middle-aged merchant said honestly.

Indeed, even if Zhuo Miaoyan tried her best to protect the Advanced Alliance, the soldiers of the ninth-level army would be very numerous, and with Chen Zhou gone, the Advanced Alliance no longer posed any threat to the ninth-level army.

"I see. So, relatives of those who advance in the Alliance must come with me to the eighth level?" Chen Zhou said.

This advanced alliance can be said to consist of three components. First, there are Tie Dao's close subordinates and relatives, including the middle-aged merchant, and Chen Zhou can also be considered part of this group. Second, there are the vagrants who have reached the second level of magic warriors on the tenth floor; these people have not joined any faction and have joined the advanced alliance simply to reach the ninth floor. Third, there are those who defected from the tenth-floor powerhouse alliance.

The three parts can be further divided into two parts. One part consists of those who willingly defected, joining the Advanced Alliance solely because it could take them into the ninth level. They had no other intentions and simply wanted to enter the ninth level.

Another group consists of those who joined the Advanced Alliance under the instructions of the former members of the Ten-Level Strong Alliance, such as Shang Feiying, and who plotted to murder the railway workers and the middle-aged merchants. This group can also be considered part of the group.

These people are the ones with ill intentions, while the second and third people are unrelated to the railway and the middle-aged merchants, so there is no need to worry about their safety. In this burning scene, there are not many compassionate thoughts.

If one still held onto morality in Shanghai, they would probably be dead by now. Shanghai represents a lawless, unregulated place where one can vent their frustrations freely, as long as they have enough power.

Burning grounds represent the most violent aspect of Shanghai.

Since Chen Zhou and his group had entered the burning arena, they were already aware of this.

"Yes, that's our temporary arrangement. But don't worry, you can come with me to explore the shops in Shanghai these next few days." The middle-aged merchant said casually. Over the years, living in Shanghai had been very frustrating for him, but as a merchant, the happiest moment was when he entered the Shanghai shops and saw these mysterious techniques and weapons that he had never seen before. The middle-aged merchant felt inexplicably excited.

Although the middle-aged merchant had no use for these weapons or even the martial arts techniques, he simply felt very relaxed and happy while browsing through the shops in Shanghai. This might be the final resting place for a merchant's soul.

Having spent his entire life as a merchant, he naturally felt a sense of belonging.

"Okay." Chen Zhou agreed. At this time, he should try his best to improve his strength, so that he wouldn't be unable to pass through the teleportation channel. In fact, Chen Zhou was already certain in his heart that Wo Wan would definitely pass through the teleportation channel!

The middle-aged vendor hadn't had a proper shopping trip in Shanghai in a long time, so now that he had the chance, he naturally wouldn't let it pass him by. Besides, the living environment on the ninth floor was indeed much better than on the tenth! Now everyone was saying that this place was definitely worth the trip!

The living environment alone made them feel it was all worthwhile.

Finally, the members of the advanced alliance arrived at this place of residence.

"This place is way too luxurious!"

"Yes! I really want to live here for the rest of my life!"

"The living conditions here are too good, aren't there any dangers?"

...

Upon arriving at their lodgings, everyone started complaining, yet also praising how wonderful the place was. Some even said they wanted to live there for the rest of their lives.

Now, they all believe they made the right choice; indeed, the ninth floor is better than the tenth.

Compared to this, the tenth floor is indeed a cattle pen, a place for animals to live. This is the only place that can truly be considered a human dwelling.

Soon, the middle-aged merchant and the railway worker arranged the housing, and the railway worker, the middle-aged merchant, and two relatives lived in a two-story house.

Chen Zhou and the middle-aged merchant were arranged to stay on the second floor of the house. Each floor of this type of house has about two bedrooms, and the second floor also had two bedrooms, which was just enough for Chen Zhou and the middle-aged merchant to live in.

Upon entering the house, Chen Zhou realized that the middle-aged merchant was carrying a large bag of luggage on his back. Chen Zhou was very curious about what he was carrying. When he opened it, he found that it was full of books from the dilapidated cave.

This middle-aged merchant brought nothing with him except these books to the ninth floor.