Chapter 926 - 694: Expedition to the Southern Wilderness
This feeling of heart-pounding anxiety, he hadn’t experienced for a long time.
The cultivators all closed their eyes to meditate, a myriad of colored lights emerging around them.
The atmosphere inside the cabin was as tense as iron.
Everyone was aware that once the spaceship landed, danger would loom everywhere, with life and death hanging by a thread.
The spaceship sailed ceaselessly, piercing through clouds and fog.
At dawn the next day, before the morning light penetrated, the giant ship shook violently, slowly descending.
Shen Xuan stepped out of the cabin with Liu Minglin.
A damp and cold wind hit their faces, carrying the smell of earthy dampness and decaying vegetation.
The scene before them took everyone’s breath away.
This was a desolate mountain long forgotten.
The mountain’s body exposed iron-blue rock formations, resembling the spine of a giant beast.
The dense forest stretched from the mountain’s foot to the end of the line of sight, its branches and leaves twisted and gnarled, blocking the sun.
The forest was filled with a grayish miasma, with faintly visible crimson vines coiling around the trees like blood vessels.
Even more heart-wrenching was the almost tangible Demon Qi.
It weighed heavily upon the wilderness.
From the wind came intermittent wails, indistinguishable as either beastly howls or forest cries.
In the distance, beyond the mountain ridge, shadowy figures flitted by, swift as phantoms.
"This is the Southern Wilderness."
Liu Minglin’s voice was somewhat dry.
Shen Xuan stood silently by the ship’s side, his clothes flapping in the wind.
...
After descending from the spaceship, the army did not advance immediately.
The cultivators at the rear began to set up camp on the spot.
Array masters moved among them, installing alert array plates at critical locations, with spiritual patterns sinking into the earth and spreading like webs.
The other army cultivators built temporary shelters in the designated areas by their unit numbers.
The skill levels were immediately apparent.
Some used wood and stone as bases, erecting sturdy stone houses.
Others hastily constructed frames, covering them with animal hides.
By nightfall, a massive encampment stood at the foot of the desolate mountain.
Lights scattered like stars, and the array aura shrouded the area like a thin veil, isolating the pervasive Demon Qi outside.
...
Seventh Camp of the Left Army, Liu Family territory.
Inside a stone house about ten square meters in size, Shen Xuan sat alone at a desk.
A Jade Scroll in his palm glowed faintly, containing the war intelligence on Demon Beast conflicts given by Ming Liu True Master.
He had already read it three times.
Unlike others who focused on the outcome of the battles, Shen Xuan’s attention was always on the "High Tier Cultivators Casualties" section.
Intriguing.
In every great Demon Beast war, no Golden Core cultivators of the Human Race had fallen.
On the Demon Race side, the Demon Kings defeated were of ordinary caliber, few in numbers.
This did not resemble a life-and-death race war but seemed more like a tacit exercise.
Only, the Low Tier Cultivators and Demon Beasts became the cannon fodder.
"Small wars every three years, major wars every ten years. Though they appear massive and with heavy casualties, they are actually within controllable limits."
Shen Xuan put down the Jade Scroll, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.
"For both sides, this is a brutal training ground. Breaking through bottlenecks in closed-door cultivation is difficult; only through the tempering of life-and-death can one forge the Dao Heart and refine the Divine Soul."
Surviving numerous battles makes one more likely to break through realms.
This time, the vanguard army of just over ten thousand was all elite descendants of the Bright Flame Sect, led by True Master Fa Yang, who was at the Late Stage of Golden Core.
This person was a Nascent Soul Seed of the Bright Flame Sect, famed and obviously sent to the battlefield with high hopes, to be tempered by fire.
While deep in thought, Liu Minglin’s voice came from outside the door: "Fellow Daoist Guo, do you wish to join us to pay respects to True Master Wang Yue?"
"Alright."
Shen Xuan stored the Jade Scroll and stepped out.
Liu Minglin was already waiting outside, his expression solemn.
True Master Wang Yue had a Middle Stage True Pill cultivation and was the chief of the Seventh Camp.
By rights, Shen Xuan, in his Honored Guest status, was unqualified for an audience.
But with the weight of a Dharma Realm Body Refining, along with the Liu Family’s recommendation, it was barely enough.
The two passed through the encampment, arriving at the central tent of the Seventh Camp.
Inside the tent were already over ten people, all exuding the aura of a Fake Pill.
Familiar faces from the spaceship like Xiao Changsheng, Peng Jianhu, and even the red-nosed Ma Wanquan stood in a corner, arms crossed.
Seeing Shen Xuan enter, several people nodded slightly, each examining him with different expressions.
Gradually, a few more entered.
The principals of the thirteen Cultivation Clans of the Seventh Camp were gathered here.
Most of them came alone, yet like the Liu Family, some brought Honored Guests along.
Shen Xuan glanced around and noticed two other families doing likewise.
One had two Fake Pill cultivators standing together, another like the Liu Family, had a Fake Pill clan leader with a Dharma Realm Honored Guest.
Everyone was present.
The tent flap opened, and a figure stepped in.
Everyone bowed and saluted, "Greetings, True Master Wang Yue."