"Are those the living beings of Cycle World?"
Great Emperor Glazed Glass peered through the barrier of Spirit Crane Space. He could see figures lurking in dark-red thickets, hiding at the edges of swamps, and clinging to cliffs.
They came in all shapes. Some resembled giant lizards covered in dark-red scales. Some looked like enormous birds whose wings blotted out the sky, their feathers the deep crimson of congealed blood. Others were humanoid, but hunched, with skin the color of dried blood. Beneath the dark-red light of the sky, they looked like moving shadows.
The same light shone in all their eyes: greed, naked greed.
"They think we're intruders!"
The myna bird's voice held a trace of grim amusement. "Or rather, prey!"
Fang Chen did not answer. He could sense that a few of those watching him were exceptionally powerful.
But he did not stop. He kept walking.
The dark-red creatures watched from afar without attacking.
They seemed to be hesitating too, weighing whether this stranger who had suddenly entered their world was prey worth hunting or a danger best avoided.
After they had traveled for roughly One Hour, the landscape ahead began to change.
The hills grew gentler and the thickets thinned. In their place lay stretches of cultivated fields. Dark-red crops grew there, with broad, thick leaves whose edges bore a deep brown sheen like rust.
Simple houses stood among the fields, built from dark-red earth and roofed with thatch of the same color. They blended into the red land around them so well that they were almost impossible to spot without looking closely.
"There are signs of a Human Race settlement here!"
Surprise edged Great Emperor Huo Li's voice. His gaze settled on the fields and houses, and a complex light flickered in his clouded old eyes.