Purple Cloud Emergence

Yunhuang was sparsely populated, with Savage Beasts and Fierce Beasts roaming everywhere and countless small clans scattered across the land.

Under such circumstances, gathering these scattered small clans together for an examination would consume an enormous amount of manpower and resources.

Although the Divine Kingdom had a long history, the number of times it had held a warrior selection in the Great Wilderness could be counted on one hand.

So it had to be said that being born in the Great Wilderness was a tragedy. Not only was it poor in resources, but even if one possessed heaven-defying talent, being discovered and rising above others were both nearly impossible.

Tai'a Divine Kingdom knew this perfectly well, but there was nothing it could do. Forget Yunhuang—even geniuses born in the one hundred and eight prefectures could be overlooked!

Thus, over the years, who knew how many geniuses from the Great Wilderness had been needlessly buried? They might have starved to death, died of illness, fallen to their deaths while gathering herbs, or ended up in the bellies of Fierce Beasts.

Some people who should have become proud sons of Heaven died like beggars. After death, they did not even have a straw mat to wrap their bodies in. They were buried casually wherever someone found a spot, perhaps with a piece of wood erected as a gravestone—just as Yi Yun had once done. Yet even that gravestone would rot and fall after, at most, a few years. Once everyone who remembered those dead had passed away, the only thing they left behind in this world was "nothing."

Born poor and lowly, dying without a trace—this was the fate of the people of the Great Wilderness. Lian Chengyu understood this all too well, and it was precisely why he had developed his twisted outlook on life.

The Fat Old Man said, "Our coming here has nothing to do with Tai'a Divine Kingdom's warrior selection, yet it also has something to do with it. More precisely, our coming to Yunhuang and Tai'a Divine Kingdom's sudden warrior selection probably both arose because of one matter."

"Oh?" The girl's interest was piqued. Her slender eyes blinked lightly, and her long eyelashes shimmered faintly beneath the sunlight.

"Five months ago, an omen appeared in Yunhuang. The sky had originally been clear and bright, yet in the span of only a dozen breaths, the entire sky over Yunhuang, covering a radius of hundreds of thousands of li, was blanketed by thick clouds!"

"And the strangest thing was that those clouds were purple!"

"Purple clouds covered Yunhuang. Such a manifestation of Heaven and Earth was truly miraculous. Tai'a Divine Kingdom's astrologers specifically observed the celestial phenomena that night, naming the omen—Purple Cloud Emergence!"

"Two months ago, this omen actually appeared again. Moreover, the latest occurrence was even more terrifying. It was practically the clouds swallowing the sun and moon, with their force veiling Heaven and Earth!"

"Purple Cloud Emergence alarmed Tai'a Divine Kingdom, but the mortals of Yunhuang knew little about it. The omen occurred at night, and with mortal eyesight, it was difficult to distinguish the color of the clouds in the darkness. They also did not know that the purple clouds had covered all of Yunhuang, much less understand the disturbance in the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi throughout Yunhuang when Purple Cloud Emergence occurred."

"At the time, even the many ten-thousand-year-old Savage Beasts lying dormant in the depths of Yunhuang were alarmed!"

"There are several possibilities for such a manifestation of Heaven and Earth."

"The first possibility is the emergence of a supreme treasure. However, five months ago, Tai'a Divine Kingdom had already used its national treasure, the Treasure Seeking Compass, to search Yunhuang. Although the Treasure Seeking Compass could not find a treasure's exact location, it could at least determine whether there was a treasure within a certain broad area."

"But the Treasure Seeking Compass showed no reaction. That means either there is no treasure at all, or the treasure is so mysterious that even the Treasure Seeking Compass cannot sense it. If it is the latter, then it is unimaginable! Such a treasure would be enough to cause a bloody storm across the continent!"

"The second possibility is that a human Hidden Great Emperor broke through to a higher realm, or that an Ancient Savage Beast underwent its heavenly tribulation. However, this possibility is unlikely. Although Yunhuang is vast, it is nothing particularly special when compared with the entire greater world. A Hidden Great Emperor or an Ancient Savage Beast might not choose this place to complete a breakthrough."

"As for the third possibility, it is even less likely. It involves nothing more than some vague ancient legends, so there is no need to mention it. I brought you to Yunhuang because of this manifestation of Heaven and Earth as well. Perhaps we might find some treasure capable of continuing your Fatal Meridian!"

"Teacher..." The girl let out a quiet sigh. She was moved, yet she could not bear to see the Fat Old Man go to such lengths for her Fatal Meridian, refusing to miss even the slightest, most hopeless chance.

But she also knew that her Fatal Meridian was a cursed meridian. Although legends said that an ancient empress had continued her own Fatal Meridian through her strength, that had been an empress—and it was merely a legend.

Such a legend precisely proved how difficult it was to continue a Fatal Meridian!

The Fat Old Man knew what Lin Xin Tong was thinking and smiled. "All right. With such a manifestation of Heaven and Earth, it is only right that we come and see it. It does not matter even if we gain nothing. This omen appeared within Tai'a Divine Kingdom's territory, so the Divine Kingdom's imperial family was alarmed long ago. Forget Tai'a Divine Kingdom—even some people from neighboring Divine Kingdoms have quietly slipped into Yunhuang, hoping to investigate what happened!"

"Over the past few months, Tai'a Divine Kingdom dispatched the Brocade Dragon Guard, who have been searching for the cause of the omen in hopes that some extraordinary treasure will emerge. Since the Brocade Dragon Guard have already come to Yunhuang, they might as well take this opportunity to hold a warrior selection."

Only after hearing the Fat Old Man's explanation did the girl suddenly understand. No wonder the Brocade Dragon Guard had specifically drawn a map of Yunhuang, marking even small clans with barely over a thousand households in meticulous detail.

"All right, let's get moving. We'll cross the mountain ahead and pass by the Lian Clan. Let's choose the Tao Clan as our next stop. It is a great clan with more than a hundred thousand households. We'll rest there."

The Fat Old Man was speaking when his heart suddenly stirred, and he softly uttered, "Huh?"

"Teacher, what is it?"

"There is someone beneath the waterfall ahead. It looks like they have drowned. Let's go take a look!" As the old man spoke, he walked toward the dense forest ahead. His steps appeared slow, yet each one carried him a great distance, as if the ground were shrinking beneath his feet.

Lin Xin Tong followed as well. They were people who lived above the clouds in this world, while the world's countless millions of commoners lived amid suffering. They could not possibly manage everything, but if they truly encountered someone in need, they would still act to save the dying and heal the injured.

Yi Yun did not know how long he had been in the pool. Since last night, after he had completely drained the energy within the savage bone, he had leaped into the pool and begun cultivating with total abandon. Even now, Yi Yun's consciousness had not fully awakened. He felt as though he were having a beautiful dream.

The energy within the savage bone had been digested completely by Yi Yun's fleshly body, without leaving behind even a single drop!

His body had entered a state of hunger once more.

In his daze, Yi Yun felt a soft hand seize his collar and lift him up...

Yi Yun's body felt light and weightless. He thought he was lying on a soft patch of grass. Then, that same soft hand pressed against his chest.

"Pffft!"

Yi Yun spat out a mouthful of water. It was not clear water, but extremely murky water mixed with the impurities expelled after Yi Yun tempered his body.

"Huh?"

The girl who had rescued Yi Yun did not show the slightest look of disgust at the filthy water. Instead, she appeared somewhat surprised. As a Savage Heaven Master, she instantly judged what had happened.

Yi Yun woke up. After his vision returned, the bright sunlight dazzled him so much that he could barely open his eyes.

(After seeing some readers point out a bug—roughly asking how the Great Wilderness could fail to grow vegetables or catch fish, and how its people could possibly be so hungry—I hope everyone will not view the matter through the lens of modern Earth. In ancient Huaxia, there were countless eras when people ate Guanyin Soil during famines or even exchanged children to eat. Even in the 1960s, Huaxia suffered a shocking three-year famine in which many people starved to death. You can even ask in return: Why did they not eat fish or dig for worms? Why did they not eat locusts during a locust plague? Were the ancients fools who did not know how to eat these things?)

(The ancients were not fools. When people were hungry enough to exchange children to eat, what would they refuse to eat? Canjian's family lived near both the sea and the mountains. There should have been more fish in the sea than in a pool, and mushrooms, rabbits, and such things in the mountains, yet they still went hungry. Canjian's mother experienced a famine. In her words, during that year of hunger, not even grass grew on the mountains. Why? First, there was drought. Second, even the grass roots had been dug up. All the grass had been eaten, and catching rabbits was practically impossible. As for fish, going out to sea required fishing boats and large nets, which ordinary commoners did not have. In shallow seas, rivers, and lakes, unless fish were deliberately raised, their numbers would be very low to begin with. After countless people caught them, there would be even fewer, making the cost of obtaining them extremely high. For someone like Canjian, catching a few small fish would replenish less energy than the effort expended. As for catching insects, there is even less to say: it consumed energy and made one hungry faster, which was no different from suicide.)

(In this book, the Great Wilderness was designed as a place far more barren than Earth. It had already been written that even the land was covered in Black Iron Rock, making farming extremely difficult. Moreover, considering the grain yields of ancient Huaxia, production was pitifully low. There was no hybrid rice or combine harvesters back then. As for the other details concerning the barrenness of the Great Wilderness, Canjian felt that explaining them one by one would be tedious. The fish in a small pool would naturally be caught until so few remained that spending the effort to catch them was not worth it. If there were frogs that were nonpoisonous and easy to catch, they would have been caught and eaten long ago. When people grew hungry, they were no different from locusts. A single pool and a few low-lying areas with frogs truly could not support a clan of a thousand households. Canjian avoided making the explanation tedious and did not mention all this, never expecting it to cause such controversy. After thinking it over, he has finally given this lengthy explanation.)

(Someone else asked why Yi Yun did not go hunting. The book had already explained that one needed to reach the Purple Blood Realm and enter the true Great Wilderness to possess the ability to hunt Fierce Beasts. Some readers may then ask what Fierce Beasts eat. Although Canjian believes that one need not delve into the ten thousand whys in a fantasy novel, when writing this book, he still established the world completely, doing his best to leave no loopholes. As the story unfolds, these matters will gradually be written about.)

(Thank you all very much for your opinions. Canjian read every substantive book review in the review section. If you have any suggestions or reviews, you are welcome to leave them there.)

(After explaining a thousand words, I am drunk too. I generally will not give such a tedious explanation again in the future. I sincerely hope everyone can use their imagination a little more and raise fewer doubts. Many things are not loopholes; either Canjian felt it was too tedious to write them, or he did write them and everyone missed them. Canjian thanks you all!)