Heaven-Stabilizing Continent, Central Region.
The entire land lay beneath a heavy blanket of pitch-black scorched earth. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but dead, desolate wasteland, without the slightest trace of life.
The stench of burning still lingered in the air. Not a blade of grass could be seen, not a sapling grew.
A murky gray haze shrouded the sky year-round, scarcely allowing sunlight through, as though heaven and earth would remain this dim forever.
A few shattered remnants of buildings lay scattered here and there. These were the only surviving marks that could prove the Central Region of Heaven-Stabilizing Continent had once enjoyed a prosperity unrivaled beneath the heavens.
Every mortal dynasty and every Immortal Dao sect had turned to dust in the vast deluge of heavenly fire brought down by the Southern Bright Sage all those years ago, vanishing into the passage of time.
Viewed from high above, the Central Region's wasteland stretched boundlessly into the distance, spanning tens of millions of li in every direction.
The pitch-black scorched plains rose and fell in gentle slopes, vast, silent, and empty.
At the heart of this almost utterly barren world, an incredibly tiny human figure stood alone against the blackened earth.
The figure was so small that he resembled a speck of dust drifting on the wind.
Against this immense wasteland spanning tens of millions of li in every direction, he was insignificant enough to be almost overlooked.
Heaven and earth remained vast, their deathly silence unchanged.
The tiny figure grew clearer and clearer. He was a child who looked no more than six or seven years old.
The child staggered along, almost every step costing him tremendous effort. His clothes were ragged, as though they had clung to his body for countless years.
He