Western Wasteland, Great Dream Marsh.
A crisscrossing web of lakes and rivers had turned this low-lying plain into a vast expanse of marshland.
Warm and humid year-round, the area was blanketed in white mist born of rising water vapor, mixed with poisonous fumes transformed from miasma, yin energy, and foul vapors.
If cultivators who did not know the proper methods inhaled those toxins, they would often fall into illusions, go mad, and die. The marsh was also home to countless natural Evil Spirits and wicked creatures that could kill living beings in their sleep without their ever realizing it.
Over time, this marshland came to be known as Great Dream Marsh.
When Crimson Bright Heaven merged into the human realm, it happened to connect with the Southern Wilderness, allowing great numbers of unorthodox beings to enter Great Dream Marsh and settle there.
After several centuries, those unorthodox beings had adapted to Great Dream Marsh's brutal natural environment, living and multiplying there as their populations steadily grew.
The great transformation of heaven and earth had made the environment harsh and dangers ubiquitous. Low-level unorthodox beings all felt immense pressure to survive.
Under such circumstances, the unorthodox masses became ever more devout in their faith.
Several decades ago, Wanshou Dao Ancestor had ordered the destruction of the Five Firmaments God King's statues and forbidden all unorthodox beings from worshipping or making offerings to the Five Firmaments God King.
That order had not been strictly enforced. Only a few major cities with close ties to the human race had sealed off their temples. Elsewhere, worship of the Five Firmaments God King had remained unaffected.
Until two years ago, Wanshou Dao Ancestor issued a strict order to all heaven-rank cultivators: the Five Firmaments God King's statues had to be completely eradicated.
Though the many