"The Northern Wasteland really has an even worse environment than the Northwest..."
Zhou Yan gazed at the scenery ahead and spat out a mouthful of sand despite himself.
He had left Red Stone Village five or six days ago. Having just crossed the Red Grassland, he had arrived at the "Shifting Sands Desert."
Endless sand and gravel stretched in every direction, bleak and desolate. The few clumps of stubborn, twisted greenery did nothing to enliven the landscape; instead, they only made the Gobi seem even more vast and lifeless.
Zhou Yan had learned from Tian Wei how harsh the Northern Wasteland's environment was, but he had never expected it to be this bad.
Apart from the Overseas Archipelago, this world had a total of Five Regions.
Of those Five Regions, Central Province gathered the spiritual splendor of heaven and earth, enjoying truly exceptional natural advantages.
As for the other four regions, each had its own shortcomings to one degree or another.
In the Northern Wasteland, deserts and Gobi wastelands were everywhere. There were several enormous ones spanning tens of thousands of li, and even more ordinary ones. It was much like the Northwest of the Small World, stirring a measure of wistfulness and nostalgia in Zhou Yan.
Especially remarkable were the sandstorms that appeared from time to time. The gravel-laden gales sometimes pierced him to the bone like ice, then turned scorching as a raging fire.
Even Zhou Yan found the alternating extremes of ice and fire difficult to endure.
Fortunately, even in a desert spanning tens of thousands of li like the Shifting Sands Desert, there were oases, underground rivers, and populated settlements.
There were towns where travelers could replenish their water and food.
At the same time, these places drew people from every walk of life and were