Yi Chu stepped inside. Watching the quicksand stream beneath his feet and pour continuously inward, he was carried along at great speed. After traveling more than a hundred li like this, he still saw no end.
When he looked back, the light from above still shone in, but only that narrow slit of sky remained bright—and even that was no more than a single slit. Everything around it was dark and dim.
He turned around and continued onward.
As he ventured deeper, he saw the bones left behind by many living creatures. Flowers had somehow bloomed all around them, tiny and delicate like scales, giving off a faint blue glow.
It suddenly occurred to him that this was a rare place to establish a foothold.
Before leaving the Eastern Court settlement, the people there had asked him to keep an eye out for places where another settlement could be established, so they could send personnel there to survey the terrain and record the local scenery.
Though the place appeared barren on the surface, he discovered that there were actually many small mystical creatures beneath it. There was also a water source farther down, enough to sustain the needs of a settlement.
The surrounding area stretched as far as the eye could see, but as long as an outpost was erected on high ground, the entire plain could be monitored. A shortage of supplies was no great concern either; the supplies carried by a single transport flying vessel would be enough to settle every issue, and the place could gradually be transformed.
What he admired most was how Celestial Xia had always sought to establish footholds in desolate places, then transform the local waters, soil, and landscape, drawing plants and living creatures together until barren land slowly became fit for human