Northern Desert Plateau, Chilling Wind Gorge.
Within a lush, ancient wilderness forest, a deep gorge led into the darkness. Beyond a void world gate connecting to the Otherworld, a small grotto heaven, like a paradise secluded from the world, brimmed with life.
Inside this grotto heaven, the mountains were verdant and the waters clear, with sun, moon, and stars as usual. At its center lay a flat plain, where clusters of camps built from wood and stone formed a city spanning dozens of li.
At the center of this city stood an enormous square. Thousands upon thousands of figures stood solemnly within it, seemingly gathered for a grand assembly.
This grotto heaven was the site of the warrior stronghold Wu Lianyi had built.
After defecting from the Azure Cloud Sect, Wu Lianyi had wandered from region to region, evading the endless pursuit of the sect's experts. Eventually, through the grassroots connections he had cultivated earlier, he had reached the Northern Desert, found an unclaimed, inferior blessed land, and put down roots.
He was not alone. He had brought many followers from various quarters who were already loyal to him, elite warriors, and researchers proficient in various life-related Dao paths and Medicine Dao spells. Naturally, his occupation of this blessed land as a source of resources for preserving their skills and the spark of their legacy had received the support of the local powers-the Myriad Phenomena Sect and the Great Wilderness Sect.
In just a few years, with the support of these two great sects, he had rebuilt a grassroots force entirely his own.
But Wu Lianyi understood well the art of keeping himself out of harm's way, and understood even better the importance of developing discreetly. All this time, he had never used his Heaven Tier strength to vie for