The journey to Feathered Immortal Valley had gone smoothly enough for Lu Chen, Yan Ruyu, the Peacock King, and the others. The Demon God Flower, one of the Three Great Wonderful Flowers in the world, had fallen into the Demon Race Princess's hands, while Lu Chen had obtained the Azure Emperor's Essence Blood as he had hoped.
After they returned from the million-mile Great Wilderness, the Azure Flood Dragon King had already prepared a super Domain Gate for crossing to the Northern Region.
Unfortunately, during this time, the Ji Family Holy Lord and the Yaoguang Holy Lord had joined forces and actually found the Peacock King's secluded residence-the damaged small world created by a sage.
Since the Peacock King and the others had gone to Feathered Immortal Valley with Lu Chen, the Ji Family Holy Lord and the Yaoguang Holy Lord naturally returned empty-handed, but they also destroyed that damaged space.
With Lu Chen's warning, Ye Fan had headed early to the boundless Fire Domain in the Wei Kingdom to temper the Cauldron of All-Things Mother Qi, avoiding discovery and pursuit by the many Ji Family disciples.
Although the destruction of his secluded home left the Peacock King regretful and angry, a formidable Demon King who had lived for over two thousand years was no longer a hot-blooded youth who would ignore the costs and charge headlong against the combined forces of the Ji Family and the Yaoguang Holy Land.
A month later, in a secluded valley in the Southern Region, the Peacock King, the Azure Flood Dragon King, the Demon Race Princess Yan Ruyu, Lu Chen, and Ye Fan, who had returned from the Fire Domain after reaching the peak of the Other Shore realm, gathered with some members of the Demon Race who followed the Peacock King and Yan Ruyu. They were all preparing to cross the void and relocate to the Northern Region.
At the center of the valley stood an enormous altar built from dark jade, its surface covered in profound Dao Patterns. All they needed now was to load it with a large quantity of Source to open the Domain Gate and cross the void.
"Have all of you made your preparations? The Northern Region is hundreds of millions of miles away. Returning will be no easy matter!" the Peacock King asked the gathered members of the Demon Race. His face was delicate and youthful, but his eyes held the weight of long years.
"We are willing to follow the Peacock King and the princess!" the many members of the Demon Race answered in unison.
"We're finally leaving the Southern Region ruled by the Ji Family. From now on, the sky is vast, and this bird can fly wherever he pleases!" Ye Fan smiled, his expression relaxed.
Clearly, the Ji Family, a Desolate Ancient Family, had placed incomparable pressure on him. In particular, after he had publicly threatened and cursed a Ji Family Eminent, and Lu Chen had stepped in and severely injured Ji Hui and several others, the Ji Family had sent even more disciples to hunt the two of them down, including family elders in the Dragon Transformation Realm.
Thank heavens, all of that is about to be over. Once I leave the Southern Region, surely the Ji Family won't be able to reach hundreds of millions of miles into the Northern Region to hunt me down! These were Ye Fan's heartfelt thoughts.
"Don't celebrate too soon. The influence of a Desolate Ancient Family reaches far beyond your imagination. You'll understand someday," Lu Chen reminded him, shaking his head.
He knew that even after they left the Southern Region, where the Ji Family's main stronghold lay, a family passed down from Desolate Antiquity remained a colossal power that no one dared challenge anywhere in the Eastern Wasteland.
"Could the Ji Family's influence really extend to the Northern Region, hundreds of millions of miles away?" Ye Fan asked with a frown.
"You'll understand someday. But for now, leaving the Southern Region is a good thing regardless," Lu Chen said.
By now, Source was being loaded into the enormous altar. The mysterious Dao Patterns upon it flashed with light, releasing terrifying energy fluctuations that pierced the void and revealed an immense gateway. Its interior was black as ink and unfathomably deep, as though it connected to some unknown space.
"Let's go!"
The Peacock King and the Azure Flood Dragon King stepped through the Domain Gate first, followed in single file by Lu Chen, Ye Fan, and the many members of the Demon Race. Then the spatial Domain Gate slowly closed, and the altar began drawing vast quantities of essence from the Source to sustain the Void Passage.
They had no idea how much time passed. Within the void, they could not sense time flowing, and it felt as though they had not moved at all. Only the occasional flash of mysterious light and shadow showed that Lu Chen and the others were not truly standing still.
At last, the void ahead tore open, revealing light. Everyone stepped out of the deep passage and returned to the real world.
They had reached the Northern Region!
Everyone felt both nervous and expectant. Apart from the Peacock King and the Azure Flood Dragon King, this was their first visit to the northern reaches of the Eastern Wasteland.
As they looked around, the sight was utterly unlike what they had imagined. There was no lush vegetation, no surging crowds, not the slightest sign of life.
The boundless land was covered in red soil and all kinds of rock, a scene of desolation and barrenness.
The vast earth was utterly empty, without a trace of life to be seen, dotted only by the occasional rocky mountain.
This was a barren land, with little vitality and few inhabitants, silent as death.
"Is this what the Northern Region looks like?"
A bitter, bleak land, like a desert wasteland. That was what Ye Fan and the many members of the Demon Race thought.
Lu Chen did not react very strongly to the sight. He had known what to expect, after all, though coming here in person for the first time still stirred a different feeling. It was far too desolate.
"The world's Source mines lie in the Northern Region. Sadly, Source is both its making and its undoing..." The Azure Flood Dragon King shook his head and sighed, his expression as still as an ancient well.
The Northern Region was vast and boundless, densely scattered with Source mines and renowned throughout the world.
Compared with its immense expanse, its population was sparse indeed. One could travel thousands of miles without seeing a soul, and most places were as barren as this one.
Source, crystals formed from a mysterious substance, seemed to have drained the essence of heaven and earth from the entire Northern Region.
Of course, the north also had oases lush with vegetation and teeming with life, but they seemed tiny beside its vast territory.
Though other supplies were not abundant here, the region produced plentiful pure Source, so people had no need to worry about food or clothing.
But Source was an important resource for cultivators. Fighting to the death over it and attacking one another on sight were commonplace, and many people devoted themselves entirely to robbing others.
As a result, bandits ran rampant in the Northern Region, and there was no order to speak of. Anyone with enough strength could rob whomever they pleased, and the Various Holy Lands were no different.
Standing at the pinnacle of power, they were naturally even more domineering, simply staking out territory and seizing the finest Source mines.
The Northern Region was famed throughout the world for its Source, yet that same Source filled it with chaos and bloodshed.
After flying with the Azure Flood Dragon King for a short while, they arrived at an oasis-Yunze Prefecture. This land of life was covered in rivers and great lakes, veiled in watery mist, a true water country.
This living oasis covered an extensive area, over ten thousand miles across, and was a well-known place even in the Northern Region.
Lu Chen marveled inwardly at how immense the land of the Big Dipper truly was. Compared with Earth's landmass, it was enormous. A single oasis was roughly as large as all of Asia, and there were many, many more such lands of life.
In Yunze Prefecture, there was practically a spring every hundred zhang and a river every ten miles, with towering peaks and cascading waterfalls.
There were also endless plains, lush and green, where rushing rivers crisscrossed like long dragons dividing the land.
The Azure Flood Dragon King lived in this living oasis. One could also say that the entire oasis was under his rule.
Now that they had reached the Northern Region, Lu Chen and Ye Fan no longer needed to keep following the Peacock King and the Azure Flood Dragon King.
After all, this was a gathering place for the Demon Race. For two members of the Human Race to remain among them for too long was not necessarily a good thing, especially when they were still so weak. If they encountered an unfriendly Great Demon, there would be endless trouble.
"The Northern Region is so vast. Where do you think we should go?" After leaving the Azure Flood Dragon King's Yunze Prefecture, Ye Fan had no idea where to head next. Though he knew the Northern Region had plenty of Source, he felt at a loss as to where to begin.
"Your Desolate Ancient Sacred Body is suppressed by heaven and earth in this era. If you want to cultivate, you'll need to expend ten times as many resources as others, or even more, to break through," Lu Chen said.
Because of his warning.
Ye Fan had suffered far fewer pursuits by the Ji Family in the Southern Region, and his source root of mother qi of all things had not yet been exposed. Naturally, he had not burned a Ji Family Supreme Elder to death with Five-Element True Fire, and there had been one less tangled episode between him and the Yaoguang Holy Maiden.
"Ten or a hundred times as many resources? Where am I supposed to find that much? Am I meant to mine it myself?" Ye Fan scratched his head in distress.
"Mine it!" Lu Chen glanced at him with a smile. "Do you know where the Source mines are, or how to mine them?"
"Well... I really don't!"
"Let me point you toward a path!" Lu Chen said, looking down over the vast red land.
"A path? Have you been to the Northern Region before?" Ye Fan looked at him in puzzlement.
"Never mind whether I've been here!" Lu Chen shook his head slightly, a mysterious smile on his face. "Go and find a distinctive purple stone mountain several thousand meters tall somewhere in this land. At its foot is a village of people surnamed Zhang. What you need is there."
"A purple mountain? A village? What's there?" Ye Fan asked, bewildered.
"If you trust me, go. There's something there that can help you obtain resources. It lies in the direction of the Northern Region Holy City, near a place called Pingyan City." Although Lu Chen had already obtained the first Source Heavenly Master's Source Arts, he had no intention of passing them directly to Ye Fan. He would let Ye Fan find them himself!
"All right, I'll go take a look." Ye Fan chose to trust him.
"I have other things to do. We'll meet again!" Lu Chen turned into a streak of light, shot toward the horizon, and vanished from Ye Fan's sight.
Before you continue