The Southern Frontier, the Jianmu Ruins.
After the World Tree's rootlets had mysteriously vanished, they had left behind an enormous sinkhole spanning three million li. The earth veins had nearly run dry as a result, recovering gradually only after millions of years of rest and renewal.
By now, that ancient sinkhole had long since disappeared. In its place stood a hazy root that pierced heaven and earth, radiating the mysterious aura unique to the World Tree.
Although it was only a phantom of a World Tree root, it had reconnected the Southern Frontier's earth veins, joining them into a single whole. The region's heaven and earth spiritual energy was also steadily recovering.
However, spiritual energy had been scarce here for far too long. Even now, its concentration in the Southern Frontier was only around thirty percent of that in the other three regions.
As a result, very few human cultivators were willing to remain in the Southern Frontier. There was not even a single first-rate or second-rate sect with a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator presiding over it.
Even third-rate sects with Golden Core True Lords numbered only a little over a hundred. Including all the rogue cultivators, the total number of human cultivators was merely a few hundred thousand, and their overall strength was pitifully weak.
"Not long after I entered the inner sect, the Tai Sui Gate launched a sneak attack on the Azure Cloud Sect, causing Senior Cloud Crane to fail his tribulation transcendence and lose his life."
Before the World Tree Phantom, Lin Mo stood upon the Nine-Colored Auspicious Clouds, his gaze distant with memories. "After that, the Tai Sui Gate quickly went to ground. Those at Golden Core and above vanished without a trace, and no one knew where they had gone."
"I spent several years