Leaving aside the scale of this small world, the fact that such a world could be constructed in this Era of Chaos is already extremely difficult for ordinary cultivators.
The practice of the Jade Void Palace arbitrarily creating small worlds for war preparation and logistics is something that the creatures in the buffer zone would never even dare to dream of.
This small world shrouded in Mist is also a clever trick; it doesn't involve space at all, but simply encloses a piece of land in this Primordial World and modifies it.
Although he passed through the Mist, Li Xingkong's Divine Sense still couldn't extend too far, as if something was suppressing Divine Sense.
This sense of oppression is definitely caused by some kind of concept.
Flying from the edge of the Mist toward the center of the small world, Li Xingkong soon spotted a small town.
The city walls stood high, protecting the entire town. A faint light curtain, like a lid, enveloped the town, and squads of heavily armed soldiers patrolled the walls.
A long queue formed at the city gate, consisting entirely of ordinary people wanting to enter the city; the queue stretched for several kilometers.
Li Xingkong had no intention of following the crowd.
He took a single step, and with the next step, he was on the street in the town. Although there were many pedestrians around, no one noticed his sudden appearance.
Li Xingkong sized up the people's clothing and appearance before putting on a disguise for himself.
After looking around, Li Xingkong quickly found an inn to stay in.
Li Xingkong knew very little about the situation in this small world, but he still had quite a few little guys he had fished out of the Mist. He figured he could get some information out of them.
After setting up a simple array in the room, Li Xingkong released the few people who had gotten lost in the Mist. Then, with a wave of his hand, a Calamity Ash from their bodies surged out and was caught in Li Xingkong's hand.
The cultivation methods used by these individuals are different from those of immortal cultivation; the energy within their bodies all originates from a seed in their minds.
However, the information within each seed is different, as if there were multiple different factions.
After the concept of Dao Evolution took effect, those people quickly showed signs of waking up.
The first person to wake up was the one Li Xingkong had encountered first. Compared to the others, this person had gone further into the Mist and was relatively stronger.
He opened his eyes and immediately formed hand seals, then chanted incantations, casting multiple layers of protective shields around himself.
After completing this set of techniques, he then looked around at the surrounding situation.
After looking around, apart from those who were still unconscious, only Li Xingkong was standing in front of him, staring at him with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
"This... is the Mist Continent! How did I get back here again!"
After carefully observing the room's decor, the man clearly came to a conclusion.
"May I ask which deity you are, and why you brought me back?"
Although Li Xingkong looked ordinary, as an old monster who had cultivated for an unknown amount of time, he naturally knew the principle that one cannot judge a book by its cover.
He clearly remembered where he had gotten himself into before, and now that he was back in this Mist Continent, how could he not know that someone had brought him back?
"I'm just a passerby, new to this place and know very little about it. I happened to run into you, so I gave you a ride."
"This place is called the Mist Continent? Perhaps you could tell me about this place."
Li Xingkong woke him up mainly to get to know the place better.
The man looked at Li Xingkong with a hint of surprise. According to Li Xingkong, he came from outside the Mist, and this was the first time in his life that he had encountered someone from outside.
He was curious, but that didn't stop him from introducing it to Li Xingkong.
"This place is called the Mist Continent because it is shrouded in Mist on all sides. It is difficult to find a way out, whether you go up to the sky or down to the ground. The endless Mist is like a prison, confining us here for the rest of our lives."
"And on this continent, there are four deities who bestowed upon us the laws of cultivation. Our cultivation originates from these deities."
"Gods? Do you know what they are called?"
If a cultivator at the Golden Core stage can call them gods, then these gods must be immortals. The Weaver of Paradoxes that Li Xingkong is looking for should be one of them.
"The four deities are the Lord of Flesh and Blood, the Undying Divine Lord, the Foolish and Blind Goddess, and the Great Emperor of Mist. Legend has it that the entire world was created by the Great Emperor of Mist, and the other three deities later spread their teachings throughout the continent, each enlightening a region."
"I am Luke, the first Pope under the Lord of Flesh and Blood."
"According to you, wouldn't you already be second only to the emperor, above ten thousand others? So how could you have gotten lost in that Mist?"
Li Xingkong quite curious; according to this person's words, he shouldn't have ended up like this.
"It's because this world is a prison, and those so-called Four Gods are nothing more than playthings to us. In their eyes, we are just crops, food."
At this point, Luke felt a pang of sadness.
"The people of this world live in foolish ignorance, unaware that the creatures of this land have already been harvested countless times. Whenever the number of creatures on the continent reaches a certain level, the Four Gods will issue a divine decree to begin the so-called holy war, which will continue until the heavens and earth change color and only one in ten of the creatures remains, before they will stop."
"And those who died became food for the gods, leaving not even a corpse behind."
"But the world is only so big. No matter where you flee, you can't escape the control of the Four Gods. There's only one path to choose: find a way to escape beyond the Mist."
After hearing what Luke said, Li Xingkong gained a better understanding of the Mist Continent. It turned out that this was a scam orchestrated by those four wild gods.
This does align with Li Xingkong's impression of them.
However, the creatures of this Mist Continent had far too high a standard.
Although the Mist Continent is a trap, at least its rules are relatively complete. They have no memory of living here, but if they were to leave the Mist, in that conceptually nonexistent environment, they might not be able to survive.
It's important to know that even Li Xingkong was only able to break through the world barrier of the Primordial Universe and move freely in the Cosmic Sea after he achieved the Nascent Soul.
The lack of this concept is far more severe than the environment in the Cosmic Sea. With just their Golden Core cultivation, it's not certain they could survive.
This is the tragedy of the weak.
However, what Li Xingkong was more curious about was how these wild gods had brought beings of such Era of Chaos.
It's important to understand that the Era of Chaos is not a benevolent place.