18 The Strange Land

The Sky was bright. The wind blew gently like it was singing a lullaby as the trees swayed.

The breathtaking scene suddenly changed as space was cracked open and a young man crashed onto the ground.

The young man's body had multiple wounds and blood was flowing unceasingly. He tried hard to keep his eyes open. Maybe because he knew that if he closes his eyes in an unknown land, he might never wake up.

A voice filled with fatigue and pain sounded in his mind " I used up a lot of Energy to stabilize the space crack and protect you. I think I will need a lot of time to..uugh... recover. So don't die now and waste my efforts." saying so she immediately cut off. But he still heard her groan filled with agony.

Sheng Tian laid on the ground with his face facing the sky. He couldn't move his body at all. He felt fatigued physically and his brain needed a desperate rest.

He could only say in his mind weakly " Don't worry, I won't die so easily." And right after she went into deep meditation, he passed out.

Earlier, when he was in the space crack, Xiao Lian protected from his body being torn apart by the space currents. But she had to keep them stable too so that they may not collapse suddenly. The result, she had to pay the price of overusing her Profound Energy. Thus bringing the rebound from the 'Asura Soul Annihilation Poison'.

And he, the physical and mental burden on him due to the travel is self-evident as he could barely hold on. So, he too passed out while Xiao Lian went into a deep meditative state.

*** ***

At the Valley of Death:

The whole site is filled with dust and debris. Space Cracks could be seen all over which quickly restored themselves. Yet they couldn't compete with the rate at which new space cracks were formed.

A Colossal Ape gathered profound Energy into its fists and punched out.

It's opponent, an enormous Wrym. It looked like a snake and had vast wings, it spat fire filled with Profound Energy as a response to the fist.

Air itself was compressed under the huge pressure, cracks of space appeared randomly and the fire filled with Profound Energy seemed like it would burn everything, the air started to shake, space turned unstable.

Boom.

The sound was deafening. Even staying dozens few kilometers away, Qin Qing and other 8 members felt their ears bursts. Fortunately, they were using Profound energy to protect every part of their body.

Looking at the events happening one after the other, Qin Qing and her companions sucked a cold breath. No matter what, this place is too dangerous.

Qin Qing stood there motionless watching the whole scene. No one knew what she was thinking.

Out of twelve, two of them are already gone and two are injured. One of them couldn't hold back and asked: "Miss Qin, are they, overlords?" This was the question going on in their minds as the battle filled their hearts with shock and fear.

Qin Qing shook her head gently and said " I've heard about the scale of the fight between OverLords, but this is something they can never reach.

Even being at several kilometers away, we still feel suffocated, this is beyond OverLords. And I believe that they are not fighting at full strength." her voice contained disbelief yet confidence in her judgment.

Everyone felt their head spinning, Beyond OverLords?Heaven Realm? What kind of realm is that?

At least they didn't see or hear anyone achieving that. And even without using full strength, they looked like gods of destruction, if they did...? If a human can enter such a realm, then... They didn't dare imagine further, the whole continent has to bow down to him. Such a thought was really scary.

"What about that Ling Tian? He was the closest to the impact area."

"He won't survive unless a miracle occurs. Going there now there is only digging our own graves.

We can only leave this place and wait until the battle ends. As many dangers will be eliminated by these Beasts, our search will be easy.

But who would have thought that today we will see such a battle.." with a sigh she turned around and left.

There were no emotions like sympathy or regret in her tone, it was like she only felt that it was a pity and that his death meant nothing more. That was what everyone felt.

But even in such a disadvantageous situation, she came up with a plan to take advantage.

Everyone felt an additional degree of respect towards her.

Meanwhile, the dust settled. The group identified the two creatures this time. They were Omega Destruction Ape which is over 100 feet tall and Single Horned Flood Wyrm whose length was also at the same scale.

The group left as the fight continued. They didn't dare to linger any longer.

**** ****

At an unknown place thousands of kilometers away...

A Young Man was sleeping peacefully under the shade of the trees. The Sunlight reached him through the gaps of leaves sending warmth. Time passed slowly.....

At night, he slowly opened his eyes. His body felt much better now. After he sat cross-legged, he checked inside the Snow Glazed Lotus, Xiao Lian was sitting cross-legged with a pale face.

Sheng Tian breathed a sigh of relief seeing she was fine. That was the best he could hope for.

Seeing that she was fine, he didn't intend to disturb her.

As for the culprits who almost made him cannon fodder, he only saw that one was an ape and other had wings. But he couldn't get back at them.

Looking around; Mountains, trees, herbs, and rivers caught his sight.

This place seemed to be full of life. He didn't remember hearing anything about such region in Embrace of Death. For a moment, he even assumed it was a dream.

The Place approximately was divided into three regions in the shape of circles. The Outer Circle or the boundary of the Place seemed to be made up of towering green trees. They were at least over 300 feet tall and densely packed.

The next layer was the plain lush grasslands he slept in. It was filled with flowers and herbs. There was strong vitality here.

Sheng Tian was shocked.

The embrace of Death had a place with such rich profound energy and vitality that even the most resourceful sects may not have. This is so unbelievable and out of the world.

And then he saw the core layer, it was a small piece of land surrounded by mist and Rich Profound Energy.

At the center was a statue.

As he focused his vision, he was a Dragon Statue. It was inarguably in the center of this land.

Sheng Tian's curiosity was triggered.

But his first action was to see if there is an exit to this land. He didn't know what might happen, so it was better to be careful.

Though he felt that he was being overly cautious, the place he was in is unknown, Xiao Lian is recuperating the injuries caused by overuse of Profound Energy, so he preferred safety first.

He planned to know the place first before going to the Sculpture.

He went to the outer circle, the trees are too tall. But as he was about to enter into the forest area,

he was bounced back.

An invisible barrier was preventing him from going out.

Without a choice, he attacked the barrier with 50%, 80% and then with 100% of his strength using Profound Arts.

Yet nothing happened. Everything remained the same. There was not even a ripple in the so-called invisible barrier.

Sheng Tian understood that he was likely trapped in this one-way entry area. You can come in but you can't go out, at least not normally.

At that instant, Xiao Lian shakily opened her eyes.

"This is the place I talked about." she said, her voice a bit shaking.

Sheng Tian was surprised.

He was looking for this place and now he arrived here directly? And he can't even seem to get out!

Though she was feeling very weak, Xiao Lian decided to use spirit sense only with some limited range to be safe. But the moment she did so, her frown deepened.

Her divine sense which should be above this plane's standards was blocked harshly by something and if it didn't show mercy, her soul would have been damaged.

She was completely shocked by this. What does this mean? Though she is very weak right now, her level of existence is something beyond mortals, but she was shown mercy here. And why does the other side seemed so familiar yet so strange?

When her Divine sense went there, for a second, she felt like a boat in the ocean, a fish on the board, completely powerless.

She never felt this much terror, even when she was being hunted and chased, this was her first time feeling something like this.

She was sure that even the Divine Realm didn't have anyone or anything like this. If it did, this level of being would surely be the supreme existence.

She felt the barrier too and she was shocked once more. She didn't know what to do anymore.

Even though it is dangerous, they had only one option.

She took a deep breath and said to him " Sheng Tian, this barrier is not breakable by anyone I know and I am totally powerless in front of it, even in my peak. There is only one way to get out of here. That is.."

She was cut off "that dragon statue right?" he guessed as much.

She warned "Yes. But this is going to be dangerous without a doubt. Prepare yourself. I might not be of any help. It's all up to you."

She didn't tell him what she felt from the statue when she was probing it with her divine sense earlier. It might affect his confidence and even if he knew, there was nothing he could do except being cautious.

She felt a bad premonition that if they stayed here, they will not be able to make it. So, she urged him to go even if she couldn't help him now.

Xiao Lian didn't know if it was her overthinking things, but this concerned their lives, so she was not willing to take risks. He nodded, for the first time, he felt that he was facing things on his own without depending on her and he also has to get out of this Beautiful Cage. Who knew how many died here?

Apparently, no one knew about this place. Sheng Tian could only think of one explanation "Dead Men tell no tales".

He reached the statue. As he got a closer look at it. He felt that he was watching a real dragon.

The aura it was emitting was full of vitality and vigor. It looked like it was just about to soar into the sky and roar at the heavens.

Suppressing his curiosity, Sheng Tian approached the Sculpture. He touched it and before he could even do anything a blinding light filled the region. Now, Sheng Tian was nowhere to be seen.

And right after he vanished, The entire area was slowly filled with Death Energy. It was so intense that even OverLords would die on spot. This area which was very beautiful previously can only be described as "Deathly" now.

Xiao Lian's speculation was right, the creator of this place left only one way out and one should enter that way soon. Every other outcome was Death!