Chapter 88 - The Dead Lands

Hours turned into days and days turned into weeks. Ah Chun, Ning Shen, Qin Sha, and of course their fluffy friend Xiao Wang arrived at a very desolate place. There was nothing here but dry cracked ground and bone remains of animals and humans. Off in the distance, you could see a wall of grey clouds but before that, there was no life. Ah Chun and her group had stopped at the edge of this place.

"Shen, what is this place?" Ah Chun could not remember anything about this place with in her memories from her samsara. But this place piqued her curiosity with how it looked. Where they stood was grassy and lush greenery, while two steps away there was nothing but dry cracked ground. There was a fine line that separated the two areas almost as if a barrier was in place.

"This is the Dead Lands. Once you cross over on to the dry ground your life force will start to be sucked out of you. The only time one can pass through it is when the Dragon Mist Realm is opened and only those under the age of twenty can enter or as you can see by those skeletons over there that is what happens. Every year the Dead Lands expands by one centimeter." Ning Shen paused for a second bent down and pulled up a plant from the ground as he continued: "Here throw this over you will see what I mean."

Ah Chun nodded and took the plant from Ning Shen tossing it over to the dry side. As soon as the plant crossed the line it started to turn brown and within seconds it turned to dust that was carried away by the breeze. Ah Chun's eyes widen when she saw this she was very happy she did not step foot over into such a death trap! She could see her previous self doing just that! Ah Chun's had a shiver run down her spine. 'Thank the heavens that I went through the samsara baptism otherwise I would have been dead. '

"So what do we do now if we can not go any further." Ah Chun looked at Ning Shen with a worried look.

"As I said before you can pass through here when the Dragon Mist Realm opens. So see that wall of grey clouds off in the distance?" Nig Shen pointed forward towards the horizon. Ah Chun followed where he was pointing at and nodded her head but still looked back at Ning Shen with a confused expression. Ning Shen saw her look and continued: "That wall of gray clouds expands when the Dragon Mist Realm opens and this is where this place gets its name from. The grey clouds cover the entirety of the Dead Lands when the Dragon Mist Realm opens, it then turns into a misty fog that negates the effects of the Dead Lands. But it only Negates it for people under the age of twenty. No one actually knows the reason behind this."

Ah Chun nodded her head and then thought of something as she turned towards Qin Sha before saying: "So that means we will have to leave Qin Sha behind. Qin Sha, can I ask you to take care of Xiao Wang while we are in the Dragon Mist Realm? "

"Of course Young Miss. I will be waiting here for Young Miss and Young Masters to return after you have entered the realm." For cultivators, time was something that passed by quickly. So even if it was a year or tens of years, waiting for someone would not seem that long. Especially if one were to cultivate while waiting.

Ning Shen walked over to Ah Chun and held her hand. He gazed down at her and smiled as she said: "When we enter the Dragon Mist Realm make sure you stay close to me. We may be on the stronger side compared to the rest that might enter. But some of these young cultivators will come from high ranking powers of the Primordial Lands. Some of them should have treasures or artifact weapons on them. So we will need to be careful."

Ah Chun's eyes turned cold when she heard Ning Shen mention treasures and artifact weapons. An evil smile appeared on her face as she said: "Since they are so kindly bringing such things in we mise will help ourselves. If they want to start a fight with us while we are in there we'll just have to receive some consultation fees for helping them meet King Yama. Shen, I will never 'attack' someone who does not mess with me but if they want to mess with us we will just need to let them go see King Yama. But if it comes to opportunities that are beneficial to either one of us then I will fight for it no matter who was there first. On this, I have no choice. " Ah Chun's cold expression faded and went back to a smile. She made sure she emphasized the word 'attack' as she spoke.

Ning Shen tilted his head back and laughed he knew what his little thing meant."I know Chun'er do not worry I will not 'attack' anyone for no reason. I will just say my piece and that is all. Let's go sit and cultivate and see if you can break through before the month is up." Ah Chun nodded and the two of them walked towards a tree hand in hand.

Qin Sha who was listening to their conversation closed his eyes and said a prayer for those poor souls who end up being played with by his Young Master and Young Miss.