Chapter 496: 496. Stele

The newly arrived forces didn't clash with those of the Utra nation, the other big nations had sent explorative parties too, only a few heroic cultivators had accompanied the human assets.

Also, since even cultivators at the peak of the third rank were restricted by the environment of the new continent, the human assets could only manage the construction of the encampments and their formations, only heroic cultivators had the power to survive the exploration.

The piece of Immortal Lands was inhabited by extremely powerful beings, the heroic cultivators sent by the Elbas family had confirmed two rank 5 beings and hundreds of rank 4 in just a few days of exploration.

The heroic cultivators of the Shandal Empire and Papral nation experienced the same events, the new continent seemed a massive danger zone where rank 5 beings could be found everywhere.

And that was only the external part of the continent.

The "Breath" released by the azure ground became denser the more one reached for the center of the new land, those heroic cultivators were almost sure that rank 6 beings would be found once they ventured for its depths.

Yet, that was to be expected.

The Immortal Lands were the place where gods lived, the almost complete absence of beings in the human ranks had been predicted even before forming the exploration parties.

However, the simple resources obtainable from powerful beasts or plants wasn't enough to push the three big nations to deploy their strongest forces to colonize the new continent, those materials could be found in any danger zone even if in less quantity after all, they needed far more than that.

The environment of the new continent was amazing for heroic cultivators, its foundation was sturdy and filled with "Breath" which made it the perfect place where they could absorb "Breath" that carried laws concerning their elements, the matter of the new land wouldn't crumble as easily as that of the other territories of the Mortal Lands.

Nevertheless, even that wasn't enough to start a colonization.

Heroic cultivators could simply choose specific places in the piece of Immortal Lands where to set up caves or training areas, leaving the remaining parts of the continent untouched.

What they were looking for was something connected to the divine realms!

The exploration continued, the forces of the three big nations silently decided to divide the areas to explore, there was no need to fight over them since they had yet to find something worth fighting for.

Only ten cultivators had been sent by the three big nations, the Empire had sent four of them while both the Utra nation and the Papral nation limited themselves to three, the higher number of heroic assets was a clear power move to show who really ruled over the Mortal Lands.

Danger zones filled the surface of the new continent, the poisonous swamp, the rank 5 Silver-yellow wood, the bushland ruled by the Silent hyenas were only those discovered by the forces of the Utra nation.

Similar areas were discovered as the exploration continued, there was a thick forest filled with rank 4 Giant apes where the existence of two rank 5 beasts had been confirmed, there was a large area filled with small rivers where thousands of rank 4 Swarming piranha lived, their sheer number was enough to scare away most cultivators in the heroic ranks.

There was a wasteland where rank 4 Steeled tumbleweeds hunted for any living being that contained blood, a huge mountain where packs of rank 4 wolves of different species each lead by a rank 5 creature continuously fought each other for more land.

It was as if the new continent was a system of danger zones where rank 5 beings thrived!

The exploration though didn't cause any victims.

Heroic cultivators had the innate ability to fly while the flying beings of the piece of Immortal Lands had remained in the higher plane when the continent fell, there was virtually no entity that could threaten the lives of the heroic assets of the three big nations.

Yet, even though weeks passed, no signs of traces left by divine beings were found.

Then, something peculiar happened.

Void Hand was flying alone above the wasteland filled by Steeled tumbleweeds, that area seemed one of the few spots where rank 5 beings were absent.

He was one of the heroic cultivators sent by the Empire, it was custom in that nation to give battle titles to their heroic cultivators according to their abilities, Void Hand was named after his weaponless martial art which made him able to stop spells with his bare hands.

He had an average stature, short black hair and thick eyebrows of the same shade, the absence of beard revealed his pointy chin.

The truth was that his martial art was something that he had personally created after entering the heroic ranks, his water aptitude made him well versed in defensive measures and he had managed to fuse some of his old spells with the forms of the martial arts that he was studying.

However, there was a problem that afflicted him.

He had become a heroic cultivator when he was already quite old and cultivating with a technique created by someone else didn't increase his power fast enough to compensate for the passage of time.

Simply speaking, his lifespan was about to reach its end.

Void Hand had chosen to explore the new continent hoping to find something that would increase his level or prolong his life and he was the most eager of his group to find traces of divinities.

That was the reason why he was flying alone while his three companions had decided to return to the encampment to rest, finding anything useful for his cultivation was literally vital for him.

He flew past the wasteland only to find a large lake next to a barren mountain.

No magical beasts or plants inhabited that place, Void Hand took a mental note of that place since it seemed to be the perfect area where heroic cultivators could safely cultivate.

Yet, it was at that point that he noticed a stele in the distance that radiated some kind of ancient aura.

Void Hand neared it with caution but his attention was soon captivated by the signs graven on the monument.

The signs seemed a form of writing that he couldn't read, yet, there seemed to be a profound meaning contained in them.

Void Hand stared at the stele and slowly landed on the ground, he didn't blink his eyes even once as he sat cross-legged on the azure terrain and kept his gaze on the signs as if it was glued to them.