Chapter 170 – Wasteland of Death
Yun Che randomly picked a guest house to stay in, but he did not go to sleep. Rather, he sat on the bed and placed the last Dragon Blood Pellet into his mouth.
During his travel from Blue Wind Imperial City to here, he had already ingested two Dragon Blood Pellets. The refinement and absorption of each pellet took around a day or two, but with Little Fairy’s protection from the shadows, he had nothing to worry about.
The moment the Dragon Blood Pellet entered his body, it was as if a ball of fire had suddenly exploded in his body. Yun Che’s face flushed red, and his body began to shudder. But under the operation of the Great Way of the Buddha, this reaction did not even last for half a quarter of an hour before his expression recovered and his disposition stabilized.
Of course, four drops of blood from the Emperor Profound Flame Dragon could not possibly match up to the blood of the mythical Phoenix. However, when the Flame Dragon’s blood enters the body, it was much more dangerous than the Phoenix’s blood. This was because the Phoenix’s blood would only blend into a person’s blood vessels, and become a part of the blood vessels within the body, instead of being eliminated….. With Yun Che’s capabilities, it would be absolutely impossible to completely destroy the Phoenix’s blood. But with the Flame Dragon’s blood, the situation was different. It had to be refined, and the power harnessed within it had to be transformed into Yun Che’s own. After refining, it would disappear forever. This process was much more difficult and dangerous than the fusion of the Phoenix’s blood. Therefore, Yun Che must first integrate it into a medicinal pellet, making it more gentle, before daring to refine it.
A wave of ice auroras drifted, and Little Fairy silently appeared in front of Yun Che. Watching his calm expression, a complicated expression flashed in her eyes. She had personally examined the Dragon Blood Pellet before; it contained pure Emperor Profound Dragon blood, and at least four drops of it. Even though it had been assimilated into a medicinal pellet, and the energy contained within the dragon’s blood became much gentler, one must at least have profound strength at the Spirit Profound Realm in order to refine it; if someone at the True Profound Realm tried to forcefully consume it, it would be accompanied by great danger.
However, Yun Che had taken three Dragon Blood Pellets consecutively, and every refinement had been incomparably successful. Among these, not a single occasion had been with too much pain or struggle, and the entire process was calm and followed with success; this caused amazement to strike her heart.
By the time Yun Che was finished, it was already the morning of the third day. However, after opening his eyes, instead of feeling hungry, he only felt light and refreshed. After the refinement of three Dragon Blood Pellets, his profound strength had already risen to the peak of the fourth level of the True Profound Realm, and he was only half a step away from breaking into the fifth level. The benefits these three Dragon Blood Pellets brought him wasn’t only an increase in profound strength, but also a substantial strengthening of his body and meridians.
With the help of a Goldscale Dragon Transforming Pellet and three Dragon Blood Pellets, Yun Che’s profound energy had risen by two levels continuously within the span of half a month. However, while drawing support from medicinal pellets was the fastest method, it was also a large malpractice, because it made his profound strength unsteady. After all, this sudden rise of two whole levels in profound strength was not due to regular practice. To achieve stability, a large amount of combat was required.
Yun Che exited the guest room and purchased sufficient rations. When the shopkeeper saw the purple spatial ring on his finger, he hesitated for quite a while, but gathered enough courage to ask quietly, “Young man, are you also a practitioner who is going to train in the Wasteland of Death?”
“Yes,” Yun Che saw that the shopkeeper’s eyes beheld kindness, “Not sure if Shopkeeper has any advice for me?”
“Hehe,” The shopkeeper sized him up, and praised, “Already possessing the profound strength of the True Profound Realm at such a young age, it’s truly impressive. Let me guess, you must be from some large clan, or perhaps the genius disciple of a large sect? And from your attire, as well as the purple spatial ring on your finger, you’re not someone who lacks for money either, so you certainly aren’t here to seek out treasure for money.”
Yun Che shot a glance at the purple spatial ring on his finger, but did not say a word. With the Sky Poison Pearl within his body, he had absolutely no need for spatial rings. He had only put on this purple spatial ring he had taken from Feng Baiyi’s hand to pull the wool over the others’ eyes.
“But….” The shopkeeper took a look at the surrounding people, and lowered his voice, saying, “Among those who come to the Wasteland of Death, there are crooks mixed in with the honest folk. Some of them come for training, and others come for the money. Not only do they kill profound beasts for their own benefit, they also kill practitioners who enter the Wasteland of Death. The purple spatial ring on your finger is too eye-catching, you’ll easily attract others’ attention. In addition to that, you are young and traveling alone, so it’s simply too dangerous. I suggest you take off that ring, carry a tattered bag, and dress more normally. At least this way, you won’t catch the attention of those who are greedy.”
The shopkeeper’s words caused Yun Che to nod his head and say gratefully, “Got it, thank you for the reminder.”
“Also, although your profound strength is not weak, the strength and numbers of the profound beasts in the Wasteland of Death far exceed your imagination. In the surrounding fifty kilometers, it is all Nascent Profound Beasts and True Profound Beasts. Beyond the fifty kilometers, Spirit Profound Beasts will also appear frequently. The further you travel, the higher the strength of the profound beast. Although this distribution of profound beasts is distinct, it is definitely not absolute; within fifty kilometers, Spirit Profound beasts will often appear as well. Therefore, my advice for you is to not go beyond twenty five kilometers. Training is meant for you to improve yourself, so you must not throw your life into the equation. Sigh, there are so many practitioners who overestimated their capabilities and have never returned from the Wasteland of Death.”
“Rest assured, I’ll try my best.”
Yun Che thanked the shopkeeper, left the guest house, and walked towards the Wasteland. All the way, he attracted many looks from others —— because of the colossal sword strapped to his back. As the emperor amongst thousands of weapons, swords were used by a large number of practitioners, and those who traveled with their swords strapped to their backs were not few either. However, there truly were not many who carried such a large sword.
Half an hour later, Yun Che officially entered the area of the Wasteland of Death.
Wasteland, a land that was left to grow wild. Here, the desolate sound of the wind held sinister, eerie hints. The continuous howls that came from profound beasts in the distance made one’s heart palpitate. From afar, the entire wasteland was overrun with dry withered grass; rocks lined the rugged terrain, and the boundary could not be seen with just a look. The silhouettes of practitioners gathering into groups could be faintly seen. There were very few who came alone like Yun Che; at least, in the area within his line of sight, there was only him alone.
In front of him, a wave of ice auroras floated and Little Fairy’s immortal-like body floated down from above to land in front of Yun Che, and she asked coldly, “You want to remain here for the next half a year?”
“Right!” Yun Che nodded: “There is no training place better than this. I also want to know how deep I can venture into this place of death that causes everyone’s expressions to change the moment it is mentioned.”
He looked at Little Fairy and suddenly said: “Little Fairy, are you not willing to follow me in?”
“Indeed, I don’t wish to set foot into this sort of place. But since I’ve agreed to protect you for three months, I’ll definitely do it. I won’t go so far as to let you, a junior, lose faith in me.”
Her soft, clear and cold voice fell, and Little Fairy was already afloat. In the blink of an eye, she had disappeared from Yun Che’s line of sight.
“Junior…..” Yun Che rubbed the corner of his mouth, speechless.
“This young brother, are you alone?”
Behind Yun Che, a somewhat apprehensive voice came. Yun Che turned around and saw a small group of a dozen or so people looking at him. The one who spoke was precisely the one who was leading them. These ten or so people were very young; the oldest was only twenty four or five years old. Their profound strength ranged from the late stages of the Nascent Profound Realm to the initial stages of the True Profound Realm. There faces revealed simultaneous expressions of excitement and nervousness. It was obvious this was their first time entering the Wasteland of Death.
Seeing Yun Che turn around, the person who had shouted said: “If you’re on your own, why not join us? When there are many together, be it facing profound beasts or evil men, we can rely on each other. It will be much safer. If we get any precious drops, it will also be split equally with absolutely no bias.”
The reason they were inviting Yun Che so extensively was obviously because Yun Che’s profound strength was at the fourth level of the True Profound Realm. Yun Che turned back around and said indifferently, “There’s no need.”
At that, he began to walk forward on his own, moving towards the depths of the wasteland.
“Tch, he actually dares to enter the Wasteland of Death all by himself, no wonder so many die in there every year.” Within the group, a youth with a longsword strapped to his back spoke lowly.
“He looks to be at most seventeen or eighteen years old, but has actually attained the fourth level of the True Profound Realm. He should be someone from some large sect, eh?”
“So what if he’s from a large sect! In this Wasteland of Death, will the profound beasts and evil men who will kill him care about where he was born? The more he’s born to a large family in some large sect, the more likely he’ll be carrying large quantities of profound coins, medicine, precious weapons and the like, so the more likely he’ll catch the attention of those evil men….. I bet he won’t last till sunset.”
“Alright, there’s no need to mind others’ business. We’ve already made all the necessary preparations; after we gather twenty people, we’ll set out.”
As Yun Che progressed forward, he met three groups in succession that wanted to invite him into their adventuring groups; one of which was even a small-scale mercenary troop, yet he rejected them all.
Moving ahead one and a half kilometers, everything was still at a dead calm. After one and a half kilometers, Yun Che, who was still walking, suddenly stopped in his tracks as his gaze shifted to the right. At this time, behind the black boulder on his right, which was as tall as two people in height, a grey shadow rushed out, accompanied by a brutal howl. It threw itself at him, as its ghastly sharp claws emitted a cold light.
Astonishingly, it was only a low-leveled profound beast — Wild Wolf.
“You’re seeking death!”
Yun Che stood unmoving in his original spot. As the Wild Wolf came pouncing at him, he stretched out his right arm abruptly, sweeping the palm of his hand at the Wild Wolf’s head. With only the sound of a single “snap”, the Wild Wolf’s neck was crushed instantly. After being sent flying far with a slap in the midst of blood-curdling shrieks, its entire body twitched violently, and then stilled.
Behind the black boulder, another Wild Wolf that was about to hurl towards him seemed to be intimidated as it took a step back in fear and all the hairs on its body stood up like needles. Immediately, it raised its head high in wolf song, craning its neck in a prolonged howl. Instantly, howls came from all around and not long after, around ten Wild Wolves came rushing from all directions, pouncing straight at Yun Che.
Yun Che’s expression did not change. Rather, he allowed these Wild Wolves to come hurtling towards him. After which, his limbs swung out simultaneously as phoenix fire danced in the breeze. Whenever these Wild Wolves came into contact with his fist, foot or Phoenix Flame, they all perished in an instant. For a moment, wolf carcasses flew in all directions, and waves of bitter cries resounded continuously. Within a few breaths of time, a dozen or so wolves fell disorderly around Yun Che, becoming all sorts of warped, shattered wolf carcasses.
“Too weak, it’s impossible to get any experience from this sort of place. I’m only wasting my time.”
Yun Che clapped the back of his hand. Staring at the shady forest ahead, he quickened his steps and rushed into the depths of the Wasteland of Death.