True Martial World - Chapter 1022: Night Fog

"Is that the divine tree?" Yi Yun had also heard of legends depicting the divine tree in the Azure Wood Great World but it was the first time he was seeing it today.

"Successor, are you sure that's the divine tree? Why would its roots appear here? There are no records of it in canon." Granny Yin muttered. She found it hard to accept that the sect's canon would suddenly lose its importance.

"It's the divine tree."

As the successor to the Azure Wood Manor, Yue Yingsha's life had an ethereal connection with the divine tree's aura. It gave her confidence that her intuition wasn't wrong.

"Let's go over and take a look."

The legends spoke of a great woman—the one in the Azure Wood Manor's portraits—who had planted the Azure Wood Great World's divine tree. It determined the providence of the world it resided in, but tens of millions of years ago, the world had begun its decline.

Although Yue Yingsha knew that it was impossible to halt the destruction of the Azure Wood Great World, she was determined to do something. She hoped that something fortuitous would come out of it if she approached the divine tree's root network which she had never encountered before.

Yi Yun nodded. The divine tree that had lived for hundreds of millions of years was a miracle of life. It exceeded the Dao Tree with the three thousand Great Dao he encountered back in the Pure Yang Sword Palace in every possible way.

The trio began approaching the tree's vast network of tree roots. The roots of the massive tree did not appear distant, but for some baffling reason, the trio was unable to close the gap despite their hike.

Despite the seemingly harmless environment, the trio did not attempt to fly in the Door to the 33 Skies since it was filled with all kinds of oddities. They had been especially cautious as they proceeded.

Unknowingly, the sky gradually darkened. Yi Yun looked up and saw twinkling stars hanging in the sky. A faint river of stars stretched across the sky in a splendid and resplendent manner.

This left Yi Yun baffled. The Azure Wood Great World was a sealed off world, so how could they see the massive arm of a galaxy? Could it be that the sky they were looking at was not the Azure Wood Great World's?

It was unknown when a night fog had slowly rolled in. However, the fog did not affect visibility because of its thinness. Granny Yin had subconsciously slowed down her footsteps as her intuition for possible danger had been honed from the years she had seen and lived through.

"Kid, let's slow down. I find something amiss," said Granny Yin. In the night fog, they were still able to see the starry galactic arm, but they could no longer see the mountainous behemoth in the distance. The divine tree's roots had already been hidden amidst the thin fog.

Yi Yun activated his energy vision but he failed to see anything strange. However, he had slowed down as well.

Suddenly, Yi Yun heard the sound of flowing water. It was faint and imperceptible.

Yi Yun was unsure about the source of the night fog that was enveloping them. It could have been a river or something else, but he found the fog extremely odd. Looking ahead, everything appeared indistinct due to the fog, but behind him, the fog was in no way thick. The path that they had taken was still crystal clear. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"Why do I have this nagging feeling that we are lost…" said Yi Yun suddenly. Looking at the starry sky above them, they had been walking in one particular direction. The divine tree's roots should have been straight ahead of them, but the unrest in his heart was intensifying. Yet, he could not see anything through his energy vision.

Not seeing things should have been a good thing, but it was abnormal for there to be nothing.

Yue Yingsha was trying her best to recall the written canon of the Azure Wood Manor, but just as she wanted to say something, she suddenly felt a cold chill behind her back that made her hair stand.

Yue Yingsha turned her head abruptly as her expression changed drastically.

This gave Yi Yun a shock as he hurriedly turned his head. There was nothing in the vague and shadowy fog.

"What's wrong?"

From Yue Yingsha's pale expression, Yi Yun guessed that she had seen something a moment ago.

"An eye…I saw a pink-colored eye. It was the size of a bowl, and the eye was following us like a ghost. It has been observing us all this while, and it disappeared the moment I turned back."

Yue Yingsha secretly felt vexed. She too was a practitioner of martial arts. It was unbecoming of her to react in such a frightened manner. If it had been a dangerous attack, she might have been too frightened to even use half of her combat strength.

"An eye?" Yi Yun felt his heart skip a beat. He did not believe that Yue Yingsha had been mistaken. It was likely possible that such a thing truly existed in the fog. What was most strange was that his energy vision was unable to see anything.

The energy vision was not omnipotent. All it could do was give him a vision of energy. What if the object that was hiding in the dark did not have any energy fluctuations?

Such an existence that could approach him so silently gave Yi Yun the chills. He had to be cautious regardless of the case. The dangers which awaited him in the Door to the 33 Skies was unimaginable. He had crossed the Blood Desert with verve, but it was only because he could see the killing mechanism of the Blood Desert through his energy vision.

Due to Yue Yingsha's fear of being sneaked up from the back, she looked back after almost every step. As they proceeded forward, that faint sound of water turned clearer.

As they emerged out of the fog, they finally saw the source of the water sounds.

In front of the trio, there was a black river that extended itself into a col. There was a whirlpool in the col that seemed to flow deep underground.

The black river's waters were sticky and heavy, resembling black ink. The river wasn't wide, but it gave off a peculiar vibe.

And what absolutely terrified Yi Yun was the white bones he could vaguely see in the whirlpool. As the black river unloaded itself into the col, the bones bobbed up and down before succumbing to their fate of being swallowed by the whirlpool.

By the banks of the river, the lush grassland had gone as far as it could, but the grass had already turned black. Beneath the grass, there was a layer of white powder.

Yi Yun remembered everything that he had seen in the White Bone Ridge. It was bone ash that had been scattered along the banks of the lake, which had become fertilizer for the wormwood.

"It's dangerous! Let's leave quickly!"

Granny Yin suddenly yelled in a voice as jarring as a nightbird.

Without giving it any thought, Yi Yun fled with Granny Yin, who had a high cultivation level! Granny Yin held Yi Yun with one hand, and Yue Yingsha in the other, while running as fast as possible with her movement technique.

Yi Yun subconsciously looked back but saw the black wormwood by the lake dancing like snakes. The layer of soil had ruptured as bone ash stirred.

Yi Yun did not know what would have happened if he had stayed behind.

Granny Yin flew a distance of ten thousand feet in one breath. Suddenly, she saw a group of people in front.

Granny Yin was alarmed, but just as she wanted to retreat, she realized that the group of people were the Azure Wood Manor separatists. It included Seven Plume and the purple-robed elder.

These people had finally managed to leave the Blood Desert at a painful cost.

"Oh? It's you!"

A cold beam flashed in Seven Plume's eyes. He had suffered greatly in the Blood Desert and he was bent on getting his revenge.

True Martial World - Chapter 1021: Divine Tree

"Ka Ka Ka!"

Just as the group watched was in shocked horror, cracks suddenly covered the ice sculpture. Next, it shattered under the watchful eyes of the group, scattering to the ground as ice fragments.

These ice fragments were tiny like rice grains. When they scattered onto the red sand, they were quickly covered by the shifting sands before vanishing. It was as if the man with the mole had evaporated into thin air, with nothing left behind.

Upon seeing that scene, the Azure Wood Manor separatists felt a cold chill that struck deep into their hearts.

It was clearly not an ordinary form of frostbite, but a strange manifestation of laws. The ice had burst out from the body of the deceased.

"How could that have happened? We were clearly following…" Seven Plume turned to look at Yi Yun suddenly.

The Azure Wood Manor separatists, who were present, had been following in Yi Yun's footsteps. There was not even a single misstep on their part. Under such a situation, shouldn't they be completely fine like Yi Yun? Why did such turn of events happen?

Someone began to suspect that Yi Yun had used a sleight of hand to fool them.

"Punk, did you secretly do something?" questioned someone from the Azure Wood Manor in a threatening manner.

"Do I need to explain to you? Did I get you to follow me?" asked Yi Yun as he looked at the questioning Azure Wood Manor disciple, as though he was a retard. "Didn't the lot of you say that the path you divined happened to be identical to mine? Why are you questioning me now?"

With one sentence, Yi Yun had caught their tongues.

They were unable to say a word, no matter how shameless they were. To put it honestly, the death of their compatriot was of their own choice.

"If you like to follow me, go ahead and continue doing so." As Yi Yun said that, he ignored the group of people as he continued proceeding forward.

At that moment, the purple-robed elder said with a sigh, "The powers of nature in the Blood Desert is not static. We have already entered another region, so the laws will change as well. It might be fine when others take it, but trouble will befall us when we follow in those footsteps."

As the purple-robed elder spoke, Yi Yun had already opened up a distance of nearly a hundred paces. There were too many possible changes that could happen in a hundred paces. Furthermore, the Blood Desert was extremely odd. A mere hundred paces were enough to blur Yi Yun's figure from their point of view. There was also no way for them to discern the spot where Yi Yun's feet landed.

With Yi Yun about to leave, Seven Plume and company turned furious and anxious.

"Elder Dagu." Without any options left, all Seven Plume could do was look at Elder Dagu again.

"Why are you panicking!? Once I do another round of divination, we will definitely be able to leave the Blood Desert!" said Elder Dagu angrily.

When he cast his cold gaze at the people from the Immortal Rain Sect, Marquis Wu Yun's heart sank.

If they wanted to live, they had to follow the Azure Wood Manor separatists. However, it was needless to say that they would definitely be used as stepping stones.

…

Granny Yin, who was following Yue Yingsha closely, could not help but ask with a whisper, "Successor, are we really abandoning those people?"

Although she was displeased with them, they were still lost progeny of the Azure Wood Manor. It was unknown how many of them would die if they were abandoned.

Yue Yingsha turned her head to take a look. In just slightly more than a hundred paces, those people had turned into blurry figures.

She retracted her glance and said in an unfeeling manner, "Granny, these people are wicked monsters with diabolical designs. They are only doing it for themselves. It is unlikely that they have a sense of belonging towards the Azure Wood Manor. It's all thanks to Yi Yun if we can escape the Blood Desert."

Granny Yin had nothing in response. She knew that based on her attitude towards Yi Yun from before, it was already nice of Yi Yun to not add insult to injury. All she could do was release a lengthy sigh.

"Yi Yun, I never expected you to have such talent in array formations. How long have you been studying the arts of array formations?" Granny Yin asked out of curiosity.

Elder Dagu had flaunted his skills in array formations ostentatiously in such a confident manner, yet he was far inferior to Yi Yun.

It could only be a few decades even if Yi Yun had begun studying the arts of array formations when he was in his mother's womb. To warriors, such a period of time was analogous to a baby's childhood to mortals. It was just the beginning.

"I actually do not know much about array formations," said Yi Yun.

Doesn't he know array formations? Granny Yin was momentarily stupefied as she said, "Then…"

"I've never studied the arts of array formation. All I did was observe the forces of nature and the evolution of energy. From that, I recognized the patterns and figured out the underlying rules" Yi Yun explained with a light touch.

Granny Yin found it unbelievable when she heard Yi Yun's explanation. However, from the unperturbed state he was in, he did not look like he had lied. If Yi Yun was so sharp in sensing fluctuations in the forces of nature or energy, then his talent was outrageously shocking.

"If that's true, this child is truly talented. Unfortunately, he is not a disciple of my Azure Wood Manor," thought Granny Yin.

"Oh? We have walked out of the Blood Desert!?" Seeing the red sand come to an end, a pleasant surprise suffused on Yue Yingsha's beautiful face.

When they stepped across the demarcation formed by the red sand, Yue Yingsha felt spatial changes. The ground beneath her suddenly became a vast savannah that was brimming with life. The burning sun above their heads had vanished.

When she turned back to take a look, the Blood Desert behind her had vanished as well. It was as though it had never existed.

The Blood Desert was actually not large, but if one could not find the correct path, people would either be lost in it for the rest of their lives or quickly die in it.

"This is…"

Yi Yun cast his gaze afar. He could see a black mountain range in the distance that looked like a gigantic dragon crouching across the horizon. What was strange about it was the rich and brimming vitality that came from the long mountain range.

In addition, the mountain range contained life energy that was as tumultuous as the seas from his Purple Crystal's energy vision.

A mountain range with life force in it?

The Door to the 33 Skies was truly fascinating!

"This is probably…not a mountain range," said Yue Yingsha with her eyes closed. She had similarly felt the life force within the mountain range. Her expression was one of awe and reverence.

"Oh? Are there records of this in the canon as well?" asked Yi Yun as he glanced at Yue Yingsha.

"There are no records of this in the canon. All I can do is guess. Let's go closer." Yue Yingsha was uncertain as well. Together with Yi Yun, she traversed the grasslands that were lush with vegetation. They gradually drew closer to the mountain range and slowly, Yi Yun saw it clearly.

On the long mountain range, it was covered in old and strong winding timber. The wooden textures drooped down along the mountain range, as though they were flowing down the mountain like a river.

"This is…"

Yi Yun was astonished.

"The divine tree! It's the divine tree's roots… I can sense a familiar aura from it. It must be the divine tree at the core of the Azure Wood Great World!" said Yue Yingsha with a look of surprise on her face.

The Azure Wood Great World's divine tree was situated in the middle of the Azure Wood Great World and it determined the providence of the world. If not for the divine tree, the Azure Wood Great World would have long collapsed.

Yue Yingsha had the impression that the Door to the 33 Skies was in a completely different space from the Azure Wood Great World. However, the divine tree's roots had spanned across the confines and barriers of space, stretching into the Door to the 33 Skies!

True Martial World - Chapter 1020: Shameless

"This punk has chosen a different path and he is proceeding down it himself. It's simply courting death, so let's wait for him to vaporize!"

Many of the Azure Wood Manor separatists had seen Yi Yun walking into the Blood Desert. Moments ago, Yi Yun had been hiding behind them while watching them incur ridicule on themselves. They were already incredibly vexed about the situation, and now, it was finally Yi Yun's turn to traverse the land of death.

"A single misstep out of the thousand steps in the Blood Desert would result in an irredeemable outcome. That bit of skill he has is nothing but him courting death," said the purple-robed elder.

Mistakes could hardly be avoided when one attempted to divine the forces of nature; thus, the purple-robed elder refused to believe that Yi Yun had seen through the mysteries of the Blood Desert. Having nine lives was not even sufficient to cross the Blood Desert alone.

After taking a few steps, Yi Yun turned and said to Yue Yingsha, "Yue Yingsha, why don't you follow me?"

"I…" Yue Yingsha felt somewhat apologetic. How could she let Yi Yun probe the way in front while she followed safely behind?

"It's fine. The Blood Desert might appear endless, but it's actually not that big. It wouldn't take long to cross it."

As Yi Yun was saying that, he turned around and proceeded forward.

Wouldn't take long to cross it?

The way Yi Yun said it sounded way too relaxed.

The speed at which Yi Yun walked was at the speed of common mortals. But this was in stark contrast to the other disciples of the Azure Wood Manor, who walked at speeds that could rival a tortoise's because of the fear of stepping into a forbidden zone.

Under the watchful gazes of many people, Yi Yun proceeded to take ten steps followed by twenty steps. He did not encounter any danger as if he was walking in an ordinary desert.

How could it be… Did he really manage to find a path of salvation?

The Azure Wood Manor separatists found it incredulous.

"Maybe it's luck," insisted a young man who remained indignant. His gaze subconsciously turned towards the purple-robed elder.

However, he noticed that the purple-robed elder had an ugly expression on his face. The purple-robed elder knew very well that what Yi Yun was demonstrating was absolutely not something that could be explained away with luck. He had worked through all sorts of divinations, but two mistakes were made in over thirty steps. Now, Yi Yun had already walked for more than twenty steps without a problem. In addition to his accurate predictions from before, all of this led to the conclusion that Yi Yun had seen through the forces of nature embedded in the Blood Desert.

How did he do it?

In a blink of an eye, Yi Yun had already taken more than forty steps. The distance he had traveled had exceeded the progress the Azure Wood Manor had made. Although Yi Yun and the Azure Wood Manor had chosen two different paths, their direction was identical. Now, Yi Yun had already come to a spot ahead of the Azure Wood Manor separatists.

At that moment, those from the Azure Wood Manor who still refused to believe Yi Yun could no longer say a word. The facts were laid out in front of them. The path of salvation they had used Daoist arts to infer and forged by sacrificing lives was inferior to the path that Yi Yun had carved out casually.

"Elder Dagu, this…"

"I'm not blind. I'm seeing it!" said the purple-robed elder in a deep voice. He had suffered a huge blow when he realized that Yi Yun had surpassed him so simply.

"Elder Dagu, shall we change our paths and follow in Yi Yun's footsteps?"

Seven Plume suddenly made a suggestion. The spot they were in was only about a few dozen paces away from where Yi Yun was. If they tore through it and follow in his footsteps, wouldn't it lead to them crossing the Blood Desert?

"Well…alright…" said the purple-robed elder with a hesitant nod. Although it was an act of a wuss, it was indeed the safest and most effective method.

"Hold on! Bring us along! We can spare a few people to help you scout the path. Bring us along!"

A voice suddenly came from a short distance away. The person who had spoken was the Immortal Rain Sect's, Marquis Wu Yun.

These few Immortal Rain Sect disciples felt a deep sense of despair after witnessing their companions die. In the Blood Desert, they did not even dare flinch. Now, all they could do was rely on the people from the Azure Wood Manor so that they could leave the godforsaken land.

If they knew that the Door to the 33 Skies was fraught with such danger, they would not have come even if they were threatened by force. The expedition to the Azure Wood Great World was a disaster that had befallen them.

"Bring them along and get them to be the scouts," said Seven Plume. The purple-robed elder nodded and said, "Come over by yourselves. Being able to cross this distance will depend on your karma. If you are unable to cross it successfully, then it was fated that you perish here!"

…

"Yi Yun, those people intend to follow us," Yue Yingsha said frustratingly when she saw the scene behind her.

At that moment, Yi Yun was already leading the rest by more than fifty steps. As for the Azure Wood Manor separatists, together with the Immortal Rain Sect disciples, they had paid a significant price before they managed to reach the path Yi Yun had taken.

"Do you still have any sense of shame? Seven Plume, you were the one who forced Yi Yun to scout the way. Yi Yun refused and you disallowed him from following you. But now, Yi Yun has found a path of salvation, and you people are shamelessly following him. Your shamelessness has no bounds!" said Yue Yingsha from the front.

Seven Plume chuckled and said disdainfully, "Junior Sister Yingsha, you are too naive. The martial path has always been about unscrupulous schemes. What use does shame have? Can it improve your cultivation level?"

"Furthermore, how can you tell that we are deliberately following the two of you. It just happens that Elder Dagu has divined a path that is identical to yours in certain stretches. You might scorn us for following you, but why can't we scorn the two of you for blocking our paths in the front!?"

The more Seven Plume spoke, the more complacent he became. He was not afraid that Yi Yun would switch paths. Wherever Yi Yun went, they would follow his every step. Every step they took would be identical to the one Yi Yun took. He refused to believe that there would be any danger.

"That person is too shameless!"

Yue Yingsha never expected that such a shameless person existed in the world. She could have turned a blind eye about him following Yi Yun, but she never expected him to say something so shameless.

Yi Yun said, "What's the point of wrangling with such a person. Just let them follow."

Seven Plume gave a disdainful smile when he saw Yi Yun hold back his temper. This was the absolute repression that strength gave. He could deny Yi Yun from following them because they had the strength because they could destroy him if he followed.

But for Yi Yun, what could he do? All he could do was honestly swallow his pride and turn a blind eye towards their actions.

"Junior Brother Seven Plume, I wonder what mystic technique Yi Yun knows. It's surprising that he is completely unaffected by the Blood Desert. The Door to the 33 Skies is fraught with dangers, so he might still be of use in later areas." said a man with a large mole. A glimmer flashed in his eyes when he looked at Yi Yun. He was machinating something against Yi Yun in an attempt to exploit Yi Yun completely.

Seven Plume nodded and said, "I know what you are talking about. Although Yi Yun is somewhat unorthodox, his strength is his weakness. As long as we use this to our advantage, he would have to serve us."

"It's great that Junior Brother Seven Plume understands that," said the man with the mole as he nodded. Suddenly, the muscles on his face turned stiff. His expression froze completely as he came to a sudden stop. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"Oh? Senior Brother, what's wrong with you?" Seven Plume was momentarily surprised. He stopped and looked at the man behind him. Although the Azure Wood Manor disciples had been following Yi Yun, Seven Plume did not lower his wariness.

The man with the mole did not respond at all. It was odd that he had remained motionless for about ten seconds.

If this had been the beginning when they had just stepped into the Blood Desert, Seven Plume would have opened up a distance from the man when he saw such a situation develop. But now, the situation the man was in was completely different from the few people who had vaporized. Those people had instantly melted, so it was impossible to stop for such a long period of time.

Just as Seven Plume hesitantly released his perception in order to investigate the situation, he saw a stunning scene.

Countless ice crystals slowly emerged out of the man's body. The ice crystals tore out of his skin, but not a single drop of blood flowed out because it had all frozen. Countless ice crystals began to bloom like peach blossoms, and soon, it covered every inch of the man's body.

The man did not notice it. In fact, there was no life in him despite him maintaining his standing pose. In just a few seconds, the man's body was covered in ice as he became an ice sculpture!

On the man's face, there was still that look of surprise and oddness. Through the refraction and distortion of the ice, it gave people the chills.

What!?

Seven Plume had just been beside the man. He broke out in cold sweat from fear. What was going on!?

True Martial World - Chapter 1019: Endless Succession of the Dead

"Elder Dagu, what's going on?"

Having watched the burly youth die tragically, many of the Azure Wood Manor separatists turned fearful. If they had been the ones probing the way forward, they would have ended with the same outcome. It was an outcome that truly left them without any remains.

The purple-robed elder's face twitched as the expression on his face turned grim. He gritted his teeth and said, "The Heaven and Earth array of the Blood Desert is profound, so having an occasional mistake in the path I figured out can hardly be avoided."

Hardly be avoided?

He had said the words 'hardly be avoided' so frivolously, but to the scout, it would mean the outcome of turning into a pool of blood before vaporizing.

"What about that punk named Yi Yun? Why was he able to predict the fatal outcome from that one step?" Rooster asked. Yi Yun's words from before had left him with a lingering fear.

"Hmph! It was only sheer luck. How can a junior with such a low cultivation be able to see through the Heaven and Earth forces that imbue the Blood Desert? He was only making irresponsible remarks. Who doesn't know how to declare command over life and death? All he had was good luck that stumbled upon the truth with a sentence of his!" said the purple-robed elder disdainfully. There were people in the group that thought so too. In the previous war of words, it was normal for Yi Yun to hurl maledictions at them. It was only a coincidence that he had hit the nail on the head.

"Then what about probing the path?" A young man asked.

Everyone exchanged looks. Who would dare to be the first on this path that had mistakes that could 'hardly be avoided'?

Furthermore, the strangest part of the Blood Desert was that these areas that spelled certain doom did not seem strange in any way before the warriors stepped onto them. Be it through their vision or perception, they appeared normal in every way possible. However, as long as someone took a step, their bodies would melt. It felt like there was a particular law that was inducing the forces within the warrior's body that resulted in them spontaneously combusting before melting away.

The purple-robed elder grunted and said, "It's just the Blood Desert and the distance of a thousand paces. Even if there are risks, it would also be limited. All of you want to reach the pinnacle of martial arts, but you are reeling back in fear because of a bit of danger? From now onwards, all of you are to take turns to scout in front. Everyone will take ten steps before switching to another person. Your lives will be determined by the Heavens!"

The purple-robed elder issued the command. As the person in charge of studying the array to envisage a path, he naturally did not need to go up front.

There were a few Elders from the Azure Wood Manor separatists who did not plan on taking the lead either.

This was a privilege that their strength entailed. The juniors had no right to raise any objections.

A youth was chosen as he walked in front while trembling with fear. He was thin and frail-looking, as though he could not even withstand the blowing of the wind.

It was as if the purple-robed elder's envisaging had once again turned effective. After taking ten steps with bated breath, the junior managed to return unscathed.

Immediately following that, the next person was the lion-furred youth that had exchanged mockeries with Yi Yun.

The lion-furred youth lacked faith, but all he could do was grit his teeth and walk ahead. Every two or three steps, he would not forget to look back at Yi Yun.

Perhaps it was because he was too afraid of stepping into a forbidden zone because the lion-furred youth was grasping at every piece of information from his surroundings. It was as if he was trying to obtain clues from reading Yi Yun's every expression. Even though he was certain that Yi Yun's prophecy from before was a coincidence, he could not stop his wandering eyes.

This complicated and dilemmatic state of mind was something even the lion-furred youth could not explain himself.

When the lion-furred youth finished his ninth step with great difficulty, he subconsciously turned his head to glance at Yi Yun. This time, Yi Yun did not remain silent. He casually stretched his shoulders and said, "The courage of you people sending yourselves to your deaths in endless succession is truly admirable."

Oh!?

When the lion-furred youth heard that sentence, he felt all his fur stand. He was already overwhelmed with anxiety, yet Yi Yun was mocking him from the back. If not for him being in the Blood Desert, he truly wanted to head back and dice Yi Yun up.

"What's the meaning of that?" The lion-furred youth said savagely.

"Nothing. I'm just expressing my personal opinion." Yi Yun shrugged and did not speak another word. The Azure Wood Manor separatists intentions of him leading the way were equivalent to dooming him. Yi Yun obviously would not save people who wanted him dead.

"Hmph! Punk, don't smirk too soon. In a while, I'll watch you attempt to leave the Blood Desert. When you are walking alone, I'll want to see you vaporize after you are left gutless!"

As the lion-furred youth said that, he raised his foot hesitantly. However, he eventually gritted his teeth and landed his foot. It was the final step after all.

But that step...

"Phew–"

A nearly inaudible sound that resembled an invisible flame bursting out of the void was heard. The lion-furred youth felt an excruciating pain from his calf before he saw the flesh on his calf rapidly melting. Blood and bodily fluids were spewing out!

The melting surface was quickly spreading as it headed for his thigh!

"Ah!"

The lion-furred youth's eyes were blood-red as if they were cracking. With a loud bellow, all his muscles rippled with tremendous energy bursting out from his body!

"Sou!"

A golden beam of light flashed. The lion-furred youth's leg was immediately amputated across his thigh by a golden beam of light!

The lion-furred youth grimaced in pain as he fell backward. It was unknown when a large golden saber had appeared in his hand.

At that split second, the lion-furred youth had pulled out a golden saber and amputated his leg! If not for that, the corrosive force that melted flesh would have spread across his entire body in a blink of an eye. If that happened, his outcome would only be him being left fleshless while his bone melted.

"Senior Brother Domineering Saber!"

The disciples of the Azure Wood Manor separatists rushed over, but they did not dare come close to him.

Blood was spewing out of the lion-furred youth's left leg which he had amputated. He quickly tapped at a few acupuncture points to stop the bleeding before he managed to catch his breath.

At that moment, the leg that he had amputated had melted clean.

The lion-furred youth's face was pale as he sweated bullets. If he had been hesitant in any way, he would have perished.

…

"Yi Yun, are you able to foresee the dangerous zones?" Yue Yingsha was astonished as she turned her head to ask Yi Yun.

Yi Yun's alert the first time might have been a coincidence. As for the second time, Yi Yun did not directly alert them. All he said was a single sentence, but that sentence did not stop the lion-furred youth from encountering danger. With the two coincidences put together, Yue Yingsha already had her guesses.

"It's not something I can completely guarantee. All I can say that it's a type of feeling. Let's attempt to leave this place!" As Yi Yun spoke, he took a few steps through the Blood Desert. The path he chose was completely different from the one that the Azure Wood Manor separatists took.

Granny Yin was still in her original spot. She had not departed with the Azure Wood Manor separatists but it was obviously not because of Yi Yun. In fact, she treated Yi Yun as an enemy deep down. However, with Yue Yingsha staying behind, what else could Granny Yin do? All she could do was temporarily hold back.

Now, as Granny Yin watched Yi Yun walk through the Blood Desert, her eyelids twitched. That kid truly has the guts!

With the immense Heaven and Earth might in front of them, she had to rely on the Great Heavenly Compass, while the purple-robed elder had relied on his best thirty-six array flags, yet they did not dare claim to have seen through the profoundness within.

Even if Yi Yun's talent in array formations were heaven-defying and he had truly figured out something, how was he so certain that he did not make a mistake from his insight?

It was unknown how large the Blood Desert was. Even if the purple-robed elder's words of it being traversable with a thousand paces was true, it would be no trifling matter. Was it possible to not make a mistake for a thousand paces?

True Martial World - Chapter 1018: Array Cracking

In the vast Blood Desert, the Immortal Rain Sect and Azure Wood Manor disciples that were trapped within were like two lone boats lost in turbulent seas. They could capsize at any time.

In that moment of peril, Granny Yin took out the Great Heavenly Compass as she tried to divine the path out of the Blood Desert.

"Why did my disciple burn to death?"

The purple-robed elder was feeling agitated. At the final moment, it was he who had struck out with his palm, giving his disciple a quick death.

"I do not know either. Although there are some descriptions of the Blood Desert in canon, it only mentions of dangers in it. As for what the dangers are, the records aren't that detailed," said Granny Yin. She had a deep sense of worry hanging over her face. She had a feeling that over the hundreds of millions of years, the Door to the 33 Skies had experienced drastic changes after its disappearance. The canon the Azure Wood Manor had from years ago was no longer enough. It could even be possible that the Door to the 33 Skies was even more dangerous as the Azure Wood Great World was on the brink of destruction.

"Don't you have the Great Heavenly Compass?" asked someone from the Azure Wood Manor separatists.

"Although I have studied the Great Heavenly Compass for years, it cannot remedy my lack of talent. I only studied the dangerous zones that had detailed records in canon. I'm helpless against this Blood Desert even with the Great Heavenly Compass."

Granny Yin's words made everyone's heart sink. At that moment, the purple-robed elder stood forward as he took out a set of array flags from his interspatial ring.

The array flags' staffs were made of bones from Ancient Fey beasts, and the flags were made of Ancient Fey hide. Sealed within the flags were apparently living creatures that were writhing in pain.

One could tell that the purple-robed elder was feeling the pinch as he looked at those array flags. They were his most valuable array cracking treasure. The array flags had 'flag spirits' sealed in them. They would slowly deplete with every use and it would be completely useless once it was used too many times.

"Let me do it. Since there is an array formation in the Blood Desert, I'll use this trump card of mine that cracks arrays. It should be effective."

Granny Yin hesitated for a moment before letting the purple-robed elder study the situation. Now that they were in peril, every additional person meant an additional amount of strength. What would happen if the purple-robed elder managed to figure out something?

The purple blood elder stuck the array flags into Blood Desert's red sand. He began to combine his Daoist arts as he studied the Blood Desert's natural forces.

And at that moment, Yi Yun was also observing the Dao patterns around him that pervaded the Blood Desert. They were formed naturally from fragments of divine weapons that were destroyed in Blood Desert, carcasses of dead primordial creatures, or remnant laws.

Yi Yun realized that the spots where the people had burned to their deaths were not because they had stepped onto the Dao patterns, but because they had stepped onto the nodes between Dao patterns.

The distribution of the Blood Desert's Dao patterns had its own regularity. Three or four energy nodes would produce powerful forces that could vaporize people! Then…what would happen if he avoided the energy nodes?

…

After a long while, the purple-robed elder with his tightly knitted brows heaved a sigh of relief. He wiped the tiny beads of sweat from his forehead as he said, "So that's it! It should be that."

The purple-robed elder was muttering to himself as though he had been enlightened.

He did not look relaxed, but he had clearly made progress.

"Did you figure out something?" A disciple from the Azure Wood Manor separatists said anxiously.

"The Blood Desert might look endless, but it is actually not that expansive. If we keep walking straight, there is no way to escape this zone. Flying would not work either as it would be equivalent to suicide. We can walk here. There's a path here that leads us out. It crosses through the Blood Desert and all that's needed is about a thousand steps."

"Just a thousand steps? It's actually that short?"

The purple-robed elder pointed out a path as the Azure Wood Manor disciples remained unconvinced. Many were fearful as no one dared to take a step.

The purple-robed elder knitted his eyebrows into a stern look as he said, "Why? Does no one believe me?"

"How can it be?" Rooster laughed dryly. He indeed was not confident of the purple-robed elder's claims. It was mainly because Blood Desert was just too odd. He found it unbelievable that about a thousand steps were all that was needed to escape the land of death.

Of course, he did not proclaim what was on his mind. Instead, he said, "Elder Dagu has impressive attainments when it comes to array formations. However, there is always some risk to pathfinding. We can't let us Azure Wood Manor separatists undertake all the risk while people enjoy the labors of others by simply following behind."

As Rooster spoke, he glanced at Yi Yun. He had long found Yi Yun an eyesore. Furthermore, they wanted to probe the inner depths of the Door to the 33 Skies, so how could they bring an outsider along? It was most appropriate to get him to be the pathfinder. It would only be a joy if he died. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"What do you mean by that?" Yue Yingsha asked coldly as she stood in front of Yi Yun.

"Nothing. I'm just getting this young friend to walk in front. Our Elder Dagu has paid a nontrivial price in order to divine this path. Just one use of Elder Dagu's array flags would expend a portion of the flag spirits' energy. Do you know how great his loss was?"

"You want to follow us out at no cost? How can there be such a free ride in this world?"

Rooster's words were immediately echoed by the Azure Wood Manor separatists. The youth with his face covered in lion fur also stood forward and said, "That's right. All you need to do is be responsible for treading the path we found!"

Everyone looked at Yi Yun. Even Yue Yingsha's status was not useful based on the circumstances.

Although they had a request that depended on Yue Yingsha, the dangers they were facing in Blood Desert was tremendous. It was a problem if they could survive, so they obviously flung the thoughts of exploring the Door to the 33 Skies to the back of their minds.

"Punk, get over here and lead the way!" said Rooster in a queer manner. He believed that Yi Yun had no other choice.

Yi Yun flicked the red sand off his sleeves and said nonchalantly, "Did you just say that I will be following you out of the Blood Desert? You sure think highly of yourself. I wouldn't even be bothered to follow you even if you begged."

"What!?"

When Yi Yun said those words, it made all the Azure Wood Manor separatists stare angrily at him. They never expected him to speak so arrogantly!

"This little bastard is too arrogant. Senior Brother Seven Plume, I'll kill him!" A burly youth stood forward and was about to attack Yi Yun when he was stopped by Rooster. He knew very well that fighting in the Blood Desert was no different from committing suicide.

"You have guts." Seven Plume's eyes flashed a cold glimmer. "I want to see how you will walk out of the Blood Desert. Let's go!"

Since Yi Yun was quitting the group, the Azure Wood Manor separatists did not target Yi Yun any further. They were interested in seeing Yi Yun alone in the Blood Desert, looking pathetic with no one to help him. It was definitely going to be entertaining.

Someone from the Azure Wood Manor separatists was appointed as he followed the directions the purple-robed elder gave. Nothing happened to him after he took about eight steps.

"Awesome. Elder Dagu truly has the miracle of foresight. He is indeed able to divine the path to survival in this land of death." flattered someone.

"Haha!" Elder Dagu laughed as he stroked his beard while appearing rather satisfied.

"Yi Yun, are you really staying behind? With death on the line, don't try to act out of spite." Yue Yingsha turned anxious as she saw Yi Yun remain motionless while Elder Dagu was about to guide the Azure Wood Manor separatists away.

Yi Yun had saved her twice, so she could not leave him in the lurch. However, Yi Yun's feet were firmly planted in the ground. He had no intentions of leaving.

"Junior Sister Yingsha, if you don't leave now, you might not be able to leave anymore. Do you really plan on accompanying that punk to your death?" derided Rooster.

Yue Yingsha turned anxious. She could not shrug off Yi Yun as she gave Granny Yin a pleaful look. She hoped that Granny Yin was able to use the Great Heavenly Compass to divine a path, but clearly, Granny Yin lacked the confidence. Taking a step back, even if the Great Heavenly Compass found a path, it needed someone to test the ground. It was too dangerous to simply follow the results.

At that moment, Yi Yun said slowly, "Yue Yingsha, don't be worried. They won't be able to leave the Blood Desert. Soon, someone will die."

Yi Yun's words were not loud, but with the ears of warriors, they obviously heard him loud and clear.

What!?

The Azure Wood Manor separatists, who had walked a certain distance, looked back at Yi Yun angrily.

The burly youth that had walked more than ten steps forward revealed a murderous look. He was walking right in front, so if someone were to die, it would be him. Yi Yun's curse made him wish to smack Yi Yun to death!

"Little bastard, spout any more nonsense and I'll rip your mouth apart," admonished the burly youth.

"Why do we even care about him? He's just an ignorant punk. Does he think he has the right to evaluate Elder Dagu's divination?"

Another youth said as Elder Dagu stroked his beard. A cold look flashed in his eyes as he said, "This child is ignorant as he maligns the Heavenly Dao. This Blood Desert is a naturally formed force, and all I feel towards it is fearful reverence. All I understood was a trivial part of it, but for him to talk wildly, it's not only laughable but sad."

"Then go on ahead." Yi Yun spread out his hands, "Who can stop it if you want to die?"

"Die? I'll show you exactly what will happen!" The burly youth said with a sneer as he suddenly took a big step out.

He did not feel like anything had happened with his step, but before he had the chance to act complacent, he suddenly felt the loss of feeling in his feet.

He looked down and saw his entire feet beginning to melt like wax that was consumed by flames.

Blood began to drip like candle wax, and soon his bones were exposed.

"Ah Ah Ah Ah!"

The burly youth cried out tragically, but the melting quickly spread to his thighs. Following that, it reached his waist and began moving up his torso.

'"Puah!"

The burly youth's abdomen burst open violently like a burst water bag. His organs were reduced to bloody fluids as they spewed out.

The burly youth's expression was twisted as his expression was filled with horror.

He had his mouth open, but he could no longer say a word. He could only look at Yi Yun in despair before looking at the purple-robed elder.

"I…I…I…"

The final voice he issued came to a halt. His head had been devoured by invisible flames. Moments later, his eyes burned into their sockets, and all that was left was a skeleton.

"Splash!"

The bones that were covered in blood and bodily fluids quickly splashed to the red sand as melted bone before completely vanishing.

Every Azure Wood Manor disciple was horrified.

When the purple-robed elder saw this, his eyes widened for he could not accept the fact.

He had been complacent just a moment ago, but now, it looked like he had aged greatly.

He…he really died!?

Did he make a mistake in his calculations? His original calculation was for them to take about a thousand steps to cross the Blood Desert. But now, one of them had died with just over ten steps. If they carried down this path, everyone would be dead before they left the Blood Desert.

At that moment, many people were looking at Yi Yun, who had his arms were crossed while looking calm. It was as if what had happened had nothing to do with him.

Was it a coincidence that Yi Yun had managed to predict the death of the burly youth just moments ago? But wouldn't it be too much of a coincidence?

True Martial World - Chapter 1017: Array of the Heaven and Earth

"Phew–Phew–"

A wind blew gently in a seemingly weak fashion. And high in the sky, the sun was burning even more fiercely, as though there were ten suns hanging in the sky! Even as warriors, they began to slowly find it blistering hot.

Yi Yun was fully focused as he surveyed the scrambled rocks around him. When he used the Purple Crystal to look at these rocks that seemed devoid of life, Yi Yun realized that these rocks formed a series of patterns, like they were burning fire plumes.

"What's going on?" Someone in the group asked. Many people remained prudent when inside the Door to the 33 Skies.

"Isn't it just a stronger sun? Even in the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven, there are situations when the weather changes on a whim, what more a world on the brink of collapse. There's nothing surprising for the sun to suddenly burn fiercer," said the youth dismissively. He was the one that had talked back to Granny Yin. Granny Yin's expression turned extremely grim as she yearned to kill this rascal that did not know better.

"Shut up!" Granny Yin suddenly attacked him as her wrinkled palm grabbed the youth!

"What are you doing!?" The youth's master took a step forward and grabbed Granny Yin's hand.

"Pa!"

The two elders exchanged blows, causing energy surges. However, neither side used much of their strength. In the strange Blood Desert, none of them dared to battle too seriously.

At that moment, Granny Yin was like an infuriated old beast. She said sharply, "The Blood Desert is an ancient battlefield. Large numbers of primordial creatures died here, along with the blood or fragmented treasures of ancient mighty figures. Everything that was destroyed here left the Blood Desert as a treacherous zone. The countless nomological fragments and the blood have formed a Heaven and Earth array of death after hundreds of millions of years. Anyone that enters it will definitely die!"

"Nomological fragments forming an array by themselves?" The youth laughed disdainfully. He did not believe it at all.

He had studied array formations from his master, so although his attainment in array formations was lackluster, he knew very well how intriguing array formations were. Even an array formation master might fail at setting up an array despite his painstaking efforts, so how could it be formed naturally? That would be too much of a coincidence.

"Let me go." The youth had also turned nervous when he was grabbed by Granny Yin. A cold look flashed in Granny Yin's eyes before she released her grip.

The youth took a few steps back as he opened up a distance from Granny Yin. He straightened his clothes and just as he wanted to say something, he suddenly felt something amiss.

When he tugged at his clothes, which were enchanted, they tore off easily. The enchanted clothes he wore was resistant against the elements. It had been so easily torn apart despite its ability to withstand a full-powered strike from a warrior at the Dao Manifestation realm?

He looked down and the clothes he had torn apart became scorching. However, it was not burning, but melting. It was like metal that had been placed into a furnace!

Not only was the cloth in his hand melting, even the clothes on his body were suffering the same fate.

Next was his flesh, hair, and skin!

"Ah Ah Ah Ah!"

Only then did the youth realize that he was in great peril as he yelled tragically.

It was painful! When the burning pain reached his bone marrow, it nearly drove him mad!

Upon seeing this scene, everyone, including Yi Yun, was dumbfounded from shock. The unforeseen event had happened too suddenly! All they felt previously was a balmy heat, but who would expect that a person would melt?

"Master, save me!"

The youth screamed for help, but at that moment, most of his flesh had melted away. Large quantities of blood and bodily fluids were dripping down from his body. The eyes in his eye sockets had already melted, leaving behind empty eye sockets. Only his bones were left where his limbs were, as his flesh and blood had already melted clean.

He staggered towards his master as his bones were dripping with blood and other fluids. In his heart, his master was the last life-saving straw. But at that moment, the eyes of his master, the purple-robed elder, were filled with horror. Although he knew that the Door to the 33 Skies was extremely dangerous, he had never seen such a horrible scene before.

A person had melted for no reason. What was going on?

Seeing his disciple about to reach him, the purple-robed elder immediately felt greatly threatened. He suddenly struck out with his palm, sending an immense energy blast that struck straight into the youth's chest.

"Bam!"

With an explosion, the youth was sent flying away as blood and bodily fluids splattered!

Granny Yin roared as she conjured an energy barrier, blocking all the fluids. She had a nagging feeling that the fluids were extremely dangerous.

"Bam!"

The youth, that was reduced to a skeleton, slammed heavily into the ground, splattering blood and bodily fluids everywhere.

Next, his bones seemed to burn at extremely high temperatures as they issued sizzling sounds. Following that, his bones began to melt. Some of them had melted before evaporating dry.

Finally, all that was left on the ground was a humanoid outline. It was dark red in color, and there was nothing left other than that.

This...

Everyone drew a cold gasp of air. The way the youth had died was too startling.

Yi Yun also shuddered in fear. He had previously seen the demonic eggs that were slumbering deep underground, but they were living creatures after all. It was still acceptable that they could reduce people to a decaying mess through their bites.

But now, the youth had died in a completely baffling manner.

"Everyone, do not move. In this land of danger, any wrong step will be your last! He died because he had taken a few steps back, stepping into a fatal zone." Granny Yin's hoarse voice sounded. Although the youth had been arguing with her, his death did not make Granny Yin feel any better. Instead, she felt a chill running down her spine.

Was the interior of the Door to the 33 Skies so dangerous? The descriptions in the records did not sound as bad as this!

"What do we do now?"

"We shall retrace our steps and leave this place." Droplets of sweat began oozing out of Granny Yin's forehead. She took out the Great Heavenly Compass once again to envisage the path back.

At that moment, no one had any other thoughts. The death of the youth had chilled their hearts. The Blood Desert was just too peculiar.

Furthermore, what left everyone puzzled was the mechanism behind the person's death without any living creatures. Where did the danger come from?

But at that moment...

"Ah, ah, ah!"

Screams resounded once again as the group turned their heads. The screams came from the Immortal Rain Sect members. They had been following closely behind the Azure Wood Manor and had been fine, but now, they had suddenly entered a land of danger, causing them to fall into peril.

Yi Yun stared at them. Under the blazing sun, two people had been reduced to liquid. Even their bones were quickly melting.

The other members of the Immortal Rain Sect had ashen expressions. Their expressions were as ugly as they could be.

Amongst them, Yi Yun saw Marquis Wu Yun. In the terrifying Blood Desert, Marquis Wu Yun was stronger than the rest, but it did not seem to increase his chances of survival in any way.

The expedition to the Azure Wood Great World was probably a disaster instead of an opportunity for most of the factions that entered it. Even a team from a powerful faction like the Immortal Rain Sect was left in shambles.

The people from the Immortal Rain Sect were completely trapped. They could neither retreat or advance.

And at that moment, Yi Yun had begun to carefully observe the surrounding sand and rock around the Immortal Rain Sect disciples. What he noticed to be identical were the fire-like patterns.

After a long and intense observation, Yi Yun finally confirmed that it was not a fire plume pattern, but...Dao patterns!

Just as Granny Yin said, this was naturally formed Dao patterns from over hundreds of millions of years in the Blood Desert!

The Blood Desert was an array of the Heaven and Earth, to begin with. It was also a terrifying array of death.

It was unknown how large the Blood Desert was. Just the thought of it was astounding. An array formation formed naturally by the forces of nature, formed over hundreds of millions of years. What sort of amazing power did nature have?

The more one practiced in martial arts, the more one could unravel the secrets of the universe.

Yi Yun kept looking at the Blood Desert as he constantly extended his vision range. It might have been a limitation of his cultivation, but even the Purple Crystal's energy vision made it impossible for him to see every single Dao pattern. Furthermore, the ones that were slightly further away were completely blurred.

Yi Yun could only confirm that these Dao patterns condensed various laws that were infinite in variety. The fire Dao pattern he saw was only just one of the myriad possibilities. The people that had evaporated previously probably had to do with that Dao pattern. However, Yi Yun had not fully understood what the connection was.

True Martial World - Chapter 1016: Blood Desert

"They are gone."

Without the strength or numbers, the members of the Immortal Rain Sect could only watch helplessly as Yi Yun and company left.

"What do we do?" Someone looked at Marquis Wu Yun for direction.

"Follow them from afar. Let them pave the way for us. The moment they experience trouble, we can take the opportunity to take action. If it's too dangerous, we will retreat, if not, we can kick them while they are down."

"Alright!"

The members of the Immortal Rain Sect decided on a seemingly ingenious plan. Following behind others was definitely much better than venturing through the minefields themselves.

...

"They are following us."

"Ignore them." As Granny Yin spoke, she took out a metallic compass from her interspatial ring.

It was made of old and rustic bronze. There was even some rust on the compass. It was inscribed with complicated Dao runes and looked like it had been in existence for an immense amount of time.

Granny Yin conjured a seal on the compass and moments later, the compass underwent certain transformations that indicated the way.

"What is that?"

This was the first time Yi Yun had encountered such an artifact.

"The artifact's real name is already unknown. We call it the Great Heavenly Compass. It's an artifact our Azure Wood Manor ancestors found in the Door to the 33 Skies. It can lead the way in the Door to the 33 Skies, allowing us to steer clear of danger. It also guarantees our safety in the Door to the 33 Skies."

"Back when our Azure Wood Manor probed the Door to the 33 Skies, the reason why so many people died was that we did not fully grasp the mechanics of the Great Heavenly Compass. By the time we got a grasp of it, the Door to the 33 Skies had vanished." Yue Yingsha explained with a voice transmission.

The Great Heavenly Compass was one of the most important treasures of the Azure Wood Manor. If not for the Door to the 33 Skies having vanished for hundreds of millions of years, making the Great Heavenly Compass lose its original value, it would definitely have been snatched away by the sect traitors. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

With the Great Heavenly Compass leading the way, there was a great deal of security, allowing the Azure Wood Manor separatists proceeded confidently. There were a few young people amongst them who were filled with anticipation regarding the legends spoken of that were at the end of the 33 Skies where the forbidden zone was.

"That bunch of outsiders is still tailing us!" A young man said disgruntledly. They were leading the way in front, making it easier for the people behind, so he was obviously unhappy about it.

"Let them follow. Even if it's the same path, there are all sorts of changes. They might still perish in the most horrible way possible," said Granny Yin. Her voice was hoarse and jarring to the ears. As she spoke, her eyelids twitched and she came to a sudden stop.

The path in front of them had vanished. A scarlet cliff appeared and the sand looked like they had been dyed red by blood. Rocks were half-buried in sand and their surfaces looked greatly weathered.

Other than the red sand and the rocks, there was nothing, nor was there even a hint of life. It gave people a baffling chill.

"Blood Desert. How could it be..." Granny Yin muttered to herself. Yue Yingsha was also alarmed.

"What's the problem?" asked Yi Yun.

"The Blood Desert is a zone that should only appear close to the forbidden zone, so it's unexpected that we encountered it here. If we enter the Blood Desert, we will suffer terrible losses. The sect records mention of the Blood Desert being extremely dangerous. It is said that it was an ancient battleground from hundreds of millions of years ago. The sand had been dyed red by the blood of primordial creatures, but for some unknown reason, no carcasses were left behind. They had all vanished."

Yue Yingsha was well read when it came to the canon, so she knew of the horrors of the Blood Desert.

"What's there to be afraid of?" A purple-dressed youth said nonchalantly. "Don't we have the Great Heavenly Compass? The Azure Wood Manor had many people die in the beginning because it lacked the Great Heavenly Compass. Now with the Great Heavenly Compass leading the way, there won't be any dangers."

"Hmph! Naive!" Granny Yin stared at the young man. "The Great Heavenly Compass is indeed insightful, but despite the years, our Azure Wood Manor failed to fully understand it. What I learned is also highly limited. If it can be properly used, we can indeed enter and exit the Blood Desert safely, but how can it be that simple!?"

"Your failure to accomplish that does not mean we can't. My master is proficient in array techniques and proficient at Daoist arts. If you lack the confidence, let my master do it!" said the purple-dressed youth proudly. A purple-dressed elder was pushed into the limelight.

The elder's head was strangely large, making his entire body appear disproportionate. He said nonchalantly, "It is hopeless for my cultivation to make any breakthroughs, so I do have some accomplishments in the Dao of array techniques. If Granny Yin finds herself lacking, she can let old me try."

"Spare me. Following you will only lead us into our graves!" Granny Yin said derisively. The elder was very displeased when he heard her words. "Hmph! Then I'll like to see you lead the way."

The big-headed elder returned tit for tat. Even though the Azure Wood Manor separatists and the orthodox Azure Wood Manor were cooperating, it was impossible for them to be in absolute harmony.

As the group of people ventured deep into the Blood Desert, Granny Yin remained extremely cautious. She stopped almost every ten steps and used the Great Heavenly Compass to foresee any portents and correct their direction. However, such progress was too slow.

"Is there a need? If this continues on, it'll take more than days for us to leave the Blood Desert!" The purple-dressed youth who spoke from before lost his patience.

"Shut up. Young lad, curb your arrogance. The dangers that lie await in the Door to the 33 Skies far exceed your imagination. If you are displeased with anything, you can leave at any time!" Granny Yin said angrily.

The purple-dressed youth scoffed and looked towards Rooster and said, "Senior Brother Seven Plume, this granny is stopping every ten steps. When will we ever exit this vast Blood Desert? The longer we stay in the Blood Desert, the easier it is for us to encounter danger."

"I had objected to cooperate with the orthodox sect, from the beginning. Look at what's left in the orthodox sect. An old granny who is becoming meeker as she grows older, a young lass that is hardly dry behind the ears. Furthermore, we need to bring an outsider of unknown origin along." As the purple-dressed youth spoke, he gave Yi Yun a disdainful glance.

Yi Yun smiled. Turning towards Yue Yingsha, he said, "Hey don't you think some retard is sick? There is no end to the nonsense he is spouting. If he had the guts, he can rush forward if he wants. It's not like anyone is stopping him!"

Yi Yun mocked unsparingly. The Blood Desert was odd. He could not wish for anything more than someone foolish enough to be a pathfinder.

"Who do you think you are to speak to me like that!? Senior Brother Seven Plume!" The purple-dressed youth looked at the rooster-like youth once again.

Seven Plume stroked his chin, but he did not express his intentions. The speed they were proceeding at was indeed slow. There was one thing the purple-dressed youth did not say wrong. If they moved too slowly in the Blood Desert, they might end up encountering additional danger because of their overstay.

At that moment, an indiscernible cold wind blew, stirring up the thin layer of red sand on the ground.

Yi Yun's heart thumped for no reason as he looked up. He realized that the sun had unknowingly turned diabolic.

The Azure Wood Great World and the Door to the 33 Skies were dark and gloomy, to begin with. Why did the sun suddenly burn so fiercely?

"Granny!" Yue Yingsha immediately tugged at Granny Yin. Granny Yin's expression changed as she looked at the rocks buried in the sand. What looked like extremely ordinary rocks previously were now like regularly ordered tombstones in Granny Yin's eyes. Not only were they orderly, they exuded strange vibes!