Chapter 424 - 174: Barren Land, Little Demon on Patrol, Invoking Gods

This Elder Demon, however, could not be killed.

At least, not for now.

’However, just because I can’t kill it right now doesn’t mean I can’t put it to use.’

BOOM!

With a single thought from Su Bai, the hundred-zhang altar before him began to shake and tremble once again. The diffused red light instantly reversed its flow, condensing upon the runes.

A new round of sacrifice was about to begin.

...

The world was vast, seemingly without end. In the million years since time immemorial, those who had crossed the Four Seas and traveled the Five Continents were few and far between.

The journey was simply too long, the path fraught with peril.

Even for beings who had cultivated formidable Divine Power Techniques and broken through to the Void Realm, it was an absolutely miserable ordeal.

The Eastern Continent, the Land of the East Pole, was where the great sun rose. It and the Western Continent were known as the most scorching places in the world.

By the same token, the northern and southern continents were the most frigid.

The great sun was just beginning to rise.

Its endless light spilled across the land.

But even at dawn, not a trace of coolness remained in the air. It was as hot as a furnace.

The countless plants and trees across the mountainside drooped listlessly.

CAW! CAW!

A few old black crows let out mournful caws from within the forest.

A gust of hot wind blew past, parting the overgrown grass to reveal rotting white bones that had lain hidden for who knows how many years.

CRACK!

A cloth boot landed with a crisp crack, instantly crushing the skull to pieces.

WHOOSH!

Then, an old, withered right hand reached down, picked up a pinch of bone dust, and rubbed it between his fingers.

"This person was a skilled practitioner with a high level of Cultivation. Even though these bones are now brittle, they’re at least a thousand years old."

Huaisheng Daoist blew the dust from his fingers, his expression grim.

Human bones left exposed in the wilderness, subjected to wind, sun, and torrential rain, rarely last long before weathering away completely.

To say nothing of the fact that the environment of the Eastern Continent was far, far harsher than that of the Central Continent, home to the Dayu Immortal Dynasty.

For this skeleton to have survived so long, its owner must have possessed a formidable Cultivation.

"What kind of godforsaken place is this? Can you really not even find a dead body?"

Chen Qin’Yin, dressed in a yellow tunic and carrying a red gourd that was a head taller than she was, frowned, her expression dark.

In the Central Continent, it was common to find roadsides littered with buried bones.

Anywhere the wild grass grew thick, there were sure to be bones buried beneath. But the Eastern Continent was different. Skeletons were a rare sight.

This wasn’t because the Eastern Continent was more peaceful or safer than the Central Continent, but because it was populated so sparsely as to be appalling.

There weren’t even any dead people!

And when they finally did find a skeleton, it turned out to be a thousand years old.

"Could it be that the people of the Eastern Continent... are truly all but extinct?"

Gazing at the desolate surroundings, the wrinkles on Huaisheng Daoist’s face seemed to deepen, revealing a profound weariness.

This path was even more difficult than he had imagined.

It had taken them four full years to cross the heavenly chasms and arrive at the Land of the East Pole in the Eastern Continent.

But after arriving in the Eastern Continent, their greatest challenge turned out not to be persuading the locals to build a God-Sealing Platform.

It was that there was hardly anyone left on the Eastern Continent at all.

The number of Demon Ghosts far surpassed the number of humans!

Who could have imagined that a continent spanning countless leagues would become a barren wasteland, virtually untouched by human feet?

According to records from a thousand years ago, this Eastern Continent was supposed to have been quite prosperous.

While its population couldn’t compare to the Central Continent’s, it still numbered in the billions.

But now, after more than a year of building the God-Sealing Platform, the total number of people they had met did not even match the population of a single county in the Dayu Immortal Dynasty.

And even that small group of people had been discovered in an isolated pocket deep within the mountains.

Most of them had even lost the ability to speak.

Many lived like animals, eating raw flesh and drinking blood; they could no longer be considered humans from a civilization of Cultivation.

They were practically savages.

"Even if they’re not completely extinct, I’d say they’re close."

Chen Qin’Yin’s face was ashen.

Building a God-Sealing Platform was no simple task. If the Eastern Continent were as bustling as the Central Continent, they could have erected one in just two or three years.

But this Eastern Continent was a dead land, teeming with Demon Ghosts. Living people were rarer than gold.

This drastically slowed their progress in building the God-Sealing Platform.

After all, constructing a God-Sealing Platform wasn’t as simple as throwing up a thatched hut.

The required materials may not have been particularly precious, but the sheer quantity needed was staggering.

Thus, even after more than a year, this God-Sealing Platform was still incomplete, lacking several important materials.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Chen Qin’Yin fell silent. Her expression turned cold as her gaze shot toward a spot a thousand zhang away.

"How dare you spy on us? You’re courting death!"

"Patience. Don’t be rash."

Huaisheng Daoist suddenly spoke, stopping Chen Qin’Yin before she could act.

"SCREECH!!"

Following a sharp screech, a black shadow darted into the wild grass and, after a few flickers of movement, vanished completely.

"Why did you stop me?"

Chen Qin’Yin frowned.

Meeting Chen Qin’Yin’s questioning gaze, Huaisheng Daoist shook his head slightly.

"Let’s follow it and take a look. There’s something unusual about that Demon Ghost."

"What? Unusual?"

Chen Qin’Yin frowned but didn’t make another move.

In the past five years, all of them had suffered for underestimating the old Daoist before.