Chapter 86 – Undisturbed Land
Editor: Seventh Peril
In the endless desert as far as the eye can see, the strong wind blew the sand into the air, causing the entire place to turn dusky.
Within the sandstorm, one could vaguely see a group of silhouettes slowly walking in the desert, causing this lifeless world to have a trace of life.
This desert was an independent land, located at the border of three great dynasties. It was known as the Undisturbed Land. This was also where the legendary Hongya Cave was located.
Amidst the sandstorm, there were five figures slowly moving forward. It was as if this sandstorm that ordinary people had trouble dealing with had no effect on them at all.
The party of five were none other than Ye Zhong and the others. After leaving Wanxiang City, it took them about a month to reach the Undisturbed Land.
However, after entering the Undisturbed Land, they slowed down.
Ye Zhong, who was in the group, frowned slightly, and subconsciously took a glance behind him. Since a few days ago, he had felt that they were being watched.
There were only three people who had their eyes on the five of them. Obviously, the other party was very confident in their own abilities while they trailed after, maintaining a very short distance between Ye Zhong’s group.
At the beginning, only Ye Zhong and Ling Yue were aware of these people, but later on, Su Yu and the other two were also vaguely aware of something, thus increasing their speed even more.
Although they didn’t know why, as soon as they left the Xingxiang Sect, the five of them were being watched. But no matter what, now that things had come to this point, it was impossible for them to retreat.
Unlike Su Yu and the others, Ye Zhong was not worried at all about the three pursuers. This place was not the Xingxiang Sect. Since these three came to seek their own deaths, he would not be courteous.
“Hehehe— Little fellows, I’m afraid I’ll need you all to wait for a moment.” Seemingly aware that Ye Zhong and the rest had discovered their presence, one of the pursuers sneered and moved to the front of them, blocking their way.
As his voice faded, the other two approached from two different directions, surrounding Ye Zhong’s party.
“What’s the matter?” Ling Yue looked at the three of them that had suddenly appeared, she frowned and asked.
“Heh, little girl, actually, there’s nothing much to it. It’s just that this region does not welcome certain people very much. As long as you can prove that you did not come from the Xingxiang Sect, then everything will be fine.” The man who had first spoken chuckled. With a flip of his hand, a long sabre appeared in his palm.
“*Bang—*”
Before Ling Yue and the others could react, Ye Zhong stomped on the ground and shot forward. With a slash of his palm, he retreated a moment later.
When he retreated, the three men who had surrounded them earlier had looks of disbelief on their faces. They clutched their throats as they slowly collapsed to the ground. A small cut appeared on their throats as it split open with blood spraying out.
Looking at Ye Zhong’s thunder-like speed, both Hao Feng and Lu Bing, who had never seen him in action before, were shocked. Even Ling Yue’s eyes flashed with surprise.
“Aren’t you acting a little too fast? Can’t we keep one of them alive? ” Su Yu sighed.
Looking at the dead bodies, Ye Zhong stepped forward and then searched one of the bodies, there was a Spiritual Talisman inside his palm.
After scanning the talisman for a while, Ye Zhong spoke softly, “This is a Sound Transmitting Talisman. If I was a little slower, they would have shattered it. By then, we would not be dealing with just these three… Not only that, it’s very clear that these three people are coming after our Xingxiang Sect.”
As Ye Zhong finished speaking, Ling Yue and the others frowned. They had also heard the words of these three people. Although they didn’t know who these three people were, they clearly didn’t want the people of the Xingxiang Sect to enter the Undisturbed Land.
“Senior Sister Ling Yue, three years ago, was the previous team from our Xingxiang Sect really here just for a stalk of Yin-Yang Flower?” Ye Zhong spoke softly after a moment of silence.
“At least that is the information I received.” Ling Yue was silent for a moment, before replying in a low voice, “If there’s any other concealed information, I’m afraid we’ll have to investigate it ourselves.”
Ye Zhong nodded his head and said indifferently: “I’m afraid the journey to the Hongya Cave will not be as easy as we thought, there should be a major power behind these three. Although I don’t know why they’re having trouble with our Xingxiang Sect Sect, it’s better not to reveal our identity as the disciples of the Xingxiang Sect.”
When the other four heard this, they slightly nodded. Then, with a wave of Ling Yue’s hand, the group moved forward slowly once again.
Although the situation had developed to this point, no one was afraid or had a thought of retreating.
Along the way, Ye Zhong and the others encountered a few more groups who were checking their identities. All of them were wearing the same outfits as the first group they had met.
However, since Ye Zhong and the others knew that the major power behind these people was hostile towards the Xingxiang Sect and had deployed such a large number of patrol teams, if their identities were exposed, the outcome would be a fight to the death. Therefore, all the groups they had met along the way were quickly dealt with by Ye Zhong.
After finishing off another group of unknown origin, an ancient city that was built in the desert finally appeared in front of everyone’s eyes.
“This is Iron Sand City of the Undisturbed Land. Iron Sand City should be the only gathering place within the circumference of hundreds of miles. Any expert who wishes to enter the Hongya Cave will come here to get some rest and recuperate themselves. Although the Unhindered Land is a place that even the three great dynasties cannot interfere in, there is a major power within Iron Sand City called the Black Sand Gang, which can be considered as the local snake. I suspect that the fellows we encounter along the way are all related to the Black Sand Gang, so we must be extremely careful after entering the Iron Sand City.” When the city appeared before them, Ling Yue slowly explained to Ye Zhong and the rest.
“This place is indeed not simple.” Ye Zhong said softly after glancing at the city walls of the Iron Sand City. Although there was no one guarding the city gate, quite a few experts were vigilantly looking at the gate from the shadows. They were most likely the members of the Black Sand Gang.
“If possible, I don’t want to enter this city, however, we still need to gather some information here. Hongya Cave only opens once every three years, but it is not located in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Our Xingxiang Sect does not have much understanding of it, so we can only enter to gather more information… If the Hongya Cave is opened, all the powers within the three kingdoms will be attracted. As for those fellows, we must find out their background, otherwise, we will be at a huge disadvantage.” Ling Yue was obviously very experienced with this kind of mission. After her eyes froze on the entrance of the Iron Sand City for a moment, she softly spoke up.
Ye Zhong and the others nodded slightly to agree. Entering the Iron Sand City was indeed a risk to expose their identity, but if they did not enter, they would not be able to obtain the information they needed.
Ling Yue nodded slightly upon seeing their response. With a wave of her hand, she led the way towards Iron Sand City.
Under the watchful eyes of those who had been lurking in the shadows, Ye Zhong and the others slowly entered the city. However, the moment they entered the city through the gate, their pupils constricted at the same time.
There was none!
Other than the whistling of the wind, there was actually no other sound in the huge Iron Sand City. There was no bustling and lively atmosphere as they had expected, as if this was just a huge ghost city.
“Something doesn’t seem right.” Ye Zhong frowned, a serious look flashing across his eyes. He could sense an abundance of blood aura from within the Iron Sand City.
“Not good, let’s retreat!”
Ye Zhong’s expression changed. He suddenly waved his hand, giving a sign to Ling Yue and the others to leave.
As soon as Ye Zhong’s voice fell, numerous dark red figures jumped out from every corner of the Iron Sand City. In a blink of an eye, the empty city was occupied by those dark red figures.
At this moment, Ye Zhong’s face was unsightly to the extreme.
These dark red figures that had suddenly appeared were not much different from humans. However, all of them had huge bat-like wings on their backs. Their bodies glowed with a dense blood-red light.
Although the individual strength of them was only at the Third or Fourth Layer of Body Tempering Realm, the sudden appearance of so many of them at once, was enough to cause the corners of any expert’s eyes to twitch.
“This is… Blood Phantoms—” Ye Zhong stared at the figures that suddenly appeared, his pupils shrinking, “Damn it, how could there be so many Blood Phantoms in the Western Desolate Realm!”
Even in the Three Thousand God Realms that had ten thousand races, amongst the countless experts that could be compared to the number of stars in the sky, Blood Phantoms were still extremely terrifying. The background of this race was extremely great, and ordinary Martial Dao experts wouldn’t dare to casually provoke them. Even with Ye Zhong’s skills back then, he was still extremely wary of these Blood Phantoms. If one offended them, it would be no different than stirring up a hornet’s nest. No one would want to encounter something like that.
However, who would have thought that there would be so many Blood Phantoms here today? Damn it! The Blood Phantom Race should fear the scorching sun the most. Iron Sand City was located in the middle of the desert, and should be their forbidden area. How could so many of them appear in this city?
With the exception of Ye Zhong, Ling Yue and the rest were all in disbelief. The scene before their eyes was completely beyond their imagination. Even Ling Yue who had been calm all the time, was trembling slightly. With their strength of Nine Layers of Body Tempering Realm, how could they handle the situation in front of them?