102 Page 1: Into the New World

The air, land and everything around weren't as different as the other world but one thing was particularly apparent, the essence was twice or thrice thinner. If one would look closely, the plants were more fragile and the it feels like there are less living creatures around.

The name dead lands doesn't reflect the things they were expecting to see based from its name. Instead, the view they see from where they were sent looks normal. After all the sect leaders opened the gate array to the dead lands, other 60 participants entered it together with the 40 main forces of the combined sects from the union islands. Right now, they are standing on a savanna- like place where small patches of small trees are found.

While everyone was still busy trying to get use to the atmosphere, there are others who are already starting to form their own factions. In an expedition like this, food and man power are important. No one knows about this new place so safety would be prioritized first and foremost. In the first place, before they entered the portal, the sect leaders and elders gave them two main objectives; first is to survive and second is to find treasures and other things that will make them grow stronger. For a year in the dead lands, they must stay alive until the portal will open back.

Another thing about the dead lands, this independent world is restrictive. Cultivators who were are at the Earth upper realm cannot enter the world, middle and lower can only pass through its barrier. If these people will try to enter, a barrier of the independent world will repulse them back. During the discovery of this independent world, the sect leaders weren't able to enter it but they were able to open it. When they sent someone in there before, the person who was at the Earth middle realm did not come back however they were able to learn that the portal can be opened again in a year. Even with the dangers it hold, they still thought there's a potential from this place that's why they used this as the final test for their young ones to become stronger before a 2nd rate sect will come and scout promising disciples.

*Earth Realm

-lower (body tempering)

-middle (soul tempering)

-upper (spirit tempering)

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"Elder Chang, what should we do first?"

Elder Chang is one of the elder council of the six star sect who entered the dead lands to serve as a support for Yue's team. Since he is at the soul tempering- 7th level of essence condensation layer, his strength somewhat feels reassuring. Similar with the other groups from the other sects, they were being accompanied by an elder who's likely at the kiddle or late levels of the essence gathering layer. This is the case for the main group. As for the free faction or cultivators who are not under the sect's guidance, there are some elders from their family who joined but they weren't as strong as the ones with the main force.

While each faction are discussing their plans, a lady disciple from the mirage sect approached Yue's team. Behind her were her team mates who were looking at Yue's team with caution.

"Little brother Bai, little sister Yue, this big sister of yours came to greet you before we leave this area. We plan to move due east, how about you?"

Yang Ruiya came and hugged Yue upfront. Since the friendly match, the two became close due to a common reason, Long Bai. After the two exchanged some greetings and some inaudible words, they separated and bid good byes.

"Little brother Bai, take care also!" Ruiya send a flying kiss before she made a quick run back to her team mates.

"What did you talk about?" Long Bai curiously asked Yue who was still smiling.

"You don't need to know~" Yue mysteriously replied. "So let us go then? Elder Chang, what do you say?" Yue looked at the elder. After receiving the confirmation, the group headed north as discussed.

After 10 minutes have passed, only 3 groups were left on the spot. A lot of the groups went via east and west due to the safe looking topography. Unlike the north side where its full of mountain ranges or south that hints the sea, the east or west became the most chosen are to explore.

Unlike the others, only a few chose to head north. Among the few was the the Yue faction who were focused in looking for a good high ground. As suggested by the elder, the first thing they should do is to find a spot where they would be able to scan a wide range of area. In this way, they can make some options later on about the direction they wanted to take. With a high ground, they can also defend themselves against possible beast encounters and other things related to it.

While they are traversing the craggy path towards the tip of the mountains, the group was having a conversation about what they currently feel.

"Everyone, is it just me that's getting tired or it's because something is wrong with this place?"

"Well, I too feel the exhaustion. Did we really travelled a good distance already? I felt like we only covered some few kilometers."

"I think so too. Back in our world, it would take me at least ten minutes before I will be able to feel tired. We were just running fir five minutes and yet my body feels heavy."

"Huh? Please stop! Wait a second." Long Bai requested. Everyone stopped from their tracks and looked at Long Bai.

"What is it brother Bai?" Yue asked curiously.

"Guys, did you not feel it when we entered this place?" Long Bai was also questioning with his eyes. He looked at everyone and noticed that they don't have a clue on what he was pertaining.

"Everyone, haven't you noticed that the essence in this place is thinner at least twice compared to our world? I thought you noticed it when we entered this world since everyone became nauseous." he continued.

"What? How?" The elder tried to absorb the essence from the air and was surprised to know the truth. Elder Chang opened his eyes and shuddered.

"Everyone! Sit and replenish your inner essence. Don't use your pills yet, we need to save them in case something happens!"

The elder was the first one to panic. Knowing that the world they entered was a minor world and with a thinner essence, it just connotes that their cultivation will be slower in here and if they'll be in danger, it would take them twice the usual time for them to recover. His thoughts were running wild.

'This is bad! We are used to a more abundant environment. Good thing Long Bai was able to notice it. He really deserved the title 4th alchemy elder. If we continued our run, we could have expended our essence and become defenceless if a beast would show up. We need to slow down our pace and minimize our essence use. We also need to get use to this new environment or else we will be making a lot of mistakes along the way.'

The elder looked at everyone's faces and saw their struggling expressions. Gathering the earthly essence in this world proved to be a challenge and the elder thought that everyone should get used to it in order to prevent any mistakes in the future. After 2 hours of sitting, the last one from the group to recover finally stood up.

"Listen everyone, we need to slow down our pace. If we continue like before, we might get into trouble. The essence here is way too thin that our breathing can only replenish a tiny amount of the lost essence. That is the reason why we felt tired in a shorter amount of time. Normally, when we breathe, we can replenish a fraction of the essence used that's why our reservoir takes longer to be used up. If you feel anything unusual, report immediately to the team. Let's go."

Yue's faction continued climbing the rocky mountains to its top and rested every hour for 10 minutes to recover essence and maintain their best state. After a total of six hours of mountain climbing, they were able to reach the peak of one mountain. With great luck, they were able to find a rock formation which was condusive for setting a camp. From the site where they first step on until this part of the mountain, they spent a total of 8 hours which normally would only take 3-4 hours of time back on their original world.

When everyone has settled, each member tried cultivating. When it comes to absorbing essence, the difficulty folded double or more but circulating the essence was pretty much same like back on the previous world. Long Bai on the other hand went inside his pocket world and had some conversation with the elder. After some discussions with him about independent worlds, he learned that these independent worlds are mostly unique from the others where some will have a special property that's different from the others. In addition, these small independent world exists in a pocket space which was believed to be created by the ancients. From the old man's memories, he shared what he read from a book that presented a theory of the macrocosm.

"The world you came from is a minor world which is the same with the old world where I came from. Depending on the amount of essence that world has, it can manage to hold a number of void pockets that may contain a small planet in it. The planet where the union islands is located could probably hold at least ten void pockets and one of those is this place. It is normal that a pocket world will have a lesser amount of essence but do not underestimate its uniqueness. When I was still alive, I was able to discover pocket worlds that house treasures for cultivation. If I am you, I will go and check out this small world's resources see what it can offer. Another thing, don't think that you're the only world with cultivators in it. It could be possible that people or intelligent beasts rule this independent world."

In addition, from the old man's first words, he stated that the there are thousands to ten thousandsof minor worlds and hundred thousands to millions of pocket worlds. However these are just found in the minor universe. It is believed that those who were able to surpass the immortal realm can ascend to a higher world where monarchs, gods, and devils rule.

After hearing such information, Long Bai set this target on this world's cultivation resources. Since they haven't seen anything yet, it means that they need to search for a little while longer. While the others were full focused in cultivating, he decided to scout the nearby areas. Unlike the others, his dense core can attract the essence around more efficiently than breathing which makes the depletion of his essence slower compared with the rest. Of course the rate was slower compared to how it was back on their original world but it was enough for a recon activity.

With his silent <ghostly steps> he faded into the night and went to circle at least ten kilometer radius from their base. After searching for at least 20 minutes, he found a large settlement northeast of the base. The buildings were square-ish and it was built on sides of the rocky mountains. Holes are found on the face mountain which made it look like a small scale mining project. On the valley below, there were swarms of cultivators who were like having a special event.

'Huh? What kind of settlement is this? Why are those... Aren't those the participants from the Boulder Mountain Sect? Those ladies, aren't they from the Plume Art school? What is happening here?'