Chapter 1710 - Desert Dimension
“Of course, we’ve seen him before! It hasn’t been too long since Kong shi left this dimension after all!” The Heavenwood Greenserpent nodded affirmatively as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
“It hasn’t been long since Kong shi left this dimension?” A deduction surfaced in Zhang Xuan’s mind, and he hurriedly asked, “How long has it been since Kong shi left this dimension?”
The Heavenwood Greenserpent pondered for a moment before replying, “Roughly four hundred years, I suppose!”
“Indeed!” Zhang Xuan’s body shuddered at having his hypothesis verified.
He had thought that it was odd when the Heavenwood Greenserpent said that Kong shi had brought them here, but he did not think that they were lying to him. There was no reason for them to lie to him.
Instead, he thought that this anomaly could be attributed to a difference in the flow of time instead. Most likely, the flow of time within the folded space was slower than the flow of time on the Master Teacher Continent, or else the divine beasts would have already been reduced to a pile of bones by now.
The words that the Heavenwood Greenserpent had just said effectively verified his deduction.
Doing a rough calculation, it had been around forty thousand years since Kong shi left the Master Teacher Continent. Yet, in the eyes of the Heavenwood Greenserpent, it had only been four hundred years since he had left. Did this not mean that the flow of time within the folded space was a hundredth of the world outside?
In other words, the passing of a day in this folded space equated to the passing of a hundred days in the Master Teacher Continent!
If such time deceleration could be used on an Ancient Sage, the latter would be able to extend their lifespan significantly without resorting to hibernation.
No, this doesn’t work either… With my mastery of temporal arts, I should be able to notice it if there’s any difference in the flow of time. Yet, why do I not sense anything at all? Zhang Xuan wondered with a frown.
Having comprehended the Time Quintessence, he was no longer as ignorant of time as he had been before. If there was a difference in the flow of time, he surely would have noticed it. Yet, that was not the case. Why was it so?
Forget it, there’s no point thinking about it now… I’ll probably find my answer once I get to the Temple of Confucius!
Unable to figure out the reason after some thought, Zhang Xuan shook his head and tossed the matter to the back of his mind.
He turned to the five divine beasts and said, “Bring me to the exit!”
The Heavenwood Greenserpent led the way forward.
The cavern was spacious, and there was a huge hole in the middle where a pool of lava flurried. It felt like anything in the world would melt within the pool of lava.
“This is… the exit?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
No matter how he looked at it, all he could see was the crater of a volcano. It was hard to imagine that the Temple of Confucius was located within the crater.
“I’m not too sure about the details either. Back then, Kong shi instructed the five of us to guard this area, so we guessed that it’s the passageway leading to the Temple of Confucius!” the Heavenwood Greenserpent explained.
Kong shi’s wisdom was expansive and transcendental. It was not something that beasts like them could fathom.
Perplexed, Zhang Xuan activated the Eye of Insight and scanned his surroundings, but he was unable to find any indicative signs at all. In the end, he could only shake his head.
“For the time being, you should enter my folded space. Whether the passageway lies within the crater or not, I’ll just have to check to find out!”
Knowing that he would not find anything dawdling in the area, Zhang Xuan stowed the beasts into the Myriad Anthive Nest with a wave of his hand. After that, he leaped right into the pool of lava.
Given how even the Empyrean Heavenly Flame was unable to burn his physical body, there was no way that he would fear mere lava. As searing as it was, such heat could not bother him anymore.
He continued to swim downward for a while longer. Soon, a spatial seal reminiscent of that in the Subterranean Gallery appeared before him. Without any hesitation, he dived through the spatial seal.
Hula!
The world warped around Zhang Xuan, placing him in a short state of disorientation. By the time that he recovered from his light-headedness, he was already standing in a completely different world.
The area that the five divine beasts lorded over was a forest with lush greenery, but the land that he was currently standing on was a desert. Intolerable heat waves swept across the surface of the sand, and the entire world seemed to be covered with an endless shade of beige. There was no end in sight.
“Is this the exit you spoke of?” Zhang Xuan sighed helplessly.
From the looks of it, it felt like he had leaped from one folded space to another. However, this folded space did not seem to have anything to do with the Temple of Confucius at all!
Could he have gone the wrong way?
“This…”
The Heavenwood Greenserpent was also baffled by the change in scenery. They did not think that such a world would exist behind the seal that they had guarded for four hundred years.
It was clear that they had never been there before.
The Heavenwood Greenserpent pondered for a moment before suggesting an idea. “Master! I have scouted the entire forest, and this is the only way out of it. Could this be another trial set up by Kong shi? Perhaps, you have to continue searching for the next exit in order to get to the Temple of Confucius!”
“I guess that’s the only possibility…” Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly.
He could not think of another rational explanation other than this.
Perhaps, it might be more accurate to think of the entire folded space as a layered dungeon. Only by finding the exit would he be able to proceed to the next floor. He would have to overcome several floors before he would finally arrive at the Temple of Confucius.
Of course, he had known from the very start that it would be no simple feat to get to the Temple of Confucius. He swiftly decided on another direction with a twist of the Dragonbone Divine Spear, and riding on the back of the Heavenwood Greenserpent, he charged ahead.
There was not a single person to be found within the arid desert. In less than two hours of flight, both Zhang Xuan and the Heavenwood Greenserpent were already feeling a little light-headed. Their lips were starting to crack from dryness.
Something is amiss here… Zhang Xuan thought with a tight knit between his brows.
Given their cultivation, putting aside a desert, their bodies would not have any abnormalities even if they were to sleep on top of lava. It was unthinkable for them to become dehydrated after a short two-hour journey.
Zhang Xuan studied the folded space closely and swiftly noticed that it was constructed in a manner very different from other spaces. It was ingeniously designed to form a formation that would continuously sap one’s water and stamina. He turned to the Heavenwood Greenserpent and said, “It seems like this is really no ordinary desert. We have to quickly find the exit, or else we might lose our lives here!”
As he spoke, he took out the spirit essence that he had kept in his storage ring and drank it. It quenched his thirst and rejuvenated the sapped vitality in his body. He passed it over to the Heavenwood Greenserpent to have a drink as well before proceeding ahead.
After another hour of journeying, he suddenly noticed some footprints on the ground.
“It’s the footprints of a human. Could it be that another human has entered this folded space through the exit?” Zhang Xuan frowned doubtfully.
He had needed to deal with the Five Monarchs before he was able to find his way here. Furthermore, the location of the exit was extremely discreet, hidden in the midst of the lava. Typically speaking, it should have taken quite a bit of time for others to find this location. It was bizarre to find fresh footprints in the midst of the desert.
Could it be that someone had entered the area ahead of him?
“Let’s head over to take a look!”
Intrigued, he activated his Eye of Insight and followed the trail of footprints.
Soon, he discovered a group of men ahead of him. There were powerful emanations of zhenqi all around, which seemed to suggest that they were battling with some other entity.
Taking a closer look, there were eighteen men in total. They were all dressed in different clothes, and the strongest of them was at the Intuitive Impulse realm.
Their faces were ghastly pale, and their lips were cracked. They looked like they were in a much more terrible state than he was.
The entity that they were battling against was a giant made out of sand. It had no distinctive features, but the powerful aura that it released showed that it wielded strength comparable to a Sempiternal realm primary stage cultivator.
It was precisely due to this that, despite their numerical advantage, the group of eighteen was still facing trouble taking it down.
“Break!”
Knowing that he could acquire important intelligence from the group ahead of him, he whipped out his Dragonbone Divine Spear and tossed it toward the sand giant.
Huala!
As if a javelin, the Dragonbone Divine Spear pierced right through the sand giant, and its aura immediately dissipated.
Huala!
It crumbled into a pile of yellow sand on the ground.
“Thank you for saving our lives!”
Seeing that Zhang Xuan had defeated the sand giant that they had been struggling with, the crowd heaved a sigh of relief before bowing respectfully to Zhang Xuan.
Seeing their haggard faces before him, it was apparent that they had been in there for at least several hours.
Perplexed, he asked, “How did you all get here?”
“We passed out after the brilliant light emanated from the Temple of Confucius enveloped us, and when we woke up once more, we were already here… Elder, why did you ask us that question?” an Intuitive Impulse realm cultivator in the group replied.
He seemed to be a little surprised by Zhang Xuan’s bizarre question.