Chapter 314 - 16: Entering the Desert
Chapter 314: Chapter 16: Entering the Desert
“`
Upon entering the desert region, Lin Jing didn’t hesitate at all and immediately headed deep into the sands.
According to Elder Yuan, the Trial Grounds lay within the deepest reaches of this desert.
……
In the blink of an eye, several days passed.
After days of arduous travel and crossing the peripheral zones of the desert, Lin Jing finally arrived within its true expanse.
With each step, his feet sank unevenly into the sand, making his trek through the desert arduous, very much like that of a traveler lost within its vastness.
This place was nothing like the periphery he had entered, where no harsh winds ravaged the land, no scorching sun beat down, and occasionally small Demonic Beasts could be seen frolicking and chasing one another.
Here, the real desert reigned, with sands engulfing the sky and the blazing sun overhead…
The sand underfoot was like grains in a frying pan; even shod in boots, Lin Jing still felt a burning sensation creeping up from the soles of his feet.
Above him, the relentless sun parched his lips.
Lin Jing looked up at the intense sun and couldn’t help shaking his head.
He then gathered Spiritual Power to form a sphere of water, which he poured over himself, and swallowed the remaining droplets.
It took the conjuring of two or three water spheres to alleviate the searing heat that had overtaken him.
Afterward, Lin Jing continued deeper into the desert.
……
The further he walked, the hotter the desert became.
At this moment, Lin Jing felt as if he were in a fiery furnace.
Harsh winds carrying sand and gravel battered against him, the particles cutting like blades against the Spiritual Shield he had formed with his Spiritual Power.
Without the protection of the Spiritual Shield, Lin Jing’s body would have been covered in cuts and abrasions by now.
Even before he ventured this deep, the signs of vicious winds had started to show, with gusts pelting his body painfully with sand.
However, the deeper he went, the more ferocious the desert winds became.
Eventually, not just sand but even pebbles were swept up by the tempest, striking against Lin Jing.
This could no longer be referred to as mere winds; it was a storm.
With no other choice, Lin Jing had to maintain his Spiritual Shield and continue marching through the storm.
Walking through the desert with a Spiritual Shield consumed Spiritual Power at an alarming rate, and there were times when Lin Jing could not endure even four hours before his reserves ran dry.
Moreover, the deeper he ventured into the desert, the thinner the Spiritual Energy became, making absorption from the surroundings impossible.
This meant that Lin Jing had to retreat into the System Space to rest after covering some distance.
Fortunately, Lin Jing had access to the System Space.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been sure he could have made it this far.
Before long…
Lin Jing could no longer hold on and once more retreated into the System Space, this time his Spiritual Power depleting in less than six hours.
As soon as he entered the System Space, the abundant Spiritual Energy made him take a long, deep breath.
Inside the System Space, compared to the outside desert, it was like heaven and hell.
“Having come this far, the Spiritual Energy in the desert is almost nonexistent. I wonder how the others manage to enter this place,” Lin Jing pondered, taking in the dense Spiritual Energy of the System Space while recalling the harsh exterior conditions.
“Oh, that’s right…”
“Others must possess strengths not inferior to my own. Entering the desert, they naturally wouldn’t struggle as much as I do,” he realized, following which Lin Jing let out a wry smile.
After all, those who could make it here were not of low Cultivation.
“`
Even others who, due to teleportation, had strayed onto the island, were not like Lin Jing, possessing such low cultivation.
How could those able to afford intercontinental teleportation be ordinary cultivators?
Lin Jing guessed that he was probably the cultivator with the lowest cultivation to enter the Immortal Crossing Island.
……
Within the System Space, Lin Jing sat and meditated for six hours to fully replenish his depleted spiritual power.
After resting, Lin Jing immediately entered Observation Mode, wanting to scout the path ahead.
Since entering the desert, Lin Jing had no specific route, only a general direction given to him by his predecessor, the Ape.
Following this direction, the Ape had told Lin Jing that this desert was peculiar, no matter which way one walked, they would never deviate from the central direction of the desert.
Because the desert was like a disc, once one entered, they would always be moving from the outside towards the center.
And the Trial Grounds were located right in the center of the desert.
In fact, to judge whether one was going in the wrong direction, one only needed to observe the wind and sand, as well as the surrounding environment.
The stronger the wind and sand, and the more adverse the environment, the closer one was to the center, meaning they were on the right path.
One only needed to keep moving inward.
After entering Observation Mode, Lin Jing first saw the sky filled with yellow sand, swept up by the fierce wind everywhere.
This fierce wind swept up not just sand and gravel, even smaller stones were lifted into the sky.
Some windblown sand on the desert ground also revealed the white bones of giant beasts buried in the sand.
These bones had been there for who knows how long, and despite being exposed to the wind and sun for such a long time, their surfaces remained smooth and shiny.
It can be assumed that the creatures were quite formidable in life.
Lin Jing had already seen many such bones along his way.
Lin Jing merely glanced at them and then paid no further attention.
Then, he raised his perspective and looked further inland.
As his view ascended, Lin Jing peered through the sandstorm ahead.
He saw what seemed to be a small green dot in the distance.
However, due to the distance and the wind and sand interference, Lin Jing couldn’t see it very clearly.
Next, with a thought, Lin Jing controlled the observational perspective to move forward, wanting to clearly see what was ahead.
As Lin Jing controlled the Observation Mode, moving closer, the small green dot grew increasingly distinct.
Ahead…
It seemed to be an oasis in the middle of the desert.
And furthermore, Lin Jing observed that…
There seemed to be no wind and sand near that oasis.
Lin Jing immediately felt a surge of elation.
The time he had been in the desert had nearly driven him mad with the torment of wind and sand.
Afterward, Lin Jing exited Observation Mode, deciding to first take a look at the oasis nearby.
Upon leaving Observation Mode, Lin Jing stood up and condensed spiritual power into a Spiritual Shield before leaving the System Space.
Once out of the System Space, the hot air assaulted him instantly, along with the piercing wind, carrying sand and pebbles that “pounded” against Lin Jing’s Spiritual Shield.
Though the attack power of these sand and pebbles wasn’t very strong, they still consumed a substantial amount of spiritual power when hitting the Spiritual Shield.
Lin Jing continued like this, holding up the Spiritual Shield, step by step, walking towards what lay ahead.
Pity that in this desert, there were restrictions that prevented flight, forcing one to proceed on foot, just like Lin Jing was doing.
Otherwise, Lin Jing wouldn’t have had to suffer such hardship in his journey.