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The decision didn't take long.
"I should head north."
I miss human interaction, but the stone structure in the north intrigued me more.
I decided to wait until nightfall.
When night fell and the stars rose, I read the constellations to ascertain my current location and roughly determined the position of Byeokra. Then, forming a hand seal, I created a dirt platform from the sand and rode it across the desert.
Whoosh!
As I headed north, I constantly employed the Earth Listening Technique towards the underground, thinking that if there was a stone structure, it might be buried under the sands of the desert.
"The stone is unique, unfamiliar, very solid and sturdy. Even if it was a building from thousands of years ago, it wouldn't have eroded by now."It should be possible to find it.
Whoosh!
Days passed.
A sandstorm blew in.
I bent the earth attribute spiritual power around me to deflect the sands from the platform.
"Days passed since heading north. I'm constantly using the Earth Listening Technique to scan underground, but nothing's been found."
It seems it was either further north or buried too deep for my Earth Listening Technique to detect.
It has to be one or the other.
"Honestly, searching the entire Heaven-Treading Desert seems a bit foolish..."
How long would it take to comb through this desert?
Perhaps it was wiser to give up and head to Byeokra to see familiar faces.
"I'll head north for one more day, and if there's nothing, I'll change course to Byeokra."
Whooosh!
As I faced the sandstorm, I sighed deeply.
Everywhere I looked, there was only sand.
Then, I saw something.
"....!"
Up ahead, there was something protruding above the sandy surface.
It was a small stone, its color identical to that of the stone structure.
'That's it...!'
I quickly maneuvered the platform towards the stone.
"This is mostly buried."
This small part seemed to have emerged due to the sand being swept away by the sandstorm.
Using the Earth Listening Technique, I determined the extent of the buried section.
It definitely seems to be the same material as the stone structure but just a part of it.
It was like...
"A plaque."
I formed a hand seal to excavate the stone from the sand.
The rectangular stone plaque had ancient script inscribed on it.
However, the back part was either broken or damaged, not visible.
Looking at the damaged part of the plaque, I realized that its shape matched the fragment I had seen next to the stone structure on Ascension Path.
"There must be a '雷' (Thunder) character following this."
What could this ancient script mean?
I interpreted the script on the stone plaque, slowly deciphering its meaning.
"This is... metal? No, does it mean 'shining'? Golden color? I should interpret it as '金' (Gold) it seems..."
Recalling my studies as a chief advisor of the Wulin Alliance, I carefully deciphered the script.
Then I felt an odd sense of unease.
"This is... spirit? A divine being? I should interpret it as '神' (Divine), and the last character before the damage is..."
I furrowed my brow while interpreting the last of the three characters inscribed on the plaque.
"...'天' (Heaven)...?"
Following this, there's a fragment on the Ascension Path's stone structure that fits perfectly.
With the '雷' (Thunder) character.
金神天雷 (Golden Divine Heaven Thunder).
My eyes widened.
"Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect...?"
Did the stone structure have a connection with the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect?
Thinking about it, the monument under the thunderclouds absorbing lightning was quite fitting for the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.
But what was strange was the treatment of the stone structure.
It appears to be a building or shrine related to the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.
Why was a building of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, whose Grand Master had gone to the Ascension Gate, torn apart and discarded like this?
While frequenting the Cheongmun Clan's library, I had read about the locations of famous cultivation sects.
Heaven Creation Sect in the northern grasslands of Byeokra.
Black Bone Valley on one of the islands in the southern sea of Yanguo.
Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect in the western mountains of Shengzhi.
Considering Yanguo, east was Byeokra and beyond that, the Heaven-Treading Desert.
West of Yanguo was Shengzie.
Why was a plaque from a sect located in the western mountains of Shengzi lying in the middle of the Heaven-Treading Desert, in the completely opposite direction?
'Was this area once the territory of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect?'
However, every historical text I read stated that the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect had been active in the western region of the Shengzi for nearly 3,000 years.
"If that's the case, then the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect being located here would be an event from at least 3,000 years ago..."
"......"
Cultivators live very long resulting in history being immensely vast, far surpassing common sense. It's impossible to know what happened during that lengthy period.
'I might have to look into it later... Or maybe ask Jin Byuk-ho in my next life...'
Considering his temperament, if I dared to ask such a question, he'd likely strike me down with lightning for speaking so boldly as a mere Qi Refining cultivator.
Thinking about it soured my mood.
'Why are cultivators so brutally violent...'
I was lost in these thoughts when the sandstorm intensified.
"Uh...?"
I saw something beyond the sandstorm.
Focusing my vision, I glimpsed what seemed to be a castle shrouded in the storm.
A dark castle stood beyond the sandstorm.
"Is someone there..?"
Just as curiosity began to stir, a sudden realization hit me.
'I smell... blood.'
I felt a sinister and ominous energy emanating from the castle.
With the experience and intuition accumulated over several lifetimes, and a hint of inspiration granted by the heavens, I was warned.
It is extremely dangerous.
I decided to keep my distance.
I set down the stone plaque of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect and turned my disc around, quickly heading south along the way I had come.
After a while...
I managed to escape the sandstorm.
Whoosh!
"Phew... that was intense."
The sandstorm was one thing, but the malevolence and the blood scent felt from that castle seen through the storm were enough to send chills down my spine.
'Heaven-Treading Desert... I thought it was safe, being nothing but sand. Perhaps it's more dangerous than I thought.'
Come to think of it, around this time, there were reports of a massacre near the Heaven-Treading Desert.
Because of that incident, the neighboring clans of Cheongmun, Byuk, Gongmyo, including the Makli and Jin of Yanguo, the clans in Shengzi, and the Core Formation cultivators in the states further east of the Heaven-Treading Desert were all on high alert.
'Was that castle related to what I just saw?'
I surmised that the castle was likely connected to the reported massacre near the Heaven-Treading Desert.
Had I foolishly continued towards that castle out of curiosity, I might have been on my way to the next life by now.
Shivering, I continued south along the path I had come.
Night fell again.
It was time to check my location using the constellations.
'Wait...?'
Something was off.
The desert landscape had changed due to the sandstorm, so I hadn't thought much of it.
Even if the positions of the surrounding sand dunes had shifted greatly, it was to be expected.
But after observing the constellations, I felt something amiss.
'I fled south upon seeing the castle, but why...'
Had I ended up near Byeokra in the far west?
Shudder!
A cultivator's formation array!
That place must have been inhabited by a high-level cultivator, with an immensely vast formation spread around.
I was able to exit with my direction skewed just by approaching the outskirts of the formation.
But if I had ventured even slightly closer...
'I need to get out of the Heaven-Treading Desert as soon as possible.'
I steered the disc westward, heading towards Byeokra.
Twenty nights passed.
"...The Heaven-Treading Desert really is vast."
I muttered, pulling out a seed from my pocket to eat.
I was running low on food and water I brought from Ascension Path.
Only monsters who have reached Qi Building can survive without food for long.
Being just a mere Qi Refining cultivator, I needed food to live.
Though having formed an Inner Core, I could last much longer than ordinary people, but constantly using spiritual power and moving like this was a different story.
'I'm almost there.'
Just a day or two more to the eastern outskirts of Byeokra.
A territory of the Gongmyo Clan resided there.
Among the desert tribes under Gongmyo's domain, I should be able to find food and water.
The next day.
Whoosh!
Dry, so dry...
My throat is parched.
I had run out of water.
The last of my food was a tree fruit I ate yesterday.
Hunger is bearable.
But the thirst is unbearable.
It felt as if my throat is burning.
"Just a sip of water, that's all I wish for..."
Even though I had formed an Inner Core and ascended to Qi Refining, I was not yet beyond human needs, so I gritted my teeth against the intense thirst.
'I never thought I'd miss those detestable Makli Clan so much...'
More precisely, I yearned for their water-based spells.
The Earth Surpassing Path is convenient, but in this extreme situation, it is far from a method to procure water.
"Damn, I'm dying of thirst. Am I going to to die from a lack of water in this life?"
I've died several times, but it's not an experience I'm keen to repeat.
That's when I saw them.
"...!"
Far away, someone in white robes appeared.
'A person, a person!'
Perhaps they have water!
I hurriedly formed a hand seal to speed up the platform.
The person in white was a woman with black hair.
Her pure white robe contrasted with her jet-black hair. She wore a multicolored glass bracelet on her wrist and a jade ornament on her waist.
Her appearance was more serene than beautiful, with an air of stubbornness about her.
She had a domain of consciousness around her brow.
A cultivator.
"Excuse me..."
I stuttered, speaking to someone else for the first time in ages.
"Um, perhaps..."
"You seem thirsty. Please, drink."
"Th-thank you..."
I took the water pouch she offered and drank desperately.
'Water! Water!'
Lukewarm, but it was the most heavenly drink I'd ever tasted.
Gulp, gulp, gulp...
"Ah... I owe you my life. Thank you, Miss."
"No need. There's a city not far from here. You're traveling from the east, right? You're dressed oddly..."
"Ahem. I have my reasons. What's the name of this nearby city?"
"It's called Cheon-saek City. Just a little southeast, and you'll find it. It seems you're a fellow Daoist. If you use the same technique you used to get here, you'll arrive in just a moment."
"Ah, thank you so much. May I know your name, Miss, so I can repay you later?"
She shook her head at my words.
"It's only natural to help travelers in the desert. I'm fine, take care. I have to find materials for my magical artifacts around here."
She formed a hand seal and surfed away on the sand like a wave.
"About Qi Refining 13th Star, such a kind lady."
I bowed in the direction she had gone, paying my respects, then steered the platform in the direction she had indicated.
Just as she said, in a short while, I arrived at Cheon-saek City, located at the eastern end of Byeokra.
Cheon-saek City, named after Gongmyo Cheon-saek, the Qi Building cultivator from Gongmyo Clan.
As I heard from the Cheongmun Clan, it was a famous place where all kinds of magical artifacts were traded.
Also, the glassware produced in the city was considered artistic, sought after by many places.
Of course, I had no interest in such things. I beat up some bandits around Cheon-saek City, turned them in for a bounty, and used the reward to buy basic clothes, water, and food.
Then I headed towards the western part of Byeokra, towards Cheongmun Clan's territory.
My lifespan is now down to about 9 years.
Though I've been delayed by 40 years, focusing only on rituals, I intend to check on the connections from my past life.
First, I decided to visit my master.
Translator Notes: Hehehe. Heavenly Golden Thunder Sect will be officially called Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect :P
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