Stopping for a short moment as he looked down towards the different settlements spread all over the empty plains, Xuan Hao began to understand why the Earth Dragon Clan had decided to put so much effort into setting up the different settlements.
Not to mention that the Earth Dragon Clan's strength and wealth would increase by a lot due to getting their hands on such a large complex of spiritual metal veins, but it would also allow them to no longer have to buy their spiritual metals from other powerful experts like who already controlled massive spiritual metal mines and supplied most of the spiritual metals in circulation inside the Sky Empire.
Shaking his head as he thought about this, Xuan Hao continued on his way through the empty plains towards the next special area he would have to pass through to reach the capital city of the Sky Empire.
The special area in question was called the Great Poison Swamp. Although not as dangerous as the Thousand Wind Mountain, the number of Domain Lord Realm Experts that had perished inside the Great Poison Swamp far exceeded that of the Thousand Wind Mountains.
The main culprit of this, was the myriad of exotic and extremely poisonous insects and demon beasts that were present inside the Great Poison Swamp… And these poisonous insects and demon beasts were far harder to predict compared to the wind currents of the Thousand Wind Mountains, some of them even having the ability to threaten the life of some weaker Domain Lords!
At first Xuan Hao thought about going through one of the other special areas that surrounded the empty plains after learning about the Great Poison Swamp and the many terrifying poisonous creatures that could be found inside the Great Poison Swamp, but he quickly changed his mind after finding out the other special areas were far worse to go through.
The one located next to the Great Poison Swamp was even a place that Yi Min had told him the Soul Ascension Realm Experts of the Sky Empire feared and didn't dare enter… Although he didn't know a lot about this dangerous place next to the Great Poison Swamp other than the fact that it was the main sect of an ancient sect that had long since been forgotten according to Yi Min, Xuan Hao didn't plan on entering the place after finding out that it was a place that even the Soul Ascension Realm Experts of the Sky Empire didn't dare enter!
Even without knowing anymore about the place, it was obvious that entering the place would almost certainly put him in a dangerous situation. Possibly even killing him!
As for the remaining special areas, they were far less dangerous compared to that place, but still possessed a far greater threat to someone in the Domain Lord Realm compared to the Great Poison Swamp.
After all, most of the poisonous creatures in the Great Poison Swamp did not have a strong enough poison to affect someone in the Domain Lord Realm and those that did were extremely hard to come by. Not to mention, poisonous creatures that had strong enough poison to kill someone in the Domain Lord Realm were incredibly precious.
Considering that most of these poisonous creatures were extremely weak outside of their potent poison, the Great Poison Swamp became one of the most lively special areas in the entire Sky Empire, with hordes of cultivators entering the place in search of poisonous creatures.
The massive number of people entering the Great Poison Swamp was also one of the reasons why the death toll in the place was so much higher than most other special areas except for a few with similar special environments like the Great Poison Swamp.
Thinking about all of this, the Great Poison Swamp and its poisonous creatures didn't seem that bad. Maybe it could even be a chance to find a few of the poisonous spiritual herbs that would thrive in a place filled with poisonous creatures.
Whoosh~!
Not wasting any time, Xuan Hao soon saw the Great Poison Swamp appearing in the distance.
However even if he already heard about the place from Yi Min before, Xuan Hao could not help frowning when standing in front of the massive swamp that was covered in a thick poisonous miasma while stretching on for as far as he could see.
"According to what Yi Min said, this miasma is not only deadly to anyone below the Core Formation Realm, but it also carries some sort of restriction that prevents anyone from flying over the Great Poison Swamp. Even Soul Ascension Realm Experts are no exception and will be forced to go through the Great Poison Swamp on foot…" Muttering this to himself as he began observing the poisonous miasma covering the Great Poison Swamp, Xuan Hao could not help feeling curious about the restriction hidden inside of it mentioned by Yi Min.
After all, there was a chance that the restriction hidden inside the poisonous miasma was not a natural one, but instead one that had been set up by a powerful cultivator proficient in formations in the past!
Considering that the special area located right next to the Great Poison Swamp was the ruins of a long forgotten ancient sect that even Soul Ascension Realm Experts were fearful of, it would make sense that the restriction covering the Great Poison Swamp was set up by a powerful expert from that sect in the past… Maybe the person who had set up the restriction was even someone who had surpassed the Soul Ascension Realm!
Standing in front of the Great Poison Swamp as he thought about this, Xuan Hao felt even more curious about the place where the main sect of a powerful ancient sect had been located. However, he still understood his limits and decided against going to that place.
After all, the ancient sect ruins had been known for a long time, yet none of the Soul Ascension Realm Experts in the Sky Empire or the surrounding empires had managed to come back after entering that place according to what Yi Min had heard.
Maybe someone had already managed to that place and had returned alive, it was just that it was not something someone in the Domain Lord Realm would be privy to and was only something that those in the Soul Ascension Realm had an understanding of.
No matter what it was, it was obvious that the place had been deemed far too dangerous even for those in the Soul Ascension Realm to enter in the end.
"Maybe I will get a chance to explore the place when I reach the Soul Ascension Realm in the future…" Shaking his head as he muttered this to himself, Xuan Hao landed in front of the Great Poison Swamp before taking a step forward.
Whoosh~
Feeling the poisonous mist trying to enter his body, Xuan Hao narrowed his eyes slightly.
At the same time that the poisonous mist covered his body and tried to enter it, a strange power hidden inside of the poisonous mist began pressing down on him. Although the pressure exerted by this strange power was close to non-existent, it still carried with it a terrifying presence that could only be felt by someone who had reached the Domain Lord Realm!
Whoosh-!
Deciding to try and fly to test things out for himself, Xuan Hao did not manage to move more than a few meters into the air before the pressure exerted by the strange power suddenly increased to a degree that even someone like Xuan Hao who had already reached the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm could not resist-
BANG!
In the end, Xuan Hao crashed into the muddy swampland below the next second!
"…"
Covered in mud from head to toe now, Xuan Hao could not help smiling wryly as he felt the terrifying pressure he had felt just a second ago disappear the moment he crashed into the mud.
Whoosh~
Using his power to clean himself and his clothes, Xuan Hao thought about how he might have ended up if he flew over the Great Poison Swamp when the restriction took action. Even if he was someone in the Domain Lord Realm, enduring the terrifying pressure for even a few seconds longer was sure to cause some injuries.
Thinking about it, anyone trying to fly inside the Great Poison Swamp would end up in a similar situation as him. Cover in mud from head to toe.
"Pft~!"
Thinking about the different Domain Lords and Soul Ascension Realm Experts standing at the peak of the Sky Empire ending up covered in mud upon trying to fly inside the Great Poison Swamp, Xuan Hao could not stop a small chuckle from escaping.
After all, different from him, these people were likely to enter the Great Poison Swamp together with other people and would not be able to clean themselves without anyone seeing them covered in mud.
It would be even worse if these bigshots had decided to enter the Great Poison Swamp together with their descendants to train them…