With that, Zhao Tianjiao pulled Bai Xiaochun further away from anyone else, apparently not caring at all that people realized how close they were with each other now. Lowering his voice, he said, “The Heavenspan Sea lies in the very middle of the Heavenspan Realm. Four rivers stretch out from it, which all break up into smaller branches. In that sense, they are almost like the branches of a tree. The areas near the water have spiritual energy, but the lands themselves are too vast, far larger than can be reached by all of the rivers. That is why there is so much land out there with no spiritual energy, the places which we call the Wildlands.
“The Wildlands don’t just exist far beyond the rivers, they also exist in the areas between each of the four main rivers. There are plenty of locations there that have no spiritual energy. That’s why the Great Wall was built.”
A very serious expression could be seen on Bai Xiaochun’s face. He took the Great Wall very seriously, and had even asked Chen Manyao about it. As a result, he knew how important it was to the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect.
Therefore, despite having heard information similar to this before, he was still paying rapt attention. After all, this pertained to a ten-year trial that could very well result in his death if he wasn’t careful.
“The Great Wall is like a circle of protection that ensures that the main branches of the Heavenspan River can thrive in safety. It’s like a border of sorts, beyond which are the Wildlands. The Wildlands are barren and infertile, and constantly at war. Furthermore, within those Wildlands are not only vengeful souls, but also savage giants!”
“Savage giants?” Bai Xiaochun exclaimed. He couldn’t help but think about the powerful organization that backed Chen Manyao.
“I don’t understand too much about them myself. But apparently, the savage giants practice cultivation in much the same way that we cultivators do, except that most of them cultivate body refinement exclusively. They’re savage and brutal, and whenever they get their hands on a disciple of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, they eat them alive!”
Bai Xiaochun’s eyes went wide, and he gasped.
“Eat them alive?!”
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Chapter
461: Disembarking
“The Wildlands are completely barren, so they absorb soul power from the souls they collect. Of course, they also thirst for spiritual energy, so whenever cultivators go into their lands, they try to capture them to drink their blood and absorb the power it contains. The barbaric savages have been our enemies since ancient times, and are always trying to get closer to the Heavenspan Sea to get spiritual energy. Our job is to keep them out.” Zhao Tianjiao seemed a bit surprised at how Bai Xiaochun had suddenly turned pale in the face, but didn’t think too much of it.
“That’s why the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect built three cities between the Heavenspan Sea and the Great Wall itself, to keep out the savages and the vengeful souls!”
Worried that Bai Xiaochun needed more than just a general introduction, he continued, “In a few days, we’ll disembark, and arrive at the first city. It’s called East Sea City, and has strong spiritual energy. Obviously, it’s the safest location behind the Great Wall.
“The further you get from East Sea City, the weaker the spiritual energy gets. The second city is called World City, where a large military force is garrisoned. It can be considered a transfer hub on the way to the Great Wall itself, but is also a major line of defense.”
By this point, Bai Xiaochun had suppressed his terror at the thought of being eaten alive, and was listening carefully to all the new details Zhao Tianjiao was providing.
“Beyond World City, the spiritual energy gets even weaker, until you reach the Great Wall itself. That’s the location of the third city, which is simply named Great Wall City. That is where the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect’s most terrifying, steel-veined cultivators are stationed. Any one of those cultivators can be viewed as a god of death. Even I wouldn’t dare to provoke any of them.” As soon as Zhao Tianjiao mentioned Great Wall City, his eyes shone with respect and passion.
“Those cultivators form an army which is called the Hall of Steel Veins. They… are the true defenders of the Great Wall, and are at constant war with the Wildlands savages. Of course, the casualty rate among them is very high.
“According to what I’ve heard, the Hall of Steel Veins is broken up into five legions. Anyone who achieves the rank of captain in one of those armies will be very famous upon returning to the sect. After all, such a person would be backed by the Hall of Steel Veins, which surpasses even the devas. After all, the Hall of Steel Veins is the only hall in the sect… personally overseen by the demigod patriarch!”
Bai Xiaochun continued to nod in response to everything he was hearing, and couldn’t help but think that the name of the Hall of Steel Veins was particularly impressive.
“As for me,” Zhao Tianjiao continued, “my first goal is to go take a look at the Wildlands, maybe get some experience, and then… join the Hall of Steel Veins. After that, I’ll make some impressive military contributions and fight to reach the rank of colonel!” 1
“Huh?” Bai Xiaochun said, looking in surprise at Zhao Tianjiao. For some reason, it seemed to him like Zhao Tianjiao was essentially talking about putting himself right in the path of death itself….
Zhao Tianjiao clasped Bai Xiaochun’s shoulder again, and his eyes were warm as he continued, “The only place where a deva is stationed is in Great Wall City itself. Actually, one of the purposes of this journey is for my Master to relieve Senior Zhou from his position there. For the next hundred years, my Master will be stationed on the Great Wall, tasked with repelling any invasions!”
Although Zhao Tianjiao was actually older than Bai Xiaochun, the recent events caused him to view him as a very close friend. Zhao Tianjiao didn’t have very many friends, and once he made one, that person was a brother for life.
“Xiaochun, getting a deva soul is only a secondary goal for me. My main purpose is to get into the Hall of Steel Veins. But you’re different. You need to fight hard to get one of those deva souls.
“Remember, there are a lot of souls in the Wildlands. Every living entity that dies in the lands of Heavenspan ends up there, as long as their soul isn’t destroyed. They travel along the Underworld River all the way through the Wildlands, which is one reason why the Wildlands represent death and hell!”
By this point, Zhao Tianjiao’s voice was so low that he was clearly talking about secret matters, things that could not be spread to outsiders. And yet, fearing that Bai Xiaochun might end up pursuing the wrong path, he decided to clarify things a bit more. “Because souls have been building up there for years and years, it can be stated with certainty that there are definitely some deva souls there. Unfortunately, they only appear once every few thousand years, and are as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns. According to my Master’s calculations, the number of deva souls that exist in all the Wildlands can probably be counted on two hands! Furthermore, the number of people who have used deva souls to become a Heaven-Dao Nascent Soul expert are even fewer than that. There is only one, the Celestial.”
Bai Xiaochun had often wondered exactly how many deva souls there could be in the Wildlands, so this new information left him quite shocked. Considering that he already had two deva souls, he had often wondered if he could potentially… reach the legendary Heaven-Dao Nascent Soul stage.
However, after what Zhao Tianjiao had just told him, he realized that such a task would be far too difficult to accomplish. He had two deva souls in his bag, the value of which likely surpassed even his own imagination.