Chapter 45

Yunhuang is sparsely populated, with fierce beasts and numerous small tribes scattered throughout. In such circumstances, it would require a great deal of manpower and resources to gather these scattered tribes for an assessment.

Although the Divine Nation has a long history, the number of times the Great Warrior Selection has been held in the Great Wasteland can be counted on one hand.

Therefore, it must be said that being born in the Great Wasteland is a tragedy. Not only are resources scarce, but even if you are a prodigy, it is almost impossible to be discovered or to rise to prominence.

The Divine Nation of Tai'e is well aware of this, but there is nothing they can do. Not to mention the Great Wasteland, even geniuses born in the 108 Provinces might be overlooked!

Over the years, countless geniuses from the Great Wasteland have been wasted. They might die of hunger, illness, fall to their death while gathering herbs, or be devoured by fierce beasts.

Some who were destined to become outstanding figures have died like beggars, without even a mat to wrap their bodies. They are buried in a random place, perhaps with a wooden marker as a tombstone, like Yi Yun did initially. However, this tombstone would rot and fall within a few years. When those who remember them are gone, they leave nothing but "nothingness" in the world.

Born in poverty and dying without a trace, this is the fate of the people in the Great Wasteland. Cheng Yu, well aware of this, has formed a twisted worldview.

The fat old man said, "Our visit this time is both related and unrelated to the Great Warrior Selection of the Divine Nation of Tai'e. To be specific, our coming to Yunhuang and the sudden Great Warrior Selection of the Divine Nation of Tai'e are likely due to the same event."

"Oh?" The girl's interest was piqued, her long, narrow eyes blinking gently, her long lashes shimmering in the sunlight.

"Five months ago, an anomaly occurred in Yunhuang. The sky, which was originally clear, was covered by thick clouds in just a few breaths, spanning hundreds of thousands of miles!"

"And the most peculiar thing is that these clouds were purple!"

"The purple clouds covering Yunhuang were a wondrous celestial anomaly. The astrologers of the Divine Nation of Tai'e specifically calculated the celestial phenomena, calling this anomaly the 'Emergence of Purple Clouds.'"

"This anomaly appeared again two months ago, and the most recent one was even more terrifying, as if the clouds were swallowing the sun and moon, and the energy was overwhelming!"

"The Emergence of Purple Clouds alarmed the Divine Nation of Tai'e, but the common people of Yunhuang were not very aware of it, as the anomaly occurred at night. With the limited vision of common people, it was difficult to discern the color of the clouds at night. Moreover, they did not know that these purple clouds covered the entire Yunhuang, nor did they realize the chaos in the elemental energy caused by the Emergence of Purple Clouds."

"At that time, even the many ancient beasts in the depths of Yunhuang were startled!"

"There are several possibilities for such a celestial anomaly."

"The first possibility is the emergence of a great treasure. However, five months ago, the Divine Nation of Tai'e used the national treasure, the Treasure Compass, to search Yunhuang. Although the Treasure Compass could not pinpoint the exact location of the treasure, it could at least determine if there was a treasure in a large area. However, the Treasure Compass showed no reaction, so either there is no treasure, or the treasure is so mysterious that even the Treasure Compass cannot detect it. If the latter is true, it is unimaginable! Such a treasure could cause bloodshed and chaos on the continent!"

"The second possibility is that a hidden great emperor of the human race has broken through to a new realm, or an ancient beast is undergoing a tribulation. However, this possibility is low, as although Yunhuang is vast, it is not particularly special in the grand scheme of things. A hidden great emperor or an ancient beast might not choose this place to break through."

"As for the third possibility, it is even less likely, being just some ancient legends. I brought you to Yunhuang because of this celestial anomaly, hoping to find some treasure that might help your broken meridians!"

"Teacher..." The girl sighed softly, moved by the fat old man's efforts to help her, even for the slightest glimmer of hope.

However, she also knew that her broken meridians were cursed. Although there are legends of an ancient empress who managed to heal her broken meridians, that was just a legend, and she was an empress.

Such legends precisely prove how difficult it is to heal broken meridians!

The fat old man knew what Lin Xintong was thinking and smiled. "Well, such a celestial anomaly is worth witnessing. Even if we don't find anything, it's fine. The royal family of the Divine Nation of Tai'e has already been alarmed by this anomaly. Not just the Divine Nation of Tai'e, but even neighboring divine nations have sent people to secretly enter Yunhuang to investigate!"

"In the past few months, the Divine Nation of Tai'e has dispatched the Jinlong Guard to search for the cause of the anomaly, hoping to find a great treasure. Since the Jinlong Guard has come to Yunhuang, they decided to take this opportunity to hold a Great Warrior Selection."

The fat old man's words made the girl realize why the Jinlong Guard had specifically drawn a map of Yunhuang, even marking small tribes with a thousand households.

"Alright, let's continue our journey. We'll cross the mountain ahead and pass by the Lian Clan. Our next stop will be the Tao Clan, a large tribe with over ten thousand households. We'll rest there."

As the fat old man was speaking, he suddenly felt a stir and softly exclaimed, "Hmm?"

"What's wrong, Teacher?"

"There's someone at the waterfall ahead, it seems they are drowning. Let's go and see!" The old man walked forward into the dense forest, his steps slow but each step covering a great distance, as if the ground was shrinking beneath his feet.

Lin Xintong followed, as they were figures living above the clouds in this world, while the millions of people below lived in hardship. They could not manage everything, but if they encountered someone in need, they would help.

...

Yi Yun did not know how long he had been in the pond. Last night, he had absorbed all the energy from the wild bone and jumped into the pond to begin his intense cultivation. Even now, his consciousness was not fully awake, and he felt as if he were in a beautiful dream.

The energy from the wild bone had been completely absorbed by Yi Yun's body, leaving not a trace!

His body was once again in a state of hunger.

In a daze, Yi Yun felt a soft hand grab his collar and lift him up...

Yi Yun felt light and as if he were lying on a soft grassy field. Then, the same soft hand pressed against his chest.

"Spit!"

Yi Yun spat out a mouthful of water, which was not clear but extremely murky, containing impurities from his body after the physical refinement.

"Hmm?"

The girl who saved Yi Yun did not show disgust at the dirty water but was rather surprised. As a Sky Master, she instantly understood what the water was.

Yi Yun regained consciousness and, as his vision cleared, the bright sunlight made it hard for him to open his eyes.

(For those who pointed out the inconsistency about why the people in the Great Wasteland don't grow vegetables or catch fish, and how they could be so hungry, I hope you don't view the issue from a modern Earth perspective. In ancient China, there were times of famine when people ate clay and even exchanged children to eat. Even in the 1960s, China experienced a shocking three-year famine that claimed many lives. You could also ask why they don't eat fish or dig for insects. During locust plagues, why don't they eat locusts? It's not that the ancients were foolish and didn't know how to eat these things.

The ancients were not foolish. When people are hungry, they will eat anything. The Silk Cocoon family lived near the sea and mountains, where there were more fish in the sea and mushrooms and rabbits on the mountains, yet they still suffered from hunger. The mother of the Silk Cocoon family experienced a famine and said that during the famine, even the grass on the mountains did not grow. Why? Because of drought and the fact that the roots of the grass had been dug up. The grass was all eaten, and hunting rabbits was extremely difficult. As for fish, fishing in the sea requires boats and large nets, which ordinary people do not have. In shallow seas, rivers, and lakes, if fish are not specifically raised, their numbers are very low. With so many people catching them, the numbers are even fewer, making the cost of obtaining them extremely high. For someone like the Silk Cocoon family, the energy gained from catching a few small fish would not even compensate for the effort expended. As for catching insects, it would only make them hungrier, almost like suicide.

In this book, the Great Wasteland is set to be much more barren than Earth. The Silk Cocoon family has written about the black iron rocks that make farming extremely difficult. The grain yields in ancient China were extremely low, and there were no hybrid rice or combine harvesters. Other settings about the barrenness of the Great Wasteland are not detailed, but the fish in a small pond would be so few that the effort to catch them would not be worth it. If the frogs were not poisonous and easy to catch, they would have been eaten long ago. When people are hungry, they are no different from locusts. Relying on a small pond and a few frog-filled depressions to feed a tribe of a thousand households is impossible. I avoided the details to avoid complexity, but I didn't expect it to cause controversy. After some thought, I decided to explain this in detail.)

(Some also asked why Yi Yun doesn't go hunting. The book has already explained that one needs to reach the Purple Blood Realm to hunt in the true Great Wasteland. Some might ask what the fierce beasts eat. Although I believe that a fantasy novel doesn't need to answer every question, I still tried to create a consistent world with as few loopholes as possible. As the story unfolds, these details will be revealed.)

(Thank you for your feedback. I read all the reviews in the comment section that have substance. If you have any suggestions or comments, please leave them in the comment section.)

(I wrote a thousand-word explanation, and I'm quite dizzy. In the future, I won't do such detailed explanations. I sincerely hope everyone can use their imagination more and question less. Many things are not loopholes; either I didn't write them because they were too complex, or you didn't notice them. I appreciate your understanding.)

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