In truth, it was not accurate to call the root his tamed beast.
After taking in a sliver of the other party’s soul, Zhang Xuan swiftly realized that the root was indeed a tree and not a beast.
It was a lifeform named Berserk Yellowsand Wood, which Kong shi had found. He took it and planted it in his folded space to serve as the guardian of this world. As long as one infused sufficient power into it, it would be able to reduce anything into sand and enchant it for its own use.
This was not just limited to humans but weapons and saint beasts as well.
It sounded like a formidable ability, but due to the limitations of its soul energy, it was only able to control a handful of sand giants simultaneously.
With its current strength, controlling two Sempiternal realm advanced stage sand giants simultaneously was already the limit of its ability.
As the new master of the Berserk Yellowsand Wood, Zhang Xuan was able to tap into its abilities. Nevertheless, even he was only able to control three Sempiternal realm advanced stage sand giants simultaneously.
In other words, if he worked hand-in-hand with the Berserk Yellowsand Wood, they would only be able to control five Sempiternal realm advanced stage sand giants simultaneously. That was not enough to form an army.
Nevertheless, as his cultivation rose, his ability to control sand giants would only grow stronger and stronger. It might become a powerful weapon to deal against the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe in the future!
As for the Berserk Yellowsand Wood itself, it was no exaggeration to say that it could be more powerful than the Five Monarchs if he used it well. After all, its ability allowed it to turn anyone whose cultivation did not exceed it into yellow sand as long as certain conditions were met.
There was no doubt that this was an extremely frightening ability that would strike horror into the heart of any cultivator!
At the same time, while the prowess of sand giants was severely discounted due to their low intelligence, they were unafraid of sustaining injuries or death. As long as one could keep it constantly enchanted, it would never die. It would definitely be a headache for anyone to deal with.
I could give the Berserk Yellowsand Wood to Wang Ying…
He did not have much of a need for the artifact, especially since he already had plenty of trump cards in his possession. However, if he gave it to Wang Ying, the latter’s fighting prowess would surely rise significantly. In fact, if she could use it well, she might even be able to overpower Zheng Yang!
Thinking of it, it was likely that Zheng Yang and Wang Ying, as the respective heads of the Combat Master Hall and Spirit Awakener Guild, had entered the Temple of Confucius as well. It was just that he did not know which dimension they had been teleported to.
Suppressing these miscellaneous thoughts in his mind, he glanced at the Berserk Yellowsand Wood and asked, “There should be an exit out of this dimension. Where is it located?”
Zhang Xuan had only realized it after taming the Berserk Yellowsand Wood, but the latter actually did not kill too many cultivators. In fact, most of the sand giants that went after them earlier were simply corpses that it had reanimated.
If the Berserk Yellowsand Wood had truly wanted to go on a massacre, many would have been dead by now.
Thinking about it, if the Berserk Yellowsand Wood was truly an uncontrollable force that craved the lives of others, Kong shi would not have allowed it to continue living on this world.
“The exit is located at the bottom of the massive tree…”
As it spoke, the Berserk Yellowsand Wood moved a little.
Hong long!
The earth quaked intensely as all of the sand suddenly seemed to fall back into the earth, as if devoured by some powerful force. Following which, where the massive tree had existed previously, a seal reminiscent of a door appeared.
“The entire desert was indeed under your control. It’s no wonder your roots were able to reach everywhere in the desert,” Zhang Xuan remarked.
He stowed his beasts and artifacts back into his storage ring before turning to face the crowd behind him. “I’m intending to enter the next dimension. If you wish to follow me, come along with me. Otherwise, you can simply cultivate here. Without the yellow sand, you should be able to advance your cultivation much faster here than anywhere else!”
With the vanishing of the yellow sand, the environment was no longer as arid as before. Spiritual energy swiftly gushed into the dimension, reaching a level of concentration similar to the forest dimension before. At the same time, ‘teacher’s milieu’ began suffusing the area as well.
If the crowd was unwilling to brave any more danger, they would be able to make massive advancements in their cultivation just by cultivating there. Just from this alone, their expedition would not have been wasted.
“Elder, I wish to follow you!”
“I think I’ll stay behind here. It’s simply too dangerous. Even with plenty of treasures lying around, I won’t be able to enjoy them if I lose my life…”
It did not take long before the group of eighteen was divided into two teams, the remain and the leave factions.
“I’ll leave it to you to decide what you want to do. Think it through carefully. In any case, the exit is right here, and you can make your decision anytime you want. I’ll be going on ahead…”
Without saying too much, Zhang Xuan walked right into the spatial seal and vanished.
These cultivators that he had just met could only be considered acquaintances. There was no reason for him to get too deeply involved with them. He might have saved them once, but he could not continue taking care of them along the way, and he did not have the ability to guarantee their safety. If they wanted to acquire as much as they could from this ancient domain, they could only depend on themselves.
Besides, he had to look for Luo Ruoxin. Furthermore, he was certain that Zhao Ya, Yuan Tao, and Wei Ruyan, who had been captured a while back, would definitely be here. As such, he did not have the time or inclination to be merrymaking with a group of adventurers and enjoy the expedition.
A short moment after Zhang Xuan’s departure, an Intuitive Impulse realm cultivator suddenly shook his head and remarked, “If we were a bit more decisive in choosing to follow behind that elder, we might have been able to reap great gains. It’s unfortunate, but it seems like the window of opportunity has already slipped by.”
The man earlier might have been young, but he was discerning and rational. Even with the great dangers that lay throughout the ancient domain, it felt like the young man would be able to overcome them with ease. If they could follow such a leader, it was likely that they would be able to meet with their own fortuitous encounter as well.
Of course, the young man had no reason to share the treasures that he had collected with them, but even the scraps and morsels that he left behind would allow their cultivation to surge swiftly. At the very least, they would be faring way better than they were at the moment.
However, they had already missed this opportunity.
…
Oblivious to the regrets lingering in the group that he had just departed from, the space around Zhang Xuan distorted once more. Before he knew it, he was standing on an icy plain.
With two prior experiences, he did not panic in the least. Instead, he flew as high as he could to survey the surroundings.
Just like in the forest, the higher he flew, the greater the pressure on him. With his current cultivation realm, thirty meters was already the limit.
“The environment here is even colder than the Glacier Plain Court…”
The entire world seemed to be cloaked with a thick layer of snow, and the gale that blew through the snowfield from time to time brought bone-chilling shivers to anyone brave enough to stand in the open in such weather. Even Aureate Body realm cultivators would feel an urge to cover themselves beneath multiple thick layers.
“It still isn’t the Temple of Confucius yet… I guess I’ll have to find another exit in this snowfield!” Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly.
He had thought that he would be able to find the Temple of Confucius swiftly after the ancient domain opened, but it seemed like he had underestimated the trials that Kong shi had put in place.
This was already the third dimension that he had entered, and who knew how many more awaited for him?
“There are the Five Monarchs in the forest, the Berserk Yellowsand Wood in the desert… There should be something that forms the crux of this snowfield too. As long as I can find out what it is, I should be able to find the exit easily…”
He spun the Dragonbone Divine Spear to decide on a direction before advancing forward.
The first thing that he had to do was find other lifeforms, be it the indigenous beings that lived in the snowfield or the experts from the Master Teacher Continent who had entered this world. Through them, he would be able to acquire critical intelligence and successfully identify the location of the exit.
After flying for an hour, Zhang Xuan caught sight of a group of people trudging through the snow.
Zhang Xuan was just about to approach them to seek out more information when his eyes suddenly widened, and he halted his footsteps.
“Otherworldly Demons!”
There were around twenty people in the group, but the person who led the group at the forefront and the other two who followed at the very back were extraordinarily tall. Coupled with the intense killing intent they were emanating, it was apparent that they were Otherworldly Demons!
Judging from the intensity of their auras, it seemed like they had reached the Sempiternal realm. Even though they were no Wu Shu or Bei Xin, they could certainly be considered experts among the cultivators who had entered the ancient domain.
As for the remaining members of the group sandwiched between them, they were all humans. However, it seemed like they had been curbed by the Otherworldly Demons through certain means. With deadpan looks on their faces, they trudged through the snow lifelessly under the Otherworldly Demon’s lead.
“Hurry up!” the Otherworldly Demon at the forefront bellowed impatiently.
It seems like an artifact that controls their souls, Zhang Xuan thought with a frown.
Through his Eye of Insight, he could see that the captured humans were led by a very thin thread, and there was not the slightest hint of emotion on their faces.
There was only one possibility for a situation like this. The souls of the humans were being controlled by the Otherworldly Demons through some means. Otherwise, there was no way that they would have followed them so obediently.
Sighing deeply, Zhang Xuan took a closer look at the crowd, and he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure.
Wait a moment… Hu Yaoyao?
