Chapter 445: Boundless Sand Sea
Han Li wanted to test the limits of the gray cloth's resilience, and he continued to exert more and more force until he was going all-out, but he was still unable to tear the cloth apart.
A curious look appeared on his face as he began to inspect the gray cloth again.
After a brief moment of contemplation, he flicked a finger through the air, releasing a ball of crimson flames that enveloped the entire cloth, subjecting it to scorching heat, but it remained completely unscathed.
With a wave of his sleeve, Han Li snuffed out the flame, then released a ball of heavy water to envelop the gray cloth, and once again, it was completely unaffected.
Around an hour later, Han Li was staring at the gray cloth in his hand with a defeated expression.
During the past hour, he had tried everything that he could think of to get any type of reaction out of the gray cloth, but his attempts had ended in complete failure.
After staring at the gray cloth for a while longer, Han Li stowed it away with a resigned smile, deciding that he would look into it another time.
Right at this moment, the spherical azure light barrier around Lu Yuqing flashed a few times before fading away, and as she opened her eyes, her complexion was looking much better.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Brother Han," she said as she rose to her feet.
"It's fine. Take a look and see if you can identify roughly where we are right now," Han Li said as he gestured at their surroundings.
"According to my knowledge, the Light Frost Region is a very complex place, and there's more than one desert of this description in the region, so I can't tell where we are based only on what I can see right now," Lu Yuqing replied with a shake of her head.
"In that case, let's do some exploring. This place looks quite barren and desolate, but we shouldn't underestimate it," Han Li said as he summoned his azure flying boat before stepping onto it.
Lu Yuqing naturally raised no objections and descended onto the flying boat as well.
Immediately thereafter, the flying boat sped away in a certain direction at Han Li's behest.
Just like the ice field from before, there was a type of invisible force in this area that severely restricted one's spiritual sense, and even Han Li's spiritual sensory range had been reduced to only several hundred kilometers in radius, so he decided to proceed at a moderate speed as a safety precaution.
Moments later, he suddenly raised an eyebrow as he turned in a certain direction, and the azure flying boat also faltered slightly.
"Have you found something, Brother Han?" Lu Yuqing asked.
"I have, but it's not worth very much. So be it, let's go and take a look," Han Li said as the flying boat diverged slightly from its original path, quickly covering a distance of close to 200 kilometers to the left.
Han Li and Lu Yuqing then drifted down onto the ground from the flying boat.
A large patch of dark purple mushrooms were growing over the ground down below, and every single mushroom was around 10 feet tall. The mushrooms were covered in dark purple spots, while their edges were a bright red color, giving them an extremely vibrant appearance.
This cluster of mushrooms took up an area of around an acre, and they resembled a vibrant sea of flowers growing on this barren desert, seemingly completely out of place.
"These are Mull Cloud Mushrooms!" Lu Yuqing exclaimed as her eyes lit up.
"Could it be that you've managed to ascertain our current location thanks to these mushrooms?" Han Li asked.
He had seen some records pertaining to Mull Cloud Mushrooms before, and he knew that they were extremely poisonous and could be used to refine certain poisons or poison-attribute treasures. However, their poison was only effective against cultivators below the True Immortal stage, while those who had attained immortal bodies were impervious to its effects.
"That's right," Lu Yuqing replied with an excited expression.
She flipped a hand over to produce a green jade pendant as she spoke, then cast a streak of azure light into it, and a burst of green light surged out of the pendant, projecting a green light screen.
The light screen was a map that was comprised of around a dozen components of different colors, and it appeared to be only half of a full map.
"Is this the map of the Light Frost Region that you mentioned previously?" Han Li asked.
"That's right. According to the information that our Black Wind Island was able to gather, the Light Frost Region consists of close to 100 different environments. Unfortunately, this map only contains around a dozen of those areas," Lu Yuqing replied with a nod.
Han Li nodded in response with a contemplative expression, and his gaze began to roam over the map.
The map was extremely detailed and life-like, presenting many details that would've been absent in the average map.
However, it didn't contain the ice field, the black mountain range, and the black sea that they had passed through previously.
"None of the three areas that we passed through prior to this were on my map. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been so lost," Lu Yuqing said.
"So where are we right now?" Han Li asked.
Only now was he beginning to develop a rough idea of the Light Frost Region's layout.
"We're here. This place is called the Black Rock Desert, and according to my sources, there are three or four deserts in the Light Frost Region, but this is the only one where Mull Cloud Mushrooms can be found," Lu Yuqing replied as she pionted at a black area on the upper part of the map.
"It's good that we've finally managed to ascertain our location. Stumbling around in the Immortal Palace without any idea of where we are is far too dangerous," Han Li said.
"The Black Rock Desert is actually one of the safer areas on my map. There are no frost beasts here, nor any large-scale hazards like glacial storms," Lu Yuqing said.
"We're quite lucky not to have been teleported to a more dangerous area," Han Li said in an ambiguous fashion.
"Indeed, we're extremely lucky, Brother Han," Lu Yuqing replied with a meaningful smile.
"Oh? Is there something I'm missing, Fellow Daoist Lu?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Do you see this place here, Brother Han?" Lu Yuqing asked as she pointed at the upper region of the Black Rock Desert.
"Is there something special about that area?" Han Li asked.
"That place is called the Boundless Sand Sea, and it's the northernmost point of the Light Frost Region," Lu Yuqing replied.
"So what? Are there some precious treasures in this Boundless Sand Sea?" Han Li asked.
"I don't know about that, but as you're already aware, there are other unexplored regions in the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor aside from the Light Frost Region, and it's said that the one must go through the Boundless Sand Sea to access those other regions," Lu Yuqing replied.
"Really?"
Han Li was very intrigued to hear this.
"Of course! The Light Frost Region has already been mostly explored by cultivators who had previously entered the immortal manor, and I've been meaning to go to the other regions to see what I can find there, but I haven't been able to find the Boundless Sand Sea. Who could've predicted that we would end up so close to the Boundless Sand Sea after that mishap?" Lu Yuqing said with an excited expression.
"In that case, we really are extremely fortunate. Time is of the essence, so let's set off right away," Han Li said as he returned to his azure flying boat.
The Light Frost Region had already been scoured countless times, yet even so, he was still able to reap many significant rewards. If he were to go to an unexplored region of the immortal manor, who knew what would be waiting for him there?
Lu Yuqing stowed her azure jade pendant away before also flying back onto the azure spirit boat, following which the flying boat sped away into the distance at Han Li's behest.
Three days later.
Han Li and Lu Yuqing appeared in front of a vast yellow desert.
The sand in the desert was a light yellow color and rather translucent in appearance, reflecting the light of the sun in a blinding fashion.
At the same time, waves of heat were surging through the air, and it was as if this entire place were a massive lit furnace.
"This is the place, right?" Han Li asked.
"That's right, this is the Boundless Sand Sea," Lu Yuqing replied with excitement shimmering in her eyes.
Instead of immediately venturing into the area, Han Li asked, "This doesn't look like a very safe place. Do you know if there are any hazards present here?"
"You have a very sharp eye, Brother Han. There are indeed quite a few hazards in this area. For example, this desert is filled with fire poison, and anyone who sets foot into it will slowly be poisoned. Even Golden Immortals will be affected given enough time," Lu Yuqing replied.
"Fire poison? I'm assuming this is no ordinary fire poison," Han Li said as his brows furrowed slightly.
"Indeed. The poison can't be treated with any ordinary pills, and the only cure is to find a water spirit area in the desert and use the special water spiritual qi there to gradually neutralize the fire poison. If one is unable to find a water spirit area and has become too severely poisoned, then even a Golden Immortal could die in this desert," Lu Yuqing said with a serious expression.
"What other hazards are there?" Han Li asked.
"Aside from the fire poison, it's said that one could fall prey to extremely confounding mirages in the desert that could make one lose their way and become trapped in the desert forever. This desert is extremely notorious for these two hazards, and very few people who enter the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor set foot in this place," Lu Yuqing replied.
"This does sound like an extremely perilous place. You're saying that there's a pathway to another region somewhere in this desert?" Han Li asked.
"The pathway is deep within the Boundless Sand Sea, but there's no need to be concerned, Brother Han. I have a map of the Boundless Sand Sea, so as long we proceed with caution and follow the map, we should be able to find the pathway just fine," Lu Yuqing replied as she summoned a jade slip before offering it to Han Li.
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