Chapter 883: Chapter 135 "Alienation
Winds arose in Lost World, and they were by no means ordinary.
In those breezes that curled around him, Jiang Wang felt a slightly complex impurity that did not belong to the essence of Wind Yuan. It was extremely subtle, and had he not been on high alert, observing everything, he might have missed it.
Or perhaps ’impurity’ was not the right word to describe it since those ’attachments’ lacked a distinct form.
After much thought, he gradually identified them as something on the emotional level. Only after using the Soul Stealth Snake to make contact was he finally able to confirm that they were indeed related to Cultivators who had perished in this realm.
They were not complete souls or any kind of residual spirits, but rather like a sort of obsession—an attachment unwilling to succumb or find refuge in a place like Lost World.
It was then that he connected the dots: today was the fourth of April, the day of the annual sea festival.
The Cultivators of the Near Sea Archipelago were performing their sea rituals, welcoming the return of Heroic Spirits with devout ceremonies.
To die in Lost World meant to lose one’s spirit.
It wasn’t just the flesh that was destroyed, leaving behind the spirit; rather, when the flesh body died, the spirit too became trapped.
Even while possessing a flesh body one could easily become lost; how much more so for a spirit alone, bereft of the guidance of Starlight Holy Tower?
Some perished completely, body and soul; others, merely their obstinacies, were ensnared in Lost World, wandering without a refuge. It was similar to how a sliver of Guan Yan’s True Spirit drifted through Forest Sea Source Realm, yet not quite the same.
These thoughts were even more fragile than a True Spirit and there was no possibility of reconstruction. (In fact, in Jiang Wang’s understanding, the chance of a True Spirit being reconstructed was already non-existent—until Guan Yan shattered that belief.)
Yet people believed that by calling them back into the territories of the Human Race, there was a chance for the brave souls from which these thoughts originated to re-enter the cycle of reincarnation.
If they could not endure until the day of the sea festival to be called back, they would fade into oblivion, losing all potential. Hence, today in Lost World, such gentle breezes blew.
They could not take anything away, nor could they change Lost World. It’s just that those who yearn for home, in the end, will return to their homeland.
Jiang Wang had tried relaxing his control over his own body, and instead of falling straight down, his body actually rose for a distance. After a long while, it shifted to the left for a while before starting to descend.
Of course, this notion of up and down, left and right was all relative to his own standing position.
This trajectory of movement had no pattern, simply adhering to the topsy-turvy rules of Lost World.
He controlled his body to fly forward, and each bit of distance was far from simple—he was adapting to Lost World as best as he could. To leverage his combat abilities in Lost World to their fullest; after all, his true strength was already inferior to Granny Bizhu’s, and being further suppressed due to a lack of adaptation would be akin to seeking death.
Fortunately, this process wasn’t very difficult. His mastery over Dao Yuan had already reached an extraordinarily nuanced level, a gain from his earlier ’exchange’ with a True Man. This allowed him to quickly adapt to the peculiarities of Lost World, his internal Dao Yuan Stone able to react instantly to external changes to ensure he walked as if on level ground.
By this time, he had figured out that the black dots he had seen upon falling into Lost World were mostly giant rocks. Their shapes and orientations varied. Due to the similarly chaotic and inverted nature of this place, using these boulders to determine direction was impossible.
Thank goodness for the navigation tool. In the short time of exploring Lost World, Jiang Wang had more than once felt this way.
Some of the boulders were even hundreds of feet in diameter, appearing to Jiang Wang to be like small islands; however, they were not the so-called "Floating Islands," and they bore no signs of Human Race habitation.
This indicated that the composition of "Floating Islands" was far from simple. They were not just islands suspended in the air; certain necessary conditions had to be met.
Otherwise, there should not be just one solitary Floating Island in the Ding Wei Region.
Jiang Wang had gone to observe these giant rocks up close. They were of very ordinary composition and were not the type of rocks seen at the Hanging Monastery that could suspend in air. Their ability to float was solely due to the specialty of Lost World... This made him abandon the idea of taking some corner stones with him.
Most of the rocks were bare, with hardly any living creatures and devoid of trees, soil, or the like, with only an occasional patch of moss.
No traces of human life.
This was to be expected, as, aside from the large armies that formed arrays, all who battled in Lost World were Cultivators of Outer Building Realm and above. They either campaigned or recuperated on the Floating Islands; there was simply no need to inhabit these areas.
Jiang Wang had now chosen a route based on the planning of the navigation tool, circling around the only inhabited Human Race Floating Island in the vast expanse of the Ding Wei Region.
This path could be visualized as a sphere, with the Floating Island as the center and Jiang Wang’s route tracing the surface of that sphere.
The reason for making this choice was that he put himself in Granny Bizhu’s shoes and easily reached a conclusion—the sooner Jiang Wangyue died, the better.
He hoped to deal with Granny Bizhu as soon as possible, but when Granny Bizhu hoped for the same, he, on the other hand, needed some patience.
Searching for a needle in a haystack was evidently not a good option, and for Granny Bizhu, with her superior strength, guarding the vicinity of the Floating Island was an easier way to "capture" Jiang Wang.
Because Jiang Wang had to go to the Floating Island for "supplies".
This "supply" was not just about resources, not just about Magic Artifacts, Dao Yuan Stones, medicine, and the like; it pertained to a most crucial issue of "Alienation".
Cultivators had long discovered a subtle transformation imposed by the Lost World upon their bodies after prolonged stays, altering them unconsciously.
It wasn’t an oddity like growing extra heads or arms; the "transformation" was incredibly subtle, often utterly imperceptible.
Because the interaction between life and the environment is constantly and insidiously completed.
However, those who stayed too long in the Lost World would experience a reaction, to a greater or lesser extent, when they returned to Human Race territories—they had become less suited to the world of the Human Race!
For those with milder conditions, they only needed to recuperate for a while. For those more severely affected, permanent changes could manifest!
Decline in combat prowess, loss of control over Dao Yuan, inability to sense Yuan Force, and even breathing becoming painful...
This transformation was known as "Alienation".
God Descending Realm Cultivators did not experience "Alienation" because their Golden Frame and Jade Marrow easily locked down their own changes.
But not all warriors fighting in the Lost World were from the God Descending realm.
The solution to "Alienation" was also very simple—return to the Floating Island to rest before the body had substantially altered, just staying a night would work. This period could be shortened even further with focused acclimatization.
In a certain sense, the Floating Island was like a small enclave of the Human Race, and returning there was akin to stepping back into Human Race territory.
Because the Floating Island held such significant importance, it became known as the lifeline of the Human Race within the Lost World. The number of Floating Islands also represented the strength of a given area.
Jiang Wang chose to circle around the Floating Island to avoid a direct confrontation with Granny Bizhu before he had fully adapted to the Lost World and to test her resolve in turn.
Granny Bizhu wanted to get rid of Jiang Wang as soon as possible, and she was well aware that Jiang Wang was in a hurry to complete his penance and return to the End of the World Platform to take Zhu Bijing away.
The questions before her were, how high was the priority for Jiang Wang to kill her? Could Jiang Wang complete his penance before the onset of Alienation given the abundant resources he carried with him? Was it possible that he didn’t need to visit the Floating Island at all and could simply achieve his goal and leave?
No matter how wise Granny Bizhu was, these unavoidable questions and dilemmas would arise.
Her greed for Jiang Wang had been too blatant, and there was no way she would let him slip away in the Lost World. As long as this was understood, relatively accurate judgments could be made.
Jiang Wang could even deduce the approximate area Granny Bizhu would be lurking in—it wouldn’t be too close to the Floating Island because there, in the heat of battle, Jiang Wang might escape into the Island, where no cultivator is allowed to harm another.
But it wouldn’t be too far from the Floating Island either, as that would easily lead to oversights.
So, she likely encircled within a small circle inside the larger circle Jiang Wang was taking.
She might not even need to circle around; just setting up "eyes" along the border of this small circle would do.
But during the first few days of her stakeout, she certainly wouldn’t encounter Jiang Wang.
Afterwards, she would be caught in a dilemma, whether to continue waiting for Jiang Wang or to take the initiative to strike?
Taking the initiative could mean missing Jiang Wang’s trip to the Floating Island for supplies. But if she continued to wait, Jiang Wang might have already completed his penance and left.
This dilemma would torment the old crone incessantly. The longer the time passed, the more indecisive she would become.
The opportunity Jiang Wang was waiting for would arise then.
