It was pitch-black outside the ghost ship, with the only thing present being the endless chill.
Through what the shadow saw, Xu Qing looked at the hell-like void outside the ghost ship. He suddenly recalled the terrifying saying of the great terrors that countless cultivators feared when they advanced to the Foundation Building realm.
When a cultivator attempted advancing to the Foundation Building realm, it was as though they had become a bright lantern which attracted the existences from another world.
For example, the little mute back then had failed at this stage and had been possessed.
If it wasn't for Xu Qing, he would probably have been completely destroyed.
At that moment, the darkness outside the ghost ship gave Xu Qing the feeling that it was that world.
Xu Qing fell into deep thought. The passage of time here wasn't obvious. It seemed to be an instant or a long time until an intense light suddenly emerged in the darkness.
This light carried heat and spread over a large distance. As it tore through the darkness, it also reflected a dazzling desert from the torn hell.
At the next instant, the ghost ship directly rushed into the desert. The instant it shuttled in, the ghost ship… disappeared.
Everyone on the ship immediately felt the pulling gravity.
"You can open your eyes now."
As Purple Mystic Fairy's voice rang out, the disciples of the Eight Sects Alliance opened their eyes one after another. What greeted their eyes was a burning desert.
An endless sea of fire spread in all directions. The sky distorted because of this and the red sun in the sky emitted an astonishingly high temperature as well.
The sun here was clearer and larger than what Xu Qing could see in the Yinghuang Province.
It was as though the sun was directly above this desert.
Or rather, this desert… was the area closest to the sun.
The ghost ship couldn't exist here, so it disappeared.
With a wave of Purple Mystic Fairy's hand, a flying ship that was like an azure dragon appeared, causing everyone to land inside one after another.
The flying ship bore the scorching sun and shuttled through the sea of fire, moving forward rapidly.
As for the other passengers on the ghost ship, they also had their own methods. The two Sword Holders took out magic artifacts that looked like hats. They didn't rise into the air but tunneled into the ground and disappeared.
"This is the last leg of the journey. After flying across this desert for three months, we will arrive at the capital of Fenghai County."
Purple Mystic Fairy spoke softly.
Amidst the scorching sun, her voice was like a clear spring, causing everyone's minds to relax a lot.
Xu Qing took a deep breath and a strange glint appeared in his eyes. Although the experiences on this journey were brief, he saw many things.
This increase in knowledge and experience was something that couldn't be provided by the Yinghuang Province.
The vastness of the world seemed to have opened a corner for him.
There were nonhuman races in this desert.
Half a month later, as the flying ship moved forward and an extinguished area appeared on the ground. Green smoke rose from the area.
As the green smoke curled into the air, they actually formed the outlines of humanoid figures.
Although they were still blurry, one could roughly see that there were men and women, old and young.
It was like a race living a normal life.
There was even a semblance of a city in places with dense green smoke.
Xu Qing and most of the other disciples found this scene unbelievable. Only the captain seemed to be used to it and didn't find it strange.
While they were staring at the race formed by the smoke, many of the figures formed by the green smoke lifted their heads and looked at the flying ship in the sky.
This scene caused Purple Mystic Fairy's expression to turn solemn, and for the first time, she floated out of the flying ship and bowed to the smoke city.
"Human cultivators of the Yinghuang Province, here to escort our Alliance's Sword Holders to the county capital. Please forgive us for passing through your territory."
After Purple Mystic Fairy cupped her fists, Xu Qing also cupped his fists. All the other disciples also bowed to the ground solemnly.
The smoke below churned and a large number of smoke figures appeared.
They looked at the flying ship and seemed to be in deep thought. Very soon, they cupped their fists and returned the greeting.
Purple Mystic Fairy heaved a sigh of relief.
"This is the Smoke Race, and it's also the most difficult race to deal with on this journey. They don't care about the vast majority of human forces, but they revere the Sword Holder."
"This race was born under the scorching sun and are natural assassins. Their figures can fuse all auras and are incomparably bizarre. You guys will have to be more careful when you encounter them in the future. Don't easily become enemies and try your best to form good relations with them."
Purple Mystic Fairy reminded.
Xu Qing nodded and looked at the smoke city on the ground behind him, firmly memorizing the characteristics of this race.
Xu Qing and the others saw many strange races on the way.
A month later, the color of the desert changed. It was no longer yellowish-red but slowly crystallized…
This formed a reflection. The light of various colors intertwined. Although it was gorgeous, it was extremely dazzling. If one's cultivation base wasn't enough and looked at it for a long time, they would be blinded.
The flying ship looked like it was shuttling through a sea of light.
Here, Xu Qing saw the two Sword Holders again.
Clearly, this part of the desert was the destination of these two Sword Holders. At that moment, the two of them were fighting against invisible existences in the sea of light on the crystallized land.
Sword light flowed in all directions, and the sound waves were astonishing. Waves of spell fluctuations spread out.
Beside them was the nonhuman girl who had been lying on the back of the female Sword Holder. At this moment, the black bandage on the little girl's eyes had been removed. She was looking straight at the sun that could burn everything.