Chapter 502: Chapter 296: The Great Pioneer Expedition [Two Chapters Combined]

The black fog roiled, and even upon reaching the sky, not a glimmer of light could be seen.

Days later, the Shanhai Spaceship had already traveled countless miles away from the “World’s Edge.”

Along the way, the people on the ship maintained high vigilance. Although they had coordinates for the path ahead, and the main force of the Immortal Road had already passed through, they were still extremely cautious.

During the journey, the spaceship often stopped, with dedicated personnel observing the topography of important areas and meticulously recording everything.

“An Advanced Fire Spring!” someone exclaimed in shock, seeing through the pitch-black Night Fog that there were spots of firelight on the ground, and further ahead, a glowing river meandered across the surface.

“This kind of place must have a city or house powerful beings residing.”

“Not necessarily!”

As the spaceship passed by, a few who had mastered special Pupil Skills were quite surprised. By the Advanced Fire Spring, were clusters of glowing plants with overlapping, dense petals.

Some experts were thrilled and said, “Spirit Flowers in full bloom, forming clusters and masses, with their auspicious glow even illuminating the sky. Judging by the looks, the flowers are as large as millstones. Is this a rare Big Medicine?”

“Extremely dangerous, one must not approach!” an elder advised.

“What is that?” Qin Ming couldn’t help but ask.

The elder replied, “Soul Summoning Flower, only grows by the Advanced Fire Spring, can emit divine material, its aroma belonging to the Spiritual Domain, making it irresistible to smell, inevitably leading to spirit detachment, and being absorbed and digested by the flower.”

The crucial point is that after being severed, the flower is worthless; strong individuals have attempted to study them, but once separated from the mother plant, the petals release an overwhelming stench that lingers in the Spiritual Field for months without dissipating.

Several elders left the cabin to inform everyone that in the uninhabited areas of the Yewu World, any kind of species could exist, thus sufficient vigilance must always be maintained.

The next day, on the pitch-black ground, it seemed as though a giant, fiery-red eye was gazing skyward, prompting many to look down and observe carefully.

“A large mouth, with Fire Springs surging inside, such a thing is quite eerie. You might think it’s a creature, yet its body appears to be the earth itself, completely immobile; you might think it’s a natural phenomenon, yet it is extraordinarily peculiar.”

Wu Chengwang explained that it’s impossible to discern the full appearance of such a large mouth on the ground surface; mistaken for a basin flowing with Fire Springs, if a clan migrated and mistakenly entered, it would swallow them whole.

What they saw along the way taught the young disciples much.

In the following days, they also saw flourishing vegetation, rightfully called scenic mountains and rivers, with Fire Springs trickling through the mountain bodies and Fire Rivers traversing the plains.

In such territories, there were primate-like creatures, but not humans—a tall Minotaur people, each over five meters in height with lush green hair.

Yu Gen Sheng said, “We know of this tribe, but have had no in-depth contact with them. They are considered a somewhat formidable External Race in our surrounding regions. With them around, we can observe the Outer Domain’s subtle changes; should they one day face annihilation, the Lightning Sparrows we have positioned will instantly alert us, which would signify a powerful Mysterious Race is approaching, signaling a large-scale battle.”

The group of young disciples fell into deep thought, as the Minotaur Clan was akin to Sentinels, guarding the domain of the Human Clan, their prosperity and decline serving as an early warning.

An elder said, “Actually, the most dangerous part is the vast land connected beyond the Shenshang Plain territory, likely inhabited by some Divine entities. They might have even formed a ‘God-like Association.’

Qin Ming knew about the God like Association; back on the Shenshang Plain, he had even fought a battle with the leader of a small gathering point from there.

At that time, the God like Association provided intelligence for those demons, and he almost died because of it.

“Don’t underestimate the God like Association, they span across large, mysterious territories in the Night Fog World. Our human side has the ‘Sanyan Sect’ which worships the Three-Eyed God, which could well have been founded by a Divine being of the God like Association. However, they remain fairly restrained within our lands.”

Boom!

On the ground, in a patch of primordial forest, Fire Springs converged, forming a lake, suddenly erupting, with a gigantic tongue of fire reaching into the night sky, intending to “lick” the spaceship down.

“What kind of monster?!” Everyone was shocked, feeling a sense of horror.

Given the height measured in thousands of meters, one could only wonder how enormous such a massive fire-red tongue’s main body was, and what it looked like.

Thankfully, although the terrifying airflow surged with the might of mountains and oceans, causing the night fogs to burst apart, it ultimately fell short by a large margin from reaching the spaceship.

In the short time frame, the skies remained silent, and everyone was taken aback, breaking out in cold sweat.

Yu Gen Sheng comforted everyone, saying, “It’s alright. This route has documented cautions, and at this altitude, there’s no significant problem flying.”

“This…” Many were speechless; moments ago, they were almost “licked” clean within the ship in this dangerous, obscure region, causing chills to run down their spines.

“What exactly was that?” The graduates of Shanhai Academy from one or two decades ago had no knowledge of such things, having neither learned nor encountered them before.

Yu Gen Sheng said, “It’s probably a mysterious and terrifying ‘natural phenomenon.’

He hesitated slightly and then mentioned another hypothesis, “There is another possibility, that it’s the ‘aftermath’ left by an influential figure of the Esoteric Buddhism, who ventured deep into the Night Fog World to break through barriers, but met with an accident and failed.”

Hearing this, everyone’s expressions turned grave.

They recalled the widely circulated notion that in the Yewu World, the existence of various unknowns was entirely normal—and would pose a significant problem only when understood.

Because understanding might well conceal a deeper large-scale crisis.

“If it were a prominent figure of the Esoteric Buddhism, it must have been an Ancestor Master, right?” Xin Youdao mused with furrowed brows. He was walking the Newborn Road, also affiliated with the Esoteric Buddhism, practicing both paths.