Chapter 312: Savage Wasteland
After dealing with the Asura World's Evil Eye High Priest, Jiang Li, the pitiful Alliance Leader of the Great Mountain Alliance, set off again and flew towards an area he had never stepped foot in.
The current location of the Myriad Slaughter Sect's main force was called the Rock Mountain Range. It was a sealed cultivation world that they had just attacked.
From the rough map of the Eastern Region of the Azure Cloud Continent, the area covered by the Rock Mountain Range was not much smaller than the Great Mountain Region.
It was a special terrain with rocks that was difficult to see.
The straight line distance from the Great Mountain Region was not far, but in the middle were two red areas marked as highly dangerous on the map.
That meant that just flying on it might be life-threatening. If one did not have absolute confidence in their own strength, they would try their best not to touch it.
Jiang Li had just released a group of Asura World creatures to the Nine Provinces Continent.
Although he controlled it very well and did not pose any threat or influence to the continent of the Nine Provinces, the interface did not show any negative status.
However, he had already sensed some changes in himself. His originally fresh mouth suddenly showed signs of foul odor.
This meant that he might have been plagued by negative karma.
His merit blessing could eliminate negative karma, but he did not want to test his luck recently.
It was better to be obedient and take a detour like ordinary cultivators.
After that, this detour took an entire twenty days and nights. Jiang Li, who was sitting on Rayquaza, had been meditating dully all this time. He was about to break through to the Core Formation realm before finally flying to the edge of the target area.
Immediately, the vegetation became sparse. Only when the exposed ground completely turned into bare rocks did he know that he had already entered the Rock Ridge.
Under the scorching sun, the air was roasted until it distorted slightly. The entire place was desolate!
At this moment, an eagle's cry suddenly tore through the sky.
They had just arrived at the new place when this barbaric region welcomed Alliance Leader Jiang in its own way.
The shadow that was covered by the sunlight shot onto Jiang Li, and it actually enveloped him and most of the wooden dragon.
Looking up, a pair of huge and sharp hook claws had already pounced forward.
The Wood Dragon Rayquaza opened its mouth and shot out a Dragon Roar Cannon, directly piercing the wings of the huge bird. The sharp eagle cry immediately turned into a wail.
Without a wing, it was difficult for the bird to fly, so it immediately fell.
After that, the rocky wasteland that Jiang Li originally thought was barren, empty, and desolate suddenly became bustling.
A huge rock deformed without any warning and transformed into a stone-skinned toad. It jumped up from the ground and opened its meat-colored mouth to bite the fallen bird.
However, before the toad could land, the seemingly bare rock ground suddenly split open like a mouth, biting the falling toad in the middle again.
It was not until this guy started moving that Jiang Li discovered that it was a dried stone crocodile with six legs.
After swallowing the prey in two bites, the crocodile shook its head and swayed its tail as it walked into the distance. However, after walking for a while, the terrain beneath its feet suddenly collapsed, and its huge body sank like it had fallen into quicksand.
However, it was not sand. It was a Marching Ant that was ten thousand times more terrifying than sand.
A huge dried stone crocodile fell into the endless army of ants. Its hard skin could not withstand the invincible mouth-parts.
In just a few moments, the tons of meat were completely eaten by the ants. Even the bones were cut off by the mouth-part and the delicious spinal cord inside was emptied.
In a short period of time, Jiang Li had seen a fierce competition between fish and shrimps.
The more barren and desolate a place was, the more extreme the disguise and hunting ability of the local species would be.
Especially after evolving into a demon beast, all kinds of magical methods emerged endlessly.
After the group of ants below finished eating the crocodile and the other two demon beasts in its stomach, they actually placed their gazes on Jiang Li.
Buzzing sounds of wings flapping could be heard. This group of army ants actually had flying soldiers. A group of grayish-brown insects rose into the sky at a rather slow speed and pounced towards Jiang Li.
They were thirsting for any food to reproduce and strengthen their species.
The countless terrifying mouth-parts were enough to make most of the monsters in the wilderness retreat.
Even Jiang Li's Wood Arts would probably only become their food.
Other than insect repellent, the most effective thing against insects should be flames.
He raised his hand and formed a ball of scorching wine fire in his palm. He suddenly slapped it down, and a ball of shocking alcohol spiritual fire spread out, instantly enveloping the swarm of insects.
The power of the Liquor Fire Flame that was enhanced by the Nine Nether spiritual qi was quite powerful.
When the flames dissipated, a large number of charred and tender insect shells fell down.
The smell of burnt meat filled the air. The protein was eight times that of beef.
This fragrance caused the demon beasts in a range of more than five kilometers to riot.
In order to prevent himself from being swept into it, Jiang Li put away the obviously targeted Wood Dragon Rayquaza and rode his flying sword to quickly leave this area.
In such a place, how strong were humans to be able to survive?
However, after flying for a distance, Jiang Li discovered that there was actually a small town in this wasteland.
In such a harsh environment, being able to survive safely without being destroyed was definitely a skill.
There was a sign hanging on the edge of the town. It seemed to be an organization similar to a relay station.
After Jiang Li approached, he politely landed on the ground and walked towards the town.
At this moment, he discovered that there was a tall fungus growing in a circle around the town. It was a thick mushroom with many holes on the surface.
After using appraisal, he learned that the name of this fungus was quite common. It was called the Desolate Poison Mushroom.
This was a poisonous mushroom. When touching the surface, a large number of poisonous spores would spew out from the holes on the surface.
As long as a creature breathed in a certain number of poisonous spores, it would be parasitized and poisoned, slowly absorbing nutrients until it was beyond cure and on the verge of death.
Their fungus spores would also spread underground and occupy a considerable area. These fungus spores also had the same toxic and parasitic characteristics.
Therefore, as long as such a Desolate Poison Mushroom existed, basically no demon beast would take the initiative to approach them.
This was also the way ordinary humans lived in this region.
Of course, this spore would also work on humans, causing ordinary mortals in the region to have an average lifespan of less than 35 years,
However, this was also the only way they could survive in a dangerous wasteland.
It was even to the extent that the humans in this region had already formed a symbiosis with this poisonous mushroom. The poison of the poisonous mushroom protected humans, and after humans died, their corpses would be buried in the ground to grow new poisonous mushrooms.
Jiang Li followed the usual practice and gathered some spores. After wrapping himself in a poison-shielding mask woven from the roots of the Nine Nether Wood, he walked into the small town relay station in front of him.
To his surprise, there were actually quite a few people in this relay station.
In the center of the town, there was a shed that blocked out the sun and wind. Inside, dozens of cultivators were sitting in the shed, waiting for something.
"Hey, there's a new scumbag coming."
"Hey, newbie, come over and give me 2,000 spirit stones. We'll be kind and take you to Blackstone City."
Seeing Jiang Li arrive, a group of burly men with fierce faces shouted arrogantly at him.
They looked like gangsters collecting protection fees.
Jiang Li had never had a good impression of such people. After his eyes emitted a shocking aura and glanced at them, the group of burly men immediately fell silent.
The others sat silently on the spot, and they seemed to have sensed what Jiang Li had done. They raised their heads and took a glance before ignoring him.
From the looks of it, this group of cultivators was not together. From their sitting posture and position, they all maintained vigilant and safe positions.
Jiang Li glanced over and noticed that most of these people were dressed like rogue cultivators.
Although their appearance and characteristics were different, they all gave people a feeling of disgust.
They were probably the type that looked like bad people from one glance.
This small town should be the relay station set up to enter deeper into the Rock Mountain Range. The goal of this group of people here should be the same as Jiang Li, they planned to head to the center of this region, Blackstone City.
However, this region that had just experienced the flames of war was occupied by a powerful Myriad Slaughter Sect. What exactly was it that could attract these guys here?
Not long after, a female cultivator came forward to greet Jiang Li.
"Hello, guests. Please don't listen to their nonsense. They are travelers like you. You don't have to pay them any additional fees."
"This relay station belongs to the Eastern Region's Merchant Alliance. They don't dare to really attack here."
"Is your destination also Blackstone City? We suggest that after gathering a hundred people, we hire about ten brownstone pythons to travel together. This will be safer."
The female cultivator's attitude was very good. She professionally explained the service of their relay station to Jiang Li.
If they formed a hundred-person team according to what she said, each person would have to pay 200 spirit stones to pass through this dangerous wasteland.
The success rate was naturally not 100%, but it was also the first choice for most cultivators to travel.
Jiang Li nodded in agreement. There were already many cultivators in this relay station, so it should not take long for a hundred people to set off together.
In addition, he was new to this bare wasteland and was too conspicuous.
He was here to secretly cause trouble, so it was best not to be too open.
After handing over 200 spirit stones to the female cultivator, Jiang Li casually made up a name and registered it in her book. After that, he took a wooden number card and quietly waited at the side.
He then discovered the reason why this group of rogue cultivators came to this troublesome place.
On the wall of this relay station, there was yellow paper everywhere.
On it was a recruitment order. The target of recruitment did not have any requirements and was targeted at all rogue cultivators. The recruiter was the famous Myriad Slaughter Sect in the cultivation world of the Eastern Region.
It was said that the conditions for the Myriad Slaughter Sect to recruit disciples were extremely harsh, and they had to pass through a heavenly punishment to obtain approval.
However, that was actually the standard for official members. Even if they were fully prepared, the actual mortality rate of Heavenly Punishment had always been high.
The Myriad Slaughter Sect was in a state of war all year round. They had just fought a long war against the cultivation world of the Rock Mountain Range, so they naturally needed a large number of new blood to join.
As a Demon Sect, the conditions for recruiting outer sect members were extremely relaxed. In any case, they did not need to pay anything, so they naturally did not reject anyone. The more the better.
There were no requirements regarding character. Scumbags and perverts were child's play in the Myriad Slaughter Sect.
Therefore, there was this recruitment notice stuck on the wall everywhere.
To those rogue cultivators who committed all kinds of crimes, they could join a large faction in the Divine Judgment Hall.
In the future, they would no longer be rogue cultivators without anyone to rely on. Instead, they would have backers and supporters.
In the future, when they walked, they could swagger around without fear. When they gave up on threatening others, they would be much more confident.
It was a temptation that they could not refuse.
At this time, there was a high chance that only such a group of people would come to the Rock Mountain Range.
No wonder that burly man from before called him a scumbag. He only treated Jiang Li as a rogue cultivator who had gone thousands of miles to join the Myriad Slaughter Sect.
Jiang Li pondered for a moment. This seemed to be a good idea.
Right now, the interior of the Rock Ridge must be extremely dangerous. If they used conventional methods to hide, if they were discovered, it would be hard to avoid a pursuit.
If he encountered a Soul Formation expert, he did not have any reliable methods to deal with them.
He might as well join this group and enter Blackstone City through the recruitment method.
However, his identity as the Great Mountain Alliance Leader had already been recorded in the Divine Judgment Hall.
The Myriad Slaughter Sect had already sent scouts into the Great Mountain Region. He did not believe that they did not even know his appearance as the Alliance Leader.
If he was recognized, he would be courting death.
It was better to change his identity.
The Wood Arts that he was good at and his signature artifacts could only be used as little as possible.
Fortunately, no one knew that Jiang Li still had a fire attribute artificial spiritual root.
If he changed his appearance and used the Liquor Fire spiritual qi to fight the enemy, even his master would not be able to recognize him so easily.
The attraction of the Myriad Slaughter Sect's recruitment token was indeed not small. In this small relay station, it quickly filled up to a hundred cultivators. Before leaving, there were even a few who cut the line.
200 spirit stones per hundred cultivators.
The income from this relay station was 20,000 spirit stones. The business of the Eastern Region's Merchant Alliance was really easy to earn.
Then, they saw the brownstone python that they had hired with spirit stones.
According to the female cultivator who received them, this brownstone python had the bloodline of the sacred beast of the Rock Mountain Range. When they moved, the rustling sound of their scales rubbing against each other could drive away most demon beasts in the desert.
Controlling these ten pythons were ten native snake cultivators covered in scales and with long, thin tongues.
They would lead Jiang Li and the others along the path established by the Eastern Region's Merchant Alliance to Blackstone City.