Swaggering with full bravado, the two Golden Core patriarchs deftly navigated around the territories of Soul Formation demon beasts—not because they couldn't fight them, but because there was no need to look for trouble—and reached the depths of the dense forest.
"What thick fog."
Spread out before them was a fog so dense that one could hardly see one's own fingers. Walking through it felt like trudging through a reed marsh where the path ahead was entirely invisible, leaving them to rely purely on instinct.
"Ha!"
Meng Jingzhou let out a shout and thrust a palm forward. The palm print gleamed with golden light, standing taller than a man, and whipped up a ferocious gale. Normally, the wind from this single strike was enough to send an early Golden Core cultivator flying, yet when it struck the fog, it failed to kick up even the slightest ripple.
Even the gale of his strike couldn't disperse the mist before them.
Lu Yang channeled the divine sense he took such pride in, only to find that it couldn't extend outward at all, breaking apart the moment it touched the fog.
"I'd long heard there was fog deep in the forest, but I never expected it to be this bizarre. It can't even be pierced by divine sense—no, should I say it disintegrates divine sense?"
During their training at Demon Quelling Pass, the two had heard that the border where the depths of the dense forest met the Demon Domain was shrouded in dense fog year-round, unyielding even at high noon.
"I thought that upon reaching the Golden Core stage, this rumored fog wouldn't amount to much. Seems I took it too lightly. Could this have been conjured by a demon beast like a Mirage King?"
With their divine sense now useless, their five senses were severely blunted, sharply reducing their awareness of their surroundings. If someone ambushed them, they could succeed with ease.
Neither dared let their guard down. They crept forward through the fog with utmost caution, trying their best to minimize their presence.
In truth, their worries were superfluous. In this mist, just as they couldn't detect any enemy, enemies couldn't detect their location either; nobody would ever choose this place to stage an ambush.
"Could this be the anomaly Eldest Senior Sister mentioned?" Lu Yang suddenly recalled Eldest Senior Sister's words before their departure.
"What did Eldest Senior Sister say?"
"She told me that I might make a new discovery at the border between the Central Continent and the Demon Domain, and if I had any questions, I could just ask Third Senior Sister once I met her."
"It must be this fog, then."
Just then, the Immortal Fairy awoke from her slumber. She had enjoyed a wonderfully comfortable sleep throughout the journey, which had even restored a good deal of her power.
"Hmm? Where have you two ended up? Why is there a wall in front of you?"
The Immortal Fairy woke in a daze, rubbing her eyes as she warned Lu Yang. If she hadn't, he would have walked straight into the wall.
"A wall?"
The fog before him was so thick that Lu Yang couldn't see a thing.
"A towering wall. I can't even see the top at a glance... Wait, that's not right!"
The Immortal Fairy let out a soft exclamation, sensing an anomaly.
No matter how strange the fog was, it could not obstruct her vision or her immortal sense; she could see everything around them with absolute clarity.
"What's not right?" Lu Yang rarely saw the Immortal Fairy react so strongly.
The last time she had reacted like this was when she clamored to suppress him, only to be suppressed in turn by Eldest Senior Sister when she was summoned.
"I'll share my immortal sense with you."
In the spiritual space, the Immortal Fairy tapped the forehead of Lu Yang's spiritual body. Divine sense and immortal sense linked together, temporarily granting Lu Yang the Immortal Fairy's field of vision.
Lu Yang felt his body lighten. His vision stretched boundlessly, like a lofty deity looking down from on high, everything laid bare before him to manipulate at will.
"What is this?!"
Lu Yang was dumbfounded with disbelief. Before him stood an unfathomably massive and solid wall—so vast that even with the immense reach of the Fairy's sense, its end was nowhere in sight!
The Fairy's sense extended even beyond the fog. Lu Yang saw shrubs flourishing on the wall, trees standing tall, demon beasts roaming, and tribes gathered together in a thriving, prosperous scene.
Most astonishing of all, the demon beasts Lu Yang saw were standing vertically on the wall!
"Lu Yang, where did you go?"
Meng Jingzhou hadn't realized Lu Yang had halted. He had continued walking forward, only to turn his head and find the person beside him gone.
Lu Yang fell silent for a moment. He had watched with his own eyes as Meng Jingzhou "walked" onto the wall.
The moment Meng Jingzhou touched the wall, he stood vertically upon it, forming a ninety-degree angle with Lu Yang.
And Meng Jingzhou was still walking forward, completely oblivious to what had happened!
"Don't go yet, come back!" Lu Yang yelled.
Meng Jingzhou looked back, utterly bewildered. But hearing Lu Yang call out like that, he knew his friend must have discovered something, so he took a few steps back and stood beside Lu Yang once more.
"What is it?" Meng Jingzhou asked in confusion.
Lu Yang's heart shuddered. What he had seen through the immortal sense, combined with Meng Jingzhou's round trip, made him realize one thing: what lay before them was not some massive wall at all—it was the Demon Domain!
The Central Continent and the Demon Domain did not reside on the same landmass; they were two entirely separate continents, and they were set perpendicular to each other!
Lu Yang took a step forward. Through the lens of immortal sense, the world spun, and he arrived in the Demon Domain.
He stepped back onto the Central Continent and explained his findings to Meng Jingzhou in full. Meng Jingzhou fell silent for a long time after hearing it.
"It seems this is the 'new discovery' Eldest Senior Sister spoke of."
"To think the Central Continent and the Demon Domain are two entirely separate continents... Wait, why would the Central Continent be given the name 'Central'?" Lu Yang suddenly thought of another question.
Lu Yang had always assumed that to the east of the Central Continent lay the vast East Sea, to the west lay the Golden Buddhist Kingdom, to the south lay the Demon Domain, and to the north lay the Extremely Cold Lands. Because the continent sat in the middle, it was called "Central."
Yet if the Demon Domain and the Central Continent were set perpendicular to each other, how could it be considered "Central"?
Unless the other three regions were also three continents set perpendicular to the Central Continent!
The Central Continent was boxed in on all four sides by four continents. Only in this manner did the name "Central Continent" make sense!
"There's no mistake. This is a method that only an immortal could pull off," the Immortal Fairy concluded.
"Done by the Ancient Nameless One?"
"Most likely him."
The Ancient Nameless One had refined stars into continents—not just one, but five!
It was just that no one knew what his purpose had been.
Refining stars into continents sounded awe-inspiring, but the actual execution would be fraught with immense difficulties; it was hardly something that could be done on a whim.
To go through such colossal trouble to refine continents, he surely had a goal in mind.
Lu Yang took a deep breath. Eldest Senior Sister had foreseen this long ago, which was why she told him to consult Third Senior Sister if he had questions.
The reason she hadn't explained the state of the continents before their departure was likely because seeing it with one's own eyes was far more shocking and impactful than any verbal description.
"Just as ordinary cultivators don't know that the stars in the sky were already refined, very few people probably know that the continents are arranged like this."
The two had interacted with many high-ranking cultivators, none of whom had ever mentioned the layout of the continents. Clearly, this state of affairs had no practical effect on daily life.
"Forget it, let's not think too much about it. We can't flatten the continents anyway, so why go looking for trouble?" Meng Jingzhou said.
"Fair point."
The two nodded and took a step forward together, stepping onto the other continent.
The Demon Domain side was also covered in dense fog. As they continued forward, the mist gradually dispersed.
They had officially arrived in the Demon Domain.
Chapter 561