Void Cultivation

It was only after they were both fully prepared that they stepped into the periphery of the Corroded Zone.

The instant they crossed the invisible boundary separating the outside world from the Corroded Zone, a bone-chilling cold swept over them and immediately infiltrated their bodies. It was not an ordinary cold. It carried a strange, oppressive quality that seemed capable of seeping through their skin and reaching directly into their bones.

Along with the cold came the nauseating stench of decay and death.

The air was thick with a dense corrosive substance that lingered everywhere, almost like an invisible mist. Even breathing normally in this place caused a faint discomfort in their lungs. For cultivators with weaker bodies or inadequate defenses, remaining here for too long would gradually corrode their flesh and internal organs.

The moment they entered, Grey and Iria both felt as if they had stepped into a completely different world.

Dark, gloomy clouds stretched endlessly across the sky, completely blocking the clear heavens and the radiant light of the sun. There was no warmth here. No gentle breeze carrying the fragrance of flowers. No sounds of ordinary wildlife.

Everything was dead.

The only thing the clouds failed to conceal was the enormous hand of God that hung over the Corroded Zone like an omen of death.

The gigantic hand remained suspended high above the land, its terrifying presence silently overlooking everything beneath it. Even from such a great distance, merely looking at it caused an indescribable feeling to rise within Grey’s heart.

With the decay and corruption that permeated this place, it almost seemed as though the giant hand above them was both the cause and the effect of everything that had happened here.

It was difficult to explain the feeling.

There was no obvious pressure descending from the hand, nor did Grey sense any direct attack.

Yet the moment his gaze lingered upon it, a faint sense of apprehension emerged from the depths of his soul.

It was instinctive.

It was as if some part of his existence was warning him that staring at that hand for too long was extremely dangerous.

Grey’s pupils narrowed slightly.

He immediately retracted his gaze after recalling words he had heard a long time ago.

"Don’t look directly at God."

Those words had once seemed strange to him.

Now, standing beneath that enormous hand, Grey finally understood why such a warning existed.

He did not know who had spoken those words first or what they had experienced to come to such a conclusion. But Grey had no intention of testing whether the warning was true. He had experienced it far too many times and had already witnessed enough bizarre things in his journey to know that some mysteries were better left untouched.

The Corroded Zone itself was located deep within the trenches of a vast forest.

Long ago, this forest had probably been a place overflowing with life and vitality. Trees would have stretched toward the heavens, birds would have filled the skies, and countless beasts would have roamed freely through the wilderness.

But everything had changed after God’s blinding radiance descended upon this place.

In an instant, countless life forms had been evaporated into mist.

Those fortunate enough to survive the initial destruction did not necessarily escape death. Some were slowly killed by the corrosive substance that had permeated the land, while others underwent terrifying transformations.

Their bodies mutated and their minds twisted beyond reason.

Their very existence became something completely different from what they had once been.

Some eventually transformed into abominable creatures that possessed terrifying strength and instincts completely different from ordinary beasts.

From Grey’s understanding, there was a thick veil of darkness separating the depths of the Corroded Zone from its periphery.

The veil was strange. No one knew where it came from and who had created it.

And, most importantly, no one knew what existed beyond it.

However, there was one thing that everyone knew.

The veil of darkness seemed to prevent the truly terrifying existences dwelling in the depths from venturing into the peripheral region.

At the same time, the weaker creatures that inhabited the periphery rarely ventured beyond it.

It was almost as though the veil itself had established an invisible boundary between two completely different worlds.

A boundary that neither side was permitted to casually cross.

Of course, there had always been those arrogant or desperate enough to challenge this boundary.

None of them had returned alive.

Anyone who stepped into the veil of darkness would disappear.

Before their deaths, shrill and desperate cries would sometimes echo throughout the Corroded Zone.

The screams would continue for several breaths.

Then... They would stop abruptly.

No one knew what happened beyond the veil and no corpse had ever been recovered.

No survivor had ever returned to explain what existed within the depths.

That alone was more than enough to terrify cultivators into abandoning any thought of advancing further.

As a result, among all the Corroded Zones in the surrounding region, this particular Corroded Zone was one of the least explored by humans.

Even powerful cultivators were extremely cautious when approaching it.

After all, there was a significant difference between knowing that something was dangerous and knowing nothing about the danger at all.

The latter was far more terrifying.

Inside the gloomy Corroded Zone, there was almost no light from either the sun or the moon.

Even during the day, the surroundings remained shrouded in darkness. At night, the darkness became even deeper, making it nearly impossible to distinguish one’s surroundings without relying on spiritual sense or special techniques.

The trees and plants growing here were also completely different from those in the outside world.

Their trunks were twisted and deformed, their branches grew at unnatural angles, and their roots sometimes protruded from the ground like the limbs of enormous creatures.

Some plants had mouths. Others possessed eyes.

There were even a few that appeared completely ordinary at first glance, yet their roots would suddenly move the moment someone approached.

They could move, albeit slowly. And despite their plant-like appearance, they possessed various means of harming cultivators.

Some released poisonous spores while others sprayed corrosive fluids. There were some trees that directly attacked their victims and devoured their blood through their branches.

There were even plants that could disguise themselves perfectly before suddenly extending their branches and wrapping around an unsuspecting cultivator.

For ordinary cultivators, distinguishing these plants from harmless vegetation was almost impossible.

Fortunately, Grey was well versed in both plants and poisons.

His knowledge allowed him to recognize many of the mutated plants before they could pose a threat.

Hence, he naturally took the lead with Iria following closely behind him.

Neither of them spoke much.

Their senses were stretched to the limit as they carefully advanced through the dark forest.

Their main purpose for coming here was to collect a particularly rare herb that could only grow under extremely specific conditions within Corroded Zones.

Perhaps saying that it could only grow in this particular Corroded Zone was inaccurate.

The Crimson Moon Blossom could potentially grow in other Corroded Zones as well.

However, there was one important requirement. The Corroded Zone had to be approaching its first hundred years.

Only Corroded Zones that had reached a certain level of maturity seemed capable of producing the flower.

Grey couldn’t help but think of the Corroded Zone where he had first awakened.

He quickly dismissed the thought. That Corroded Zone had barely born when he left.

When he departed from the scavenger camp and traveled toward Sky Mist City, the Corroded Zone had still been in its nascent stage and had yet to fully mature.

Now, Grey could only imagine how terrifying that place would have become after all these years.

As a Corroded Zone matured, the corrosive substance within it would become denser, the mutated creatures would grow stronger, and bizarre phenomena would gradually emerge.

Compared to Corroded Zones that had existed for decades or even centuries, however, the one where Grey had awakened was still extremely young.

Its danger and lethality had not yet reached their peak. The Corroded Zone before them was different. It had already existed for nearly a hundred years.

That meant the dangers within had had decades to accumulate and evolve.

And the Crimson Moon Blossom was precisely one of the products born from this process.

The flower’s appearance was extremely peculiar.

Its petals resembled blood-red crescent moons, and under certain conditions, they would emit a faint crimson glow.

It was known as the Crimson Moon Blossom.

The flower sometimes grew within the periphery of a Corroded Zone, although its location was always unpredictable.

Most of the time, it had been discovered near the veil of darkness separating the periphery from the depths.

That alone made obtaining it extremely dangerous.

The closer one approached the veil, the more dangerous creatures one could encounter.

Some of them possessed strength far beyond what ordinary cultivators could withstand.

However, there were also times when the flower appeared in relatively safe locations.

That was why searching for it was largely a matter of luck. The Crimson Moon Blossom possessed an extremely valuable property.

It could be used in the creation of powerful toxins capable of breaking down corrosive substances far more efficiently than ordinary medicinal pills.

But that was not its most valuable characteristic. The flower possessed another strange property.

It could directly target the source of the corrosive substance within a cultivator’s body.

Unfortunately, this property was extremely weak. It could weaken the source and slow its growth, but it could not completely neutralize the corrosive substance that had already infiltrated a person’s body.

Still, this discovery had attracted the attention of countless alchemy experts.

Over the years, numerous alchemists had attempted to understand the reason behind the Crimson Moon Blossom’s unique property.

If they could uncover the principle behind its ability to attack the source of corrosive substance, they believed it might be possible to develop a method capable of completely eradicating corrosive substance from a cultivator’s body.

That possibility alone was enough to drive countless people insane.

After all, corrosive substance was one of the greatest threats to cultivators who ventured into Corroded Zones.

It could accumulate within the body over time, slowly weakening one’s foundation and eventually causing irreversible changes.

If someone could completely eliminate it, the significance would be unimaginable.

Because of these recent developments, the value of the Crimson Moon Blossom had soared even further.

A single flower could be worth hundreds of thousands of spirit stones. In some circumstances, its value could even reach millions.

And there were times when spirit stones were not enough.

Rare treasures, powerful cultivation techniques, and other priceless resources had all been offered in exchange for a single Crimson Moon Blossom.

Naturally, finding one had become extraordinarily difficult.

Almost every Corroded Zone approaching its hundredth year had been thoroughly searched by cultivators.

Whenever a Crimson Moon Blossom was discovered, it was immediately collected and carefully preserved.

As a result, finding another one had become a matter of pure luck.

Many cultivators had already searched this particular Corroded Zone in hopes of obtaining the flower.

Most left disappointed while some... never left at all.

This Corroded Zone was particularly mysterious.

Even without venturing too deeply into the peripheral region, cultivators could still encounter mutated creatures possessing frightening levels of strength.

And if one’s luck was particularly terrible, they might encounter a bizarre existence.

Against such creatures, even powerful cultivators could die instantly.

Grey and Iria were both aware of this danger. Therefore, neither of them dared to be careless.

Their defensive treasures had already been prepared and activated. At a point, Iria even brought out a medicinal bottle and swallowed some medicinal pills.

Grey did so as well to avoid suspicion.

Their spiritual senses were constantly sweeping through their surroundings, and their bodies remained tense as they carefully advanced deeper into the gloomy forest.

Every step they took was deliberate. Every rustling sound made them vigilant.

The deeper they went, the darker the surroundings became.

The strange plants twisted silently in the darkness, their distorted branches swaying despite the absence of wind.

Somewhere in the distance, an unknown creature let out a low and eerie cry.

Grey stopped. Iria immediately stopped behind him.

For several breaths, neither of them moved. Grey’s eyes narrowed as he stared into the darkness ahead.

He could vaguely sense something watching them. But instead of panicking, Grey recalled Caster’s words when they were still in the Scavenger camp.

"Traversing a Corroded Zone is not as difficult as it looks. But the main problem lies with your observation. If you hear a strange cry within the depths, don’t ignore it and continue forward. Adjust your direction and leave from there."

"If a path looks too safe, avoid it and circle around it completely. And if you smell strange sweet smells, immediately turn around and leave. Although this does not guarantee your safety, it’ll preserve you and keep you more alert of your surroundings."

Caster ’s voice resounded in Grey’s head. These instructions had never left his head. Grey cherished knowledge and information like this. Especially if it was something that he didn’t know and could potentially save his life. Grey had listened with all seriousness.

After hearing the weird cry from the depths, Grey didn’t ignore it and instead changed their direction before continuing forward. When they saw a path that was free from bizarre looking trees, Grey avoided them completely.

And even some times, Grey’s instincts warned him against some certain places and they circled around it all together. And just like this, they continued onward.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!