403: Is the path to immortality severed?

The Dragon-born gestured for everyone to sit.

Wen Xinghai and the others were confused.

But they did not want to start a war with the Dragon-born in such a deep area.

Heaven knows how many Fifth-Rank Great Demons it controlled.

Thus, everyone cautiously sat in a circle.

The Dragon-born extended a claw, pointed at the damaged Heaven-Reaching Pagoda, and spoke:

"I will not speak of other matters, but I will make it clear to you: the path to the Burial Emperor Star has long been severed."

"The last person in the history of the Prison Land to travel to the Burial Emperor Star was named Helian Meng, a figure from at least ten thousand years ago."

"Throughout the long period since then, the Heaven-Reaching Pagoda has been broken, other paths are inaccessible, and no one has been able to reach the Burial Emperor Star."

"If you have come for Ascension, please return."

"In the current East Sea, only we weak orphans and the scattered Materials of the Ancient Battlefield remain; there is nothing else."

Wen Xinghai and the others looked at each other.

This was terrible news for them.

The path from the Prison Land to the Burial Emperor Star was also called the "immortal path," and the process of completing this path was called "Ascension."

Although, in the eyes of the big shots on the Burial Emperor Star, this terminology used by the commoners of the Prison Land was laughable.

But in the eyes of the various powerful natives of the Prison Land, including the state-stabilizing seal, the Burial Emperor Star was truly no different from a fairyland.

And the state-stabilizing seal had even offered an extremely high reward for the "find the immortal path" mission.

However...

"The immortal path is severed?"

Moon Abyss, residing within Wang Long, sighed.

"Although I had guessed as much, it was never verified. Now that I see this broken Heaven-Reaching Pagoda... it must truly be severed."

The Prison Land was a place used by people from the Burial Emperor Star to dispose of "criminals."

To facilitate management, a Grand Array was set up outside the planet, blocking the Cultivators inside from smuggling themselves out.

Wen Xinghai tried his best to think from the perspective of an administrator.

He thought that if he were managing the Prison Land, he would only build one Heaven-Reaching Pagoda, as that would be easier to control.

After all, the Heaven-Reaching Pagoda itself would inevitably connect to the outer Grand Array, creating a gap; rationally speaking, there shouldn't be multiple ones.

"In other words..."

Wen Xinghai looked at the Dragon-born and said: "A fierce battle for the Heaven-Reaching Pagoda once broke out here, and in the end, the Heaven-Reaching Pagoda was shattered, and the immortal path was severed?"

The Dragon-born nodded: "That is exactly right. So you should understand now, right? The immortal path is severed, this place has no other use, so please return and do not disturb our peaceful rest."

Ye Chun asked: "If the immortal path is severed and this place is useless, why have you guarded it for thousands and ten thousands of years?"

The Dragon-born retorted: "What talk of guarding? It is merely nostalgia and an unwillingness to migrate."

Wen Xinghai said: "We will continue to come to the Ancient Battlefield to search for Treasure. You cannot stop it, you cannot control it, and there will always be people coming, so please forgive us."

The Dragon-born raised an eyebrow and said: "Hmph, you should also know that this place is fraught with danger. Searching for Treasure? I fear you will have the life to come, but not the life to leave."

Shao Kaitian laughed loudly: "Little Dragon, you don't need to worry about that. We are lucky and have great fates; we won't die here so easily. I only fear that when the time comes and we have taken all the Treasure in the Ancient Battlefield, you won't be able to sit still and will come looking for us."

The Dragon-born glared at him and snorted coldly: "Fine, if you have the guts to come, then come."

After speaking, it flicked its claws and pointed to the east: "But I must tell you, if you go deeper, that is the core area where the battle was most intense back then. The methods of the High-level Cultivator are still wreaking havoc even today; entering it means certain death."

"As long as you are not stupid, do not go any further."

The Dragon-born flew high into the sky, and with a wave of its claw, it gouged a long trench into the ground.

"Using this place as a boundary, to the west, you may search for Treasure as you please; we orphans of the East Sea will not interfere."

"But any further east, do not blame us for being ruthless!"

After speaking, the Dragon-born shouted.

The group of Yao Beasts that were originally scattered outside immediately gathered and guarded the boundary line, glaring angrily at Wen Xinghai and the others.

Wen Xinghai scanned the area and couldn't help but feel a bit alarmed.

There were actually over a hundred Fifth-Rank Great Demons here; although they were all Yao Beasts without developed intelligence, their combat power was genuine.

The heritage of the East Sea was actually much higher than imagined.

But...

'No overwhelming Fourth-Rank Great Demon? Strange, I clearly remember that the East Sea should have a Fourth-Rank Great Demon holding the fort. Could it be that they are tied up with important matters, which is why they had to compromise with us?'

'Or is it that, like the state-stabilizing seal, they do not act lightly and are very cautious?'

Wen Xinghai could not figure it out.

They had collected enough intelligence from this exploration, so everyone immediately headed home.

Subsequently, the people of Dragon Seeking City did roughly three things:

First, a review, identifying the unreasonable aspects of this operation and preparing for improvements next time.

However, because of the high returns of the Ancient Battlefield, the conclusions regarding "obeying orders and prohibitions" and "collective action" after the review were not taken seriously.

Instead, it attracted more casual players, who were all chasing the high returns and did not care at all about the secrets behind the exploration of the Ancient Battlefield and the East Sea, completely ignoring commands.

Undoubtedly, the next East Sea Exploration would be very difficult to carry out in an orderly manner.

Wen Xinghai and other commanders held a pessimistic attitude toward this, even beginning to discuss whether to act alone and carefully make contact with the Dragon-born.

Second, everyone discussed whether to establish a stronghold in the Ancient Battlefield.

Although the players had not mastered the method of building teleportation Formations, they could imitate Dragon Seeking City and build a large stronghold city in the Ancient Battlefield for supplies and docking flying boats.

This would also facilitate the players' subsequent searches of the Ancient Battlefield.

However, Xiao Buyu, who was responsible for the Formation, stated that the Ancient Battlefield was dangerous and that if a stronghold were to be built, stronger Formations should be set up, which meant...

It would cost more money.

This made the construction of the new stronghold city indefinitely delayed, and the players could never reach an agreement.

Third, actively contacting Burial Emperor Star players to inquire about the East Sea and the immortal path.

The five Golden Core Players who directly reached the ruins of the Heaven-Reaching Pagoda unanimously agreed that the Dragon-born's attitude was very strange and that there must be secrets hidden behind it.

Considering that the Dragon-born himself had powerful combat strength, and the further east one went, the more Yao Beasts it seemed to be able to mobilize, once a war started, it would get out of hand and might even attract a Fourth-Rank Great Demon.

Therefore, the players did not dare to directly initiate the capture plan for the Dragon-born.

Instead, they prepared to start with the Burial Emperor Star players, letting more people inquire about the immortal path in the Prison Land, attempting to find the issues with the Dragon-born and the secrets of the East Sea from the side.

Of course, the "Dragon-born Capture Plan" had reached a consensus within Dragon Seeking City, just waiting for the right time to launch.

At the same time that countless players were gathering in Dragon Seeking City, preparing to launch the second East Sea Exploration and Ancient Battlefield Treasure-hunting activity.

The Western Great Desert.

The exploration team, with Old Potato as the core, was crossing the Great Desert, collectively heading toward the world further west.

Unlike the initial blind fumbling of the East Sea Exploration.

Old Potato and the others had some conjectures about the west.

First was the conjecture regarding Buddhist Cultivators, believing that there would be a Buddhist Kingdom in the west.

Second, there were the various rumors left behind by Yan Xiao.

There was Yan Xiao in the west, and Yan Xiao was very likely associated with various Opportunities.

Therefore, Old Potato had mobilized quite a few people, and the scale was not inferior to the player group of the first East Sea Exploration.