Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 875 - 875 0533 Desert Oasis_2

Chapter 875: Chapter 0533: Desert Oasis_2 Chapter 875: Chapter 0533: Desert Oasis_2 Everyone nodded in agreement and then lined up in a row, entering the Teleportation Gate one by one. The area of the Teleportation Gate was limited; it could only accommodate one person at a time, and certainly not one more.

Sun Xiang was the first in line, followed by Qi Tian, Liao Chongru, Deng Chuanliang, Jin Jin, and Wang Youjun.

Qi Tian stepped into the Teleportation Gate almost immediately after Sun Xiang with barely any gap between them. As he entered the gate, Qi Tian felt a sensation of weightlessness, and before he could recover from it, he found himself falling from a great height, crashing heavily into a desert and making a large crater in the dry sand.

Qi Tian was choking, his mouth and nose full of sand. He coughed and spat for a long time, then took out some water to rinse his mouth, finally clearing the sand from his mouth and nostrils. Only then did he remember Sun Xiang, Liao Chongru, and the others. He quickly looked around, but to his surprise, he couldn’t see any of them.

Another thought struck Qi Tian, and he hurriedly looked up at the sky and his surroundings. What alarmed him was that he had lost any trace of the Teleportation Gate. He had arrived here in complete confusion and now had lost any means to return.

Qi Tian vaguely understood why Gao Jinmei and Zhao Haiying had entered the Imperial Family Secret Territory without notifying him first—they might have lost the trace of the Teleportation Gate just like him.

Qi Tian quickly formed a Spirit Rune with his hands, attempting to locate Zhao Haiying and Gao Jinmei. He had placed Slave Marks on them, and by sensing these marks, he could determine their whereabouts.

But soon, Qi Tian disbanded the Spirit Rune in disappointment. Using the Spirit Rune, he couldn’t feel the presence of any Slave Marks. He didn’t know what was going on—whether Gao Jinmei and the others were too far from him, or if they had encountered some misfortune.

Qi Tian sighed. He had never anticipated such a scenario, and now, for a considerable time in the future, he would have to struggle alone. He couldn’t count on anyone else. However, Qi Tian was not unfamiliar with this situation, nor was he afraid. On the contrary, he felt a faint excitement and anticipation. He had reached this point in life starting from scratch, and he was confident that he could regain his powerful strength once more. After all, he was not starting empty-handed this time; he had too much power at his disposal to accept failure as an option.

Qi Tian immediately utilized the Heavenly Dao Engine to survey his surroundings. He quickly ascertained that within the range of the engine’s sensing capability, there were no dangers—nor opportunities, for that matter. He couldn’t find a single thing containing Spirit Qi within the detection range. Then, Qi Tian noticed something—he found that the Spirit Qi between heaven and earth was extremely thin here, even thinner than in the Great Zhao Nation. Could this desolate place really be the Imperial Family Secret Territory that Zhao Haiying had been so fixated on?

After pondering briefly, Qi Tian decided to explore this area and hoped to find some locals to ask about the situation. He looked around once more and was shocked to discover that there was no celestial body similar to the sun in the sky here. It was as bright around him as it was during the day outside, but he had no idea where the light that illuminated everything came from.

The absence of the sun was a serious problem; it made it impossible for him to determine the cardinal directions. With no options left, Qi Tian decided to resign himself to fate. He took out an ordinary flying sword and, stepping onto it, started to fly in one direction at an altitude of about ten meters above the ground. He didn’t dare fly too high, fearing that he might accidentally fly into some sort of no-fly formation—a height of ten meters would ensure he wouldn’t suffer much injury should that happen.

Qi Tian had already visited quite a few secret realms, and these realms had one thing in common: they were limited in size. At the time, Qi Tian could only walk on the ground within these secret realms, which he felt was quite time-consuming, leading to the illusion that the realms were vast. However, after consulting some relevant materials, he was able to confirm that the area of these realms was indeed limited. Currently, the largest secret realm he had visited was the one controlled by Wanjie City, used for excavating spiritual stone veins, roughly the size of two or three provinces in the mainland. The next was the one possessed by the Imperial Master Mansion, about the size of one mainland province.

Now, Qi Tian still couldn’t determine the exact size of the Imperial Family Secret Territory, but the fact that he couldn’t sense the direction of the Slave Mark was enough to conclude that it was larger, rather than smaller, than the mine realm.

This place must indeed hold opportunities for Gold Core Realm experts to ascend, but such chances were definitely not abundant; they were likely quite rare. To find such scarce opportunities in such a vast secret realm truly required considerable luck.

Qi Tian was riding his flying sword at a speed of about eighty kilometers per hour, which was all that this particular sword was capable of. He had better flying swords, but he hadn’t forgotten that Wang Fengna had entered the Imperial Family Secret Territory before him. It wouldn’t be good to encounter Wang Fengna while using an exceptional flying sword. Besides, wasn’t there someone with a cultivation level or strength within the secret realm that could contend with Wang Fengna?

At this moment, Qi Tian felt it was necessary to keep a low profile. He preferred spending more time on his journey rather than letting greed blind him.

Maintaining his modest flight, more than a day had passed, and Qi Tian had flown nearly two thousand li. He was only just emerging from the desolate, uninhabited desert that lacked Spirit Qi. Fortunately, this period was uneventful, without any sandstorms.

After so much time, Qi Tian’s worries had eased slightly. He had raised his flying height to about twenty meters and was about to leave the desert when he saw a hint of green ahead. He quickly increased the speed of his flying sword a bit and flew towards the greenery.

As he approached the green patch, Qi Tian realized that it was actually still in the midst of the desert – it was simply an oasis within the barren wasteland, only slightly larger, with a radius of about twenty li.

Qi Tian shook his head, having thought he could put an end to the monotonous flight. However, he planned to rest at the oasis before continuing, to adjust his state, and also to attempt to contact others.

Soon, Qi Tian landed on the oasis. He took out a few Spirit Fruits from his reserves and ate some. Even without eating, he could now satisfy his hunger by absorbing the Spirit Qi from heaven and earth. Yet, he couldn’t entirely give up the desire to eat and would still indulge occasionally to satisfy his cravings.

Once again, Qi Tian tried to sense the presence of the Slave Mark, but the results were still not encouraging. He couldn’t sense the whereabouts of any Slave Marks. Realizing this approach wasn’t working, Qi Tian wasn’t in need of their assistance – he simply wanted to ensure their safety. Of course, he wouldn’t resist if someone managed to make their way to him.

It didn’t take long for Qi Tian to think of another method: using the Message Paper Crane to try and make contact with Zhao Haiying and the others. This method came with certain risks, though, as the Message Paper Crane, despite being a common tool among cultivators to send messages, was not invisible to the naked eye.