Chapter 34: The Legend of the Wasteland

Chapter 34: The Legend of the Wasteland

In midair, a streak of rainbow light — one meter wide and two meters long — stood straight up in the sky, brilliant and sparkling, possessed of remarkable substance, like a luminous, transparent crystal.

Within it stood a young woman of eighteen or nineteen. Her face was as flawless as jade; her figure slender and tall; her waist delicate and fine; her legs straight and long. A light-blue skirt and robe flowed naturally around her — about her drifted an air of transcendence, as if she stood entirely apart from the mortal world.

Everyone fell into a daze. This beautiful young woman, not very old, looked like a celestial being — completely untouched by the dust of the mundane world. She possessed a beauty that felt otherworldly: like a pristine white lotus glistening with dewdrops, or a fresh snow-lotus blooming on a mountain peak. She gave the impression of someone who did not consume the food of ordinary people.

The world does not lack women of extreme beauty — but one so rarely finds a woman of such transcendent, unearthly quality. It was as if she had stepped out of the common world entirely, merging as one with the fresh and pure natural world around her.

This clear and lovely young woman was very calm. She gazed down at the group below her and said something — her voice pleasant to hear, though the group needed a moment’s thought before grasping the meaning. She was asking who they were. Her speech was very close to ancient Chinese, carrying a soft, lilting quality — one had to pay close attention to fully understand it.

“We are a group of people who have fallen into misfortune. Are you a celestial being? Can you save us?” One female classmate immediately burst into tears at the sight of her. Withered in form, wrinkled in skin, aged beyond recognition — finally seeing a young woman who appeared to be an immortal, she wept and cried out for help at once.

Lin Jia and Li Xiaoman also stepped forward, their eyes filled with desperate hope. They had once been exceptionally beautiful and proud women. The blow they had now suffered was worse than death — especially when faced with a young woman this clear and lovely, it only sharpened their urgency to have their looks restored.

In midair the light glittered and sparkled, as if a section of the finest rainbow had been extracted and condensed into a magnificent gemstone, with a spirit-like girl sealed inside.

In truth, the rainbow streak that appeared so crystalline was not solid — it only seemed to have substance. The young woman within was completely unrestrained. Her jet-black hair cascaded and swayed gently; her eyes were deep and watery, hazy and misted, laced with threads of fog; her skin snowy white and luminous, shimmering with a soft radiance — utterly ethereal and beautiful.

“You entered the Ancient Forbidden Land?”

Another soft yet pleasant phrase came from her, and again the group needed a brief moment to unravel the meaning of the ancient Chinese.

“Yes — we only just escaped from there.” A female classmate, her face haggard with age, wept helplessly as she looked up with imploring eyes. For a woman, what had befallen her was the most devastating blow imaginable. She was already completely flustered, speaking without thinking.

When the young woman in the rainbow light heard this, the calm expression on her jade-like face rippled. She revealed a deeply astonished look.

“To walk out of there alive — that is no small feat.” She said those words softly. Then her eyes swept repeatedly over Liu Yiyi, Zhang Ziling, Pang Bo, and Ye Fan, as if recalling something. Her expression shifted to one of great shock, and she asked urgently: “Are these your actual ages?”

“No — we were never this old. For reasons unknown, we’ve lost decades of youth and vitality.” A male classmate answered eagerly, then looked at the young woman in the sky, tense and filled with hope.

But this young woman did not look toward him. It was as though she already knew they had lost their youth and vitality — she was directing her question to Ye Fan and Pang Bo.

Ye Fan replied: “Originally we were all young people in our twenties. For unknown reasons, some have aged, while some have reversed in age and grown younger.”

“Is that truly so?” The young woman in midair revealed an expression of shock, and stared unblinkingly at Ye Fan and Pang Bo. Urgently she asked: “Have you eaten a kind of red fruit — completely scarlet, crystalline and translucent…”

Ye Fan could be certain that the extraordinary fruit they had eaten was exactly what the young woman was describing. There was no way to deny it — after all, Zhou Yi and the others had seen them eat it — so he nodded.

The young woman in midair gave Ye Fan and Pang Bo a strange, searching look — as if appraising rare treasures. Being stared at so intently by such a clear and transcendent beauty somehow made the two of them feel unsettled and ill at ease.

“May I ask — is there any hope for those who have aged?” Wang Ziwen, in such circumstances, could not remain calm and was desperate to know whether he could recover his youth.

“Do not despair. Though your appearance will be difficult to restore, in losing your youth you have also gained much — once you are in the wider world, many will compete over you.” Seeing the strange looks on everyone’s faces, the young woman continued: “There is no need for concern. To be competed over is no bad thing — on the contrary, it is an opportunity for you.”

“I… only want my appearance back.” One female classmate wept, her voice broken. Aged like this, she felt she had lost the will to go on living.

“Very well — let me first bring you all away from this primeval ancient forest.” The mysterious young woman gave a light wave of her hand, and a swath of rainbow light spilled down, enveloping everyone on the mountain and slowly lifting them into the air alongside her.

This truly was a mysterious world. In everyone’s understanding, what they were witnessing was surely an immortal’s technique.

“This place is extremely far from any inhabited area. If you tried to walk out on foot, it would be nearly impossible. This primeval mountain forest is full of terrifying fearsome beasts — when I encounter them, I can only choose to go around.”

Pang Bo looked curious and asked: “Did you come from that celestial palace up ahead?”

“Celestial palace…” The young woman in midair looked puzzled. “What celestial palace is that?”

Pang Bo pointed toward the peak ahead. “Isn’t there an expanse of halls and palaces up there? Stretching on without end, vast and magnificent, with countless towers and pavilions — and many cranes flying about among them.”

“So the legend truly is real…” The young woman showed an expression of wonder.

“What legend? Haven’t you seen it?”

“No — I see nothing at all.” The young woman in the rainbow light fell into contemplation. “The legend says that the Ancient Forbidden Land — the absolute forbidden zone of antiquity, a zone where life itself is extinguished — has been like this since time immemorial: those who have strayed in and made it back out alive all reported seeing a celestial palace, seemingly within arm’s reach, yet forever impossible to approach.”

Of course — that made sense. Everyone understood now. Their own experience had confirmed exactly what the young woman described. Someone asked: “Does that mean it’s nothing but an illusory projection?”

“It is not illusory. Only at a specific time, through a particular means, can one truly approach the celestial palace. But the vast fortune required for that is something ordinary people have no way of obtaining — it exists to be seen but never touched.”

Zhou Yi cared greatly about his own situation. “Those who have strayed into the Ancient Forbidden Land and emerged alive — what ultimately became of them?”

The young woman, clear as ice and snow, glanced at him and answered calmly: “To enter the zone where life is forbidden is to face a hundred deaths and only one chance of survival. Even those who make it out alive do so with frost-white hair — their lives nearly at their end. However, their ‘Bitter Sea’ has also been awakened. Should they take the path of cultivation, they will find that they advance at twice the speed with half the effort.”

“Can youth be restored?”

“With great difficulty — though it is not absolutely impossible. As cultivation deepens, one’s vitality will naturally grow powerful. Upon reaching a certain realm, it may become possible to alter one’s appearance.” These words from the young woman instantly kindled hope in many hearts.

“What is inside the Ancient Forbidden Land — what force stripped us of our youth?” Wang Ziwen could not help asking. This was a question that weighed on many of those present, filling them with resentment and helplessness.

“That is a very ancient question. Since time immemorial, many people have asked it — yet no one has ever been able to truly explain.” The young woman was carrying everyone along in swift flight. Rainbow light glittered all around them, like a great arc of color parting the sky, while a gentle radiance held back the high-altitude winds so that they could speak without difficulty. She continued: “According to legend, deep within the abyss of the life-forbidden zone lives something called ‘Barren’ — seemingly an ancient being, or perhaps a terrifying force.”

“Has no one tried to explore it?” Ye Fan could not help asking.

“Since ancient times, the number of those who attempted to explore it is beyond counting. But without exception, nearly all were completely annihilated.” The mysterious young woman looked back at the primeval forest behind them. “Every inch of that land has been dyed red with blood at some point. Once, the bones of the dead piled like mountains — and all who died there were powerful experts. Long ago, a certain immortal sect, at the absolute peak of its power in all its recorded history, marshaled every resource it possessed and sent forth tens of thousands of powerful cultivators, intent on breaking open the Ancient Forbidden Land and seizing the legendary object said to exist within. But all tens of thousands perished there. The immortal sect nearly ceased to exist entirely — only three to five people escaped, and its lineage came perilously close to being severed.”

“That terrifying?!” Pang Bo clicked his tongue.

“It is a demonic land soaked in boundless blood. How lamentable — that immortal sect, which had reached unprecedented heights of prosperity, not only lost tens of thousands of powerful cultivators in an instant, but even several supreme experts who had reached the pinnacle of crafting the very foundations of creation became ‘Wasteland-Slaves’ in the ancient abyss — enslaved for all eternity.”

Hearing this, everyone could not help thinking of that terrifying silhouette they had seen — fierce and blazing with menace, whirling several-hundred-zhang-long massive iron chains. That was almost certainly what was called a “Wasteland-Slave.”

The multicolored rainbow moved at extraordinary speed — swift as the wind, fast as lightning. The endless primeval old forest swept backward below them, yet even at such speed, a full hour of flight passed before they finally reached the edge of the wild forest.

By now, the sky had long since turned dark. In the distance, a small town glowed with the light of countless lamps. The moment they drew near, seven or eight streaks of rainbow light shot up into the sky, each a different color, each carrying a figure within.

“It’s Weiwei, she’s back.”

“Did you find anything around the Ancient Forbidden Land? Powerful experts have been sent from every cave heaven and blessed land in the area, all seeming to search for something. Did you avoid running into them?”

“If our several elders have sensed something in the Ancient Forbidden Land, the powerful figures in those cave heavens and blessed lands would naturally have noticed as well.”

Within those streaks of rainbow light were several elderly people — seemingly elders of this young woman called Weiwei.

“These people are…”

“Could they have strayed into the Ancient Forbidden Land and emerged alive?”

When the young woman named Weiwei gave a confirmatory answer, the several elders immediately burst into laughter.

“Ha ha ha… Excellent! Their ‘Bitter Sea’ has already been awakened — they are fine seedlings for cultivation!”

The group quickly descended into the small town and entered a brightly lit great hall.

“Why are they so young?” When the several elders caught sight of Ye Fan and Pang Bo, they were immediately startled, finding it difficult to believe.

“Can they have eaten that legendary fruit? That… is impossible!” One elder felt utterly astounded, and exclaimed: “Nine sacred mountains surrounding and forming the ancient abyss — legend says each sacred mountain bears a divine spring and a kind of wondrous sacred fruit, nine divine springs and nine types of sacred fruit in all. To obtain even one is to shed one’s mortal shell and be reborn! But how could a few ordinary mortals have managed to get anywhere near that place?!”