Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Two seasoned soldiers died like that, at the hands of a boy who looked rather frail, unarmed, and dressed in coarse linen.

It was obvious the situation was now completely out of control, the remaining few thugs still kept charging toward Chen Yan one after another.

Chen Yan remained decisive, his movements efficient.

In just a few breaths’ time, the six thugs who had rushed forward were all dead by Chen Yan’s hand.

Then Chen Yan turned his gaze to the short, dark, thin man standing not far away.

The short man’s legs trembled uncontrollably.

“P-please spare me, young hero, please spare me!”

Finally, the short, dark, thin man could not bear the pressure any longer and collapsed to his knees in the yellow sand.

“Water.”

Chen Yan expressionless, repeated his request.

“Yes, yes!”

The short, dark, thin man hurriedly threw down the weapons on his person, then crawled toward Chen Yan, dropping to both knees and offering the water gourd that had been strapped to his waist.

Chen Yan took the gourd, without hesitation pulled out the stopper, and drank in big gulps.

The water in the gourd was not cool, it had been warmed by the sun into a lukewarm taste.

But it was enough.

“Cough, cough!”

After drinking, Chen Yan coughed twice, then fixed his gaze on the short, dark, thin thug kneeling before him.

The short man clearly felt Chen Yan’s stare, and every muscle in his body began to tense up.

“Where is this place?”

Chen Yan asked, directing his gaze at the endless yellow sand before them.

“In answer to the young hero,” the short, dark, thin man said, “this is the Northern Desert of the Yu Kingdom. North of here lies the territory of our Shanrong. To the south, the nearest point is Yu’s Sandwind Pass!”

The short, dark, thin man replied.

Though his mind had not fully processed why this boy in coarse linen would ask him such questions, he knew the best way to survive was to answer truthfully.

Yu Kingdom, Shanrong, Northern Desert, Sandwind Pass…

None of those place names meant anything to Chen Yan.

“Is this place Chenping Continent, or somewhere else?”

Chen Yan continued.

“Chenping Continent…”

The short, dark, thin man showed a confused expression, as if he could not understand what Chen Yan was saying.

Perhaps I am no longer on Chenping Continent.

Chen Yan thought, then continued:

“What is this land called?”

“This land…”

The man kneeling before Chen Yan still seemed not to understand, and hurriedly said:

“I really don’t know what this Chenping Continent or this ‘land’ you speak of is. I only know that south of Shanrong is Great Yu, north of Shanrong is the Jie tribes, to the west, crossing the Mei River, is Yunxi State, and to the east is Guqi…”

Chen Yan suddenly understood.

Most ordinary people in this world have a very limited grasp of it.

In places far from the influence of the Five Great Sects, lands without any mundane kingdoms or states useful to cultivators, the people there didn’t even know cultivators existed.

Fine, fine.

Chen Yan looked up at the scorching sun hanging high in the sky, baking the earth.

The most important thing right now was to find a place that wasn’t as hostile as this place, preferably a human settlement.

In other words—

“Which is closer, Shanrong or Sandwind Pass?”

Chen Yan asked.

“Sandwind Pass!”

The short, dark, thin man answered immediately.

“This is the Northern Desert of the Yu Kingdom, and Sandwind Pass is Yu’s foremost northern fortress. Our Shanrong clans assembled the army and marched south to invade Great Yu, aiming primarily to break Sandwind Pass!” 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

“Oh?”

Chen Yan raised an eyebrow.

“In the first encounter in this northern desert, our Shanrong clans won a great victory. Now our main forces are pursuing the enemy, heading south toward Sandwind Pass. Only a small contingent was left here to clear the battlefield, and then we met you, young hero.”

The short, dark, thin man continued explaining. He thought the most important thing to survive in front of this youth was to be sufficiently honest.

“What if the Shanrong clans break Sandwind Pass?”

Chen Yan pressed.

“Then they will plunder the northern cities of Great Yu, and riding the momentum, continue their southward advance.”

The man answered.

“How confident are they of breaking Sandwind Pass?”

“Um…”

The soldier from Shanrong’s voice immediately dropped:

“The centurion told us foot soldiers that Shanrong’s clans gathered six hundred thousand troops for this southern campaign, while Great Yu only has less than a hundred thousand defenders in the north… Although I think the chieftains may be exaggerating the enemy’s weakness.”

“You’re a clever one.”

Chen Yan nodded.

“You flatter me, young hero!”

The short, dark, thin man quickly thanked him.

If he weren’t clever, he wouldn’t still be alive right now.

Who wins between Shanrong and Great Yu did not concern Chen Yan.

What concerned him was that if Sandwind Pass fell, it would be hard to find a peaceful place within Great Yu to settle down and cultivate in safety.

Better to check the situation first; that’s preferable to staying in this desert.

Chen Yan thought.

“How far is Sandwind Pass from here?”

Chen Yan asked.

“About thirty li, but young hero, Sandwind Pass is currently in the midst of battle, so—”

“You don’t need to worry about any of that. You can go now.”

Chen Yan interrupted.

Hearing this, the short, dark, thin man was overjoyed and kowtowed repeatedly:

“Thank you, young hero, for sparing me! I-I will leave at once!”

Then the short, dark, thin man scrambled to his feet and began running across the parched desert toward the distance.

Chen Yan stayed where he was.

Even now he still could not determine exactly where he was.

Chenping Continent, or… somewhere else?

No matter where he stood, the most important thing right now was simple.

Restore his cultivation.

Chen Yan tried to run the Hidden Immortal Art.

He could plainly feel spiritual energy entering his body.

This meant that as long as he cultivated back up to the Qi Circulation Realm, he could recover his cultivation—

Unity, the first realm of the Upper Three Realms.

So the first step was to leave this so-called Northern Desert and find a calmer, more peaceful place to cultivate in seclusion.

Of course, it would be even better to find an immortal sect, take discipleship, and gain access to cultivation resources.

Chen Yan made up his mind.

He went to the thugs he had just felled and picked up a long sword.

Then he faced south and took a step forward.

Chen Yan did not know what lay ahead, nor what he would have to face.

But he had understood one truth many years ago.

No matter what, he could never stop moving.

Where fate pointed, there he would be.