The Secret of the Center Zone

The Secret of the Center Zone

A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality – Chapter 194

However, Han Li was not anxious. The center zone of the forbidden land was, after all, vastly different from the outer areas.

In the other regions outside the center zone, the spirit herbs and miraculous fruits that grew there were mostly scattered randomly, with no discernible pattern. Their traces could be found in any corner of the area. It was generally first-come, first-served—whoever gained the prize would immediately flee far away. As a result, in these places, conflicts erupting over spirit medicine were not that common. Far more people met their end in purges by the strong, or through murder and treasure theft.

But the center zone was different. According to the accounts of disciples who had survived and returned from previous expeditions, the center zone was vast, covering nearly a third of the entire forbidden land. It was enclosed in a large circle by stone walls. Counting inward from the four bronze gates, the entire area was divided into three outer layers, as clearly demarcated as the skin, flesh, and core of a fruit—extremely peculiar.

The picturesque place where Han Li now stood was the outermost layer of the center zone.

According to the records, the stretch from here to the next layer was not large, only about one li in width. The grasses, trees, and flowers that grew within this range were all rare and exotic, seldom seen in the world. However, those that could be used as spirit medicines with a practical effect for cultivators were exceedingly few. Most were merely ornamental, for viewing and handling.

Many people from the Seven Great Sects speculated that this layer was intentionally designed by the master of the forbidden land, meant to be a kind of garden. The vibrant, eye-catching grasses and trees were originally planted for the master’s own amusement. If one wanted to find something useful here, it would be more trouble than it was worth—it would be simpler to search the other areas of the forbidden land.

The truly superior spirit medicines, those of great use to cultivators, were produced in the second layer of the center zone. The disciples of every sect who entered here were mostly aiming for this layer. The three main ingredients for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill were among them, naturally their greatest objective. Han Li was equally determined to get his hands on these spirit medicines.

Speaking of this second layer, even Han Li, who had just read the relevant materials, was stunned for a while.

This second layer was entirely a massive ring-shaped mountain range, shrouded year-round in a thick, impenetrable fog where one could not see their hand in front of their face. Within this mountain range were natural spiritual sites like caves, hidden valleys, and cliffs, as well as man-made structures like stone houses and stone halls. All kinds of heavenly and earthly spirit medicines grew in these places.

The information that the ugly man had exchanged with Han Li was mainly distribution maps of these spirit medicines. No one could guarantee that the information they possessed would definitely cover the area they ended up in, so the more distribution maps one had, the better. This made it easier to match the terrain and search by the map.

However, the mountain’s fog was too thick and dense. After ordinary cultivators entered this mountain, they would become completely lost after just a few steps. They could only advance slowly, stumbling forward, depending entirely on luck to find their way out again.

But what was even more troubling was that the ring-shaped mountain was teeming with countless demonic beasts, ranging from first-tier lower-grade Fire Rats and Wind-Chasing Rabbits to first-tier top-grade Golden Light Pythons and Ice-Fire Wolves. They included almost every variety of first-tier demonic beast that the Seven Great Sects had heard of or not.

Those of lower strength could be dealt with easily, even seven or eight at once, by a cultivator at the sixth or seventh layer. But if one encountered a high-tier beast, even the elite disciples of the Seven Great Sects could only flee for their lives.

Fortunately, the last category of demonic beasts was extremely rare on this mountain. Most of them had become guardian beasts for specific spirit medicines and were not easily encountered in the open.

Therefore, the majority of troublesome demonic beasts were still of the first-tier upper grade. After a few elite disciples joined forces, they could be dealt with easily. Of course, if one encountered them alone, a bloody battle was unavoidable.

Whether it was the mountain’s fog or the demonic beasts dwelling within, if faced separately, these proud elite disciples might just barely dare to try their luck, risking a sneak expedition to gather medicine. But now that both were encountered together, the disciples could only look at each other in dismay. Entering the mountain under these conditions was a one-way trip.

Thus, the first few batches of disciples to enter the forbidden land only gathered common spirit medicines in the outer areas of the center zone and called it a day. None of them had ever entered the ring-shaped mountain.

But after a few expeditions, a cultivator from the Moon-Masking Sect exhausted his ingenuity and refined a magic treasure called the “Moon-Sun Pearl.” This item could neither attack nor defend. Its only function was to emit a strange light capable of suppressing all kinds of fog and miasma. It was specially prepared for this expedition to the forbidden land.

Indeed, the Moon-Masking Sect disciples who obtained this treasure shone brilliantly during the next opening of the forbidden land.

Carrying the pearl on their backs, they dispelled most of the fog, far surpassing the other sects, and returned from the ring-shaped mountain with a full load. With this harvest, they refined a large batch of Foundation Establishment Pills, then widely recruited disciples, catapulting their sect’s strength to the heavens. This laid the foundation for the Moon-Masking Sect’s status as the number one immortal sect in the State of Yue.

But as the saying goes, there is no wall that cannot be penetrated. News of the Moon-Masking Sect using the “Moon-Sun Pearl” to reap a great harvest of heavenly and earthly spirit medicines within the forbidden land eventually spread. Not long after, the other six sects, unwilling to let them monopolize the benefits, came knocking on their door.

Unwilling to incur the wrath of the masses, yet also unwilling to simply hand over the pearl, the Moon-Masking Sect, after a round of bickering and bargaining with the other six sects, finally offered up the pearl, making it the common property of the Seven Great Sects.

From then on, the treasure was held in rotation by the seven sects. After each expedition to the forbidden land, the sect that was currently holding the pearl had to hand it over, and it would be taken over by another sect for safekeeping.

But no matter which sect possessed the pearl, once inside the forbidden land, their disciples had to use it, under the supervision of disciples from the other sects, within a predetermined time. They were absolutely forbidden to intentionally advance or delay the timing of dispelling the fog.

This way, all the disciples who arrived at the center zone in time could enter the ring-shaped mountain at the same time to gather spirit medicines, making the process seem extremely fair.

On the surface, the Moon-Masking Sect seemed to have suffered a great loss, forced to abandon their dream of monopolizing the spiritual medicines of the forbidden land. But in reality, it also saved them from the disaster of annihilation and left them a chance to gradually grow stronger.

By now, the Moon-Masking Sect stood alone among the Seven Great Sects, its strength unfathomable. The other sects, unless they allied together, could not contend with it at all.

And the reason Han Li was not anxious and could calmly deal with the ugly man in front of him, speaking with duplicity, lay precisely in this.

Before entering, the Seven Great Sects had already agreed on the time to dispel the fog: the morning of the third day.

Han Li had previously been rushing to the center zone without rest, precisely to avoid being blocked by anyone on the road, delaying his entry into the mountain. Now that he had already entered the center zone, there was no need to be so frantic. Even if he rushed to the second layer now, he would just be staring helplessly at the fog.

As for the third layer at the heart of the forbidden land, it was even more mysterious.

Standing on the summit of the ring-shaped mountain, one could clearly see that, in the vast area enclosed by the second layer, a towering, hundred-zhang pagoda stood at the very center. Surrounding the pagoda was a thick, verdant forest that enveloped it completely. This was the so-called third layer, the very core of the forbidden land.

When the high-ranking masters of the Seven Great Sects heard the descriptions from their disciples, they immediately knew this was the original residence of the forbidden land’s master. They were extremely covetous of the treasures within that pagoda.

But at the boundary between the second and third layers, a powerful, unknown restriction was still active, blocking all disciples who tried to force their way in. This restriction was simply not something a mere Qi Condensation stage disciple could break. Yet cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage could not enter the forbidden land. Therefore, what exactly lay within that pagoda remained an unsolved mystery to this day.

Han Li had no interest at all in the giant pagoda within the third layer. For him, if he could find enough heavenly and earthly spirit medicines in the second layer and then make a clean getaway, he would be thanking heaven, earth, and the gods for their blessings.

Han Li and the ugly man in front of him spent a full quarter-hour patiently dealing with each other, trading false pleasantries, before he managed to shake off the man’s entanglement and disappear into the surrounding vegetation. Before vanishing, he glanced back at the other man. That Zhong Wu was still lounging lazily in his original spot, showing no intention of leaving.

It seemed that these “experts” would not rest until they had cleared out nine out of ten of the disciples trying to fish in troubled waters. He guessed the other three sects each had people doing the same thing.

Han Li pondered this as he searched for something far from the bronze gate.

Under a towering ancient tree, he discovered an inconspicuous tree hollow. This delighted him.

He crawled inside, made a few small defensive arrangements at the entrance, and then, without a second thought, fell into a deep, snoring sleep.

Han Li needed a good rest. When the fog over the ring-shaped mountain was broken the next morning, heaven knew what would happen. He had to restore himself to his peak condition; that was the only way to be fully prepared.

He believed that the disciples from the various sects who would stand before the ring-shaped mountain the next day, waiting for the fog to be dispelled, would not be many. And each and every one of them would probably be no easier to deal with than that Feng Yue.

This sleep was exceptionally sweet for Han Li. It was not until the early hours of the next day that he slowly awoke.

The most important day of the forbidden land expedition had finally arrived.