There was a noticeable absence of vegetation.
Looking out from the carriage, Neo had noticed the land getting progressively dry.
This was a sign of them getting closer to The Outlands.
Inside the carriage, the mood had become more subdued.
Everyone was using this final stretch to ready themselves and confirm their preparations.
The moment they disembarked, everyone would have to go about their business.
They had to be quick about it.
The Outlands was not a favorable place for low level cultivators.
Staying in this place sapped your energy, and made drawing in essence a chore.
This place was a nightmare for F-Rank cultivators.
Neo with his Immortal World cultivation techniques was already having a hard time.
He wondered how these people coped so well despite their lower essence cultivation.
They seemed well adapted to the hellish environment.
The carriage stopped at a fortified city.
The only sign of any human presence in this wasteland.
This city also had immortal in its name, but carried nothing immortal in its appearance.
Every brick laid in this city screamed one thing.
Utilitarian.
The East Immortal Fort.
The name was proudly displayed above the city gates.
The city was the home of the army mobilized by the Immortal World to fight the war.
Indeed, a war was being fought in the intersections, the true outlands.
The arid land that stretched for miles was just the consequence of the intersections formed between the two worlds.
The clash of the two mighty Worlds against each other caused these desolate lands to come into existence.
They got off the carriage and walked through the gates.
The presence of the army was visible in every part of the city.
From the gates where they entered, to every street they passed.
The adventurers and merchants here were just a small part of the population.
The adventurers who arrived along with Neo, had all split up and went along their business.
Some in small teams, and others went their individual way.
Neo was alone, touring the streets of this fortified city.
Weapons, armors, demon parts, potions, cultivation resources.
This was the style of the shops here.
Everything was practical and to the point.
Luxury was in itself a luxury here.
The economy was supported wholly by the war going on in the true outlands.
He made his way to the Adventurer Guild in the city.
The building in this fortified city was more grand than the one at the City of Immortal Glory.
At the same time, it lacked its refined and elegant presence.
The design gave off more of a dignified and imposing presence
The inside was more orderly and the atmosphere more subdued.
He was here to see if there were more suitable missions he could take on before going into the intersections, the true outlands.
He went directly to the mission board.
This one was larger than the previous one at the City of Immortal Glory.
He looked through the F-Rank missions.
He then chose one that fit well with his previous two missions.
He tapped his Adventurer Card on the board, and accepted the mission.
It was time to leave for the true outlands.
To hunt demons, and gather resources.
He left the city.
The intersection wasn’t far away.
He could see it from where he was, at a short distance outside the city.
A large swirling portal that drew all attention.
As he walked over in the direction of the portal, he began to notice other smaller portals.
There were a total of nine portals.
Each corresponding to the common nine ranks of mortal cultivation.
From the F-Rank, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS and finally the SSS-RANK.
Then there was the Ex-Rank.
The Exemplary.
The rank which showed the fact that you simply were the best that could be.
For a moment, that thought sent Neo spiraling.
That was a rank that was forever barred to him, just like the Immortal World now was.
No bloodline meant absolutely no chance for Ex-Rank.
There was simply no way around it.
He took a deep breath.
His walk got faster.
It was simply the Ex-Rank.
He would cultivate with all his being.
At the very least, he would reach the peak of the mortal world.
Immortality might be a long shot, but he would never let that stop him from trying.
The army had a camp not too far from the portals.
He looked over at the place brimming with order, before he turned back to the nine portals.
The one for the SSS-Rank was the most eye catching.
It was the largest and most imposing of the portals.
The other portals became smaller and less imposing, the lower the rank.
He moved towards the F-Rank portal that was at the right most corner.
Almost inconspicuous compared to the others.
He stepped in.
The moment he did so, he left the Immortal World in its entirety.
It was different from being cast to the mortal world.
He felt the true absence of something that had always been a part of him.
The feeling of home.
It felt uncomfortable.
Neo, however, soon shrugged off the feeling.
Now, it was the time to hunt demons.
The sooner he was done with the mission, the earlier he could go back.
The sky of the the intersection was dark and overcast.
This was how the place had always been.
As an intersection between the Demon World and the Immortal World, it was the mix of both world’s essence.
Yet, it was unique.
Every single intersection was unique and each was different from the other.
Each was in a sense a different massive world.
Nowhere near the size of the gigantic Immortal World and Demon World, but they were still massive.
Their uniqueness caused them to generate different potent resources useful to the denizens of both Worlds.
With the passage of time, the resources keep getting better.
This was also one of the reasons both Worlds could come to an agreement, and reduce the scale of the war until it no longer involved immortal rank cultivators.
The place he was dropped at wasn’t random.
Where one appears corresponded to not only their rank but also their current amount of cultivated essence.
Neo was currently in the newbies zone.
He hadn’t been cultivating for long, there was not much essence within him.
There was no one else, demon or human in sight.
Of the three missions he accepted, two were demon hunting missions requiring the collection of demon organs, and the last one was a resource gathering mission.
Since there was no demon in sight, he decided to start his first entrance into the true outlands with resource gathering.
Three flowers of the beliol nightshade plant.
The plant itself was common, but only few of them had flowers.
It was a tiring task of foraging, but it was something to do until he comes across a demon.
(^o^)
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