The Dragon Nose Horse galloped lightly along the river, mud splashing beneath its hooves. The two pack horses behind it were not slow either, managing to keep up closely.
Chen Chuan had not specifically ridden a horse before, but with his control and coordination, he quickly adapted to being on horseback after a slight adjustment. He looked almost like a seasoned rider.
Although this undeveloped area had many trees, the riverbanks were open. According to the map Chen Bitong provided, the river's direction pointed directly to his destination, so he only needed to follow it for now.
However, the Convergence Zone was subject to frequent changes and could not be judged by common sense, so he would adjust according to the specific situation.
Besides, this area was not as calm as it appeared on the surface.
He occasionally encountered strange and bizarre creatures near the water. To save time, he generally avoided them if possible. If not, he relied on his Spiritual Power to drive them away.
After several hours of riding, the river suddenly narrowed, and a large number of cobblestones could be seen on both sides of the riverbank. They were about the same size, as if they had been artificially polished.
He glanced at them and directly spurred his horse to leap over them. However, as the horse's hooves stepped on the stones, each one stood up on its legs and quickly crawled into the river.
These "pebbles" were actually insects with shells that resembled river stones. As he rode across, the long stretch of river stones for several miles began to squirm like a tide.
Chen Chuan ignored them and urged his horse forward. However, the speed was far from the Dragon Nose Horse's limit, and even the two pack horses behind him could still keep up.After crossing several miles, he looked back and saw that the river stones had disappeared without a trace, and the original narrow river had been blocked, causing the river to overflow.
At this time, the two pack horses seemed to be panting because they were rushing too hard. He simply stopped and raised his hand to look at the Activity Index on his wrist.
Even without using Second Self, the display was still zero.
Because after cultivating sufficient Spiritual Power, he could clearly feel the contamination and easily resist it.
From this, he felt that if his Spirit was strong enough, he could adapt better in this area.
He looked up and saw Zhao Ming patrolling the surrounding area in the sky, checking the movements around him, but not leaving him too far. The environment and creatures here were too dangerous. Being closer would provide some support.
After resting for a while, he fed the horses some water and Nutrition Paste, and then continued on his way.
The next few hours of the journey were relatively smooth, but in the afternoon, he saw the river make a large bend, and the riverbanks were surrounded by endless black humus. From time to time, he saw fat, red-headed worms burrowing and arching in the humus.
Chen Chuan looked at them, and his memory immediately recalled that they were a type of insect called Red-headed inchworm.
The reason why he had such a deep impression was because, according to Chen Bitong's experience, these worms tasted particularly fragrant when roasted, without any seasoning, and skewering them with maple branches made them even more flavorful.
It wasn't that Chen Bitong and the others were greedy, but eating Convergence Zone creatures was also part of the exploration work.
Because many things in the Convergence Zone had high-energy nutrition, and some could be used as medicinal materials, and many could be used as rare biological materials. Otherwise, so many Companies wouldn't have set up branches here.
It could be said that although the undeveloped area was extremely dangerous, if it could be explored and utilized, it would be a treasure land.
Third-Limit Martial Artists could distinguish the approximate life cultivation level of creatures, knowing what could be eaten and what could not be eaten. With their tenacious vitality, even if they accidentally ate something they couldn't identify, they could directly withstand it.
Of course, this was all under the premise of having teammates to take care of them. If there was only one person, they wouldn't dare to do this.
Chen Chuan didn't care about this. With Second Self present, he wasn't afraid of these things. However, he didn't have the leisure to roast worms. With that time, he might as well cultivate for a while.
However, he knew that the surface of this black humus looked fine, but in reality, there was a risk of sinking into it. There was no place to exert force inside. Even he needed to be cautious. The best choice was to avoid it.
So after a short stop, he detoured far away. This time, it took several hours to bypass this area.
However, this deviated from the original river's direction. It was not easy to clearly distinguish the direction in the Convergence Zone. Although there was day and night, he couldn't see the stars and sun. He could only roughly distinguish it from his environment.
He compared it with the map stored in the Boundary Token. If he hadn't strayed too far, there should be a Native settlement nearby where he could communicate.
Chen Bitong had stayed there for a few days in the past. If he could find it, he could determine his location. If he was lucky, he might even get news about the Union and Linax Federation's stationed camps.
However, this detour wasted a lot of time. He felt that he wouldn't be able to reach there before nightfall.
The nights in the Convergence Zone were abnormally dangerous and unsuitable for traveling, so he needed to find a place to camp first.
Nothing in the wilderness of the Convergence Zone could be trusted, including the trees, and places with water were even more dangerous. So he finally found an open area with a hillside behind it.
After determining the location, he punched the ground several times in a row. With the sound of explosions, a deep pit quickly exploded, and the gravel, insects, weeds, and other things at the bottom were crushed by his Internal energy.
Then he took out a folding shovel and opened it, and without much effort, he dug a cave here that could accommodate two people to turn around.
After coming out, he took out some special insect repellent powder and sprinkled it in the cave. He also took out a special curtain from the bag behind the horse, spread it in the cave, and then sprayed some medicinal liquid on it. The curtain quickly hardened, stabilizing the place.
After completing this step, he took out the tent coated with special substances. First, he laid a layer on the bottom, covering the hardened curtain, and then built the upper part, firmly fixing it. Finally, he buckled all the locks on the edges and tightly closed the hook and loop fasteners, leaving no gaps.
After doing this, he checked it again, confirmed that there were no problems, walked to the ground, and cut some firewood. Five meters away from the tent, he piled three bonfires in a triangular shape, and inserted a "fire core," essential for overnight stays in the Convergence Zone, in the middle. After leading the three horses to the vicinity of the tent, he lit them.
The roaring flames reflected each other, surrounding the entire tent.
Chen Chuan glanced at his watch. It was almost six o'clock. He called Zhao Ming down and let him enter the tent. Then he walked into the tent. At the moment he put down the curtain, the sky behind him suddenly darkened, and the inside of the tent suddenly became pitch black.
He reached out and flicked something on the side. With a click, the configured oil and gas lamp suddenly lit up. Zhao Ming had already curled up obediently in the corner.
After feeding Zhao Ming a few Nutrition Pastes, he went down to the underground cave dug under the tent.
He didn't plan to waste time, but instead planned to cut open the Fissure for Spirit cultivation.
There was no monitoring of mother and energy fields here, and no one would care about him. However, the Convergence Zone was closer to the opposite world, and it was hard to say what would happen.
Given the dangers of the Convergence Zone, if he only knew how to open the Fissure, he wouldn't easily try it. But now he could repair the Fissure. If he saw something was wrong, he could close it in time.
He first sat down to adjust his breathing, but only ten minutes passed when he suddenly felt that something seemed to have climbed onto the tent and was trying to find a gap to enter.
At the same time, he also felt that the entire area he was in seemed to be flowing, as if something was pushing it forward.
His eyes were calm. He steadied his mind, ignored these things, and only focused on his breathing. After a while, he adjusted his state and took the Snow Emperor Blade, then pushed the scabbard aside.
After holding the hilt for a moment, he slashed forward, and instantly, a light-filled crack about the length of an arm appeared in front of him.
At this time, he felt a stream of air rushing out from inside. He suddenly heard countless sharp howls in the tent, as if they were shouting right next to his ears.
He also saw that on the opposite side of the Fissure, there seemed to be densely packed things like eyes, which were sticky and close together, constantly rotating and rolling.
Second Self was also rapidly fading.
Chen Chuan stared at the opposite side. After cutting open the Fissure in Central City, most of what he could see on the opposite side was just a phantom. But in the Convergence Zone, these things seemed to have a substantial form.
However, he found that after these things appeared, the strange movements outside disappeared without a trace, and he couldn't feel them at all.
He sat calmly in front of the Fissure, with the Snow Emperor Blade on his knees, watching the things inside, and operating the method of absorbing essence.
He didn't need to know what the things inside were. As long as they tried to come over, he would immediately kill them. If he couldn't block them, he could instantly close such a small crack.
After cultivating for a while, he quickly discovered that the essence he absorbed from the Fissure was far more than in Central City, not comparable to usual.
Moreover, the Fissure existed for a very long time. Previously, when he cultivated at sea, the Fissure lasted about four hours. But today, four hours passed, and the Fissure showed no signs of weakening.
However, in contrast, those things on the other side also became restless and began to try to infiltrate him.
……
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