Chapter 10: Multi-Layered Continents (Part 2)

Both sides were satisfied selling off the shares they had just acquired. Zhen Wuji spared no expense to buy seventeen shares, while the Yuan Ke Alliance seized eight. The most unfortunate were Goha’s Langyan Merchant Alliance, which only managed to get a mere five shares. Lu Chongyue was so angry he wanted to strike Goha—this guy hadn’t fought at first, watching Zhen Wuji and Yao Zebusong bid wildly. By the time he realized there weren’t many shares left for him, only a few remained.

Zhen Wuji was content. Materials could be replaced later, but the number of shares each family obtained was a critical factor, as it determined how many disciples could enter the training grounds—places that were hard to find.

Li Ran said, “Alright, let’s rest for a day before heading to the Red Prairie Continent.”

……

The Red Prairie Continent was the ancient town family’s livestock farm. It consisted of vast grasslands covered in a type of grass called Hongmao Grass, turning the entire landscape a light red. This grass served as high-quality feed, ideal for grazing, allowing livestock to grow rapidly.

There were tens of millions of animals raised on the Red Prairie Continent, making it the ancient town family’s largest meat production base.

When they arrived above the grasslands, Guo Shier used a detection spell and said, “Sure enough, there’s a sealed layer below. Strange… it feels like another continent is attached underneath.”

Only altar practitioners at the ninth level could detect such multi-layered continents. Li Ran and Qi Wuzhen noticed this as soon as they entered the continent. Their extraordinary strength allowed them to sense it without even using detection spells. Li Ran said, “There’s indeed more than one layer. Hmm… I think there are four or five layers. Xiao Zhenzhen, what do you think?”

Every time Li Ran called her Xiao Zhenzhen, she felt infuriated. She rolled her eyes at him, revealing an unintentional charm that left everyone flustered. She said, “More or less. To figure out exactly how many layers there are, we need to descend to one of them.”

It was also Zhen Wuji’s first time here. He regretted not paying closer attention during his own visit, as he could have discovered this secret. No wonder Zhen Wuyu had sent several groups of practitioners to investigate without uncovering its mystery. But given his status, it was impossible for him to visit all the family’s territories.

Zhen Wuji sighed and said, “Ah, what a pity.”

Zhen Wuyu nodded and said, “Yes, it’s a shame. We need to seal this place quickly, build large teleportation arrays, establish several cities, and discuss matters with the Yuan Ke Alliance and the Langyan Merchant Alliance.”

Yao Zebusong said, “First, go to the first layer. I’ll assign tasks—each person needs to take a section, obtain a map of that area, and then synthesize… While recording the terrain, everything discovered stays with the individual.”
Goha said, “Also, please be gentle. Don’t kill the lower-level mutated rune beasts. You can eliminate those at level nine and above, or the alienated rune beasts. Of course, it’s fine if you don’t kill them either; we’ll send advanced professionals to handle it.”
Guo Shier didn’t object. Since they had collected so much material, they had to put in effort. He was very curious about what the so-called layered continent looked like.
Goha and Lü Chongyue brought over a dozen altar-level professionals, Yao Zebusong and Ruo Wangtian also brought a dozen altar-level experts, Zhen Wuji brought even more, plus Li Ran and their group—all of them were among the strongest in this world. So everyone was calm, thinking that with so many experts going together, there shouldn’t be much danger.
Goha said, “It’s better to let the seniors take action. There are too many people this time; we can’t bring that many along.”
Li Ran said, “No problem. Get ready, and let’s enter together.” With that, he tore something in the air, creating a huge crack. He shouted, “Go in!” Everyone quickly flew in, each placing their altar on their head. Only after everyone had entered did he calmly step in as well.
They arrived at the first layer. Guo Shier looked up—the sky was gray, the light neither bright nor dark, somewhat like dusk. A cool wind blew, and there were many plants on the ground, emitting faint light that outlined the trees, giving them a eerie appearance.
“How quiet!”
One of the professionals couldn’t help but say.
Because the plants emitted light, the ground wasn’t completely dark. With their keen eyes, they could clearly see various plants. A bird several meters long flew over the treetops—it was a mutated bird, flying silently. Soon, everyone realized that the creatures here were extremely quiet, making almost no sound. Guo Shier said, “A strange place.”
Qi Wuzhen’s vast soul spread out, and after a moment, she said, “They’re all lower-level mutated rune beasts. No alienated rune beasts found. There’s no danger here.”
Guo Shier had already detected that there was another layer of continent below. With his current strength, he could only sense nearby enclosed continents and secret realms; anything farther away was beyond his detection.
Goha said, “According to the assignment, our Langyan Merchant Alliance is responsible for one direction. I choose this side…” He pointed north.

Zhen Wuji didn’t choose carefully and simply pointed, saying, “I choose the south.”
Yao Zebusong said, “Our Yuanke Alliance chooses the west.”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Then fine, let’s choose the east. We’ll exchange signal tokens. When should we meet? We don’t need to gather a complete map, right?”
After some discussion, Goha said, “A map within ten thousand miles is enough for us to establish a base city. As for exploring the entire region, there will be time for that later.”
Guo Shier nodded and said, “Ten thousand miles should take just over ten days.”
The group immediately took action, flying in four different directions. Li Ran, Qi Wu Zhen, Guo Shier, Ying Mo, Luo Zhan, Halechi, and Wang Keer flew eastward. The three members of the Sidibing family stayed behind in the Ancient Town clan and did not come along. According to Guo Shier, that meant they weren’t being taken along for the fun.
If the three of them had come, their abilities would have surely allowed them to gain significant rewards on the Superimposed Continent. But without them, nothing could be obtained.
The seven of them flew apart, each recording the terrain. This required a strong soul to support it—using the soul to scan the terrain was a skill reserved for advanced professionals. The weakest among them were Ying Mo and Luo Zhan; they were responsible for a narrow area and only needed to record its terrain. Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen covered the largest areas, saving the others a lot of effort.
It took less than ten days to complete the task. This was thanks to Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen. If not for the delay caused by Guo Shier and the others, the two of them could have finished the task in just a few days.
Upon returning to the starting point, Li Ran quickly pieced together the maps collected by everyone and said, “Done.”
A few days later, the others returned one after another, and soon a map covering twenty thousand miles was completed. Each person had a copy, after which they entered the second layer.
The second layer of the Red Plain Continent was a desolate land of harsh mountains and waters. A strong stench forced everyone to quickly set up altars. Only by sitting on these altars could they block out the foul smell. There were countless rotten swamps and mires on the second layer, with dead tree branches scattered all over the ground.
Dark swamps constantly emitted large amounts of foul-smelling bubbles, producing a bubbling sound. Swarms of giant mosquitoes, about a meter long, hovered above the swamps, their wingbeats causing chills. Although the group wasn’t afraid, they still found these mutated mosquitoes disgusting. Poisonous snakes could be seen slithering across the ground, and there were countless poisonous insects and snakes in the swamps.

The group flew for a while, but the landscape remained almost unchanged—just swamps. Along the way, they saw the skeleton of a monstrous beast, over a kilometer long, lying across the swamp. The skeleton was discolored and blackened; it was unclear when this monstrous beast had been killed.

It was a filthy, dark, and foul world. Guo Shieru kept shaking his head and said, “This place isn’t suitable for humans. It’s fucking stinky…” Looking at the lightning flashing in the sky and the distant rumbling thunder, the flashes illuminated their faces, showing them all pale, grayish faces.

Zhen Wuji said, “This place indeed isn’t suitable for humans to live in, but… it’s perfect for professionals to train here. It’s even ideal for professionals above the rank of high-level saints. There are many valuable things here that are useless to us but very useful to them.”

Guo Shieru looked unconvinced, as he hadn’t traveled far enough. Li Ran smiled and said, “Wuji is right. This is a great place for professionals to train. Moreover, the mutated insects here aren’t very strong. As long as we establish a defense base or camp, many professionals can come here. Despite its darkness and stench, it can’t harm professionals.”

Qi Wu Zhen was impatient to waste time here. She said, “Let’s quickly search the lower floors.” Almost no one dared oppose her opinion—whatever Li Ran didn’t object to was accepted.

Guo Shieru said, “Sister Zhen, if we want to quickly search the lower floors, I think it’s better to form a team of high-level professionals. They’re flexible and strong.” He was also curious about what was in the lower floors.

Qi Wu Zhen nodded. “Good. Professionals from floor nine and above should form a team.”

Halechi immediately looked troubled. He didn’t want to explore slowly with a group. He had come with Qi Wu Zhen and didn’t want to separate from her at all. He raised his hand and said, “I’ll join. Although I’m not at floor nine, I’m pretty close. Hehe.”

Go Ha and the others discussed it. In the Wolf Dike Merchant Alliance, Go Ha joined the team, while Lu Chongyue continued exploring and recording rune maps with his subordinates. In the Yuan Ke Alliance, Yao Zebusong joined the team, and Ruo Wangtian acted together with Lu Chongyue and his subordinates. In the Ancient Town Family, Zhen Wuji joined, with Zhen Wuyu leading the family’s experts.

The final seven-member team consisted of Li Ran, Qi Wu Zhen, Guo Shieru, Go Ha, Yao Zebusong, Zhen Wuji, and Halechi. This last guy stubbornly insisted on joining. His strength was decent—he was a professional at floor eight’s altar, enough to handle most emergencies. Ying Mo, Luo Zhan, and Wang Keer joined the Ancient Town Family’s team and stayed on the second floor.

Guo Shier asked, “Sister Zhen, how many layers have you detected so far?”
Qi Wuzhen showed a hint of excitement as she replied, “At least eight layers. I still can’t reach the bottom.”
Guo Shier was stunned. Eight layers? What did that even mean? After a long while, he said, “What surprises might be waiting for us?”
Li Ran said, “It could be shocking or delightful. Shier, don’t worry. We will definitely gain something, and it won’t be little.”
Eight layers of continents, or maybe even more. Not only was Guo Shier surprised, but Go Ha and the others were also overjoyed. The more layers there were, the more secrets and benefits there would be. Of course, without sufficient strength, it was impossible to enter. With two peak experts who had surpassed the ninth-layer altar in the team, what place couldn’t they go?
Book 40: Layered Continents