Chapter 5: The Desolate Continent (Part 1)

Looking at the mad old man, everyone fell silent. After a while, Luo Jie said, “I am Luo Jie, the senior elder of the Northern Talisman Gate!”
The old man had clearly heard of Luo Jie’s name. He looked up at Luo Jie carefully and shook his head. “You’re not Luo Jie. You definitely aren’t him. He’s been missing for a long time, and he was an old man. You… you’re a young man. How could you possibly be Luo Jie…” With his limited knowledge, he naturally couldn’t understand why Luo Jie had become younger.
Luo Jie was both angry and amused, with a hint of sorrow in his heart. It seemed that the Northern Talisman Gate was extremely weak—this continent had remained hidden in a corner. Among the continents inhabited by professionals, it could only be considered a low-level continent. There were no altar traditions across the entire continent, so professionals could only rely on their own efforts to learn a few skills.
Guo Shier asked, “What’s your name? Are you an inner disciple or an outer disciple of the Northern Talisman Gate?”
The old man straightened up and said, “Northern Talisman Gate, outer disciple, Talisman Warrior, Chang Zheng.”
Guo Shier said, “Chang Zheng, can you tell me what happened at the Northern Talisman Gate?”
Chang Zheng replied bluntly, “I don’t know…”
Luo Jie flew into anger. “What? You don’t know?”
Chang Zheng wore a bitter expression and said, “It wasn’t until I returned that I found the Northern Talisman Gate destroyed. There wasn’t a single living person left. Alas, it’s been seven years… I spent seven years burying corpses…”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but smile bitterly and asked, “You returned later?”
Chang Zheng said, “I went to a remote mountain area to collect a certain plant. I was away for over half a year. When I returned, I found everything here had completely changed.”
Guo Shier asked, “Do you know anything about other sects?”
Chang Zheng said, “I don’t. I didn’t dare to go out… A few years ago, wild beasts from beyond the Wildman Pass entered here, but they couldn’t find food and left quickly. If it weren’t for my good luck in finding a hidden talisman-making chamber to hide in, I would have died that time… Maybe some people survived back then, but they might have been eaten by the wild beasts.”
Qi Nanshan said, “Enough, Shier. With his strength, it’s already remarkable that he’s survived until now. It’s normal that he doesn’t know much. You can’t expect a Talisman Warrior to know everything.”
After enduring for a long time, Chang Zheng finally said, “Could… could I get some food…”
Guo Shier sighed and threw him a talisman bag, saying, “There’s enough food here for you to last a few months. You’d better leave this place.”

Although Chang Zheng could hunt, his skills were too poor; he could only hunt small wild animals and might be killed with the slightest carelessness. He clutched the talisman bag tightly and took a quick look, immediately showing an expression of ecstasy. Inside the bag were bread and large pieces of pickled meat, enough to last for a long time. He thanked them repeatedly in excitement.

Luo Jie said, “Let’s go to the Beast Talisman Gate.”

Guo Shier nodded and immediately opened the talisman gate, saying, “Let’s go!”

Chang Zheng stared blankly at the talisman gate glowing with talismanic light. Such a legendary thing actually appeared before his eyes. Before he could say anything, the people in front of him entered the gate one after another. After a while, the gate gradually disappeared. He sighed and began to believe that the man might indeed be Luo Jie.

……

The Beast Talisman Gate was also in ruins.

Guo Shier sneered and said, “They really go to extreme lengths to eliminate everyone.”

Luo Jie had many friends at the Beast Talisman Gate. He said calmly, “I’ll find them… No matter which sect or family did this, I swear… I won’t let them go!”

Qi Nanshan asked, “How many people would be needed to carry out such a massive operation to clear out an entire continent?”

Guo Shier replied, “If it’s an ancient family, clearing out a continent is a piece of cake.” He had experienced the war between the Gu Nan Family and the Gu Jin Family and knew the potential of these ancient families. They controlled many continents and had nearly endless manpower. Sending out hundreds of thousands or even millions of professionals was a very easy task.

On low-level continents like the Northern Talisman Gate and the Beast Talisman Gate, the most powerful professionals were at the master level. Yet even master-level professionals were just ordinary soldiers or pawns in ancient families.

Nan You said, “This continent has been abandoned. It’s strange—this continent is actually quite good. Why give it up?”

Guo Shier replied, “Maybe they don’t care about the continent at all but rather the population.”

Nan You nodded and said, “Hmm, it seems they only want to plunder the population and have no interest in the continent. They must have enough continents… So, finding them shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”

Guo Shier nodded and said, “It’s a pity if they have someone left behind. If we can capture those who stay, it will save us a lot of time in searching.”

Nan You pondered in his heart that no matter what family or sect it was, getting involved with Guo Shier and his companions meant that once they were found, the slaughter would be severe. A seven-layer altar, a six-layer altar, a three-layer altar—everything else was a one-layer altar. Such strength was terrifying even among ancient families, especially the two most powerful individuals, who were both super experts with soul altars.

Guo Shier said, “From now on, we need to search for every clue. As usual, we’ll split up and hope to find someone who survived this disaster; maybe they can provide some clues.”

The others agreed and immediately flew in all directions.

Guo Shier activated another altar and sat on it, driving it forward into the distance.

Like the Beifu Sect, the ruins here were covered in weeds and shrubs. The only difference was that many wild beasts roamed around. Since the city was surrounded by a vast grassland, once the city walls collapsed, those beasts would enter the city.

Guo Shier sent out the tentacles of the ancient Xi Bi, controlled by the old man Shuai, to detect soul fluctuations, mainly to search for living people.

This search was thorough, but not a single living person was found. He couldn’t help cursing, “Damn it, it’s completely empty…”

The old man Shuai said, “There’s no one in this area. I think… you should search in more distant places.”

Guo Shier thought for a moment before nodding. “Hmm. Even if there are survivors, they can’t stay here for long. They must have gone to remote places to hide.” Concern only caused chaos. He had already become confused when he was in the Chenxiao Sect; he wasn’t as calm as the old man Shuai.

Soon, Guo Shier returned to the original spot, and the others also came back one after another. Still, no living person was found this time.

Guo Shier said, “Not finding anyone here doesn’t mean there’s no one on this continent. Let’s search along the main roads. I simply refuse to believe that everyone on the continent has died!”

Luo Jie said, “I also thought about it just now. Even if some people survived, they wouldn’t stay in the city. They must have fled far away. Let’s follow the main roads to more distant areas and search more carefully. Fortunately, we all have altars, so we can move quickly and won’t waste time.”

Nan You heard a metallic tone in Luo Jie’s voice—resonant and cold. Whatever Luo Jie said made him shiver with fear.

Guo Shier said, “I’m not familiar with the roads here. It’s better if the master leads the way; we’ll follow.”

Luo Jie didn’t hesitate. He soared into the air and said, “Follow me!”

The group flew toward the mountainous area like a whirlwind.
The path was completely abandoned; without Luo Jie’s familiarity with the area, it would have been impossible to find it. By using his sense of direction, he could spot the intermittent path from high above. Following the path, they quickly entered the mountains.
There were two routes to the Beast Talisman Gate—one through the great plains and the other the one they were taking now. The Beast Talisman Gate was backed by the mountains and faced the great plains. According to Luo Jie and the others, the only way to escape would be toward the mountains. If they fled to the plains, their target would be obvious, the plains offered no cover, and there were far more wild beasts there than in the mountains.
So, if they wanted to escape, the mountains were the first choice, not the plains.
At Luo Jie’s speed, they covered hundreds of miles in moments. Here, the mountains stretched endlessly, the path became even harder to see, and the dense forests made it difficult to spot anyone hiding inside. Moreover, no one would dare hide by the roadside; they would surely go deep into the mountains.
Guo Shier released the tentacles of the Ancient Xi Bi, controlled by the old man, using its innate ability to detect soul fluctuations. Every living being had soul fluctuations, but the Ancient Xi Bi couldn’t distinguish between humans and beasts.
After several failed attempts, Guo Shier lost confidence.
Luo Jie said, “So many years have passed. Even if someone ran into the forest back then, they would have left it eventually. They probably went to the great plains along the paths. It’s just unknown whether… those ordinary people in the great plains have also been taken away.”
Guo Shier knew that there were tens of millions of ordinary families in the great plains, each affiliated with one of the four major sects. Whenever a child with exceptional potential appeared in a family, they would be sent to the sects for training. These ordinary families were the foundation of the continent, with a population of hundreds of millions.
The great plains were the territory guarded by the four major sects. Guo Shier’s own family, the Guo clan, where he was reborn, was also located in these great plains.
It was only then that Guo Shier thought about going home to take a look. He didn’t feel anything toward this home, but after all, it was his home in this life. He wanted to go back. If they were safe, there was no need to worry. If they had also been taken away, it was his responsibility to rescue them.
Qingchang River.
Luo Jie hovered in the air, looking at the river surface far below, which resembled silk drifting down to the earth. He said calmly, “We’ve arrived by the Qingchang River.”
Guo Shier was a bit dazed. He had left his Guo clan by the Qingchang River back then. Scenes that he had almost forgotten resurfaced before his eyes.

There was a prosperous city by the Qingchang River. When Guo Shier and the others flew over this city, their eyes showed extreme hatred. This prosperous city had also turned into ruins.
Qi Nanshan said, “This was an important transit station. It used to be very bustling. I remember… this city had at least a million people.”