Chapter 2: Sand Worms (Part 1)

Guo Shier sat on the altar as if in deep thought. When the Soul Calming Cauldron descended into his soul, he released the altar. The old man led the Soul Calming Cauldron into the secret realm, and his soul followed. Only after witnessing the old man’s actions did he feel at ease. Thanks to the ancient tree and its core, the entire secret realm changed instantly, becoming full of vitality.

Next, Guo Shier discovered something even more astonishing—threads of Wood Evil slowly emerged from the roots of the tree and gradually merged into the surrounding air. A faint green mist formed, and any plant that came into contact with it began to grow rapidly. He was overjoyed.

He had collected countless rare plants in the secret realm, many of which barely survived there, barely alive and beyond his care. The old man, busy with other matters, also had no time to tend to them. Over time, some plants inevitably died, resulting in significant losses. Once rare plants died, there was no way to replace them.

When collecting Wood Evil, he had planned to release some to nourish the plants in the realm. Unexpectedly, the ancient tree containing the core emitted Wood Evil on its own. He was extremely happy—now there was a source for gathering Wood Evil.

Li Ran asked, “Is it done?”
Guo Shier’s face was filled with joy. He smiled and said, “It’s done. Thank you, big brother, for your help. Hehe.” In this world, Fire Evil and Gold Evil were relatively easy to obtain, and Earth Evil wasn’t too difficult either. The hardest to get were Wood Evil and Water Evil, as both possessed spirit. Professionals with weak strength could do nothing even if they encountered them.

The others showed expressions of envy and jealousy. But then they thought that since this land belonged to their three families, who knew if there was another ancient tree? Guo Shier and the others wouldn’t return soon, and from then on, this place would belong to the three families. With that thought, their emotions calmed down.

Having discovered such a treasure just on the third layer of the continent, their expectations grew even higher. They wondered what lay on the next layer. According to Guo Shier’s plan, he wanted to explore this layer further in hopes of finding more surprises. But since everyone was eager to go to the fourth layer, he gave up insisting.

Li Ran said, “Since everyone is eager to reach the fourth layer, follow me.” He tore at it casually, but his brows immediately furrowed—the space rift had become much smaller, not large enough for everyone to pass through. Puzzled, he muttered, “Hmm, that’s not right…” He exerted more force and ripped open the space. He realized he needed to use all his strength.

Qi Wu Zhen also glanced at Li Ran in surprise, but she said nothing and rushed into the rift, with the others following quickly.

After passing through the space rift, Guo Shier asked, “Elder brother, what just happened?”

Li Ran replied, “This layer of space is extremely tough. Each layer we’ve passed has been harder to tear open. I don’t know what the next layer will be like, hehe. But don’t worry—this won’t stop us.”

Guo Shier knew they had the Sacrificial Treasure to break through barriers. Even if they couldn’t tear open the space directly, they could still solve the problem with it.

They had now reached deep within the layered continent of the fourth layer.

The group began to observe the fourth layer’s continent. Each layer was different. Where they emerged was at a great height in the air, with thick clouds below. The clouds weren’t white but grayish-black, with lightning flashing from time to time, and thunder rumbling incessantly. Often, a loud crash of thunder would be followed by more thunder rolling in from the horizon.

Guo Shier wondered, “Is this a world of lightning?”

Qi Wu Zhen shook her head. “Not necessarily. Rain and lightning are common on most continents. We’ll find out once we go down.”

The group activated their altars and descended rapidly, disappearing into the dense dark clouds in just a few moments. Sitting on his altar, Guo Shier looked around at the thick mist, with lightning flashing from time to time and thunder sounds that were truly terrifying. He accelerated the descent of his altar.

Several altars fell downward, creating gaps in the dark clouds. Everyone activated their defenses, as being struck by lightning wouldn’t be pleasant. Without protection, lightning could easily harm the soul.

After a while, the group passed through the cloud layer. As soon as they did, heavy rain poured down, as if in a downpour. The dense raindrops resembled countless silver threads sweeping across the sky. Guo Shier looked down from his altar—everything below was a white blur, nothing visible.

The altars of everyone glowed with magical runes, and each person created a defensive barrier. The dense raindrops struck the barriers but were immediately shattered by an invisible force, revealing the invisible shields.

There was no land, only a water surface—a vast ocean, perhaps a large freshwater lake. It was not until they got closer to the water that they realized there were no plants or mountains, only an endless expanse of water with towering waves that churned white foam, and the roar of the waves kept coming one after another.

Guo Shier said in surprise, “Is the fourth layer all water? Or is it water where we fell, with land elsewhere?”

Zhen Wuji replied, “We need to explore. It’s completely covered in water… It seems impossible. Even if there’s no land, there should be islands.”

Li Ran’s vast soul spread out, and after a moment, he exclaimed in astonishment, “No islands, no land!” With his soul’s perception, he could detect things thousands of miles away. He added, “In the water… there are countless mutated fish.” He had no interest in hunting or fishing now.

Lightning illuminated the dark water surface. Ge Ha asked, “Should we explore together or separately?”

Guo Shier said, “Let’s each choose a direction and see what we can find.” Encouraged by his success on the previous layer, he hoped to have good luck here as well.

No one objected. In such a place, one had to rely on luck. Following the previous method, they split into four teams and went their separate ways—a method everyone was already accustomed to.

Li Ran said with a smile, “Shier, maybe we can find Water Fiends.” His tone carried a teasing hint.

Guo Shier fell for it. His mind was filled with thoughts of Wood Fiends and Water Fiends, and he became excited at the mention. He pressed, “Where? Where? There are Water Fiends… Haha, that’s great…”

Halechi said, “Hey, listen carefully. It’s just maybe… not for sure. Why get so excited?”

Huh?

The others burst into laughter. It was fun to see Guo Shier’s greed. Li Ran said, “That’s right. I said maybe. This is a world of water, so it’s normal for Water Fiends to exist. But I don’t know where they are either. You’ll have to find them yourself.”

Uh!

Guo Shier was speechless, realizing he had been tricked by his elder brother. He wasn’t angry, knowing he had been too hasty and too eager for treasures, otherwise he wouldn’t have reacted like that. With a wry smile, he said, “I’ve gotten some Earth Fiends, but Water Fiends… there’s really a shortage, haha.” The few Water Fiend beads he had extorted before were far from enough for his needs.

Qi Wu Zhen said, “It’s not certain there are no Water Fiends here. The terrain and environment here provide the conditions for them to arise.”

Guo Shier became excited again and said, “Then let’s hurry up and look for them.”

Flying all the way, Guo Shier found to his disappointment that there was no Water Fiend at all. After flying thousands of miles in one go, all he saw was heavy rain, towering waves, and the backs of mutated giant fish breaking the surface—nothing else.

The old man said, “This Water Continent must be very large. Even if there are Water Fiends, if you’re not lucky enough to encounter them, you won’t have a chance to get them.”

Water Fiends form on the surface of the water and are easy to spot—usually as green mist. But with such heavy rain, even if Water Fiends formed, they would be dispersed by the rain.

With the continuous downpour, it was impossible to see Water Fiends, leaving Guo Shier extremely disappointed.

Three days later, the rain finally stopped. Li Ran, Qi Wu Zhen, Guo Shier, and Halechi hovered in the air. Li Ran said, “Let’s go back and reunite. There’s really nothing here unless we go underwater…” Everyone knew that only by going underwater could they discover the secrets beneath, but their strength would drop significantly due to the water.

Qi Wu Zhen said, “I’m not going underwater. I hate water!” She was a typical Fire-type altar and naturally detested water.

Halechi also said, “I hate water too…” He was echoing Qi Wu Zhen’s words.

Guo Shier was somewhat interested in going underwater, but since the others weren’t willing, he didn’t want to bring it up. He wasn’t sure what lay beneath the water either—who knew what might happen once he entered? He wasn’t afraid of taking risks, but he didn’t want to right now, especially since most people didn’t want to go underwater. It would be better to wait until they explored the lowest layer before searching again.

“Alright, let’s reunite. I’m not familiar with this Water World either. Let’s go down to the fifth layer and take a look.”

Guo Shier finally gave up. Since he had discovered this layered continent, he had time to explore. Before leaving, he wouldn’t leave easily without obtaining enough treasures. He was no longer interested in ordinary materials; only special things like Water Fiends, Earth Fiends, and natural runes caught his attention.

Ten days later, the group reunited and exchanged a few words. There were no major discoveries, but everyone knew there must be treasures here—just not enough time to explore thoroughly.

Guo Shier asked, “Sister Zhen, can you sense how many layers of continents there are here?” With his strength, he could only sense the next layer; beyond that, it was difficult.

Qi Wu Zhen said, “Nine layers. There are nine layers of continents.”

Everyone was in awe. Nine layers of continents stacked on top of each other—this was almost a miracle. If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, no one would have believed it. But Qi Wu Zhen’s judgment was sound; no one would find it absurd. At this point, with her strength, she was able to figure it out clearly.

Li Ran said, “That’s right. There are nine layers. I knew it as soon as I came down. What an amazing stack of continents. I wonder how they were formed.”

Guo Shier said, “I wonder what’s on the next layer.”

Zhen Wu Ji said, “It depends on what kind of continent it is. It seems each layer is different.”

Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen could determine how many layers of continents there were, but they couldn’t know the internal conditions of each layer—they had to enter personally.

Guo Shier said, “The four layers of continents we entered were indeed different each time. I guess the changes below must be even greater.”

This time, when Li Ran tried to tear open space, he found he couldn’t take everyone with him. Qi Wu Zhen had to step in, and together they managed to take everyone across. Guo Shier realized that with his own strength, he couldn’t break through the spatial barriers here. Fortunately, the Cross-Realm Talisman could still be used, so he wouldn’t get trapped.