Chapter 20: purgatory land.

Kai suddenly realized that the phoenix was flying toward them, and before he knew it, the phoenix had arrived a few meters away from them.

However, what surprised Kai was that the closer the phoenix got, the lesser the temperature he was feeling; this made him a little confused because when the phoenix was on the volcano, he could feel a terrifying temperature that soaked him in sweat, but now he did not feel more than temperature when it's closer.

Suddenly the phoenix turned to a lady and landed in front of them. Kai's eyes widened in surprise because he had heard that before a beast can take the form of a human, they need to cross the divine realm; however, some beast with defying bloodline can do that in the immortal realm cause of their heritage.

The lady the phoenix turned to had a similar appearance to that of Elder Xieling; in fact, calling them twins won't be exaggerated, except for the eye color and the short hair; the phoenix has all other features were similar to that of Elder Xieling, and this confirms the guess of Kai that they are both familiar with each other.

"Caihong, it seems you've gotten stronger lately?" Elder Xieling asked the phoenix girl.

However, instead of replying, she only rushed to hug Elder Xieling and welcomed her with her arm wide open.

"Elder sister, I missed you a lot; why don't you come and check me all this while?" Caihong pouted before she replied while burying her face deep in Elder Xieling's chest.

Elder Xieling started patting her head, and she had a warm and loving expression. Kai was speechless by what was happening because the cold and devilish Elder Xieling had become a friendly and caring woman. However, what made him speechless was the phoenix girl who was now acting like a child, while a moment ago, she had a domineering and elegant aura around her.

They spent a few minutes enjoying their reunion, and Kai watched them quietly. After they were done, they separated before Elder Xieling introduced Kai to Caihong.

"Hmm, for sister Xieling to be interested in such a man like you... I wonder what's special about you", Caihong said to Kai while her face was only a few steps away from Kai's face.

Kai was embarrassed by the closeness cause he could feel Caihong's hot breath on his face, which made him blush a little. Kai has never had any close contact with any woman except Mei. Even though he is a warrior, he is still illiterate regarding girl and boy closeness.

"Hem," Kai stepped back and cleared his throat, "elder sister Caihong must be joking... there is nothing special about a poor man like me; elder Xieling only took pity on my poor self; that's why she took me under her wings". He said.

Caihong made a confused face after hearing Kai's explanation, "Hmm, that's strange; my elder sister has always been a woman who had no interest in anything except cultivation.... it's really strange for her to take a man under her wings", she made a thoughtful face, "humph, it doesn't matter I will keep an eye on you from now." She said before walking to Xieling's side.

Kai felt a shiver run down his spine because he felt like a predator had locked him down, he looked at elder xieling with a pleading expression, but she just shook her head and ignored them.

"Caihong, let's begin our journey; we have a long distance to cover," Elder Xieling told Caihong while she lovingly rubbed her cheek.

"Elder sister, I'm way too fast now, so you don't have to worry," Caihong said pridefully.

"I know, I know, my little sister Caihong is the greatest," Elder Xieling praised her a little, " but it's best if we get going now, shall we?"

Caihong nodded before walking forward; however, she glanced at Kai again before turning into her enormous phoenix form.

Kai shook his head helplessly; he didn't know why sometimes his luck with women was complicated.

Kai suddenly felt a pulling energy while he was lost in thought; before he knew it, he was on the phoenix's back.

Caihong made a phoenix cry before she took off, flying toward one of the forbidden zones of the Xian-Shan continent.

"Elder Xieling, I have been wondering. I heard from my master that the Xian-Shan continent is vast; however, it is not the only continent in this world. Do you mind explaining things about the other continents to me?".

"There is nothing much to tell you, Kai, but there is a lot for you to find out yourself; there are five continents that exist in this world, Xian-Shan of the West, Land of Dragon of the East, frozen wastes of the North, Eternal forest of the south and the central continent." Elder Xieling explained.

"How do one travel to these continents?" Kai asked curiously.

"Kai traveling to each of These continents is not an easy job because not all of these continents accept outsiders, but the dream of every genius is the central continent; this continent is the strongest of the strongest life; also, there is a huge river separating all the continents this river is called the, The Eternal primal sea, but deep inside the sea exist another world of it own."

"I will advise you not to aim too high rapidly; take your time to explore every journey of your life before moving to another one; you haven't even finished exploring the West; how can you aim for the rest." Elder Xieling explained to Kai before she ignored him.

"disciple understood his mistakes." Kai bowed to Elder Xieling before sitting on the phoenix's back and absorbing the available resources.

To Kai, absorbing metals, ores, and natural resources like herbs and energy fruit is the only way to cultivate; eating higher spiritual beast meat will also help him boost his body.

He was not some genius that could level up by absorbing energy and comprehending Heavenly Dao Laws; he had to temper his body to make it stronger, and with each process came unbearable pains. And also, his cultivation might be slower, but his battle power cannot be underestimated.

For example, although Kai is in the peak stellar stage realm, he can fight against ordinary low immortal realm experts, but to kill such experts, he will have to exert all his limits. The heavens protect them, especially the immortal king prodigy because killing any being from the immortal realm upward is not easy.

However, Kai knew once he broke through, he should be able to fight better in the immortal realm. However, considering his current body situation, his next breakthrough is still far ahead because his body still has more room for tempering. Once it reaches the limit, he can break through the next realm.

Along the journey Kai was cultivating, he would absorb the stars' energy at night. At the same time, during the day, he would focus on communicating with outside energies while absorbing the resources he had left.

After one month, they arrived in front of a large dark formation; this formation was covering the entrance of a land. The formation was so big and wide that it reached the endless sky, however below this formation, there was an entrance, and there was a large military base in front of this formation; it's like the formation was used to block something while the soldiers in the military base were stationed here to guard against something.

Kai wondered what type of land this could be for many soldiers stationed in the entrances. Elder Xieling saw the curious look on Kai's face, so she explained.

"Kai, this is one of the forbidden lands in the Western continent; it is called PURGATORY LAND; no one knows the history of this land except the continent's royal family and ancient tribes, but behind this formation are creatures from Hell and deep inside is the entrance to Hell itself.

Kai's body trembled a little upon hearing this; he couldn't help but wonder what kind of terror this hell lifeform would unleash on the continent if they managed to break the formation.

"you worry too much, Kai; this formation is way beyond anything and cannot be broken by normal means since it is connected to Heaven and Earth." Elder Xieling said. "But people go inside to train and gather resources, and some will come across some inheritance from ancient experts, while some will be lucky enough to find a treasure, but still the danger inside is much more than the benefits."

Elder Xieling explained to Kai before they landed a meter away from the military base. Caihong returned to her human form, and the trio walked inside the military base to acquire an entrance token before entering Purgatory land.

Upon getting inside the military base, Kai realized that there were two entrances leading inside the military base; In contrast, the military base itself was as large as a city; the first entrance led inside the base from the outside world, while the second entrance was the exit to enter toward the purgatory land and the entrance from the purgatory land.