Oasis

The landscape of the Western Region was vastly different from that of the Eastern Region. Most of the Western Region was arid desert and desolate Gobi, an endless expanse of yellow sand stretching as far as the eye could see.

As a result, the Western Region was sparsely populated, with most people clustered together in settlements. The area known as SandStone City had the largest population.

Su Muchen had learned this information from the Shadow Elder during his travels.

Selecting an open space, the Flying Cloud Boat slowly descended.

After the Shadow Elder put away the Flying Cloud Boat, his figure gradually faded, disappearing back into the void.

Although the Shadow Elder had provided information, Su Muchen was visiting the Western Region for the first time. As he walked, he became lost!

They were in the middle of a boundless Gobi Desert, with no landmarks to use for navigation.

Fortunately, Su Muchen's cultivation was high, and he didn't have to worry about dehydration like ordinary mortals in this environment.

After what seemed like a long time, Su Muchen finally saw an oasis in the distance.

Su Muchen's eyes lit up. Where there was an oasis, there were bound to be people.

He quickened his pace, and after a short while, he entered the oasis.

"Halt!"

Just as Su Muchen was about to go further in, a stern voice rang out, and two men blocked his path.

Both were only at the Qi Condensation Realm, but their faces held a hint of arrogance.

"What is it?"

Su Muchen raised an eyebrow, looking at the two men calmly. These minor characters wouldn't provoke his anger.

"New here, aren't you? Don't you know the rules? Toll fee: ten low-grade spirit stones!" One of the men said coldly, extending a hand.

Su Muchen casually tossed ten low-grade spirit stones into the man's hand.

The man was initially stunned, then his face broke into a look of wild joy.

Normally, the toll here was only one or two low-grade spirit stones. Seeing Su Muchen's unfamiliar face, they had deliberately raised the price. They hadn't expected this guy to actually pay it! If they had known, they should have asked for twenty!

However, it was too late for regrets. The man nodded and stepped aside.

Su Muchen ignored them and walked straight in. Once inside, he found that it was a world apart.

Most of the trees within the oasis had been cut down, forming a vast open space. Countless wooden houses were scattered around, creating a small town without walls.

The attire of the people in the town was clearly different from that of the Eastern Region, so Su Muchen immediately attracted everyone's attention when he entered. However, there were many people coming to the Western Region these days, so everyone just looked at him curiously before losing interest.

"Hehe, this young master, is this your first time here?"

As Su Muchen was looking around, a skinny man approached him with a grin.

"Yes," Su Muchen nodded.

The skinny man chuckled and pointed at himself. "I'm the 'Rat' here. I can tell you anything you want to know, young master!"

Here, the skinny man quietly said to Su Muchen: "There is also a Beauty Pavilion here, it is said that there are young women with Yuan Transformation Realm cultivation, and if there are enough spirit stones, you can also practice dual cultivation!"

Hearing this, Su Muchen's expression suddenly became strange, and at the same time he had a certain understanding of this guy. This guy is specifically for outsiders to lead the way or explore information.

"I do have some things to ask."

Su Muchen raised his hand casually, and ten low-grade spirit stones fell into the skinny man's hand.

The skinny man's eyes lit up. He couldn't tell, this guy was actually rich! The spirit stones earned this time were almost equal to his income for several days!

"I will definitely tell you everything I know. By the way, my name is Zhou Tong, young master can just call me Monkey!"

After collecting the spirit stones, Zhou Tong looked at Su Muchen with a grin.

Su Muchen looked Zhou Tong up and down. This nickname was quite fitting with his image.

Because he earned a lot of spirit stones from Su Muchen, Zhou Tong did his best, introducing Su Muchen to the situation of this oasis in detail.

This oasis belongs to a large sect in the Western Region called the Blazing Sun Sect, and naturally there are many Blazing Sun Sect industries here.

"The Blazing Sun Sect spent so much money to build a town here, what is its purpose?"

Su Muchen was a little puzzled, he didn't believe that Blazing Sun Sect would benefit others for no reason. Although some taxes can be collected here, compared with the construction cost, it is far behind.

"Hehe, young master, you don't know that, do you?"

"Originally, this was just an ordinary oasis, just a place for cultivators who cross the desert to rest and replenish supplies."

"However, just a few years ago, an ancient city appeared here!"

"Ancient city?" Su Muchen frowned slightly.

"That's right, this ancient city is extremely mysterious. Every full moon night, it will randomly appear near this oasis!"

"Out of curiosity, some people have entered that ancient city, but..." Speaking of this, a look of fear flashed in Zhou Tong's eyes.

"The first group to discover the ancient city was a group of rogue cultivators. They believed that there must be treasures hidden in this mysterious ancient city, so a group of seventeen of them entered the ancient city."

"Only three of them came out, and the rest died in the ancient city!"

"Those three were normal when they first came out, just a little taciturn because they were frightened. However, only one day later, the three of them suddenly died violently, their deaths were extremely miserable, their whole bodies festered, and there was no intact flesh!"

Seemingly recalling some terrifying scene, Zhou Tong's face was very ugly.

"However, after these three died, someone found high-grade spirit stones in their storage bags!"

High-grade spirit stones are much more valuable than low-grade spirit stones, and are usually only used by monks above the Yuan Transformation Realm.

Knowing the existence of high-grade spirit stones, people suddenly went crazy. Although they all knew that the ancient city was extremely dangerous, who could resist the temptation of high-grade spirit stones?

So, on the next full moon night, a group of cultivators searched for the traces of the ancient city and entered it one after another to find treasures.

It's just that this time, as many as thousands of people entered, but in the end, only a few survived.

Hearing this, Su Muchen's expression was solemn, the danger level of this place exceeded his expectations!

Even in some dangerous places in Central Region, if a thousand people entered, at most 70% of the people would be lost, but this mysterious ancient city actually allowed thousands of people to enter, and only dozens of people came out!

Although the dozens of people who came out this time did not show any abnormalities, they were tight-lipped about the things in the ancient city, even if someone caught one of them and forced them to ask with the Soul Searching Technique, they still failed to get any useful information.

Hearing this, Su Muchen frowned even tighter. Even the top powerhouses could hardly bear the Soul Searching Technique. What caused these people to be unwilling to reveal anything even at the cost of their lives?

Zhou Tong told some more things about the ancient city, and Su Muchen also thoroughly understood the origin of this small town.

In short, the Blazing Sun Sect built a town here, and those who want to explore the ancient city can replenish supplies here. In this way, the Blazing Sun Sect can obtain huge profits from it.

As for the treasures in the ancient city, the major sects in the Western Region surprisingly maintained a tacit understanding and did not send any disciples to go there.

After all, even large sects can hardly bear this mortality rate. It is really not necessary to take such a big risk for the sake of mere high-grade spirit stones!

But rogue cultivators are different. They don't have strong sect backgrounds, so they can only come here to take a gamble. Once they gain something in the ancient city, even if they can't reach the sky in one step, it will greatly benefit their future practice.