Chapter 1253: Heavenly Tomb Empire

No one knew how much time had passed before Ye Guan felt warm. Slowly, he opened his eyes, but the sunlight stung them, causing him to shut them tightly again.

His head felt heavy, as if it were filled with lead.

When the heaviness in his head subsided slightly, he carefully opened his eyes again. Turning his head away from the blazing sun, his gaze landed on a cluster of stilted wooden houses.

Smoke rose from a few of them, curling up into the sky.

Ye Guan was puzzled.

Where am I?

"You're awake?" A voice echoed near them.

Turning his head, he found himself looking directly into a pair of bright, black eyes. The pair of eyes belonged to the young lady he had encountered in the desert.

He tried to sit up, but without his arms and his cultivation base, he found it incredibly difficult to do so. After several attempts, he still couldn't get up.

Fan Shan quickly stepped forward to support him. Helping him to his feet, she guided him to a small stool nearby and sat him down.

Leaning against the wall behind him, he exhaled heavily and looked at the young lady before him. "Thank you for saving me."

Fan Shan beamed brightly. "It was my grandfather who saved you."

Ye Guan lowered his voice. "Still, thank you."

Fan Shan waved her hand and smiled. "Don't mention it."

Ye Guan glanced at his surroundings. He was in a small town surrounded by stilted wooden houses arranged in an orderly fashion, creating a picturesque scene.

Curious, Ye Guan asked, "Miss, where am I?"

Fan Shan smiled. "My name is Fan Shan, but you can call me Little Shan. This is the Desolate Border..."

"How about you?" Fan Shan gave Ye Guan a once-over. "What's your name? Did you come from the outside world?"

Ye Guan replied, "My name is Ye Guan. I don't know how I got here."

Fan Shan blinked. "You don't know how you got here?"

Ye Guan nodded. The last thing he remembered was attacking the Evil Dao...

The Evil Dao! Fan Zhaodi!

Ye Guan took a deep breath. He wondered how Sister Zhen was right now, what had happened to the Guanxuan Universe, and how he had ended up here.

A torrent of questions flooded his mind, but unfortunately, both Little Soul and Master Pagoda were still in a deep slumber.

Just then, a loud rumbling sound came from Ye Guan's stomach, and he felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him. He was starving!

Since his cultivation base was sealed by Fan Zhaodi's residual power, he was no different from a mortal at the moment.

Fan Shan glanced at his stomach and giggled. "Hungry?"

Fan Shan took a cob of corn out of her pocket and handed it to Ye Guan. He instinctively wanted to take it, but he realized that he no longer had arms.

Fan Shan noticed that and looked a little embarrassed.

"Oh, sorry about that!" she hurriedly apologized and held the corn up to Ye Guan's mouth. "I'll feed you."

Ye Guan looked at her gratefully before eating the corn.

Fan Shan chuckled. "Ye Guan, slow down. I've got more."

Ye Guan smiled but said nothing as he ate. Indeed, he was starving.

A moment later, he had devoured the corn. Fan Shan quickly went to a large water bucket nearby, scooped out a ladle of water, and brought it back to him. She held the ladle to his mouth and said, "Drink up, don't choke now."

Ye Guan stared gratefully at her again before he gulped down the ladle of water.

Fan Shan set the ladle aside and pulled over a small stool to sit in front of Ye Guan. She looked at him with a bright smile and said, "You must be from the outside world."

Ye Guan nodded. "That's right."

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Fan Shan's interest was piqued. "Is it fun outside?"

He asked curiously, "What is this place?"

"The Desolate Border."

"What kind of place is the Desolate Border?"

"The Desolate Border is just the Desolate Border," Fan Shan said. "Rest here for a bit. I need to help Grandfather with cooking. I'll call you when the food is ready."

With that, she got up and headed toward a nearby stilted house.

Ye Guan leaned against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. His cultivation base was intact; it was just sealed. The seal was familiar, as it belonged to none other than Fan Zhaodi.

He took a deep breath and muttered, "What on earth happened?"

He looked out at the horizon, dyed crimson by the setting sun, and felt utterly confused. The previous battle had taught him a profound lesson. In this world, effort would not necessarily lead to results.

Oftentimes, one would remain powerless despite going all out—that was the harsh reality.

The outcome of the previous battle was a complete and utter failure.

He had never failed so badly before.

Ye Guan's face darkened, but soon, his gaze turned resolute.

Was he going to give up because he was defeated? No!

He took another deep breath. He could not, and would not, surrender so easily. How many times had his grandfather and father faced despair and failure? Had they ever given up? No!

If he gave up and let his spirit crumble over one failure, it would make him truly worthless. If one had fallen, one ought to get back up.

As long as he was still alive, he would never concede defeat.

Just then, Fan Shan's voice echoed. "Ye Guan!"

Ye Guan snapped out of his thoughts and turned. Fan Shan was standing at the entrance of the stilted house. She was wearing an apron and was holding a wooden ladle. She smiled and said, "Dinner's ready. Come on up."

Ye Guan nodded. "Alright."

He got up and made his way to the stilted house. It was quite spacious, with four rooms. As he stepped into the kitchen, he saw an old man sitting there, smoking a pipe with a stern face. He was Fan Shan's grandfather.

The old man glanced at Ye Guan but said nothing, continuing to smoke his pipe.

Fan Shan placed a plate of food on the dining table, and then he looked at Ye Guan with a smile, saying, "Come and sit down."

Ye Guan nodded. He approached the table and bowed slightly to the old man.

"Thank you for saving my life, Senior."

The old man merely glanced at Ye Guan.

Fan Shan chuckled. "Grandfather says there's no need to be so formal with him."

The old man was at a loss for words.

Ye Guan said sincerely, "Thank you both."

Fan Shan picked up a pair of chopsticks to hand to Ye Guan but quickly withdrew them, smiling sheepishly. "Oh, sorry about that."

Ye Guan replied, "It's alright."

As he spoke, a hint of helplessness crossed his face. His arms were severed, and his cultivation was sealed. This meant that until the seal was broken, he would not be able to restore his fleshly body. What a headache!

The old man asked, "Your name is Ye Guan?"

Ye Guan nodded. "Yes."

"You came from the outside world?"

"Yes."

The old man continued to stare at Ye Guan, saying nothing. There was a faint pressure emanating from him, but it had no effect on Ye Guan. He had experienced far too many powerful auras in his lifetime.

After a moment, the old man withdrew his gaze and tapped his pipe heavily on the table.

"You don't know where you are?" he asked.

Ye Guan replied, "I don't know anything about this place."

The old man said, "Once you've eaten, it should still be light out; you can be on your way, then."

He was clearly asking Ye Guan to leave.

Ye Guan hesitated for a moment before asking, "Can I stay?"

The old man's eyelids twitched.

Damn, this guy's skin is thick!

He had already made it clear, and yet this fellow had the audacity to say something like that.

Fan Shan quickly interjected with a cheerful smile. "He doesn't have to leave. Grandfather is really kind and easygoing. We were just talking about you earlier, and he said, 'This young man looks decent, so he must be a good person. We should help him if we can.'"

The old man's face stiffened.

Ye Guan turned to the old man, stood up, and bowed slightly. "Thank you, Senior."

The old man's face darkened further.

Why is my granddaughter siding with an outsider?!

He tapped his pipe in frustration, visibly annoyed. Then, he stood up abruptly to leave.

Fan Shan called after him, "Grandfather, you haven't eaten yet!"

The old man coldly replied, "I'm full."

The old man reached the doorway and came to a sudden stop. He turned around and glared at Fan Shan. "I'm full of frustration."

With that, he stormed out without looking back. Fan Shan stuck her tongue out playfully, and then she sat down across Ye Guan. "Grandfather is actually very kind. He just doesn't trust you because you're an outsider."

Ye Guan asked, "Aren't you afraid that I might be a bad person?"

Fan Shan raised the wooden ladle and said, "I've learned a few moves from Master Zhou. If you're a bad person, I'll whack you with this ladle and take you down."

Ye Guan was speechless.

Fan Shan got up, walked over to him, and said, "Let me feed you."

Ye Guan felt a little embarrassed.

Fan Shan noticed that and reassured him, saying, "Come on, it's just feeding you. I do this all the time, I've even fed pigs."

Ye Guan was truly at a loss for words.

Nevertheless, Ye Guan had a hearty meal, all thanks to Fan Shan's help.

After cleaning things up, Fan Shan seemed to remember something and said, "Oh, right! I heard some people from outside are coming to town today. Want to go check it out?"

Ye Guan was slightly confused. "People from outside?"

Fan Shan nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. Come on, let's go take a look."

She dropped the cloth she was holding and tugged at his sleeve, urging him to follow her.

The small town was home to just a few thousand people. Most of the buildings were stilted wooden houses, though occasionally, there were halls that were roughly constructed out of stone.

Ye Guan noticed that none of the townspeople seemed to possess any cultivation base. However, he spotted a few men emanating a martial aura. Clearly, they were focused solely on training their physical bodies and had yet to reach the level of cultivating spiritual energy.

Fan Shan pulled him toward the entrance of the town. Ye Guan looked ahead and saw a narrow path that extended all the way to the horizon.

A sizable crowd had gathered in the distance.

Along the way, through his conversation with Fan Shan, Ye Guan learned more about this place. The people here were either exiled criminals or descendants of those banished to the Desolate Border. Their ancestors had committed crimes, and as punishment, they were exiled to this place; their descendants were also forbidden to leave this place.

As descendants of exiles, they were not allowed to cultivate, nor could they leave the Desolate Border. Moreover, they were required to maintain the Desolate Border Wall, which was on the far side of the Death Desert.

The crowd had gathered today because they had heard that an official was coming.

Officials from outside had the authority to take people away from here, so everyone was curious and felt hopeful that they would be chosen to be taken out of this desolate, barren place and freed from their status as criminals.

As for the tier of this civilization, Ye Guan still had no clue.

Just then, someone in the crowd exclaimed, "Look! An official from the Heavenly Tomb Empire is here!"