Chapter 1652: Nights Like A Furnace, Days Like Winter

First, the Desert Sea was cold during the day and hot during the night. Its freezing cold could break rocks, and its scorching heat could melt metal. Warriors below the Trueman-stage and Grandmaster-stage could not withstand it.

Next, the Desert Sea did not have any spiritual energy. This weakened some Magia and martial arts or even rendered them unusable. A warrior would also lose spiritual energy, true qi, origin qi and more much faster than normal, but there was no ambient energies they could absorb and replenish themselves. Naturally, this was a terrible environment for any warrior.

Finally, the reason the word “Sea” existed in the name “Desert Sea” was because it was a desert that was as wide as the sea. It was a pipedream to pass through the Desert Sea in a short time, not even if the traveler was a Sage.

Back then, Princess Furi had crossed the Desert Sea as a Half-Sage. Despite all the spirit pills, miraculous medicine, Strange Artifacts and secret treasures she brought with her, it still took her several months to cross the Desert Sea. Despite being protected by multiple treasures, she still landed into multiple crises where a single mistake could have killed her. That was how scary the Desert Sea was.

Without exaggeration, the Desert Sea was a forbidden zone to any living creature. However, it was also thanks to the Desert Sea that most of the Strangers of Bei Yuan were unable to travel south and threaten the humans.

The Snowstorm Silver Owl was useless in the Desert Sea, so Ye Qing released it and sent it home. Then, he and Feng Qingyou entered the legendary forbidden zone.

It was nighttime when they set foot in the Desert Sea, so the first sensation they felt was heat—scorching heat. Although there was no sun in the sky or fire on the ground, the air was visibly warped by an unbelievable heat. It made one feel like they were surrounded by flames or burning inside a furnace.

Strangely, they felt none of the heat before they crossed the threshold. In fact, the border between the Desert Sea and the snowy region was extremely clear. One side was a winterland of snow and ice, while the other side was an endless expanse of yellow sand. It was as if the two regions were cleanly separated by an unknown yet unimaginably great power. Not a single buffer zone could be found between the two regions. It was quite miraculous.

When they first entered the Desert Sea, the temperature was only fifty to sixty degrees Celsius or so. As time passed, the temperature skyrocketed over a hundred degrees. This was just the beginning.

The temperature of the Desert Sea was affected by time. When the day started turning dark, its temperature was at its lowest. As time passed, it would eventually reach a peak of five hundred degrees or so.

Therefore, what they were feeling now was just the appetizer.

Of course, this was nothing to Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou. Qiwa looked extremely uncomfortable though. Although the Water Demon Ape was an Ancient-class Stranger with the blood of an ancient god demon running through its veins, it was also a water-type Stranger. Water and fire did not mix, which was why Qiwa was extremely unused to this level of temperature. It looked sick.

Of course, Qiwa simply wasn’t used to this level of temperature. This was nowhere enough to kill it. Otherwise, it could not have escaped from Bei Yuan all the way to the Ice River.

In fact, Ye Qing asked Qiwa how it managed to cross the Desert Sea. At the time, he thought Qiwa had used some sort of special method to cross the Desert Sea easily and without much trouble. If that was true, then they could save a lot of time, energy, and pain.

However, Qiwa quickly revealed that there was neither a shortcut nor a special method. Qiwa had crossed the Desert Sea via brute force and tenacity. It was as simple as that.

Ye Qing was disappointed, but there was no helping it. They could only “brute force” the Desert Sea as well.

“Tsk tsk... they say that the moon is cool and clear, but that’s only because they haven’t experienced the Desert Sea.”

Ye Qing was sitting on the carriage shaft and narrowing his eyes slightly at the moon above his head. His right leg was hanging slightly and shaking in tandem with the carriage. He looked relaxed.

Ever since they traveled north from the Northern Snow Region, they had almost never experienced a clear, sunny day. The snow was always blowing, and the sky was always covered in dark, gloomy clouds. If even the sun rarely made an appearance, then the moon could only do worse.

However, there was no snow in the Desert Sea. Therefore, the moon and the stars were clearly visible. In fact, the moon of the Desert Sea was rounder and brighter than elsewhere.

The moon was as big as a mountain, and its silver radiance descended upon the world like a river.

Both the natural view and the human view were excellent. This was definitely one of those moments where a cup of wine was only appropriate.

The only complaint Ye Qing had was that the air was scorching hot. The moonlight felt like fire or burning coal pressed against his skin.

“This is a moon that only exists in the Desert Sea. I believe that the view alone is worth this trip,” Feng Qingyou said smilingly.

“Moonlight that feels like it should come from the sun, and sunlight that feels like it should come from the moon. It is a rare view.”

Ye Qing smiled. “Those who have not read ten thousand books would not understand how long the passage of time is. Those who have not walked a hundred thousand kilometers would not understand how vast and amazing the world is.”

Although the land was hot, and the moonlight felt like fire, he was powerful enough that he didn’t feel disturbed. Not only that, he was realizing that the world under the right set of circumstances could become a natural, yin yang-fueled furnace that refined all things.

Although the main goal of their trip was to search for the evil suppressing spiritual treasure, this was also an opportunity to tread through the world with their legs and feet, fit infinite lengths of mountains and rivers into their chest, and view all faces of the world with their own eyes. Experiencing the Heavenly Way and nature and tempering one’s martial way and mind were itself a king of cultivation and reward, right?

So, Ye Qing did not think that the world was excessively hot or tormenting. On the contrary, he felt soothed by it.

“I don’t know what’s so profound about this. It’s too hot and unbearable. I don’t like it.”

Qiwa was currently sitting inside the carriage looking listless and depressed.

“Is it hot?”

Ye Qing comforted it, “Don’t worry. It will be fine.”

Qiwa’s eyes lit up. “Do you know a way to fix this?”

Ye Qing teased him, “No, I just want to say that this level of heat is nothing, and that the worst is still ahead of us. You will get used to it whether you like it or not.”

Qiwa: “...”

The young Stranger felt the malice of humanity for the first time in its life, and it did not like it one bit.

Ye Qing felt much better after teasing Qiwa, so he produced a jar of wine and held it high up in the air as if toasting the moon. Then, he enjoyed a long drink.

Right now, the wine was boiling hot like molten metal. It scorched the throat and churned inside the chest. It was great.

When it was almost dawn the Desert Sea had almost reached its peak temperature. THe surrounding air was visibly distorted and blurry.

“Here it comes...”

The high temperature didn’t last long though. When the moon disappeared, and the sun rose, the scorching heat was abruptly replaced by indescribable cold.

The change in temperature was abrupt and immediate. It was the complete opposite of the slow rise of temperature during the night.

In fact, the moment the sun appeared was when the Desert Sea was at its coldest. The temperature would gradually increase over time until it peaked during sunset.

Because of this, the moment the day and night swapped places was also the moment where the Desert Sea’s temperature went from its highest to its lowest. It was like plunging into an ice pool after being burned alive in a furnace. It was a kind of ice and fire that was both painful yet exhilarating for some reason.