Chapter 31: Spirit Desert Civilization
Crossing the territory occupied by the Civilization Devourer to reach that unknown civilization is no easy task.
Richard must constantly keep his anti-divination magic active and ensure that upon leaving the Endless Dimension, the area he arrives at is indeed the domain of that unknown civilization.
Otherwise, he would almost inevitably be discovered by the Civilization Devourers.
According to the intelligence gathered from the Wizard's attack, the territory occupied by the Civilization Devourer is filled with roaming legions.
These legions seem to be setting something up, but neither the Wizards nor the Dominators of the Abyss of Gods can discern what the Civilization Devourers are up to.
However, it is certain that the Civilization Devourers are plotting a huge conspiracy.
After leaving the Monster World, Richard flew for almost two years.
According to his calculations, this distance should be sufficient. Unless that unknown civilization has collapsed, this distance should not fall within the Civilization Devourers' territory.
If it has collapsed, then moving forward would be futile anyway.
Leaving the Endless Dimension, Frenzied Ether instantly filled the space around Richard.
To a mortal, this substance was harmful, but to the current Richard, it was no different from air.
With each breath, Richard felt his body becoming invigorated.
Although the Void of the Endless Dimension lacked various restrictions, it was too empty for beings from the Material World.
So empty that the energy there was almost negligible, and the material was so sparse it was nearly nonexistent.
Even though Richard, due to Element Annihilation, was abundant in both energy and material, staying in such an environment for a long time would induce a sense of discomfort.
Of course, it was merely discomfort.
Scanning the surroundings, Richard sighed. His luck wasn't that good; within his visible range, there was no world observable through the World Barrier.
"Ah, my luck isn't great,"
However, although he didn't see a world up close, there were worlds in the far distance in all directions around him.
He just needed to venture out a few more times, and he would eventually get closer to a world.
With a thought, a Dimension Rift appeared before Richard. Entering the Material World for a second, he then returned to the Endless Dimension.
Enter, exit, enter, exit...
Over less than three days, Richard traveled between the Endless Dimension and the Star Realm dozens of times. Finally, on his forty-second attempt, he reached the outskirts of a world.
"Whew, it wasn't easy," Richard wiped the sweat that wasn't there from his forehead, "I really don't know how those Illusionary Dimension creatures find worlds so precisely."
Less than 100,000 kilometers ahead of him was a radiant world. Judging by the thickness of its World Barrier, it seemed to be a medium-sized world.
Generally speaking, within such a world, even if a war is ongoing, there will certainly be important figures from the civilization present.
"Let's sneak in first and see what the current situation of this civilization is," Richard thought to himself.
Though his visit could almost be considered a "humanitarian mission," it's always wise to be cautious and gather some intelligence.
With that thought, Richard casually tore off a segment of his little finger. The piece of finger hovered in the air and soon transformed into a World Lord Level doppelgänger.
Richard's current power was incredibly strong; sealing himself was somewhat cumbersome. Moreover, he was continuously pushing his body's limits with Shan Hai, and now, infused with the Power of Abyss, the weight of Shan Hai was akin to a massive continent.
If he were to seal himself now, he would have to give up Shan Hai's suppression, which would mean all prior efforts were wasted.
Once the doppelgänger formed, Richard infused a wisp of his soul into it. In an instant, the doppelgänger's previously lifeless eyes became full of animation.
Sealing a Dominator is difficult, but sealing a World Master is much simpler.
With a wave of his hand, Richard sealed the doppelgänger with hundreds of thousands of Wizard Runes.
After learning the Ghost Forging Technique from the Ghost Craftsmen, he had made substantial progress in understanding Runes.
He could now extract the essence from Furnace Man Runes to expand and enhance the Wizard Rune system.
Although this seemed like a futile effort, since he mainly used the Furnace Man Runes' advanced applications, which don't typically apply to mid-and-lower-tier combat strength,
expanding the Rune system itself was its greatest significance.
To become a Leader, strength and contributions are both best to have.
After completing the sealing, Richard's doppelgänger integrated into the World Barrier like a meteor.
After passing through the layers of verification by the World Barrier, this doppelgänger descended from the sky like a real meteor.
Boom!
The doppelgänger landed, Richard partially lifted the seal, and surveyed this unfamiliar world.
"... It turns out to be an Imbalanced World," Richard said with some astonishment.
All around him, endless yellow sand and bizarre boulders formed the backdrop of this world.
Richard could clearly perceive a severe imbalance of Earth Element within the unit space of this world.
Undoubtedly, this was an Earth Element Imbalance World.
However, a medium-sized Element Imbalance World was indeed rare. At least, in Richard's memory, such a level of Element Imbalance World didn't exist.
Element Imbalance Worlds are considered defective among worlds. During their growth, elements continuously become unbalanced. When such imbalance reaches a certain degree, the entire world will fall into the Elemental Territory, becoming part of it.
And a medium-sized Element Imbalance World, theoretically, has already exceeded the critical value to fall into the Elemental Territory.
Unless... the environment he feels now is artificial.
"Is this civilization some kind of semi-elemental creatures? Or is this place a natural protection base for some kind of semi-elemental creatures?"
Although the term 'nature reserve' sounds strange, developing to a civilization at this level, there would be some level of species protection.
After all, no one knows if these things will come in handy someday.
Richard shook his head, brushing the sand from his hair and casting aside his thoughts.
The information he currently has is too little, and any judgment he makes now would be unfounded. If he draws any preconceived conclusions now, his information gathering later would surely become biased.
Richard raised his hand and cast a layer of Concealing Magic on himself, from Optical Invisibility to Sound Concealment, then to Odor Elimination and Spiritual Power Shield.
A full set of witchcraft like this, even if a Dominator came, they would overlook Richard's presence under careful scrutiny.
With everything prepared, Richard began his exploration. He flew as close to the ground as possible, then sped towards the far East.
There, he vaguely saw traces of something artificial.
...
Today is a good day.
Shi Dangdang felt the warmth of the sun on him and thought this in his heart.
As a true Sand Spirit, the sun is crucial to him. The sun's radiance not only keeps their bodies dry but is also an essential source of energy for young Sand Spirits.
Shi Dangdang moved his body slightly, allowing every grain of sand on his body to be bathed in sunlight, driving out the moisture in his body.
But after a while, a shadow from nowhere suddenly covered most of his body.
"Hmm? Where did this cloud come from?"
Shi Dangdang felt a bit irritable, for a cloud to approach while he was sunbathing comfortably was really unlucky.
He lazily moved his body, trying to get out from under the shadow. But strangely, no matter how he moved, the shadow remained over him.
As he continued to wriggle around, Shi Dangdang grew increasingly irritated. Finally, he leapt fiercely from the sand, with countless black grains of sand shooting up to form a gargoyle-like figure.
"Yu Dingtong, are you annoying or what!"
"Yu Dingtong, are you annoying or what... they actually communicate through sound?"
The unfamiliar voice snapped Shi Dangdang out of his anger. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't his mischievous friend Yu Dingtong in front of him but a strange black-robed creature.
From the exposed features of this creature, it appeared to be a Flesh Man.
But, shouldn't Flesh Men be in the underground protection zone?
"How did you get up here? Quickly go back to the protection zone."
Shi Dangdang imitated the elders in his mind and sent a Spiritual Message to the black-robed figure.
But the information returned by the black-robed figure left him puzzled.
"Go back to the protection zone, so it seems you're the main race of this civilization."
Suddenly, Shi Dangdang sensed an indescribable terrifying pressure. Under this pressure, he watched the black-robed figure use a Spiritual Message to say to him:
"Hello, I am a Miracle Wizard from the Wizard Civilization. Now, please introduce this world to me."
...
"So that's how it is."
Richard nodded thoughtfully, while in front of him, the sand sculpture formed by Shi Dangdang was trembling.
According to Shi Dangdang, the civilization he was currently in was called Spirit Desert Civilization. The main species were Sand Spirits like Shi Dangdang.
The major expansion of this civilization started relatively late, even a whole epoch later than the wizards. However, there were many strong individuals within, with five Dominators alone, and above them, a mysterious Prophet Desert.
However, perhaps due to being a juvenile, Shi Dangdang was not clear about the state of the frontline war.
"Alright, stop sending covert messages via vibrations."
Richard looked at the trembling Shi Dangdang and calmly spoke.
"With your petty tricks, anyone with a little knowledge will see through them. If you want to send messages, do it openly."
Upon hearing Richard's words, the trembling Shi Dangdang immediately froze.
He thought he had hidden his actions well enough, but the flesh man claiming to be a Miracle Wizard saw through him at once.
However, at this moment, it was already too late for him to stop.
He had already passed the information to his close friend Yu Dingtong; it wouldn't be long before the Law Enforcement Team would arrive.
As this thought flashed across his mind, subtle vibrations began to transmit through the soil layers.
Richard opened his four eyes, and in his field of vision, a team of towering beings that seemed like semi-elemental creatures was flying towards him.
"Giant Dragon?"