Chapter Twenty-Three: Entering the Southern Creek Gobi Desert!

Sand.

Snowfields and white sand stretched as far as the eye could see.

The journey south was nothing like the previous trek to the Frozen Rift—there were no varied landscapes, only the same endless expanse of snow and sand. So monotonous was the scenery that Yi Shen had to stop repeatedly to confirm his direction, ensuring he was still on the correct path.

He headed south, walking for a long time and adjusting his course multiple times. It was fortunate he was naturally sensitive to directions and had an innate sense for maps; otherwise, in a world where north, south, east, and west seemed so strange and unfamiliar, getting lost would have been all too easy.

The border of this map was marked by the Nanxi Gobi, the furthest point accessible on the standard civilian maps. Rumor had it that in some safe zones in the eastern regions of Huaxia, people had already constructed industrial systems and even airplanes using resources from this other world, enabling deeper explorations. Yet these developments likely had little to do with the Jingmen Safe Zone.

Monotony inevitably bred boredom. Yi Shen, though prepared for this, found himself stopping now and then to ambush the small monsters that lurked on the snowy sands. These creatures were low-level, sometimes no more than a beetle of level one or two. It was clear that the hierarchy of power in this world was sharply defined—there was not a trace of high-level monsters in such resource-starved lands.

In five hours, Yi Shen encountered only three other teams, each with more than five people traveling together. They all looked curiously at him, alone in his land vehicle; in this world, a lone wanderer was not a reassuring sight. Fortunately, upon entering the snowy desert, Yi Shen had already concealed his face, so none of the teams recognized him, and he did not have to worry about his whereabouts being exposed.

At last, Yi Shen reached the so-called Nanxi region and beheld a great river flowing through it. Its presence in the heart of the desert was strikingly abrupt. The Nanxi River was more than ten meters wide, not particularly deep, but its waters ran ceaselessly. From the distant horizon, cutting through the endless wasteland, the river neatly split the world in two.

Thus, the Nanxi region was divided into only four zones in the records—East Zone and West Zone. Here, the monsters grew stronger; beyond the desert, Yi Shen could already see traces of the Gobi and even some vegetation. The secret realm he sought lay in the hill country of the East Zone. For reasons unknown, this area had formed a unique Gobi secret realm, accessible by a small path branching from the Nanxi River.

A few teams had set up camp by the river as well, and someone had even established a fueling station. Yi Shen inquired about the price and learned it was five times higher than at the starting point—no doubt a hard-earned profit for those transporting supplies out here.

———

"Ding. You have entered the secret realm: Nanxi Gobi. Current party size: 1. Current clearance record: none. Highest clearance record for this realm: 5 minutes, 19 seconds."

Yi Shen entered the Nanxi Gobi secret realm alone, and once again, the system's voice echoed in his mind. As with the Frozen Rift, he had no prior clearance record here. The best record, 5 minutes and 19 seconds, was likely set by a high-level team farming the realm; it was somewhat longer than the Frozen Rift’s record. Rumor had it that breaking the record would earn the party a reward. Yi Shen thought that once he grew stronger, perhaps he could attempt a speed run himself.

The environment of this secret realm was distinctly different from that of the Frozen Rift. Whereas the latter was flanked by sheer cliffs and sloped downward, here one could look up to see the vast sky and glimpse strange structures hidden among the hills.

The monsters in this realm were not particularly numerous—perhaps only a dozen kinds. The main threat came from creatures resembling gnolls, who possessed a certain degree of intelligence and had established a primitive tribal civilization. Their wisdom was limited, so their society remained tribal and ancient.

Their peculiar structures were bone-built inverted triangles, half protruding from the hills, half buried within. The more prominent, elevated ones were four-sided buildings, homes to the higher-ranking gnolls.

By all accounts, this secret realm was considerably more difficult than the Frozen Rift, for these gnolls could call out to their own kind. If not taken down quickly or lured far enough away, a dozen or more might swarm out at once and attack the party ferociously.

This was precisely why Yi Shen had come here. The gregarious nature of these gnolls made them perfect targets for his area-of-effect attacks; it would be a waste not to farm them as long as the realm’s reset timer permitted.

At the entrance, he saw three patrolling gnolls prowling the mouth of the hills—clearly the gatekeepers, much like the initial two ice-bramble dryads in the previous secret realm.

Yi Shen, experienced as ever, summoned three wind elementals for a one-on-one duel. It was worth noting that, with Yi Shen’s increased attributes, the wind elementals had grown much stronger—now boasting 230 health points, up from the previous 120. Their attack was still negligible, but they could withstand several more blows, giving Yi Shen ample time to inflict damage.

Wind Blades grazed the gnolls with little effect, yet what followed was an onslaught—Yi Shen’s incendiary bombs, arcane bursts, and the occasional fireball cast while he nimbly repositioned.

“Whoosh!”

“-130…”

“-149…”

“-162…”

“-204…”

“-10…”

“-9…”

“-188!”

A flurry of damage numbers lit up above the gnolls. Yi Shen’s attack rotation was now much faster and more reliable than before. These monsters were around level sixteen, with health about four or five hundred higher than the ice-bramble dryads. But now that his own level had increased, his skills no longer suffered any damage reduction. With his gear’s bonus spell power, each arcane burst hit for more than a hundred, and at full stacks, each strike dealt a steady 200 damage!

In just four or five seconds, all three gnolls collapsed, barely making Yi Shen feel like he was fighting secret realm monsters—they were easier than the sandworms he had met earlier.

The gnolls dropped three green orbs and carried strange bone weapons. Though these weapons could not be taken out of the secret realm, they were usable within it. For example, the staffs wielded by gnoll priests granted protective skills to their party.