【The Nine Cauldrons】World.

Duanmu Dalu.

West Tang Territory.

Cao Ya exited the system space and saw the snow falling all around him, but a smile appeared on his face.

Large, feathery snowflakes drifted between heaven and earth, making Yunmengze beautiful, splendid, and incredibly magnificent.

The Yunmeng Marsh, stretching for three thousand miles, is one of the three most dangerous places on the Duanmu Continent. It is home to many spiritual creatures and countless demonic beasts. Cao Ya came here specifically to hone his swordsmanship, hoping to reach its peak and comprehend the Dao of Heaven and Earth, thus entering the Void Realm.

As a primordial golden core cultivator, even though he was just a wandering swordsman with no background, family, or sect, Cao Ya still earned the title of "Mountain-Splitting Sword Saint" on the Duanmu Continent.

In the Duanmu Continent, those in the Void Realm are called War Gods, and those in the Innate Realm are called Martial Saints.

Generally speaking, the monsters in the Void Realm are also called divine beasts.

Within the Yunmeng Marsh, there is only the divine beast Wuzhui. As long as Cao Ya is careful to avoid Wuzhui and not offend that Void Realm divine beast, he is confident that he can roam freely in the Yunmeng Marsh. Otherwise, why would he dare to come to the Yunmeng Marsh for training?

Cao Ya's training was conducted under the premise of ensuring his safety.

"If only I could tame that black horse..." Cao Ya dreamed, then smiled wryly and shook his head.

The black horse was the mount of the supreme powerhouse "Duanmu Yu" from three thousand years ago, known as the Thunder Blade God. Originally a primordial demon beast, it followed Duanmu Yu in battles, eventually leading to Duanmu Yu's rise to become the supreme powerhouse known as the "Thunder Blade God." He unified this continent, hence the name "Duanmu Continent," which has been passed down to this day.

That black horse also had a great opportunity. The Thunder Blade God personally guided it, allowing it to comprehend the Dao of Heaven and Earth, break through to the Void Realm, and achieve great success in the Void Realm. Furthermore, it possessed techniques tailor-made by the Thunder Blade God, making it completely comparable to human experts in the Void Realm.

After the Thunder Blade God passed away, the Black Steed returned to Yunmeng Marsh, drove away the previous generation of Void Realm Divine Beasts, and dominated the three thousand miles of Yunmeng Marsh.

The current leader of Yunmengze is Wuzhui.

On the continent of Duanmu, almost everyone wants to tame the Black Steed, emulate the Thunder Blade God, and become a powerful and invincible force across the continent.

But who can subdue a divine beast that has reached the Great Perfection of the Void Realm, below even the strongest beings? Not even those at the Void Cave Realm.

Cultivation is far more difficult for demonic beasts than for humans, as evidenced by the fact that no supreme powerhouse has ever emerged among them in the thousands of years of their existence.

Among human martial artists, five supreme warriors have emerged in succession, starting with Emperor Yu.

However, the lifespan of demonic beasts is far longer than that of humans; a divine beast in the Void Realm can easily live for thousands of years.

There are gains and losses.

It's winter now, and Cao Ya has been in the Yunmeng Marsh for almost two years.

He obtained the "Mountain-Splitting Sword Technique" by chance, and to fully cultivate it to its peak, he needed to comprehend the Dao of Heaven and Earth before he could make any further progress.

This "Mountain-Splitting Sword Manual," which I obtained by chance, was left behind by a sword-wielding martial saint a thousand years ago, and its highest level was only the Innate Golden Core Realm.

Duanmu Continent is equivalent to two provinces of the Nine Provinces Continent, with a population of two to three hundred million, roughly equivalent to the population of one province.

With a small total population and insufficient base, the number of martial arts masters that can emerge will naturally be fewer.

There are only two Void Realm War Gods in this era. With so few Void Realm warriors, those who reign supreme are mostly Innate Martial Saints.

Although the Nine Provinces Continent is strong, it does not hold the same lofty status as the Duanmu Continent.

After all, there are hundreds, even nearly a thousand, of innate beings on the Nine Provinces Continent; otherwise, how could more than a dozen Void Realm War Gods be born?

Heavy snow fell, covering Yunmengze with a layer of snow, which quickly melted.

Cao Ya walked deep into the Yunmeng Marsh, gazing at the vast expanse of snow-covered landscape, his expression serene.

The Yunmeng Marsh is vast and boundless; it is said to be three thousand miles long, but in reality, it is much longer.

This place is mostly characterized by lakes and swamps, with occasional hills. The Yunmeng Marsh is also quite strange, with steam often rising from its surface.

Normally speaking, the Duanmu Continent is located in the north of this world. Even the southernmost Nanshan Region has a lower temperature than the Kyushu Continent. Although the Xitang Region is not as cold as the Beihan Region, it is also cold. Only summer is considered hot. Spring and autumn are quite cold, and winter is even colder, dropping to minus 20 or 30 degrees Celsius.

Having just transmigrated, Cao Ya grew up as an infant, alone, and endured a difficult period during which he nearly froze to death several times in winter.

Cao Ya felt a bit uneasy about the heavy snow.

Later, as he grew older, he acquired the "Mountain-Splitting Sword Technique" and embarked on the path of martial arts cultivation. Only after circulating his internal energy did he become unafraid of the cold.

The geography of the Duanmu Continent is divided into four regions, located in the four directions of east, south, west, and north: the East China Region, the South Mountain Region, the West Tang Region, and the North Cold Region.

Logically speaking, Yunmengze, located in the Xitang region, should be frozen in the dead of winter. However, in reality, except for a very few areas, Yunmengze is never frozen all year round!

In some places, the water is even still warm.

This is also one of the reasons for the formation of aerosols.

The snow, of course, cannot be retained; it melts as soon as it falls.

Yunmeng Marsh is treacherous, with many lakes and marshes of varying depths. Those who venture in cannot even row forward, let alone walk, as many swampy areas could easily lead to them sinking in with a single step.

The most terrifying thing is that poisonous insects and aquatic beasts suddenly emerge from beneath the swamps and lakes.

Cao Ya is a Martial Saint with the Innate Golden Core stage. Although he cannot fly, he has superb lightness skills and can walk on the waves without fear of many monsters in Yunmeng Marsh.

However, he had been extremely cautious until now.

After all, he had some unfortunate experiences, such as once when he was walking through a swamp, a huge python as thick as a water bucket grabbed his ankle and tried to drag him to the bottom of the water.

Once, while passing through a hilly area, they encountered a large group of spider-like venomous beasts that went mad, spewing venom in an attempt to poison and devour Cao Ya.

There are many more experiences like this, and even though he is a primordial golden core cultivator, he sometimes finds them extremely annoying.

If you're not careful and actually get hit, even if you don't die, you'll still feel terrible.

After all, among those venomous beasts, there were quite a few at the level of innate martial saints.

That toxicity is extremely dangerous.

Now things are different. Cao Ya has soared to the three-star level, which, in the context of the Nine Cauldrons world, is equivalent to a Void Realm expert.

Such a powerful figure, when the strongest one does not appear, is invincible!

Aside from human martial arts experts at the same Void Realm, only divine beasts at the Great Completion of the Void Realm can fight against it.

Moreover, once humans comprehend the Way of Heaven and Earth and reach the pinnacle of the Void Realm, mastering all the power of Heaven and Earth, they can fly by relying on the power they have mastered.

In this world of martial arts, there is only one path for humans who wish to fly alone.

The internal strength of a martial artist acquired through practice, the true essence of a martial artist acquired through practice, and even the power of heaven and earth of an ordinary Void Realm expert are not enough to enable a martial artist to fly. Only after reaching the Great Perfection of the Void Realm can one possess this ability with ten percent of the power of heaven and earth.

From a certain perspective, the limitations of the world of "Nine Cauldrons" are also quite terrifying.

Cao Ya did not fly. He couldn't do it before, but now he could fly freely. He still chose to walk, treading through swamps and lakes.

He hesitated, wondering whether he should try to tame the black horse.

At that very moment—

Suddenly.

Cao Ya's expression shifted, and he looked to the left.

“That is…” Cao Ya squinted his eyes and then laughed.

Gaa~~gaa~~~

Thousands upon thousands of black, crow-like birds flew in from the front, densely packed together, instantly obscuring the sky. In just a moment, this flock of birds had reached Cao Ya's head, like a vast ocean of birds.

"I was just thinking about it... and coincidentally, the main character has arrived. I'll just give it a try. If it doesn't work, so be it. Right now, I don't need the Black Steed to unify the Duanmu Continent." Cao Ya smiled and didn't attack the crow-like avian race. His target was the Void Realm Divine Beast that drove away the swarm of avian races.