Chapter 1397: Life on Dawn
The void here was no longer full of boundless emptiness but filled with a waterfall of rainbow colors stretching hundreds of kilometers.
As beautiful and resplendent as it was, it represented an extremely fierce eruption of power. Even the strongest of airsh.i.p.s would have to be cautious in its vicinity, else they would soon find that even a vessel capable of withstanding a duke’s attack would be easily twisted apart.
Fortunately, the Martyr’s Palace was built from the remains of the Earth Dragon. Moreover, the dragon was slowly regaining its consciousness under Qianye’s care, especially after the gains it received in the new world. Its flesh had regrown in many parts of the airs.h.i.+p.
The void colossus’ body was the best structure to withstand void tempests and prismatic light. Currently, the Martyr’s Palace was traversing through the rainbow belt with no damage save for a few b.u.mps.
Watching the Martyr’s Palace travel un.o.bstructed through the area, Howard sighed. “I thought it was inconceivable that we had lost two duke-grade airsh.i.p.s at the void continent. Now I can see that they were indeed outmatched.”
Nighteye asked while gazing at the prismatic curtain, “How did you find this flight route back then? The Byrne clan’s fleet probably can’t reach this place.”
Howard blushed slightly. “To be honest, I was fighting against a heavenly monarch from two generations back. My fleet was scattered and I was badly injured, so I had no choice but to flee in this direction. My small airs.h.i.+p back then was easier to maneuver. In the end, I ended up on that flight path.”
At this point, Qianye—who had been connected to the Earth Dragon’s consciousness—said, “There! The flight path!”
In front of the airs.h.i.+p, the prismatic lights rolled up like curtains and revealed a path behind them, one that had remained securely hidden behind an intersection of rainbow screens. They could see the dark red silhouette of the Dawn Continent far in the distance.
The Martyr’s Palace sped up and headed toward the Dawn Continent. By the time its ma.s.sive frame had left the rainbow belt behind, their destination was already in front of them.
Even in the void, they could sense the terrifying power of the sun. Although the radiant sphere hung high up in the sky, the experts could see amazing scenery that was impossible to find on the lower continents.
Giant pillars of fire gushed out from the surface of the sun. These pillars weren’t bright red as one would expect but rather a dark, hazy color. Following the explosion of each flame pillar, a terrifying heatwave and origin power storm would engulf the area. Even the Martyr’s palace began to tremble violently from the impact.
Heat and violent origin power bore down from above and swept over the Dawn Continent, leaving red clouds in its wake. These clouds were different from the beautiful twilight clouds from the middle continents; they were made up of actual fire.
Even the continent’s natural barrier could do little to protect its interior from the constant erosion of the origin storms. With his True Sight, Qianye could see the intense heat scorching the continent and driving the darkness origin power toward the continents below.
A portion of the sun’s origin power was blocked by the continents higher up. The remainder would pour down toward the rainbow belt, growing significantly weaker in the process. There, it would collide with the existing void origin power, stirring up layer after layer of prismatic light. After all that, the all-destroying solar power would become more or less neutral.
In Qianye’s vision, the flame pillars gus.h.i.+ng out from the sun weren’t singular but a mixture of daybreak and darkness origin power. It was just that both types were in the form of scorching fire.
Only when the storm reached the Dawn Continent did the darkness and daybreak power separate. Most of the daybreak origin power would remain on Dawn Continent, while the darkness origin power sank deeper toward the world below.
Most of the daybreak origin power from the solar winds remained on the Dawn Continent, hence the intensity of daybreak energy here was much higher than the lower continents. Even dukes would feel as though they were inside a raging furnace since breathing daybreak origin power was beyond discomforting, not to mention the fact that the daybreak origin power here was burning at all times.
Only primogenitors like Howard who possessed some comprehension of the basic laws could build a minor isolated environment around them. This served to protect them as they explored the upper continents, but even with that, they couldn’t stay for very long.
The Dawn Continent was a place of intense daybreak origin power, but the ferocity of this energy was no weaker than void origin power. No ordinary expert could absorb and utilize it.
Qianye gave it some thought and found that only the Combatant Formula could make use of the daybreak origin power here. The Imperial n.o.bility might have some ultimate arts that could do the same, but they would no doubt have strict requirements. Few experts would ever succeed.
Both the daybreak and darkness origin power was in a constant burning state, not to mention the solar storms that would erupt from time to time. Such an environment would be a difficult ordeal for the frail human body. The dark race experts might be able to stay a bit longer here as they were blessed with a tough const.i.tution.
If Dawn Continent was in such a state, it was easy to imagine how the continents higher up would fare.
Was there really a place for the vampires on this continent?
Howard was staring fixedly at the Dawn Continent all this time. At this moment, he said, “Five degrees to the right!”
The helmsman glanced at Qianye. Only after receiving a nod did he repeat the order, “Five degrees to the right.”
“To degrees left!” the helmsman repeated.
The ma.s.sive airs.h.i.+p was like a nimble fish adjusting its trajectory as it approached Dawn Continent. As the Martyr’s Palace approached the protective barrier, a hint of distant green came into Qianye’s view.
How could there be anything green on the Dawn Continent?
Green was a color usually a.s.sociated with life.
The dragons.h.i.+p turned slightly and drove in that general direction.
As the Dawn Continent grew bigger and bigger in everyone’s vision, that green patch also became increasingly noticeable.
A giant valley soon came into view in a corner of the Dawn Continent, surrounded by a wall of tall mountain ranges. The scorching winds from the center of the continent would run into the tall mountains and arc over the valley, leaving the continent fully protected.
Close up, the valley looked as though it were covered in a giant barrier of flames. It looked nothing out of the ordinary from a distance, so much so that even Qianye could only make out a shade of green. Howard had stumbled upon this well-hidden place back in the year.
The Martyr’s Palace pa.s.sed through the screen of flames and landed slowly inside the valley.
There was a dense array of caves in the surrounding cliffs. The biggest among them were dozens of meters wide, while the smallest was only a couple of meters in diameter. There were giant trees growing out of these caves, stretching high toward the sky. To be able to grow in such a harsh environment, one couldn’t help but sigh at the tenacity of life.
Qianye looked beneath his feet where the soil was covered in gra.s.s. The blades of gra.s.s were dark red in color and extremely sharp.
He reached out to grab the air, locking in some of the origin power in the atmosphere with his blood energy.
Most vampires would not be able to utilize this origin power. On the contrary, it might even cause harm to them. Hence, only counts and above could remain in this valley. Fortunately, the amount of violent origin power here wasn’t great, so ordinary vampires could also survive here for a while.
Howard arrived beside Qianye and picked up a stone from the ground. He then crushed it, allowing the powdery pieces to flow down from his hand. This revealed the glittering specks of light inside the dust.
“This place might be desolate, but it’s rich in ore. There was no urgent need before, but now, this industry might serve as the foundation of our race’s recovery.”
Qianye only half-understood the ore industry, most of which he had learned back on Fort Continent and applied in the new world. He had little idea how to manage irregular ore distributions.
Qianye observed the surroundings repeatedly, thinking about how to set up defenses and deal with possible pursuers.
Qianye might be able to escape the Demon King’s detection if he were alone, but the Martyr’s Palace was a ma.s.sive ent.i.ty, and there was a horde of vampire descendants behind him. It would be impossible to keep this hidden from a supreme. A big army might just appear in the sky very soon.
The fire screen covering the valley wasn’t for random airsh.i.p.s to pa.s.s through, either. With this natural barrier, most small aerial battles would be kept on the outside of the valley. And the Martyr’s Palace could easily deal with major battles.
The demonkin would have to find a landing spot outside of the valley and attack the vampire defense by land.
Qianye’s figure flickered along the cliffside as he performed a routine check of his surroundings.
Howard accompanied him around while introducing Qianye to the results of his investigation. “There’s a ma.s.sive rock at the center of the valley. The constant erosion of void origin power has made it beyond hard, almost like a giant piece of metal alloy. We can build our fortress on top of it. The natural barrier will help us build a fortress that cannot fall!”
However, Qianye looked up at the distant precipice. “No, we will build our defenses there.”