Chapter 2247: Worsening Conditions for Wandering Cultivators

As the wandering cultivators that had original set off with them from the Northern Central Region left the merchant caravan and were replaced by wandering cultivators from the Southern Central Region, Qing Yi and Chun Hua got the opportunity to learn even more about the current state of the Southern Central Region from these new wandering cultivators who had joined them. Learning from them that the current state of the Southern Central Region was far worse than the one Soul Ascension Realm wandering cultivator from the Southern Central Region had described to them earlier.

Not because he had said anything wrong so to speak, but instead because a few recent developments had made life even worse for the wandering cultivators in this part of the Southern Central Region.

Even causing some of the wandering cultivators to take the risk of crossing the border on their own, something that was deadly even to someone in the Soul Ascension Realm in case they ran into an especially powerful demon beast by accident and even worse for someone below the Soul Ascension Realm, as there was no lack of powerful demon beasts wandering around the edges of the Southern Central Region.

In fact, the only safe places along the Southern Central Region border with the Northern Central Region or the other two central regions, were special trade cities that had been established by the local major powers to conduct trade with the other central regions.

Outside of that, it was difficult to cross the border under normal circumstances and at the same time also the main reason why it was so difficult for wandering cultivators to traverse between the Southern Central Region and other central regions in the first place, with only those at the Domain Lord Realm having the strength to take the risk in the first place, as anyone below that realm stood little to no chance of safely making it through this natural barrier.

As for the reason behind the panic of these local wandering cultivators who were willing to leave behind their lives in the Southern Central Region to get away from it... That had to do with the Explorer Union that most of them relied on getting involved in the struggle currently playing out, causing wandering cultivators to be seen as viable targets in the eyes of the different major powers fighting one another.

Of course, the Explorer Union didn’t intend for something like that to happen and only ended up getting involved because some kind of valuable ancient ruin had been uncovered according to what these wandering cultivators knew.

But... That was more than enough for the different major powers to start dealing with the different wandering cultivators that entered their territories.

At the very least, in this regard, the ancient ruins that the Explorer Union was targeting just so happened to be right next to the major power that had been destroyed and was similarly being targeted by the different major powers who viewed the ancient ruins as having been part of the now gone major power that had been wiped out by a local ancient hidden sect.

In other words, the Explorer Union wasn’t viewed as a neutral party like it usually was this time around and ended up being seen as another power participating in the struggle for the treasures and other things that had been left behind following the fall of that major power, something that resulted in the wandering cultivators themselves finding targeted as a result of this. Even if they weren’t members of the Explorer Union.

Then again, the wandering cultivators themselves also understood that being targeted wasn’t entirely because of the Explorer Union’s actions, but also because these different major powers wanted to take the opportunity to decrease the number of wandering cultivators around. The Explorer Union only really presented them with the excuse they needed.

Qing Yi and Chun Hua didn’t understand much about the position of wandering cultivators in the Southern Central Region, but from what they ended up learning, it was clear that the wandering cultivators held more power than they had originally anticipated.

After all, for the different major powers to decide it was best to cull their numbers, it was clear that there was no lack of powerful wandering cultivators, with them even being numerous enough that they affected the growth of these different major powers to some extent.

Then again, that was understandable, as the sheer number of Domain Lord Realm and above wandering cultivators throughout the Southern Central Region would undoubtedly swallow up a vast quantity of the cultivation resources and opportunities throughout the Southern Central Region. Lowering the opportunities and cultivation resources that the people belonging to the different major powers of the region could get their hands on while they wandered around the region searching for opportunities of their own.

"How troublesome indeed... Wandering cultivators are everywhere and whenever a unique opportunity emerges, there is a good chance a wandering cultivator will claim it before anyone else..." Shaking her head as she muttered this to herself, Qing Yi saw where the different major powers were coming from, as it was clear they wanted to monopolize these kinds of unique opportunities scattered throughout the world for their own people.

Sure, it might not be possible for them to do something like this beyond the Southern Central Region, but at least this time around, they would be able to use the opportunity the Explorer Union had given them to knock down the wandering cultivators a peg and seize more opportunities for their own people over the next few years.

Wandering cultivators might hold a grudge because of this, but the major powers from the Southern Central Region were fundamentally different from that of the other three central regions and they didn’t fear a potential retaliation from wandering cultivators anywhere near as much as the major powers from the other three central regions.

If anything, the only wandering cultivators strong enough to do something to them were part of the Explorer Union and those people were already involved in the current struggle. Meaning there was nothing for these major powers to lose.

In the end, the current situation of the wandering cultivators escaping from the Southern Central Region emerged.

And not just the local wandering cultivators, but among those who had joined the merchant caravan during the last stretch towards the Northern Central Region, there was no lack of wandering cultivators that had originally used the caravan to reach the Southern Central Region. Only to regret their decision and wait for the merchant caravan to show up again so they could get back to the Northern Central Region again.

Luckily, given how the major powers of the Northern Central Region behind the merchant caravan were cooperating with a few local major powers from the Southern Central Region to ensure their safe passage through these different major powers territories, the merchant caravan didn’t end up running into any dangers along the way beyond a few more demon beast groups that ended up trying to attacking the caravan.

Among the attacks the caravan faced, the one who stood out the most wasn’t one from demon beasts like Chun Hua and Qing Yi had grown used to facing. Instead, it was a large group of wandering cultivators that had been waiting in ambush close to the edge of the Southern Central Region just as the merchant caravan was about to reach the Northern Central Region.

The attack itself was not only composed of several Soul Ascension Realm wandering cultivators, but there was even a dozen or so that had reached the Dao Seed Realm.

If not for the fact that the merchant caravan did indeed have a powerful figure at the Early Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm discreetly following along, there would have been no way for the caravan to successfully make it through that final stretch and reach the Northern Central Region.

Even with Qing Yi and Chun Hua around, the two of them were still some distance away from the Dao Seed Realm in terms of strength. Not to mention, those wandering cultivators had ended up creating several deadly formations that only made the battle harder for the merchant caravan.

Making Qing Yi and Chun Hua feel like death was truly approaching as they were forced to face off against these powerful wandering cultivators trying everything in their power to seize the flying ships of the merchant caravan.

As for why powerful wandering cultivators like these had decided to team up to try and rob them? The two of them didn’t know, but another wandering cultivator belonging to their side suggested that it might be because they had a difficult time adjusting to the worse cultivation environment within the Northern Central Region and ended up deciding that the best way for them to continue cultivating like normal was to target this merchant caravan.

After all, while the merchant caravan was supported by the different major powers of the Northern Central Region. In the eyes of these wandering cultivators of the Southern Central Region, there was only a single Dao Seed Realm cultivator in charge of the merchant caravan, while the major powers from the Northern Central Region was nothing to be feared in the eyes of these wandering cultivators from the Southern central Region.

In a worst-case scenario, they could always escape to the Eastern or Western Central Region before the powerful figures from the Northern Central Region had the time to chase them down. Knowing there was no way those powerful figures would carelessly cross the border between central regions.

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