The waves of the Cloud Sea ebbed and flowed peacefully, seemingly unperturbed by the countless struggles and fights taking place under its surface. Occasionally, the scaly or smooth backs of the beasts that reside within it would peak out before once again submerging.
However, the calm environment was soon broken by two streaks of light, one black and the other red, speeding across the air above it. The powerful auras they emitted caused the waves to tumble tumultuously, but they were long gone by the time it happened.
Currently, Damien and Long Chen had almost reached the shores of the Northern Continent, having traveled for many days without rest. This wasn't a problem for Zara, and apparently, Long Chen's beast felt the same.
Damien had only found out about it on the day of their departure, but it should've been obvious considering how his partner on this mission was the scion of one of the four great clans.
He had a Draconic beast that looked like a fire-attribute variant of the sea dragon he met when he was first crossing the Cloud Sea. Its species name wasn't as presumptuous as the snake from before either.
Ironically, its given name was Little Flame.
As the two men and their beasts continued moving across the expansive sea, the outline of a massive landmass came into their view.
The Western Continent Damien first appeared in was covered in vast plains and deserts with sandy shores, the Central Continent had cliffs and an array of different terrains, and as for this Northern Continent, it was covered in a blanket of white.
Snow as far as the eye could see, with the shore being more of an icecap than anything else. This was the first impression of the northern continent.
It didn't take long for the two to land on the white plains and take a small break after their long journey.
"The Shentian province is much farther inland than this. According to the map from our disciple tokens, it should take another 3 days travel at this pace to reach it." Long Chen said as he surveyed the surroundings.
As someone from the Central Continent, not to mention one of its top powers, he had never felt the need to leave its ground. This was the first time he had ever left, and the first time he had seen snow before. It was obvious that he would take a moment to admire it.
"3 more days isn't a problem for us. But we should hurry in case the raid already started. If we miss it, we might automatically fail this mission." Damien mentioned.
Along with the general details of the mission, they received information that the Shen clan that ruled the Shentian province was executing a raid on the Beguiled Devil Sect soon, however, no specific date was mentioned.
If the raid started before they arrived and the wicked sect extermination was completed, they traveled all this way for nothing.
"Zara, can you continue?" Damien asked with concern. She had been flying for over a week without pause already, and he didn't want to push her too far. Not to mention, she might have to fight in the upcoming raid.
However, Zara was quick to ease his concerns. "Mm! I can even fly for weeks without getting tired!" She exclaimed while raising her head, trying to look tough.
Damien chuckled a bit but nodded his head anyway. "Alright, since the strongest wolf in the world can fly for so long, I don't need to be worried."
Seeing that Long Chen had also mounted his beast once more, Damien gave the okay and they once again set off flying.
***
Meanwhile, Rose and Elena also arrived at their destination.
The Yulong province was closer to the eastern coast of the Central Continent, under the jurisdiction of the Long Clan. However, the Long Clan controlled too much area to personally oversee every province, so they delegated the duty to their subordinate clans.
As for this region, it was managed by the Wang Clan.
The Yulong province itself was nothing special, with similar scenery to the other areas around it. The eastern region of the continent was mostly plains and forests, which was why it was plagued by beast tides more often than others.
The current tide was centered around Jia City, near the edges of the province. This city directly bordered one of the massive forests, which made it something akin to a first stronghold against the constant tides that would exit.
As for the source of the tides, nobody was able to figure it out. Many 3rd class beasts would partake in the stampede, making it obvious that those in the same class would die if they tried to investigate.
And this notion was further solidified by the fact that any 3rd class individual who entered the forest always failed to return.
As for 4th class beings, they had bigger priorities than things like this. Beast tides were too common and had a various number of factors that could trigger them, so it was pointless to investigate any specific area.
Rose and Elena materialized outside the gates of Jia City with the help of their fairy companion, Día, and directly entered its walls.
With their robes as Supreme Fairy Paradise disciples, no other identification was needed. After all, impersonating one of the 5 major sects was nothing more than courting death.
Once they entered the city, however, the first thing that greeted them was the smell of blood. It was thicker and more pungent than anywhere else they'd been but a single place, the Niflheim research center.
Actually, the feeling of familiarity between these two places didn't end there. The cultivators that tended to their wounds on the sides of the roads had clear indications of corrosion on their skin, and the smell of blood slowly became infected with something else as well.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Elena said as she warily glanced around. This mission might have been classified as a major one, but this sort of environment wasn't something the sect would usually send their disciples into without warning them first.
In fact, even Día looked slightly perturbed. Her nose wrinkled at the smell in the atmosphere and disgust was evident on her face as she glanced around.
Luckily enough, she was small enough to go unnoticed by those around her.
Rose narrowed her eyes as she observed the surroundings. Unlike the other two who simply had a faint feeling, it was different for her.
A cultivator's intuition couldn't be ignored. With the heightening of their league with every rank up, even something like intuition always stemmed from a foundation of immense perception ability.
But nothing was absolute without proof. Proof which presented itself in the form of ethereal strings in Rose's vision.
Red strings were love, blue strings were trust, yellow strings were wariness, and grey strings were neutral. These were the main colors that Rose would see on a day-to-day basis.
But in her vision right now, it was a field of black. Black strings that connected to every wounded cultivator in the vicinity and led to an unknown place.
She hadn't seen these black strings enough to be certain about their purpose, but she had a faint guess.
These black strings…they were death.
