After leaving the building, Lin Mu and Shu Shaoxing went to a bank as they were suggested.
While Lin Mu didn't really need to store funds in it, he reckoned it would still be better to use it since it would make transactions seem normal. It would also avoid others thinking that he had a lot of wealth on it which would just mean less trouble for him.
Plus, he needed to bind it to his blood anyway and that could only be done at the bank. And on the way to there, Shu Shaoxing and him spoke.
"Are you really looking to get materials for body cultivation?" Shu Shaoxing questioned.
"Yes, I do. I also need some Body cultivation techniques." Lin Mu answered.
"Hmm… then the Holy Topaz Empire is indeed you best bet." Shu Shaoxing replied.
"You spoke something about the Desolate Blood Battlefield and the Land of Blood Strewn plains, can you tell me more?" Lin Mu asked.
"Sure, it's nothing secret anyways." Shu Shaoxing nodded his head. "Immortal Juo suggested that you go to the Land of Blood Strewn Plains, right?"
"He did yeah. Is it something dangerous?" Lin Mu asked.
"Very. As far as I know, that place is located within the Desolate Blood Battlefield. It's a legendary battlefield from ancient times where the fate of the entire Rust Sky world was decided." Shu Shaoxing replied.
"Fate of the Rust Sky world? Was it in danger?" Lin Mu was intrigued, wondering if it was something similar to to the Xiaofan world. "Was someone invading the world?"
"Invader? If it was an invader, it would be been better. No… it was this world's own powers that were battling for supremacy. Of course, at that time, the current powers didn't exactly exist. Only the Holy Topaz empire did… well, it was the Topaz Dynasty at that time." Shu Shaoxing answered.
"So what happened?" Lin Mu asked for more details.
"Back then, this world was splintered into many small powers. Many immortals rose and fell and conflicts were common. Wars happened every year and millions of lives were lost. But in all this, there were several experts that were getting stronger.
And one such expert had supposedly reached the peak. The name and most of the details of this expert have long since been erased from the annals of time, but it is said that they were the first to have reached the Transcendent Immortal realm in the Rust Sky world.
After reaching that though, they were stuck at a bottleneck. They wanted to go further but could not.
Thousands of years of failure had made them desperate, and they resorted to dark means. In the end they went mad and slaughtered countless cultivators. This forced the other powers of the Rust Sky world to band together against them.
The struggle lasted a long time and the final battle was fought on the region which is now known as the Desolate Blood Battlefield.
In that battle, most of the powers fell and a few rose. The Topaz Dynasty was one such power and one of the biggest gainers, too." Shu Shaoxing revealed.
Lin Mu furrowed his brows, finding it to be a lot more severe than the situation of the Xiaofan world. The duration of conflict in the Rust Sky world was far too long compared to his home world.
"What about the other powers like the Huiqing Empire and the Dao wind empire?" Lin Mu asked next.
"Unlike the Topaz Dynasty, they were simply minor powers of that time. Topaz Dynasty could be considered the 'orthodox' power of that time and was an established kingdom long before the era of wars.
Huiqing Empire and Dao Wind empire actually came into existence after the final battle. Most of the major powers had suffered great losses in it and this gave an opportunity for the smaller powers to rise up.
The Huiqing Empire and the Dao Wind Empire did exactly this, becoming the empires of current times." Shu Shaoxing answered.
"I see… and what about the Eight Kingdom alliance?" Lin Mu inquired.
"They… have always been a mixed existence. They are the minor powers who could never stay in unity for long enough to become an empire and no single power could dominate the region either. Thus, they could only stay as an alliance." Shu Shaoxing replied.
"No wonder…" Lin Mu now understood.
He also reckoned that the Great Ocean Hippocampus might have contributed to their instability.
"So then, where is the Desolate Blood Battlefield?" Lin Mu questioned. "Is it in the southern region of the Holy Topaz Empire?"
"Well… not exactly." Shu Shaoxing rubbed his head.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Lin Mu asked.
"You see, the Desolate Blood Battlefield isn't on the Holy Topaz Empire, or even on the Rust Sky world technically." Shu Shaoxing said, much to Lin Mu's surprise.
"Then where is it?" Lin Mu was confused.
"It's actually on an independent plane." Shu Shaoxing answered.
"What?! An independent plane?" Lin Mu said with surprise.
"Yes. Though it is a stable anchored independent plane." Shu Shaoxing added.
Lin Mu knew about such independent planes. They were planes that had fixed entrances and were open all the time. They weren't like the sacred lands or secret grottos of the sects either, which only opened during certain times.
The Kong Plane was somewhat similar to this, but did not have a fixed entrance before it was bound to Lin Mu.
"If you want to go to the Desolate Blood Battlefield, you have to go south, but not that far from here. Its entrance is located merely six hundred kilometers from here, at a place called as the Broken Sword ridge." Shu Shaoxing revealed.
Lin Mu noted in his mind and decided to look a bit more into it. After all, from what he knew, it would be dangerous and it was best to be prepared.
He talked a bit more about Shu Shaoxing about it, but this was the extent of what he knew about the place. For the rest, Lin Mu would have to look into it himself.
