Lind was happy to note he was able to overcome the discomfort of teleportation after 3 experiences. He also suspected the distance covered was part of the issue but he was not in any hurry to test that theory, ever.
Blinking his eyes, Lind was unsure what he was looking at. Normally, Qi was like snowflakes carried on the wind. Some areas had more of one kind of element than another or varying strength, but a gentle storm at all times. Now, Lind saw streams of highly concentrated Qi. Its quality was far above normal background levels he was used to.
The flash of pale crimson compared to vivid blood colored fire Qi was a good example. He also saw distortions in all directions of the half forest and half plains in front of him. He suspected these were the centers of power for the Ruins. His research had been mostly full of speculation on what a Ruin can do to an area it 'falls' into. Lind now understood what that phrase meant.
His Eyes revealed the natural world he was used to but there were massive changes anywhere near the distortions. The Ruin inserted itself and affected the surrounding area probably like contamination from a pollution dump can drastically alter how an area started out as. Beasts, plants, and probably people, would be affected by this.
The story went that before the Lotus Empire became a fairly prominent power of its own, a massive distortion had opened up the sky and Qi had skyrocketed for over a week. Once it was done, a massive area of land had been transformed. This was a very rare occurrence according to comparison made in the materials Lind could read through.
Normally a Ruin would only materialize after signs preceded it and at most occupy the size of a moderate mountain alone, not a huge area. No one knew what caused the difference, but Lind knew that the Lotus Empire was a relatively low power in the Darkmoor Kingdom. It took centuries to nurture a proper World Realm Gold Tier and most could not break through to Diamond after that.
Based on the short time with Solon, he did not see World Realms as anything worth deifying. Lind realized the Divine Sword Sect must be capable of reaching the Sky Realm consistently. Considering how he treated Shoti, the Heavenly Maiden Sect must be similar and more given the power they demonstrated against the Blood Empire in Solon's lessons.
"No time to waste!" Lind dusted himself down and picked a random direction. His Soul Eyes may have revealed the unusual nature of this place, but he needed to get closer to see what he could make of the Ruins. Lind had a simple dagger in his bags for fighting, but he was more confident in his fists at this time.
He saw a few clusters of elements that revealed beasts running for cover. Lind quickly ascertained they were barely in Body Refining Realm, but the real dangers were likely in the areas all would be moving towards. His years in hunting the Southern Wilds near the Frey Clan were letting Lind feel in his element. He was the lowest at tier 4 for certain, thus Lind could not waste this chance.
It was a few hours before he finally approached the nearest distortion. Lind found he could not see into it at all and only saw massive waves of Qi flowing at a higher quality than anything he had ever seen. What cultivation realm was this Qi from?
The formation barrier around this area was likely Sky Realm compared to the few World Realm effects Lind had seen, but these distortions made that scary barrier seem like it was a paltry thing. What was beyond Sky Realm?
"I don't know enough. Teylin always says with great risk can come great reward." Lind took a deep breath before taking a step forward into the distortion. A feeling of dislocation between what had entered was far away as what had yet to join it was in another world away. His lungs strained and his dantain suddenly was desperate for Qi that was being sucked from his body.
As quickly as the feeling assaulted him, it ended as Lind felt the temperature spike. Blinking, Lind circulated the Qi and felt better than he had ever felt in his life. A barren rock filled desert was before Lind. He looked behind him and was stunned to clearly see the very partial forest plain he had just been in only a step away.
"How does this work?" It was not a formation, but it had to be an effect of something constructed by Qi. Were the distortions not simply a sign of an active Ruin but a piece of wherever the Ruin came from? Lind was full of questions, but standing there would not solve them. Lind loosened his robes a bit to allow a draft and pulled the hood over his head.
He hoped heading towards the center would lead to whatever made this place what it was. It was damned odd to see what could be a massive boulder suddenly be cut off by the top of the distortion. Lind suddenly realized the sun was in a different position from when he was in the greenery earlier. Was this a different world at the same time it was here?
Lind was lucky, though. He had memories of his old life when he had a bad trip to Las Vegas. His car had broken down due to overheating and his old coworker taught him how to survive. They had walked for most of the day before a gas station became their salvation, but they had not been too bad. The only difference was Lind could use his Qi to create water to keep himself satiated.
There was a severe depletion of water Qi, but Lind could still use it. The quality was far, far higher than anywhere he had ever been, even the Inner District. Where was this Ruin from? Could the Floating Isles be the source of the Ruins?
Lind kept getting distracted by his thoughts, but he checked the position of the sun and used a near and far boulder to keep himself on track. He was glad it was not like the images Lind had of the Sahara Desert from Earth. There was nothing obvious to his Eyes to follow through the Qi, so Lind just plodded along on his chosen course. He was glad that he could always fall back to the forest to escape the extreme heat if needed.
The day waned outside but Lind saw a few hours of sunlight remained inside this strange distorted desert. It was strange to clearly see both the stars and a sun in the sky at the same time. Lind was about to find a place to set up camp when the ground shifted in an unnatural way to his far left.
He instantly strained his Soul Eyes and saw a massive spike in the flow of earth Qi. There was a large void between the surface and the Qi. Lind quickly chose the largest boulder and bolted to it. Wind flowed on his hands as he used earth to solidify his footsteps to increase his speed. The sand resisted his attempts to control it, but using resonance with his body and the sand had better results.
Lind whipped up the boulder as the sand surface exploded outward. An ear piercing screech made his brain feel like it was melting until Lind regulated his Qi to protect himself. Through the drifting cloud, Lind saw a massive form like nothing he had ever encountered or heard about.
It was nearly black in color for its skin, but there was no sign of eyes anywhere, just relatively small feelers all over it but LInd was sure they would be at least as big as he was. A massive maw opened as the narrowed end peeled open like a squid's tentacles. Razor sharp teeth like protrusions lined the inside each tendril, but they flexed visibly.
"What the Hell?!" Lind was shocked by the massive creature. Earth Qi went wild in the air as it made the very stone beneath his body vibrate by its screech alone. The pressure was insane but Lind could barely tolerate it so long as he circulated his Qi.
The beast was swiveling around and Lind held absolutely still. He had no foundation that it was important, but the lack of eyes made it likely. His worry was the factor of Qi. If the creature hunted by Qi, then Lind could be doing a rave on the stone and it would not matter. Even so, he hoped this was enough. If this creature was in the high World Realm, it would also be intelligent. How intelligent was unknown, but it was clearly trying to goad Lind into giving himself away.
The mouth closed and the wurm settled back on the sand. Lind felt his breath freeze in his lungs as silence returned to the world. The last of the sand drifted down everywhere, including Lind, but he did not react to the itch caused by the sand entering his robes and boots. His life was going to be decided in a few moments.
A grumble came from the wurm before it suddenly turned sharply away from Lind. It screeched once more before diving into the sand as if it was water. The flow of its massive body stayed above ground until it finally dove beneath the dunes. Lind held his breath a few more moments before his body began to shake.
The terror of those few near death moments finally settled into his mind and Lind had to calm his raging heart. Air never tasted so sweet to Lind. It was not too long after, though, that screams filled the air that were very human.
Lind had not even had time to confirm it was the same direction the wurm went before the screams ended. Another round of shaking came over Lind. No one had come, his Eyes told him that much. Death hung over them all here. Cultivation was not merciful and it was not for the faint of heart. The Lotus Academy was not looking to nurture scholars, but future pillars of their powers.
"Move, damn it. Move now!" Lind focused and slowly got off the stone. He carefully scanned all around him with his Soul Eyes but no other voids were present. He set out again on his course with a slight change to avoid the likely carnage awaiting at the place that wurm went. He also realized other people had entered this distortion from other directions.
Lind found a gathering of stones to make a camp. There would be no fire, but he collected some loose pebbles and placed them in a circle. He then channeled his fire into the circle until they glowed like molten steel. It was almost too hot to be near, but it was perfect as the temperatures began to drop when the sun set.
He began to temper his elements. This environment was imbalanced but it had all 6 elements in a higher quality. Unlike with his cultivation, any chance to temper was needed. His body was practically screaming at him to let his cultivation rise as well, but Lind wanted to increase to the peak of tier 5 in his elements before increasing his cultivation.
Element Qi flowed through his meridians and purified him like never before, but even so, all Lind could do was channel the 1st tier techniques to increase the proficiency of his elements. The contradiction of being an innate cultivator vs elemental tempering in the Soul Realm made him yearn for a realm where his cultivation and elements were a single step.
The night passed but was full of disturbing sounds. More screeches of the wurm could be heard, more than one in fact, but also other sounds Lind could not place to a beast. The screams of men sometimes were cut short or changed into cheers of victory. Lind was glad it was not one sided but worried when he would encounter anyone.
They felt confident traveling at night, while Lind took the time to cultivate. He never let his senses completely shut out the world, but no one came near him. The glow of rocks were not visible from the surroundings unless one came from the same direction as Lind had. Unless someone also had Soul Eyes, there was no way to know superheated stone was in the area.
Lind greeted the first sunrise with joy, but the temperature remained frigid until the desert sun arose as well. Lind flashed to a popular franchise of movies with 2 suns and a desert but he doubted his fate would be as exciting as those characters.
He packed up his few belongings and made out to continue his journey, but he began to hear shouts from not too far in front of him. It was not beasts but humans, or at least those that came with him to this place.
"Get her! We have to take her!" Lind's dark green eyes went cold the instant those words were made out and he quickly moved towards them. He had not lost his rationality, but his anger was roused and waiting for a chance to strike out at whoever said such words.