Featherman Ninety-Two rolled across the sand while blood poured from his mouth like a red waterfall. Fang Tian watched him with amusement for a short moment before activating Recovery Willow Gu together with Wood Origin Gu, completely healing his injuries.
His white wings straightened again, becoming strong as the white feathers gradually regrew, shining with cleanliness.
Ninety-Two stopped rolling in the sand. He braced one arm against the ground, raised his head, and looked at Fang Tian in shock.
"You're Rank Five?!"
"Huh? What?"
Fang Tian was startled. He immediately sent his consciousness into his aperture, where threads of purple crystal primeval essence were slowly refilling it.
Thoughts exploded and collided rapidly in Fang Tian's mind as he tried to figure out the reason. But by then Ninety-Two had already stood up and taken several steps away from him, looking at him cautiously.
"Were you hiding your cultivation level on purpose? What are your intentions?!"
Ninety-Two asked cautiously while staring at the distracted Fang Tian.
Fang Tian snapped out of his deep thoughts and met Ninety-Two's gaze.
"Don't misunderstand. I wasn't hiding my cultivation. It was simply suppressed, so I couldn't display it fully."
"Did you come from the Southern Border?"
"Yes. That's why you encountered me near the regional wall, and it's also why my cultivation was suppressed. But now I'm no longer suppressed… I think I know why."
Featherman Ninety-Two was intelligent. From a few words, he understood the reason why Fang Tian's cultivation had been suppressed.
But that hardly mattered now. With Rank Five mid-stage cultivation, Fang Tian could kill Ninety-Two easily if he decided to cause trouble.
"This place is strange. That golden tornado threw us here. Also, my cultivation has recovered and my Gu worms are no longer suppressed… which means we're not in the Five Regions!"
Ninety-Two was stunned. He looked at Fang Tian as if he had gone mad and spoke in a frightened voice.
"We're not in the Five Regions?! Then how are we still alive?! How can you even conclude that without sufficient evidence?!"
"Calm down first, then I'll explain the reasons."
Ninety-Two calmed himself, though his hands and wings still trembled from fear.
Fang Tian shook his head and looked up at the green sky, speaking with concern.
"Yes… I'm afraid we are not in the Five Regions. The first reason is that my cultivation has returned. If we were in the Southern Border, that would make sense. But the problem is that your cultivation isn't suppressed either, which means we're not in the Southern Border.
If we were in any other region, both of us would be suppressed by that region's regional wall—but that didn't happen either.
That means we are either inside a Blessed Land, which is impossible because the sky here is far too vast. Blessed Lands do not have such large skies—only Grotto-Heavens do."
"But Grotto-Heavens exist either in the White Heaven or the Black Heaven, and they do not appear on the ground. That raises another question—how could we reach White Heaven or Black Heaven? There is no Heaven Ascension Plain in the Western Desert.
That leaves only one possibility…
We are inside a Fragment World."
Featherman Ninety-Two froze in place. His face became blank, as if he had completely lost hope of survival.
Of course he would.
There was a mad human standing in front of him muttering about things like Blessed Lands, Grotto-Heavens, Five Regions, White Heaven, Black Heaven, and Fragment Worlds.
What did any of that even mean?
"Am I going to die here with a crazy human?… Well, at least it's better than dying for failing to guard the caravan."
Ninety-Two sighed in exhaustion. The sound caught Fang Tian's attention, pulling him away from examining the sky.
"Come on, don't be so depressed, Ninety-Two. Leaving this place is indeed extremely difficult, but it's not impossible. Just give me one year and I'll get us out of here."
"Idiot! What's depressing is being stuck with a crazy human muttering about things like fragment worlds and grotto-heavens!"
Fang Tian's expression turned strange before realization struck him.
He scolded himself inwardly for forgetting that Ninety-Two was merely a mortal Featherman, someone far inferior to a human Gu Master in knowledge.
"Ordinary Gu Masters don't know the knowledge of Immortal Gu Masters—things like Fragment Worlds, Blessed Lands, or Grotto-Heavens… let alone a slave Featherman Gu Master belonging to the Wan clan who only leads small caravans that barely matter to them.
Sigh… after isolating myself for three years inside the Old Strength Path Blessed Land, I've lost some of my caution. I must remember this lesson and be more careful in the future."
Within those few seconds, Fang Tian's expression shifted from realization, to understanding, then to calmness.
All in all, he had lived in this world for about twenty-two or twenty-three years, but he was still growing and learning. He was not yet a cunning old fox—just a young fox cub learning to become one.
"Shao Mu… is that even your real name?"
Ninety-Two asked suspiciously. From what Fang Tian had shown, he could tell that the man before him held many secrets, which made him feel uneasy.
"Of course it is! Now come on—let's move and explore the surroundings. I can scan several kilometers around us, but this world is enormous. We'll need to move to explore it fully.
Also, I want to know how the land beneath us is still floating."
The land beneath them extended dozens of meters wide, completely covered with yellow sand.
This was not strange to Fang Tian—until he used investigative Gu worms to examine the surroundings.
Only then did he realize something shocking.
The land beneath them was nothing more than a lone rocky island floating in the vast green sky.
He was greatly shocked, but he quickly regained his composure and began thinking rapidly.
Brilliant thoughts collided in his mind, and after a short time he found the answer he wanted.
"If this truly is a Fragment World formed from a Grotto-Heaven, then it must belong to the Wind Path… or perhaps it swallowed a huge fragment of the Green Heaven to become like this.
If I were a Wind Path Gu Master, this would be a golden opportunity for me."
Fang Tian sighed at his bad luck and walked toward Ninety-Two, who stepped back several paces as he approached.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing. I'm just going to carry you while I fly and explore the surroundings. After all, I'm Rank Five, so my speed definitely surpasses yours."
With Wooden Wings Gu and Wood Origin Gu, Fang Tian could now move extremely fast.
It did not take long for him to begin exploring the surrounding area.
"Fine… but don't do anything disgraceful. I don't trust you, but the circumstances leave me no choice."
Ninety-Two ultimately surrendered to Fang Tian. After all, strength was the only thing that mattered at this moment.
And Fang Tian was far stronger than him.
The difference between Rank Four and Rank Five was an enormous gap. Thus Ninety-Two never even considered resisting.
Even if his life was miserable, he still valued it and wanted to live every moment of it.
Several thick root-like tendrils grabbed Ninety-Two, creating a golden energy field that surrounded and secured him a few meters away from Fang Tian.
Wooden wings sprouted from Fang Tian's back, extending several meters into the air while shining with vibrant vitality.
With a single flap, Fang Tian soared dozens of meters into the air and turned, flying into the vast green sky.
The empty sky stretched hundreds and thousands of kilometers in every direction.
Occasionally, strange sky-dwelling beasts, bizarre plants, and enormous cloud masses of various kinds appeared.
Whenever Fang Tian encountered one of those creatures, he fled in panic and terror.
"Desolate beasts! This sky is filled with desolate beasts and desolate plants… my luck, why are you like this?!"
Fortunately, the desolate beasts did not even notice Fang Tian. To them, he was nothing more than an ant.
Even the aura of his Extreme Physique failed to attract their attention.
Thus, like a tiny insect slipping between giants, Fang Tian moved cautiously through the sky.
"Ah—look at that, Ninety-Two! Do you see it? That's a flying mountain."
"Yes, a flying mountain… but is that water pouring from it? Strange… why does that water smell foul?"
Fang Tian and Ninety-Two looked at a strange mountain with several protrusions and uneven terrain along its body.
Fang Tian tried attacking the mountain using a Rank Three Gu worm, but the only result was a slight tremor on its surface.
"Strange… with the enhancement of Wood Origin Gu and my Boundless Forest Physique, the power should equal a Rank Four attack, yet it only caused a slight tremor?"
Fang Tian flew around the mountain and used Rank Five Gu worms several times before finally realizing what it actually was.
And he wished he hadn't.
"This is a piece of a desolate beast's corpse!
This is a treasure of free immortal materials! My luck… but what killed it? And how am I supposed to cut this mountain apart? Should I use a killer move?
No, no—that would make the desolate beasts and ancient desolate beasts turn me into bloody paste if they sense the dangerous aura of a killer move…
I guess I'll have to cut it slowly."
Fang Tian surrendered to his cautious nature and landed on what turned out to be the thigh of a desolate beast.
He began slowly cutting it using Rank Five Wood Path Gu worms.
The efficiency was terrible. Even though Fang Tian could display tremendous power, he could not cover all aspects using Wood Path alone.
After more than ten hours of processing and cutting, Fang Tian managed to collect only a small portion of the desolate beast's thigh.
Because of this, he reluctantly decided to stop.
"I don't have much time. Wasting it trying to collect such a huge part of a desolate beast without the proper methods or storage techniques is foolish.
After all, this is an immortal material—even a small piece contains numerous Dao marks, and mortal Gu worms can barely store it without collapsing."
Fang Tian sighed in regret, immediately left the area, and continued his exploration.