My Celestial Ascension

Chapter 879: Hexoria City

Before them lay a vast desert, dry and scorching, with sand stretching endlessly in every direction. As far as their eyes could see, there wasn’t a single person in sight—it was a desolate land where no civilization seemed to exist.

The sun was so intense that it turned the desert into an uninhabitable wasteland. Aside from creatures capable of enduring such extreme heat and thriving in harsh conditions, no other living organisms could survive here.

Although Yuan and his wives had not yet fully set foot into the Demonic Continent, they could already feel the terrifying heat radiating from the sun. It was several times stronger than the heat on the Human and Beast Continents.

“Is this really the Demonic Continent? I imagined it to be a creepy place with disgusting monsters crawling everywhere…” Vanessa muttered with a conflicted look on her face.

“It’s just a massive desert with no people in sight… this is completely unexpected,” Anna Grace added, her eyes filled with disbelief.

“Let’s move forward. We will eventually find a settlement somewhere in this desert,” Yuan said calmly, a faint smile on his face.

Everyone nodded at Yuan’s suggestion and continued moving forward. The heat was unbearably intense, especially for Nyx, who was not a cultivator.

Yuan and his wives, however, were not affected by the heat at all. In fact, they felt rather comfortable thanks to their cultivation.

They were also covering their bodies with a thin layer of Qi, forming a protective barrier that not only shielded them from the extreme heat but also filtered the air they breathed.

After traveling for several hours, they finally reached the edge of the desert. The ground gradually became less dry, and a few trees began to appear.

The trees were quite strange—their shapes were twisted unnaturally, with darkened bark as if they had been warped by powerful winds and extreme conditions.

Perhaps the vegetation here had mutated due to the intense heat and dense spiritual energy in the air. Strangely, Yuan couldn’t sense any Mana in the atmosphere at all.

“Everything about this place feels strange… I wonder how the demons manage to live in such a desolate land,” Valeria muttered softly as she continued flying beside Yuan.

“You’re forgetting that demons aren’t the only intelligent beings inhabiting this continent,” Vanessa reminded her with a gentle smile.

“Unfortunately, I have no idea which species’ territory we are currently in,” Vanessa added with a quiet sigh.

More than two hundred years had passed since the war with demonkind ended, and since then, the rest of the world had completely lost contact with the Demonic Continent.

The war had long ended, and the heroes had perished ages ago. With so much time having passed, the Demonic Continent must have changed drastically over the years.

They continued moving forward, searching for a tribe or a city so they could first understand this continent before deciding where to go next.

The climate of the entire continent was extremely strange—the Mana in the air was very low, yet the Spiritual Energy was incredibly dense.

After flying for an hour, Yuan and his wives spotted some strange figures in the distance. When they expanded their Divine Sense to get a clearer view, they were instantly shocked.

There were several skeletons moving in perfect coordination, weapons and shields in their hands. Their movements were stiff and mechanical, like puppets with no consciousness of their own, acting purely on instinct.

Their white bony structures reflected the scorching sunlight from miles away, with no trees around to conceal them, making them impossible to miss. Yuan and the others instantly spotted them.

“T-Those are undead… How is this possible? I thought all the undead had perished in the war… how could they still exist?” Vanessa muttered in a low voice, covering her mouth as her eyes widened in disbelief.

“Undead? I’ve read about them in books… but I never expected to see such creatures with my own eyes,” Lily added with a dazed expression on her face.

“Should we kill those disgusting creatures?” Xi Meili asked with an excited smile on her face.

Yuan shook his head and said, “No need. Let’s keep moving forward. We don’t know anything about this place yet. Our priority is to find a city or a settlement as soon as possible.”

After traveling for quite some time, Yuan and his wives arrived at an extremely eerie place. The air was thick with the stench of decay.

Although they filtered the air with their Qi and were unaffected by the smell, they could still clearly sense the rot lingering in the atmosphere.

Before them were hundreds of thousands of undead soldiers scattered across the land. Some were training, while others stood guard, watching over the vast area.

“It seems we’ve entered the territory of the undead… and there are so many of them!” Rose exclaimed with disbelief written all over her face.

“Yuan, I don’t feel comfortable in this place… let’s leave immediately!” Ava said nervously as she looked at the tens of thousands of moving skeletons below.

Meanwhile, deep inside an underground chamber, a fearsome skeleton suddenly lifted his head, staring toward the ceiling as blue light flickered within his empty eye sockets.

He wore heavy golden armor covered in countless battle scars. A majestic crimson cape flowed behind him, and an overwhelming aura radiated from his skeletal body.

Several other skeletons stood inside the chamber as well, each one emitting a powerful and oppressive presence.

“Hmmm… I wonder how long it has been since someone from the other continents last stepped into our domain,” the skeleton in golden armor muttered in a deep, distant voice.

“More than two hundred years have passed, my Lord… Ever since the war ended, we have lost all connection with the rest of the world,” another skeleton replied respectfully.

“But why do you ask, my Lord?” another skeleton spoke curiously, though he had no face to show any expression.

“I was merely curious… there’s no need to concern yourself,” the skeleton in golden armor replied calmly after a brief pause.

’More than two hundred years have passed… and now we suddenly have visitors from beyond our continent…’ he thought inwardly, stroking his sharp bony chin.

’Well… it seems something interesting is about to unfold. I wonder if the Holy Church still exists… and the Heroes…’ he mused inwardly as a faint glow flashed within his eye sockets.

’Those people… whoever they are, they are incredibly powerful. I can feel their gazes even as I observe them,’ he continued silently.

’Thankfully, they don’t appear hostile toward my territory… It’s best that I don’t provoke them without reason,’ his thoughts ended as his gaze turned serious.

—

After traveling for hours, Yuan and his wives finally discovered signs of living people a few kilometers ahead. It was a massive city.

Without wasting a single second, they immediately headed toward the city. After all, they were finally about to meet living people after arriving on the Demonic Continent.

It took only a few moments for them to reach the enormous city gates. However, a long line of people was already waiting at the entrance.

“Should we sneak inside or stand in line?” Julie asked with an excited sparkle in her eyes as she glanced at Yuan.

“We don’t want to cause unnecessary trouble later. It’s best to enter through the front gate,” Yuan replied as he began descending toward the ground.

“I completely agree,” Valeria nodded as she followed him down.

The others also descended, all of them eager to see what kind of people lived in this city.

They soon joined the line, and the people already waiting couldn’t help but turn their heads toward Yuan and his wives.

Both the city guards and the people in line shared one common feature that Yuan and his wives lacked.

They all had dark skin, slightly pointed ears, and two small horns protruding from their foreheads—features none of Yuan’s group possessed.

Although Xi Meili and Vrasha had horns, theirs were entirely different. And while Sylvia’s skin tone was somewhat similar, her overall appearance was clearly not the same.

“W-Who are those strange people?”

“They don’t look like anyone from our continent at all!”

“Just who are they… and why did they come here?!”

The whispers near the city gate quickly spread as countless eyes turned toward Yuan and his wives, filled with suspicion and curiosity.

However, Yuan and his wives did not react. They remained calm throughout the entire situation, ignoring the people and their nonchalant whispers.

When it was finally Yuan and his wives’ turn to enter the city, the guard immediately stopped them, as their appearances were far too suspicious.

“Who are you people? Why haven’t I seen or even heard of your races before? Identify yourselves before we let you pass,” one of the guards spoke in an arrogant voice, looking at Yuan and his wives with sharp suspicion in his eyes.

“I’m Yuan, and these are my women. It’s our first time leaving our home, so we’re a bit confused about pretty much everything,” Yuan replied, acting friendly toward the guards, faking a confused expression.

The guard rolled his eyes and said, “Don’t try to act clueless. Tell us where you came from. For all we know, you might be spies sent by the werewolf race. Those filthy dogs!”

“I get that we look strange, but I can assure you we’re not spies. We just came from a very backward place, that’s all,” Valeria spoke with a confident smile on her face.

“And we really don’t know where we currently are. Would you mind enlightening us a little?” Sylvia added, stepping closer to Yuan with a polite smile.

“How strange… I’ve never met people like you in my entire life. So clueless…” one of the guards muttered in disbelief.

“Just how the hell did you all manage to survive this long? It doesn’t make any sense…” another muttered, the same disbelief on his face.

“Well, since you seem to know nothing about this place, I’ll explain it to you,” one of the guards said after letting out a heavy sigh.

“This is Hexoria City, one of the four great cities ruled by the Supreme One—our lord, the Great Demon Emperor, Zar’Khaelis!”

The guard spoke the name with deep reverence, a wide grin forming on his face as he proudly uttered the title of his Emperor.

“The entry fee is twenty-three gold coins in total, and it’s non-negotiable,” the guard informed Yuan with a serious expression.

Yuan immediately retrieved thirty gold coins from his system storage and handed them to the guards with a smile on his face.

“Keep the rest and enjoy a drink,” Yuan said as he passed through the city gate with his wives.