For the next few minutes, Zack looked stunned by the landscape.

Kilometers and kilometers of different shades of grey filled his vision while the dim lights of the embers that were still on broke the monotony of colors.

From time to time, there would be movements among the piles of ash, movements that would be followed by the appearance of some kind of small animal, like mice or rabbits.

"I didn't expect animals to live in a place like this. I mean, it doesn't look like a very prosperous place." Zack was surprised when he saw that there were animals on the plains.

"You wouldn't believe the kind of miracles that those things can accomplish with enough time. If humans' best weapons are our techniques and knowledge, then animals' best weapon is their adaptability to any kind of energy or habitat. It is said that if a region changes and becomes the complete opposite of what it was before, with enough time and generations, the beasts inside it will adapt to match their new habitat." Merlo explained.

After that, the journey continued without much happening for the next few hours, until Zack finally said something.

"This is boring as hell!" Zack began to complain."When we entered these plains, I was amazed by the landscape and all, but after hours of looking at fucking grey hills, it becomes somewhat repetitive. And what is worst is that there are no threats at all; not even a significant magical beast has appeared since we are here."

"Well, for non-cultivators, the ash around here can be pretty dangerous as it can burn their skin pretty badly, and as there aren't many resources, it can become a problem if we run out of provisions, but yes, this is pretty boring. If we weren't prepared for this mission, maybe we would need to pay more attention to some things, but as we are right now, the Cinder Plains are nothing but a colorless meadow." Walt said as he began to laugh.

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"And what about the beasts? Shouldn't any powerful creatures have proclaimed this region as their territory or something? " Zack asked Walt before looking at Merlo, trying to find answers.

"Well, as I said before, animals' best weapon is their capacity to adapt to any kind of environment. Sadly, the Cinder Plains are right now in the middle of the process of becoming an elemental region, so those beasts powerful enough to be a threat to our group are not suited for this kind of environment because they would be too old, so they probably moved to the nearby regions, leaving behind those newborn creatures with a better chance to adapt to the new characteristics of the region." The scholar explained.

"What I'm understanding from this conversation is that these plains are nothing but a pain in the ass. I mean, they are dangerous for those that are weak, but they don't offer any kind of reward or resource for those strong enough to explore them, right?" Zack was disappointed.

"Basically, yes. We can only pray that when the transition ends, something interesting will appear here." Merlo said while sighing.

While there wasn't much to do, and while it wasn't his turn to stay on watch, Zack began to cultivate to not waste his time.

The keys to cultivation were perseverance and constancy, so it was important to use any free time to advance with one's cultivator. This was even truer for Zack, as since he had received the message from Heaven, he had increased his cultivation speed by a large margin.

Like that, the group continued through the plains for hours, only stopping when it was getting dark so they could set up a little camp.

As soon as Zack got out of the wagon, he realized that the surroundings had changed. Even though there was still some grey around, it was not even close to how much it was before. Now, the ash has mixed with yellow and orange sand, creating a strange palette of colors.

Zack looked over the horizon.

Giant dunes that shone with the last rays of light of the day stretched as far as the eye could see. From time to time, something perturbs the smooth surface of the sand by moving just below it.

"Beautiful, right?" Walt asked when he saw Zack looking at the dunes.

"It looks enormous," Zack said.

"It may look enormous, but the truth is that it is even bigger than it looks like, so don't you worry, you will have time to get bored again when we get in it," Walt said as he patted Zack's back.

After that, they finished preparing the camp, and after having dinner, they went to sleep.

No one wanted to be tired the next day. If everything went as it should go, in a few days they would arrive at the center of the Yanan Desert.