"Hahaha~ Wahahaha~ I'm out, we're out."
"Husband~ we're out, out."
"We're really out, that's great, that's really great. After being trapped in that hellhole for over 30 years, we're finally out!"
Yang Hong and his wives looked at the endless yellow sand and burst into excited laughter and cheers.
Being sealed and imprisoned was a completely different experience and feeling from voluntarily going into seclusion.
It was common for a high-level cultivator to go into seclusion for a century, but the feeling of being sealed and imprisoned could drive one mad, especially when the seal was draining spiritual energy and suppressing emotions.
In the last six years, Yang Hong had also discovered the malevolence of this seal.
This seal would begin to chant Buddhist scriptures every day after sunset, carrying a strange and persistent power of bewitchment, constantly attempting to convert Yang Hong and the others.
If Yang Hong and the others hadn't had strong willpower and cultivated similar bewitchment techniques, he might have fallen into their trap.
Zhu Yuyan and her seven companions, along with the demon, relied on Yang Hong's dual cultivation and the "Immovable Joyful Buddha" techniques to stabilize their minds.
Now that they had escaped the seal, they were naturally overjoyed.
"Husband, can Li Fangmao and Tao Caifang adjust the spiritual plant teleportation array? We don't want those bald donkeys from the Buddhist sects to chase after us."
After venting their joy, Zhu Yuyan calmed down and asked Yang Hong nervously.
"Of course!
Before activating this teleportation, I had already roughly calculated it and taught them the preliminary adjustment plan. All they need to do is push a few flowerbeds to ensure the teleportation direction is not towards us."
"The teleportation array is too magical. We've only learned the superficial aspects in six years, let alone setting it up. Even activating it, we've only mastered the basics."
"It's already good. We'll learn the rest slowly."
Yang Hong comforted Zhu Yuyan and then returned to the main topic.
"Alright, let's split up for now and spread out to search for any signs of human habitation nearby, so we can determine our current location."
"Right~ Right~ First, let's determine our location. It would be awkward if we teleported to the bald donkeys' base camp."
"Over here~ Over here~~"
Including the nine-colored peony Mu Xiuhui, the eight of them and the demon quickly scattered, agreeing to regroup in three hours.
Although Yang Hong's cultivation was the lowest, his divine sense was the strongest, and he quickly returned to the original spot.
The others all returned after three hours, with rather grim expressions.
"Husband, I traveled tens of thousands of miles in my direction, and it was all yellow sand. Apart from a few scattered low-level demonic beasts, there were no people."
"My direction is even worse. Apart from a few scorpions, there were no other creatures."
"That's nothing compared to my direction. Besides yellow sand, there's only yellow sand here."
"It's the same here."
The reports from Zhu Yuyan and the others were similar, indicating that this desert was a desolate and dry place with little life.
After speaking, they looked at Yang Hong with anticipation.
There was no anxiety or disappointment. They had already left that disgusting seal, and the vastness of the world was the best environment for cultivators like them.
So what if it was a desert? A group of cultivators skilled in spiritual plant arts had even cultivated a forest on a snow-capped mountain at minus 250 degrees Celsius. They could turn a small desert into an oasis in minutes.
"About eighty thousand li to the east, there's a city backed by a large mountain. Let's go there to reside temporarily."
Seeing the expectant looks on their faces, Yang Hong revealed his discovery.
Zhu Yuyan and the others had all scouted in the original eastern direction to stay away from any potential monks from Budu Temple, while Yang Hong wanted to see how far they were from the Great Sui Dynasty.
Therefore, he chose to head east.
"Then let's go. It's been a long time since I've seen people. I want to go to the market and wander around."
"Mmm~ Mmm~ I want to live in a mortal city for a while and soak up some human atmosphere."
"I want to buy lots and lots of clothes, and lots and lots of good food."
Hearing Yang Hong say there was a city, the women became excited.
"Let's go~"
Yang Hong also smiled. Although he was a homebody by nature, he wasn't incapable of meeting people, nor did he not want to meet people.
Eighty thousand li was not a great distance for those at the sixth stage of Nascent Soul realm. With Yang Hong's divine sense as a guide and using the combined spellcasting techniques he had developed, an earth escape spell could cover ten thousand li.
Eight earth escapes later, they arrived before a stretch of desert.
Grayish-yellow sand, reddish gravel, and iron-gray buildings formed a vast desert.
It was desolate and rugged, but lacked vitality.
It was already afternoon. People dressed in earth-yellow or gray-yellow clothes were moving about on the desert, each carrying an iron bucket and using a pair of tongs to search for something on the ground.
The city Yang Hong mentioned was still three thousand li behind this desert.
Looking east from the desert, there was a black line connecting the sky and the earth.
Seeing this black line, Yang Hong knew their current location.
The Purple Kun Mountain Range, the dividing line between Dongli Prefecture and Zhongshen Prefecture, stretching for hundreds of millions of li from north to south, a million li wide from east to west, and thirty thousand zhang high, which was nearly 100,000 meters tall!
At this height, one could reach the moon in his previous life.
But on the Taiyuan Continent, it was a real large mountain range, and not even the highest one.
Due to the barrier of the Purple Kun Mountain Range, the western side received very little rainfall, creating another dividing line between Dongli Prefecture and Zhongshen Prefecture: the Lihuo Desert, several hundred million li wide.
Yang Hong and the others were currently at the foot of the Purple Kun Mountain Range, in the Gobi Desert, before entering the Lihuo Desert.
"Husband, why are we stopping here?"
After waiting for a few minutes and seeing Yang Hong not preparing for another earth escape, Zhu Yuyan asked strangely.
"This is it. I plan to live in this desert."
"The desert? We're going to live here? Those people are all mortals!"
Hearing Yang Hong's answer, Li Lizhi pointed at the ordinary people stooping and picking things up in the distance and asked in disbelief.
"Yes, right here."
Yang Hong nodded and confirmed with certainty.
"But, won't it be too conspicuous for us to live here? We are cultivators, and they are just ordinary people. If we live here, we'll be exposed very quickly.
Aren't we supposed to be lying low and avoiding the Buddhist sects?"
Zhu Yuyan also asked, puzzled.
"Hehe~ Although there's a saying that a great hermit hides in the city, and a lesser hermit hides in the wilderness, in the cultivation world, great hermits hide in the wilderness.
We're not going to be a great hermit, nor a lesser hermit."
"But, once we disappear, the Buddhist sects will surely search the entire world."
Having been sealed for over 30 years, Zhu Yuyan and the others had all figured out that the Buddhist sects definitely valued Yang Hong highly. Moreover, due to karmic ties, they couldn't kill them, so sealing them was the best option.
"So, we will hide in plain sight."
"What do you mean by that?"
"We will enter this desert as rogue cultivators, helping those mortals survive and develop, but without being too out of line, living like ordinary rogue cultivators.
This way, even if someone, or a monk, comes to check, they won't pay much attention to us."
"But~~~"
"Cultivation matters are simple. I will teach you the new breathing and body-tempering techniques."
Yang Hong naturally understood Zhu Yuyan's concerns.
As he spoke, his cultivation began to rapidly decline, only stopping at the third level of Qi Condensation. At the same time, his appearance also became much more ordinary.
Seeing Yang Hong's cultivation drop seamlessly, Zhu Yuyan's eyes lit up, and she understood Yang Hong's intentions.