As Xu Qing watched the Captain drop into the chasm, his words also fell, except not into the chasm, but rather, into Xu Qing’s heart.

This new information was very astonishing. In the past, Xu Qing’s understanding of forbidden regions came mostly from the jungle outside the scavenger basecamp where he’d lived. All he knew was that the deeper in you went, the more sinister danger there was.

He had heard about Forbidden by the Phoenix on the other side of the continent, but had been under the impression the only difference was that it was larger, and the mutant beasts and grues inside were stronger.

Now he realized that understanding was mistaken, and what he knew before was just the tip of the iceberg. The world was huge, and humans were just a small part of it. And the larger part was made up of nonhumans and numerous forbidden regions. Above the forbidden regions were the forbidden grounds, which were on a completely different level, and could produce new species of intelligent life. And then... the Captain mentioned god domains, but offered no explanation about them.

Regardless,...