Lei Yu’s speed far surpassed the magical artifacts of the four cultivators. Although it took off later, it overtook them in the blink of an eye and landed directly ahead.
Seeing this scene, the four cultivators immediately realized that there was a Foundation Establishment cultivator hidden within the caravan. However, they had no time to worry about this now and desperately urged their artifacts forward, fearing they would fall behind.
At the same time, five pitch-black whirlwinds suddenly appeared in the sky behind them.
The black tornadoes lifted the yellow sand from the ground, and amidst the flying sand, bolts of lightning fell from the dark clouds, illuminating the entire area with blinding light in an instant.
As Yuan Ming sped forward, he glanced back hurriedly and saw endless electric arcs dancing within the tornadoes, like frenzied mad dogs chasing some unknown prey.
At this moment, Hu Ji, who was being carried by Yuan Ming, shouted loudly, “Immortal Master, fly towards Quicksand City! Only the underground formation there can resist this!”
“Boom!”
The moment Yuan Ming heard the thunder, he felt a strong dizziness and pain, as if someone was hammering his soul with a giant mallet.
Lei Yu beneath him let out a wail and plummeted straight to the ground.
However, perhaps due to the strength of Yuan Ming’s soul, he quickly recovered from the dizziness.
But by then, he had already fallen off Lei Yu’s back and was plummeting towards the ground. He didn’t dare delay and quickly took out his jade shuttle. As he flew up, he managed to save both Hu Ji and Lei Yu before they hit the ground.
Yuan Ming, feeling a bit distressed, placed the still-dizzy Lei Yu into his spirit beast bag and continued to control the flying shuttle forward. He glanced back again and saw that the four Qi refining cultivators who had been following him were nowhere to be seen.
The five tornadoes, however, continued to chase him relentlessly. The flashing and leaping electric arcs seemed to outline the head of a giant beast, silently roaring at Yuan Ming.
Meanwhile, the thunder roared like war drums, each clap louder than the last. Yet, for some reason, the thunder now seemed to lack its previous power, and it no longer harmed Yuan Ming’s soul.
However, this did not mean Yuan Ming was out of danger. The raging tornadoes pursued him closely, and the bone-chilling cold pierced his spine.
“Crack!”
Suddenly, Yuan Ming heard the sound of ice crystals shattering. He looked down in horror to find a wisp of frost-like black mist creeping up the tail of his jade shuttle. The mist slowly spread towards Yuan Ming’s feet, like the hand of a soul reaper reaching for his body.
But in the next moment, the wind behind Yuan Ming abruptly stopped, and the black mist on the jade shuttle dissipated. Everything in the sky returned to normal, as if the previous events were just a nightmare.
When Yuan Ming turned to look, he saw several terrifying, long scars on the sandy ground behind him, like the earth’s wounds, shocking to behold. The Black Wind Desert got its name from the frequent “black wind” disasters, which appeared and disappeared without any pattern, leaving nothing but yellow sand in their wake.
Yuan Ming had heard of the black wind’s ferocity before coming here, but it was only when he faced it that he understood the true meaning of “disaster.”
Yuan Ming flew the shuttle towards the previous caravan camp, but along the way, he saw nothing but scars, some broken wood, tattered cloth, and occasional severed limbs. Not a single complete corpse remained.
The entire caravan now had only two survivors: Yuan Ming and the man named Hu Ji.
Yuan Ming landed the shuttle and placed Hu Ji on the sandy ground to check his condition. He found that Hu Ji’s body was unharmed, but his soul was injured, leaving him in a coma with no clear time for recovery.
In the vast desert, without a guide, Yuan Ming had no idea where Quicksand City was. Helpless, he decided to try soul-searching the unconscious Hu Ji.
Fortunately, although Hu Ji’s soul was injured, many of his memories remained, including those of traveling between Zhao Country and Quicksand City with the caravan.
In his memories, Quicksand City was in the direction where Yuan Ming and the four Qi refining cultivators had fled.
Having figured out the location, Yuan Ming wasted no time. He took the unconscious Hu Ji, boarded the jade shuttle, and flew towards Quicksand City.
Soon, Yuan Ming landed the jade shuttle in front of a tall black sand dune.
This was the location of Quicksand City.
Unlike other places, all towns in the Black Wind Desert were built underground, hence they were also called underground cities. The entrance to each underground city was set within a similar black sand dune, reinforced by formations and guarded by dedicated cultivators. In case of a black wind disaster, they would immediately dive underground and activate another formation in the city to protect against the black wind.
During a black wind disaster, not only would there be tornadoes and lightning above ground, but also miasma erosion underground. Therefore, simply diving underground was not enough to escape the black wind.
Yuan Ming quickly found the entrance to Quicksand City at the foot of the black sand dune. Seeing Yuan Ming covered in dust and carrying an unconscious mortal, the Qi refining cultivators guarding the entrance immediately became tense.
“Senior, what happened…”
The guards at the gate widened their eyes in surprise and repeatedly praised Yuan Ming’s luck, allowing him to enter.
Behind the sand dune entrance was a wide underground tunnel, sloping slightly downward. The ceiling and walls were embedded with numerous Night Pearls, providing ample light for the entire tunnel.
As Yuan Ming walked down the path, his vision soon opened up, revealing a city beneath the sand.
The city was built within a massive hollow. The ceiling was densely packed with special luminous artifacts, emitting light comparable to daylight, illuminating the entire city brightly without any sense of gloom.
From above, the city was structured in concentric circles, divided into inner and outer cities. However, whether in the inner or outer city, most of the buildings were made of sand and soil, appearing seamless and integrated. The window frames on the windowsills were mostly made of stone, with window cloths instead of paper.
Due to the height of the hollow, the tallest buildings were only five stories high, with a noticeable gradient from the city center outward.
The outer city’s buildings were even more dilapidated, with crude construction everywhere. The further out, the simpler the houses became, with walls showing various marks of axes and knives, and some even bearing signs of magical damage, presenting a scene of ruins.
At the city’s edge, there were no proper walls or tiles, just makeshift tents made of rags, which would have been blown away if not for the windless underground.
Yuan Ming didn’t rush to explore the city. He first found a relatively decent clinic in the outer city, handed Hu Ji over for treatment, and left some gold and silver for the doctor to give to Hu Ji when he woke up. Then he headed towards the inner city.
Walking through the outer city’s streets, Yuan Ming noticed that the mortals around him either looked impoverished and sorrowful or exuded a fierce aura, not appearing to be good people.
Even these seemingly bandit-like individuals would immediately step aside cautiously when they encountered cultivators on the street, fearing to block their way.
Compared to mortals, the cultivators on the street had an even more wild and violent aura.
Perhaps because Yuan Ming’s gaze lingered too long, one of the two cultivators arguing on the street, a burly man with a beard, looked up and glared at Yuan Ming fiercely. “What are you looking at? Want to die?”
Not wanting to cause trouble, Yuan Ming shook his head and withdrew his gaze, ready to move on. But suddenly, he frowned and swiftly dodged to the left, avoiding a stumbling, skinny cultivator who was about to crash into him. At the same time, he reached out like lightning and grabbed the man’s arm.
“Misunderstanding, it’s all a misunderstanding, fellow Daoist,” the skinny cultivator smiled apologetically, bowing repeatedly.
But as he bowed, his empty left hand suddenly flicked upwards, seemingly holding something aimed at Yuan Ming.
However, such small tricks couldn’t escape Yuan Ming’s senses. Just as the man’s arm lifted, Yuan Ming’s finger pointed at his face, and a fireball appeared at his fingertip, rapidly expanding.
Sensing the power of Yuan Ming’s explosive spell, the skinny cultivator broke out in cold sweat and dared not make any more moves, repeatedly begging for mercy.
Since Yuan Ming was new here and didn’t want to cause trouble, he released the skinny cultivator’s arm, scolded him a few times, and let him go.
However, as the skinny cultivator hurriedly fled, Yuan Ming heard several boos around him.
He looked around and saw that his actions had attracted a crowd of onlookers, who now seemed disappointed that there hadn’t been a fight, as if they thrived on chaos.