"Where are we now?" Hua Litong asked. It had been two days since she journeyed together with Yun Lintian. The relationship between her and him had improved. At least, they weren't feeling awkward when discussing general topics anymore.
Yun Lintian looked at the leather map in his hand and replied, "We still have another day of walking before we reach the rendezvous point... Actually, we can consider this place as the southern area now."
All of a sudden, Yun Lintian frowned and took his bow out, shooting at a certain tree in the distance. The impact causing the tree to shake violently and a human figure could be seen jumping out from the top of the tree.
"Where are you going?" Hua Litong also perceived the figure's existence at almost the same time as Yun Lintian. She immediately dashed forward, chasing the figure after Yun Lintian taking out the bow.
Hua Litong swung her sword at the target right away. The powerful force pressured the figure to put up a defense in a hurry, but it was too late.
Boom!
The figure was tossed into the ground by the collision and coughed up blood heavily.
"A dog from Luo clan?" Hua Litong stared coldly at the man who was lying on the ground. With a spear symbol on the latter's attires, she immediately identified his identity right away.
"Where is your master?" Asked Yun Lintian. He and the others had arrived before the man.
The man didn't reply and secretly gathered power, preparing to make a move. However, before he could do anything, Yun Chan decisively slashed her sword to cut one of his arms with no mercy.
"Argh!!" The man screamed in pain while trying to grab the missing arm desperately.
Yun Lintian stomped on his chest and asked coldly, "Where is Luo Kun? If you tell me, I promise to give you a quick end."
The man struggled for a while before deciding to commit suicide by severing his Profound Vein.
Seeing this, Yun Lintian shot three silver needles to seal the man's Profound Vein, making him to look at Yun Lintian in horror.
"Trust me. I have numerous methods to make you speak. I will give you another chance. Can you tell us now?" Yun Lintian spoke while pressing his foot against the man's chest, causing the latter to scream once again.
"I... I'll tell you! Young Master has already gone to the desert. He left me here to search for all of you." The man hurriedly told everything all at once.
"Did you see my sister?" Hua Litong asked.
The man nodded his head quickly. "Yes. She is with him."
Yun Lintian frowned slightly. "Wait. You said he told you to look for us here. How are you going to tell him?" He found this matter strange. Why would Luo Kun have to leave his lackey here for no reason? After all, the transmission jade was useless in this mythical realm. Unless Luo Kun had a way to contact his people.
The man swallowed his saliva, appearing hesitant. When Yun Lintian lifted his foot up, the man hastily said, "We have a secret way to contact each other." He then took a small black jade out of his sleeve and showed it to everyone.
Yun Lintian retrieved the black jade and studied it carefully. A while later, he asked, "Where did he get it from? Do you know about this?"
The man shook his head and said, "I don't know."
Yun Lintian pondered for a moment before he said, "Alright. Since you are obedient, I will give you a painless end." He then shot out another silver needle at the man's glabella to seal his Soul Gate and thrust his iron spear on his heart, sending him to hell.
His movements were fast and precise, surprising everyone except Yun Chan. In their eyes, Yun Lintian didn't even show the slightest hint of emotion while killing people, as if he had done this countless times.
"Let's go. We will find my senior sisters first, and then we will go after Luo Kun right away." Yun Lintian put the black jade away and addressed the others. Everyone resumed their journey shortly afterward.
Half a day later, Yun Lintian's group arrived at a plain area without trees and saw a group of five women sat around a bonfire.
The arrival of Yun Lintian and the rest causing the women to stand up in a hurry.
"Junior Brother Yun!" One of the five women exclaimed excitedly.
"Senior Sister Jiajia." Yun Lintian greeted the woman back upon recognizing her identity. All of them were his senior sisters.
Yun Chan went to greet her fellow sisters with a smile. While Yun Lintian was looking around, thinking of something.
"My people are probably going with Wanru." Hua Litong said dejectedly. She was worried about her sister and couldn't wait to go to the desert area right away.
"It's dark now. We should rest first." Yun Lintian suggested. Although he knew Hua Litong couldn't wait any longer, he wanted to study the black jade first.
Hua Litong was anxious and wanted to reject, but she ultimately swallowed her words. She knew that even if they set off now, they wouldn't be able to find her sister in a short time anyway. Hence, resting for the night should be fine.
Yun Lintian noticed that she didn't object to his suggestion. He took several tents out, giving them to her and the rest before he walked toward the Misty Cloud Sect's group.
After setting up his tent, Yun Lintian took out the black jade to study it. The black jade had complicated runes engraved all over its body. These runes were familiar to Yun Lintian, and he was confident to figure out the mechanicsm behind them.
Yun Lintian studied it for the entire night before he finally cracked everything about the black jade. The creator of this jade was extremely clever by combining several functions together and created the long-range transmission jade that could completely avoid the mythical realm's suppression.
"Is it the Poison Valley that created this?" Yun Lintian muttered to himself. He was certain that nobody in the Heavenly Fortune Nation had this ability. Since the members of Yang, Hua, Chen, Li, and even the Qi royal clans didn't seem to have this jade, the only possibility was someone behind the Luo clan gave it to them. That left them with only the mysterious Poison Valley.
Without further hesitation, Yun Lintian took out a regular transmission jade and used a small knife to replicate the runes from the black jade onto it. It took him another hour to finish two of them. He then called Yun Chan to his tent and tested the newly modified transmission jade.
"It worked." Yun Chan said with a great surprise. Her gaze was full of admiration when she looked at Yun Lintian.
"Let's go, Senior Sister Chan. We will set off right away." Yun Lintian put the transmission jade away and went out of the tent with Yun Chan.
After everyone packing up their belongings, the group resumed their journey once again. This time, they headed toward the center of the mythical realm's direction.
***
"It's freaking hot here as my mother said." Hua Litong wiped droplets of sweat off her forehead as she complained.
It had been two days since the group arrived in the desert area. This place was true to its name — there was nothing except for the endless sea of sands around here.
Yun Lintian handed her a kettle full of water. "How far has your mother ventured to the center area?"
Hua Litong inelegantly poured the water into her mouth before she replied, "My mother had reached the center-most area, but she couldn't get close to the mini sun-like object over there."
"Do you have any information related to that object?" Yun Lintian asked further. Before coming here, he didn't expect to enter the desert area. Now, since he had already arrived here, it would be a waste if he didn't catch a glimpse of that renowned supreme treasure.
Hua Litong handed the kettle to her fellow sisters and replied, "I don't know much about it. My parents once said the object should be the core of this mythical realm. Whoever gets it will become the owner of this place."
Yun Lintian fell into deep contemplation. For some reason, he felt a faint connection between himself, the silver necklace, and this place. It was vague, similar to the time when he faced the crown. In the end, he still had no clue about it.
"There is something over there." Yun Chan suddenly spoke up while pointing at the seemingly peaceful sandhill a hundred meters away in front of the group.
Instantaneously, the sand's surface rippled, and slowly increasing the speed until it formed into a giant tidal wave of sand.
"There is something beneath the sand... profound beast?" Yang Ping exclaimed as he drew his sword.
Tzzzzz...
The sand dust filled the air, accompanied by an unfamiliar noise approaching Yun Lintian's group. Beneath the sand waves, there was something enormous, resembling a colossal worm, hurtling towards them at a rapid pace.
"It's Golden Earthworm. Everyone spread out!" Hua Litong recognized the colossal figure under the sand and shouted out loud.
Everyone hastily moved away from each other and created a protective barrier around their bodies. Yun Lintian raised his bow, aiming at the incoming earthworm with an intense ice power gathered at the tip of the arrow.
Boom!
The arrow was released, traveling through the air and hit the target accurately, making the Golden Earthworm to show itself above the sand. Its body was enormous, estimating twenty meters long. It had golden-colored skin, looking extremely sturdy. When it opened its mouth, several terrifying teeth could be seen.
"Eww... It's so disgusting." Hua Fei spoke with an unsightly expression as if she was about to retch up.
"It's not the time to complain. Attack!" Hua Litong said loudly and quickly launched an attack on the Golden Earthworm.
"Roar!" The Golden Earthworm howled angrily, and the sand waves finally crashed down on everyone's heads.
Boom!
The huge sand waves immediately drowned everyone in the world of sand.