The sky was filled with yellow sand, and it gradually turned into tornadoes that rampaged through the academy grounds.
Some of the young cultivators did not manage to evade and were dragged away by the whirling sand.
They disappeared in the blink of an eye before they could let out a shriek.
Master Ge gritted his teeth as he was overwhelmed with helplessness.
Still, he led the masters protecting the fancy-clothed children in front of the ship.
At the same time, an obscure white silhouette could be seen on the ship.
"Yellow Sands King, do you want to make an enemy of the Soaring Clouds Clan?"
A feeble voice could be heard admonishing.
"I desire to marry you! So we should be in-laws instead of enemies!
"Hehe! Woman, you should follow me back to my Immortal Cave and become my wife!
"You will enjoy an easy life every day! Isn't it better than the current situation?" the Yellow Sands King shrilled in a harsh voice.
"Nonsense!" Master Ge berated with a dark look. "What an outrageous thing to say, you lowly demon!"
"Ha!" The Yellow Sands King mocked, "You are just a weak Beginning Foundation Plane cultivator! Do you think you can stop my great spell with that puny formation of yours? I didn't want to overdo it at first. But it looks like I have to teach you a lesson today!"
Without warning, he opened his mouth wide.
Then several aspirant cultivators were sucked into his belly through his mouth.
The aspirant cultivators aged around eight to nine were like sweet treats in the eyes of the Yellow Sands King.
He enjoyed devouring them one bite at a time. He couldn't help but indulge in his meal.
Master Ge was burning with anger upon seeing that.
The spiritual power in his body was madly surging, his face red up to his ears.
After flipping his right hand, a pill cauldron the size of a fist appeared out of the blue.
After filling it with his spiritual power, the pill cauldron was clad with a layer of green flame.
"Die, you demon!"
As Master Ge shouted, the pill cauldron in his hand was shot forward like an arrow.
It continued to exponentially enlarge. It went out of the formation in a flash and was about ten feet in size.
When it nearly hit the Yellow Sands King, the latter let out a sneer.
After opening his mouth, a sandstorm was shot out of it.
Then with mighty power, several fine gravels burst out.
When the sand grains hit the pill cauldron, they immediately pierced through the green flame, causing the momentum to stop.
Nevertheless, the pill cauldron exploded.
The energy of the explosion was way beyond anyone's expectations. It blasted away the sandstorm and hit the Yellow Sands King head-on.
However, the Yellow Sands King seemed to have staggered a little though he was unharmed.
"Detonate your spiritual item?
"What's the use of it? It didn't even leave a scratch on my skin!
"Lass, become my wife, and I will leave this place!
"Otherwise, I will slaughter every life in White Cloud City before the people from the Soaring Clouds Clan can come to save your *ss!"
The Yellow Sands King snickered as he pointed his finger at the woman from the Soaring Clouds Clan.
"I'll follow you!"
The female cultivator of the Soaring Clouds Clan cried out in distress.
"No!" Master Ge's eyes gleamed with wrath while blood dripped from his mouth.
"I've already made up my mind! It'd be great if I could sacrifice myself for them!"
The female cultivator looked miserable as if she had accepted her fate.
"How can the words of a demon ever be trusted?" Master Ge piped.
"Yellow Sands King, swear on your bloodline power!" the female cultivator said.
"You lot are not worthy!" the Yellow Sands King snorted. "You do not have a choice!"
He let out a roar right after he spoke.
Soon, the rustling voice traveled across the entire Aspirant Cultivators Academy.
Meanwhile, at the riverside, a chill ran down Ling Wuque's spine when he noticed the sand grains quivering ceaselessly.
In an instant, countless brown bugs the size of a grain of rice crawled out from the cracks.
"These are the venomous sandworm," Chen Jingzhai remarked profoundly.
He did not expect the Yellow Sands King to master Gu magic.
All these sandworms were the most common maggots one could come across in the desert.
They lived in the desert and ate moist gravel as their primary food source. These larvae were extremely docile.
Things had changed now that they were bred to become Gu pests. They had turned into a bunch of ferocious creatures.
The travel notes of Hermit Guangmiao had accounts of the brutality of the venomous sandworm.
Their names should no longer be sandworms but vicious man-eaters as they consumed flesh and blood.
They particularly loved flesh and blood with rich spiritual power.
"What do we do now?" Ling Wuque asked in panic.
"Don't move," Chen Jingzhai uttered. "Perform the Presence Concealment Technique immediately."
Ling Wuque obeyed and did as he was told. After performing the Presence Concealment Technique, his aura immediately dissipated.
Like Chen Jingzhai, he did not move an inch and remained in the same posture as if he was a rock.
As expected, the venomous sandworms broke out from their shells but ignored the duo and went on their way.
They devoured one another and increased in size rapidly. They grew a pair of thin wings that looked like the ones on a cicada.
Traveling in groups, they foraged for the aspirant cultivators in a frenzy.
The aspirant cultivators had turned into fleshless skeletons in the blink of an eye.
"Stop!"
The female cultivator of the Soaring Clouds Clan bawled, "I will go with you!"
Channeling her spiritual power, she flew forward.
Master Ge wanted to stop her, but the significant number of venomous sandworms had encircled him.
So he had no choice but to dodge them with his spell while aiding the other masters to get all the surviving aspirant cultivators away from the scene.
"Hahahahaha!"
The Yellow Sands King grasped the female cultivator from the Soaring Clouds Clan who had passed through the barrier.
He let out a burst of merry and triumphant laughter that was ear-piercing.
"Let them go!" the female cultivator requested.
"Don't worry, beauty!" After speaking, the Yellow Sands King stretched his arm toward the Aspirant Cultivators Academy and clasped his hand.
The giant swarm of venomous sandworms assembled in one spot and dashed toward the barrier formation.
After gathering together, they looked like a brown cloud that chewed up the barrier formation.
Within seconds, the barrier could not sustain itself anymore and caused a crack to appear.
An icy glint flashed across the eyes of the Yellow Sands King, and he hurled an attack toward the crack.
An incorporeal muddy yellow fist materialized and hit the barrier formation.
All the remaining sand whirl in the academy grounds hurriedly gathered together.
After merging each other into one, they turned into a massive sand whirl.
"What are you trying to do?" the female cultivator yelled after witnessing that.
"Don't worry." The Yellow Sands King smirked and declared, "I just need to bring some food back before leaving."
After speaking, he controlled the gigantic sand whirl to move around the academy grounds.
Some of the buildings were utterly destroyed, while the young cultivators hiding inside were dragged away.
Suddenly, it went in a different direction and headed toward the river.
"Oh crap!" Chen Jingzhai's face blanched. Then he immediately grabbed Ling Wuque and performed the earth elemental technique.
He rushed toward the river as fast as he could, trying to escape from the enormous sand whirl with the current.
Nonetheless, it had an immense suction power apart from its great destructive ability.
Chen Jingzhai managed to throw Ling Wuque away but was sucked by the sand whirl.
After being hurled into the distance, Ling Wuque was knocked out instantly.
Although Master Ge had some injuries, he did not give up on encouraging the other masters to resist the sand whirl.
As the power of the formation slowly emerged, the colossal sand whirl broke apart before the formation was completely restored.
A violent sandstorm burst out within the Aspirant Cultivators Academy once again.
Then, the silhouette of the demon outside the academy grounds vanished into thin air.
The entire academy was a mess. There were mountains of skeletons and splatters of blood everywhere. The sight of it was a living hell.
"Chancellor!" The remaining masters brought the surviving young cultivators and surrounded him.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me.
"Please do a headcount of every branch and heal the young cultivators still alive.
"Vice-chancellor, follow me to the main hall and light up the Celestial Inviting Incense.
"The Yellow Sands King dared invade our city, so it must pay the price!" Master Ge bellowed, gritting his teeth.
Everyone acknowledged and began acting as they were instructed.
Even though they were ravaged, they did not lose their spirits because a dozen cultivation sects backed the Aspirant Cultivators Academy.
No matter the reason or who he was working for, the fact that the Yellow Sands King dared to destroy the White Cloud City and kidnap a female cultivator from the Soaring Clouds Clan would spell doom for him.
All the cultivation sects would annihilate him with the most relentless means.
Under their ravening retribution, all things would be obliterated.
They waited for the day of the death of the Yellow Sands King. When that time comes, they would drink his blood and skin him to get even.