"Damn... It took me more than a month to reach this damned ravine..."
Located in the southern part of the continent, the Land of Eternal Desolation is a vast desert. The closest Teleportation Formation to the Divine Sect is at the border with this endless expanse of sand.
It was a long journey filled with perils and brief adventures, yet Atlas had found it more interesting than any poor soul who passed in the same situation as him.
It was almost evening, and the young adventurer knew another freezing night was coming.
He could have stepped a bit further and landed his feet in the ravine, yet he chose to pass the night here, where the dangers were easier to handle.
He took out the tent and built a small camp with a humble campfire in a couple of minutes.
"The sun will set out soon..."
Looking over the horizon, Atlas thought about what had happened during the last month and couldn't help but smile.
He fought many battles and finally stepped into the Initial Stage of the Primordial Descendant Lord realm. It wasn't an easy feat. Indeed, it took almost two weeks to collect enough power.
The Devourer of Chaos was indeed a marvelous cultivation manual. The possibility of absorbing the purified Chaos Energy directly from his enemy was extraordinary. Yet, the requirement for stepping into a higher realm was starting to slow his cultivation speed.
Luckily, the power gained from this manual was something beyond average, and fighting against an Advanced Stage Primordial Descendant Lord was feasible. The possibility of battling someone with a force of two minor realms higher wasn't a small matter.
Other than reaching a new cultivation realm, the comprehension of his various techniques had advanced further.
Reaching the new realm allowed him to finally exert the power of his new techniques, such as Mother Earth Grip, Impenetrable Stone Done, and Rocky Hands.
They turned out extremely useful against the Chaos Creatures lurking in the desert.
As for the Solaris Eternis Catcher, he achieved almost the seventh step. But the most important thing was that he could control its power more efficiently and use it also during a real battle, making the Solaris Eternis Catcher one of the most potent techniques at his disposal for both close and long range.
"Hey... Uranus, what are you looking at?"
Luckily, the journey was much more enjoyable with a new companion.
Uranus, the Rocky-Armored Bear, turned out to be extremely useful in battle, too. After consuming the Awakening Saint Apple, its bloodline grew in quality, granting him an advancement directly to the Intermediate Stage of the Primordial Descendant Lord. But it didn't end there. In fact, after countless battles, he stepped even further along the trip, reaching the Advanced Stage.
Growl...
Communication between them still needed to be improved. For some unknown reason, even with the gift from Nihilir, the Soulis of Nihilum, they couldn't communicate.
It was still a mystery why that stupid horse had reached a stage higher than Uranus.
"Hmm... There is something there?"
Even if it was difficult, Atlas could barely understand its intention, so he looked toward the East, yet nothing caught his attention.
Growl... Growl...
"Little fellow... What's the problem?"
Feeling something was wrong, Atlas stood up and walked closer to his restless companion.
"Hmm..."
Atlas trusted its intuition, so he gazed again to the side and, sure enough, noticed something.
"Mhm?! Those are lights... There is someone there..."
Growl... Growl...
"I never doubted you..." Atlas patted the ruffled fur over its head while gazing in the distance.
"Hmm... there are coming this way... Will they be friends or foes?"
Countless perils filled the Land of Eternal Desolation, even for someone at Atlas's level. Indeed, he had a powerful tool like the Nihility Dimension, yet he knew that being too arrogant was not good.
"One... two... three... four... Hmm... there are four people. Let's see..."
It was a bit risky, but leaving the camp in the middle of the night was even more dangerous, so he decided to wait and see.
A few minutes passed, and finally, the group of people was only two hundred feet away.
Noises and shouts were reaching his ears, making Atlas look over with a strange expression.
"Damn, your grandfather... stop chasing me..."
"Catch that lowly thief... and reap out his damned mouth..."
"Bastard... I just told your boos the truth... It's not my fault if his face is the exact copy of my mighty mount... Damn... he should be glad..."
It was clear from their discussion that the one on the lead was chased by a group.
As for who was on the right, it was still unclear.
"Little brat, stop right there..."
"Hahaha... Do you think I'm stupid?... Mmm??... Why should your grandfather listen to his grandson? Keep following me... if you dare."
The young man's mouth was truly beyond salvation. He was blatantly insulting those thugs as if he feared nothing.
"Damn... shot him down... Aim for the legs of that disgusting creature."
They couldn't endure anymore, so the two in the rear pulled out their deadly bows and fired a series of rapid arrows.
Swift... Swift...
They were Martial Cultivators at the Primordial Descendant Lord Realm, so those arrows cut throughout the air at a frightening speed. Even Atlas felt some danger from them.
Their mounts were moving quickly, yet those arrows reached their prey in a few instants.
"Bastard... you dare to harm your grandfather's mount?"
Just when they thought of seeing blood and hearing awful wails, the young man on top of the creature made a move.
His movements were so fast that even Atlas didn't see what truly happened.
Boom...
"Ahhh..."
Suddenly, the arrows turned back and stuck the men holding the bows.
They were impossible to evade, and just like that, two people were dead in a single breath.
The only one still alive was so shocked that he almost fell from his horse: "Fuck... What the hell is going on??"
Scared shitless by the inexplicable event, he pulled the reins with all his strength, determined to escape from that demon.
"Grandson... where are you going?"
The survivor acted fast, yet the demon he was chasing before was already standing at his side.
"Gosh... you cheated us..."
"No way... I, your grandfather, am a good man. I never cheated anyone in my whole life..."
Seeing the creepy smile on the young man's face, the man was sure about his thoughts.
They chased that bastard for thirty minutes, yet none of them knew that they were just a bunch of fools.
"Let me go and..."
"Hmm... Dear grandson, you want to leave your grandfather so soon? Oh... Ungrateful grandson... you break my heart."
The chaser tried his best to run away from there. Alas, that damned creature was faster than before.
Atlas looked at them stupefied. Everything had happened so fast that he was unsure of what to do next.
Initially, he wanted to help the young man, but now, seeing how the situation changed, he felt like a joke.
Boom...
While he was lost in thought, another blast of power reached his ears, waking him from the stupor.
Atlas turned his gaze toward them, but strangely, no one was there.
"What..."
Once again, he was shocked, but suddenly, a low growl came from his side.
Turning his head around, he noticed Uranus looking at the campfire, and when he followed his gaze, he couldn't help but take a step back...
"Ohi... little brother... don't be so scared."
Sitting in his seat was a young man, and it was the same who had brutally killed those people before. Behind him was standing his bizarre mount.
Atlas recognized it immediately as an Obsidian Hellhound. It was a brutal creature and part of an ancient race feared by many. In ancient texts, it was reported that his claws could pierce even godly metals.
Such a terrifying creature was standing a few steps away, driving him almost crazy.
"Hey... little brother... don't worry about Mawer. He is a good boy. Sit down..."
Atlas wasn't crazy enough to listen to him, yet a strange power dragged his body just before the campfire.
Since there was no other way around it, he played along with that crazy young man and sat down, looking at him calmly.
"So... little brother... what are you doing in the middle of the night in such a dangerous place?" The young man took some dried meat from his storage device and started eating.
"Well... I'm looking for the Minor Creation Divine Sect..."
"Ohhhh... so you are planning to join those old codgers... Hmm..."
Once again, his words were poisonous as usual, but Atlas didn't care.
"Well... Those fools' home is still very far from here. With that little Bear, you will need at least another month... Assuming you make it out of the canyon alive."
His expression changed, hearing that he still had one month to reach the Sect.
"Did Big Brother know a faster path?"
"Sure... you can just teleport there..." The young man responded instantly, unconcerned that his answer was so obvious.
Atlas looked at him with a strange expression but didn't express his true feeling: "Well... that indeed is the more immediate, but there would be a direct passage for those who want to reach there on foot..."
This time, it was the young man who looked at him strangely. He looked at his body up and down as if searching for something, and only after a long minute spoke: "Nope... there are only three possibilities. First, teleportation with a Sect Token. Second, flying there with a mount, yet even this requires a Sect Token, and lastly, the most direct one is to get out of the canyon alive."
As soon as the young man responded, his body started to turn transparent, as if the duo were slowly disappearing like a mirage.
"Little brother... you have only one road ahead of you... Remember, in life, there are no shortcuts if you wish to achieve greatness!"
Ultimately, the Hellhound and the young man disappeared, leaving only a few words behind.