"Is there only one?"
Xu Que didn't think so. After all, this was Anchor Space; if the dangers here were so minor, it wouldn't live up to its name.
True fortune always dances with peril—this was the essence of Anchor Space. While precious treasures lay hidden here, they came at a steep cost.
He hurled another piece of meat forward, watching as the dunes began to shift. With four sand dunes roiling in response, Xu Que's eyes gleamed. He threw out the last piece of meat with a swift, calculated motion.
Run!
His instinct to flee took hold. Listening intently for the sound of creatures burrowing beneath, Xu Que stopped as soon as the rumbling quieted, then flung another piece of meat to buy himself more time.
The ground trembled beneath his feet as he hastened his pace. As he neared the bald, flattened hill, he stopped tossing bait, instead making loud steps on the ground to draw attention.
Sensing the vibrations, four sandworms rapidly converged on him. Xu Que sprinted towards the barren hill, channeling his spiritual energy into his feet, aware that the true danger lay not in these towering sandworms, but in the guardian beast within.
As he neared his target, the massive sandworms revealed gaping, abyssal maws.
Now!
Xu Que hurled another piece of meat and hugged close to the hill's base, scrambling up its incline. The scent of blood wafted through the air, and soon the guardian beast within stirred, revealing an enormous centipede—the largest he had ever seen.
The centipede snapped at the bait, just as the four sandworms charged at it. Witnessing the colossal centipede, towering five stories tall, squaring off with the sandworms, Xu Que held his breath, swallowing nervously as he crouched low, waiting for the impending clash.
The centipede's venomous fangs clicked together as it chewed, its gaze never leaving the four sandworms in front of it.
With a roar, one sandworm lunged forward, and the centipede reared up to meet the threat, coiling around its assailant.
As the battle erupted, Xu Que slipped quietly into the cave.
Following the parchment's guidance, he found himself at a wall with intricate glyphs, which he swiftly passed to reach the treasure within.
The relic was safeguarded by layers of forbidden arrays, from the simpler Two-Aspect Array to the formidable Eight-Gate Formation. In his previous life, Xu Que had spent over three months deciphering the codes inscribed on the ancient parchment; eventually, he had mastered all known defensive arrays.
Spotting four towering stone pillars in the cave's depths, Xu Que darted to the first on the left.
"Four-star formation?"
Seeing the pattern, he moved to the next, noting a three-star pattern, and raced to the third.
After confirming the alignment of three pillars, Xu Que stood before the fourth, closing his eyes to calculate swiftly.
Meanwhile, outside, the battle between the centipede and sandworms reached a fever pitch. Had Xu Que seen the scene, his jaw would have dropped in shock.
The centipede's lower half had been severed, its thick, dark blood staining the sands, while two of the sandworms showed signs of envenomation, their bodies hardening and darkening.
As one sandworm lunged for the centipede, it was swiftly bound by the centipede, who bit back with deadly intent.
The intensity of the battle rivaled an epic saga, while Xu Que, deep in concentration, opened his eyes within the cave.
"Three alignments ahead, the fifth within, and the fourth ascendant—yield eight!"
With the answer clear, he pressed his fingers against the inscriptions on the right pillar.
Though these glyphs were foreign, anyone could instinctively understand them at first sight. As Xu Que pressed the sequence, starlight glimmered above the right pillar.
A distinct "click" echoed as a golden chest emerged from beneath the central platform.
Xu Que paid no heed to its contents. Instead, he focused on the inscriptions below, deciphering their meaning and pressing buttons around the platform to disable the final restriction.
The chest's allure would tempt anyone to open it, for treasure had a universal charm. However, this final temptation hid a deadly snare; touching the chest meant certain death.
Countless individuals in the past had fallen victim to this, thinking that besting the guardian beast and breaking the array was all it took, only to meet their demise in the final step.
Xu Que had seen all manner of deadly traps—some reduced intruders to ash, while others struck them down with lightning. Without first disarming the forbidden mechanism, many methods of death awaited.
As he input the last set of glyphs, the surrounding mechanisms slowly deactivated.
Hearing a distinct release, Xu Que sighed in relief, then finally approached the golden chest.
Just as he opened it, a faint rustling noise reached his ears from outside, followed by an enraged howl.
The colossal centipede, now with only a third of its body remaining, furiously charged into the cave upon seeing Xu Que touch its treasured charge.
Xu Que swiftly pocketed the treasures from the chest, then smirked, giving the enraged centipede a casual wave.
As the centipede inched closer to the central platform, Xu Que took a step back and swiftly disappeared through the dimensional rift.
He returned to the Shadowed Cavern, finding himself once again before the corpse of the White-Scaled Python.
With a crisp snap, the anchor key in his hand shattered.
Ignoring the treasures he'd gained for the moment, Xu Que dashed toward the exit, knowing the dimensional rift would only remain open for a few hours; delay meant being trapped.
Emerging from the tunnel, he found Zhao Xian and the others still deep in cultivation—a sight that took him by surprise.
"Hey! Stop training, we need to go!" Xu Que called out.
Hearing his shout, Kun Shao and the others bolted toward him, abandoning the six-sided artifact cart as a memento.
As they raced through the tunnels with Xu Que, the group couldn't help but feel awed by their surroundings.
When they spotted the massive corpse of the White-Scaled Python, a cold sweat broke over them.
"Sir, are you leaving this thing's corpse behind?" Kun Shao asked eagerly.
"We can't take it; the scales are too hard to break through," Xu Que replied.
"But there's so much meat. Wouldn't it be a shame to waste it?" Kun Shao pressed.
Xu Que handed him the Cloud Essence Demon Cutter. "Here. If you can slice through its scales, take whatever you want."
Kun Shao blinked in surprise, then accepted the weapon with a grin.
"Snake meat's on me tonight!" he crowed, rolling up his sleeves with glee.
Xu Que ignored him, instead scanning the group's information with his Eye of Insight.
Noticing their impressive progress, Xu Que couldn't help but be taken aback—they had broken through to D-rank!
A heavy clang sounded as Kun Shao's blade collided with the python's scales, leaving him staring in disbelief.
"Enough with this nonsense," Zhao Xian advised, glancing at the python's body. "If Xu couldn't cut through it, neither can you."
Realizing this, Kun Shao gave an embarrassed smile.
"Got it?" Xu Que retrieved the Cloud Essence Demon Cutter.
"Yes, sir!"