Crack!
A desert scorpion fully the size of a fist was dug out from the sandy ground by "Crane Fairy." She pecked it to death with one bite and tossed it into the fire, burning out a crackling, foul stench.
"Crane Fairy" was playing with great delight, continuously digging in the desert, unearthing one large scorpion after another, pecking them to death, and tossing them into the fire.
The scorpions in the desert were incredibly large and vicious. They came out to be active at night, absorbing dew and hunting for food. They were extremely venomous; anyone bitten in the desert simply could not survive.
However, this group of Ascension Sect disciples had Dharma robes on their bodies, expelling hundreds of insects. Scorpions, centipedes, ants, and poisonous mosquitoes fled at the sight of them, so they didn't care about these minor annoyances at all.
Fang Han, on the other hand, sat calmly unmoving, pondering the wondrous uses of the "Primal Spirit Art."
Since cultivating the "Primal Spirit Art" yesterday, he felt that this was the true path of cultivation, the key to opening the gate of divine abilities.
Now, as long as he had time, he constantly pondered in his heart at every moment, figuring out its profundities, while simultaneously familiarizing himself with the rhythm and structure of every part of his own body.
Cultivating to the Spirit Communication realm, one's spirit guarded within, and the internal organs, bones, and bone marrow were all distinct and visible, like reading the lines on one's palm. Although Fang Han could not achieve this right now, he also felt that the more he cultivated, the clearer his body became, gradually turning transparent as if crystal being washed clean.
The only thing he couldn't see clearly was his own brain, which remained in hazy darkness. The brain was a sealed gate of divine abilities, refusing to open up to Fang Han, refusing to let Fang Han tear it open and release the Dharma power of divine abilities.
Liu Kang and Princess Hongyi also sat cross-legged, cultivating who-knew-what, internally nourishing their spirits and externally tempering their qi and blood.
Although water was scarce in the desert, they all possessed "Cleansing Clothes Talismans" and "True Water Talismans," enabling them to replenish their body's moisture at any time and wash away all the grime and filth on their bodies, maintaining cleanliness. Even in a harsh environment, they remained cheerful and content.
Without the help of these Dharma weapons, even an expert at the Divine Transformation realm would become thoroughly listless and depleted after staying out in the desert for too long.
All the disciples of the Ascension Sect remained perfectly quiet, each doing their own things without engaging in conversation. The atmosphere was incredibly peaceful, like the dead silence before a coming storm.
The night wind blew whiningly, making the bonfire flicker and choke.
Awoo, awooo, awooo…
From the sand dunes far away, a shrill, fox-and-wolf-like howling transmitted over, like a wild beast howling at the moon, chilling to the core.
"What is that?"
Hearing this cry, Fang Han's mind felt an inexplicable burst of terror. Opening his eyes, he saw that the "tenth on the Mountain and River Ranking," Yuan Jiankong, had stood up. That Senior Sister Mo had also stood up, and the several inner disciples had stood up as well.
The three men and two women of the Great Virtue Dynasty also stood up.
Liu Kang and Princess Hongyi stood up as well.
Many immortal cranes flew into the sky, and even "Crane Fairy" shot up into the clouds. Her voice transmitted over through the "Myriad Beasts Plaque": "Fang Han, enemies have surrounded us; they are extremely terrifying. I'll fly up into the sky to hide first."
An immortal crane was, after all, an immortal crane. Once startled, they would immediately fly into the sky. They would not remain calm like humans, nor would they accompany this group of disciples to face danger and death.
"Enemies?"
Fang Han also stood up, only to see figures moving indistinctly in the distance, and bursts of hoofbeats starting to ring out. On the distant sand dunes, human figures surged over like a tide, waves of murderous intent rolling forth.
Focusing his spirit into his eyes, he indeed saw the people surging over like a tide. Each and every one was clad in scale armor, riding camels, holding massive scimitars, carrying bows and arrows, coming by the hundreds and thousands, encircling them from all directions.
Those camels were uniformly white-furred, galloping as if flying. They were the "White Dragon Camels" of the desert, comparable to thousand-mile horses; their explosive power and speed were both extremely fast. When a person rode on the camel, it was like sailing a boat with the wind.
"Are these the legendary desert bandits?"
Fang Han had heard of the desert bandits. They were vicious and savage bandits in the desert who ate human flesh and drank human blood, specifically robbing passing merchant caravans and even harassing border passes. They especially loved using stone mills to grind children into blood pulp and brewing them into grape blood wine.
Looking at it now, the ferocious and baleful aura coming off this crowd of suddenly appearing desert bandits made them look like devils from Hell; they were indeed incomparably savage.
"What are those?"
Among this crowd of desert bandits, Fang Han also noticed some figures with curved horns on their heads, covered completely in scales, looking exactly like the Ascension Sect's "Divine Strength Puppets"—demonmen.
Clearly, these were the exceedingly violent and wicked demonmen living in the deep abyss of the subterranean world.
Fortunately, fortunately, when disciples entered the Ascension Sect, the examination was to slay exactly one of these demonmen. Otherwise, suddenly encountering these demonmen, as long as it was a normal person, their psychology would develop terror.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh, swoosh swoosh swoosh!
A sky-blotting rain of arrows, dense and packed tight, pounced over exactly like a swarm of locusts. The piercing power of the arrows was extremely strong, seeming to want to tear apart everyone's bodies.
This mob of desert bandits actually halted five hundred paces away, first utilizing a dense rain of arrows to shoot and kill overwhelmingly!
Fortunately, the immortal cranes flew fast up into the sky; otherwise, facing this kind of shooting kill, they would absolutely have been injured.
Bright moon!
Desert!
Desert bandits!
Arrow rain!
It formed a dangerous, bloody, and thrilling picture of desert wilderness.
"Damn it!"
With a clang, Fang Han drew out the "Demon Decapitating Sword," dancing it into a flurry of sword blooms to protect his face and other vital points, parrying away the incoming arrows one by one.
Many arrows struck his Dharma robe, but they were all deflected one by one, unable to penetrate.
The Ascension Sect's Dharma robes were woven from the silk of five types of spirit silkworms and were infused with Dharma power. Ordinary swords and spears could not penetrate them. Although this rain of arrows was fierce, it could not shoot through the Dharma robes.
However, the powerful penetrative force of the arrows still made his whole body ache in pain. If he hadn't reached the realm of Divine Bravery and cultivated a thick outer layer of flesh membrane beneath his skin to offset the impacts, his body definitely wouldn't have been able to endure it right now.
"Let's stick close together!"
Facing the arrow rain's shooting kill, "Princess Hongyi" and Liu Kang immediately stood back-to-back with Fang Han. Sword light drifted and flew, fiercely blocking the arrow rain. Especially Princess Hongyi's sword arts, which could even slice the wings off a mosquito in mid-air. With Dharma robes protecting the majority of their bodies, parrying the arrow rain targeting their vital spots was no difficult task.
"Humph! A bunch of ants! Let the main cast come out!"
All of a sudden, a streak of lightning-like brilliant essence shot up into the sky, swimming across the fullness of the air. Instantly, the sky full of arrow rain was swept entirely away. The desert bandits holding scimitars atop their "White Dragon Camels" hundreds of paces away were swept by this lightning-like crystalline essence. The scale armor on their bodies shattered one after another, and then their entire upper bodies were sliced completely off. Blood spurted high into the air, and internal organs and intestines spilled all over the ground.
Bloodiness arose abruptly.
Puchi, puchi, puchi!
Dozens of desert bandits had already been severed at the waist, plummeting down from their camels.
"This flying sword possesses such imposing momentum! It is even a notch more formidable than the Spirit Wind Sword! This Yuan Jiankong's methods are indeed sharp! I am not his match, but if the 'Picture of the Dragon hiding in the Yellow Springs' can exert its effect and collect this flying sword of his, I would have a chance to deal with him. However, he is an important figure in the Ascension Sect; as long as he doesn't target me, I have no need to provoke him. But the intention to guard against others is indispensable; growing an extra pair of eyes is not a bad thing."
Fang Han calculated secretly in his heart.
"Hahahahaha, hahahaha! As expected of an Ascension Sect inner disciple, 'Yuan Jiankong', one of the top ten experts on the Mountain and River Ranking. A Silver Snake Sword, refined from the blood of a thousand-year silver snake mixed with Ten-Fire Red Copper into a high-tier spirit weapon. It is only a tiny bit away from reaching the realm of a treasure weapon. Relying on this Silver Snake Sword, who knows how many disciples of my Mortal Dust Demonic Sect you have slaughtered. Today, I finally waited until you entered the Vast Ocean Desert."
Right at this moment, a long howl shot up into the sky.
Accompanying this long howl was an eerie, pink demonic light. A long sword emitting endless wafts of powdery greasy aura trembled mid-air, directly blocking Yuan Jiankong's "Silver Snake Sword."
The two flying swords clashed in the sky, exactly like a pink dragon and a silver dragon biting and tearing at one another, erupting with sword qi that filled the skies.
Subsequently, both flying swords shrank back. It seemed both had their own reservations.
At the exact same time, the hundreds and thousands of desert bandits scattered out like quicksand in all directions, forming a two-headed snake formation. A young man dressed in pink clothes, incomparably eerie and demonic, walked slowly forward over the sandy ground.
"Mortal Dust Demonic Sect! Crown Prince of Pink Flesh!"
Seeing this young man in pink appear, Yuan Jiankong's expression turned stern. Senior Sister Mo and the other inner disciples also became solemn. Fang Han distinctly felt the oppressive atmosphere.
"This is the Crown Prince of Pink Flesh? According to the rumors, killing him can earn a Yin Yang Longevity Pill?" Looking at this eerie young man in pink clothes, Fang Han immediately thought of what the Ascension Sect elder had said.
"Correct, it is exactly this Crown Prince." Strange light flickered in the eerie Crown Prince of Pink Flesh's eyes as he swept his gaze across everyone's faces. Fang Han noticed that he didn't even look at the men; his gaze just swept back and forth over Senior Sister Mo, Princess Hongyi, and the two princesses of the Great Virtue Imperial Family, looking as if he wanted to strip their clothes off.
"Your Ascension Sect wants to kill this Crown Prince, to the point of actually rewarding a Yin Yang Longevity Pill! This is a supreme golden pill refined by your Ascension Sect's Supreme Headmaster, expending the heart-blood of his own Longevity Mystic Realm body. This Crown Prince even somewhat wants to kill myself to go claim that pill."
The Crown Prince of Pink Flesh spoke methodically.
"Crown Prince of Pink Flesh, you actually secretly laid an ambush, wanting to annihilate us? Did you really think we didn't notice the desert bandits? We intentionally dropped to the ground to lure you out of your hole."
Senior Sister Mo said faintly: "I didn't expect that you really fell for the trick."
"Is that so? How could I not know that you few inner disciples jointly saved up several spirit weapons and arrayed a sword formation, wanting to kill me? If I didn't know this piece of news, then I would have lived in vain as the Crown Prince of Pink Flesh. I am beating you at your own game. Ten Great Demonic Generals! It is time for you to show yourselves."
The Crown Prince of Pink Flesh waved his hand. Instantly, from the distant sand dunes, ten tall and massive black shadows abruptly rose up.
These black shadows leaped into the air, over ten zhang high, and actually didn't fall down. Two large, broad flesh wings abruptly unfurled behind their backs, continuously flapping. They glided over slowly and landed right by the side of the Crown Prince of Pink Flesh.
"Demonic Generals, Flying Yashas!"
Senior Sister Mo's complexion obviously changed!