Star of Sanzang

"Pharaoh, we found the Atlas Institute in the middle of the desert—"

Nitocris spoke respectfully, recounting the many events that had transpired during her journey with Li Ye under Ozymandias's gaze.

Meanwhile, Li Ye clarified the matter of the Crusader remnants to Ozymandias.

"Ho? There are still some heretics in my domain, Crusader remnants destroyed by the Lion King?"

Ozymandias looked at Li Ye with amusement, then spoke, "The Atlas Institute is irrelevant. As for Trismegistus, I will retrieve him later."

"However, the Crusader remnants, you shall deal with them yourself—"

Ozymandias issued the command naturally, as if it were a given.

Upon hearing this, Li Ye raised his eyes and met Ozymandias's gaze directly. "King Ozymandias, are you prepared to support me in eradicating the Crusader remnants hiding in the desert?"

"I will not offer you any support. Or perhaps, your abilities are insufficient to eradicate these Crusaders?"

"No, I alone am sufficient!"

"Very good!"

Seeing Li Ye's confident expression, Ozymandias couldn't help but laugh. "Knight of the Lion King! Li Ye! Tell me, what did you obtain at the Atlas Institute!"

Li Ye's transformation was significant. In less than a day, he was markedly different from the Li Ye who had set out for the Atlas Institute.

This difference was something Nitocris had been unable to articulate.

It also made Ozymandias curious about what answers Li Ye had found at the Atlas Institute that caused such a profound change.

Facing Ozymandias's question, Li Ye felt no tension, merely offering a calm smile.

"King Ozymandias, I have simply come to terms with the facts. I am not from this era, but a transfer from another. After Chaldea corrects the Singularity, the destined death that awaits—"

"Ho? Interesting. You are not a Servant, and as a living being, you are not from this era either. You are a transfer from another time, an unlucky fellow living in this Singularity. You can neither return to the correct time nor remain in the current era—"

Ozymandias's smile didn't diminish, and he wasn't surprised by Li Ye's origins, as if it were within his expectations.

Seeing Ozymandias's expression, Li Ye continued, "Therefore, I will conduct a more absolute comparison. Whether it is My King's [Tower], or King Ozymandias's methods, or the incoming Chaldea!"

"Hahahaha, after using Hermes to discover your own unavoidable death, you still have the leisure to continue making comparisons?"

"Very good! As expected of someone I approve of, Knight of the Lion King, how much further can you go? Show me everything to your heart's content!"

The brief exchange concluded, and Li Ye turned to leave the temple.

He headed straight for the vast desert.

Seeing Li Ye leave, Nitocris hesitated, wanting to speak. "Pharaoh—"

Ozymandias raised his hand, signaling her to stop. "Nitocris, what do you think will happen next?"

Searching for a group of people in the vast desert was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Li Ye knew he lacked the ability for large-scale searches.

This time, even Nitocris had not accompanied him. Without the help of Nitocris, a Magus, Li Ye's actions would undoubtedly face significant resistance.

But Li Ye also had his own plan.

Lure the snake out of its hole, and wait for the rabbit by the stump.

As the holder of the Holy Grail, Li Ye was undoubtedly the primary target for the Crusader remnants. As long as he acted as bait, he wasn't afraid that no Crusaders would take the hook.

However, there was still a risk of failure. If the approaching enemies exceeded Li Ye's processing capacity, then this action would be akin to delivering himself. He would be giving away the Holy Grail he had obtained, and might even lose his life.

"Will I lose?"

Li Ye stood in the vast desert as an endless sandstorm rolled in.

He took out the Holy Grail. As a thought arose, the golden cup slowly merged into Li Ye's palm, sinking into his heart—

"I will win!"

Feeling the nearly endless magic power within him, Li Ye felt no joy. It was as if integrating the Holy Grail was a commonplace event for him.

After bidding farewell to Nitocris, Holmes, and others, Li Ye had finally successfully used the Holy Grail.

However, the improvement for Li Ye was limited to endless magic power; other stats did not increase. This was within Li Ye's expectations.

Several hours later, As dawn broke, Li Ye had still not encountered a single Crusader remnant, which made him doubt the correctness of his strategy.

Just then.

"Help!! I'm not tasty at all!"

A cry of terror, filled with fear, overwhelmed the endless sandstorm, allowing Li Ye to pinpoint the location and rush over.

By the time Li Ye arrived, he saw a familiar figure—

"Chimera?!"

A three-headed chimera loitered on the yellow sand, and behind it was the source of the wailing.

'Not a high rank, and the fusion material used is less than ten people—'

Li Ye judged its strength from the magical fluctuations emanating from the three-headed chimera, realizing it posed no threat to him in his current state.

After confirming the enemy's information, Li Ye immediately drew his sword, pulling it back with one hand.

"Thunderclap Flash!"

BOOM!!

A cloud of blood mist exploded, and with a roar, the chimera, missing half its body, crashed to the ground!

After quickly dealing with the three-headed chimera, Li Ye followed the sound of wailing and saw a figure being besieged by remnants of the Crusaders.

'Not a Magus, but a Crusader Knight?'

Li Ye hadn't seen any Magus, but instead saw a former colleague. Four Crusader Knights were surrounding a black-haired woman.

'Tch, hiding again?'

Li Ye's first thought was to suspect if there were any hidden Magus nearby. But Aleka's exquisite concealment magic was deeply etched in Li Ye's memory; if Aleka hadn't made a rash move and revealed her position, Li Ye wouldn't have been able to find her later.

Worst-case scenario, the Magus among the Crusader remnants possessed that level of concealment magic. This put Li Ye, lacking corresponding countermeasures, in a very passive position.

"Ah! Stop, don't breathe fire! It's hot! I'm really not tasty!"

'That's—'

Li Ye narrowed his eyes. Despite her thin clothing, she was undoubtedly a beautiful woman dressed as a monk, holding a nine-ringed staff.

And the magical power emanating from her was on par with the top Servants Li Ye had encountered!

Based on the various signs, Li Ye quickly deduced the Servant's identity.

'With such a top-tier Spirit Base, why is she getting beaten?'

Seeing the Crusader Knights still attacking, Li Ye didn't hesitate. His figure flickered, and he vanished from his spot.

Bang!

With several muffled thuds, Li Ye's relentless fists sent the Crusader Knights to the ground, unconscious.

"Yo, isn't this Master Sanzang!"

After quickly ending the fight, Li Ye casually waved, as if greeting an old friend he hadn't seen in years. Unfortunately, it didn't attract Sanzang's attention.

At this moment, Sanzang was completely unaware of Li Ye's arrival.

"Why—do you only attack when I'm weak, and then suddenly ambush me? I really, didn't do, anything— I was just asking, a young man, for directions."

Sanzang's sorrowful cries made Li Ye empathize, forcing him to cover his ears.

"This is so annoying. I always encounter these things. Not only are multiple people manifesting, but I can't even hear the Bodhisattva's voice anymore. And it feels disgusting when I materialize, so I don't really want to do it. Wuwu"

Sanzang cried more and more agitatedly, "Wuwu... It's all because... If only I hadn't given Wukong and the others a vacation! But it can't be helped, who told those foolish disciples to be so lackadaisical!"

As if pouring out all her pent-up complaints, Sanzang spoke with increasing fervor, "Wujing is already that age and still single! Go back to heaven and find a wife!"

As the topic shifted to her disciples, Sanzang seemed to forget her sadness and incessantly complained about the three disciples.

When she spoke of Wuneng, her eyes lit up, "Wuneng, that guy, you can't judge a book by its cover; he's actually been divorced once! He even has a wife and kids. Pigs are not to be underestimated! Nice! But abandoning his wife is unforgivable, so I'm expelling this disciple until he properly apologizes to his wife!"

"And finally, Wukong! He could choose whoever he wants when he returns to Flower Fruit Mountain, so why does he always come to me to slack off! Hurry up and go back to the mountain so everyone can rest assured!"

After complaining about the three absent disciples, Sanzang logically shifted the topic to herself:

"Me? I'm fine being single! Because I'm going to become a Buddha! Love and all that can wait until after I've become a Buddha!"

"Master Sanzang!!"

Li Ye couldn't take it anymore and immediately shouted Sanzang's title, trying to interrupt her solo performance.

It was only then that Sanzang seemed to notice Li Ye's presence, looking at him with surprise.

BOOM!!

The yellow sand exploded as a massive, dragon-headed chimera, as if lurking for a long time, crawled out of the ground and roared at the sky.

The surging magic power seemed to cover the sky!

As if a dragon's head had been transplanted onto a lion-tiger's body, the bizarre incongruity made Li Ye frown.

And that magic power, it could almost rival the great dragons Li Ye had seen at the Atlas Institute before.

But why hadn't he discovered it before?

'As expected, some Magus hid it!'

Li Ye's gaze sharpened, and he immediately expanded his senses to observe the abnormal fluctuations around him.

To unleash a Dragon-headed Chimera at this moment, someone must have signaled it, and that person must be observing this place!

Just as Li Ye shifted his attention to observe his surroundings, Sanzang suddenly blushed.

"How can this be! Could that strange dragon be!

The result of summoning with the thought of [Because there's no food, I want to call the White Dragon Horse for help] failed!

And that thing said [I'm sorry, but I'm not going back, give up], and instead came to attack me, this magic dragon!"

Sanzang was shocked.

'No, it doesn't look like a dragon at all!'

Li Ye, who was observing his surroundings, heard Sanzang's muttering and almost blurted out a rebuttal.

ROAR ROAR!!

The Dragon-headed Chimera paid no mind to Li Ye and Sanzang's situation and charged out with the speed of a leopard!

Its massive body, a full five meters tall, lunging forward at such speed was quite a visual shock.

'Fast!'

Li Ye spun around abruptly, his peripheral vision catching Sanzang's serious expression, as if she were preparing to act. He then shouted, "Master Sanzang! Do you want to team up!"

Li Ye also wanted to see just how far the power contained within Xuanzang's top-tier Spirit Origin could go.