Star of Sanzang

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

Nitocris respectfully recounted everything that had happened during her journey with Li Ye under Ozymandias's gaze.

Li Ye also explained the matter of the surviving Crusaders to Ozymandias.

"Oh? There was still a group of heretics within my domain? Remnants of the Crusaders destroyed by the Lion King?"

Ozymandias looked at Li Ye with interest before speaking. "The Atlas Institute is of no consequence. As for Trismegistus, I will reclaim it later."

"As for the surviving Crusaders, you will deal with them—"

Ozymandias issued the command as naturally as if it were only right.

Li Ye raised his eyes and met Ozymandias's gaze directly. "Is King Ozymandias planning to support my extermination of the Crusader remnants hiding in the desert?"

"I will give you no support. Or are you saying that you lack the ability to wipe out these Crusaders?"

"No. I alone am enough!"

"Excellent!"

Seeing Li Ye's resolute expression, Ozymandias could not help but laugh. "Knight of the Lion King! Li Ye! Tell me, what did you gain in the Atlas Institute?"

Li Ye's change was obvious. In less than a day, he had become markedly different from the person he had been before heading to the Atlas Institute.

This was the part Nitocris had failed to mention.

It also made Ozymandias curious about what answer Li Ye had received at the Atlas Institute that could bring about such a dramatic transformation.

Faced with Ozymandias's question, Li Ye did not feel nervous. He merely smiled calmly.

"King Ozymandias, I simply recognized the truth. I do not belong to this era. I am someone transferred from another age, and after Chaldea corrects this Singularity, the fated death destined to arrive—"

"Oh? Interesting. You are not a Servant, yet as a living person, you do not belong to this era either. You were transferred here from another time, a poor fool living within this Singularity.

You cannot return to the proper timeline, nor can you remain in this current age—"

Ozymandias's smile did not fade. He was not surprised by Li Ye's origins, as though he had expected them all along.

Seeing Ozymandias's expression, Li Ye continued. "Therefore, I will make an even more absolute comparison. Whether it is My King's tower, your methods, King Ozymandias, or the Chaldea that is soon to arrive!"

"Ha ha ha ha! After using Hermes to discover that you cannot avoid death, you still have the leisure to continue comparing?"

"Excellent! As expected of one I acknowledge. Knight of the Lion King, show me everything you can accomplish from here on!"

Their brief exchange ended, and Li Ye turned to leave the temple.

He headed straight into the boundless desert.

Seeing Li Ye leave, Nitocris hesitated. "Pharaoh—"

Ozymandias raised a hand, signaling her not to continue. "Nitocris, how do you think things will develop from here?"

Searching for a group of people in the endless desert was undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack, and Li Ye knew he lacked the ability to search across a vast area.

This time, even Nitocris did not accompany him. Without the aid of a Magus like Nitocris, Li Ye's operation would undoubtedly face great obstacles.

But Li Ye had a plan of his own.

Lure the snake from its hole, then wait for the rabbit by the tree stump.

Li Ye, who possessed the Holy Grail, was undoubtedly the primary target of the Crusader remnants. As long as he used himself as bait, there was no need to fear that no Crusaders would bite.

Still, there was a risk of things going wrong. If those who came exceeded Li Ye's ability to handle, then his actions would amount to delivering himself right to their doorstep.

He would hand over the Holy Grail he had acquired for nothing and might even lose his life.

"Would I lose?"

Li Ye stood in the vast desert as an endless sandstorm swept toward him.

He took out the Holy Grail. As a thought rose in his mind, the golden cup slowly merged into his palm and sank into his heart—

"I will win!"

Feeling the nearly inexhaustible magical energy within him, Li Ye did not feel delighted, as though merging with the Holy Grail was merely an ordinary matter.

After parting with Nitocris, Holmes, and the others, Li Ye had finally succeeded in using the Holy Grail.

However, the only improvement it gave Li Ye was limitless magical energy. None of his other attributes had risen.

This was also within Li Ye's expectations.

Several hours later,

Dawn gradually broke, yet Li Ye had still not encountered a single Crusader remnant. He began to wonder whether his strategy had been correct.

Just then—

"Help!!

I'm not tasty at all!"

A terrified wail overwhelmed even the endless sandstorm, allowing Li Ye to immediately lock onto its direction and rush over.

When Li Ye arrived, he saw a familiar figure—

"Chimera?!"

A three-headed Chimera prowled over the yellow sands, and the source of the cries was directly behind it.

Its level isn't high. The fusion materials used number fewer than ten people—

Li Ye judged its strength from the magical energy fluctuations radiating from the three-headed Chimera. It posed no threat whatsoever to him now.

After confirming the enemy's information, Li Ye immediately drew his sword back into a stance, holding it one-handed behind him.

"Thunderclap Flash!"

Boom!!

A spray of blood exploded. With a thunderous crash, the Chimera, half its body missing, collapsed to the ground!

After swiftly dealing with the three-headed Chimera, Li Ye followed the cries and saw the figure being besieged by the Crusader remnants.

Not a Magus, but Crusader knights?

Li Ye saw no sign of a Magus. Instead, he saw former colleagues: four Crusader knights surrounding a black-haired woman.

Tch, hiding again?

Li Ye immediately suspected that a Magus was concealed nearby. Aleka's superb concealment magecraft had left a deep impression on him. If Aleka had not rashly attacked and exposed her location, Li Ye would not have been able to discover where she was even afterward.

Assuming the worst, every Magus among the Crusader remnants possessed concealment magecraft of that caliber. This left Li Ye, who lacked any corresponding countermeasures, in a very passive position.

"Ah! Stop it, don't breathe fire! It's hot!

I really am not tasty!"

That is—

Li Ye narrowed his eyes. Though her clothes looked thin, she was undoubtedly a beautiful woman dressed as a monk, holding a Nine-Ringed Vajra Staff.

The magical energy flowing from her body was also at the level of the top Servants Li Ye had seen!

From all the signs, Li Ye quickly guessed this Servant's identity.

With a Spirit Origin of this caliber, how is she getting beaten up?

Seeing those Crusader knights still attacking, Li Ye did not linger. His figure flickered, and he vanished from where he stood.

Bang!

Several dull impacts rang out in quick succession. Li Ye's merciless iron fists sent the Crusader knights crashing to the ground one after another, unconscious.

"Yo, isn't this Master Sanzang?"

Having swiftly resolved the battle, Li Ye casually waved as though greeting an old friend he had not seen for years. Unfortunately, he failed to attract Sanzang's attention.

At that moment, Sanzang had not noticed Li Ye's arrival at all.

"Why—did they have to attack me with a big 'waaah' right when I was weak?

I clearly didn't do anything—

I was just asking some young man for directions."

Sanzang's sorrowful crying was so infectious that Li Ye could not help but cover his ears.

"This is awful. This kind of thing always happens to me.

Not only did I manifest alone, I can't even hear the Bodhisattva's voice.

And since Spirit Body form feels really disgusting, I don't really want to use it. Sob."

Sanzang only became more agitated as she cried. "Sob. It's all because... if only I hadn't given Wukong and the others a vacation!

But there was no helping it. Those idiot disciples were all acting so careless and lazy!"

As though she were pouring out every grievance buried in her heart at once, Sanzang grew more animated the more she spoke. "Wujing is already that old and still single! Go back to Heaven and find yourself a wife already!"

Once the topic turned to her disciples, Sanzang seemed to forget her earlier sadness and began complaining nonstop about her three disciples.

When she mentioned Wuneng, she beamed. "That Wuneng fellow, you really can't judge a book by its cover. He's actually been divorced once! He even has a wife and children. Pigs really can't be underestimated! Nice!

But abandoning his wife is unforgivable, so until he properly apologizes to her, I'm expelling him as my disciple!"

"Last is Wukong! All you have to do is go back to Flower Fruit Mountain, and you can choose whatever you want. Why do you al~ways come here to slack off with me?!

Hurry up and get back to the mountain so everyone can stop worrying!"

After complaining about all three absent disciples, Sanzang naturally turned the topic to herself.

"Me? It's fine if I stay single!

Because I'm going to become a Buddha! Romance can wait until after I become one!"

"Master Sanzang!!"

Li Ye could not take it anymore. He immediately shouted Sanzang's name, trying to interrupt her one-woman show.

Only then did Sanzang seem to notice Li Ye's presence, staring at him with surprise.

Boom!!

The yellow sand exploded as a gigantic Dragon-headed Chimera, seemingly lying in wait for a long time, crawled up from beneath the ground and roared toward the heavens.

Rolling magical energy seemed ready to blanket the sky!

It was as though a dragon's head had been grafted onto the body of a lion and tiger. The bizarre incongruity made Li Ye frown.

And that magical energy was nearly comparable to the dragon he had encountered at the Atlas Institute.

But why had he not discovered it earlier?

Just as expected, a Magus concealed it!

Li Ye's eyes narrowed. He immediately spread his senses to observe the unusual fluctuations around him.

Releasing the Dragon-headed Chimera at this time meant someone had given the order, and that person had to be watching this place!

Just as Li Ye shifted his attention to examine his surroundings, Sanzang's face suddenly flushed red.

"How could this be! Could that strange dragon be—

The Demon Dragon that I accidentally summoned when I wanted to call White Dragon Horse for help because I had no food, and it said it was sorry but it wouldn't go back, so I should just give up, and then it came to attack me instead?!"

Sanzang was stunned.

No, no matter how you look at it, that isn't a dragon!

While observing his surroundings, Li Ye heard Sanzang muttering to herself and nearly blurted out a rebuttal.

Roar! Roar!!

The Dragon-headed Chimera did not care about Li Ye and Sanzang's situation. It charged out with the speed of a cheetah!

Its massive body, a full five meters tall, pounced directly at them at such speed that it was a truly imposing sight.

Fast!

Li Ye spun around sharply. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Sanzang wearing a serious expression as though she were preparing to act, and he shouted, "Tang Sanzang! Shall we take it on together?"

Li Ye also happened to want to see just how far the power contained in Tang Sanzang's top-tier Spirit Origin could go.