The Sand Nightmare Beast in the lead let out a strange shriek, its twin claws raking at the void. In the stone forest, thousands of sharp rocks instantly flew up, condensing in midair into ten-foot sand arrows, their arrowheads flashing coldly as they shot in unison toward the Vermilion Bird's prow.
The fire patterns on the hull flared abruptly, bright as a red-hot iron net. Twelve wing panels snapped outward, spewing flames half a zhang high. The sand arrows crashed into the wall of fire and were instantly melted into scalding mud, which flowed down along the wing panels and congealed into clouds of smoke in midair.
Seeing this, Li Jianning looked toward Li Jianan beside her. "Interested in using them for practice?"
Li Jianan nodded. "Don't get too far from me!"
Li Jianning grinned, rose into the air, and flew straight out of the Vermilion Bird Cloud Boat's protective range. Li Jianan immediately followed. Seeing this, Ning Yun neither stopped them nor showed any intention of stepping forward.
The two had only just flown out of the cloud boat when the Sand Nightmare Beast in the lead swung its twin claws and attacked them.
Its claws released earthy-yellow spiritual light. With each swing, countless grains of sand and stone gathered, condensing into one ten-foot arrow after another. At the same time, the other Sand Nightmare Beasts around it spat out sheets of yellow wind.
The yellow wind howled, sand arrows burst forth, vast and surging, covering the sky and blanketing the earth. In an instant, Li Jianning and Li Jianan were enveloped within it.
But just as the yellow wind closed in, two fierce streams of sword qi erupted, their resplendent sword might like a rainbow piercing the sun, punching through the howling yellow wind, smashing countless sand arrows,