Chapter 45

The gray-black Gobi Desert is littered with chaotic rubble. The occasional weeds or shrubs that manage to grow among the stones are stunted and low, as if they were people hunched over, unable to lift their heads under the crushing weight of life.

Looking into the distance, near the northwestern horizon, the towering Desolate Mountains are nothing more than a long, dark shadow between heaven and earth. In every other direction, one sees only blue sky and black earth. As distance increases, the sky loses its blue and the earth its black, until finally, the sky and earth merge into a hazy, indistinguishable gray.

This is the Great Gobi, one of the three great deserts of the main plane.

On this continent known as the "Main Plane," there are many deserts of varying sizes. Three are particularly vast, located in the northwest, northeast, and southeast of the continent, respectively.

The one in the northwest is called the Great Gobi. Its defining feature is the abundance of stones; aside from the central region, most of it lacks sand, consisting entirely of gray-black gravel barrens. It is prone to violent sandstorms known as "Black Storms." Once one kicks up, even legendary powerhouses must flee for their lives. Because of this, the Desolate Mountains in the west and the Wilderness Empire in the east are completely severed. Only the most fearless merchants, aided by weather-forecasting spells, dare to attempt a crossing in pursuit of exorbitant profits—though most of them vanish without a trace after setting out.

The one in the northeast is the Dead Meteor Desert. This desert is somewhat narrow and elongated, stretching along the coastline. It borders the Dragon Mountains to the north and extends south into the territory of the Blue Moon Kingdom, effectively separating the Holy Angel Kingdom from the sea. It is said that long ago, this desert did not exist. The armies of the Holy Angel Kingdom and the Sea Race fought a fierce battle along this narrow coastline, and their respective gods descended to join the fray. After a cataclysmic war, hundreds of miles of coastline were transformed into a gray-yellow desert. To this day, one can often find giant skeletons and broken weapons in the sands, and many terrifying Demonic Beasts haunt the area. The names "Death" and "Meteor" originate from this history.

The desert in the southeast is called the Golden Desert, arguably the most harmless of the three. It features neither terrifying sandstorms nor horrific monsters, only blue skies and golden sand. The sand is incredibly fine, shimmering like gold under the sun. Standing at the edge of the desert to watch the sun rise or set on the horizon where the sky meets the sand is a world-renowned spectacle. However, this desert is extremely barren; water is almost impossible to find. Even if one has spells to fix coordinates and avoid getting lost, the thirst and heat alone are lethal.

To reach the Arcane Tower Federation, Sui Xiong must first cross the Desolate Mountains, traverse a section of the Great Gobi, follow the Gray Stone Mountains southward, pass through the Ancient Wood Wild Swamp, climb over the Cloud-Breaking Mountains, and finally cross the Primeval Forest.

This route is fraught with danger at every turn. Any normal person who dares to walk it is surely tired of living, and even veteran adventurers would pale at the thought. Under normal circumstances, the most reliable way to travel from the Arcane Tower Federation to the Four Northwest Towns is to take a ship, sail along the coastline, switch to land travel in the northern part of the Gold Coin Federation, and pass through the gap south of the Desolate Mountains to reach Rye Town.

But that route takes a massive detour, and sea travel carries its own set of risks. Although Sui Xiong does not fear the dangers of the sea, he is equally unafraid of the dangers on land. Since he travels by flying rather than walking, the rugged terrain has little impact on him. After some consideration, he chose the straight line.

After all... the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Walking a straight line is the unique privilege of the strong.

Sui Xiong's avatar floated about a hundred meters in the air, flying slowly toward the south-southeast. Every so often, he would stop to cast a spell to confirm his current coordinates before continuing forward.

His destination was a small city in the mid-west of the Arcane Tower Federation called the Golden Tower. It earned its name because a golden magic tower stands in the center of the city. The Arcane Tower Federation is essentially a federation of towns built around magic towers. The residents here are all servants and disciples of mages, and those who serve as officials, even if not spellcasters themselves, are at least relatives of mages. Thus, the name "Land of Mages" was born.

However, that was back when the federation was first founded. After hundreds of years of trials and tribulations, the Land of Mages is no longer so pure; it has become crowded with bureaucrats and nobles.

For instance, the relatives of a high-level mage must surely obtain power and status. The disciples of a legendary mage's disciples must be provided for. If the previous generation worked hard, the next generation should naturally inherit that power and status...

Satan was once a genius youth in Golden Tower City with a bright future. But after a conflict with a boy who had no talent for magic but possessed a grandfather who was a high-level mage, his prospects dimmed. After a period of hitting walls everywhere he turned, he finally abandoned the fantasy of developing peacefully in his hometown, left, and became an adventurer.

That was... nearly ten years ago.

Ten years of wandering and adventuring stripped away his youthful naivety, molding him into a young yet seasoned adventurer who had stepped into the realm of mid-level mages.

But if he hadn't been forced to leave his hometown, perhaps he would have reached his current level in just five years.

When he spoke of this, he seemed to have let go of the past grievances, but Sui Xiong could clearly feel the resentment and unwillingness in his heart through the connection of their souls.

After all... his only mistake in that incident was helping someone he shouldn't have, thereby disturbing that young master's amusement.

Satan did not speak of these things, but since he had already pledged his faith to Sui Xiong, his heart was undefended. When those unforgettable memories surged like a tide, Sui Xiong didn't even need to pry; he saw those scenes clearly.

And so, he made a silent decision to help his believer settle this score during their journey.

No, even if Satan weren't his believer, now that he knew, he wouldn't just stand by.

Where the road is uneven, someone will walk it; where there is injustice, someone will handle it. If no one else will, then the Great Jellyfish God can.

Look, the Great Jellyfish God is on the move.

Perhaps due to sheer good luck, Sui Xiong had been flying for nearly a full day and was approaching the edge of the Great Gobi—after all, his route didn't require crossing the entire desert, just skirting the edge.

The setting sun had already dipped below the horizon. Deprived of the sun's warmth, the ground temperature was dropping rapidly. The cold of a night in the Great Gobi is no less intense than that of the northern ice fields.

However, the night has its advantages. In this freezing cold, most dangerous venomous insects fall into a deep sleep, and the most perilous sandstorms rarely occur at night. As long as one remains vigilant against the monsters that emerge after dark, traveling by night and resting by day can actually be safer.

Sui Xiong floated quietly in the air. He didn't actually need to rest, but long-standing habits made him enjoy resting when night fell, savoring the deep sleep that had been indispensable when he was human.

The moonlight was lovely tonight. The jellyfish stretched its body as much as possible, taking advantage of the rest to fully absorb the moonlight. Around it, magic power formed a massive vortex, drawing in the mana from hundreds of meters away. If any creature with magical vision were to look up at the sky, they would surely be startled by this bizarre sight.

For Sui Xiong, this was rest, a meal, and cultivation all in one.

Just as he was quietly enjoying his rest, he suddenly heard the sounds of a chase coming from the ground. Following the noise, he saw a group of panicked people being hunted by a man in black riding a One-Horned Swift Dragon.

Sui Xiong paused, intending to rush over to save them, but then he stopped.

He noticed that more than one of the people being hunted wore strange necklaces made of bones strung together. The one in the center, clearly their leader, wore a necklace made of severed human fingers!

Expanding his soul tentacles, within the god's vision, Sui Xiong saw weeping souls entwined around those necklaces, wailing as they were unable to depart.

"Hunters... believers of the God of Hunting and Slaughter. Evil wretches who treat 'people' as prey, many of whom moonlight as assassins..." As a common evil force, Sui Xiong recognized their origins at a glance—the "Hunter's Necklace" around their necks was far too obvious a piece of evidence for any experienced adventurer to mistake.

Although Sui Xiong lacked adventuring experience, the information from the God of Redemption mentioned this evil organization: they were the most brutal branch of the God of Hunting and Slaughter's followers, adhering to the absurd belief that "only by hunting one's own kind can one please the gods." They were obsessed with killing their own kin and performing cruel blood sacrifices. The necklaces they wore were remnants of the victims they had murdered and sacrificed. Using the power of these necklaces, they bound and tortured the souls of the dead as a symbol of honor and strength, from which they derived several powerful spells.

Undoubtedly, even among villains, the "Hunters" were among the most cruel and terrifying. Since he had encountered them today, Sui Xiong had no intention of letting them see tomorrow's sun!

The man in black chasing them was no saint either. While he had no vengeful spirits clinging to him, in the eyes of the special spell "Eye of Alignment Detection," he appeared a vibrant, intense red—clearly a violent, combative, and ruthless character who had killed countless people.

As a side note, looking at the "Hunters" with the "Eye of Alignment Detection" revealed a churning, murky blackness, so foul it was nauseating.

Sui Xiong guessed that the scene unfolding before him was a classic underworld trope—dogs eating dogs.

Thanks to readers "Qingmu zzz," "Xuan Bo," and "Disease and Roses" for their enthusiastic tips. Everyone's support is the motivation for my updates!