A blessing in disguise, a law-nurturing divine ability (please vote with your monthly tickets)

The crimson-gold sun scorched the entire land, raising layer upon layer of reddish-gold smoke from the fiery red sand until a golden haze shrouded the desert.

Only the distant oasis, like a sacred sanctuary, drew every living creature toward it.

At that moment, countless spirit boats were arriving from every direction.

These were hardly fine vessels. Some were first-tier, others second-tier; crude, plain, and slow were the best words to describe them.

Others had no spirit boats at all. Wrapped tightly in protective clothing, they rode spirit beasts native to the desert beneath the blazing sun.

There were even cultivators with neither boats nor spirit beasts, making their slow way barefoot across the Desert Sea.

These cultivators naturally belonged to the subordinate families and factions of the Desert Sea's Ye Family, though there were also many rogue cultivators among them.

They were neither entitled to use the Ye Family's teleportation arrays nor able to afford them. They could only set out early aboard spirit boats toward the Heavenly Phoenix Oasis, afraid of missing the Nascent Soul ceremony and the Nascent Soul lecture.

Among the many spirit boats, those of the Ma Family and Wan Family were undoubtedly among the most luxurious.

Their third-tier spirit boats blotted out the sky, swift as shuttles of light piercing the clouds. Even a passing glimpse was enough to inspire envy.

"The Xu Family really did take the teleportation array," several Foundation Establishment cultivators said aboard the Ma Family's boat.

Their gazes toward Ma Xiuyuan grew a little more respectful.

Clearly, he had guessed correctly. The Xu Family possessed an extraordinary treasure and had taken precautions against the Ma Family and Wan Family well in advance.

Not only had their key members arrived by teleportation array, but the others they sent were merely peripheral clansmen,