Two hours later.
The five arrived atop a stretch of earthen slopes.
Ahead lay a desert—a desert within the forest.
Its end was nowhere in sight. This desert seemed to cover no small area.
"Where did this desert come from? It isn't on the map." Baili Tianming compared the map with their surroundings, his face full of confusion.
"Be careful. Such a huge change couldn't have appeared for no reason."
Gu Chen warned them.
Beside the earthen slope beneath their feet, sparse trees stood in stark contrast to the dense forest in the distance.
This desert seemed to be constantly expanding outward.
Dong Lin walked over to a dead, withered tree and gave it a gentle push.
The roots, once incomparably tough, turned to dust and collapsed at once.
Having lost its final support, the trunk came crashing down.
Yet there was none of the expected dull boom or tremor. The entire trunk turned into fine dust, and a cloud of dust immediately spread through the surroundings.
"So much dust. We can't see anything."
Baili Tianming complained.
"Not good! Everyone, be careful!"
Gu Chen seemed to have realized something and loudly warned the others.
"Don't panic. Wind-Control Art, wind arise!"
Zhao Shuheng cast a spell, summoning a powerful gust.
But it would have been better if the wind had not risen.
As the wind rose, the dust surged. Sand and dust from nowhere completely sealed off everyone's vision.
They now seemed to be caught in a raging sandstorm.
"Something's wrong! This sand and dust is affecting spiritual sense!"
Gu Chen shouted.
"Everyone gather together!"
The dust seemed to muffle sound to some extent as well.
At that moment, Gu Chen and Baili Tianming had gathered together, watching their surroundings warily.
Dong Lin, Tao Yan, and Zhao Shuheng, who were farther away, had all lost their bearings and could only fight on their own.
Dong Lin calmed himself, secretly forming a hand seal as he vigilantly scanned the area.
"It's underground!"
Dong Lin sensed a faint tremor beneath his feet. He immediately sprang away from where he had been standing.
But after only a breath's time, the earth where Dong Lin had stood shattered with a roar.
Two enormous black shadows leaped up from underground.
They stared coldly at Dong Lin.
"Two large strange beasts."
With the sand and dust obstructing his spiritual sense, Dong Lin found it difficult to determine the ranks of the two strange beasts before him.
The two strange beasts did not hesitate, charging fiercely toward Dong Lin while sweeping up sand and stones.
Dong Lin used Moon-Embracing Step, taking two consecutive steps and rising into the air in an attempt to evade their attack.
Who would have thought that the two strange beasts would leap up after Dong Lin as well?
Just as they were about to crash into Dong Lin, he hurriedly used Pine-Wind Treading Snow, abruptly changing direction.
But because of his lack of proficiency, he was half a beat too slow.
The violent sand and stones slammed into Dong Lin, though most of them were blocked by his robe.
The thick shell of the strange beast on the right also scraped across Dong Lin's right arm.
From that slight collision alone, Dong Lin was blasted sideways to the left by a tremendous force.
His fragile spiritual energy shield scattered at the first touch.
Dong Lin crashed heavily to the ground, suffering considerable internal injuries.
"Heavenly Stellar Earth-Thunder, break!"
Heavenly Stellar Earth-Thunder did not have much special effect against strange beasts that had gained intelligence but had yet to become spirits and assume human form.
Perhaps the creator of the technique had assumed that against such little monsters that had not yet transformed, there was no need for any special methods at all.
However, the lightning of Heavenly Stellar Earth-Thunder itself was already far stronger than that of Profound Spirit Earth-Thunder.
At that moment, thunder arose from the void. The two strange beasts had nowhere to evade. Lightning struck their shells, and the thunderous fluid pierced through their thick armor in a single blow.
The two strange beasts immediately let out muffled groans.
Realizing that the human before them was not easy to deal with, the two strange beasts tacitly retreated.
Watching the two troublesome strange beasts slowly withdraw, Dong Lin let out a breath of relief.
"Junior Brother Dong, watch out!"
"Brother Dong, behind you!"
The two voices rang out almost simultaneously.
Behind Dong Lin, the earth exploded in an instant, and an enormous black shadow pounced toward him.
Gu Chen and Baili Tianming arrived one after the other.
A sword and a fist struck both sides of the black shadow. The even larger strange beast merely paused slightly before continuing to charge at Dong Lin.
Dong Lin had already used his movement technique in time, dodging to the side.
But the strange beast was still too fast, violently slamming into the half of Dong Lin's body that had not fully moved aside.
Dong Lin's head immediately spun, and he flew off to the side.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the two strange beasts whose shells he had just pierced with lightning charging madly toward him.
"Damn it!"
Dong Lin pulled a Clearheart Pill from his robes and swallowed it.
His mind cleared somewhat. He hurriedly drew the Thunderclap Sword from his back and flung it forward, activating five Thunder Marks in the process.
Five vast pillars of lightning poured forth, striking toward the two strange beasts.
As the lightning pillars exploded against the shells of the two strange beasts, a thunderstorm engulfed their bodies.
When the thunderstorm dispersed, the two strange beasts appeared before Dong Lin, their auras weak and the shells on their backs shattered beyond recognition.
Dong Lin, seriously injured internally, lay on the ground.
He held a Black Tier lightning talisman in his hand as he watched the battle between Gu Chen and Baili Tianming.
The two were fighting fiercely against a strange beast visibly a size larger than the other two.
Every time Gu Chen swung his sword, a deep gash appeared on the strange beast's shell.
Relying on his sturdy body, Baili Tianming traded blow for blow with the strange beast in a fierce, passionate brawl.
Every exchange with the strange beast made the surrounding earth tremble.
The strange beast gradually began to lose ground, but Baili Tianming had trapped it, leaving it unable to break free and flee.
By then, the sand and dust had gradually dispersed. Tao Yan and Zhao Shuheng each dragged a strange beast of the same kind toward the three from two different directions.
Both bore injuries to varying degrees, silently speaking of the hard battle they had just endured.
Only when Gu Chen seized an opening and pierced the strange beast's head with his sword was the battle completely declared over.
"These Earth-Element Armored Beasts are far too tough."
Baili Tianming wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a breath.
"Is everyone all right?" Gu Chen looked over the group.
Dong Lin circulated his spiritual energy and slowly forced himself to stand.
"Luckily, my dantian wasn't injured."
After carefully checking himself over, Dong Lin breathed a sigh of relief.
"I didn't expect these Earth-Element Armored Beasts to cooperate so well. Seeing that Tianming and I were hard to deal with—
they actually turned around and went after Brother Dong instead."
Gu Chen said with lingering fear on his face.
"A few beasts, yet they have a bit of cunning. Luckily, they didn't choose to attack one person all at once. Otherwise, we would have been in for it.
It took quite a few measures for me to kill the one on my side.
Brother Dong fought three alone and even took down two of them. Not bad, Brother Dong!"
Zhao Shuheng looked at Dong Lin and spoke admiringly.
"Luck, just luck. It was still thanks to Brother Gu and Brother Tianming arriving in time. Otherwise, I would have been in for it."
Dong Lin coughed weakly.
Gu Chen looked at Tao Yan, who was silently meditating nearby.
"Junior Sister Tao, are you all right?"
"Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother Gu. I'm fine."
Aside from Gu Chen, Tao Yan was in the best condition. Only a little blood stained her clothes, which were not damaged. It seemed she had not been drawn into close combat with the strange beasts.
"Everyone was injured badly this time. Let's rest up and head back. We should have gained quite a harvest this time."
Gu Chen looked toward the five Earth-Element Armored Beasts piled into a small mountain in the distance.
Before you continue