Night slowly spread over the boundless sands of the Begaritt Continent like an enormous sheet of black velvet.
The temperature plummeted, the daytime heat that could cook slices of meat giving way to a bone-piercing chill.
But beneath the massive rock formation where Cui Ciyou and Elinalise had settled, they enjoyed a rare pocket of peace.
A blazing campfire bathed the surrounding dozens of meters in warmth and light, driving back the darkness and cold.
The flickering flames cast a soft golden glow over Cui Ciyou, Elinalise, and the enormous rock wall standing silently behind them.
Atop the rocks dozens of meters above their heads, the griffin beast Cui Ciyou had subdued with his overwhelming Pressure stood like a silent statue, fulfilling its duty as their night watchman.
Its sharp golden eyes were an absolute warning to every lurking monster in its territory.
"Looks like we can finally get a good night's sleep."
Elinalise stretched languidly, her perfect curves flickering in and out of view in the firelight.
"Those annoying little things wouldn't dare trespass on this 'Lord of the Sky's' territory."
By "little things," she naturally meant the nocturnal monsters that were so difficult to guard against, particularly female dream demons, which specialized in mental intrusion.
Griffin beasts were fiercely territorial. Within a day's journey of its nest, almost no other large monster would dare set foot.
In other words, this was a rare safe haven amid this deadly sea of sand.
Cui Ciyou nodded as he deftly prepared the leg meat of a Velociraptor he had hunted during the day.
Elinalise looked at the knotty, sinewy chunk of reptile meat in his hands, which hardly looked appetizing.
Then she glanced up at the imposing figure atop the rocks.
The Velociraptor meat looked much like the meat of lizards,