Deep within the Death Sand Sea, night hung low. Beneath the biting wind, yellow sand flowed slowly like golden waves. The stars shone especially brightly overhead, and a brilliant river of stars stretching across the heavens shed its cold radiance, forming a stark contrast with the boundless, deathly silent sands below.
Han Li sat cross-legged in the lee of an enormous dune, his aura blending into the sand sea as he pushed the Essence-Concealing Technique to its limit. He gripped the Mysterious Bone Token tightly. The indistinct rune on its surface gave off a faint warmth, subtly resonating with a certain patch of stars. In his mind, the map of stellar pathways appeared clearly, countless points of light intertwining before converging upon a patch of empty space somewhere at the heart of the sand sea.
"The time is nearly here." Han Li looked up at the sky. Judging by the stars' positions, less than an incense stick's worth of time remained before the Profound Yin Convergence, when that particular stellar power would reach its peak. He took a deep breath and brought himself to his best condition. His golden core early stage spiritual pressure lay contained like a deep abyss, while his spiritual sense swept vigilantly over his surroundings like the keenest feelers. This sand sea was no benign place. Beyond its harsh natural conditions, unknown dangers might well lurk within it.
Time slipped by, second after second. When an inconspicuous dark-purple star at the center of the night sky moved into a particular position, forming a strange zigzag with seven surrounding auxiliary stars-
Hum!
The Mysterious Bone Token in Han Li's hand suddenly erupted with intense dark-purple light! A concentrated beam shot skyward from its tip, ignoring the swirling sand as it struck precisely at the intersection of that