Early the next morning, the sky over the Crimson Sand Desert began to pale like a fish's belly, and the dark red clouds took on a faint golden edge.
Xiao Yan was ready to set out. Dressed in close-fitting azure clothes, he carried the Heavy Xuan Ruler on his back, reforged from Great Thousand World materials and imbued with the power of Heavenly Flames. His gaze was sharp, his presence steady. After breaking through to Peak Origin King, his strength had risen another level. Though he had no certainty of victory against the High-Grade Origin Emperor Sand Prison Emperor, he at least had the strength to fight it.
The Sand Keeper stood at the edge of the oasis, leaning on his deadwood staff, with the crimson sand lizard lying docilely at his feet.
"The Sand Prison Emperor's lair is in the Heart-Burning Sand Sea. The sand there contains power that burns the heart and corrodes the bones. Even an ordinary Origin Emperor who enters will have their mind corroded." The Sand Keeper handed Xiao Yan a crimson bead. "This is the Heart-Calming Pearl. It can resist the erosion of the heart-burning sand. Keep it safe."
Xiao Yan took the Heart-Calming Pearl and felt its warmth in his hand. A gentle power slowly flowed from it, soothing his mind. He put it away carefully. "Many thanks, senior."
"Crimson Sand will take you there. It knows the paths through the desert and can lend you a hand at a critical moment." The Sand Keeper patted the crimson sand lizard on the head.
The crimson sand lizard let out a low growl, as though responding to the Sand Keeper, then turned and nodded its massive head at Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan was somewhat surprised. He had not expected this vicious beast to obey the Sand Keeper's orders and escort him. He bowed to the Sand Keeper once more. "Take care, senior. I'll be back shortly."
The Sand Keeper waved and watched Xiao Yan leap onto the crimson sand lizard's back.
"Let's go."
The crimson sand lizard growled, pushed off with all four limbs, and shot out of the oasis like an arrow loosed from a bow, racing toward the depths of the desert.
Sitting on the crimson sand lizard's broad back, Xiao Yan could clearly feel the terrifying power contained within it. Each bound covered several dozen feet, and it was a little faster than he could fly at full speed.
The scenery grew ever more desolate along the way. Dunes of crimson-gold sand rose and fell in an endless expanse, and here and there lay bleached bones emanating a dangerous presence, evidently left by creatures that had wandered into this place by mistake.
After roughly half a day, the dunes ahead gradually darkened to an eerie deep red. A scorching, pungent presence filled the air, leaving the mind in a daze. This was the Heart-Burning Sand Sea the Sand Keeper had spoken of.
Xiao Yan immediately took out the Heart-Calming Pearl and held it in his hand. A cool power instantly flowed through his body, dispelling the presence that corroded his mind and clearing his head.
The crimson sand lizard slowed down, evidently wary of this sea of sand as well. It picked its way carefully across the dark red ground, leaving a deep footprint with every step, each one quickly filled by the shifting sand.
After traveling several hundred miles into the Heart-Burning Sand Sea, they came upon a massive sand mountain. A pitch-black cave lay at its center, surrounded by enormous scattered bones that gave off a chilling presence.
"Is that the Sand Prison Emperor's lair?" Xiao Yan's gaze sharpened. He could feel a terrifying pressure coming from the cave, several times more powerful than that of the crimson sand lizard, like a slumbering primordial beast.
The crimson sand lizard stopped and growled several times at the cave, seemingly in warning. Then it turned and nodded at Xiao Yan, indicating that they had reached their destination.
Xiao Yan jumped down and patted the crimson sand lizard's head. "Thank you."
The crimson sand lizard growled and retreated several hundred feet, keeping watch from a distance. Evidently, it had no intention of joining the coming battle.
Xiao Yan took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the Heavy Xuan Ruler. Origin Qi and Heavenly Flames quietly circulated within him as he walked toward the cave, one step at a time.
The closer he drew to the cave, the stronger the pressure became, and the denser the heart-burning power in the air grew. If not for the Heart-Calming Pearl protecting him, his mind would likely have fallen long ago.
"Roar!"
Just as Xiao Yan was about to enter the cave, a deafening roar erupted from within, like thunder exploding across the nine heavens. The entire sand mountain shook violently.
A massive figure burst out of the cave, kicking up a skyful of sand and dust.
It was a scorpion-like beast nearly two hundred feet long, its entire body covered in a dark golden carapace bristling with sharp bone spikes that gleamed with a cold, eerie light. It had eight thick, long legs, each ending in claws as sharp as sickles. Most striking of all was its thick tail, tipped with a stinger gleaming black and emanating a deadly poisonous presence that struck terror into anyone who sensed it.
A pair of enormous compound eyes sat on its head, flashing with cold red light as they locked onto Xiao Yan, full of savagery and killing intent.
So this is the Sand Prison Emperor? Xiao Yan's heart sank. The presence it gave off was even more terrifying than he had imagined. It had reached the Peak High-Grade Origin Emperor level, only one step away from Peak Origin Emperor!
The Sand Prison Emperor clearly regarded Xiao Yan as an intruder. It roared and pushed off with all eight legs, lunging at him like a bolt of dark golden lightning. Its enormous pincers snapped toward him with enough force to tear through space.
Xiao Yan did not dare be careless. He used a movement technique and narrowly dodged the pincers.
"Boom!"
The pincers struck the sand, smashing a huge, deep crater into the hard ground in an instant and filling the air with dust.
Xiao Yan seized the chance to attack. Green Lotus Core Flame blazed to life on the Heavy Xuan Ruler as he smashed it toward the Sand Prison Emperor's tail, trailing scorching heat.
"Clang!"
The Heavy Xuan Ruler collided with the Sand Prison Emperor's carapace with a piercing metallic clang, sending sparks flying.
Xiao Yan felt a tremendous force strike back, numbing his arm slightly. The Heavy Xuan Ruler bounced away, leaving only a shallow white mark on the Sand Prison Emperor's carapace.
What a hard carapace! Xiao Yan was inwardly startled. The Sand Prison Emperor's defenses were even more formidable than he had imagined.
Enraged by Xiao Yan's attack, the Sand Prison Emperor whipped its tail around. Its stinger tore through the air toward him like a bolt of black lightning. Drops of black venom fell from it onto the sand, instantly corroding little pits into the ground.
Xiao Yan's pupils contracted. Not daring to let the stinger hit him, he dodged repeatedly, moving like a ghost.
"Roar!"
Seeing its attack miss, the Sand Prison Emperor grew even more frenzied. It opened its enormous maw and spat out a dark red torrent of sand, dense with heart-burning power, which swept toward Xiao Yan like a tide.
Xiao Yan's gaze turned cold. The two kinds of Heavenly Flames within him erupted at once, forming a massive barrier of fire in front of him.
"Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!"
The dark red torrent of sand struck the flame barrier with a piercing hiss. The heart-burning power within the torrent steadily ate away at the barrier, making it shake violently.
Xiao Yan could feel that this torrent was dozens of times more powerful than the heart-burning sand outside. Even the Heavenly Flames struggled to hold it back completely.
I can't keep defending passively!
A ruthless light flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes. He abruptly withdrew the flame barrier and shot toward the Sand Prison Emperor like an arrow loosed from a bow. At the same time, he poured Heavenly Flames into the Heavy Xuan Ruler, causing it to burst with unprecedented light.
"Heavenly Flames: Shatter Delusion!"
Xiao Yan gave a low shout. The Heavy Xuan Ruler swept past the Sand Prison Emperor's pincers and stinger with the might to burn mountains and boil seas, smashing toward the compound eyes on its head!
That was the only part of the Sand Prison Emperor's body unprotected by its carapace-and its weak point!
The Sand Prison Emperor evidently had not expected Xiao Yan to be so bold as to close in and attack its weak point. Panic flashed in its compound eyes, but it was too late to dodge.
"Bang!"
The Heavy Xuan Ruler struck the Sand Prison Emperor's compound eye squarely. Scorching Heavenly Flames erupted in an instant, burning its eyeball.
"Roar!"
The Sand Prison Emperor let out an agonized shriek and rolled wildly, its enormous body churning the surrounding sand into a complete mess.
Xiao Yan took the opportunity to retreat and put some distance between them. Watching the Sand Prison Emperor struggle in pain on the ground, he caught his breath. That blow had taken almost all his strength.
After rolling for a while, the Sand Prison Emperor gradually came to a stop. One of its compound eyes had been burned out by the Heavenly Flames, and dark red blood flowed from it. Its other eye was full of venomous hatred and madness as it stared fixedly at Xiao Yan.
"Roar!"
The Sand Prison Emperor roared again. This time, its presence began to surge. Black markings appeared across its dark golden carapace, and it gave off an even more terrifying presence.
It's staking its life! Xiao Yan's heart tightened. He could feel the Sand Prison Emperor burning its own origin to gain greater power.
The Sand Prison Emperor thrust its limbs into the sand, and the entire sand mountain shook violently. Countless sand spikes burst from the ground beneath Xiao Yan's feet, cutting off every path of escape!
At the same time, the Sand Prison Emperor swung its tail again, driving its stinger toward Xiao Yan with devastating force!
Sand spikes in front, a stinger behind-there was nowhere to dodge!
At that critical moment, resolve flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes, and he pulled the Void Origin Stone Fragment from his Storage Ring.
"Hum!"
When the Void Origin Stone Fragment came into contact with the power unleashed by the Sand Prison Emperor, it once again burst with a soft light, and a strange spatial power spread outward.
Xiao Yan felt the space around him twist slightly, and his body seemed to grow much lighter. The instant before the sand spikes and stinger struck him, his body shifted several feet sideways in a strange motion, narrowly evading the attacks!
Spatial power! Xiao Yan's heart leaped. He had not expected the Void Origin Stone Fragment to work again under these circumstances!
The Sand Prison Emperor evidently had not expected Xiao Yan to evade the attacks either, and a flicker of astonishment passed through its eye.
Now!
Xiao Yan seized the fleeting opportunity and poured every last bit of Origin Qi and Heavenly Flames within him into the Heavy Xuan Ruler. He leaped into the air like a war god of the nine heavens, wielding the ruler as it burned with three-colored flames, and brought it crashing down toward the Sand Prison Emperor's remaining intact compound eye!
This blow carried all his strength and conviction!
"Heavenly Flames: Emperor Flame Lotus!"
The three-colored flames gathered at the tip of the Heavy Xuan Ruler into a massive lotus, which crashed down on the Sand Prison Emperor's compound eye with the might to burn the heavens and destroy the earth!
"Boom!"
Devastating power erupted in an instant. The Sand Prison Emperor's other compound eye was completely burned out, and dark red blood gushed forth.
"Roar..."
The Sand Prison Emperor let out a faint, desperate howl. Its enormous body swayed, and at last it could no longer hold itself up. It crashed heavily to the ground, twitched a few times, and lost all signs of life.
Xiao Yan landed on the ground, gasping for breath, his face as pale as paper. His Origin Qi and Heavenly Flames were almost completely exhausted, and he could barely stand. But as he looked at the Sand Prison Emperor's corpse, a faint smile appeared in his eyes.
I won!
Just then, the sand beside the Sand Prison Emperor's corpse slowly rose, and a stone the size of a human head emerged from it, glowing with a pale golden light.
The stone was translucent throughout, as though countless stars were moving within it. It emanated a steady, immense spatial power. It was the Origin Stabilizing Divine Stone!
Xiao Yan forced himself forward and picked up the Origin Stabilizing Divine Stone. The divine stone felt warm and smooth in his hand, and a gentle spatial power flowed through his body, making his badly depleted body feel much more comfortable.
"I finally got it." Xiao Yan carefully placed the Origin Stabilizing Divine Stone in his Storage Ring, a great weight lifted from his heart.
With the Origin Stabilizing Divine Stone, perhaps he really could destroy the Space Fragment and stop the Blood Shadow Cult's scheme.
He looked up at the crimson sand lizard in the distance and called out, "Let's go back."
The crimson sand lizard growled and hurried over to Xiao Yan, lowering its head docilely.
Xiao Yan leaped onto the crimson sand lizard's back and looked back at the Sand Prison Emperor's lair. Then he said, "Let's go."
The crimson sand lizard growled, turned, and raced off toward the oasis.
The dark red Heart-Burning Sand Sea gradually receded behind them. Xiao Yan leaned against the crimson sand lizard's back, feeling the hot wind blowing in his face. His heart was filled with exhaustion, but also a trace of satisfaction.
Though this trip to the Crimson Sand Desert had been perilous, it had also brought rich rewards. He had not only broken through to a new realm and obtained the Origin Stabilizing Divine Stone, but also learned more secrets about the Great Thousand World and the Domain of Darkness.
But he knew this was far from over.
The threat of the Blood Shadow Cult remained, and the spatial passage could be opened at any moment. He had to return to the Northern Region as soon as possible and stop it all.
But the Crimson Sand Desert was hundreds of millions of light-years from the Northern Region. How was he to get back?
Xiao Yan looked at the Void Origin Stone Fragment in his hand, a glimmer of anticipation in his eyes. Perhaps the answer lay within this mysterious piece of jade.
The crimson sand lizard carried Xiao Yan across the crimson-gold desert toward the oasis, leaving a long trail behind it.
On the distant horizon, the dark red clouds gradually dispersed, revealing a sliver of true blue sky.