Devour

Lu Miaoting calmed down and said, "We have two choices. One is to stay in Xingyue Oasis and hope that the sandstorm is not serious and the resources of the oasis can make it through. The other is to get away from here and escape to Tianxuan City, where the walls are stronger, there are more resources, and there is the protection of the temple to maintain survival. Otherwise, facing the sandstorm in the desert will only lead to death."

Cheng Bai has other options, he can teleport back to the Colorful Forest or Tianji City to avoid the sandstorm.

He asked Xiaobai to catch up with the hunter team in front and shouted loudly: "The sandstorm is coming, those who are slow will return to the oasis, and those who are fast will move forward at full speed."

The hunters panicked upon hearing this and quickly made their own choices.

Those who only had slower mounts such as the pike, camel, and double-edged saber-toothed elephant hurried back to the Star-Moon Oasis to hide. But those who had swift mounts such as the white moonlight deer, yellow blade-toothed cat, and silver-spotted magic leopard chose to fight hard and run towards Tianxuan City with all their strength.

Cheng Bai took the lead in front of the large group, catching up with the camel dragon who was running at big strides, and also warned that the sandstorm was approaching.

The controller, who was sitting between the small humps on top of the camel dragon's head, turned his head and looked at the approaching dust in the sky. He was horrified and hurriedly urged the camel dragon to speed up.

To make matters worse, a sand monster broke out from the sand in front, baring its fangs and claws at the camel dragon. In the past, groups of hunters could confront it, but a single sand monster might not really dare to fight a large group, but today it was particularly ferocious.

Cheng Bai jumped up and swept past with his knife, instantly taking off the head of the sand monster. He also took the blade down and quickly cut out the crystal core, then quickly caught up with Xiao Bai, jumped back on his mount and continued to gallop ahead to clear the way. He killed several sand monsters that blocked the road one after another, and reaped a lot of rewards.

The people riding on the camel dragon realized that they were in danger. They went from panicking to trying their best to deal with the situation. They gradually threw away heavy objects of low value to lighten the camel dragon's burden and speed up its journey.

A turbid yellow sandstorm was rolling in behind them, but the people standing on the high place of the camel dragon cheered, as they were about to reach a larger oasis. The majestic Tianxuan City stood tall, and hope was right before their eyes.

The temple disciples on the city wall had already noticed the approaching sandstorm and warned the people to pack up their belongings and close their doors. The huge city gate was slowly closing.

Xiaobai ran into the city through the gap of the west gate at a brisk pace. Chengbai lightly shook his palm and tapped the gate as he passed by, and the gate slowly opened again.

The leader of the Temple Legion stationed on the tower saw it clearly and shouted, "Keep the west gate open to let the camel dragon in and then close it. We can't take care of the rest."

Cheng Bai shouted, "There are still dozens of hunters behind the Camel Dragon."

Many hunters' mounts could not catch up with the camel dragon and fell far behind.

The leader of the Temple Legion shook his head and shouted, "If we don't close the city gates in time and let the sand monsters break into the city, disaster will befall the people and their lives will be ruined. Everything has its own importance and we can't take care of both."

Cheng Bai jumped off the giant wolf and said loudly: "I am the Thunder Blade King, the heir of the Yuheng Holy Temple. I will stop the sand monster and will not let anyone break through this door."

The leader of the Temple Legion firmly refused: "The number of sand monsters in the sandstorm is incalculable, how can we stop them? If any one of them comes in, many will be killed or injured. We can't take the risk. The hunters who can reach the Golden Desert are not weak. They can just climb up the tower by themselves."

As they were talking, the galloping camel dragon finally ran into Tianxuan City. Several hunters on fast mounts followed in, and the heavy city gate slammed shut again.

The moment the door closed, Cheng Bai jumped out from the gap.

Lu Miaoting shouted to the tower: "He...my brother really went out to stop the sand monster, you guys help him."

The leader of the Temple Legion waved his hand and issued an order: "Be on full alert and prepare the water cannon. If there are hunters climbing up the tower, we will help them. If it is a sand monster, the legion needs to fight it with all its strength."

Cheng Bai was patrolling outside the city, holding a knife.

The speed of the sandstorm is far beyond the imagination of ordinary people. The strong wind brings with it turbid sand and dust, and the sand hits ordinary people's skin and causes pain. The air is full of the smell of sand, and it is gray like the evening night. The sky is dim and the earth is dark. You can't see your hand in front of you, as if the end of the world will come in the next second.

Cheng Bai deployed his spiritual shield to block the erosion of flying sand, and opened his spiritual eyes to improve visibility. He thought to himself, "This is a true natural phenomenon, with great power. Huangfu Sanchuan's flying sand domain has a similar power, but it cannot be compared. Humans are still too insignificant."

The hunters who failed to run into the city gate in time struggled forward in the sandstorm, trying to approach Tianxuan City, climb the city wall, and hide in the comfortable houses.

Unfortunately, many people and their mounts have lost their sense of direction, and can no longer tell east from west or north, and are even walking further and further away.

Even more dangerous are the sand monsters that roam around in the sandstorms. They thrive like fish in water, coming out from the ground of the desert and wandering around, killing and devouring prey that are trapped in the sandstorms.

The hunters traveling in the Golden Desert are very powerful, and many of them are even above Lu Miaoting. They are generally around level 20. If a dozen of them form a team and cooperate well, they may not lose to a sand monster.

Now they were trapped in a sandstorm and were at an absolute disadvantage as they were scattered and alone. If they were not careful, several hunters would die tragically in the sharp claws and bloody mouth of the sand monster, torn into pieces without a complete body, and their mounts were not spared either.

A hunter had his right hand torn off by a sand monster in a sandstorm. He was bleeding profusely and lost his weapon. In panic, he rushed to the foot of the city wall and desperately used his gecko wall-climbing skills to climb up to the city wall.

The sand monster spots its target and lunges towards the armless hunter. Its four sharp claws will tear the prey into pieces and throw it into its bloody mouth.

The Temple Disciples on the city wall were keeping a close eye on the battle situation. When they noticed a huge figure approaching in the sandstorm, they fired water cannons to attack the target.

High-pressure water cannon shells are a weapon to restrain the sand monsters. If they are hit, they will be paralyzed for a long time. However, the dim visibility greatly reduced the hit rate of the cannons, and the sand monsters actually avoided it.

Seeing that the armless hunter clinging to the wall was in danger, a flash of snow-like knife light came from behind, and the sharp edge flashed, taking away the huge head of the sand monster.

The armless hunter was already in despair and had almost lost all hope, but the bloody disaster did not come. He was ecstatic to have survived the disaster. He endured the pain and climbed up the city wall, thus saving his life.

After killing the sand monster, Cheng Bai did not forget to cut open the prey, quickly took away the crystal core trophy, and continued to hunt for the next target.

Some sand monsters leaped up and rushed towards the dozens of meters high city walls. Their jumping ability was amazing, and they were even able to climb over the city walls. The Temple Legion was slow to react in the sandstorm with low visibility and failed to fire water cannons in time to stop them.

The wind was raging wildly, and even though all the experts were standing on the city walls, they were still unable to stop the sand monster. Just as the threat was about to approach the city walls, a bright sword light like a streak of silk appeared in the air, cutting the sand monster in half, and its body fell to the ground.

The crisis eased a little, and the crowd on the city wall cheered. Several hunters successfully climbed up the city wall and escaped from danger.

The leader of the Temple Legion wore goggles and directed the hunters who temporarily joined the defense to cooperate. He looked towards the city. Whenever the faint flash of sword light burst out, a huge sand monster would fall down.

He was surprised and said, "The Thunder Blade King of Yuheng Holy Temple? He really has some skills and extraordinary power. We are far behind him and feel ashamed of ourselves."

Cheng Bai relied on the spiritual shield to protect himself and the spiritual eyes to identify, and his combat power was almost not reduced. He became the mantis stalking the cicada in the sandstorm hunting ground, with the oriole behind, killing his prey one after another.

More hunters took the opportunity to escape death and climbed up to the Tianxuan city wall one after another to strengthen the legion's strength.

After being killed several times, many sand monsters were frightened and retreated. The leader, the Sand King, became angry and gathered the nearby sand monsters around to attack the powerful enemy together.

This was exactly what Cheng Bai wanted. He was calm and composed, but he turned invisible and entered assassination mode, escalating the battle to a higher level. Cross-shaped sword lights appeared from time to time in the wind and sand, and then disappeared without a trace, killing one huge sand monster after another.

The prey gradually decreased.

The last one standing in front of Cheng Bai was the Sand King who had appeared at the east gate of Tianji City. The giant monster was 24 meters long, with four particularly strong upper arms, much stronger than ordinary sand monsters.

The Sand King was cunning and knew that his opponent was powerful, so as soon as he spotted the white figure, he immediately used the secret art of sand escape, drilled into the ground of the desert, and launched an attack towards his location.

Suddenly, several sharp spikes more than one person tall extended from the ground at the same time. If there was someone here, he would have been pierced with several holes, but unfortunately, he pierced nothing.

Cheng Bai had already hidden himself and entered assassination mode to dodge away. He turned around and used the Pig Head Killing Move, sending out a terrifying sword energy that was over forty meters long, cutting down the ground where the spikes were, and the sand split to the left and right like a raging sea.

There was no trace of the Sand King underground. Cheng Bai was not surprised and hid again looking for an opportunity.

Both sides showed their abilities, used different means to hide themselves, and waited for an opportunity to attack the other side from a distance, and the stealth war intensified.

The Sand King was born with extraordinary perception. He noticed the slight vibration of the footsteps on the ground and once again used the secret technique of earth spikes on the target's location. He extended more and longer sharp spikes, but still missed.

At that moment, Cheng Bai's laxative killing move stabbed down quickly, and the sword energy penetrated deeply into the ground for dozens of meters.

"It hit me."

Cheng Bai felt the touch of the sword energy, and a thick, sour, dark red liquid oozed out of the desert ground. It was corrosive and it was the blood of the sand demon.

But it was not over yet, the ground shook slightly, Cheng Bai reacted quickly and hurriedly avoided the opponent's counterattack.

The desert ground began to boil, and a large amount of sour and smelly liquid gushed up like magma, turning the surrounding sand area into venomous quicksand. If you were not slow to hide, you would be swept deep into it, slowly sinking and turning into pus and blood. This was the Sand King's unique secret technique, "Pond of Quicksand".

Cheng Bai stepped back and watched, thinking to himself: "It's really hard to get out once you get stuck in it. This troublesome monster is cunning enough."

The Sand King hid in the quicksand of the Corruption Pond, and no one could do anything to him. Moreover, it was not a passive defense. The strong wind in the sandstorm blew, and the poisonous sand in the quicksand of the Corruption Pond was blown everywhere. It would soon spread to the surroundings and erode into Tianxuan City. More and more people would fall to the ground due to poisoning if they breathed in the sand or collided with it.

Cheng Bai instantly thought of the key point. How could he let him go on like this? The Sand King's continuous use of his secret skills had exposed his exact position and he was facing death.

"See where you can hide."

He used his sword to open the door of life and death, and slashed down with all his might. The sword energy penetrated deep into the quicksand, and although there was not much movement on the surface, the hidden power was so powerful that it shocked the gods and ghosts, and killed the Sand King hiding underground.

The secret technique of the quicksand in the rot pool dissipated, and the half-buried body of the Sand King slowly emerged from the sand.

"With just this little bit of strength, I've done you justice by letting you take my ultimate move." After Cheng Bai finished speaking, he stepped forward and cut out the Sand King's crystal core. The spherical shape was more perfect than before. He put it in his pocket and turned around to continue hunting.

Having lost their leader, the remaining sand monsters became timid and retreated one after another.

The hunters who escaped saw that fewer and fewer sand monsters were approaching the city walls in the sandstorm. Standing on the city wall, they felt lucky and marveled.

"we won."

"Tianxuan City won a great victory."

"The Thunder Blade King has made the greatest contribution."

The defensive pressure on the disciples of the Holy Temple gradually decreased, and the leader calmed the troops, saying, "The situation has improved, but to quell the sandstorm, we still have to rely on the Lord of the Holy Temple to call the shots."

……

Deep in the Tianxuan Temple, a large group of men and women gathered around the huge open-air altar. Yunjuan and Ningxiang were also here.

The hall master Liu Suyan looked like a young and beautiful woman, but she had white hair, an old voice, and a solemn expression. She activated the altar with all her strength, and a beam of light shot straight into the sky, lighting up the dark sky covered with sand and dust.

The sky was covered with dark clouds, which were getting lower and lower. There were faint deafening thunder and dazzling lightning. Finally, accompanied by a thunder that resounded through the sky, there was a continuous loud noise, and heavy rain poured down like a torrential rain.

The rain washed the dirty sky and earth, mixed with sand and dust, and fell on the ground to form muddy spots. Tianxuan City was covered with dirty mud, but it effectively alleviated the impact of the sandstorm, and the wind and sand in the sky gradually subsided until it calmed down.

Everyone bowed to the altar, ending the ritual.

"If the Star-Moon Oasis can hold on until now, the survivors will be safe." Liu Suyan sighed and led everyone to leave the open-air altar and return to the main hall.

The voices of praise from many disciples of Tianxuan Holy Temple were endless, and they chanted loudly along the way: "The master of the temple has boundless magical power, and he blesses the world and protects the people."

Liu Suyan waved her hand, and the disciples quieted down and stood solemnly by. She took Yun Juan and a few others into the inner hall.

A disciple came in and brought a basin of clean water and a face towel.

Liu Suyan washed her hands and face, combed her appearance, and smiled, "The one with real magical power is the ancient god sealed in the Conferred God Altar. He has been used by my Gentlemen Clan for many years to raise clouds and rain, and to ensure peace in all directions of Tianxuan City."

Yun Juan beside him said with a worried look on her face: "The Yaoguang Temple has been lost, the seal of the altar has loosened, meteors have fallen, sandstorms have arisen, and the world is in chaos. I'm afraid a catastrophe is about to come."

Liu Suyan asked the servant to leave and said calmly: "The seal of the altar was set by the Great Emperor himself. Even the Ancient God himself could do nothing about it. It is just struggling to survive. The biggest trouble at the moment is not the Ancient God, but the Gentlemen Clan's internal speculations and rumors, which are spreading and gradually falling apart."

Yun Juan asked: "Is it because of the Disaster Legion?"

Liu Suyan frowned and said, "The five flag masters of the Disaster Legion have gathered various geniuses, and their strength is not inferior to the seven hall masters. According to rumors, there is also a mysterious commander who is elusive and directing the affairs behind the scenes. He has been causing troubles recently and is indeed a source of trouble."

Yun Juan pondered for a moment and said, "There must be a reason why the Disaster Legion has deviated from the norm. If we can meet with the Legion Commander and discuss it in detail, we may be able to find out the reason."

Liu Suyan advised: "The truth will eventually be revealed. Don't take any risks. The most urgent task is for Palace Master Yun to improve his strength as soon as possible and win the title of Hunter King."

Yun Juan hesitated and said, "There are many talented people in this conference. Shen Ya, Qi Jifen and others are all geniuses of the time. They are extremely powerful and even close to the masters of the major halls. I am afraid it will be difficult for me to win the championship."

"All I need is a weapon that suits my needs. I have been preparing it for Palace Master Yun for many years. Please follow me."

Liu Suyan dismissed her attendants and walked into the treasury of Tianxuan Temple with Yunjuan and Ningxiang.

In the palace, which was enclosed with many layers of doors, there were boxes and chests everywhere, all of which were dazzling. Gold bricks were neatly stacked, and jade articles were arranged in an orderly manner.

The three of them walked up the stairs into the hall and came to the high platform in the center of the treasury. Standing here and looking around, they could take in everything around them, as if they were looking at all the treasures in the world.

But the surrounding jewels are only a foil to the real treasure.

"The best treasure is hidden here." Liu Suyan said solemnly.

She stepped on the mechanism on the platform in a specific order, and the center of the platform slowly opened, raising a round table. On the table lay a round, wheel-shaped sword blade composed of four blades, which was quite similar to the Moonlight Blade, except that its material was purple-black.

Yun Juan's heart was beating wildly, and she murmured, "A moonlight blade forged from shadow-transformed black gold?"

Liu Suyan smiled and said, "The Moonlight Blade is just a test product. The former Kaiyang Palace Master and I collected black gold for many years. We tried every means to obtain the Flying Shadow Stone and smelted it to forge a shadow-transformed black gold sword, which we call the Ghost Light Blade. It is much more powerful than the Moonlight Blade. If we can get a suitable crystal core to embed, it will be comparable to a spiritual weapon."

Ningxiang praised: "What a treasure! Congratulations, sister, for obtaining a weapon that suits your needs."

Yun Juan suppressed her excitement, slowly picked up the ghostly blade, gripped the handle tightly and twisted it gently, rotating the weapon into two pieces at will, becoming two symmetrical double-ended blades, which she wielded in her hand as easily as using her own arms.

"I want to find two top-quality crystal cores to unleash its power." Yun Juan's eyes lit up.

Liu Suyan bowed and said, "With my help, Palace Master Yun can rest assured. We will definitely stand out in the martial arts hunting competition, win the title of Hunter King, leave the Qiongqi Continent, and surpass the world's genius."