After traveling through the Sand Sea for two days.
Xia Li spotted a blackish sandstorm that was constantly churning and roiling.
According to the Desolate Continent Records, this was a phenomenon left behind from the era of the Great Epoch Struggle—a heaven-reaching divine technique unleashed by a supreme being.
Even after tens of thousands of years, the sandstorm showed no signs of weakening. It was even growing stronger, its coverage expanding.
If not for the Buddhist Sect's intervention to suppress it, this black sandstorm would eventually swallow the entire Desolate Continent.
"Could the 'crossing through the Sand Heaven' that old monk mentioned be referring to this black sandstorm?"
Xia Li couldn't help but hesitate. He was a cultivator, true—ordinary sandstorms couldn't harm him. But this black sandstorm looked utterly bizarre. Who knew what would happen if he went in?
What should he do?
Go around the black sandstorm, or go through?
Reaching Diamond Temple had never required crossing through this black sandstorm.
But countless seekers had come to Diamond Temple for enlightenment, and countless had returned empty-handed. With the old monk's hint, Xia Li felt that even if crossing the black sandstorm wasn't a test, there must be some secret hidden within.
"Well, I've come this far."
Xia Li now had the capital for taking risks. His Self had been recorded by his True Self and could "die" once—this was his privilege after ascending dimensions.
And so, Xia Li headed directly toward the black sandstorm. But the moment he reached its edge, he sensed something wrong.
The black sandstorm could devour divine sense and affect mental power.
Going in like this would make it extremely easy to get lost. But this problem wasn't too big—he could rely on the Heaven Chip for directional navigation.
The biggest problem was...
Xia Li extended his hand into the sandstorm. His left hand immediately felt a tearing pain.
Xia Li yanked his hand back immediately. His entire palm was dripping with blood, and the tip of his left index finger had no flesh visible—even the bone was damaged.
"This..."
Xia Li's expression turned grim. He immediately took out various pills to repair the damage. Fortunately, the missing portion wasn't large, and the Vitality Pill could achieve minor bone and flesh regeneration.
Otherwise, this trip back would probably mean getting more prosthetics again.
Prosthetics were never a case of "more is better." The ratio mattered. Once prosthetic ratio exceeded sixty percent, it counted as semi-mechanized modification, and self-cultivation ability would be severely weakened.
His current ratio was still acceptable—only twenty percent prosthetic.
As long as it didn't exceed thirty percent, he was still considered a flesh-and-blood body.
"How am I supposed to cross this sandstorm?"
After one incense stick's time, Xia Li healed his wounds and frowned at the black sandstorm before him. This storm could scrape away flesh and erode bone—anyone who entered would be disintegrated into residue in short order.
【This anomaly contains certain patterns. Analyzing... Please wait.】
At the critical moment, he could still count on the Heaven Chip. The Heaven Chip had detected some pattern. Hearing this, Xia Li calmed himself and simply sat outside to cultivate, waiting for the Heaven Chip to complete its analysis.
But this process was incredibly slow. With Xia Li's current processing power, after sitting outside the sandstorm for a day and night, the progress had only increased by three percent.
But this didn't mean Xia Li would need over a month.
The Heaven Chip's analysis went from slow to fast. As analysis progress increased, the Heaven Chip would also summarize patterns and adjust algorithms, making analysis faster and faster.
On the third day...
When progress reached twelve percent.
The Heaven Chip suddenly warned of approaching people, waking Xia Li from cultivation.
Xia Li looked behind him and spotted three men and two women—five people total—approaching him. Their attire and bearing were all quite distinguished. They should be people who'd come for training.
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Due to its unique history and terrain, Desolate Continent was said to have countless treasures buried beneath the yellow sand, waiting for fated individuals to unearth. Thus, those seeking training were never few.
Although the five were approaching Xia Li, they maintained a certain distance, seemingly having no intention of talking to him.
They walked to the sandstorm and began carefully observing, deploying various detection methods.
"In my opinion, this should be some kind of Wind Dao divine technique, similar to the Nine Heavens Stellar Wind."
"I think these black sands are clearly the most bizarre part. It should be a type of Earth divine technique."
"Or perhaps it was formed by some treasure. After so many years, it might have birthed a heaven-earth treasure—possibly Bone-Eroding Nether Wind."
"I think it's more likely a killing formation."
"Indeed, it could be a Great Killing Formation of Heaven and Earth. After all, the Formation Master Supreme fell here back then."
The five discussed back and forth about what the black sandstorm truly was. After a long discussion, one of them finally looked toward Xia Li.
"Hey, what do you know? Tell us."
That person was extremely impolite, commanding Xia Li to speak. Hearing this, Xia Li knew they weren't friendly, but he wasn't confident he could instantly kill all five of them.
Therefore...
Xia Li immediately and tactfully replied:
"It should be a heaven-earth anomaly—one birthed by a great divine technique."
Heaven-earth anomalies represented many possibilities—the birth of extraordinary treasures, or containing mysterious dao arts.
"Go in and try it."
"I tried. It would kill me. This wind and sand erode soul and bone."
"I didn't see that."
That person's expression was arrogant, commanding Xia Li to go die so they could observe why he died.
Hearing this.
Xia Li stood up directly. His eyes, originally slightly squinted to prevent sand from entering, opened wide. His left eye seemed to contain divine light, while his right eye was even more extraordinary—the pupil constantly contracting as if inhuman.
That was Xia Li's prosthetic eye scanning, starting to lock onto weaknesses.
"Fellow Daoist, please calm your anger!!"
Another person seemed to sense something wrong and immediately stepped forward, bowing with clasped fists toward Xia Li.
"We're just travelers who happened to meet and travel together. I have no intention of making an enemy of you, Fellow Daoist."
With one person speaking up, one of the two women also immediately stepped back.
"Don't splash blood on me."
She seemed to trust the man who had stepped forward to reconcile with Xia Li.
"I don't like causing trouble either."
A handsome young man holding a paper fan and wearing a smile also retreated.
Now, the only ones still showing hostility were the rude man and a seemingly innocent-looking woman.
"What's the meaning of this? Afraid of a Foundation Establishment cultivator?"
The arrogant man snorted coldly, but internally he was also having second thoughts. He'd traveled with these people—he couldn't be that stupid.
Three of the five had backed off, and one's position was unclear.
"He has two wisps of Nascent Soul resentment on him. That's all I'll say. Qiao Daoist, you decide for yourself."
The man who had first apologized to Xia Li pointed out that Xia Li carried Nascent Soul resentment. The moment he said this, everyone present looked at Xia Li with wary eyes.
Foundation Establishment slaying Nascent Soul!
And not just one!
What kind of monster was this? Though they were also geniuses from major factions and could currently fight Nascent Soul cultivators, they asked themselves honestly...
Could they have defeated Nascent Soul at Foundation Establishment?
Being able to escape a Nascent Soul, lasting two moves—that would already be impressive!
