The old man's voice was raspy, like sandpaper rubbing together. “You... aren't people of the Eye of the Sand?”

Bai Cheng stepped forward, her tone calm: “We are merely travelers passing through this place. What is this Eye of the Sand you speak of?”

Hearing this, the light in the old man's eyes intensified. He stumbled forward a few steps, nearly falling, but was caught by the young man beside him.

Trembling, he pointed toward the towering city walls deep within the island:

“There... that was originally our homeland, the Sand Kingdom... But three years ago, a group of sorcerers calling themselves the Eye of the Sand arrived,

They covered the entire island with strange formations, draining our life force... Now, the city is just an empty shell, and those demons come regularly to harvest...”

“Harvest?” Yu Nian pressed. “Do they also collect emotional energy?”

The old man nodded, tears streaming down his face: “Not just emotions... even our stamina, memories, and even our hope for tomorrow are slowly sucked away by that pink mist... Those of us who escaped can only hide on the edge of the desert, surviving by digging up sand roots and drinking dew...”

Leng Ningxue suddenly spoke: “Pink mist? The same as the one in the Emerald Sea?”

“The color is similar... but the mist here is fainter, almost invisible when mixed with the heat haze.” The old man wiped a tear. “Only on the New Moon day each month does the mist thicken. That's when the Eye of the Sand people enter the city to hold a ceremony... We secretly watched once. They were gathered around a deep well, and dark red light emerged from the well...”

Bai Cheng exchanged glances with her companions.

The dark red light was exactly the same as the crystalline energy left behind when the leader's clone dissipated.

“Where is that well?” Bai Cheng asked.

The old man pointed toward the tallest pyramid-shaped building in the center of the city: “Deep beneath the Royal Court... But it is heavily guarded, and there are animated Sand Golem Puppets. We can't get in at all...”

Before he finished speaking, a dull horn sound suddenly echoed from afar.

The old man's face changed abruptly: “It's the Patrol Team! They patrol the edges once every three days... Quick, follow us, there's a place we can hide!”

The group quickly followed the old man and his companions, retreating toward a sand valley on the side.

At the bottom of the valley were several caves half-buried by sand dunes. The entrances were hidden, and the interiors were surprisingly cool, clearly having undergone simple modifications.

Soon after they hid, a team of warriors, riding Sand Lizards and wearing dark yellow armor, passed over the sand dunes.

Their armor was engraved with eye-like runes, and a faint pink mist lingered around them. Their eyes were vacant, as if they lacked self-awareness.

“They are controlled puppets,” Azure Bird whispered. “Their energy fluctuations are similar to those Enforcement Officers from before, but weaker. They must be mass-produced consumables.”

Only after the Patrol Team had gone far away did the old man sigh in relief, slumping onto the ground: “Are you... truly just travelers?”

Bai Cheng did not answer directly, but countered with a question: “If the Eye of the Sand is eliminated, can you regain control of this city?”

The old man froze, then a nearly frantic light ignited in his eyes: “O-of course! We still have thousands of clansmen hidden in various sand caves. As long as those demons disappear, we can restart the water sources and repair the farmland... But the leader of the Eye of the Sand is a Sand Dharma King. He can control the entire desert, and we have no power to resist...”

“Sand Dharma King...” Bai Cheng repeated softly, looking at the scorching sky outside the cave. “It seems we've found the right place.”

She turned to her companions: “Rest for half an hour, replenish water, and adjust your condition.

Then—we go to the Royal Court and see what that well is hiding.”

Zi Yuan returned her blade to its sheath, battle intent faintly burning in her eyes; Leng Ningxue's surrounding ice mist slightly receded, as if she were accumulating power.

Lu Duo, meanwhile, took a few pale blue crystalline fruits from her seed pouch and distributed them: “Desert Berries. They quickly replenish water and stamina.”

Azure Bird silently polished his Thunder Spear, the electric arcs jumping on the tip, illuminating his stern profile.

Half an hour later, the group emerged from the cave.

The scorching sun remained, and heat haze billowed.

But this time, their goal was clear.

No longer aimless sailing, but striking directly at the core of this desert kingdom.

Bai Cheng gazed at the pyramid-shaped building, the scorching light reflected in her silver eyes.

“Move out.”

Bai Cheng and the others left the hidden sand cave and sped toward the Royal Court.

The closer they got to the city center, the thicker the heat haze became. The pink mist mixed within it also transitioned from nearly invisible to a visible state, faint as thin gauze.

The residual emotional energy among the sand grains grew denser. Fear and despair, like aged wine, settled into every particle of sand.

There were no walls surrounding the Royal Court. Instead, there was a slowly flowing Sandstorm Barrier.

Yellow sand spiraled upward like a living thing, forming a circular barrier a hundred meters high, separating the inside from the outside.

“A manifestation of Law modification,” Bai Cheng murmured, silver light swirling in her eyes as she stared at the sandstorm. “Directly solidifying environmental elements into defensive fortifications. This is not mere power manipulation; it touches the domain of rules.”

Azure Bird stepped forward, pointing his Thunder Spear diagonally: “I'll clear the way.”

His wings flared open, and furious lightning was drawn down from the sky, condensing at the tip of his spear, turning into a dazzling Lightning Drill that slammed violently into the Sandstorm Barrier.

“BOOM—!!!”

Lightning and sand violently collided, tearing a gap several meters wide in the sandstorm, but the flowing sand at the edges surged rapidly, attempting to close it.

Zi Yuan and Leng Ningxue struck simultaneously. Blade light and frost forcibly held open the sides of the gap, slowing its closure.

“Go now!”

The group flashed through the barrier like lightning, and the scene inside was completely different.

It was not the dilapidated ruins they had imagined, but a city maintained in an unnervingly complete state.

The streets were tidy, the buildings imposing, and there were even dried-up fountains and withered courtyard trees.

Yet, it was completely deserted.

Only Sand Golem Puppets, clad in dark yellow armor, stood like statues on street corners and rooftops. Dark red flickers pulsed in their eye sockets, and the moment the group stepped inside, they all simultaneously “looked” over.

“Intruders... eliminate.”

Hoarse, overlapping mechanical sounds rang out from all directions.

All the Sand Golem Puppets activated simultaneously. Sand particles reformed into weapons, and they advanced with heavy steps, surrounding the group in the hundreds and thousands.

“Leave the cannon fodder to us, Miss. You go find the core.” Zi Yuan drew her long blade, and a purple saber light swept out like a crescent moon, slicing the first few oncoming sand statues in half at the waist.

Sand particles at the breaks attempted to reform but were continuously destroyed by the tearing energy contained within the saber aura, slowing down their recovery speed.

Azure Bird, Leng Ningxue, Yu Nian, and the others also deployed their respective methods.

Thunder, frost, and vines erupted on the Royal Court streets, colliding with the torrent of sand statues, blasting open clouds of sand mist.

Bai Cheng's figure flickered like silver light, using Spatial Warp to ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) bypass the main battlefield and rush straight toward the central pyramid-shaped building.

The closer she got, the more she felt a heavy, solid, and profound Law fluctuation, like the very earth itself, emanating from deep within the pyramid.