On Lan Chan Jun's side, he faced off against the female royal guard who wielded a sand whip. Her whip lashed in wide arcs, combining with the desert winds to generate fierce, spiraling gusts.
Lan Chan Jun smirked at the corner of his lips, spun mid-air, twisted his body once, and then slammed his fist into the sand. The sand beneath his feet surged as if alive, using the rebound force to launch him in a swift counterattack against her!
The sounds of fists clashing with whips echoed continuously. The two moved with lightning speed like shadows, streaks of light and sand colliding in mid-air every second.
The sound of battle resounded across the desert square, as strong winds whipped everyone's hair wildly.
Bai Wang Yan still hadn't retreated in the slightest. His tall, imposing figure stood firm against the attacks like an unshakable mountain. With just a light flick of his right hand, the shockwave was powerful enough to blast the sand beneath the male guard's feet into a wide crater. Dust and sand rose up, obscuring vision, but within that cloud, the cracking sound of shattering armor grew ever clearer.
"What… is this?" the male guard gritted his teeth, crouched low, and lunged forward with greater speed than before. His right arm surged with deep golden energy, ancient glowing patterns lighting up across his arm his ultimate enhancement technique!
But Bai Wang Yan didn't even step back. Instead, he subtly twisted his body and raised his left hand, deflecting the punch to the side. BOOM! A thunderous explosion rang out. The male guard's body was flung like a rag doll, tumbling across the sand and carving a deep groove into the ground.
At the same time
Lan Chan Jun nimbly dodged the whip's relentless strikes. Not even a single strand managed to touch him, as though he were mist without form. The sand whip sliced through the air with a sharp screech, but hit nothing but empty space.
"You're rather fierce," he murmured, then channeled blue energy into his palm and swept it out in a diagonal arc.
A stream of blue wind raced through the air, slicing effortlessly through her sand current. A burst of air exploded WHOOSH! and the force broke the rhythm of her whip, sending it flailing aimlessly. The backlash forced the female guard to stagger back two steps.
She clenched her teeth, trying to resume a battle stance, but the energy within her body was visibly destabilizing.
The sounds of combat still echoed, but Lan Chan Jun and Bai Wang Yan stood calm as if floating above the battlefield. They weren't merely fighting they were beyond it, in every move.
The Pharaoh wasted not a second. His figure soared into the sky above the desert, golden eyes blazing with regal power. Amidst the sunlight filtering through the thick clouds, a glowing golden aura radiated from behind him like the presence of a god.
He raised one hand gracefully. The skies above trembled, and then a long golden spear adorned with a large red gem materialized in midair, as if bestowed by the divine. It spun in place amidst the light, then floated into his hand with perfect synchrony, as though it was forged solely for him.
"This girl… I shall punish her with my own hands," he spoke with a voice as cold as the desert wind at night, yet laced with an unfathomable resolve.
Lian Yi remained silent. Her narrow eyes locked onto the man before her, unwavering. Her body shifted ever so slightly and with that tiny motion, the air around her rippled. Her aura changed instantly. A deep blue pure spiritual energy surged from her body like waves from a winter ocean.
The scorching air turned frigid. The sand around her feet began to crystallize into a thin layer of frost. Faint cracking sounds echoed in rhythm.
"O mighty Pharaoh…" Lian Yi's voice was calm, yet carried an unmistakable edge of threat. "Let's see... between you, ruler of golden light, and me a mere eight-year-old girl which of us truly stands above the other?"
As the final word left her lips, Lian Yi's body shot into the sky as well, leaving behind a compressed shockwave that sank the sand below into a deep crater.
The Pharaoh's eyes narrowed slightly. His lips curved into a faint smile, both challenged and pleased.
"Good… then come!"
The roar of battle echoed across the sky above the desert. A fierce clash of two opposing forces had erupted in full.
Gale winds howled, whipping up sand in all directions as their collisions cut across the air. The two figures shot toward each other at superhuman speeds. In mere moments, the ground split open in jagged lines. The small houses at the village's edge could not withstand the shockwaves their roofs were torn off, walls crumbled with a deafening crash, and thick dust enveloped the area.
Debris, shattered wood, and ruins were flung in every direction. Several homes collapsed as if they were mere toys. Central support columns toppled. The sound of breaking wood and crumbling stone merged with the battle raging in the skies above.
Beneath a sky filled with the sounds of clashes and the light of raw power, the battle between mighty warriors raged on without pause.
Yet in a corner of the ruined village crushed by the chaos of the fight a middle-aged woman with dull silver hair, who had at first pretended to be a weak and helpless victim, slowly turned to look around her with cold eyes.
In that gaze, there was no fear. No guilt. Only envy, murderous intent, and a darkness buried deep within her heart.
When her eyes caught sight of the two young girls hiding behind a collapsed wall—one was Xin Tingting, the golden-haired girl surrounded by a faint shimmering light, as if glowing with mysterious power. The other was a girl with long jet-black hair, dressed in unusual clothing, her hawk-like eyes watching every movement with alert precision
The silver-haired woman's lips curled into a cold smirk.
"Heh… So you two are part of them as well, are you?" she muttered under her breath. Her lips barely moved, yet the words rang loud and clear in the minds of those she watched, like a whisper of malice riding on the wind.
Then, her body began to move.
Her steps were light, soundless. Her shadow slithered across the rubble like a serpent in the dark. Every step carried stealth, predation, and death drawing ever closer.
Xin Tingting suddenly felt a strange pressure in the air, as if an ominous force was creeping in from behind. Her heart pounded, and she snapped her head around
Only to lock eyes with that frigid, venomous gaze.
The silver-haired woman stood just a short distance away. Her face was expressionless, but her eyes were full of malice madness, and a thirst for vengeance. In that instant, the temperature around them seemed to plummet.
The shadow of death was silently closing in…
"You think you can run… in my domain?" the woman's voice rang out, cold and chilling. In her tone, there was a venomous intensity each word seemed distilled from hatred and a decayed spirit.
"Ye Juan! Run!"
Xin Tingting screamed instinctively, her eyes wide with protective urgency. Without hesitation, she seized Ye Juan's hand tightly, her heart pounding like a drum as the two of them shot out of their hiding place, driven by pure survival instinct.
Her face was streaked with sweat and dust. Her golden hair flew wildly in the wind stirred by their escape. Yet her eyes still gleamed with fierce determination she would not let Ye Juan fall into that demon's hands.
Beneath their feet were broken bricks, splintered wood, shattered tiles. Sharp rubble tore at their shoes, nearly ripping them apart. But Xin Tingting never stopped. Her steps remained resolute even when she slipped or stumbled, she never let go of Ye Juan's hand, not for a single instant.
Their destination: a four-story house on the west end of the alleyway. A building sturdier than the rest. The walls hadn't collapsed, the thick wooden door looked like it could be barred from the inside, and the winding stone staircase could be used for defense if they had to fight.
But just as they were nearing their goal
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The heavy footsteps of the middle-aged woman echoed behind them, relentless and unceasing. Her strides were unlike any human's heavy, forceful, filled with boundless rage.
Ye Juan glanced back just once and instantly snapped her gaze forward again. Her wide eyes were full of fear, her face pale. Her heart thundered as if it would burst from her chest. She clung to Xin Tingting's hand like a lifeline tethering her to reality.
"Xin Tingting… she she's still coming!"
"Don't look back!" Xin Tingting gritted her teeth. Her voice was resolute. "We have to reach that house before she catches us!"
They raced through a narrow alley between intact houses, now cloaked in eerie silence. Every door and window was tightly shut. Curtains were drawn tight. No laughter. No conversation. Not even the sound of other footsteps only theirs…and the footsteps stalking them from behind.
The dry, searing air made it hard to breathe. Dust floated in the golden afternoon light. The pounding of their feet against stone echoed in tense rhythm but it could not drown out the raspy, haunting laughter rising behind them.
"Heh… Where do you think you're going?"
The voice floated on the wind, like a creeping shadow ready to drag everything into the dark.
The four-story house loomed not far ahead less than ten paces away. Its shadow stretched out as if to shelter or ensnare them.
Xin Tingting and Ye Juan leapt through the door just in time, rushing up the spiraling staircase toward the top floor without pausing for breath.
"Running is useless…" the low, piercing voice of the woman echoed up the stairwell. "My power… will make sure you never leave this place alive!"
Her words carried weight like a curse that rippled through the air itself. Even inside the house, her voice still reached them clearly, as though she were speaking directly into their ears.
"Upstairs… we have to get to the top!" Xin Tingting panted, her eyes fierce despite her exhaustion. One hand clung tightly to Ye Juan's arm.
Ye Juan nodded, her heart pounding like a war drum. She didn't dare glance back not even for a second.
The woman's footsteps grew louder behind them with every moment. The two girls never stopped running but along the way, they began grabbing anything within reach: an old clay vase, splintered wooden frames, an oil lamp covered in thick dust and hurled them down the stairs behind them with all their strength.
"Take this! Go away!" Ye Juan shouted, flinging a vase toward the sound.
CRASH!
But in the blink of an eye all the objects they threw struck a misty gray barrier that had formed around the woman's body. Each impact echoed but had no effect. Everything simply bounced off and tumbled uselessly down the stairs.
"Why didn't it work…?" Ye Juan choked out, her body trembling, eyes wide and quivering.
Xin Tingting bit her lip, then barked, "Keep going! We have no other choice!"
They burst into the top floor a wide room with a high ceiling. A large window stood open, letting in the hot wind from outside. Tattered curtains flapped violently. The air was thick with dust and the scent of old wood.
"Hurry! Block the door!" Xin Tingting shouted. She dragged a heavy wooden table to brace the stairwell entrance. Ye Juan helped with all her might, dragging chairs, a cabinet, even a fallen wooden lamp to pile against the entry.
Then
Silence.
The footsteps had stopped, just for a moment.
And then came a soft knocking sound.
Knock… knock…
Followed by laughter like a whisper directly beside their ears.
"You really think… that these little scraps can stop me?"
THUD!!
The door shook violently, as if struck by a massive blow. Dust exploded from the floorboards in every direction.