Chapter 2424: Difficulty Increased

Slashing poisonous scorpions is not a big pressure for Ye Liuyun, so he treats it as practice of blade intent.

But the Death Journey is clearly not that simple.

These are merely a warm‑up for Ye Liuyun.

The upcoming poisonous scorpions have pincers larger than Ye Liuyun's own physique, and gradually not only scorpions but also rattlesnakes, sand wolves and various ferocious beasts begin to appear.

Some highly intelligent ferocious beasts even coordinate with other beasts to ambush Ye Liuyun.

The shell of a big poisonous scorpion is extremely hard; even Ye Liuyun's Demon Slaying Sword struggles to split it, often requiring many strikes at the same spot.

Ye Liuyun must also keep his Divine Sense probing, detecting movements in all directions and beneath the yellow sand.

Besides his Mysterious Origin being continuously drained, his patience is also being worn down.

"When will this finally have an end!"

Facing the increasing attacks, he becomes somewhat irritable.

But after launching a few fierce attacks, he immediately calms down again.

He recalled that Wu Hen had reminded him to stock up on resources that can quickly restore True Essence when gathering supplies.

This shows that, in the Death Journey, one must keep fighting continuously.

So he steadies himself, changes his mindset, treating it as cultivation of blade intent, no longer chasing speed or efficiency.

Wu Hen once told him that the endpoint of this Death Journey has no fixed route.

Members who enter must find the exit themselves.

Nevertheless, any Martial Cultivator lacking the three‑fold Heaven‑and‑Man strength certainly cannot get out.

Thus Ye Liuyun knows that he should have left long ago; rushing now is useless.

Later, he instead slays some large poisonous scorpions and ferocious beasts, stores them in the Space World, and lets everyone grill them for a taste.

Their shells can also be used to forge armor and weapons.

Lei Ming, Long Nv, Liao Yunyang and two other Martial Cultivator elites, as well as Vermilion Bird, Shi Yuan, Bai Hu, Illusion Hand and other ferocious beasts, were all released by Ye Liuyun to help slay poisonous scorpions and beasts.

But not long after, the difficulty of the trial for Ye Liuyun and the others increased again.

One after another, sand sea crocodiles crawled up from underground and launched attacks on them.

The sand crocodiles are far larger than Lei Ming; even with a full‑force One Slash, Ye Liuyun cannot sever a sand crocodile's head in one go, usually needing seven or eight strikes to kill one.

He also released Magic Vine to help entangle the sand crocodiles.

"Attack the sand crocodile's belly from underground!"

Magic Vine discovered the sand crocodile's weak point and alerted Ye Liuyun.

Thus Ye Liuyun sent out a duplicate; with Magic Vine's aid, it slipped beneath the yellow sand, launched a surprise attack from under the sand crocodile's body, and a single slash could cut open its belly.

After eliminating those sand crocodiles, the group barely caught their breath when Ye Liuyun suddenly noticed his Divine Sense had detected a Stone City.

He was about to lead everyone there for investigation, but after only a few steps a sudden gale rose, lifting sheets of yellow sand into the air, forming the shape of a dragon.

A massive earth‑yellow dragon made of yellow sand swayed its head and tail in the sky, roaring at Ye Liuyun and his companions.

"I'll go!"

Long Nv shouted, leapt into the air, revealed her true form, and roared at the opposite earth‑yellow dragon.

But Long Nv's size was evidently about half that of the yellow sand dragon.

"I'll help too!"

Lei Ming let out a thunderous roar, revealed his true form, and surged into the sky.

At this moment, Vermilion Bird, Bai Hu, Illusion Hand and several Black Tortoises also rushed up to assist.

Ye Liuyun and his duplicate did not idle either; both brandished their swords and charged, hacking at the yellow sand dragon together.

But even when the sand dragon's body was sliced open, sand instantly filled the wound, having no effect on its combat power.

Ye Liuyun and his duplicate immediately sheathed their blades; one wielded Heaven and Earth Power to continuously hammer the dragon's back, the other used Ice Power to freeze its claws before shattering them.

Thus, even if sand regrows the claws, it takes some time.

Several Black Tortoises seized the dragon's tail, repeatedly clawing fiercely at one spot to sever it, preventing it from whipping its tail for attacks.

Lei Ming employed Ice Power in concert with Long Nv, Bai Hu, and the sand dragon to hold a stalemate, while Vermilion Bird focused fiery attacks on the dragon's eyes, scorching the sand that formed them with blazing flames.

Magic Vine also coiled around the dragon's body, continuously siphoning its power.

After Ye Liuyun blasted a huge opening in the dragon's spine, he plunged straight in, gathering all his Heaven and Earth Power and Mysterious Origin, erupting from his whole body to burst the sand dragon's body open.

The dragon's head and body were completely severed, falling downward.

"Boom—" the yellow sand scattered.

A white Crystal Stone three zhang in length and width emerged.

Ye Liuyun gestured, pulling it into the Space World, then ushered everyone into the Space World, simultaneously replenishing his Mysterious Origin, and rushed toward the Stone City without regard for consumption.

The others were badly wounded and had exhausted their True Essence; after returning they gulped down Life Spring Water.

Liang Xue and the others hurried over to help with healing.

"What's the situation outside?"

Liang Xue and the other women have low cultivations; even if they could go out they have little combat power, so they can only stay in the Space World and worry.

"Too hard! That terrifying big guy!"

After drinking Life Spring Water, Lei Ming recovered and recounted the battle to Liang Xue and the others.

Upon hearing the outside situation, Liang Xue and the others were very worried and anxious about being unable to help.

After the duplicate and Long Nv recovered, they immediately returned to Xuan Kong Shi to restore their Mysterious Origin.

They all knew the situation here was exceptionally perilous; the sooner they could recover, the safer Ye Liuyun would be.

At this moment, Ye Liuyun is using his Divine Sense to probe the Stone City.

The small city isn't large; his Divine Sense can fully cover it.

But the sight inside the city gave him a hair‑raising feeling.

Inside the city there were many desiccated corps; under the desert's arid climate they had all turned into skeletons, and the cores inside them had vanished.

It should be known that a strong Martial Cultivator, especially one of the Heavenly Person Dual type, as long as the core remains, even if the person dies, the corpse can be kept from rotting for at least several hundred years.

So when Ye Liuyun saw this situation, he immediately thought that the danger level inside this stone city was no less than that outside.

He promptly used an exchange stone to convert into Mysterious Origin, replenishing his own Mysterious Origin and preparing for battle.

At the same time, he saw a Storage Ring on a skeletal finger bone and sucked it over to examine its interior.

Huh?

Ye Liuyun discovered that the contents inside were surprisingly intact.

He carefully used his Divine Sense to inspect it and found that there were no harmful substances mixed in.

He cautiously handed this Storage Ring to Qiong Qi for a second check, and Qiong Qi also confirmed that there was indeed nothing wrong inside the Storage Ring.

Ye Liuyun immediately began gathering these Storage Rings; inside were many of the white Crystal Stones he had obtained as well as various resources, which could not be wasted.

But after picking up just a few, the Ten Thousand Gods Command in his Sea of Consciousness began to radiate, and the Golden Light grew ever brighter.

Illusion Realm?

Ye Liuyun temporarily deactivated his Golden Pupil and Ten Thousand Gods Command, and found the world before his eyes change: the small city became splendid and magnificent, with people walking back and forth.