Chapter 115

“Sword Saint! Qi condenses into blades? High-rank Sword Saint!” A dozen or so mounted desert bandits stared at Lu Se, who was frantically shoving beetroot jerky into his mouth before summoning a qi blade with empty hands—every one of them went weak in the knees.

Qi condensing into blades is the hallmark of a High-rank Sword Saint—this wasn’t some nobleman who’d read too many knight novels; this was the protagonist of a knight novel, the kind with insane luck—how else could someone so young be a Sword Saint?

The bandits who had charged forward with fierce momentum now turned their horses and fled in panic; the rest collapsed off their mounts, slid forward on their knees, and prostrated themselves with arms raised high, shouting: “We’ve come to respectfully see you off—may your journey be smooth and favorable!”

Lu Se sneered: “You’re really enthusiastic, aren’t you? So this is your kind of enthusiasm—perfect, I’ll show you mine too…” He reached for another piece of beetroot jerky.

Lightning interrupted him: “You just want an excuse to eat beetroot. These guys don’t need your full strength—if you don’t move now, over there’s about to lose control.”

On the other side, the little zombie was pulling with all its strength at the angelic skeleton, but the angelic skeleton shook it off, stepped forward, and thrust both hands out—yet nothing happened.

Confused, it turned its head—wait, where did its wings go?

It tilted its head, then remembered—its wings had been taken by Ang. It hurried over to Ang, raised both hands above its head, and made a flying gesture: “Huhuhu!”

Ang shook his head.

“Aow~” The angelic skeleton let out a quiet whine.

“Aow!” Ang replied firmly.

The angelic skeleton turned away dejectedly—but soon rallied again, clenched its tiny fist, gripped holy light, and prepared to charge forward.

But then it looked up and saw a field of corpses sprawled on the ground; Lu Se was sprinting after the fleeing bandits, his legs a blur, kicking up a rolling cloud of dust.

“Aow!” The angelic skeleton grew angry—it hadn’t fought anyone in over a month. The little zombie tried to pull it back, but got a punch right in the eye socket.

After fifteen minutes, Lu Se returned empty-handed, sneering: “These guys don’t even have a single copper coin—no wonder they turned to banditry.”

Lightning countered: “How do you know they don’t have any? Maybe they just didn’t bring any—do bandits usually carry money when they go raiding?”

“You don’t understand. Sometimes they do carry it—sometimes even all their wealth—because they don’t trust their own partners. But none of these guys had anything. Either they’re poor, or their gang is tight-knit and they’ve built trust.”

“You’re an expert?”

“Of course I am—I once dreamed of becoming the King of Thieves. Desert bandits are thieves too.” Slapping his chest, Lu Se ran back to the distant dune and dragged back all the horses and flags: “Let’s just dress up as desert bandits. These guys are too weak.”

The proposal to dress as bandits was rejected, but the horses were taken—each person rode one, the rest were led.

Lightning grumbled as they walked: “Wasn’t it agreed one horse per person? Why are all three of you still riding me? Is Lu Se even a person?”

Lightning carried three of them, leading over a dozen horses, galloping deep into the desert.

No one would dare enter the desert so recklessly—no water, no food—even Sword Saints and Archmages would die of thirst and starvation.

But they wouldn’t. Only Lightning and Lu Se needed water and food; the food in the Palace of Rest was enough to last them years, and water wasn’t a problem—Ang could create it on the spot.

Though water elements were scarce in the desert, Ang’s magical power was limitless—even if he condensed just one milliliter per second, he’d produce 3,600 milliliters an hour, enough for Lu Se and Lightning to bathe daily.

What troubled them most, ironically, was the daytime sun. Ang was fine, but the little zombie and the angelic skeleton grew lethargic, their souls wilting; even the sapling drooped. Yet they refused to return to the Palace of Rest—the lingering aura there made them uncomfortable. Ang himself, despite having adapted for over a thousand years, still avoided the palace complex.

Unless everyone returned—but Lu Se and Lightning flatly refused. Lightning even declared: “I, Thunder’s Son Lightning, would rather be roasted alive, buried in a hole, than step inside.”

Seeing the two listless creatures, Ang sighed and stopped: “Dig.”

The little zombie instantly perked up, extended both palms, fingers curled forward, soul force surging—soon two hoes materialized on its palms.

It dug furiously, quickly carving a large pit in the sand—but the sand was too loose; the deeper it dug, the more the walls collapsed, forming a conical pit.

“Aren’t you good at Earth Crack? Use it,” Negril projected into Ang’s soul.

Whoosh—Ang suddenly sank a few inches. He looked down—both his legs had sunk into the sand, up to his knees.

“Uh, your Earth Crack loosens elements, right? Reverse it—gather the earth elements, and they’ll solidify. Solidify Spell—the most basic earth magic.”

“Oh.” Ang cast Solidify Spell beneath his feet—the loose sand instantly hardened into solid blocks, locking his feet in place.

Negril didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He didn’t know whether to call him stupid or brilliant—he learned any spell after hearing it once, yet made such basic mistakes. If this were his student, Negril was sure he’d die decades early.

Ang didn’t pull his feet out. He stood there, continuing to cast magic into the sand beneath him. Earth magic was the one he was least skilled in—after all, he only needed to loosen soil once a year, and in over a thousand years, he’d done it just over a thousand times.

But his immense elemental control and boundless spiritual power made even low-level spells as easy as moving his arm.

The Solidify Spells he kept casting didn’t immediately harden the sand—they spread through his will into the surrounding grains.

Level-one spells dissipated quickly; if Ang didn’t shape them fast enough, the magic would vanish.

But Ang’s casting speed was too fast—even an unfamiliar earth spell reached two casts per second. Everyone felt the sand beneath their feet grow increasingly active.

Within three minutes, over two hundred and sixty Solidify Spells had been slammed into the sand. Ang willed it—and the now-active earth elements instantly reshaped according to his intent.

Everyone felt the ground sink beneath them—the sand pit collapsed three meters deep, hardening into solid sandstone.

The sunken area was a perfect square, five meters long and five meters wide, with straight walls that also solidified, forming a sunken rectangular space with smooth, even sides—no plastering needed, ready to sell.

Everyone stared, dumbfounded—Negril included. It saw more than the others, so its shock was even greater.

“Delayed elemental concentration, unified formation spell—Ku Bada! Don’t tell me you figured this out yourself?” Negril’s voice burst from Ang’s soul, vibrating in the air into a roar audible to all.

Ang tilted his head—he clearly didn’t understand.

The others were even more confused, staring at him blankly.

Negril calmed down. Don’t blame him for being startled—even though Ang was incredibly powerful and possessed a divine core, some things couldn’t be achieved by brute force alone. Unified Formation Spell was one of them.

“Do you know how buildings are built?” Only Lu Se might know—everyone turned to him.

“Uh… chiseled with iron picks, or built by stacking stones,” Lu Se fumbled.

Right—he shouldn’t have asked these people. The Abyss of Rest didn’t even have one “normal” house.

“Normal buildings are grown by earth mages,” Negril said.

Grown? Ang instantly perked up. The wilted sapling perked up too: Push—grow—push—grow—

“By manipulating earth elements through earth magic, they grow a pillar, grow a wall, solidify it, grow a roof, solidify it, until the entire structure is grown. Such buildings are seamless, sturdy, durable. The Palace of Rest and the World Transit Station were probably built this way.”

“But how do you build large structures? A mage’s magic is limited—each can only manipulate so many elements, enough for one wall. If built separately, they need bonding or wedging—they can’t be seamless.”

“What about pillars and beams that can’t be bonded or wedged? That’s when you need Unified Formation Spell.”

“A dozen or dozens of earth mages cast together, activating the elements, while the one who knows Unified Formation Spell controls them, completing the entire massive structure’s unified formation and solidification in one go.”

Lu Se and Lightning stared blankly: “Sounds impressive, but we don’t get why.”

“Heh. Gathering all mages’ power into one cast—that’s Command Magic. Unified Formation Spell is the conductor’s baton of a mage squad. The squad commander must master Unified Formation Spell,” Negril declared firmly.

Lu Se and Lightning finally understood. They gasped: “Command Magic for mage squads? My god—can the Lord lead a mage squad?”

“Hmph. If that were all, would I be this shocked? Think again—what did he just do? Hundreds of spells, no mage squad needed—he himself is a mage squad,” Negril said.

Lu Se and Lightning gaped, speechless.

“But…” Negril sighed.

“But what?” Lu Se wanted to punch it in the eye socket—he hated people dragging things out.

“A mage squad’s strength depends on its commander. If the commander is a Grand Mage, it’s a Grand Mage Squad. If an Archmage, then an Archmage Squad. If a Level One Mage…”

Everyone looked at Ang, remembering his all-Level-One and -Two spells—and sighed together.

“Boom… boom…” The sunken square space suddenly trembled.

Lu Se listened closely, face paling: “Bad—hoofbeats. A large cavalry unit, moving fast toward us.”

Lightning frowned: “That doesn’t make sense. Sand’s too loose—even a huge cavalry unit couldn’t make this much noise unless they’re very close.” As he spoke, he planted his front hooves against the wall and peered out. No cavalry in sight.

“No, it’s cavalry. A lot of cavalry,” Negril urged. “We’re inside a sunken, solidified space—it amplifies distant vibrations. They’re still far off. Ang, quickly retrieve the horses. Let’s hide and see what’s happening.”

Ang leapt out, tossed all the horses into the Palace of Rest’s farm, then rapidly shoveled sand into the pit, solidified a roof, and buried it with more sand.

As the last patch hardened, a vast cloud of dust rose on the horizon. Soon, a dark line emerged.

Hoofbeats thundered past less than a kilometer from Ang’s pit, shaking the sandstone chamber so violently it nearly collapsed.

“Counted them—around six thousand cavalry. Equipment’s mixed—doesn’t look like an army. More like bandits,” Lu Se whispered, peeking out.

Lightning shuddered: “Six thousand cavalry? Are they the same gang those bandits belonged to?”

“Unlikely,” Lu Se said. “We killed a dozen. Do they send six thousand to hunt us? Impossible. Unless I killed their leader—but those guys were so weak, how could they be leaders?”

The thundering hooves suddenly slowed.

“They’ve stopped. I’ll go check.”

Using a dune for cover, Lu Se crept to the largest nearby dune and looked down. A massive cavalry force was setting up tents below—apparently planning to camp for the night.

Counting them, there were nearly six thousand. A small portion looked like elite regular troops—uniform gear, full armor, saddle gear, weapons, and two horses per rider—about one to two thousand men, two thousand-plus horses.

There were also five or six special wagons—clearly magical transport.

The rest were ragtag cavalry, looking like bandit gangs—both their morale and camp setup were far inferior to the elite unit.

Night fell. Lu Se slipped down under cover, eavesdropping near the edge of the tents. As he listened, a head appeared behind him—not far, just tilted, no greeting.

When Lu Se had gathered enough info and quietly retreated, the head also slipped back.

Back in the underground space, they noticed Ang was gone.

“Where’s Lord Ang?”

Lightning pointed to a corner—a new hole. Soon, Ang crawled out, shaking off a cascade of sand.

Negril said smugly: “We’ve been right behind you. Ang’s infinite magic lets him tunnel through loose sand easily. But we saw you eavesdropping, so we didn’t approach. What did you hear?”

Lu Se pursed his lips strangely: “These people… are here to slay a dragon.”

“What? Slay a dragon? In the desert? Could it be…?”

Lu Se nodded: “Yes. Huang Tong.”

“Ku Bada! Ang, let me out—I’ll kill them. Let me out—I’ll breathe fire and roast them all.”