Chapter 30: Sand
After a series of tests, Su Xiao found that he truly couldn't enter the purple-black semi-fluid. For example, holding the [Scroll Fragment] and using Space Penetration—he tried everything, but none worked.
This made Su Xiao sigh in admiration at Kaisa's ability to cling to life. The purple-black semi-fluid was so troublesome, yet that guy had managed to use his own ability to let a not-so-strong alchemical creature drill through to the rooftop.
After Su Xiao dipped his finger into the purple-black semi-fluid, the first 0.5 seconds were excruciating pain, followed by numbness. The feeling of his finger being decomposed and washed away into inorganic matter was terrible.
He flexed the little finger of his left hand, and the discomfort gradually faded. Su Xiao walked toward the metal seal on the roof, opened it, and descended into the shelter hall with Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini one by one.
The shelter hall was still empty. Su Xiao arrived at Room 7's door, took out a piece of paper, and wrote on it: 'No way.'
After writing this, he slipped the paper under the door crack. Soon, Kaisa replied from inside. In this manner, Su Xiao began negotiating with Kaisa. The content was as follows:
Kaisa: 'My dear friend, you cannot abandon Kaisa. Have you forgotten our friendship in the Demon Sea World? You must find the key to Room 7.'
Su Xiao: 'Helpless.'
Kaisa: 'My dear friend, after this is done, 5000 (scribbled out)... 4001 Soul Coins as reward.'
Seeing this, Su Xiao's expression showed a moment of surprise. He had known Kaisa for so long, and not only had the guy never offered Soul Coins, he wouldn't even part with a single Paradise Coin. This time, he was actually offering Soul Coins as a reward?
Su Xiao: 'Kaisa, what exactly is in this room?'
Kaisa: 'What's in it? My dear friend, what are you talking about? Kaisa doesn't understand.'
Su Xiao: 'Bubu is very naughty. If it throws firecrackers through the door crack, that would be unfortunate.'
Kaisa: 'Shameless old dog! It can't treat Kaisa like this!!'
After some back-and-forth, Kaisa's attitude of making concessions indicated that he agreed to split the benefits equally, on the condition that Su Xiao find someone to replace him in Room 7, or simply find the key to Room 7.
The method to find someone to replace Kaisa locked in Room 7 was simple: that person just had to knock on the door and say, 'Open up, let me in.'
Kaisa vaguely revealed that Room 7 couldn't be left empty, which was also why he hadn't used his own ability to escape to the rooftop.
If he were to find someone to replace Kaisa, Su Xiao immediately thought of his two good teammates. In the next Sand World, he would cooperate with one of them; otherwise, by the end, it might again turn into a three-way free-for-all.
Arriving at Wood's door, Su Xiao knocked. After a dozen seconds, Wood opened the door and stood inside, asking, "What's up?"
"I just discovered that Room 7—"
"Cough, Bai Ye, I've got a bit of diarrhea. Talk later."
Bang.
The door closed. Su Xiao looked toward Zuiyasi's door, which suddenly cracked open. Zuiyasi stood behind the gap with a smiling face.
"Zuiya—"
"No need to say it. I've got diarrhea too."
Zuiyasi closed the door. What the hell, an Ancient God System physique getting diarrhea? Two treacherous bastards.
Without a word, Su Xiao walked toward his own room. Molei and the others couldn't get to the second floor, which was a pity.
Returning to his room, Su Xiao saw the maid, Anas, tidying up. The bedding he had just messed up was now smoothed out without a single wrinkle.
"Anas, make some food that's easy to store. Plenty of it."
"Understood."
The maid, Anas, continued her work. Su Xiao lay down on the bed to rest. He had to cherish the time he could still rest; it concerned his life and safety.
Time passed quickly during his rest. The Void Tree's announcement appeared.
[Announcement (Void Tree): All combatants must enter the Sand World within 10 minutes.]
Upon receiving this prompt, Su Xiao didn't move immediately. He waited until only one minute remained before quickly heading downstairs with Bubu Wang and Baha.
Amu and Beini had other tasks. After all the combatants left, Beini would thoroughly explore the second floor of the ancient castle. She had made several discoveries earlier but hadn't investigated further due to the risk of being discovered by other combatants and endangering herself.
Descending to the first-floor meeting hall, Su Xiao saw it was empty, but there were many milk beans scattered on the floor, along with a baby bottle.
It was a bottle filled with strawberry-flavored milk. There were even teeth marks on the nipple. This was truly unexpected. As for how he knew it was strawberry-flavored, the color gave it away.
Putting aside everything else, even with Molei's carefree nature, she wouldn't publicly drink milk from a baby bottle—the shame level was too high. Besides, among the people present, who would bring a baby bottle?
Clearly, something jaw-dropping had happened in the meeting hall.
"Looks like we missed something exciting. But boss, isn't this too much?"
"Not too much."
Su Xiao touched the 'Sand Painting' with one hand, and a prompt appeared.
[Prompt: The Hunter is about to enter the Sand World.]
[Prompt: Due to the special nature of the Sand World, you can bring at most two followers or permanent summons into it. Please choose from the following.]
[Space-Tearing Hound·Bubuteni, Winter War Bull·Amu, Sky-Rending Demon Hawk·Baha, Shadow Hunter·Beini.]
Su Xiao chose to bring Bubu Wang and Baha into the Sand World. A teleportation sensation appeared.
After an unknown amount of time, a hot breeze carrying fine sand blew over. Su Xiao opened his eyes, wiped the sand from his face, and stood up. Beneath him was soft yellow sand.
Looking around, all he could see were sand dunes, with ripple-like patterns on their surfaces. The sky was cloudless, and a scorching sun hung high, as if determined to dry up every drop of moisture in the desert.
[Prompt: You have entered the Endless Desert. Your storage space has been temporarily sealed.]
[Prompt: While in this world, food, fresh water, and related resources in your storage space will remain sealed until you leave this world.]
[Prompt: You are enduring the scorching sun. Your body's moisture, cellular energy, etc., are being irrepressibly depleted. During this process, your Stamina attribute will continuously decrease, potentially dropping below 5 points!]
...
An intense burning sensation came from above. Su Xiao immediately took off his clothes, baring his upper body. Even with his current physique, he felt stiflingly hot. Stamina, body moisture, cellular energy—all were being lost to the heat. This Endless Desert was an extremely dangerous place.
Without adequate preparation, arriving here would spell disaster. The storage space was sealed, and just the forced dehydration from the Endless Desert would be enough to cause trouble. For an ordinary person, they would turn into a dried husk the moment they arrived.
Su Xiao looked around and saw semi-transparent light barriers nearby. Wood and Zuiyasi were a few meters away, while across from them were Molei, Yueshitu, the female spellcaster Luoxi, and others. The two groups were separated by the light barriers, as if in two glass rooms.
Molei and Yueshitu each carried a small backpack, but their expressions were grim.
"Boss, this damn place is really hot."
Baha tossed a sealed barrel over. On Baha's body hung a total of 45 such sealed metal barrels.
Su Xiao opened the valve on the sealed barrel, and a burst of cold air sprayed out. He first gulped down the ice-cold water until he was refreshed, then poured some for the tilting-headed Bubu Wang to drink its fill. Baha also drank his fill.
Not only that, Su Xiao poured the remaining ice water over his own head and then over Bubu Wang and Baha. He was about to fight soon, so he couldn't skimp on this ice water.
Behind the transparent light barrier across from them, Molei and Yueshitu looked on with envy. They glanced at the water flasks in their hands but didn't dare drink. Carrying supplies was a habit for contractors, precisely because they worried about storage space being sealed.
Su Xiao hadn't predicted this; it was because of the young miss's earlier question, 'Are you thirsty?'
After Su Xiao submitted the four [Scroll Fragments], the young miss had said that. From then on, he speculated that the Sand World must be severely lacking in water—no, worse than that.
That was why Su Xiao had brought so much food and fresh water. Baha was in charge of the fresh water, while Bubu Wang carried the food cooked by the maid, Anas, which was suitable for preservation in the desert.
"Bai Ye, what do you think of this thing? Perfect for transporting supplies."
Wood tossed a square metal object three meters in diameter onto the ground. As soon as it hit the sand, the device quickly expanded, eventually turning into a desert vehicle capable of carrying five people.
Wood had also submitted [Scroll Fragments] to the young miss. With her impartial attitude, she naturally gave him some clues as well.
Zuiyasi said nothing, but there was something good in the pack on his back.
Su Xiao sat on the roof of the desert vehicle. This vehicle was quite tall, necessary for long-distance travel through the desert.
Steam rose as Su Xiao, his hair still dripping, lit a cigarette. He smiled as he looked at the female spellcaster Luoxi and Yinqi Suoyege. Once the surrounding light barriers disappeared, he would kill these two spellcasters.
"Not good."
Wood leaped back to avoid being caught in the crossfire. He could already tell Su Xiao was about to make a move. Zuiyasi also stepped aside to avoid getting blood on himself.
"Yueshitu, get on my back. I'll carry you while we run. Your legs are too short."
Molei stretched her arms. Right now, running speed was crucial.
"My legs aren't short."
"I mean you're slow. Hurry up. You're a summoner, so accept your fate and get on."
"You're so dirty. You're just after my body."
Yueshitu suddenly showed inexplicable confidence.
"Cut it out. Carrying you would hurt my back."
Urged by Molei, Yueshitu climbed onto Molei's back, muttering under her breath. Watching this, Lilim felt a pang of envy. Although she wouldn't be in danger during the upcoming fight, Yueshitu having a friend like Molei was enviable.
Su Xiao exhaled smoke, his smile unwavering. His gaze remained fixed on the female spellcaster Luoxi and Yinqi Suoyege. People from Arcane Eternal Star were priority targets.
"Luoxi."
Yinqi Suoyege spoke. He shed his robe, revealing his muscular upper body. He lowered his stance, and the magic runes on his arms flickered. What kind of spellcaster couldn't fight in close combat? Besides, Yinqi Suoyege knew that relying entirely on magic and elemental power in a fight against a Law Destroyer was equivalent to suicide.
Meanwhile, at the Mouwu Arena in the void, the audience gradually fell silent. Tens of thousands of eyes were fixed on the large screen in the center of the arena. In the Arcane Eternal Star seating area, no one spoke.
On the desert, a gust of wind blew, kicking up a cloud of yellow sand. The light barrier separating the groups slowly faded. The battle between the Law Destroyer and the spellcasters was about to erupt.
"Do you like being torn to pieces?"
The female spellcaster Luoxi stared directly at Su Xiao. Layer upon layer of ornate elemental ring blades floated behind her, numbering at least several hundred. Clearly, she relied on high-frequency, dense attacks to kill enemies. Looking at Su Xiao, dozens of meters away, her gaze grew cold, her killing intent no longer concealed. But no one could have guessed that the 'Scratching Technician' Luoxi was about to go online.