Chapter 661: Difficult Choices

At this moment, the beast horde also noticed the sandstorm approaching from behind and became doubly agitated. This plain offered no place to hide. Only the chaotic rock formations or the mountains provided shelter. However, both of these were located behind the Thunderbeasts!

The environment of the Fray Realm is extremely harsh. This type of sandstorm is hostile to all living creatures. To survive, they had to reach shelter as quickly as possible! Under the pressure of the endless sand wall behind them, the beast horde directly charged the Thunderbeast nest. At this point, they no longer needed any "encouragement" from those few monsters.

No matter how powerful the Thunderbeast clan was, they could not withstand an overwhelming tide of opponents and were forced to retreat step by step. But behind them lay their nest, and they had nowhere left to retreat.

The Thunderbeast Lord let out a long roar, almost rearing up on its hind legs. Its two massive, pillar-like forelegs slammed heavily onto the ground. Another wave of lightning shot out, this time spreading in all directions, but its range did not expand, only covering the entire nest. The dazzling blue light shield was particularly striking in the dim world.

Other Thunderbeasts immediately turned and entered the barrier, with their heads facing outward and tails inward, forming a defensive circle with their thick bodies. As soon as He Lingchuan saw this formation, he understood they were protecting something. However, the barrier's range was limited after all. Of the two hundred Thunderbeasts, only a little over a hundred could fit inside; the rest had to remain outside the barrier. Resigned, they could only turn to face the surging beast horde, letting out their final roars. They were also part of their kin's defense line.

The roars echoed to the high ground, sounding particularly tragic and heroic. But the hunters no longer had time to watch the spectacle; they rushed toward the rocky mountains behind them. Although the battle ahead was spectacular, their own lives were paramount. These mountains, sculpted by years of wind and sand, were eroded with honeycomb-like holes of various sizes. Although there were no deep caves, they were currently the best shelter available to everyone. What they needed to do was quickly move to the leeward side of the mountains and find suitable crevices or holes.

However, several teams looked grim and were filled with worry. They hadn't collected enough Soothing Beads, fearing that some might not survive this sandstorm. Just then, a hunter walked out, dangling a small pouch. "Here are fifty Soothing Beads," he announced, "three for one Floating Stone. Anyone interested?" No matter how scarce a resource, there were always those who had plenty to spare.

Others angrily retorted, "Three for one? You're truly heartless!" Soothing Beads were common throughout the Fray Realm, usually found everywhere. How dare this fellow ask for three for one Floating Stone? How could he even say that?

"Three for one, three for one. First come, first served," the hunter said, ignoring them. "Who wants them? The next batch will be more expensive!" Before he finished speaking, He Lingchuan pulled out a small pouch. "I'll take them all!" Although the Chiyan people found it expensive, He Lingchuan's position was special, and they genuinely lacked Soothing Beads. So they all opened their pouches, gathering the Floating Stones needed for the transaction in a few breaths. The Floating Stones varied in color, from light to dark. Their total value was estimated at about 150 marks. He Lingchuan couldn't care less about the survival of others; his own team's safety was naturally the priority. Besides, with two major powers clashing below, there would be plenty of Floating Stones to pick up after the sandstorm. Exchanging them now for life-saving items was incredibly cost-effective. To gain, one must first be willing to give. Unfortunately, most people couldn't grasp this concept in such a short time. 150 marks worth of Floating Stones, if sold to the Lingxu authorities in normal times, would immediately bring a fortune.

In a blink, the transaction was complete. The hunter was grinning from ear to ear, and then pulled out another pouch, saying, "Thirty Soothing Beads, two for one Floating Stone, anyone?" This time, it was two for one.

He Lingchuan shook his head and said to his teammates, "Let's go find a good spot to hunker down." The leeward holes varied in depth, and arriving early meant they could pick the best one. The good spots were quickly being taken. As more people arrived continuously, the Chiyan people couldn't be picky. They ducked into a nearby rock cave, which was ten feet deep and twenty feet wide, resembling a gaping mouth. The depth wasn't ideal, but no one complained. Once inside, they immediately began setting up their formation.

The Grass Sea event had been held for hundreds of years. Contestants had long since learned, through bitter experience, a series of contingency plans. Currently, the best way to deal with a sandstorm was a wind-stabilizing array. The Chiyan people brought a set of nine copper talismans. Placed correctly within the cave, once activated, they could significantly weaken the hurricane-force winds assailing the cave. Of course, this required consuming Black Crystals. The more violent the winds, the more energy the array consumed. Speaking of Black Crystals, He Lingchuan recalled the fruiting greenhouse gifted to him by the Ke family, which ensured abundant harvests. It was a pity this treasure couldn't be stored in a Spatial Ring during cultivation; otherwise, bringing it to the Fray Realm to cultivate Soothing Beads would have been excellent.

While helping to set up the array, He Lingchuan also had to keep an eye on the high ground. Most teams had already found shelter from the wind. Some nimble Danau beasts also scrambled up, joining the hunters in occupying the caves. As for the hunter selling Soothing Beads, his second pouch of Soothing Beads had also sold out. If He Lingchuan were him, he would have quit while he was ahead. Unfortunately, this man immediately pulled out another ten Soothing Beads, demanding a one-for-one exchange for Floating Stones.

The remaining teams lost patience. Seeing that Captain Zhou and his team had already found shelter in a cave and wouldn't interfere with their dealings, they simply resorted to seizing the beads by force. Two teams, a total of twelve people, fought fiercely. A third team, seeing this, exchanged glances and joined in. At a critical juncture of life and death, no one held back. In just a few dozen breaths, three were dead, and seven were injured. The hunter was a target for everyone; at least three or four people attacked him simultaneously. He didn't survive ten breaths before losing his life. Two of his teammates also died. The rest surrendered under the siege, handing over all items from the deceased. This included Soothing Beads, as well as Floating Stones and all survival supplies.

He Lingchuan watched from inside the cave, silent. His expression was unreadable in the dim light. The reactions of the other competing teams were identical to his. With too many people and too few resources, this was the inevitable outcome. Someone had to pay the price for others to survive. This chaotic fight was short-lived, because the sandstorm was already upon them. All survivors scrambled into the rock caves, leaving only three corpses outside. And then, the sandstorm arrived.

He Lingchuan had experienced sandstorms in his original world, but compared to the one in the Fray Realm, it was like a dog next to an elephant. The fierce sand covered everything. No near, mid, or far views remained; He Lingchuan could only see swirling sand before his eyes and hear only the surging wind and thunder in his ears. Was this what "heaven and earth, dark and yellow" truly meant? He also saw purplish-red electric orbs contorting into arbitrary shapes within the sandstorm.

Inside the cave, the nine copper talismans for stabilizing the wind emitted a faint white glow. The barrier divided the inside from the outside, creating two distinct worlds. Although the Chiyan people hiding in the cave also had their hair and beards ruffled, their experience was incomparable to the outside. He Lingchuan personally witnessed the three corpses on the ground being scoured and abraded by several rounds of wind and sand. Their clothes rotted first, followed by skin, then muscle... In just fifteen minutes, the corpses were ground down by the wind blades and sand-wheels until only some white bones remained. A gust of wind scattered the bones, carrying them off to unknown places. He Lingchuan inwardly cursed, "This sandstorm is too fierce! Its power is almost comparable to the Divine Meridian Wind of Wind Demon Mountain!"

A teammate stood up, saying, "I'll take watch; you all meditate and recover!" No one was pretentious. After checking their Soothing Beads, they began to meditate and recover. During the storm, nothing else could be done. Prioritizing meditation and recovery first helped alleviate the fatigue of long journeys and restored physical strength. After all, tracking a beast horde under more than triple gravity was inherently a high-intensity physical task. After this round of the storm passed, they would go down to clear the battlefield, and there might still be fierce battles ahead. Secondly, meditating could slow down their breathing, conserving Soothing Beads. Originally, eight were needed per hour, but now perhaps six, or even five, would suffice. Every bead saved was a life preserved.

They took turns on watch, changing shifts every fifteen minutes. Although the gale winds raged, and outside the cave was a forbidden zone, who knew if someone might sneak through to steal? The sentries still had to perform their duties. The Chiyan people now had 352 Soothing Beads, which, by their calculations, would last them for five hours. At least enough to last until after the sandstorm ended. Outside the cave, only vast yellow sands stretched, and time passed incredibly slowly. He Lingchuan finally experienced the Fray Realm's unfriendliness toward visitors from the human world. Here, even meditation had to be interrupted every fifteen minutes. He was reluctant to use Black Crystals, only taking small pills made from Imperial Dew Nectar.

One hour passed. Two hours passed. The wind and sand showed no signs of weakening. Everyone's heart sank: "This is bad." How could the Fray Realm's weather be so easily predicted? By the time the wind strength began to noticeably decrease, this sandstorm had lasted for a full three and a half hours!

The wind speed outside the cave decreased, and visibility improved. Everyone wrapped their faces with headscarves, covering their mouths and noses. They rushed out without waiting for the wind and sand to fully cease. Time was life. How could anyone brave enough to enter the Fray Realm be so delicate?

He Lingchuan ran past several caves, seeing bloodstains and dead bodies inside—Some teams had not accumulated enough Soothing Beads to begin with, and the sandstorm had lasted unexpectedly long. It was inevitable that self-elimination would occur inside the caves. Each person needed thirty or forty Soothing Beads, but if someone died, their beads could be evenly distributed among teammates, increasing everyone's chances of survival. This might be a difficult choice, but one death was better than an entire group dying, right? The Chiyan people felt a pang of sympathy, but at the same time, they were secretly grateful to He Lingchuan. Thanks to his quick decision to buy the Soothing Beads earlier, they didn't have to make such a choice. Compared to life, what was a few Floating Stones? There were plenty below!

At this moment, gale-force winds still swept their faces, but their power was far less than before. Everyone could barely cope by activating their protective True Qi. Seeing the scene on the wilderness, someone couldn't help but let out a long whistle: "My goodness!" Having endured the arduous three and a half hours, the survivors deserved a reward. But no one had expected the reward to be so generous!

The fierce winds had mostly passed, and before the chaotic rock formations, corpses lay strewn everywhere! The carcasses of Danau beasts were piled up like mountains, layer upon layer, almost filling the entire chaotic rock formation. Most of them were covered by windblown sand, only their outlines visible, much like "rolling donkey" (a type of Chinese dessert rolled in soybean flour). Even the well-traveled hunters from Lingxu City, at this moment, were stunned speechless by the grand spectacle of death before them.