Chapter 1549: Initial Arrival in the Western Desert

The westernmost region of the East Fence Realm is a vast expanse of endless yellow sand. Vegetation and rainfall are scarce, and sandstorms erupt periodically, making conditions harsh. There are few places suitable for human habitation, and Golden Moon Lake is one of the few habitable desert oases in the Western Desert.

Golden Moon Lake spans 100,000 li, teeming with lush water plants. Beside it stands a magnificent city. Above its gate hangs a golden plaque bearing the large characters "Golden Moon City," which gleams with dazzling golden light under the sunlight.

Golden Moon City, measuring 500 li long, 200 li wide, and with city walls 100 zhang high, serves as the stronghold of the Jin family, a prominent cultivation clan. It is home to a million mortals and several thousand cultivators.

The Jin family lineage spans over a thousand years, with their ancestors being lay disciples of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple.

In the center of Golden Moon City stands a benevolent-looking golden Buddha statue, over thirty zhang tall, with its hands clasped in prayer. In front of it is a golden incense burner, over ten zhang tall, filled with lit sandalwood incense sticks.

A million mortals gather around the Buddha statue, kneeling before it and chanting phrases like "Buddha bless us" and "Buddha's mercy," each with profoundly sincere expressions.

Thousands of cultivators gather on the city walls, their expressions tense. They surround a lean, golden-robed elder with a youthful complexion and hair like a crane's. The elder's eyes are sharp and piercing, and his every movement exudes the aura of a high-ranking individual.

The golden-robed elder is Jin Decheng, the patriarch of the Jin family, a cultivator at the seventh stage of Core Formation.

His brows are tightly furrowed as he looks at a middle-aged man beside him, whose features bear a strong resemblance to his own. "Hao'er," he asks, "it's been over a month since Sheng'er and the others disappeared. Is there still no news?"

"Grandfather," the middle-aged man replies respectfully, a hint of worry in his eyes, "there is no news of Sheng'er and the others yet. She carried our clan's protective treasure, the Sand Shuttle, so she should have been able to escape and report the situation. Once the eminent monks from the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple arrive, we will be safe."

"I wonder who provoked that Tier 4 Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beast," Jin Decheng sighs, his face etched with worry. "It actually led a large number of Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts to besiege multiple oases. The Zhao, Sun, and Li families have all been annihilated one after another. I hope our clan's protective formation can hold them off. As long as we can hold out until the eminent monks from the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple arrive, we will be fine."

In the distance, yellow sand fills the sky. A massive yellow sand curtain, enveloping an area of a thousand li, flickers with faintly visible, grain-sized yellow runes on its surface.

Boom! Following a deafening roar, a fist-sized crater appeared on the surface of the yellow sand curtain, and the yellow runes on it dimmed.

"No good, the clan's protective formation won't hold!" Jin Decheng's expression changed drastically as he commanded loudly, "Everyone, cast spells together! We must stop the sand jackals, even if it costs us our lives. We cannot let them breach Golden Moon City!"

With a flip of his hand, a yellow light flashed, and three glittering yellow command banners appeared. The banners were covered with profound yellow runes, exuding pure earth spiritual energy fluctuations.

"Go!" Jin Decheng let out a loud shout and formed a hand seal. The three yellow command banners lit up brightly, transforming into three streaks of yellow light that vanished into the yellow sand curtain.

The crater on the surface of the yellow sand curtain healed rapidly, as if it had never appeared.

A muffled sound, like rain hitting a fence, rang out, and the yellow sand curtain twisted and deformed.

After ten breaths, an earth-shattering roar accompanied the appearance of a fist-sized crater on the surface of the yellow sand curtain. A green light drifted in, followed by a second crater, then a third, and then dense green lights. The entire yellow sand curtain suddenly burst open, turning into scattered yellow sand and rolling thick smoke.

Tens of thousands of yellow jackals appeared before Jin Decheng and the others. They varied in size, the smallest being one zhang long and the largest two zhang tall. Their bodies were covered in yellow fur, their eyes were emerald green, and each had a pair of yellow feathered wings on its back.

Leading them was a gigantic jackal, ten zhang long and three zhang tall, its eerie green eyes gleaming with chilling cold light.

After it let out a strange roar, tens of thousands of yellow jackals spread their wings, took flight, and surged towards Jin Decheng.

The moment the formation was breached, Jin Decheng immediately spat out a mouthful of vital blood, his face turning pale. Not bothering to wipe the blood from his mouth, he quickly shouted, "Quickly, control the formation to block them! Under no circumstances can we let them rush into Golden Moon City!"

The golden-armored cultivators either cast spells, unleashed magical artifacts and treasures, or manipulated formations to attack the Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts.

Points of yellow light appeared in the void, transforming into massive yellow boulders that plummeted towards the Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts. A fierce gale rose, sweeping up countless yellow sand particles that transformed into weapons like sand spears, sand blades, and sand arrows, attacking the Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts. Yellow tornados also hurtled directly towards them.

A tremendous roar erupted as hundreds of low-tier Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts died at the hands of the Jin family cultivators. However, there were simply too many Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts; soon, more replaced them, and these were of higher tier and more resilient.

Before long, tens of thousands of Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts charged to the foot of Golden Moon City. They attacked the city by either spewing yellow gales or shooting green light from their eyes.

A rumbling roar sounded as the yellow light barrier covering Golden Moon City trembled violently, appearing as if it could shatter at any moment.

The Tier 4 Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beast seemed to grow impatient. A flash of green light swept through its eyes, and two thick green beams shot out. It then opened its mouth and spewed a yellow gale that swept directly towards Golden Moon City.

The two green beams struck the yellow light barrier, producing muffled "thudding" sounds. The yellow gale then struck the light barrier, causing it to twist, deform, and suddenly shatter. The gale then impacted the city wall, which instantly splintered into pieces, and over a hundred Jin family cultivators were torn apart, transforming into a shower of blood.

The Tier 4 Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beast let out a strange roar, and tens of thousands of Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts flew towards Golden Moon City. Jin Decheng and the other Jin family cultivators revealed expressions of despair.

Just then, a streak of green light appeared on the horizon. Moving with extreme speed, it appeared above Golden Moon City in less than two breaths.

The green light was, astonishingly, a blue lotus seat, radiating brilliant light. Standing on it were a tall, handsome young man in a blue shirt and a plump, snow-skinned young woman in a blue dress. Behind them stood a pretty young girl in a yellow dress and a burly young man in a golden shirt.

"Nascent Soul cultivators! Sheng'er!" Jin Decheng exclaimed in surprise, his face full of disbelief.

While the Western Desert is rich in cultivation resources, high-tier cultivators are rarely seen, and most of those who are present are Buddhist cultivators.

The blue-shirted young man raised his right hand, and eighteen streaks of blue light flew out, dispersing and floating above Golden Moon City.

The blue lights flashed, and the eighteen streaks of blue light transformed into a massive blue water curtain that enveloped the entire Golden Moon City.

A tremendous roar came from high in the sky as a massive white cloud mass suddenly appeared. The white cloud mass churned violently, and countless blue water arrows shot out, striking the Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts below.

A series of sharp screams erupted as thousands of Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts were pierced by the dense blue water arrows.

The blue-dressed young woman flipped her hand, taking out an ancient and fragrant golden phoenix-tail zither. Her slender fingers rested on the strings.

A lively zither melody rang out, and a hazy blue sound wave swept forth. Wherever it passed, Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts fell from mid-air, motionless; even Tier 3 Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts could not withstand the attack of the blue sound wave.

A torrential downpour began high in the sky, with large raindrops transforming into blue water arrows that struck the Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts. Blue sound waves swept out, causing more Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts to fall from mid-air, motionless.

Jin Decheng was dumbfounded, swallowing repeatedly. He whispered, "The Azure Lotus Couple!"

The Tier 4 Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beast realized the situation was dire and intended to flee. A rapid ringing of bells sounded in its ears, making its head buzz as if struck by a heavy object, leaving it dizzy and disoriented.

When it recovered its senses, it felt a chill around its neck. A string of prayer beads, shimmering with Buddha's light, appeared there, rendering it unable to use any of its demonic power.

A blue light flashed, and the blue-shirted young man suddenly appeared above the Tier 4 Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beast's head. He clenched his right fist and slammed it towards the creature's head.

Boom! A tremendous roar erupted as the Tier 4 Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beast let out a pained shriek. Its massive body collapsed, lifeless, with a fist-sized bloody hole on its head, its brain shattered by the immense force.

A yellow light flashed, and a miniature Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beast flew out of the corpse. The moment it did, a blue jade bottle engraved with a blue lotus descended from the sky. The bottle spun, spewing out a blue radiance that collected the miniature Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beast.

With the death of the Tier 4 Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beast, the other Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts scattered and fled.

The blue-shirted young man and the blue-dressed young woman did not pursue them further. The blue-shirted young man looked at Jin Decheng and asked with a smile, "Young friend Jin, do you know us?"

"Junior Jin Decheng greets you, seniors," Jin Decheng said, bowing deeply in gratitude. "I have long heard of the illustrious name of the Azure Lotus Couple. Seeing you today, your reputation is truly well-deserved. Thank you both for your timely intervention; otherwise, our entire clan would have perished."

"Juniors greet you, seniors, and thank you for your rescue," the Jin family cultivators said in unison, each with profoundly sincere expressions.

The blue-shirted young man and the blue-dressed young woman exchanged a smile. They were none other than Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan.

They had traveled to the Western Desert to acquire Buddhist cultivation resources for Wang Xin, hoping to help him advance to the Nascent Soul stage. Unexpectedly, they encountered a Core Formation female cultivator under attack by demonic beasts and rescued her.

The Core Formation female cultivator, Jin Lisheng, was on her way to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple to seek aid, as a horde of Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts was besieging her family.

Upon learning of the demonic beasts' rampage, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan did not decline to help. They actively assisted, eliminating most of the Green-Eyed Sand Jackal Beasts and saving thousands of cultivators and over a million mortals.

"You don't have to be so polite; it was just a small effort," Wang Changsheng said pleasantly. "How do we get to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple? We need to visit Grandmaster Jingkong there for something." Strictly speaking, these people were affiliated with the Buddhist sect.