Chapter 1855: Locking Spirit Land

Fifteen minutes later, they appeared deep in the desert, where swirling yellow sand filled the air and strong winds blew in gusts.

Wang Qingshan frowned, then chopped downwards with his right hand. A piercing sword hum sounded as a large swathe of azure sword energy shot out, striking a sand dune below.

Boom! After a deafening roar, a yellow giant python, over ten zhang long, emerged from beneath the sand dune. The dense azure sword energy struck its body, leaving only shallow sword marks.

Bai Ling’er's eyes gleamed with dazzling white light. The yellow giant python met her gaze, and its eyes became vacant, unmoving.

By the time it regained its senses, an azure sword dragon, over a hundred zhang long, descended from the sky, tearing it to shreds. Blood rained down, staining large areas of the yellow sand red.

A deafening roar echoed from the distance. Wang Qingshan's brow furrowed deeply; the Seven-Colored Lizard had clearly targeted them, and this was not good news.

Given the existing restrictions, they dared not fly too fast.

Wang Qingshan formed a hand seal, and the Qian Guang Dun Ying Shuttle accelerated. The two flying eagle puppet beasts also picked up speed.

After flying for over a hundred li, Wang Qingshan suddenly stopped, his expression turning grim.

Numerous white whirlpools appeared in the void ahead, faintly discernible and emitting strong spatial fluctuations.

These were spatial nodes, but no one knew where they led. They could be a necropolis, a secret realm, or even a minor world.

“So many spatial nodes?” Bai Ling’er frowned. “These spatial nodes seem unstable. They might collapse at any moment.” This meant that the path ahead was quite dangerous.

The wind suddenly picked up, and a massive mound of earth rapidly moved towards them. It was indeed the Seven-Colored Lizard.

As soon as it appeared, it let out a sharp, piercing roar. Wang Qingshan and Bai Ling’er felt their heads buzz and grow heavy with dizziness.

The void above their heads rippled, and a huge, gleaming golden claw shadow appeared out of nowhere, instantly slapping down.

Wang Qingshan bit the tip of his tongue, a metallic taste spreading in his mouth. He quickly summoned nine Azure Glaze Swords and slashed at the golden giant claw.

Boom! With a loud bang, the golden giant claw was shattered by his strike and dispersed into specks of spiritual light.

The wind suddenly picked up again, and countless yellow grains of sand flew high into the air, transforming into yellow stones which hurtled towards Wang Qingshan and Bai Ling’er.

As soon as the yellow stones approached within a hundred zhang of Wang Qingshan and Bai Ling’er, they were shattered by the nine Azure Glaze Swords, sending dust flying everywhere.

Countless yellow grains of sand flew high into the air, transforming into various forms such as yellow arrows and yellow flying swords, and attacked Wang Qingshan and Bai Ling’er.

Having learned its lesson, the Seven-Colored Lizard dared not engage them in close-quarters combat again.

For a time, explosions continuously rang out, and waves of air surged.

They did not notice that the white whirlpools were subtly trembling.

Countless yellow grains of sand flew high into the air, and after swirling briefly, condensed into a yellow mountain hundreds of zhang tall, which smashed down towards Wang Qingshan and Bai Ling’er.

Wang Qingshan formed a sword seal, and the nine Azure Glaze Swords erupted with dazzling azure light, transforming into nine streaks of azure light that slashed at the yellow mountain.

With a thunderous roar, the yellow mountain was shattered to pieces by the nine azure lights. Waves of air surged, and smoke and dust filled the sky, making it impossible to see one's hand before their face.

Two streaks of red light flew out of the smoke and dust without warning, heading straight for Wang Qingshan and Bai Ling’er.

They reacted quickly, their figures flickering as they dodged the red light. The two streaks of red light then struck two of the white whirlpools.

The white whirlpools violently shook, emitting a buzzing sound, as if this section of space was about to collapse.

Wang Qingshan's expression changed drastically, and he was about to evade, when the white whirlpools suddenly tore open, revealing a void several zhang wide. A powerful suction force appeared out of nowhere, and Wang Qingshan and Bai Ling’er were uncontrollably pulled into the void.

Countless yellow grains of sand were sucked into the void. The Seven-Colored Lizard sensed danger and turned to flee immediately.

He didn't know how much time had passed when Wang Qingshan slowly opened his heavy eyelids. He felt someone pressing down on him, soft and warm like jade.

“Mm…” Bai Ling’er slowly opened her eyes, dizzy and disoriented. Her clothes were tattered, and her snow-white chemise and cleavage were faintly visible, inviting imagination.

When she realized she was sitting on Wang Qingshan, a flush spread across her face. She quickly stood up and took out a long robe to put on.

Wang Qingshan had several injuries on his body, but they were not severe.

He stood up and observed his surroundings.

They were above a desolate mountain. The vegetation here was sparse, and looking into the distance, it was a scene of desolation. The sky was also a dreary gray.

Wang Qingshan released his divine sense, intending to check for the presence of demonic beasts or restrictions.

His brow furrowed deeply. He looked at Bai Ling’er, whose brow was also tightly furrowed.

Their divine senses were somewhat restricted. Wang Qingshan could only scan a radius of one hundred and fifty li, whereas cultivators at the late Nascent Soul stage could normally scan over two hundred li. Here, his divine sense was limited. Furthermore, their magical power was slowly draining away.

“Spirit-Locking Ground!” Wang Qingshan and Bai Ling’er exclaimed in unison. Both their expressions turned grim.

The Spirit-Locking Ground, like the Spirit-Depleting Ground, was one of the Ten Great Perilous Lands of the cultivation world. In the Spirit-Depleting Ground, cultivators found it difficult to draw upon their magical power, severely limiting their ability to cast spells or control magical treasures to attack enemies. The Spirit-Locking Ground, however, caused a cultivator’s magical power to slowly dissipate until it was completely exhausted. While cultivators still retained their original lifespan after losing their magical power, without it, they were left utterly defenseless. If one's magical power was depleted with no means of replenishment, the danger was self-evident.

“We must find a way out as soon as possible,” Wang Qingshan said with a frown, “otherwise, we might truly be trapped and die here.”

He took out all the high-grade spirit stones he had, tucking them into his robes. He also put the magical power recovery pills and two bottles of fasting pills into his robes for emergencies.

The two slowly walked down the mountain, their pace not fast.

Below the mountain was a vast and boundless wasteland, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Wang Qingshan released his Twin-Eyed Rat, allowing it to lead the way to find an exit.

The Twin-Eyed Rat curled its body into a ball, transforming into a yellow sphere, and quickly rolled forward.

“Your spirit rat is quite interesting,” Bai Ling’er remarked casually. “It seems to enjoy this way of scouting.”

“Perhaps!” Wang Qingshan’s tone was calm, as if he didn't want to say more.

Three days later, they appeared in a massive basin. Two ape-like puppet beasts walked ahead, and on the ground lay a mountain-sized white skeleton and a human-shaped skeleton. Strangely, neither skeleton had a storage ring on them.

Wang Qingshan formed a hand seal, and the two ape-like puppet beasts strode towards the white skeleton. They swung their arms, smashing the skeleton to pieces, but there was no abnormality.

“Someone has been here before,” Bai Ling’er analyzed. “If his storage ring isn’t on him, it means someone came after he died and took the storage ring.”