Chapter 443: Strange Western Lands

It was a ruin in the desert, where most of the earth-colored palaces had collapsed, leaving only some crumbling walls. Flames blazed fiercely there, hotter than in other areas.

The ruins covered a vast area, thousands of acres in size. A dune giant, engulfed in blazing fire, was red all over, its body wreathed in flames. Though it had no legs, it could race through the streets and alleys of the ruins, passing through one thoroughfare after another.

Beneath the dune giant's body, swirling sand spun wildly, enabling it to move at great speed despite lacking legs.

At this moment, the dune giant was relentlessly pursuing Qin Mu and Ban Gungong. Both were being hunted by the giant, as loud thudding sounds echoed continuously. Each of the giant's strikes was incredibly heavy, hitting the desert and sending sand and stones flying out like swords!

Yet, the dune giant caused no damage whatsoever to the ruins. When it encountered crumbling walls, it simply submerged itself, and the red sand flowed past, leaving the ruins completely intact.

The divine arts of West Earth were vastly different from those of Yankang, following the path of animism. Even sand and stone could transform into giants for battle. The dune giant's single strike could split mountains and shatter rocks, demonstrating unstoppable power.

If either of them were struck by the dune giant, the sheer terrifying force alone would be enough to severely injure them!

Despite this, Qin Mu and Ban Gungong continued to attack each other, merely doing their best to dodge the dune giant's assaults.

Ban Gungong, with a severed arm, was hampered in his movements. Although Qin Mu controlled eight thousand swords, even with his exquisite swordsmanship, it was difficult to harm the dune giant. Even if he shattered the giant, it would immediately reform as if nothing had happened, its strength undiminished.

Both of them possessed exceptional movement techniques. While the dune giant's attacks were overwhelmingly powerful, they relied solely on brute force and lacked magical abilities, thus posing no significant threat to them.

Oddly enough, the dune giant seemed to target only Qin Mu, completely ignoring Ban Gungong.

"A spell from True Heaven Palace!"

The Dragon Qilin looked around, saying, "But where is the caster hiding?"

"That's a guardian of the desert, not a divine art."

Xiong Qi'er, pulling on his mane, climbed onto his large head, peered around, and said, "My mother told me there are many ancient ruins in the desert, formerly inhabited by gods who guarded it. Later, these gods left but left behind guardians to watch over this vast desert. If someone from the Great Ruins enters, they will be attacked by these guardians."

Suddenly, red sand churned within the ruins, and another dune giant rose, moving rapidly towards Qin Mu.

Qin Mu waved his hand, and dozens of crimson sand dragons roared forth, rushing towards the dune giant, relentlessly pursuing Ban Gungong. His vital qi circulated with increasing speed, and the power of his divine arts grew stronger. This was the moment of his peak combat strength!

The dozens of crimson sand dragons instantly tore through the dune giants, passing directly through the bodies of the two colossal figures.

"Hm?"

Qin Mu's heart lurched with surprise as he felt the magic power contained within his divine art being devoured. As the sand dragons passed through the dune giants' bodies, all the magic power within the dragons vanished!

Ban Gungong seized the opportunity, charging forward with a large cauldron above his head. Behind him, the two dune giants absorbed the magic power from Qin Mu's divine art, devouring it along with the dozens of sand dragons. Their bodies swelled immensely as they charged towards Qin Mu.

Qin Mu clenched his fist, raising his thumb, and met Ban Gungong with a direct punch. Ban Gungong immediately felt that this punch had little destructive power; instead, there was an inward-pulling force within the fist, drawing him closer to Qin Mu.

The sight of Qin Mu's raised thumb, however, sent a shiver down Ban Gungong's spine!

"The attacking power of his punch is in that finger!"

He struggled with all his might to break free. Qin Mu's move was not a fist technique at all, but swordsmanship; his thumb was his sword. If he couldn't break free, and the thumb pressed down, this sword strike would undoubtedly cut him in half!

"How did this fellow's combat skills improve so quickly, so terrifyingly? It hasn't even been a year since our last encounter; how could his strength have increased so rapidly?"

Ban Gungong used all his strength and finally broke free from Qin Mu's grip. At that moment, sword light surged from the tip of Qin Mu's thumb, vital qi forming threads, each thread a fine sword interwoven with others. With a hiss, the sword light descended as Qin Mu pressed his thumb down!

Ban Gungong suddenly transformed into a dark shadow, falling onto the sand, and the shadow swiftly moved away from Qin Mu.

Qin Mu raised his hand and pressed down, and instantly, a huge palm print, half an acre in size, appeared on the ground. Ban Gungong let out a sigh of relief: "This fellow missed..."

But at that moment, overwhelming sword light hummed in the air, all shooting downwards, covering such a vast area that he couldn't possibly escape the rain of swords.

Suddenly, a third dune giant rose from beneath Qin Mu's feet, and the sword rain falling from mid-air instantly went out of control. Ban Gungong hastily freed himself from the shadow, which transformed into a person who leaped out of the desert, repeatedly flashing and dodging rays of sword light as he fled from the ruins.

He looked back, only to see Qin Mu engulfed by three dune giants, his fate unknown.

"Once this fellow is severely wounded by the dune giants, it will be my best opportunity to kill him!"

Just as Ban Gungong thought this, he saw the Dragon Qilin rushing towards him with a roar. Ban Gungong sneered, "You beast, how dare you attack me?"

At this, he bowed his head and fiercely shouted, "Fatty Dragon!"

Immediately, a massive altar materialized behind him, and the demon god on the altar also bowed its head.

The Dragon Qilin remained unmoved. Ban Gungong, somewhat flustered, hastily bowed again, "Dragon Qilin!"

The Dragon Qilin was already close, fire glowing within its mouth.

Ban Gungong coughed up blood. He was already significantly wounded, and this soul-worshiping divine art severely depleted his vital essence. Two consecutive bows had already greatly diminished his vital energy.

"Qingqing!" Ban Gungong gritted his teeth and bowed once more.

Xiong Qi'er, holding onto the Dragon Qilin's mane, climbed onto the plump beast's head and looked at Ban Gungong with curiosity.

With a gasp, Ban Gungong spat out a jet of blood. From the Dragon Qilin's mouth, a pillar of fire erupted with blazing radiance, sweeping across over ten miles, leveling several sand dunes in its path!

Ban Gungong hastily ducked into the large cauldron. He heard loud clangorous sounds gradually fading into the distance as the cauldron was swept into the air, then fell, tumbling and crashing, finally landing dozens of miles away.

The Dragon Qilin galloped over, only to find a sand pit and a pool of blood where the cauldron had landed. Ban Gungong had clearly escaped by burrowing underground.

"Even I couldn't stop him? Those who can live for ten thousand years are truly remarkable; his escape skills are even superior to the cult master's," the Dragon Qilin marveled.

Suddenly, an earth-shattering roar erupted from the ruins. The Dragon Qilin looked back, only to see a fourth dune giant appearing in the ruins, over thirty zhang tall, comparable to the Myriad Buddha Pagoda of Great Thunderclap Temple. It moved with incredible speed, relentlessly pursuing Qin Mu.

"The cult master must not be harmed!"

The Dragon Qilin quickly rushed towards him. Suddenly, Qin Mu's figure vanished, reappearing moments later in front of him, floating in mid-air, covered in strange flames and rapidly rotating teleportation rune arrays.

Qin Mu quickly extinguished the flames on his body, his face blackened by the burns. Fortunately, his clothes, forged by powerful members of the Heavenly Feather Tribe like Yu Zhaoqing, were not destroyed by the fire.

A rustling sound came from behind. Qin Mu looked back to see the dune giants rushing out of the ruins like a tempest, aggressively charging towards them.

"Fatty Dragon, retreat!" Qin Mu waved his hand, stopping the charging Dragon Qilin.

The dune giants moved incredibly fast, quickly reaching Qin Mu. Then, the massive dunes swayed and parted to either side, launching a pincer attack on Qin Mu.

Just as they were about to pounce on Qin Mu, the teleportation rune arrays around his body lit up, and his figure vanished once more!

The dune giants collided with each other, sending sand flying everywhere. Then, one by one, the dune giants reformed and desperately rushed back towards the ruins. Before they could return to the ruins, they suddenly collapsed and disintegrated, turning into mounds of sand piled together.

The Dragon Qilin hurried over, only to see Qin Mu floating in mid-air. Beneath him lay a palace that had largely collapsed, and at its center was a shrine. Inside the shrine was a wooden idol covered in strange patterns. The idol's head now lay on the ground.

Qin Mu raised his hand, and the Carefree Sword flew back to him. He looked solemnly at the wooden idol's head.

Earlier, he had lured out the dune giants and returned to the ruins to survey the area with his Danxiao Heavenly Eye. He discovered that the strange patterns on the wooden idol were constantly shifting, so he used his sword to cut off its head!

With the idol's head severed, the patterns that had been glowing now slowly faded.

The moment he severed the idol's head, he sensed a terrifying spiritual fluctuation erupting from within it, rushing towards him, but it was repelled by the jade pendant he wore on his chest.

"Very peculiar..."

Qin Mu turned and asked, "Qi'er, are there any deities in your West Earth's True Heaven Palace?"

Xiong Qi'er shook her head and replied, "I've never heard of any."

Qin Mu clasped the jade pendant on his chest and whispered, "There's a spirit hidden in this idol. It even attacked me when I severed it. The idol's owner should still be alive."

"Cult Master, Ban Gungong has escaped," the Dragon Qilin promptly reported.

Qin Mu dismissed it with a wave, saying, "He has been fleeing for ten thousand years; he's a master of escape. It's indeed not easy to eliminate him in one go. Didn't the Imperial Preceptor of Yankang fail to capture him during the siege of Golden Palace? What worries me is the possibility of a living deity in West Earth's True Heaven Palace..."

He looked up towards the west. The fact that this deity's wooden idol could gather sand to form giants indicated that it used the unique art of True Heaven Palace.

The unique art of True Heaven Palace was called Myriad Deities' Natural Art. This cultivation method was suitable for women to practice. Although Xiong Xiyu had taught it to Qin Mu, he hadn't gained much from it.

"The Imperial Preceptor and Palace Master Xiong Xiyu have gone to True Heaven Palace; they might be in trouble."

Qin Mu withdrew his gaze, thinking, "I hope that deity isn't very powerful, otherwise..."

He shook his head.

"What makes me even more apprehensive is why this deity of True Heaven Palace would leave behind these palace ruins. These dune giants are clearly designed to kill the abandoned people leaving the Great Ruins. What exactly is the true nature of True Heaven Palace?"

He jumped onto the Dragon Qilin's back, and the Dragon Qilin carried him westward, quickly covering over ten miles.

The ruins were silent. After a moment, a rustling sound emerged, and the patterns on the two severed parts of the wooden idol gradually lit up. The idol's head suddenly flew up and settled back onto its neck.

The idol's patterns grew brighter and brighter; this wooden statue was slowly transforming into flesh and blood, its wooden body about to become a corporeal form!

Even more terrifying, the idol twisted its head around, its face turning to the back of its body, and its two eyes slowly opened, gazing in the direction Qin Mu had departed.

The idol spoke, its voice dry and eerie: "A noble among the abandoned, this deity..."

*Whoosh—*

A streak of sword light shot through the air, parallel to the ground, piercing the transforming wooden idol's head like lightning. Then, the sword light surged, cleaving the wooden idol into countless fragments!

Twenty miles away, the sword light swiftly flew back, returning to the scabbard behind Qin Mu.

"Gods, I've killed two or three of them myself," Qin Mu said, his hands tucked into his sleeves, as he stood on the Dragon Qilin's head, his body swaying with the beast's forward movement.