Boom!
A huge yellow profound shield appeared midair and entirely blocked the firebird. A violent explosion lasted for a full minute before the shield and the firebird disappeared altogether.
When everything calmed down, Wan Jiansheng discovered that Gu Xiao had already disappeared from his sight. He hurriedly spread his Spiritual Sense out, but he couldn't catch a single trace of him.
"Damn it!" Wan Jiansheng was furious. He couldn't believe that he had let Gu Xiao slip away.
Just as he calmed down, the surrounding sandstorms suddenly grew stronger, making him look around in confusion.
"What is… Argh!" Wan Jiansheng suddenly caught a glimpse of a massive shadow within the sandstorms. Before he could finish his sentence, his entire body was covered with a huge shadow and disappeared from the place.
A few tens of kilometers away from the scene, Gu Xiao gritted his teeth and continued to run for his life. He turned to look back from time to time and heaved a sigh of relief as he didn't see Wan Jiansheng's figure.
Thud!
He was finally exhausted completely and fell to the ground, panting heavily. He didn't forget to stuff a recovery pill into his mouth and closed his eyes, silently recovering his energy.
"Not bad. Looks like there are a lot of good seedlings in this batch." An aged voice suddenly resounded in Gu Xiao's mind, causing him to jolt awake and get up from the ground.
"Who are you?" Gu Xiao gripped the sword in his hand tightly and looked around vigilantly.
"Who am I?… Well, everyone often called me Boundless Desert Emperor." The aged voice resounded again.
"Boundless Desert Emperor?" Gu Xiao was shocked. He hurriedly bowed his head. "Junior Gu Xiao pays respect to His Majesty Boundless Desert Emperor."
"There's no need to be polite." The Boundless Desert Emperor said. "Do you want to come to my place?"
Gu Xiao's expression froze for a moment and turned into joy. He quickly replied. "I am willing."
"Good." The Boundless Desert Emperor said.
Instantly, Gu Xiao saw a vast shadow coming from the sky. Before he could react, he had already found himself standing on a giant platform with several earth pillars around it.
At the center, a human head-sized earth orb was floating on top of an earthly altar. A mysterious man was covering himself from head to toe could be seen beside it. Without a doubt, this person was the Boundless Desert Emperor!
When Gu Xiao was about to greet him, his pupils suddenly shrank as he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in the corner of his sight. He looked over, and his entire body froze. "Wan Jiansheng… Ji Yi…?"
The scene in front of him shocked him greatly. Wan Jiansheng was tied to the pillar with a mysterious power. And it wasn't only him. Gu Xiao saw a few familiar figures on each pillar. These people were obviously those ten people who came with him this round.
"This…" Gu Xiao was lost for a word.
"Surprise?" The Boundless Desert Emperor said calmly. "Don't worry. You will join them later."
Gu Xiao returned to his sense and quickly took out another red feather.
However, before he could activate it, he discovered that he couldn't move an inch. It was as if he was firmly grasped by a visible hand.
"That Little Girl Hong surely values you a lot. She even gave you two precious phoenix feathers. I'm starting to get curious now. Are you her lover?" The Boundless Desert Emperor chuckled, and the red feather in Gu Xiao's hand flew over, landing on his palm.
Gu Xiao's lips moved slightly, but he couldn't say a word, as if something was blocking his throat.
"Stay here in peace." The Boundless Desert Emperor seemed bored when he saw this. He waved his hand, sending Gu Xiao onto the top of a vacant pillar, joining Wan Jiansheng and the others.
He then turned to look at the orb beside him and murmured to himself. "All the side characters are here. It's time to bring the main characters over."
***
Yun Lintian's group traveled for a day and night. Along the way, they killed many Monarch Profound Beasts, and Yun Lintian didn't forget to show his cooking skill.
Master Bai, Linlin, and Mumu benefited a lot from this. Especially Master Bai. He continued to absorb flesh and blood from those beasts, and his strength had already reached the peak of the Saint Profound Realm. This speed made Lei Zhenxiang and the others numb.
"Kehaha! It's really a wise decision to come with you." Master Bai laughed heartily while nibbling roasted meat. Because of the abnormally high quality of the profound beasts here, his strength recovered at an extreme speed that he didn't expect before. He was in a good mood now.
Yun Lintian rolled his eyes and cut pieces of meat for Linlin and Qingqing.
"This place is definitely one of the best lands in the world." Lei Feifei said while elegantly sipping tea. "We have gained a lot in just one day. I'm afraid that even the Heaven Vault Island on the south might not be comparable to this."
On the way, they found a lot of heaven and earth treasures. The amount of them could easily support Lei Feifei's Black Wings Group for a few years with no problem.
"However, I find it strange." Lei Zhenxiang suddenly said. "I don't know why, but I feel like something is wrong here. It's just my feeling."
Mu Qiuxue, who rarely spoke, had also opened her mouth this time. "We have been traveling for a while but didn't see anyone here."
In fact, she suspected this from the moment they had entered this place. Although they came later, it shouldn't reach the point where they couldn't keep up with Gu Xiao and the other nine people. Where did they go?
Yun Lintian had thought about this as well. At first, he thought everyone fell into the natural formation, which separated his and Gu Xiao's group. However, after walking for a day, he couldn't find any trace of the others. This was truly strange.
Boom!
All of a sudden, the surrounding sandstorms went berserk. They grew violent without a sign and broke the formation Yun Lintian set up directly.
Before everyone could react, they were instantly engulfed by the sandstorms…