Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Giant of the Golden Sands

A dozen or so figures soared through the air, the wind howling incessantly in their ears. Gu Jia’er wore a stunned expression, unable to believe what she was hearing. Upon hearing Lu Yangyun’s words, her first reaction was to ask which Mo family he meant. Only after confirming it was the Mo clan from Xikun Continent did she go numb.

The Mo family had a legacy spanning over a hundred thousand years, with several elders in the clan beyond the Consolidation stage. Rumor even had it they could summon the first ancestor’s spirit to descend. Such a profoundly powerful family was incomparable even to the peak era of her former Putuo Sacred Land.

Yet, the Mo family had been utterly annihilated by Xu Zhe? All that remained were a few elders and the clan head, Mo Shanhai?

Gu Jia’er began to doubt her own existence. The new worldview she had painstakingly adopted and grown accustomed to, all because of Xu Zhe, was now on the verge of collapse again.

Lu Yangyun even took out the Vortex Jade Register, showing her the complete recorded images from the Celestial Dao’s chronicles: the battle between Xu Zhe and Qi Ming in Tianhe City, the fight against the Shocking God Assassin, the Stone Flame Secret Realm, and finally Xu Zhe’s seal over the Mo family with a single stamp. He showed it all to her, giving a thorough explanation.

Gu Jia’er’s heart surged as she watched, especially at the scene where Xu Zhe, seemingly maddened, shattered his Golden Core and summoned the treasure seal, transforming it into a bronze palace to suppress the Mo family. It almost made her want to turn back to the Burial Immortal Valley, drag Xu Zhe back into that crystal coffin, and watch him take notes again.

What a beautiful and romantic time that would be!

“Could it be that because he possessed a treasure, the crystal coffin didn’t attack him?” Gu Jia’er suddenly made this connection, pondering deeply.

“By the way, how did you all withstand the poisonous mist inside Burial Immortal Valley?” Lu Yangyun couldn’t help but ask. They couldn’t discuss Gu Jia’er’s affairs on the road, but he was curious about the poisonous mist in the valley—how Xu Zhe could enter safely and emerge unscathed, even bringing Gu Jia’er out.

“Don’t you know? That’s not poisonous mist; it’s Yuan Yang Golden Mist.” Gu Jia’er frowned, looking at Lu Yangyun with a hint of disdain, as if saying, “You don’t know? Yuan Yang Golden Mist?”

“Yuan Yang Golden Mist?” Lu Yangyun was stunned. This was the first time he had heard of it.

“It’s nothing special. He just casually ran around in the Yuan Yang Golden Mist, sometimes taking deep breaths, marveling at how fresh the air felt. Oh, and before leaving Burial Immortal Valley, he killed two crocodile-headed pythons with a single palm.” Gu Jia’er said this flatly, expressionless.

Lu Yangyun: “......”

The assassins: “Damn!”

……

At the same time, within Burial Immortal Valley.

Xu Zhe ventured again into the central region, advancing steadily. He produced several empty storage rings, inscribed them with formation patterns, and absorbed the thick Yuan Yang Golden Mist into them one by one.

He had no clue which direction the sea area mentioned by Wang Jianguo lay, nor did Gu Jia’er.

So he could only wander aimlessly, trying to judge from various directions.

This time, Xu Zhe went straight through the valley’s center, heading in a straight line opposite the entrance.

After several days, the dozen or so empty storage rings he carried were filled with Yuan Yang Golden Mist.

The amount of Yuan Yang Golden Mist in Burial Immortal Valley visibly decreased by more than half.

Xu Zhe successfully passed through the central area, arriving at the deepest outer region.

This area was obviously more desolate—no green plants in sight, just yellow earth stretching like a desert.

A faint golden mist floated in the air, almost merging with the ground.

“Not in this direction?” Xu Zhe muttered.

At this orientation, going further should have taken him past this yellow earth and beyond Burial Immortal Valley’s boundary.

If there was a sea area, he should have heard the sound of waves crashing by now.

But the surroundings remained silent, indicating the sea area was likely not this way.

Xu Zhe pondered briefly but decided to continue forward.

After all, since he was here, even if the sea area wasn’t in this direction, he might as well see what lay at the valley’s end.

However, he underestimated how far the end was.

Racing for an entire day and night, all he saw was endless yellow earth, with no end in sight.

What’s more, the Yuan Yang Golden Mist had vanished at some point. The sky was clear and bright blue.

“This can’t be right. Burial Immortal Valley occupies a corner of Xikun Continent’s edge; it shouldn’t take this long to reach the end,” Xu Zhe frowned.

Normally, this would mean he was trapped by some formation—appearing to move forward but actually treading in place.

Yet he stayed vigilant the whole time, sensing no formation energy, and was certain he was advancing. Though the ground was all yellow earth, the terrain kept changing.

“If I judge by the coverage of the Yuan Yang Golden Mist, then I should’ve already left Burial Immortal Valley long ago.”

Xu Zhe contemplated: if he kept going in this direction, what place would it lead to?

Looking up once more at the endless yellow earth, he resolved to return.

He had only intended a quick glance since the distance wasn’t far.

But now the situation felt odd—who knew how far this barren stretch extended?

If it remained desolate for another year or two, he might get lost. Better to return while he still had a sense of direction.

Just as he turned, a sudden thought flashed through his mind.

“The sea area…”

Xu Zhe stopped and looked down again. Stooping, he scooped a handful of yellow sand.

The sand was fine and cold, flowing slowly through his fingers.

“Could this be the sea area they referred to?”

Xu Zhe raised an eyebrow. After all, a sea area could also mean a sea of sand.

Perhaps Wang Jianguo deliberately called it a sea area to mislead others into thinking of the ocean, when in fact he meant a sand sea.

If that were true, and he said a door existed within the sea area, the answer lay behind that door.

But where was this door?

Xu Zhe looked around at the dim yellow surroundings, helpless.

Finding a door here was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

“A wasted trip.”

He chuckled bitterly. Still, it was only a few days lost, and at least he gained a new perspective—the sea area might be a sand sea.

He turned and retraced his path, riding his flying sword, becoming a stream of light as he sped away.

Several days later, a dim yellow haze appeared before Xu Zhe’s eyes.

The Yuan Yang Golden Mist reappeared, signaling he was approaching Burial Immortal Valley’s outer boundary again.

But not far ahead, in a patch of yellow earth, Xu Zhe caught a fleeting glimpse of something.

“Hm?”

Xu Zhe was instantly alert.

He vaguely saw a slender figure flash through the yellow earth, as if emerging from the sand and then disappearing back inside.

Yet his divine sense detected no aura at all.

“Did I see things?”

Xu Zhe frowned and immediately darted toward that spot.

As his feet touched the ground, the sand beneath sank slightly, leaving two deep footprints.

Xu Zhe examined the ground carefully. His divine sense penetrated the sand and delved underground, but found nothing.

“Child, you’ve stepped on my nose.”

Suddenly, a deep voice echoed from all directions.

The ground beneath Xu Zhe trembled, vast amounts of sand roiled, and a colossal humanoid figure of sand rose up.

It spread its arms, pressing on the ground as its upper body sat up, simultaneously lifting Xu Zhe.

Looking closely, Xu Zhe was standing right on the sand giant’s nose.

“Playing tricks.”

Xu Zhe snorted coldly and kicked off, leaping high into the air.

Bang!

The nose of the sand giant shattered and caved in where Xu Zhe had stood.

Sand cascaded down from midair.

“Come out!”

Xu Zhe hovered in midair, eyes fixed on the ground, voice stern.

“Just a mere Golden Core stage, how dare you come here? How dare you, child!” The deep voice resounded again, seemingly everywhere.

The enormous sand giant stood fully upright and stomped once.

Bang!

The earth shook.

The sand giant’s hollow eyes stared intently at Xu Zhe.

“Child, your talent is exceptional. Become my disciple and you will achieve greatness. Come, kneel before me!”

The sand giant raised its arms, gesturing as if welcoming a disciple.

“……”

Xu Zhe frowned instantly, vaguely detecting a foul stench.

He shook his head. “Li Chungang, haven’t you cured your foot odor yet?”