It was a ruin in the desert: rows of ochre palaces mostly collapsed, leaving only jagged remnants and broken walls. The flames there burned fiercer than anywhere else.
The ruins sprawled across thousands of acres. The Sand Dune Giant, wreathed in blazing fire, its entire body crimson, raced through the ruins’ streets and alleys, flying by without legs—just a whirling storm of sand beneath its torso.
The swirling sand beneath the Sand Dune Giant let it move with astonishing speed, legs or not.
At this moment, the Sand Dune Giant was hunting Quinn Shepherd and Ben Coates. Both were being chased, thunderous booms echoing as the giant struck—each blow heavy enough to send sand and stone shooting out like blades!
Yet the Sand Dune Giant didn’t damage the ruins at all. Whenever it met broken walls or toppled debris, it simply flowed over them—the red sand passing through, leaving everything untouched.
The Western Lands’ divine arts were utterly different from those of the Everpeace Empire. Here, everything had spirit—even sand could become a giant and fight. One blow from a Sand Dune Giant could split mountains and shatter stone; its power was unstoppable.
If either of them took a hit from the Sand Dune Giant, just the raw force alone could severely injure them.
Even so, Quinn and Ben kept attacking each other, dodging the giant’s blows as best they could.
Ben Coates had lost an arm and could barely move. Quinn Shepherd controlled eight thousand swords, but no matter how exquisite his swordplay, he couldn’t hurt the Sand Dune Giant. Even if he shattered it, the giant instantly reformed, its strength undiminished.
Both of them had exceptional movement techniques. The Sand Dune Giant’s attacks were brutally strong, but it only used its fists—no spells or divine arts—so the threat wasn’t as great as it could have been.
Strangely, though, the Sand Dune Giant seemed to attack only Quinn Shepherd, ignoring Ben Coates entirely.
"True Heaven Palace’s spell!"
Bruno the Dragon-Qilin looked around nervously. "But where’s the caster hiding?"
"That’s a guardian of the desert, not a spell," Kira Bear corrected.
Kira Bear clambered up onto Bruno’s big head, peered around, and said, "My mom told me there are lots of ancient ruins in the desert—places where desert gods used to live. Later, the gods left, but they made guardians to watch over these sands. If you’re from the Great Ruins, those guardians will attack you."
Suddenly, red sand swirled through the ruins, and another Sand Dune Giant rose up, speeding straight for Quinn.
Quinn swept his arm, unleashing dozens of crimson sand dragons that roared and charged at the Sand Dune Giant, chasing after Ben Coates. His qi surged faster and faster, his divine arts growing stronger—this was the peak of his fighting power!
The crimson sand dragons tore through the Sand Dune Giant, passing clean through both giants’ bodies.
"Huh?"
Quinn’s heart lurched. He realized the spell power inside his sand dragon technique was being devoured—as the dragons passed through the giants, all their energy vanished!
Ben Coates saw an opening and charged forward atop his cauldron, while the two Sand Dune Giants behind him absorbed the spell power from his divine arts—and from those dozens of sand dragons—swelling in size as they rushed at Quinn.
Quinn clenched his fist, thumb raised, and met Ben Coates head-on. Ben instantly felt that Quinn’s punch had little force—yet there was a strange, inward pull dragging him closer.
But when Ben saw Quinn’s thumb sticking up, a chill ran down his spine.
The real power of his attack was in that thumb!
Ben struggled desperately to break free. Quinn’s move wasn’t a punch at all—it was swordplay, with his thumb as the blade. If Ben couldn’t escape, that thumb would come down and slice him in two!
How did this guy’s fighting skills improve so fast—so terrifyingly? It’s been less than a year since our last clash, and his strength has skyrocketed!
Ben poured all his strength into escaping Quinn’s grip. Just as he broke free, Quinn’s thumb flared with sword-light—his qi spun into fine threads, each one a slender sword twining together, and with a hiss, the sword-light slashed down alongside Quinn’s thumb!
Ben suddenly turned into a shadow, dropping to the sand and racing away at top speed.
Quinn pressed his hand down, leaving a huge palmprint half an acre wide in the sand. Ben breathed a sigh of relief: "He missed..."
But then, sword-light filled the sky, humming as it rained down—a downpour so vast Ben couldn’t escape its reach.
Suddenly, a third Sand Dune Giant rose up beneath Quinn’s feet. The sword-rain in midair went wild. Ben Coates scrambled free from his shadow form, leaping from the desert and dodging streaks of sword-light as he escaped the ruins.
He glanced back and saw Quinn swallowed up by three Sand Dune Giants—whether he was dead or alive, Ben couldn’t tell.
Once the Sand Dune Giants seriously injured him, that would be my best chance to kill him!
Just as Ben had this thought, Bruno the Dragon-Qilin came charging in. Ben sneered, "You beast, you think you can take me on?"
With that, he dropped to his knees and shouted, "Dragonfat!"
A massive altar appeared behind him, and the demon god atop it bowed low as well.
Bruno was unmoved. Ben grew flustered and bowed again: "Dragon-Qilin!"
Bruno was nearly upon him, mouth glowing with fire.
Ben spat blood. He was already badly hurt, and this soul-bowing spell drained his core energy—bowing twice had nearly exhausted him.
"Ariel!" Ben gritted his teeth and bowed a third time.
Kira Bear clung to Bruno’s mane and climbed onto the big beast’s head, peering curiously at Ben Coates.
Ben spat a jet of blood. Bruno unleashed a pillar of flame from his mouth, blazing across ten miles and flattening several sand dunes in its path!
Ben Coates dove into his cauldron just as the thunderous impacts faded. The cauldron was swept into the air, crashed down, and tumbled dozens of miles away.
Bruno raced after it, but when he reached the spot, all he found was a sand pit and a smear of blood—Ben had clearly tunneled away.
"Even with my strength, I couldn’t hold him? No wonder he’s lived ten thousand years—his escape skills are even better than the Cult Master’s." Bruno marveled.
Suddenly, a thunderous crash echoed from the ruins. Bruno looked back to see a fourth Sand Dune Giant appear, towering over thirty zhang tall—rivaling the Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda at Great Thunder Sound Temple. It moved with terrifying speed, relentlessly pursuing Quinn.
"I can’t let anything happen to the Cult Master!"
Bruno sprinted toward the chaos, but suddenly Quinn vanished—only to reappear floating in midair, wreathed in strange flames and spinning arrays of teleportation runes.
Quinn hurriedly smothered the flames, his face scorched black. Luckily, his clothes—crafted by Ariel Skyfeather and other Skyfeather Clan experts—had survived the fire.
A rustling sound approached. Quinn turned and saw the Sand Dune Giants charging out of the ruins, bearing down on them with murderous force.
"Dragonfat, fall back!" Quinn waved, stopping Bruno from charging in.
The Sand Dune Giants moved with incredible speed, quickly reaching Quinn. The dunes split, giants attacking from both sides to surround him.
Just as they were about to pounce, arrays of teleportation runes flared around Quinn—he vanished again!
The Sand Dune Giants crashed together, sand flying everywhere. They soon reformed and rushed frantically back toward the ruins, but before they could return, they suddenly collapsed—turning into heaps of sand.
Bruno hurried over and found Quinn floating in midair above a half-collapsed palace. At its center stood a shrine, with a wooden deity statue covered in strange markings—its head now lying on the ground.
Quinn raised his hand and the Worryless Sword flew back to him. He gazed solemnly at the wooden statue’s severed head.
Earlier, after luring out the Sand Dune Giants, Quinn had returned to the ruins and scanned the area with his Danxiao Heaven Eye. He noticed the strange markings on the statue shifting and, with a single sword strike, sliced off its head!
With its head severed, the statue’s glowing markings slowly faded away.
The instant he sliced off the head, Quinn sensed a terrifying psychic wave burst from the statue, rushing at him—only to be blocked by the jade pendant he wore on his chest.
"So strange..."
Quinn turned and asked, "Kira, does True Heaven Palace in the Western Lands have any living gods?"
Kira Bear shook her head. "I've never heard of any."
Quinn gripped his jade pendant and murmured, "There’s a hidden spirit in that statue. When I severed it, it attacked me—the statue’s master must still be alive."
"Cult Master, Ben Coates escaped!" Bruno called out.
Quinn didn’t mind. "He’s been running for ten thousand years—he’s a master at it. Wiping him out in one stroke would be tough. Even when the Imperial Preceptor besieged Golden Palace, Ben slipped away. What worries me is that True Heaven Palace in the Western Lands might have a living god..."
He looked west. That wooden idol could gather sand into giants—proof it used True Heaven Palace’s signature art.
True Heaven Palace’s signature art is called All-Gods Natural Art. It’s best suited for women, and though Raina Bear taught it to Quinn, he didn’t gain much from it.
"The Imperial Preceptor and Palace Master Raina Bear went to True Heaven Palace—they could be in trouble."
Quinn looked away, thinking, "Hopefully that god isn’t too powerful, or else..."
He shook his head.
"What troubles me even more is—why did this god of True Heaven Palace leave behind these palace ruins? These Sand Dune Giants were clearly meant to kill cast-outs leaving the Great Ruins. What is True Heaven Palace’s real face?"
He leaped onto Bruno’s back, and the dragon-qilin carried him westward, quickly covering more than ten miles.
The ruins fell silent. After a moment, a faint rustling arose—the markings on the two halves of the wooden statue began to glow. Suddenly, the statue’s head flew up and reattached to its neck.
The markings grew brighter, and the wooden idol slowly began to transform—its body turning from wood to flesh and blood!
Even more terrifying, the statue twisted its head completely around, face turning to the back, and its eyes slowly opened—staring after Quinn as he left.
The statue spoke, its voice dry and eerie: "A noble among the cast-outs... This palace..."
Whoosh—
A streak of sword-light skimmed the ground, piercing the transforming statue’s head like lightning. The sword-light exploded, shattering the idol into countless fragments!
Twenty li away, the sword-light flew back at top speed, sliding into the scabbard on Quinn’s back.
"I’ve killed two or three gods myself," Quinn said, hands tucked in his sleeves, standing atop Bruno’s head as the dragon-qilin sped along.