Chapter 1434: Sandstorm of Despair
The devil invasion was a calamity concerning the entire dominion and every living being in the dominion. Although the humans made up for the main resistance to the invasion, the other races were taking part as well. After all, they were afraid that the humans might not be able to hold on. If that happened, they would suffer as well.
Xiang Shaoyun said to Hu Detian, "Don't worry, Father-in-Law. No matter how strong the devils are, they won't be much upon reaching our territories. I'll try to connect the teleportation formations as soon as possible. The moment your people encounter any danger, you can flee to the Ziling Sect."
"Um. I'll be relying on you, then," said Hu Detian with a nod.
From Hu Detian's expression, Xiang Shaoyun could see that things were getting serious. He wasted no time and hurriedly returned to the Ziling Sect. Instead of traveling in an unhurried manner, he moved as fast as he could, trying to return as quickly as possible.
With the combat strength of a Great Saint, the body of a pseudo-God, and the Sky Measuring Step, each step he took was so wide that it almost seemed like he was measuring the sky. He moved at a speed so fast that his movement could barely be seen.
At the speed Xiang Shaoyun was traveling, he was basically moving as fast as someone traveling with teleportation formations. Nevertheless, he still needed some time to reach his destination since he was traveling through regions. After traveling for about five days, Xiang Shaoyun finally arrived at the Desert of Despair.
The Desert of Despair was located at the border of the Western Desert and Central Region. The vastness of the desert made it impossible for a regular person to cross it, but for someone like Xiang Shaoyun, crossing the desert wasn't an issue.
Xiang Shaoyun's arrival at the Desert of Despair did not signify that he had arrived at the Holy Hall. He had to first take out the token given by the Holy Hall and determine the direction before heading toward the Holy Hall.
Instead of flying in the sky, Xiang Shaoyun was now moving on the ground. He could sense a thick power of earth in the desert, a power he wanted to absorb to enhance his astral cultivation.
"Desert of Despair, the place where the previous Holy Hall was destroyed, forcing them to create a new living place to avoid the desert's invasion. With the dense power of earth here, some natural treasures must have existed here as well," muttered Xiang Shaoyun to himself. At that thought, he activated his divine dao eyes and studied his surroundings while traveling.
While doing so, he did not forget to absorb the ambient earth energy while reciting the Desolation mantra. Massive amounts of earth energy entered his astral cosmos sea before quickly being transformed into primal inception energy.
Xiang Shaoyun knew very well that with his new physique, he did not need to take a roundabout approach before he could create some primal inception energy. His astral cosmos sea had a terrifyingly large storage capacity. Unfortunately, the amount of energy he needed to break through was over 10 times more than what a regular cultivator required. Of course, a bigger accumulation also signified a stronger foundation and combat strength.
As Xiang Shaoyun absorbed the ambient energy, he realized that the earth energy in the desert was different from the earth energy of other places. Traces of an extremely destructive power seemed to be hidden within the earth energy here. To be precise, his body had sensed the destructive power. Only the powers of a God had ever given him such a sensation before.
At that realization, Xiang Shaoyun's eyes flickered, and his pupils shone like the sun and the moon in search of the destructive power's origin. He headed toward the area where the destructive power was the thickest.
With the divine dao eyes, Xiang Shaoyun could see that the earth energy ahead of him was growing more and more berserk. The sandstorm before him seemed to have been affected by the destructive power. Even a Sovereign would be ripped apart by the raging sandstorm ahead of him, and even a Saint would not dare to casually approach such a sandstorm.
A regular person would conclude that the sandstorm was merely a natural calamity, but Xiang Shaoyun was confident that this sandstorm wasn't a naturally occurring phenomenon. Instead, it was formed by some sort of power.
Moving at a rapid speed, Xiang Shaoyun arrived before the terrifying sandstorm. The terrifying tornado of sand seemed to reach straight for the heavens as though it was a roaring yellow dragon.
Xiang Shaoyun stood there silently as he observed the sandstorm. In his eyes, the sandstorm was akin to a supreme expert. With a casual attack, sand filled the world and broke through the sky. Even stars were disintegrated into dust and became a part of the sandstorm, eventually lying on the ground to become a part of the Desert of Despair.
The sandstorm's attack could cause anyone to feel despair; it was an unstoppable attack that could alarm even the heavens. As Xiang Shaoyun observed the sandstorm, he entered a state of contemplation. As time went by, the sandstorm moved nearer and nearer to Xiang Shaoyun. However, he remained still. Finally, he was swallowed by the storm.
Within the sandstorm, Xiang Shaoyun was akin to duckweed without its roots and was blown in all directions by the sandstorm as countless sand particles bombarded his body. Even his god body was injured, showcasing the prowess of the sandstorm.
Fully immersed in the pain, Xiang Shaoyun contemplated the destruction and might of the sandstorm. The boundless earth energy seemed to have fused with wind energy to create a sandstorm of ultimate destruction, reminding him of the dual-energy concepts he had been cultivating recently. The sandstorm before him was none other than an example of a dual-elemental attack.
At that thought, Xiang Shaoyun activated both his earth energy and wind energy and started fusing them with the sandstorm. As his divine dao eyes flickered, he saw through the flow of energy in the sandstorm and brandished his arms. Two different energies started weaving together, attempting to match the sandstorm's tempo. Only upon matching its tempo would he be able to unleash an attack as terrifying as the sandstorm.
With his previous experience in fusing energies and the sandstorm serving as an example, Xiang Shaoyun circulated the earth and wind energies in accordance with the sandstorm and started forming numerous hand seals after many attempts. With earth energy as the main energy and wind energy as the supporting energy, he attempted to fuse his two energies into the sandstorm.
Initially, he kept failing, but after repeated attempts, his energies started fusing into the sandstorm, intensifying it. At the same time, he gained the ability to remain still within the sandstorm, and the damage the sandstorm could deal him decreased.
Slowly, Xiang Shaoyun adapted himself to the power of the sandstorm and eventually found the sandstorm's weakness. He unleashed a duplicate of the sandstorm toward the original sandstorm. The two sandstorms collided and created a massive shockwave that sent him flying far away.
Pu!
A mouthful of blood sprayed from Xiang Shaoyun's mouth. Even with his strength, he failed to fully disperse the sandstorm before him. He had even injured himself.
"What a terrifying remnant of God Realm energy. This technique shall be named the Sandstorm of Despair," muttered Xiang Shaoyun.