The disciples of the Thousand Blade Sect stiffened, and their expressions grew unsightly, when they heard Branch Head Kasandra’s suggestion to let the Dawn and Dusk Sect enter the Violet Desert hidden realm first.

  ‘What a conniving bitch.’ Ellen said to me through telepathy.

  I nodded. It appeared that Branch Head Kasandra wanted to fan the flame of conflict between the Dawn and Dusk Sect and the Thousand Blade Sect. However, to my surprise, Branch Head Elroy remained unruffled despite Branch Head Kasandra’s blatant provocation.

  “I disagree.” He said. “Given how much trouble the conflict between the Dawn and Dusk Sect and the Thousand Blade Sect has caused the residents of East Mesa City, Cultivator Xavier and I decided it was best if we let the locals enter the Violet Desert hidden realm first. This is their home, after all. It’s only fair.”

  Except for Branch Head Xavier, Branch Head Elroy, and Cultivator Black Sand, everyone else expressed varying degrees of surprise at this statement. As far as I knew, this was unprecedented. The three bigger sects always went before the locals and the rogue cultivators. This was because they had more powerful backing, even though the locals lived near the Violet Desert hidden realm.

  “Is this a joke?” Branch Head Kasandra asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

  “No.” Branch Head Xavier said. “Branch Head Elroy and I discussed the matter with the city lord already. Isn’t that right, Cultivator Black Sand?”

  The masked man nodded, but didn’t say a word. Branch Head Kasandra narrowed her eyes at the three men.

  “I see.” She said in an icy cold voice. “And, none of you thought to consult with me on the matter?”

  Branch Head Xavier shrugged.

  “We didn’t want to trouble you over something so minor.” He said. “However, if it troubles you that much, I’m more than willing to let your people go before mine. Consider it compensation.”

  “As am I.” Branch Head Elroy chimed in.

  Branch Head Kasandra looked between the two of them.

  “What are you two up to?” She asked, her tone full of disbelief. “Forgive me for saying this, but I can’t help but find your sudden generosity suspicious.”

  “As Branch Head Xavier said, this is our way of compensating you.” Branch Head Elroy said.

  Branch Head Kasandra studied the two of them for several seconds, before nodding.

  “Very well.” She said. “I don’t know what kind of game you two are playing, but I won’t turn down your offer.”

  As soon as she finished speaking, the qi in the area around us started to shift and surge. I turned towards the entrance of the Violet Desert hidden realm and watched as a vortex of sand formed in the center. It was small at first, but grew larger and larger until it encompassed the entire field. The sound of shifting sand filled the air. I found the sight of the swirling vortex hypnotic.

  “The entrance to the Violet Desert hidden realm is now open.” Cultivator Black Sand announced, pitching his voice to carry. “Cultivators of East Mesa City, you may enter first.”

  The Foundation Establishment cultivators from the local clans and sects glanced at one another, before they shrugged and leapt into the swirling vortex. They entered in groups of three or four, with the members of each group holding hands with one another. Soon, only the elders and leaders remained, including Cultivator Black Sand.

  “Your turn.” Cultivator Xavier said, gesturing to Branch Head Kasandra.

  She studied him through narrowed eyes, but didn’t respond. Instead, she turned to the disciples of her sect.

  “Go,” Branch Head Kasandra commanded, “And be careful of any tricks.”

  The disciples of the Ancient Blood Sect glanced at one another, their eyes filled with wariness, before they also jumped into the swirling vortex of sand. Afterwards, Branch Head Kasandra watched Branch Head Xavier and Branch Head Elroy with open suspicion, as if waiting for some kind of trick.

  “Our disciples will go last.” Branch Head Elroy said to one of the rogue cultivators. “You and the others may go before them.”

  The rogue cultivators looked baffled by this, but they wasted no time and jumped into the vortex. None of them wanted to waste this opportunity, since the rogue cultivators always entered last under normal circumstances. Soon, the only cultivators who hadn’t entered the Violet Desert hidden realm were those who belonged to the Dawn and Dusk Sect, as well as the Thousand Blade Sect.

  “Now then,” Branch Head Xavier said, “Disciples of the Dawn and Dusk Sect, you may enter.”

  “Disciple of the Thousand Blade Sect,” Branch Head Elroy said, “You may enter as well.”

  Everyone stared at the two of them in disbelief. If the disciples from both sects entered at the same time, that was bound to result in-… Ah, I see. That was their plan. Rather than wait until everyone was in the Violet Desert hidden realm, they wanted the fight between the two sects to start right away. From what I saw, the other elders and leaders realized this at once, though it appeared that most of the disciples hadn’t.

  “Well?” Branch Head Xavier said when no moved. “What are you waiting for? Go!”

  This spurred everyone into action. The disciples from both sects rushed towards the sand vortex, including my group. As I predicted, people started fighting to see who would go through the vortex first and enter the Violet Desert hidden realm. Chaos reigned as people attacked each other with mystic arts, magic treasures, and martial arts. I feared that this might damage the entrance, but Branch Head Xavier, Branch Head Elroy, and Cultivator Black Sand worked together to ensure otherwise.

  As much as I wanted to participate in the fighting, entering the Violet Desert hidden realm took priority. I turned to the others.

  ‘Ignore the fighting.’ I told them through telepathy. ‘Let us board Elliot’s flying boat and get ahead of everyone else.’

  Everyone nodded, before Elliot pulled his flying boat out of his storage ring. The five of us boarded, before Elliot piloted the flying boat towards the sand vortex. I had hoped to enter before the others noticed. However, it wasn’t to be. A large group such as ourselves drew a lot of attention, especially since we were all aboard a flying boat.

  “Look!” A disciple from the Thousand Blade Sect said. “They’re trying to get ahead!”

  “Stop them!”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  A large number of disciples from the Thousand Blade Sect turned and attacked us. Elliot continued piloting the flying boat, while the rest of us fended off the attacks. The other disciples from the Dawn and Dusk Sect took this opportunity to enter the Violet Desert hidden realm themselves, leaving us to our fate. A part of me resented them for this. However, since we tried to do the same thing to them, I couldn’t complain too much.

  Despite the attacks raining down upon us, we kept them at bay long enough for the flying boat to reach the sand vortex. However, just as the flying boat entered the vortex, one of the disciples from the Thousand Blade Sect rushed towards us. He was in late Foundation Establishment, and I felt a sense of foreboding when I saw him approach.

  My fears proved true, when the disciple drew a saber and summoned saber intent. He attacked the boat with enough force to rock it. I lost my footing and fell off. Before I could recover, I landed in the vortex. The swirling sand scoured my skin; painful but otherwise harmless. A great force pulled me towards the center, making escape impossible. It was all I could do to keep my head above the swirling sand.

  “Darian!” Ellen screamed.

  She tried to jump off and dive towards me, but the same Thousand Blade Sect disciple attacked the flying boat and knocked it away from me. By this point I had reached the center of the vortex. The same great force from before pulled me under the sand. The last thing I saw was Ellen staring at me, her eyes wide with fear and desperation.

  Sand surrounded me on all sides, making it impossible to breathe, let alone see or hear anything. It pressed against me on all sides, crushing me. Several moments passed, before I felt my body move, similar to when I used a teleportation array. Darkness encompassed me and I lost consciousness.

  When I came to, I found myself lying on my back. The ground beneath me consisted of coarse and rough sand. I opened my eyes, but I shut them right away when the sun’s harsh light blinded me. When the spots in my vision cleared away, I sat up and opened my eyes once more. As I looked around, I found that I was in a small valley formed between two sand dunes. The wind whispered as it blew through, shifting the sand.

  Up above, the sky was clear and endless. The sun stood above the world, like a harsh and merciless sovereign. However, that wasn’t a problem for me. I was used to the heat of Flame Fiend Peak, though my mouth felt dry. I cast my spirit sense out and found that I was alone. There was no one around me for miles, though I noticed several spirit beasts in the area. All of them were Rank One, however, and therefore posed little risk to me.

  I pulled my flying carpet out of my storage ring and hopped onto it, before flying high into the sky. A vast desert spread out all around me, stretching out as far as the eye could see. There were countless sand dunes, along with the occasional rocky outcropping: the Violet Desert hidden realm.

  After looking around some more, I flew back down and took stock of my situation. I was all alone in the Violet Desert hidden realm. There were two hundred other cultivators in here with me, most of whom were hostile. Thankfully, the Violet Desert hidden realm was quite large. As long as I stayed away from the spots where one could harvest Violet Sand, the chances of me running into an enemy were quite low. However, since the whole point of entering the Violet Desert hidden realm was to harvest Violet Sand, that wasn’t an option.

  If I was lucky, maybe I would run into another group of disciples from the Dawn and Dusk Sect. They wouldn’t be my friends, but at least they wouldn’t be enemies. I hoped. If nothing else, if I collected some Violet Sand, I could bribe them with a portion of it. If I was really lucky, maybe I would run into my friends. That would be the ideal scenario. However, given the size of the Violet Desert hidden realm, the chances of that happening were lower than the chances of me running into any enemy.

  Given my current circumstances, it was best to assume that I was on my own for now. I just needed to collect some Violet Sand and survive until the Violet Desert hidden realm closed in three days. The biggest threat to me here were other cultivators. There weren’t any dangerous hazards or powerful spirit beasts in this place. Once the Violet Desert hidden realm closed, everyone inside would be ejected and I would be reunited with the others.

  Finding myself alone in a hostile environment scared me, yes. However, it also excited and invigorated me. It was safer to move together in a group, but it was more of a challenge to work alone. This would be my first true challenge as a cultivator. There was no one watching over me, no one to save me if I found myself in trouble. I could only rely on my own strength here. As a disciple of Flame Fiend Hall, and a child of Nova, how could I shirk away from this challenge?

  I pulled a jade slip from my storage ring. It was a map that Branch Leader Xavier had given to every disciple from the Dawn and Dusk Sect. The Violet Desert hidden realm remained consistent. It didn’t change from each visit. However, it was difficult to map because everyone entered into it at a random location and there were few notable landmarks. Still, the map was a good reference. It marked down several spots where one could harvest Violet Sand.

  After I finished studying the map, I hopped onto my flying carpet and flew off into a random direction. The cardinal directions were meaningless in this place, since the sun never set. It remained at its zenith the entire time. This also meant that it was perpetually day here. That was another reason why it was better to send Foundation Establishment cultivators here instead of Qi Condensation ones. They could stay awake for the entire three days.

  I flew around for hours, scouring the area around me with my spirit sense, looking for a spot where I could harvest Violet Sand. I also made sure to keep an eye out for enemies. The scenery was rather monotonous. There was nothing but endless sand dunes and rocky outcroppings. It took concentration to maintain my focus here. More than once, I almost drifted off into a trance-like state. However, since I practiced the Song of Dawn and Dusk mental refinement technique, this wasn’t much of an issue for me.

  A few hours after I started traveling, something down below caught my eyes. It wasn’t a spot where I could harvest Violet Sand, but I flew down to take a look anyway. It was a skeleton, one adorned in tattered and rotting robes. It must have been here for a while, given how bleached the bones were. Based on the colors of the robe, the skeleton once belonged to a disciple of the Thousand Blade Sect.

  Part of the reason why I flew down here was to see if there was anything I could loot. There wasn’t. Someone must have already beaten me to it. However, instead of flying off right away, I studied the bones. Melancholy and loneliness filled me. Whoever this person used to be, they hadn’t been too different from me. They had aspirations of becoming immortal, and entered this place in order to fulfill those aspirations. Instead, they died and became one of the many corpses that no doubt littered the Violet Desert hidden realm.

  On impulse, I burned the body and offered a small prayer to their spirit. It was what I would want someone to do for me, if I ended up perishing here myself. It was better than rotting here for all eternity.

  In a much more somber mood than before, I hopped back onto my flying carpet and flew off into the distance.

  I continued to fly around searching for Violet Sand to harvest. When I grew hungry or thirsty, I ate and drank as I flew around. The sun remained at its zenith, bathing the world with its harsh light. When it neared evening, or what should have been evening, I found a spot where I could potentially harvest Violet Sand. I looked around with my spirit sense, making sure that there weren’t any other cultivators in the area. When I saw no one, I flew down towards the spot, making sure to keep my excitement in check.

  The spot in question was a patch of sand darker than the rest. It was about the width and length of my bedroom back at my estate at Flame Fiend Peak, though it was only a few inches deep. The dark sand wasn’t Violet Sand. Rather, its presence indicated that Violet Sand could be present here. I needed to use a harvesting method to know for sure. If I was lucky, I would find a lot. If I wasn’t lucky, I would find a little or none at all.

  There were several ways to harvest Violet Sand, depending on one’s affinities and such. Those with an affinity for Earth had it the easiest, but any cultivator could do it if they knew the right methods. For those with an affinity for Fire, such as myself, I needed to burn away the dark sand until only Violet Sand remained. This was where the Heartflame technique came in.

  However, I didn’t try to harvest any Violet Sand right away. It was a delicate process, one that required concentration on my part, meaning that I wouldn’t be able to focus on my surroundings. If I was still with the others, this wouldn’t be a problem. They could keep an eye out for me and vice versa. Since I was on my own, this wasn’t an option for me.

  First, I used my array flags to set up several defensive arrays, including an obfuscation array. While it wasn’t a perfect solution, it was better than nothing. Once I made the area as secure as I could, I pulled my beginner’s treasure refining furnace out of my storage ring and set it on the ground. Afterwards, I used the Heartflame technique to summon my inner flame. Unlike before, it wasn’t a mere spark. No, my inner flame was now a black and gold flame with the aura of a closed fist.

  Before I sent my inner flame into my treasure refining furnace, to begin heating it up, I swept the area around me one more time with my spirit sense, just to make sure that there weren’t any other cultivators nearby. When I didn’t sense any, I sighed with relief.

  However, my relief was short-lived. Just as I was about to begin harvesting Violet Sand, two cultivators entered the range of my spirit sense. Worst of all, they were all heading in my direction. I was about to have some company.

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  This chapter was edited by Radriel7