Chapter 527 - 492: Form an Array, Protect Xing Lan Fairy

These crisscrossing lines formed this great town, which stood majestically on the border between two races!

Where there are borders, there are grudges. Where there are grudges, there are battles. And where there are battles, there are bound to be heroes.

For hundreds, even thousands of years, countless shining names have emerged from the endless battles fought at this pass.

After Zhou Mu and the others had talked about their own lives and the current state of the common folk, the conversation inevitably turned to the most famous heroes and Celestial Prides of the Human Race around Demon Suppression Pass.

Zhou Mu said, "Here at Demon Suppression Pass, the most renowned figure has to be the Profound Heart Sect’s Celestial Pride, Yun Liuguang!"

Yun Liuguang!

So Yun Liuguang, ranked second on the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List, was at Demon Suppression Pass.

And Yun Liuguang wasn’t the only Celestial Pride at Demon Suppression Pass. Liu Qingqing chimed in, "Although Daoist Monarch Fu Guang is famous and ranked second on the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List, he’s Cultivating the Emotionless Dao, which makes him far too difficult to approach.

"In my opinion, he can’t compare to our Su Tanhua, Su Baiyi. Su Baiyi tore a Golden-winged Roc apart with his bare hands, chased that demon for thousands of miles across the Wind Mist Plain, and can summon armies with a stroke of his poetry brush. Such charisma is truly captivating."

As she spoke, a dreamy look of infatuation spread across her face.

Liu Tantan tapped her on the forehead and scoffed, "Silly girl, always dreaming. Daoist Monarch Fu Guang is Cultivating the Emotionless Dao, so of course he’s aloof and nearly impossible to approach. But even though Su Baiyi isn’t, it’s not like we could ever get close to him either!"

"What, were you hoping to run up and toss flowers at Su Tanhua during his victory parade?"

Her words immediately made everyone present burst out laughing.

It was good-natured laughter, and as they chuckled, another Female Cultivator in the group, Qin Yan, added, "It’s a pity. Su Tanhua’s victory parade was over a decade ago."

"Otherwise, if I’d known back then that a man like Su Tanhua would be among the top three scholars of that year, what would traveling thousands of miles have mattered? I would have gladly gone to the Capital City to witness the grand spectacle of his parade!"

At this, the group erupted into even louder laughter.

Someone in the group teased, "Qin Yan, didn’t you used to say that all men are mediocre and none of them were worth your time? Why are you heaping so much praise on Su Baiyi?"

Qin Yan was quite pretty, but had a refreshingly direct personality. She smiled and said, "I admire Su Baiyi, and it has nothing to do with him being a man. It’s because he’s *Su Baiyi*. The last time the Demon Race rioted, the True Immortals couldn’t intervene and the main army was pinned down. So many people in our Demon Suppression City suffered for it."

"If Su Baiyi hadn’t arrived and single-handedly driven thousands of demons back to the Wind Mist Plain, would we be alive and well today, gossiping about our betters? Hah, we’d have probably been turned into a pile of who-knows-what, shat out of a Demon Beast’s intestines by now!"

Everyone grimaced at that. Some laughed, others cursed her for being so crude.

Liu Qingqing’s face soured. "Sister Qin Yan, don’t you think you’re being a little too crude about yourself? Can we not? After hearing that, I’m too embarrassed to even think his name..."

Qin Yan just roared with laughter, making Liu Qingqing so flustered she looked like steam was about to come out of her ears.

As they were joking around, a sudden gust of wind blew toward them—

The wind came without warning. The sun was setting, casting a brilliant glow upon the endless yellow sands that stretched to the horizon. Suddenly, a gust of wind whipped up from between the rolling dunes.

Even as the wind came, the vista of the Mingqiu Desert remained magnificent.

However, a huge cloud of black sand had been swept up by the gale, forming a spinning, conical point that hurtled toward them.

While they were still on the move, Zhou Mu shouted, "Form the array! Protect Xing Lan Fairy!"

Before the echo of his voice faded, the team of nine had already scattered, arranging themselves in a Nine Palaces Array formation within a thirty-foot radius around Song Ciwan, shielding her securely in the middle.

Song Ciwan found herself in the center, surrounded by people on all sides.

Though they all had their backs to her, they formed a tight, protective cordon.

At the same time, translucent, dark-azure lines of light extended from the feet of Zhou Mu and the others. The lines followed the Nine Palace Array formation, connecting end to end, and in an instant, linked together to form an array plate made of people!

This was the very reason Zhou Mu’s team was composed entirely of Cultivators, with not a single Martial Artist among them.

A full team of Cultivators was better suited for forming the Nine Palaces Array.

The array rose. The array was formed.

When the cloud of black sand smashed down upon them, it slammed into what seemed to be an invisible, spherical shield.

All that could be heard was a RAT-A-TAT-TAT sound.

It sounded like a sudden downpour against a windowpane, a flurry of DINGS and DONGS.

Zhou Mu raised a tattered, chipped Copper Bell Magical Artifact from his waist. VMMMMM—

A strange, vibrating hum filled the air.

Finally, the black sand rained down. The sudden gale passed. The people in the Nine Palaces Array had withstood the wind, but the huge cloud of black sand it carried was left behind!

But Song Ciwan, standing at the very center of the Nine Palaces Array, could see clearly. What had fallen wasn’t black sand at all.

It was clearly a swarm of sand-like black insects that had ridden in on the wind!

The insects slammed against the spherical shield of the Nine Palaces Array and were repelled by its power. Then, struck by the vibrations from Zhou Mu’s Magical Artifact, they all died instantly in front of the array.

Outside the formation, a ring of insect corpses lay at their feet.

The wind was gone and the insects were dead. Liu Qingqing let out a cheer, and then everyone turned to gather around Song Ciwan, concerned.

Zhou Mu spoke first. "Fairy, that was a sand locust squall. Here in the Mingqiu Desert, they’re a common occurrence. You’re bound to run into one every few trips. Are you alright, Fairy?"

It was the first time Song Ciwan had ever been surrounded and protected with such meticulous care. The feeling was a little strange.

She smiled and first said, "Thank you, everyone. I’m perfectly fine, of course."

With that, she stepped forward, and the crowd surrounding her quickly parted to let her through.

Song Ciwan walked toward the pile of insect corpses on the ground.

Unlike the many giant insects of the Giant Spirit Realm, the corpses in this pile were not large.

The smallest were about the size of a pinky finger, and the largest only the size of a thumb. Each was pitch-black and carried a faint trace of Demon Fiend Malice. Their carapaces reflected the light, giving them a sharp and menacing appearance.

She picked up one of the corpses, and the Heaven and Earth Scale immediately collected a wisp of energy: [Malice. Malice from an unranked sand locust Demon Corpse, value one mace and three cents. Can be sold.]

’Interesting. A single one of these corpses can provide Malice. It’s incredibly weak, but given the sheer quantity... it’s better than nothing.’

Song Ciwan asked, "These insects are called sand locusts?"

Zhou Mu quickly replied, "Yes. These sand locusts only appear in storms. They don’t look like much, but in large numbers, they can be a real nuisance."

"We only managed because there were enough of us to form the Nine Palaces Array. If you encounter sand locusts alone or in a small group, you have to bury yourself in the sand immediately. Otherwise, if they break through your Body-Protecting Spell Shield, they’ll strip you to the bone in seconds!"

’Wow, these things are pretty vicious.’

Song Ciwan nodded. It didn’t seem like a big deal to her. She’d seen plenty of vicious insects in her time; among the myriad of strange creatures out there, these sand locusts seemed rather ordinary.

She did like their Malice, though.

Song Ciwan opened her palm and activated her Qi Absorption Technique. The black, sand-like corpses on the ground immediately began to fly toward her hand.

As clumps of corpses flew toward her, the trickles of Malice they contained gathered, accumulating on the Heaven and Earth Scale. In no time, she had extracted a mass of Malice totaling seven catties and eight taels.

In the end, the insect corpses converged into a massive black sphere, half the height of a person, hovering in the air above Song Ciwan’s palm.

This bizarre sight left everyone stunned. Zhou Mu and the others dazedly recalled the shockingly powerful aura this Xing Lan Fairy had projected when they first met her.

This Xing Lan Fairy, though clearly skilled in the path of healing, must also possess formidable combat abilities!

Zhou Mu felt his heart race. He gaped, stammering, "Fairy, th-that’s so many dead sand locusts... Th-they don’t accept these in the city."

Song Ciwan raised an eyebrow slightly. "Not even the Demon Refining Platform?"

Zhou Mu said quickly, "That’s right... The sand locust corpses have no value, and you can’t refine anything from them, so the Demon Refining Platform won’t take them."

Then, he added tactfully, "But if you find these corpses interesting, Fairy, you should by all means keep them. Maybe... maybe you can refine something interesting from them... Th-that’s also a possibility."