Chapter 693 - 694: The Approaching Danger

"What kind of treasure is this black sand? Why is Lingkong Cave fighting so hard for it?"

The leader of the Lin family this time was their ancestor, Lin Guangyuan, a Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Emperor. It was their first time here, so they naturally had no idea what this black sand everyone was fighting over was. Seeing the scene, their curiosity was intensely piqued.

Xiao Wuji noticed the confused look on Ye Xuan’s face and explained from the side, "These Sand Giants are the danger I mentioned earlier. They’re made entirely of the sand here, with strength equivalent to a Peak of Tier Eight Second Layer Martial Emperor. They’re also functionally immortal. No matter how many times you shatter them, they can reform, making them extremely difficult to deal with."

"When the Xiao family first explored this place, a Sand Giant even killed one of our elders. It was only later that we discovered they *can* be killed. Their weakness is the piece of black sand in their heads. As long as you take that black sand, the rest of the grains become just a loose pile with no threat."

"Furthermore, we were astonished to find that the black sand from the Sand Giants’ heads is some kind of ore with lifelike properties. A Martial Artist can absorb it directly to enhance the Profound within their body. It even has a significant enhancing effect on Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Emperors."

As Xiao Wuji finished his explanation, Lin Guangyuan and his men finally understood why the experts from Lingkong Cave and the other factions had been so excited to see the Sand Giants. An ore that could increase the strength of a Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Emperor was truly a supreme treasure.

Ye Xuan, however, frowned slightly. ’There’s actually an ore like this in the world?’ he wondered. ’I’d never even heard of such a thing back in the Profound Domain.’

SWISH!

He raised his hand and drew a few pieces of black sand from the ground toward him. Releasing his Profound Sense, he began to inspect them covertly.

"Haha."

When the experts from the other factions saw this, they couldn’t help but laugh.

Yu Chi Bugong sneered, "Master Xuan Ye, not all the sand on a Sand Giant is treasure. The sand in your hands is just ordinary sand. The sand *we’re* holding is the real treasure."

"The kid must be desperate for treasure."

Qiu Yuan, the young master of Lingkong Cave, also scoffed.

Ye Xuan ignored them, pouring his powerful Profound Sense and Soul Sense into the sand. He immediately discovered something different about it.

He had never seen sand with this texture before. It was like stone, but not stone; like iron, but not iron.

And although these grains of sand didn’t have the function Xiao Wuji had just described, deep within them was a faint, strange aura, as if the sand were some kind of living tissue.

This aura was extremely weak. If Ye Xuan didn’t possess the Life Martial Soul, he would never have been able to detect it with his Seventh Grade Soul Refiner cultivation alone.

What puzzled Ye Xuan even more was that no matter how he tried to extract and analyze it, he couldn’t refine the strange aura out of the sand.

CRACK!

He squeezed hard, and a grain of sand instantly broke in two. At the same time, the strange aura inside it dissipated, turning it into the most ordinary of stones.

’Strange. This is too strange.’

Ye Xuan was bewildered. This was the first time he had ever seen such a bizarre stone.

He flew several thousand meters away and picked up a few more grains of sand from another spot, discovering that they also contained that strange aura.

He then moved to yet another spot and picked up a few more, finding the same aura within them as well.

’Strange.’

Ye Xuan had initially thought that only the sand from the three previous Sand Giants would have this aura, but to his surprise, all the sand across the entire black wasteland possessed it.

’What on earth is that kid doing? Is he trying to test his luck, hoping to find a useful grain of sand?’

’If there were really that many grains of sand with special power, there wouldn’t be so few Sand Giants here.’

The others were utterly baffled by Ye Xuan’s actions, and many of them were laughing at him inwardly.

Ye Xuan silently sensed the vast expanse of sand before him, his expression calm, his thoughts unreadable.

Soon, the group set off once more.

"Patriarch Xiao, do you have any of this black sand on you?" Ye Xuan asked Xiao Wuji as they flew.

Xiao Wuji shook his head. "We’ve obtained a few of these before, but I left them all with the family. I didn’t bring any with me."

A trace of regret appeared on Ye Xuan’s face. "If you happen to get some more of this black sand later, Patriarch Xiao, I hope you’ll let me have a look."

"No problem," Xiao Wuji laughed. "But Sand Giants are very rare here. Generally speaking, we could cross this entire wasteland and not run into..."

Before Xiao Wuji could finish his sentence, there was a loud BOOM. The sand ahead suddenly churned, and several massive Sand Giants instantly formed and charged toward them.

"What?"

Xiao Wuji was startled, but his face immediately lit up with ecstatic joy.

"Members of the Xiao family, with me!"

He let out a low shout and shot forward.

"Haha, more Sand Giants!"

"Get them."

"This one’s mine!"

The experts from Lingkong Cave and the other factions also charged out in an instant.

RUMBLE!

A great battle erupted in a flash.

This time, there were a full seven Sand Giants. Their sheer number was a pleasant surprise for Xiao Wuji and the others, and most of the factions were able to engage one.

Ye Xuan, however, didn’t make a move. He floated silently in the sky as the Life Martial Soul within his Gate of Heaven swayed gently, releasing a faint wisp of its aura.

Within Ye Xuan’s perception, the heads of the seven Sand Giants indeed contained a powerful life force. This life force was extremely similar to the strange aura in the rest of the sand on the ground, only countless times stronger.

About fifteen minutes later, all seven Sand Giants had been slain by Xiao Wuji and the others. Before they died, several of the Sand Giants let out silent roars. Although their features were blurry, their rage was palpable.

"Young Master Ye, this is the black sand."

Xiao Wuji came up to Ye Xuan and handed the black sand directly to him.

Ye Xuan took the sand and, after carefully sensing it, his expression suddenly changed slightly.

"Hm?"

He looked around, his brows deeply furrowed.

From this sand, he felt a very faint summons. And this summons was actually coming from the sand in the hands of the others, as if there was some mysterious connection between them.

Seeing Ye Xuan’s expression, Xiao Wuji couldn’t help but ask, "Young Master Ye, what’s wrong?"

Ye Xuan frowned. "For some reason, I have a bad feeling. Patriarch Xiao, how much longer until we’re out of this wasteland?"

Xiao Wuji replied, "We’ve covered about two-thirds of the way, so there’s about a third left."

"Tell the others to hurry," Ye Xuan said coldly.

Although Xiao Wuji didn’t understand where Ye Xuan’s unease was coming from, he still nodded.

But when the others heard Xiao Wuji’s message, they all just scoffed.

Qiu Yuan of Lingkong Cave burst out laughing. "Haha, Patriarch Xiao, is this the great master your Xiao family brought along? Don’t tell me he was scared by those Sand Giants just now. But that makes sense. A mere Tier Seven Martial King seeing a Tier Eight Martial Emperor Level Sand Giant... it’s a wonder he didn’t wet his pants. Hahaha."

Helian Yue also said with a smile, "Patriarch Xiao, with so many Sand Giants on the wasteland today, wouldn’t it be a huge waste not to harvest them all?"

The moment his words fell, suddenly—

THUMP!

The calm wasteland beneath their feet suddenly shuddered, as if a heart had just beat. It was followed by another THUMP, and ripples visibly spread across the entire wasteland, causing it to rise and fall slowly.

’This is...’

The crowd stared in astonishment, only to see the black sand all over the wasteland begin to jump frantically, like iron filings repelled by a magnet.

"What’s going on?" Everyone’s hearts leaped into their throats. This was the first time any of them had ever seen something like this.

Ye Xuan’s expression changed instantly. An inexplicable sense of crisis washed over him.

"Patriarch Xiao, Lin Bo, Xu Zhen, let’s go!" Without another word, he transformed into a streak of light and shot off into the distance.

Although Xiao Wuji and the others didn’t understand what was happening, they trusted Ye Xuan and immediately followed him.

"Those cowards!"

Qiu Yuan scoffed, but in the next moment, his eyes widened in horror.

At that moment, all the sand across the entire wasteland began to flow, rapidly gathering together.

But this time, it wasn’t just the sand in a single area that was moving; it was as if the sand of the entire wasteland had come alive.

The sight of the countless grains of sand converging was enough to inspire boundless terror.

’Not good.’

Yu Chi Bugong and the others were horrified and scrambled to flee in the same direction as Ye Xuan’s group.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!...

As they fled, the thumping from the wasteland grew more rapid and louder.

RUMBLE! Finally, all the sand in the wasteland suddenly surged up like a colossal wave, sweeping toward the dozens of experts from the major factions.

WHOOSH!

The dense sand blotted out the entire sky as it came crashing down.

This terrifying scene made everyone’s pupils shrink as their hearts pounded in shock.

"Annihilate!"

The moment the giant wave of black sand swept down, the dozens of experts from the nine major factions all struck at once.

How terrifying was an attack from dozens of Martial Emperors? No one could describe the scene. In an instant, the world seemed to shatter. Terrifying torrents of Profound flooded out, striking the massive wave of sand from three different directions. With a deafening RUMBLE, the giant wave was pulverized by this immense force, exploding into a shower of black pebbles that scattered everywhere.

VMMMM!

But immediately after, another giant wave of sand surged up, descending upon them.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The experts attacked again and again, shattering wave after wave of sand. The sky filled with flying black grains, which splattered against their protective barriers of Profound. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! The barriers rang out with crisp cracks where the sand hit them, rippling and distorting continuously.