Commanding Wind and Cloud

The sun was eye-piercing, and the merciless hot winds were like metal sabers, roaring, and carrying sand everywhere in the desert. It felt like it was impossible to block its violence.

The grains of sand flew in the air and dashed around freely in the Ancient Desert Sea.

Suddenly, the free winds stopped; they ran into a troop.

There was no flag, so there weren't the flag-flapping noises that sounded bloody and murderous. Also, there weren't the war drums which could raise the morale of soldiers and create the suppressive and dangerous presence. In fact, it didn't even have the appearance of troops where it could strike fear into people's minds.

Without all that, this large troop somehow created a unique presence. It was firm like the night in the Ancient Desert Sea and the depths of an endless ocean.

When winds met such a troop, they got fearful and were no longer free.

The black and muscular Blame Flame Horse Kings quietly stood in rows, and flames dashed out of their nostrils when they exhaled. These arrogant demon beasts somehow allowed a group of creatures to sit on their backs. Right now, bizarre metal heraldry could be seen on their foreheads, emitting another type of power.

Black helmets, black armor, black reins, black battle boots, black saber scabbard…

This black cavalry team looked like demons at night, and they moved forward calmly. Grains of sand flew into the sky as the hooves of the horses stepped on the desert.

These cavalrymen let out dry groans. They were skeletons that already lost their flesh, and various heraldries could be seen on their foreheads. In fact, some of them even had heraldries on their ribs.

These strange warriors didn't use rusty longswords like the traveling poets had said. Instead, their longswords were all sharp and lethal, reflecting a chilling light.

There were soldiers on foot. When they moved forward, ear-piercing grinding noises were heard from their joints.

Creak… creak… creak…

Ragged clothes and bandages wrapped around their bodies and the cloths lightly fluttered in the heated wind, looking terrifying and suppressive.

Different groups of demon beasts had different heraldries on their bodies. These heraldries corresponded with their magic cores, allowing them to unleash even more power.

At this moment, it seemed like these creatures were the only living beings in the Ancient Desert Sea.

A faint figure was slowly moving forward in the sand.

Qian Jin almost turned himself into a sandworm; this was one of the skills that he learned on the West Mountain in the Endless World. If he didn't learn this skill, he wouldn't be able to complete most of the missions that his teachers gave him.

The golden grains were burning. When Qian Jin breathed, he felt like he was inhaling boiling water instead of air.

In Qian Jin's mind, the scenes that he observed on the top of the mountain continued to flash in his mind. By using his calculative abilities, he was figuring out how far away he was from the undead creatures.

Be careful… Qian Jin was cautious. In front of a large troop made of many different types of undead creatures, individual combat strength seemed insignificant.

Qian Jin was extremely cautious, and he calculated everything in his mind. Perhaps he could only pass by if he slowly moved in the ground.

While slowly moving under the sand, Qian Jin found it tough, but he was also strangely calm. It felt as if he were a green stone that finally appeared after a storm washed away the dirt on the street.

One meter… ten meters… 100 meters… 1,000 meters…

"Hehe…"

An ear-piercing sound resonated in the sky as if a metal plate were being torn, and Qian Jin who was hiding in the sand suddenly froze. He instantly dashed backward by pushing on the sand, and the heated flames instantly melted through the sand and dashed toward Qian Jin's location.

Puff! The golden sand grains rushed into the sky like a waterfall in reverse before falling like a sand storm.

Qian Jin quickly dashed out of the sand, and his eyes locked onto a girl who was standing on a golden-winged thunder eagle. Her long hair was fluttering in the air, and the simple clothes couldn't hide her beauty. Right now, an indescribable emptiness could be seen in her almost-hollow eyes.

Luna! Qian Jin's eyes brightened. "Do we have a special connection, or it is something else? Even advanced demon beasts can't discover me. She somehow…"

Boom! Boom!

Those undead mages who were wrapped in ragged bandages and standing behind the warhorses worked together and created a magic array. They summoned many fireballs that were the size of a basin. Then, they quickly merged and combined into one fireball.

After hundreds of fireballs came together, the final size didn't change; it was the same size as one fireball. However, its power…

When the fireball dashed forward, it ignited everything on its way. It turned into a giant fire python and raced toward Qian Jin. All the sand grains that were close to it cracked and exploded under the power of the flames.

"I got discovered!" Qian Jin faced the large troop before him with a cold expression. He didn't expect that he would be discovered before he got into the enemy formation.

"Fireball? Compressed fireball?" The fireball quickly enlarged in Qian Jin's eyes, and he instantly used [Innumerable Shadow]. The fireball immediately penetrated Qian Jin's afterimage, and the afterimage got burned.

"Such powerful fire magic! Even with the defensive ability of Wind and Cloud Golden Body, I can't block it!" Qian Jin was surprised. Perhaps he could only block such an attack if that shattered half shield perfectly merged with his body, and he obtained the defense ability of that half shield. Otherwise…

The fire python turned in the sky and dashed toward Qian Jin again. Under the control of hundreds of undead mages, this fire python was agile and could devour anything.

Qian Jin flipped his right hand, and the giant warrior soul that was in the shape of a forging hammer appeared. Four different types of fire changed the color of the warrior soul, and it howled as it smashed onto the fire python's head.

The warrior soul created by the Heart of Earthly Fire collided with the compress fireball created by spells.

No loud explosions appeared when the flames collided. Qian Jin's warrior soul unleashed the Icy-Flame Warrior Power and froze the fire python. Then, the giant hammer smashed into it.

Chipped frozen fire fell on the sand, and they burned and ignited the sand. Then, the flames and the sand grains disappeared together.

Crack… crack…

A series of bone-cracking noises sounded from the undead mages that were wrapped in ragged bondages. Streaks of energy leaked out from the bandages, and red liquid oozed out of the cloths. The magic array on the ground instantly cracked, and the undead mages all backed off.

The powerful backlash of the magic spell collided with the undead mages, and the murderous fire magic finally stopped.

"Blood?" Qian Jin was surprised. He couldn't sense any muscles under the bondages; how could there be blood?

Since there was a limited amount of time, Qian Jin didn't waste more time on this subject. He took out the Moon-Devouring Bow from his warrior dimension with his left hand, and then he lightly stepped onto the body of the bow with his left feet.

Somehow, three arrows appeared between Qian Jin's fingers and were loaded on the bow.

One light kick, one load, and one pull. The Moon-Devouring Bow was pulled to the fullest, and the three arrows dashed out and roared like dragons. They rotated and intertwined in the air and tore through space, and they formed a visible air dragon and shot toward the undead creatures not too far away.

Clash… clash… clash…

The undead skeleton creatures who held shields in their left hands and chilling longswords in their right hands were in the front of the formations, and they had to face the three destructive arrows first.

These undead creatures didn't have the time to react, and they were shattered. Bone-cracking noises resonated in the area, and the chipped white bones mixed into the air dragon and continued to move forward.

While the white bones were shattered, eye-piercing red blood spilled out.

That is right! When these undead creatures that didn't have muscles or organs bled when their bones were crushed.

The blood also got mixed into the air dragon. Now, the dragon became red, and it roared and dashed deeper into the troop. Anything or any creature that came into contact with it were shattered and got mixed in.

"Alive?" Qian Jin's brows twitched, but he didn't have time to study these creatures and figure out why they seemed to be alive. He continued to use the Fury Lotus Fighting Technique, and the golden sand grains created many giant golden lotuses under the effect of warrior power.

Looking from afar, it seemed like these giant golden lotuses were trying to carry Qian Jin into the formations of these undead creatures as fast as possible.

Retreat? Since Qian Jin was already discovered, there was no turning back. How could Qian Jin turn back?

Qian Jin inherited the spirit and will of the Iron-Arm Mantis Bloodline, and he only knew how to advance and move forward! At this moment, he felt like his blood was ignited.

Retreating would only lead to death, but going forward might create a path to survival.

Retreating wouldn't solve anything, and backing away wouldn't deescalate the situation.

Golden sand lotuses continued to appear inside the formations of undead creatures that were black and white. Qian Jin was fast, and three more arrows appeared on the Moon-Devouring Bow. If the previous three arrows were going to slow down, Qian Jin would instantly shoot out these three to follow up.

It seemed like the sudden counterattack and raid took these undead creatures by surprise; they didn't seem to be reacting. This prey that suddenly appeared didn't escape but charged forward instead as if he wanted to commit suicide.

Provocation! One person wanted to challenge a troop? These undead creatures that seemed emotionless roared in anger in unison.

The ear-piercing roars that sounded like metal grinding each other soared into the sky, and they condensed and shook the desert. It felt like the sky was moving under the loud noise, and the desert sea was boiling under the anger.

All these undead warriors turned and dashed toward Qian Jin.

"Hehe…"

Luna, who was still in the sky, made some sounds. It wasn't a human language; it sounded like a unique command. Those undead creatures who were dashing at Qian Jin all stopped, and a black figure charged out from the formation. He was standing in the way of the three arrows, and he chopped down onto the arrows with his longsword that was about two meters in length and was covered in grey warrior power.