Within the great hall of the royal palace, the air was thick with the scent of ancient dust and the faint, metallic tang of worked iron. Two burly guards staggered across the sandy stone floor, their leather boots skidding on the grit. Their faces were strained and a dark, angry red with exertion as they struggled to carry a large, ornate staff into the room. Muscles bulged and corded under their tunics, trembling with the sheer effort of the task. Their awkward, shuffling steps were less a matter of lacking strength and more a testament to the unstable, shifting ground beneath their feet and the sheer, unexpected weight of the object they bore between them.
"Master, isn't this... a bit too heavy?" one guard wheezed, his knuckles white where they gripped the dark wood.
King U'er could only stare, half in awe and half in dismay, as he cautiously addressed Su Min, who was seated at a low table nearby. He watched the guards' knees buckle slightly, his own hand tightening on the arm of his throne.
The only immediate response was the rhythmic sound of chewing.
Chomp, chomp, chomp.
"Mmm, seems just right to me," Su Min replied lazily between voracious mouthfuls.
Her face glistened with oil from the roasted meats, the flickering torchlight catching the sheen on her chin. After three days of intense, tireless spiritual crafting, her energy reserves had been drained completely dry. The exhaustion had been a physical weight, leaving her feeling as though her very marrow had been hollowed out by a cold wind. Now, she was focused entirely on replenishing herself. She ate with a gluttonous vengeance that ignored all royal decorum, her movements swift and efficient.
A whole platter of grapes disappeared into her mouth in seconds, stems and all. The purple skins burst against her teeth, flooding her palate with cool, sweet juice. Without missing a beat, she grabbed several thick slices of ripe cantaloupe and devoured them just as greedily. The oasis's fruits, nurtured by the fierce desert sunlight and the extreme shifts between day and night, possessed a concentrated sweetness. The flavor was a vibrant explosion that even the finest modern greenhouse delicacies could scarcely rival.
"Good. Very good," came a low, delighted murmur from the side.
Unlike the hesitant king, the monk's eyes blazed with a fierce excitement. Hui Ming strode forward in a single bold step, his saffron robes fluttering with the sudden movement. He brushed the struggling guards aside with a gentle motion, his hands steady. To the king's astonishment, Hui Ming effortlessly lifted the massive staff with one hand. He tested its weight, his fingers tracing the cool, smooth grain of the refined ironwood. Then, with a casual, experimental swing, a violent gale erupted through the hall.
The wind howled with the force of a physical blow, scattering parchment scrolls from the tables and whipping at the heavy tapestries along the walls. The fabric snapped like whipcracks in the sudden turbulence. Su Min instinctively threw an arm over her plate of food to shield it from the rising dust. The others, including the king, weren't so quick. They were sent sprawling and stumbling, clutching at chairs and pillars under the sudden onslaught of wild winds.
"My deepest apologies! This humble monk lost himself at the sight of such a fine weapon," Hui Ming said hurriedly.
His face flushed with embarrassment as he realized the chaos he had caused, and he quickly pulled the staff close to his chest. He hadn't anticipated the staff's raw, inherent power. A mere flick of his wrist had summoned a miniature storm that still sent dust motes dancing in the air.
"What kind of weapon is this?" the king exclaimed.
He wiped not just sweat but actual beads of moisture from his forehead with a trembling handkerchief. The air in the hall, usually bone-dry, now felt strangely heavy and damp. He looked toward Su Min in astonishment. "That wasn't mere wind; that was moisture! You brought the damp air of the coast into my desert hall!"
Gulp.
Su Min swallowed a large piece of flatbread before deigning to explain. She pointed a greasy finger at the gleaming weapon, where the spirit stones embedded in the ends caught the light.
"This staff," she said, her voice steady and matter-of-fact, "uses refined ironwood for the core, ensuring unbreakable durability. The ends are embedded with a water spirit stone and a fire spirit stone. Since your own spirit roots are twin aligned to water and fire, it's tailor made for you. It's a simple and brutally effective design. It will amplify the power of any water or fire based attack you channel through it."
"I once heard from my master that a true spiritual artifact can elevate a cultivator's strength severalfold," Hui Ming muttered in awe.
He cradled the staff as if it were a sacred relic, his gaze fixed on the pulsing glow of the stones. "I never dreamed I would hold one. With this... perhaps I can now survive a few dozen rounds against that creature instead of just a few desperate blows."
He let out a long, heavy breath. Until now, he had fought the desert horror relying only on his mortal flesh and basic spiritual techniques. That endeavor had left his body a roadmap of scars, a testament to endless, brutal hardship hidden beneath his robes. At least now, with this weapon in hand, he had a real fighting chance. It was a chance few others who had faced the beast had ever possessed.
From outside the hall, sudden bursts of laughter and shocked exclamations echoed across the courtyard.
"Good! Very good!"
Along with the roars of joy came turbulent, visible waves of hot, steamy air. They swept through the open doors and threw the hall into chaos once more as a damp heat warred with the dry desert air, creating a swirling mist. The king and his soldiers, unable to contain their curiosity, rushed out to watch their court mage test his newfound might against training dummies in the yard. Only Su Min remained within, focused solely on her feasting, her fingers reaching for another piece of meat. But soon, the festive noise was cut short by the sound of hurried, panicked footsteps echoing from beyond the doors.
"Your Majesty! Report! The monster... it's approaching the outer oasis!"
In an instant, all noise outside died away. It was replaced by a heavy, suffocating silence that felt thicker than the desert heat. Even Su Min put down the leg of lamb she was gnawing on, wiping her mouth and hands clean with a cloth. Having replenished her spiritual and physical energy, she was once more at full strength, the hollow feeling in her bones replaced by a steady, humming power. She knew that if mishandled, this approaching threat could spell the end for this entire kingdom.
The atmosphere inside the hall grew instantly oppressive. Every face turned pale and grave, except for Su Min's, which remained calmly analytical.
"How much time do we have?" the king asked. His voice was tight, his knuckles strained as he gripped his handkerchief.
"The scouts estimate half an hour at most before it reaches the outer farms," the messenger panted. His breath was ragged, his chest heaving as he leaned against the doorframe for support.
"Father," a young man said, stepping forward from the crowd of courtiers.
He seemed no older than twenty, with a resolute look in his eyes and his hand resting firmly on the hilt of his sword. "Allow me to personally lead a company of riders to lure it away. We can buy the masters more time to prepare."
His offer took Su Min slightly by surprise. To lure the monster away meant using one's own body as living bait, leading it on a chase deep into the trackless desert. It was almost certainly a suicide mission. For a prince, the sole heir to the throne, to volunteer for this showed considerable bravery, and it earned a flicker of respect from her. Yet, despite the wear and tear from the past few days, she had fully restored herself. There wasn't any need for such sacrifices.
"No need. I'm in perfect condition now," Su Min stated, rising to her feet from the low table.
She smiled faintly, her expression confident. If she had pushed herself recklessly during the crafting process, she could have finished the staff in a single day, but it would have cost her the ability to defend herself for a week. She would never take such a risk. In a world like this, losing the power to protect oneself, even temporarily, was no different from courting death. Though it had taken two extra, careful days, she was now completely recovered and ready. Still, rather than rushing out blindly, she was deeply curious about the fundamental nature of this enemy.
"Before we go, tell me, do you know what that creature actually is?" she asked. Her gaze swept over the king and Hui Ming, watching their expressions carefully.
The clam demon from the coast had been straightforward enough; it had been a sea spirit aiming to increase its cultivation by devouring human life force. But this desert creature was far more sinister and inexplicable. It killed everything in its path. People, animals, and even plants were all targets. It left only barren, lifeless wasteland behind. It wasn't merely preying on people for sustenance; it was engaged in the utter annihilation of life itself. Before facing it, she needed to understand what she was dealing with.
Her words brought another, even heavier silence over the room. The king looked down at his feet, his shoulders slumped as if he were unable to meet her eyes. Even Hui Ming let out a long, burdened sigh and recited a solemn, mournful "Amitabha."
"Don't tell me..." Su Min's eyes narrowed as she looked from one guilty face to the other. "This is your doing?" she scolded.
"That was decades ago, during my father's time," the king said. His voice was thick with the weight of a painful legacy. "It wasn't exactly... a fault of any single person. Back then, for control over the last reliable water sources, my tribe fought a prolonged, bitter, and bloody war with another great tribe. The climate was even harsher than it is today. Water was life. Everything we did, all the lives taken, it was all just to survive. To ensure our children didn't die of thirst."
"I see."
Su Min nodded slowly, showing no further judgment or comment. In a brutal environment like this desert, survival struggles made the bloody political warfare of Great Wei seem almost tame in comparison. When the price of losing was the extinction of your entire clan, concepts of blame and fault became meaningless. Knowing this much of its origin was enough.
"The monster," Hui Ming finally said, his voice low and grim as he looked toward the open doors, "was born more than a decade ago from the mass grave of that final, cataclysmic battle. It isn't a beast of flesh and blood, but a construct, a walking catastrophe formed from the accumulated resentment and hatred of tens of thousands of deaths. It's a thing of pure malice. And now, it bears a deep, undying hatred toward all living things, blaming us for the suffering that created it."