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Novel: [The Primordial Law]
Volume 5: [Seeking Immortality in the Eastern Sea]
Volume 5 (Pinyin): [Dong Hai xun xian]
Chapter 4 (441): [The White Desert]
(4th of Volume 5)
Translator: Shadow Knight AK
Editor: Shadow Knight AK
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"Pack some into your bag later," Li Weiyi instructed, "You can eat those Millennial Essence Herbs too. Don't starve yourself."
He turned his gaze to the seven Phoenix-Winged Moth Emperors approaching.
The Little Seven, their bellies round from Yu'er's feeding, had grown to a length of five feet.
They had already broken through to the Fifth Heaven of the Dao Seed Realm.
Now, even with the Xihe Flower, each breakthrough required dozens of Millennial Essence Herbs.
For every additional millennium of age, the potency of these Herbs increased exponentially.
To help them reach the Seventh Heaven or even the Immortal Realm, they would need Essence Herbs aged three or four millennia.
Of course, consuming Millennial Essence Herbs wasn't the only option.
With regular feeding, they could reach the Immortal Realm in a few decades.
After centuries of nurturing, they could even become Transcendent.
To any Major Power, these creatures would be revered as Ancestors, with every available resource devoted to their care.
Li Weiyi sat on the ground, took out his pen and notebook, placed them on his lap, and began recording the events of the previous day.
Yu'er walked up behind him and peered over his shoulder.
She was a quick learner and recognized most of the characters in the notebook.
"Master," she asked, "why do you write down everything that happens each day, and why does so much of it involve me?"
Li Weiyi didn't know how to explain.
"It's safer and more reliable this way," he said.
"Are you afraid Yu'er will forget these things when she grows up because she's too young now?" Yu'er asked.
Li Weiyi continued writing rapidly.
"Something like that," he replied.
"Then I'll write too!"
Yu'er pulled out her own pen and notebook from her small cloth bag and began writing earnestly.
Li Weiyi froze, glanced at her, and silently closed his notebook.
"You shouldn't write. You don't even know all the characters yet."
"Master, how do you write 'fight'?" she asked, looking up.
....
Li Songjian's Boundary Pouch also contained a map of the Netherworld, marking dangerous areas.
Riding camels, they bypassed these marked zones and traveled swiftly for another two days.
Along the way, they passed through numerous abandoned villages and ghost towns.
Standing atop a hill several hundred meters high, the entire horizon glowed with a pale white light, illuminating undulating sand dunes.
This wasn't a dazzling radiance, but a deathly, chilling pallor that seemed to emanate an icy cold.
They had reached the White Desert!
"Yang Qingxi is so unreliable," Li Weiyi muttered, "The White Desert is vast - how am I supposed to find her here?"
Li Weiyi drew the shortest line on the map connecting the Fallen Spirit Market, the White Desert, and Old Yuzhou Prefecture City.
If he couldn't find her along this route, he decided to head straight to Old Yuzhou Prefecture City.
Upon reaching the edge of the White Desert, they were surprised by the heavy humidity.
The area was littered with ancient, desiccated trees that had remained preserved for millennia, their wood as hard as iron.
The tallest trunks were as thick as millstones.
Second Phoenix flew through the forest, using his Innate Dao Technique to search for Yang Qingxi's aura.
Li Weiyi rode behind him on his camel, his body encased in a Cocoon of Time, while he diligently studied a scroll of the Dragon Codex (Manual) - a Jade Slip Book Yu Yaozi had copied from some unknown source.
Though not the True Scripture, ten days of study had yielded significant gains.
The Nine-Petaled Dao Lotus of his Wind Mansion Dragon Seed had grown stronger, and his cultivation had noticeably improved.
He searched the forest along the edge of the White Desert for over two hundred miles.
Suddenly, Er Feng (Second Phoenix) detected something and sent a telepathic message to Li Weiyi.
Li Weiyi tucked the Dragon Codex(Manual) Jade Slip Book into his robes, leaped into the air, and landed beneath a massive, three-meter-diameter withered tree.
Traces of a struggle were evident nearby.
A massive gash had been gnawed into the tree trunk by an unknown creature.
Within the gash, Li Weiyi discovered a hairpin embedded in the wood.
Using his Spiritual Qi, he extracted it.
Er Feng flew over, sniffed the hairpin, and confirmed that it carried Yang Qingxi's scent.
"Something must have happened to her. What could she have encountered?"
Li Weiyi clutched the hairpin, meticulously examining every detail of the scene, trying to reconstruct the battle.
A putrid, decaying odor drifted down from above.
"Whoosh!"
Anticipating the attack, Li Weiyi flicked a finger upward.
A white-haired monster the size of an adult human silently descended from the tree's crown.
Its appearance was horrifying, with an elderly-looking face, crimson eyes lacking pupils, and razor-sharp claws.
Just three meters from Li Weiyi, the finger-strike's energy wave blasted the creature away.
With a resounding thud, it crashed into the White Desert.
The creature let out a miserable "croak" and instantly burrowed into the sand.
"What a formidable monster! It survived my finger strike - stronger than Yi Zhouxue."
"After it!"
Li Weiyi used his Psychic Power to lock onto the White-Haired Sand Demon as it fled through the sand.
He picked up Yu'er, stowed the two camels, and gave chase across the desert at full speed.
Yang Qingxi's disappearance must be connected to this creature.
The battle traces indicated the fight had erupted no more than two hours ago.
What were the odds of the demon being nearby at that exact moment?
The White-Haired Sand Demon moved with incredible speed, mastering sand-burrowing techniques.
Li Weiyi had to push himself to his limits just to keep up.
He summoned the Yellow Dragon Sword, ready to unleash the Six-Jia Yang Thunder at any moment.
After pursuing the demon three hundred li into the desert, Li Weiyi began to sense an ominous unease.
This White Desert was eerily strange. The wind howled like ghostly wails, and the sand dunes shifted constantly, disorienting him.
He had already lost his sense of direction.
Now, he could only press forward relentlessly until he captured the White-Haired Sand Demon.
"Master, look over there!"
Yu'er pointed to a distant sand dune.
Li Weiyi peered into the distance and saw three small figures moving along the winding ridge.
Yang Qingxi and Yang Qingchan, dressed in green robes, followed closely behind the leading figure.
...
Leading Yang Qingxi and Yang Qingchan was a bipedal beaver, its body resembling a furry, round ball with short arms and legs.
Standing upright, it was as tall as the two Yang sisters.
Its stubby legs strode through the crimson mist, each step covering several meters, yet its pace was surprisingly swift.
"This damned White Desert! I hate traveling long distances. It's far more comfortable in the Huang River. I'm parched! Give this immortal some water - lots of it! Soak me completely!"
The beaver halted, its golden eyes glaring at Yang Qingxi as it shouted out its command.
Yang Qingxi frowned, deeply resenting being treated like a servant by a demon.
But the creature's cultivation was far too advanced; even if she and Yang Qingchan joined forces, they stood no chance.
Fortunately, the beaver grew increasingly irritable away from water, and her Long River Intent allowed her to condense moisture from the air, making her a natural choice for this task.
"Whoosh!"
A winding stream materialized above Yang Qingxi's head, cascading down like a waterfall onto the beaver.
"Ah, that's refreshing! You've got potential, girl. Come with this immortal to Yu State, and I'll introduce you to Princess Dengfeng of the East Sea Water Mother clan. They're desperate for talents like you there."
The beaver shuddered in contentment, scattering droplets of water from its long fur in all directions.
"Whoosh!"
The White-Haired Sand Demon burst from the sand, kneeling to report in a raspy voice, "Reporting to the Water Beaver Immortal, as you instructed, I waited there and indeed encountered the one seeking her. He's formidable - I couldn't defeat him. He's already pursuing us!"
"Useless!"
The Water Beaver Immortal glanced at Yang Qingxi: "He's here for you, isn't he? Did you think this immortal wouldn't notice the hairpin you hid in the tree trunk? You humans love playing these petty, pointless games."
Yang Qingxi's heart was torn between relief and apprehension.
She hadn't expected a demonic beast to possess such cunning. Its seemingly dim-witted appearance made it easy to underestimate.
Li Weiyi approached along the sand ridge, Yellow Dragon Sword in hand.
When he saw the Water Beaver Immortal's form through the crimson mist, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Miss Yang, what's going on?"
"Be careful!" Yang Qingxi immediately warned, "It's form the Huang River Beaver Clan..."
The Water Beaver Immortal released a crimson mist that enveloped Yang Qingxi, leaving only her moving lips visible while silencing her voice.
"Boy, I am the king of the Huang River, the Water Beaver Immortal. Kneel and pledge fealty, and I'll spare your life."
The Water Beaver Immortal puffed out his round belly, pointing a short, clawed paw at Li Weiyi.
"What's a beaver doing in the desert?"
Without warning, Li Weiyi struck first, raising his sword overhead to summon the Six-Jia Yang Thunder.
He slashed down with a thunderous strike.
"Boom!"
Sword qi and lightning crashed down together.
The dark crimson mist swirling around the Water Beaver Immortal surged to block the sword qi, but it couldn't withstand the Yang Thunder. The creature's fur crackled as it was enveloped in electric arcs.
Li Weiyi showed no sign of triumph, immediately retreating at full speed.
The Water Beaver Immortal moved with astonishing speed, appearing where Li Weiyi had just stood, its passage shattering the air.
The Six-Jia Yang Thunder had failed to breach its physical defenses.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The Myriad Manifestations Staff-Spear shot forth from Li Weiyi's Wind Mansion.
He raised it overhead, drawing down strands of Starlight Radiance, and thrust it at the charging Water Beaver Immortal.
The spear tip blazed as it collided with the demon's claws, detonating the entire dune.
With a deafening roar, both combatants were hurled back dozens of meters.
The Water Beaver Immortal's physical resilience was extraordinary, allowing it to clash with the Myriad Manifestations Staff-Spear without yielding an inch.
"Impressive! He can even summon Starlight Radiance!"
Through the swirling sand, the Water Beaver Immortal glared at the young man across the battlefield.
When it noticed seventy-two orbs of lightning crackling around him, accompanied by thunderous rumbling, its expression twisted in alarm.
"Damn it! Run! He's an Immortal Realm Giant from the Thundercloud Sect! Humans are so treacherous - feigning weakness just to capture this Immortal!"
The Water Beaver Immortal transformed into a crimson mist, activating the life-saving trump card given to him by the Water Beaver King.
With a whoosh, he vanished along the sand ridge, moving faster than even some Immortal Realm Giants, leaving behind a hundred miles of swirling sand and dust.
'Only an Immortal Realm Giant from the Thundercloud Sect could activate the seventy-two Thunder Annihilation Formations,' he thought with certainty, 'Once trapped within the formation, even my life-saving trump card wouldn't save me.'
"Immortal Realm Giant..."
The White-Haired Sand Demon dove headfirst into the sand, fleeing with desperate speed.
Li Weiyi glanced at the seventy-two orbs of lightning surrounding him, instantly understanding.
'The seventy-two Thunder Annihilation Formations... In the past millennium, only Lu Cangsheng had managed to cultivate them to this level in the Dao Seed Realm. No one else in the Thundercloud Sect has achieved this.'
The Huang River fell within the Thundercloud Sect's sphere of influence.
"We need to leave now!" Yang Qingxi urged, "That beaver is incredibly clever. He'll realize his misjudgment soon enough."
The four of them chose a direction and raced across the desert.
Half a day later, they emerged at the edge of the boundless East Sea.
The desert met the ocean.
Several miles offshore, burning sailing ships and massive warships lit up the night sky.
Spiritual Artifacts clashed against the ships' defensive Formations, shattering them one after another.
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END OF CHAPTER
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