Boom!

In the boundless endless wild sand, several enormous ice walls suddenly rose from the ground, cold frigid air spreading in all directions, causing the scorching desert to suddenly cool down. The ice walls contained no sword aura and did not harm people.

They also did not harm dragons.

Error coiled atop one of the walls, basking in the chill while Echo wielded Nine Heavens, carving left and right with methodical precision.

An hour later, I wiped away nonexistent sweat and perched on the wall’s edge, shading my eyes to survey my handiwork.

A perfect ice maze stretched outward from the oasis, its walls forming geometric patterns around the central lake.

A black scorpion scuttled along the base of the walls, its pincers raised high as it traced the frozen barriers like they were the most fascinating thing in the world.

“Will this work?” I asked.

The scorpion’s tail curved upward, indicating the pristine white flower crowning the towering cactus.

I smiled. “Excellent. Then our deal is complete.”

After spending so long in this secret realm battling vicious spirit beasts, I’d braced myself for another fight. But the moment my hand touched Nine Heavens’ hilt, this enormous scorpion had raised both pincers defensively, backing away to stand guard before the cactus with a clear message: Don’t come any closer, or I’ll protect it with my life.

The sight had genuinely surprised me. This scorpion possessed spiritual intelligence—though still quite weak, only at the Golden Core stage. After some consideration, I’d proposed a trade instead of combat.

Three bags of peanuts and an ice maze in exchange for one cactus flower. Not bad.

Securing the prize without violence felt refreshing. If only other spirit beasts could be this reasonable! I considered myself a remarkably peaceful system, with no particular fondness for unnecessary bloodshed.

Both the scorpion clutching its paper-wrapped peanuts and I, cradling the face-sized white cactus flower, wore expressions of mutual satisfaction. I turned away, pressed my palms together, then slowly spread them apart.

My inventory interface materialized.

I carefully placed the cactus flower into my system storage. All the spirit stones and pearls previously stored in my storage ring had been transferred here—the ring now served exclusively for spirit beast corpses.

I organized my inventory with meticulous care:

Candlefire Golden Lotus:A breathtakingly beautiful fire-attribute lotus. Seraphine might enjoy this.

Azure Wood Butterfly:An exquisite wood-attribute orchid. Seraphine might find it lovely.

Small Daisy:A charming, non-attributed wildflower with two extra petals compared to ordinary daisies. Seraphine might want to examine it.

Row after row of flowers filled the display, accompanied by various gorgeous gemstones and sweet fruits. All gifts I’d collected for Seraphine.

“Heave-ho.” I muttered with the satisfaction of honest labor, closing the inventory and turning back around.

The black scorpion was happily exploring its new maze, clearly delighted with the arrangement. I leaped onto an ice wall and called out, “Excuse me! I have one more question.”

The scorpion immediately scurried over, though without memorizing the maze layout, it got thoroughly lost and had to be rescued when I jumped down to meet it directly.

“Have you seen any teleportation tokens in this desert?” I used Nine Heavens to sketch in the sand—a rectangle containing a simple flower design. “Something like this. Touch it, and you’ll be transported elsewhere.”

The scorpion went perfectly still, deep in thought.

I stared at the contemplating arachnid while Error lowered her massive head, her green eyes also fixed on the black creature.

Under the scrutiny of two pairs of bright eyes, the scorpion began moving frantically, attempting to navigate the maze but getting hopelessly lost in the winding passages. Eventually, I used spiritual energy to lift it onto the wall.

The scorpion trembled as it stood on the icy surface, its tiny eyes darting about before raising one massive pincer to point in a specific direction.

Both Error and I turned to follow its indication.

“That mountain-sized sand dune?” The scorpion nodded, then raised both pincers, gesticulating extensively to draw a huge circle in the air.

I translated: “Something big lives inside?”

The scorpion then pointed skyward and coughed up a fragment of golden dragon. I blinked in surprise—I hadn’t sensed any spiritual energy fluctuations from this piece at all. Perhaps the scorpion’s dark coloration provided natural camouflage, but clearly it possessed unique concealment techniques that allowed it to survive in such a dangerous realm.

“Understood,” I said. “Besides the big creature, there are golden dragon fragments inside, plus the token I need.”

The scorpion fell silent.

I thanked my arachnid informant, placed it back in the maze to continue playing, and cast two dust-removal spells on the scale fragment before storing it away.

“Let’s go.” I told Error.

One system and one dragon bid farewell to the scorpion as Error carried me toward the distant dune.

⁂

The sun blazed overhead, its heat murderous.

The ice walls gradually melted, water droplets seeping into the sand. The scorpion wandered happily through its maze until suddenly it froze, pressing close to the ground as if detecting some disturbance. Its legs rapidly excavated sand, and its massive body vanished beneath the surface in moments.

High above, a sword-light approached. The cultivator riding it stared in disbelief at the half-melted ice maze scattered across the desert floor, rubbing her eyes in denial.

“An illusion?”

She landed and touched one of the walls, gasping at the bone-chilling cold and the water streaming down her hand.

It was real!

“Impossible……” She seemed to realize something terrible and rushed toward the lakeside oasis. The towering cactus stood empty—not a single flower remained.

“How can this be!” The cultivator’s voice cracked with despair. “I came the moment I received word! Someone beat me here! Is the Golden Jade Tower even competent anymore?”

Her lament was interrupted by silvery laughter. She spun around to find a woman perched on the ice wall—breathtakingly beautiful, with an aura of dangerous sensuality. Her outfit was…… rather bold, with bare feet white as snow and purple jade bells adorning her ankles.

“You…… who are you?” The cultivator stepped back warily, offering a respectful bow.

“Sister, may I ask you something?” The woman’s voice was as languid as her posture, each word dripping honey. “I’ve been traveling extensively, and everywhere I go, people are wailing and gnashing their teeth. Why is that?”

Since the Twin Dragon Secret Realm prohibited harming other cultivators, the ground-bound woman relaxed slightly. “For the past three months, everyone’s been buying information from the Golden Jade Tower. But when we arrive at the reported locations, the opportunities have already been claimed by someone else! We don’t even know who’s beating us there!”

She sighed heavily.

“Ha.” The wall-perched woman covered her lips delicately. “How fascinating. But it seems to me that you’re simply…… inadequate. If you truly struck first and struck fast, how could these opportunities slip through your fingers?”

The ground cultivator smiled. “But opportunities follow a natural order of arrival. It’s not really about skill.”

“Mmm…… I don’t like hearing you say that.” The woman’s tone remained playful. “I only enjoy listening to my own opinions.”

She placed her hands against the ice wall, swaying her feet so the bells chimed softly, then looked past the cultivator with apparent surprise. “What’s that behind you?”

The cultivator instinctively turned—directly into the gaping maw of a silver snake. Mist poured from the snake’s mouth, and the unprepared woman’s face changed drastically as the world spun around her. She collapsed with a heavy thud.

“Oh my, I didn’t harm you at all,” the woman said with mock innocence, still swinging her feet. “I simply invited you to take a nice nap before visiting my chambers.”

She raised her hand to direct the serpent to drag away the unconscious cultivator, but the purple bells on her wrist suddenly chimed frantically. She paused, raising an eyebrow. “Never mind, darling. Let’s go.”

The silver snake slithered up to coil around her neck as they both departed toward the distant mountain.

Much later, a black scorpion emerged from the sand, circled the unconscious woman twice in apparent concern, then dragged her into the shade of the remaining ice walls.

⁂

Half an hour earlier.

After circling the massive dune, I’d found no obvious entrance. Then I remembered something humans often said: there are no roads in the world, but when enough people walk the same path, a road appears.

So I drew my sword and stabbed directly into the mountain, carving out a passage as I advanced. Error trembled behind me, thinking: This orb is absolutely terrifying!

The terrifying orb emerged from her improvised tunnel into a vast, hollow chamber lit by luminous pearls embedded in the walls. The space was enormous and empty, as if something immense had once made its lair here.

I flew down and looked around. No golden dragon fragments, no teleportation token—just a few trapped people in a barrier.

I sighed.

Sometimes roads don’t lead to the right destination after all.

The trapped cultivators: “……”

Error swam up to the barrier and tilted her head curiously. “Roar?”

Siyi smiled gracefully. “Error, Fellow Daoist Xi, it’s good to see you both well. Where might the Palace Lord be?”