Chapter 2563: Chapter 2563: The Mysterious Sandstorm

Instantly, a blast of heat, wind, and hard brittle particles surrounded Zen. He was entirely shrouded by the sandstorm.

For ordinary mortals and animals, the sandstorm was a dangerous threat, enough to draw blood and lift them off the ground. For Zen, however, it posed no threat at all.

The sandstorm swirled furiously around Zen, hurling fragments of broken rock at him, surrounding him in sand particles as big as raindrops. But an invisible barrier surrounded him. Every particle stopped inches away from his skin, and he moved unscathed through the storm.

He wondered how he could get to Excellence City, located in the north of the desert.

He smiled bitterly to himself, watching the bits of sand and rock flying harmlessly around him.

He remembered his first entrance into the divine land. He had been alone then. With no one to guide him, he had been slow in his explorations of the divine land, and everything had been new and confusing.

This time he was with a team led by Emily, who was familiar with the world. Zen had thought this would save him a lot of trouble, but then, he hadn't expected that they would be separated from each other the moment they entered the Source World.

Although the sandstorm couldn't hurt him, it interfered with his ability to gauge distances and tell which direction he was going. He had already used the Grand Teleportation over and over again, and yet he was still in the Sweltering Desert. He had not anticipated the enormity of the desert. He thought that even without the sandstorm, he would probably have some trouble navigating.

“This is taking too long. I need to find someone who will tell me how to make my way to Excellence City,”

Zen muttered. He was feeling perturbed, and took a breath to calm down. He stepped forward lightly and disappeared from the spot he stood in.

Using the Grand Teleportation, Zen tried his best to keep moving in the same direction. He figured that traveling in a straight line would be the quickest way out of the desert.

Zen kept going. And going.

He was getting exasperated again. By his calculations, he had already traveled some 50, 000 miles using the Grand Teleportation.

And yet, every time he emerged from the spatial passageway, he still found himself faced with whirling sand on all sides.

As he studied the particles of the sandstorm, spinning inches from his face, a strange thought came to Zen.

Of course, sandstorms were to be expected in this climate. It was normal for a desert, especially a large one, to have multiple sandstorms on a windy day. But he had traveled 50, 000 miles. Was he in a different sandstorm, or still in the same one? If so, it must be massive, a sandstorm colossal beyond anything he had ever seen or imagined.

“There is no wind strong enough to stir up a sandstorm in such a large scale. How is this possible?”

He couldn't come up with any answers. Zen frowned, sighed, and used the Grand Teleportation once more.

Buzz!

Zen used the Grand Teleportation seven more times, following his strategy of moving forward in one direction. He traveled about 400, 000 miles more. However, the storm persisted. Wherever he stopped, he was still greeted with rampaging sand. 𝔯𝙖ŊöBƐṣ

By now, anyone else would be panicking, wondering where they were and how to escape the situation.

Zen was not afraid, but he had to admit his strategy wasn't working. He decided to stop moving forward. Instead, he would use the Grand Teleportation to move upwards.

After all, Emily had described the Source World as something similar to a squashed egg. What a huge egg it was! He wondered if he was making a mistake. No matter how large the desert, the top of the Source World might be even further away.

He moved upwards, and to his surprise, things became even stranger.

After using the Grand Teleportation three times and reaching a height of 150, 000 miles, he found himself still in the sandstorm. He watched the yellow sand rolling furiously in the air beneath him.

“A sandstorm that's over 150, 000 miles high? This cannot be possible.”

He had considered the sandstorm more of a curiosity than anything else, but now Zen realized the strangeness and began to feel worried.

With some desperation, he lowered his altitude back down to ground level, and began to fly forward. He flew very close to the ground.

This method of travel was much, much slower than the Grand Teleportation, but flying would let him see his surroundings as he moved. He needed to find out more about the desert.

For several hours, he flew, and saw nothing but sand and rock around him.

Finally, however, a mass of unidentifiable things appeared in the distance on his left side. They were covered in sand. Zen squinted at them, but couldn't even begin to guess what these things could be.

Zen had an idea. He focused, and let his spiritual sense spread out.

He probed the objects in the distance and sensed flimsy, hollow structures with life moving inside. He got excited. They were tents with people inside.

Without hesitation, he adjusted his direction and flew quickly towards the tents.

They were covered with thick layers of yellow sand, which swirled in the air around them. The sandstorm had battered the tents very heavily.

Zen waved his hand, and the thick sand was cleared from one of the tents. A pocket of clear air now surrounded the tent.

Zen saw that the tent had a door made out of a layer of beast hide. He moved closer, and then reached out to lift the curtain.

As soon as he opened it, a glint of silver flashed, and a bright sharp knife stabbed at him.

The knife swooshed in the air.

It was a good, strong knife. It had actually been aimed at his chest, not his face.

Calmly, and with lightning speed, Zen reached up and pinched the blade between the fingers of his right hand, holding it in place.

“Please don't!” It was a woman's voice.

More spears emerged from the beast hide curtain, all pointed at Zen's body.

It was clear they wanted to kill him. Spears were aimed at his eyes, his throat, and his chest.

Zen had no reason to be afraid of ordinary blades or spears. But he did feel some anger at this treatment. There was no need to attack a stranger without warning. He dropped the knife, waved his hands, and grabbed all the spears that stabbed at him.

The thin young men who had wielded the spears were caught off guard. They had not expected the stranger to be so powerful. They drew back, but pulled out machetes, watching Zen.

The interior of the tent looked small, and there was nowhere for them to retreat.

“I'm just passing by. Is this how you treat visitors? Why are you eager to kill me?” Zen asked coldly. He threw the spears on the ground.

The young men were slightly abashed at Zen's words, but still looked suspicious.

One of them stepped forward. He had a scar on his face, and seemed to be their leader. He glared at Zen and said, “We know who you are. You're a killer sent by the king, aren't you?”

Zen was surprised at the accusation, but nevertheless breathed a sigh of relief. At least they spoke the same language. They would be able to communicate clearly.

The Source World was itself the source of the cultural heritage of the divine land, including their language.

“I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just passing by,” Zen replied flatly.

Skeptical faces looked back at him. The young men clung to their machetes. They obviously weren't inclined to welcome him in just yet.

But then a soft voice spoke from within the inner recesses of the tent. “Let him in.”

“But Master Maggie...” said the young man with a scar, sounding anxious.

The woman called Maggie said, “Just let him in. He is clearly strong enough to kill all of us. If he were really sent by the king, we would be dead already.”

Zen respected the woman's intuition. She was right. He could smash this tent and the people within in a single blow.

At Maggie's words, the young men stirred, traces of fear appearing in their eyes as they began to process how Zen had disarmed them. It was true. They were no match for the intruder.

The young man hesitated, and then motioned with his hand for his companions to make way for Zen. As they stepped aside, Zen saw that there were passageways connecting the tents to each other.

He went inside and into the passage from where the woman's voice had emerged. As he walked forward, a faint fragrance filled his senses. He saw a woman standing in a small tent, covered with a veil.

A small round face peered at him from beneath the thin veil. She had deep-set eyes. She was no great beauty, but there was an air of the exotic about her, a sense of charm and vitality.

“You are a complete stranger to us and our ways. That must mean you arrived here at the Sweltering Desert by accident, right?” A single look was all she needed to know this.