bayedsolid Chapter 285 has always been
Chapter 285 has always been
The howling wind, carrying sand and dust, crashed against the dark flame barrier with a crackling sound, and the sparks that fell were instantly swallowed up by the sand and dust.
This monotonous and piercing sound had been going on since Guan Xun stepped into the Burial Sea Desert. It was like countless fine needles piercing her eardrums, making her temples throb and her mind go blank.
"Tsk." She frowned, her divine sense spreading out again.
As expected, the vast expanse of yellow sand resembled a giant yellow net, completely covering everything between heaven and earth.
When the divine sense reached out, all it touched was a blurry yellowish-brown area. Not to mention discerning directions, it couldn't even clearly see the undulating sand dunes a hundred meters away.
Fortunately, she had memorized the initial coordinates and direction of travel on the map before setting off.
If you keep walking in this direction, you can get out of this desert.
But the speed was too slow. With both feet on the soft sand, each step required effort to keep their balance. It took them almost half an hour to barely cross three sand dunes.
At this rate, it will take at least several months to get out of the Burial Sea Desert.
She only has a year and a half; she simply can't afford to waste that much time.
The guy said that sandworms all hide under the sand and hunt by following the movement.
What about the high altitude in the desert? Would that allow them to avoid sandworms? Would there be other monsters?
The moment this thought crossed Guan Xun's mind, he stopped in his tracks. Walking was too slow; it would be better to travel by air.
With a thought, her spiritual power surged instantly, and the spiritual energy vortex in her dantian spun rapidly. A scorching heat spread along her meridians to her back. It would be better to summon the wings of the phoenix to travel.
Just as the spiritual energy was about to condense into a form, a calm and composed voice rang out from behind her without warning.
"The sea is buried in the desert, sand worms live underground, sand vultures fly in the air; the sky is much more dangerous than the ground."
Guan Xun froze abruptly, his spiritual energy momentarily stagnating.
This voice...
She was startled and turned her head abruptly.
In the dim, dusty sand, a white figure stood silently, just a few steps away from her.
The gale, whipping up sand and gravel, swept past like knives, but was blocked by an invisible barrier, not even fluttering the hem of his clothes.
Her silvery-white hair fell to her shoulders, motionless, standing out starkly against the backdrop of endless yellow sand.
It's him.
Guan Xun's eyes flickered, and his cold and hard aura instantly softened considerably.
In the last illusion, after the two of them completely confessed their feelings, all the emotions buried deep in their hearts and shrouded in layers of shackles were completely dissolved.
Now, the two stood facing each other, their initial wariness long gone, replaced only by absurd surprise and a hint of indescribable excitement.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice no longer carrying its usual aloofness.
"I've always been by your side," the Imperial Tutor replied calmly.
Sighing inwardly, Guan Xun felt a little helpless: "You've been here all along? Looks like you can turn invisible too."
The Imperial Tutor gently shook his head, his gaze falling on her: "Wherever the Heavenly Infant Cicada Flower is, that's where I'll be."
Upon hearing this, Guan Xun was first slightly taken aback, and then he was astonished.
What do you mean by "wherever the Heavenly Infant Cicada Flower is, that's where he is"? The Heavenly Infant Cicada Flower is currently inside her body...
An absurd thought uncontrollably rushed into her mind. She stared at the white figure in front of her, her lips moving slightly: "What do you mean by that? You... haven't been inside me all this time, have you?"
Upon hearing this, the Imperial Tutor nodded slowly.
Guan Xun: "..."
A rare flicker of emotion crossed his usually indifferent eyes. He raised an eyebrow and a faint smile curved his lips, a smile that was neither quite a smile nor a frown: "Otherwise what?"
Guan Xun: "..."
These words exploded in Guan Xun's mind like a thunderbolt. She froze, instinctively taking a step back. The Dark Flame Barrier suddenly expanded, pushing the surrounding sand and dust further away.
Of course, there was no hostility in her action, only pure shock and speechless bewilderment.
I feel like I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't cough up blood right now, what the hell... it's still inside her...
She looked down at her palms, then swept them over her entire body, her expression extremely complex.
Guan Xun was a straightforward person; he was either yes or no, and he would definitely do what he wanted to do and get what he wanted.
She had already realized the Emperor's feelings for her from that kiss in the snowy region, but those feelings were still impure at the time, bound by his constraints.
But things are different now. After a struggle within himself, he finally followed his heart and stopped hiding and suppressing his desire for her.
She looked up at the white figure standing in the sandstorm, her tense jawline softened slightly, and her tone was somewhat speechless: "You've been hiding for so long, you're really good at keeping your composure."
He paused, then asked, "So what are you doing out here now?"
"This place is dangerous, I'll stay with you." The voice remained calm, but carried an undeniable certainty.
Guan Xun: "..."
She almost rolled her eyes, but as she turned around, a slight smile appeared on her lips as she called out, "Shall we go then, Jin Chen?"
Upon hearing those two words, the Imperial Tutor trembled slightly, as if a warm current flowed through his limbs and bones. His icy eyes, which had been indifferent for countless years, were suddenly filled with a soft light, and even the deepest part of his eyes could not hide the surging emotions.
That was his name, she remembered.
He didn't say anything more, and walked a few steps to Guan Xun's side, walking slowly alongside her.
Looking at the profile of the person beside him, he spoke in a low, gentle voice, with a hint of tenderness: "Yes, Xiao Xun."
The wind still howled, and the sand still lashed against the dark flame barrier with a crackling sound.
The two walked side by side in the dimly lit sea of sand, their shadows stretched long by the wind.
Guan Xun felt as if the surrounding sandstorm had been completely swept away by an invisible hand. The raging wind suddenly turned to the sides, and the quicksand under his feet no longer dragged him down. Even the sand flying in the air was kept far away, forming a clean vacuum zone.
She raised an eyebrow, her fingertips twitching slightly as she drew all the dark flames surrounding her back into her dantian.
Without the burden of consuming spiritual energy, I felt much lighter and took bigger steps.
Since someone was clearing away the sand for her, she didn't need to expend too much spiritual energy.
Without the obstruction of sandstorms, the two suddenly increased their speed, and the sand dunes beneath their feet flew by rapidly, several times faster than before.
"Are you going to the City That Never Sleeps?" Jin Chen suddenly asked.
"Hmm." Guan Xun nodded, then suddenly glanced at him. "With your strength, you should have been able to get through there, right?"
Jin Chen shook his head, his tone indifferent: "No."
As soon as he finished speaking, the sand beneath his feet suddenly began to writhe violently.
"Buzz!"
A deep, trembling sound came from deep within the sand, as if some enormous creature was rapidly approaching.
The next second, the sandy ground within a radius of tens of feet suddenly exploded, and countless gray-brown figures burst out of the ground.
It was a dense swarm of sandworms, their bodies covered in hard shells. Their spindle-shaped bodies were as thick as an arm, with two rows of sharp, serrated fangs at the front. Thick, dark green liquid flowed from their mouthparts, sizzling and corroding small pits on the sand.
Guan Xun immediately twitched the corner of his mouth, "Ugh, this is a bit disgusting."
As if they had smelled their prey, the sandworms let out sharp hisses and swarmed towards the two of them in a dark mass. The swarming insects, which blotted out the sky and carried a foul stench, were extremely terrifying.
Guan Xun's eyes narrowed, and he was about to mobilize his spiritual power when Jin Chen beside him raised his hand first.
He gently raised his hand, and his index finger pressed down slowly.
An invisible pressure suddenly enveloped the entire venue, and the air seemed to freeze instantly.
The sandworms that were halfway there seemed to be gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand, and their movements suddenly froze.
"Pfft! Pfft!"
Immediately afterwards, a series of sounds followed, and the sandworm's hard shell shattered inch by inch, splattering dark green juice mixed with bits of flesh all over the ground.
The screams were sharp and piercing, but they were completely silenced in less than half a second.
The sandworm swarm was wiped out in an instant, and tiny, grayish-black beast cores, the size of pigeon eggs, floated out from the shattered corpses and hung in mid-air.
With another flick of his finger, Jin Chen sent the beast cores flying toward Guan Xun as if drawn by a force, landing steadily in front of her.
“Yours,” he said.
"Hmm?" Guan Xun raised the corner of his eye slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
She still remembered that back in the snowy region, this person had blamed her for indiscriminately killing demonic beasts, but now he had taken the initiative to obtain so many beast cores.
"Tsk, tsk." She couldn't help but click her tongue twice, teasingly saying, "Jin Chen, Jin Chen, I think you're the one who's killed too many people."
Upon hearing this, Jin Chen lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on her face, which was filled with undisguised joy, and said in a voice as soft as the wind, "I'm glad you like it."
"I love it, I love it so much!" Guan Xun grabbed all the beast cores with both hands and put them away.
The area ahead is now shrouded in blood; it is not advisable to proceed further.
She immediately raised her hand and stroked her chin: "Walking is too slow. If you get attacked by sand worms, you'll waste time. Can you suppress those sand vultures at high altitudes?"
"Okay." Jin Chen nodded.
"Row."
However, just as the two were about to take off, Guan Xun's gaze suddenly froze.
In the sandstorm ahead, rows of blurry figures could be vaguely seen.
They stood silently behind the sand dunes, their silhouettes tall and eerie, exuding an indescribable strangeness under the dim sky.