Condemning the Heavens

A sandstorm could rage for as long as days on end, and even now not long had passed but they were already facing a dangerous situation.

The experts of the Demon Phoenix Continent were all amazed by seeing Xue Wei using his own body to wrap around them and protect them from the razor-sharp sand that could tear them to pieces within moments.

The Devouring Life Scale Shield was starting to succumb to the onslaught of the whistling winds, and the surrounding area was turning devoid of any Wood Element Qi.

The longer time went on, the harder it became for Xue Wei to hold on.

The Devouring Life Scale Shield downgraded to a normal Life Scale shield after two hours as there was no more wood elemental qi in the surroundings.

After another three hours, Xue Wei had no more wood elemental qi within his body, and the life scale shield turned into an ordinary scale shield, the sand causing more and more injuries to appear on Xue Wei's massive body.

Xue Wei could only grit his teeth in pain as he felt the wounds multiply on his body. Blood was flowing in rivers and scales were dropping to the sand, only to be covered up in an instance by the raging sandstorm, forever lost in the depths of the desert.

As Xue Wei was on the verge of collapsing the sandstorm finally died down. The gale started to turn into gentle winds, and the sand which had been flying every which where was turning into new dunes. The desert looked completely different now from how it had looked before.

The dunes had moved place, and although it was unmistakenly still a desert, everything had turned around.

Xue Wei returned to the shape of a human when he had ensured that the sandstorm was truly gone. His body was bloody and battered, even as he stood as a human, he was riddled with wounds and exhausted.

"We will rest for a day before continuing," Xue Wei said as he draped a robe over his shoulders and sat down. He quickly took out multiple different pills and popped them into his mouth, resembling a kid eating candy.

The moment they entered his body, he felt how they turned into cool streams of energy that started working on healing his body.

The many Demon Phoenix Continent's geniuses and princes had no objections at this point; not even the First Prince said anything.

At this point, Xue Wei was a hero in the eyes of almost every member of the group as he had shielded them all with his own body, taken all wounds that should rightfully have been theirs. They all felt newfound respect towards him for this.

The First Prince knew that if he said something at this point, not only would no one agree with him, the experts that usually revered him would grow alienated from his lack of gratitude towards Xue Wei.

The day went by fast, and as the sun rose in the sky, Xue Wei stretched his body. Although it would take some time for him to once more have any wood elemental qi within his body, he still had restored his body to peak condition, and his Qi was also restored.

He was slightly dejected about the wood elemental qi, but he knew he could do nothing about it. In an environment like this, it was hard to restore it.

Sighing, he could only feel that at least he had not wasted it, he had used it to trade the lives of himself, his friends, and companions. Also, it was not gone forever, just for a short period of time.

Thinking like this, he felt that it was not too bad, and he began walking the same direction that he had walked before.

He could not wait to exit this goddamn place. Although he was not enjoying the time in the desert, he had to admit that he had gained a lot from their journey here.

They walked towards the southwest, heading towards summer and the many treasures one could find there.

However, after walking for a few moments, Xue Wei stopped and frowned. The sand underneath their feet had vanished, an instead it had turned to stone.

The stone-ground was black as obsidian, and there was a big gaping hole in front of them.

This hole was clearly human-made.

Stairs were leading down towards an unknown world underneath. No one could see anything else than pitch-black darkness.

It was not only Xue Wei who was frowning, but all of them also had the same thought. Should they enter this unknown entrance, or should they continue towards summer?

After hesitating for some time, Xue Wei had decided that he wanted to check it out. Even if it was risky, it was likely that the treasures beneath this desert were as amazing as the stuff that could be found within Summer.

"I am entering this place," Xue Wei said with a determined voice. "This is going to be immensely dangerous, and I cannot guarantee your survival if you choose to enter together with me."

The Demon Phoenix Continent's geniuses were deep in thought. They wanted to go with Xue Wei, but they did not want to become a hindrance to him. Neither did they want to throw their lives away.

"Why don't you all follow me?" the voice of the First Prince suddenly sounded.

"We will continue towards Summer, and wait for Sir Xue to catch up with us again."

The First Prince had no intention of returning control of the group to Xue Wei, but it would sound bad if he said that, hence he made it look as if them going ahead was a great favor to him, and that he was a right person to offer to lead them.

Xue Wei was able to understand what was going on without even thinking about it, and even most of the experts from the Demon Phoenix Continent could think of the reason for the First Prince to make this offer.

However, they did not disagree; all they did were staying quiet. When Xue Wei returned to them, it was their choice whether or not they wished to follow the First Prince or Xue Wei.

At that time, it would depend on whether or not the First Prince had done an excellent job. If he had led them to even more treasure than Xue Wei, then it would be stupid to leave him, but if they had suffered, then they would gladly join Xue Wei once more.

Xue Wei understood their thoughts. Although they said nothing, it was clear that although these geniuses were feeling happy towards Xue Wei for having saved them, they were still here for treasure after all.

Xue Wei did not blame them; he did not have a close connection with them, so he was not disappointed either.

Seeing that none of them were against the First Prince's offer, Xue Wei did nothing to make them stay either.

"Then let's meet again if fate allows it." Xue Wei said casually before he no longer paid any attention to the experts from the Demon Phoenix Continent.

He then turned around and walked towards the staircase leading down towards the darkness.

Seeing that Xue Wei walked so firmly towards the darkness, and then how his friends followed behind without any form for hesitation, the geniuses from the Demon Phoenix Continent were all ashamed.

They understood that the danger was great and that even Xue Wei had no idea what they might encounter, but he still went on with unwavering determination, while they were cowardly and backed away.

They finally understood the difference between the two of them.

Xue Wei was not afraid of death. He lived with his life on the edge, always struggling and fighting to improve, while they were flowers raised in a greenhouse.

They had the best resources, they also had the best environment, but because of everything going their way, they had now realized that they lacked the determination of cultivators from humble backgrounds. They lacked the desperation to improve.

But having realized this, they also knew that it could not be changed just because they wanted to, it was a small step they had to take little by little.

Jumping into this unknown world underneath the desert would be the same as throwing away their lives, and thus they did not regret their decision as they watched Xue Wei and the others take out luminous orbs from their storage treasures as they began descending the stairs.

As they vanished from the sight, the First Prince could not help but hope that this was the last time he saw Xue Wei. If he succumbed to the strange underground world he had just entered, then he would not have to worry in the future.

Xue Wei did not look back even once as he began walking. He already knew about his friends joining him, and as long as they had his back, then he would be content.

The staircase was made from the same black material as the surface above, it was impossible to determine what kind of material it was, but it was immensely sturdy.

As they went down the stairs, they found that that they reached further down than they had expected.

They walked and walked and walked, but it was as if the staircase was endless.

After walking for a couple of hours, Xue Wei finally came to a stop. The stairs continued in front of him, but he had a nagging feeling that something was wrong.

Touching the wall by his side, he determined that it was made from the same material as the stairs themselves, the black stone-like material.

Frowning, he wondered what to do. Without overthinking, he struck out a palm attack.

Shattering Mountain Palm!

This was one of the attacks he had learned first, and although it wasn't the most potent attack that Xue Wei commanded, it was in no way bad.

When it came into contact with the wall, something peculiar happened.

Not only did the wall start to crack, the stairs they stood on were cracking as well; reality around them began to collapse, but even though the stairs broke, they were not falling anywhere.

By the time the scene in front of them had collapsed completely, the five friends were stunned by what they saw in front of them.

What they saw in front and behind them was a long corridor. It seemed as if they had walked down this corridor for a long time, as when they looked behind them, it stretched into the darkness, continuing on for a long way.

As they realized that the staircase was an illusion that they had been trapped in, all of them felt some lingering fear. It could have continued forever with no way for them to exit, and even if they had turned around, they would never have escaped.

Now they were extra alert as they looked at the corridor. Was this another illusion?

Shattering Mountain Palm!

A muffled boom resounded in the corridor as Xue Wei's palm came into contact with the black wall, but not even a dent was shown on it.

"This is real," he said casually. This was the easiest and most direct way to test the realness of their current situation.

"Let's continue walking," Xue Wei said. and they moved forward, only to find that there were doors on their side every time they had walked for around the time it took to brew a cup of tea.

they did not enter the first door they found but continued onwards, until they saw that doors were really no rarity in this corridor.

After checking this, they opened them, only to find that some led into smaller rooms with treasures, essence stones and materials were gathered there. However, all herbs had long since turned to dust, so they could only take the other things.