Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Desert Ruler had the Gengjin Eagle pinned to the ground at the edge of the desert, and its appearance had changed drastically.
Its massive arms had expanded twofold, while sand spikes now lined its back. It swept its sturdy tail past the desert surface, whipping up a fierce wind.
The muscles in its shoulders were now so accentuated that its deltoids had become solid triangular shapes.
The distorted faces of the Sand Monsters that had merged with the Desert Ruler could be seen moaning on its shoulders. The Desert Ruler was now a monstrous sight to behold.
In terms of level, the Desert Ruler was still inferior to the Gengjin Eagle. However, warfare was all about the struggle between life and death, which hinged on many other factors, such as the battlefield’s geography, the participants’ battle experience, and physical conditions. Anything could happen in a fight between two monsters.
In an environment far away from the desert, the Gengjin Eagle could slowly chip away at the Desert Ruler, which would have no sand to replenish itself.
However, they were now near the desert, where the Desert Ruler reigned supreme. The only highlight of this fight was the Desert Ruler knocking the Gengjin Eagle out of the sky and essentially subverting its air superiority.
With its unique ability, Sand Combination, the Desert Ruler was able to absorb any number of Sand Monsters and receive a huge boost to its power for a short period of time.
“Get ready to attack…” muttered Gao Peng. The Gengjin Eagle was Chang’an city’s guardian deity. There was no way he would let it perish here.
Before he could finish his sentence, the dark figure beside Yang Lin suddenly tore its black shroud into pieces and leapt into action!
The figure was clad in a battle robe and holding a sword in its left hand. On its head was a swallow-tailed crown and a hair bun.
[Monster Name]: Terracotta Soldier (Meng Tian)
[Monster Level]: Level 44
[Monster Grade]: Epic
[Monster Attribute]: Corpse/Dark
[Monster Ability]: Divine Power Level 2, Reinforced Armor Level 4
[Special Characteristics]: Sarcophagus (Originally a receptacle containing a human corpse, it mysteriously evolved into a monster.
Passive Effect 1: Its armor is reinforced by the fumes released from the decomposing corpse inside its body.
Active Effect 2: It absorbs all the fumes inside its body to give itself a boost. There are no negative side effects to this. However, the effect only lasts for a short while.)
[Description]: The body inside it used to belong to a distinguished human general who was unfortunately poisoned and stuffed inside a terracotta soldier, where its soul has remained ever since.
The Terracotta Soldier’s body was now letting out puffs of gray vapor.
Some thought that it was naturally letting out the fumes that had been building up inside it.
However, Gao Peng could clearly see that it was part of its Sarcophagus’ ability, which allowed it to momentarily boost all of its statistics.
The Terracotta Soldier leapt towards the Desert Ruler, letting its fumes carry it through the air.
At that moment, the Desert Ruler took a deep breath and stuck one of its hand into the sand beneath it.
Rumble…
Hand-shaped geysers of sand erupted from the ground and reached for the Terracotta Soldier.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The Terracotta Soldier easily penetrated the disembodied hands like a comet.
“Um?” The Desert Ruler’s right hand suddenly slipped as it felt a powerful energy building up beneath it.
Even though the Gengjin Eagle was no match for the Desert Ruler in terms of sheer strength, it was still three levels higher than the latter, and a Lord-tier familiar to boot!
Screech!
A golden light exploded from the ground, scattering a huge chunk of sand from the Desert Ruler.
The Gengjin Eagle rose, its feathers now giving off a brilliant golden light.
The Desert Ruler staggered back. Its opponent’s attack had caught it completely by surprise.
The Gengjin Eagle quickly launched itself into the air, not giving the Desert Ruler any chance to pin it back on the ground.
Upon seeing this, the Terracotta Soldier immediately pulled back from the Dali Desert. A conspiratorial smile was now playing on its face.
Its thousand-year-long sleep hadn’t dulled its mind one bit. The strategies it had learned when it was still alive were still fresh in its memory. Instinctively, it knew that the monster before it was way too much for it too handle.
However, it didn’t believe that the Desert Ruler would be able to remain in this state indefinitely. Also, its only purpose here was to help His Highness hold up his end of the bargain with the humans. It had no intention of getting on the Desert Ruler’s bad side.
It had already fulfilled its mission by freeing the Golden Deity from the Desert Ruler’s clutches.
The Desert Ruler looked up at the Golden Deity, who was now soaring high in the air, and then looked down at the Terracotta Soldier, which was fleeing from it.
There was no way of telling from its distorted face what it was feeling right then.
However, there was a pretty good chance that it was angry.
Yang Lin sighed in relief when it saw that the Golden Deity had managed to escape. Then his face darkened. He had to admit that he had severely underestimated the Desert Ruler.
It was a shame that the Desert Ruler didn’t want to be too far away from the desert. Otherwise, he would definitely have been able to give it the surprise of a lifetime.
He also hadn’t expected the Golden Deity to lose so badly to it…
He had even been forced to use his trump card against the Desert Ruler.
Damn it, Yang Lin cursed silently.
He wasn’t at all satisfied with this outcome.
“Let’s retreat,” said Yang Lin.
From the sand dune, Gao Peng silently watched the army slowly withdraw from the desert.
At the sight of the retreating army, the Desert Ruler lumbered heavily back towards the desert.
“That’s my grandson… My son gave his life to protect the people during the early years of the Cataclysm, leaving me with one grandson…. I’ll leave this world someday. I only wished that once I was gone, my grandson would be able to protect himself from anything. But now he’s gone too,” said an old general mournfully in an underground room back in Chang’an City’s army base.
Another elderly general sat opposite him.
“My only wish now is to send that monster to hell,” said the old general softly. “This is something I’ll have to do alone.”
Silence fell over the room…
I’ll try to capture an Ice-type Lord-tier familiar. With it, I’ll definitely be able to bring the Desert Ruler to its knees, thought Gao Peng.
He had no intention of picking a fight with the Desert Ruler in its domain.
Suddenly, a growing sense of danger crept up on Gao Peng. Dumby immediately threw itself on Gao Peng.
On the ground, Gao Peng could see a black object hurtling in the air towards the desert through the gaps in Dumby’s ribcage.
What was that?
Before Gao Peng had time to come up with an answer, a huge explosion of light burst forth from the depths of the desert.
“That’s a big mushroom,” muttered Silly, who was sitting on Gao Peng’s head at that moment.
