Chapter 552: A Sandstorm!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
With his speed fully unleashed, Li Yun moved with astonishing swiftness. Under the intense pressure of life and death, his Lightning Wings finally pushed to its limits. When he erupted with his full power, his speed reached a terrifying twelve times the speed of sound.
However, although Li Yun’s speed was fast, the speed of the Sandstorm was even faster.
Rumble!
Thunderous sounds exploded continuously behind him. The massive sea of sand surged forward like the sky collapsing and the earth splitting, and its momentum resembled a tsunami sweeping across the world. It was like an ancient gluttonous beast devouring everything, opening its enormous maw and swallowing all in its path.
In the blink of an eye, the small oasis was caught by the Sandstorm.
The trees and lake did not even resist for a single breath before they were completely destroyed and submerged.
Boom!
After effortlessly swallowing the small oasis, the Sandstorm showed no sign of slowing down. It swept forward like a tsunami, with the yellow sea of sand engulfing everything. Occasionally, the screams of cultivators rang out from within the storm, but those cries were silenced almost as soon as they began.
"Faster. Faster."
Hearing the continuous screams behind him, Li Yun roared inwardly. Under the extreme pressure, he forced his speed to rise again. Because he was moving too fast, even his skin began to split open, and blood seeped from the wounds.
However, no matter how desperately he fled, the Sandstorm eventually caught up to him.
Boom!
A massive wave of sand crashed down.
In an instant, it struck Li Yun directly, causing him to vomit blood. His consciousness faded, and he was swallowed by darkness.
This enormous sandstorm fully displayed how insignificant human strength was before natural disasters, even if that human was a cultivator.
In the face of such a sandstorm, Earthly Core Realm cultivators were powerless to resist. Heavenly Core Realm experts could only flee in panic. Perhaps only Martial Dao masters at the Spirit Manifestation Realm could withstand it head-on.
Rumble!
After engulfing Li Yun, the massive sea of sand continued surging forward for several miles before gradually slowing down. Only after traveling another ten miles did it finally come to a complete stop.
No one knew how much time had passed before Li Yun finally regained consciousness.
The moment he woke up, he felt as though his head was about to split apart. Every part of his body was filled with excruciating soreness, and he even struggled to move a single finger.
"Ugh..."
After a long while, he finally managed to sit up with difficulty. He crossed his legs and began circulating his chaos qi while activating Wood Tree Manifestation Art to heal his injuries.
This healing process took a full hour but he was fully healed thanks to his Immortal Flesh body and Wood Tree Manifestation Art.
Then, he stood up and looked around.
Behind him stood a thick earthen wall formed from piled yellow soil. It was more than five meters long, and when Li Yun had been swept along by the sandstorm, his body had crashed into this wall. The collision had stopped his movement and ultimately saved his life.
Otherwise, if the sandstorm had continued carrying him away, even with his powerful Golden Dragon Armor, he would undoubtedly have died.
Looking further around, Li Yun saw rows of sand statues.
There were eighty-one of them in total, arranged in a ring that completely surrounded him.
These sand statues were all more than three meters tall. Each one was shaped like a human figure and held either a broadsword or a spear. Although their faces were stiff and lifeless, they exuded a strong and solemn killing intent.
He had escaped one disaster only to fall into another.
Li Yun’s expression immediately became grave. If he was not mistaken, he had likely fallen into a large formation.
This formation was composed of those sand statues. If he remained still, nothing might happen. However, if he tried to force his way out, he would most likely face attacks from the sand statues.
To test his guess, Li Yun took one step forward.
The sand statues did not move.
Li Yun took another step forward, but the sand statues still showed no reaction.
Then, Li Yun quickened his pace and rushed forward.
Suddenly, the eighty-one sand statues seemed to be stimulated at the same time. Their eyes opened simultaneously, and a powerful killing intent immediately erupted from them.
Each of these eighty-one sand statues exuded an aura comparable to the 7th level of Earthly Core Realm.
Boom!
The eighty-one sand statues simultaneously swung their weapons, launching attacks toward Li Yun without hesitation. The fierce assaults surged toward him like tidal waves.
"Not good."
Li Yun’s expression changed, and he quickly retreated.
Strangely, as soon as he took a few steps back, the movements of the sand statues halted, and their killing intent dissipated completely.
The eighty-one sand statues stood rigidly in place, motionless once more, as if everything that had just happened had only been Li Yun’s illusion.
Of course, Li Yun knew that it was no illusion.
He realized that these sand statues must have been placed under some kind of restriction. If a living being entered a certain range, they would immediately react. However, once that living being’s presence retreated beyond the danger zone, they would return to being ordinary sand statues.
Afterward, Li Yun tested this several more times and finally confirmed his judgment.
As long as he stayed within ten meters of the earthen wall behind him, the sand statues would not attack. However, if he dared to step beyond ten meters from the wall, even by a single step, the sand statues would immediately launch ruthless attacks.
"This is a little troublesome."
Li Yun frowned slightly.
Eighty-one sand statues, each equivalent to a 7th level Earthly Core Realm cultivator, were already difficult to deal with. More importantly, they coordinated with each other and felt no pain. Even if his chaos qi were not suppressed, breaking through their encirclement would not be easy, let alone now.
At the moment, all he could rely on were his Golden Dragon Armor, Immortal Flesh, and Supreme Hegemony Fist. However, these methods alone were far from enough to break through the sand statue formation.
As he frowned in thought, Li Yun’s gaze inadvertently drifted toward the earthen wall behind him.
"Hm?"
It was only a casual glance, but that glance suddenly caused Li Yun’s eyes to focus.
On the earthen wall, he noticed something unusual.
At the center of the wall, there was an extremely subtle protrusion. The protrusion was so faint that even an Earthly Core Realm cultivator might not notice it while carefully observing. Yet by sheer coincidence, Li Yun had spotted it while his mind was wandering.
Upon closer inspection, the protrusion revealed nine characters.
"Approach, Soldier, Battle, Being, All, Formation, Array, Advance, Confirm."
Whoosh!
As Li Yun’s gaze locked onto those characters, the nine words suddenly radiated brilliant light. Each character glowed with unimaginable brilliance, then detached from the earthen wall and transformed into nine symbols that flew directly into Li Yun’s forehead.
In the next moment, a vast amount of information flooded Li Yun’s mind.
Together, these nine characters formed a cultivation technique called the Nine Syllable Mantra.
The Nine Syllable Mantra somewhat resembled a soundwave martial skill, but it was far superior to ordinary soundwave martial skills.
This cultivation technique consisted of nine syllables, and each syllable required a special method of vocalization. Every syllable contained an extremely unique kind of energy.
For example, the first syllable, "Approach," contained a special vibrational force. This force could ignore an opponent’s external defenses, penetrate directly into their interior, and disintegrate them from within.
"Hm?"
Reading this, Li Yun suddenly gained a flash of insight.
Disintegrating from within. Was this not the perfect method to deal with those sand statues?
These sand statues were extremely solid and possessed strong external defenses, but no matter how durable they appeared, they were ultimately formed from sand. If they were attacked from within, destroying them should not be too difficult.
This Nine Syllable Mantra had probably been prepared specifically for the sand statues outside. As long as he comprehended the first syllable of the Nine Syllable Mantra, he would be able to easily break through the sand statue formation.
"So that is how it is."
Thinking of this, Li Yun smiled faintly, and the anxiety in his heart finally disappeared.
Immediately, he sat down cross-legged, cleared his mind of distractions, and began wholeheartedly comprehending the first syllable of the Nine Syllable Mantra, "Approach."
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