Chapter 133: Chapter 125: A Blessing in Disguise
"Jingjing?"
The first thing Tang Mo did after climbing to her feet was look around for Jingjing.
She and Jingjing had fallen from the same Quicksand Area, so the little creature had to be nearby.
The area was quite open. Aside from the sand pile Tang Mo had landed on, everything else was in plain sight.
After scanning the area, Tang Mo went back to the towering, densely packed sand pile. As expected, she soon found a small crater on its surface.
She quickly brushed away the sand covering Jingjing and pulled the unconscious creature out of the hole.
Holding Jingjing in one hand, she firmly patted its back with the other. Soon, Jingjing’s eyes fluttered open and it started to cough.
Once Jingjing had coughed up all the sand from its mouth and nose, Tang Mo gave it some fresh water, which helped it recover slightly.
"Wuu..."
The ordeal had terrified Jingjing. It hadn’t been long since its birth and it had never experienced anything like this. With tears welling in its eyes, it clung to Tang Mo’s leg and refused to let go.
Tang Mo simply put it back in her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder so that only its little head poked out.
Every building and decoration here was constructed from sand and gravel. In the deserts of B City, if any group of people possessed this level of unity and collective strength, it had to be the legendary Sand Town.
’What kind of power and wisdom could build a palace like this?’
Tang Mo looked up, her mind racing. The chamber she was in was over 100 square meters, with a ceiling at least ten meters high.
She examined the ceiling carefully but couldn’t find any hole she might have fallen through. Climbing out that way was therefore out of the question.
She gently ran her hand over a mural that possessed the artistic beauty of the Renaissance. She discovered that a transparent protective film had been sprayed over the sand to keep the artwork from being damaged.
’If Lin Yu really is from Sand Town...’
Tang Mo recalled the rumor about Lin Yu—the story of how he had pooled the entire village’s resources to trade ten Intermediate Crystal Stones for the Desert Flower. No matter how she thought about it, it seemed impossible. Like a joke.
Originally, Tang Mo had only followed the flower here to give herself a destination, any destination.
But ever since she’d acquired the Spiritual Flower in Taoyuan Village, Tang Mo no longer had any real desire for the Desert Flower.
At this point, the Desert Flower was honestly not that useful to her.
It was valuable, yes, but Tang Mo didn’t really need the kind of power that came from an external boost.
She had been through countless battles on her journey and felt her body’s craving for more attribute values.
Both abnormal treasures and Crystal Cores held a fatal attraction for her body in its current state.
Her body, once oversaturated, now felt empty again—even more so than before.
Yet even though Tang Mo had dropped to 28th on the leaderboards, she wanted to hold fast and not give in to the temptation of external power.
She knew all too well how much of the power of those ranked ahead of her had been artificially inflated by Crystal Cores and abnormal treasures.
What their true physical conditioning was like, and how much of those attribute values they could actually wield, remained a complete mystery.
’That Desert Flower...’
Tang Mo had a feeling it wasn’t that simple.
’If an abnormal treasure with an attribute value of 100 could radiate its presence across several villages and draw people like Lisa from afar, then the far more powerful Spiritual Flower shouldn’t have limited its influence to Taoyuan Village alone.’
’So, is there something wrong with the flower, or are there other secrets here?’
All of this only made Tang Mo more curious about this place.
But clearly, none of that was the immediate priority. The most urgent matter was figuring out how to escape her current predicament.
Tang Mo had already circled the room several times. Aside from a densely packed, rectangular sand pile that was a dozen or so square meters in size, there was nothing.
Directly opposite the sand pile stood a pair of massive doors carved with archaic patterns. They were the only things in the room not made of sand.
Tang Mo tried pushing the doors, but she quickly abandoned any hope of getting out that way.
The doors were far too heavy for her to move. Even channeling all her spiritual power into her arms was useless.
’This isn’t an ordinary lock. It’s like it’s been sealed with some kind of ward.’
’That’s strange. There’s nothing in this huge room. What on earth did they put so much effort into locking away?’
Tang Mo’s mind was now swirling with too many questions, none of which she could clearly sort out.
Giving up for now, she dragged out her sleeping bag and placed it in a concealed corner.
Then, she sat down on the sleeping bag, took out some food and water, and began to replenish her energy.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t anxious. But when there were no solutions, maintaining her strength and a clear head was obviously the most important thing.
Negative emotions were no help at all; they only served to slowly wear down one’s mental defenses.
Tang Mo still had plenty of food in her Space. She could survive just fine even if she were trapped here for several years.
’In the apocalypse, survival is all about mindset,’ Tang Mo thought to herself as she and Jingjing gnawed on the roast duck before them.
’Mmm, this roast duck is delicious.’
After eating and drinking her fill, it was time to rest. Of course, she wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly in such a strange place.
Tang Mo left a portion of her spiritual power as a perimeter alarm; she would immediately notice the slightest disturbance.
This spiritual power acted as her own personal sentinel.
* * *
When Tang Mo opened her eyes again, a glance at her watch told her it was already evening.
The palace ceiling was seamless and airtight. With not a single window in sight, it was impossible to tell day from night.
Jingjing was still asleep, and Tang Mo didn’t wake it. The little one had been through a lot today.
Tang Mo got up and began to practice in the open space, focusing on the technique from the first mural she had deciphered: condensing spiritual power into a physical attack.
She could now effortlessly conjure six daggers. Both her speed and burst power were far more controlled than before.
Tang Mo was quite satisfied with the spacious, private area. She now had plenty of time to study the murals.
Even if the doors were to open right now, she wouldn’t be in a hurry to leave. She wanted to fully decipher all three murals before going anywhere.
Just as in Taoyuan Village, Tang Mo could feel an immense, abundant spiritual power in this huge, sealed chamber—far more abundant, in fact, than what she had felt in Taoyuan Village.
As long as Tang Mo could quiet her mind and use this place for some secluded cultivation, then this would truly be a blessing in disguise. The longer she was trapped, the more she stood to gain.
