The sword light sliced through the air, and the Sand Dune City was left nearly shattered, though not entirely destroyed.
The World-in-Hand was far from weak.
John wasn’t surprised. He raised his longsword once more and continued to cast his divine skill, Creation and Destruction.
For him, the cooldown and consumption of skills were almost negligible. Even when facing the Forest King’s World-in-Hand, he was confident he could destroy it. So, this Sand Dune City was nothing.
“You dare, human?!” she yelled in fury, charging straight at John without hesitation.
“Your opponent is me!” Sword Demon stepped forward, blocking her path. With a swift motion, he swung his long knife, unleashing several blade flashes that converged on her.
“Get out of my way!” The woman was once again hindered. Reluctantly, she ordered the giant gray serpents to stop John.
The giant serpents were all at the eight-star level, and their strength could not be underestimated.
John’s expression grew serious as he watched the incoming serpents. He didn’t dodge or avoid them, instead, golden light enveloped his body.
It was the Immortal Art: Diamond Body Protection, increasing his defense a hundredfold, allowing him to take the giant serpent’s attacks head-on.
Crack!
A giant serpent opened its massive jaws and bit into him. There was a sharp, clear sound of impact, and the serpent’s teeth shattered, followed by a loud, anguished howl.
The remaining serpents, witnessing this, quickly adjusted their tactics. Their massive bodies coiled around him, trying to restrain him.
“Slash!” John remained calm. With a furious roar, he activated Creation and Destruction once more.
Buzz!
The space trembled, and a massive sword light slashed through the air, causing the surrounding space to fragment instantly.
The Sand Dune City, already under strain, could no longer withstand the blow. The sword light howled as it collided, causing the city to collapse into a vast storm of yellow sand.
Cough! The woman coughed up blood, her face turning pale.
With her World-in-Hand destroyed, her soul suffered a severe backlash.
“You human!” she hissed through gritted teeth, her eyes blazing with fury. She suppressed the internal injuries and ignored Sword Demon’s attack. Her gray ribbons screamed through the air, aiming to lash out at John.
Boom!
With a deafening roar, the golden light surrounding John shattered, and he was sent flying backward.
The giant serpents immediately surged forward, swallowing his figure in an instant.
“Kid!” Sword Demon looked worried, trying his best to block the woman’s attacks.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a fierce wind howled, whipping up the yellow sand. A terrifying aura spread out.
“Heaven and Earth Transformation!” John’s enraged shout echoed, and a towering figure appeared, blocking the sky and casting a shadow over everything. The surrounding giant serpents were instantly thrown into the air.
“What is this?” The woman’s eyes widened in shock, her soul trembling. She swallowed hard, her body shivering with fear.
Boom!
John took a step forward, and with a massive Tremor, the falling yellow sand buried everything beneath it.
More giant serpents continued to surge forward, but John, disdain in his eyes, let the sword intent hum with power. Endless sword light flickered, and the serpents were shredded to pieces in an instant.
“So powerful…” The woman gasped in horror, finally realizing just how terrifying John truly was.
With her World-in-Hand destroyed and the backlash overwhelming her, she was no match for either John or Sword Demon.
Escape!
Without a second thought, she transformed into a giant serpent and burrowed into the yellow sand below, fleeing into the depths of the desert.
“Stop!” Sword Demon noticed her movement and quickly chased after her.
“Leave it to me!” John’s voice rang out, and he stepped forward, directly blocking the woman’s escape route.
Boom!
The ground sank, and yellow sand surged around them.
The giant serpent transformed back into human form, hurriedly trying to flee. She spat out a mouthful of blood.
She had taken a direct hit from John, and it felt as though her internal organs were about to be crushed.
Fortunately, she was strong, or she would have certainly died from that blow.
Boom… boom…
Thunder rumbled, and a sea of sword light enveloped the area. A sword domain formed, completely blocking off her retreat.
Her face turned pale with terror, and she hastily begged, “Human, please, don’t kill me…”
Puff puff…
Countless sword lights passed dangerously close to her body, some strands of her hair floating to the ground.
She felt her cheeks grow cold and sting—those were cuts from the savage sword energy.
She swallowed nervously, her eyes fixed on the towering figure before her, her face filled with fear.
John looked down at her coldly and said, “If you want to live, you must show your value.”
“Yes… I will lead you out of this desert,” the woman quickly replied, not daring to make any more tricks.
She had no strength to resist John.
However, she was confident that these people would not kill her easily. Without her guidance, they would never be able to leave the Endless Desert.
John dispelled the Heaven and Earth Transformation and shook his head. “I need you to help me find the Serpent King, Medusa.”
“What?” The woman exclaimed in surprise, stepping back a step. She stared at him warily and asked, “Who exactly are you?”
John scoffed, threatening, “You don’t need to know. If you don’t want to die, then lead the way.”
The woman’s eyes flickered, a look of hesitation on her face. She finally spoke, “My lord, it’s not that I don’t want to lead you, but… I don’t know the exact location of Gran City.”
“Hmm?” John’s expression darkened, and the longsword came to rest at the woman’s neck. “Do you really think I won’t kill you? This Endless Desert may be strange, but it won’t trap me.”
Gulp!
The woman swallowed nervously. She didn’t doubt John’s words for a moment. She quickly added, “My lord, it’s not that I don’t want to help you, but Gran City is a moving city. I truly don’t know its location.”
John furrowed his brow. This woman didn’t seem to be lying.
He was at a loss for a moment.
The desert was vast, and finding an unknown city would not be an easy task.
“My lord, I have another way,” the woman’s eyes shifted, as if she had thought of something. She quickly spoke again, “But it will require you to make a slight… sacrifice, involving the two women by your side.”
John gave her a cold glance and said, “Speak.”
The woman quickly responded, “My lord, my father has been searching for young women, the stronger and more beautiful, the better. The two women by your side meet his requirements. I can contact my father and ask him for the coordinates of Gran City.”
A cold glint flashed in the woman’s eyes. She had another motive—she wanted the Serpent King to kill these people.
John was powerful, but he was certainly no match for the Serpent King.
“Your father?” He looked at the woman in confusion.
The woman hurriedly explained, “He is the Serpent King, Medusa.”
“What? Medusa is a man?” John was surprised. In the mythology, wasn’t Medusa supposed to be a beautiful woman? How could it be a man?
“My lord doesn’t know?” The woman looked puzzled. “This isn’t really a secret, is it?”
John glanced at Sword Demon, who appeared completely unphased, clearly already aware of this fact.
John stopped dwelling on it and turned back to the woman.
He knew what she was trying to do—she wanted to use the Serpent King to deal with them. But he wasn’t afraid in the least.
He had learned that this woman was the daughter of the Serpent King, named Bella. She was at the peak of the Eight-Star level, just one step away from the Nine-Star realm.
Unfortunately, her World-in-Hand had been destroyed, significantly weakening her strength. It would probably take her hundreds of years of training before she could break through to Nine Stars.
The Serpent King had many offspring, and Bella wasn’t highly regarded—she was just a Lord of an Advanced City.
The Serpent King’s most talented children were all kept in Gran City.
“My lord, I’ve already contacted my father and learned the current location of Gran City. We should be able to reach it in about three days,” Bella said, after finishing the communication with the Serpent King. She put away the communication stone and respectfully spoke.
John nodded and released the others from World-in-Hand.
“My lord, I’ll clean up the battlefield,” Avis immediately volunteered, stepping forward when he saw the city, buried under the yellow sands and reduced to ruins.
These thousand-year-old serpents were Eight-Star magical beasts, and their magic cores were powerful.
The most important thing was that the snake gallbladders of the thousand-year serpents could increase the four basic attributes by one million points each when consumed.
The only drawback was that only the first one consumed had any effect.
John, with his Plunder talent, didn’t care about these attributes, but Avis and the others treated them like treasures.
The group began digging up the thousand-year serpent corpses that had been buried in the sand, collecting the magic cores and snake gallbladders.
Bella watched this scene with a look of distress but didn’t dare to stop them.
She forcibly suppressed her anger—once they returned to Gran City, her father would avenge her.
…
Soon, the group had gathered over a hundred magic cores and snake gallbladders from the thousand-year serpents.
Bella led the way toward Gran City.
Along the way, they encountered more magical beasts, but no serpent-type magical beasts appeared.
Aside from the snake-type magical beasts, the Endless Desert also hosts other kinds of magical beasts, with the most powerful being the fire lizards.
Fire lizards are also Eight-Star magical beasts, and they move in groups. Even the thousand-year serpents avoid provoking them.
However, when facing John and the others, they are no match at all.
After three days of traveling, a hint of green appeared at the far end of the vast desert.
Bella was overjoyed and quickly said, “My lord, up ahead is Gran City.”
John nodded, his vigilance heightened. He could clearly sense several powerful auras coming from that direction.
One of those auras was as strong as that of the Forest King, the Great Bear. It could only be the Serpent King, Medusa.
John possessed a token from the Great Bear, but he wasn’t sure whether it would have any effect.
The group continued forward, and before long, a vast oasis appeared, stretching for nearly ten thousand miles, with clear rivers flowing and life thriving.
This oasis, too, was a World-in-Hand.
At the center of the oasis stood a massive city, with towering city walls. From a distance, John could vaguely see soldiers stationed along the ramparts.
This was Gran City.
As soon as they stepped into the oasis, the Serpent King noticed them.
“Father, help!” Bella suddenly sped up, flying towards the city to seek Medusa’s help.
“Seeking death!” John’s expression turned cold, and the United Sword shot out with a whistle.
Now that they had found Gran City, Bella had lost her value.
Whoosh!
Bella sensed the chilling killing intent and dared not hesitate. She immediately transformed into her true form, a long, grayish giant serpent.
Thud!
Even so, the United Sword easily sliced through her scales, blood splattering everywhere as she sustained heavy injuries.
“Who dares to cause trouble in Gran City!” A furious roar rang out, and dozens of shadowy figures rushed toward them from the city. These figures were half-human, half-serpent, and all of them were at the Eight-Star level.
Powerful The power of laws surged, and dozens of attacks swept toward them.
“Heaven and Earth Transformation!” John, not daring to be careless, roared in response and immediately transformed into a giant towering over ten thousand feet tall, easily blocking the snake-men’s attacks.
He then reached out with his hand, and the United Sword flew back to him. Endless sword light flickered, enveloping the snake-men.
“Stop!” Suddenly, a voice rang out from the city, followed by a figure that swiftly flew out. A powerful aura radiated from this figure, and as the space around them condensed, the sword beams shattered in an instant.