[Four chapters to go. Let's stop talking and continue writing.]
The five hundred guards in black armor were all fanatics. Their strength varied, and the weakest was a beginner swordsman. In order to catch Rex, the Inquisition mobilized the strongest people they could as quickly as possible, but they were still one step too late.
At the stone statue castle, the patrol team of the Tanggulas Army discovered Rex's traces and immediately reported it. However, before the information was confirmed, the Inquisition only sent a Black Deacon. But Rex's team was too fast, and the Black Deacon missed. At this time, the Agares Family had already received the news that Bivano was in trouble.
Rex's whereabouts were released by the Agares Family, because the people of the Agares Family found Rex and his team outside the Pink Legion's base, but they didn't see Bivano's army. The information was mixed, and there was no good communication, so the people guarding outside the swamp didn't stop Rex.
After these people communicated with the family, they found that Bivano had already sent a danger signal.
Rex escaped through such a gap. By the time everyone realized what was going on, she and Salin had already arrived at the outskirts of the Purgatory Desert. The Agares Family immediately sent people into the swamp, but they couldn't find the entrance to the shrine. There was no more news from Bivano, either, so they knew it couldn't be anything good.
Five thousand elites and the eldest son of the Grand Duke Titan had all fallen. This was a huge loss. Just like Rex, the Agares Family deliberately leaked the news to the Tanggulas Empire.
Only then did the Inquisition send Black William, who set off with only a thousand Blood Knights and a few assistants. Something big happened in the capital of the Tanggulas Empire, and the higher-ups of the Vatican didn't leave. As a result, Black William was tricked by Salin. When the prison guards arrived, they only saw the traces left by Rex.
The three chief judges' disciples were Arbiters in the Inquisition, just below the Inquisition. They were the chief judge's most capable assistants and the successors they were groomed.
Among the six of them, the weakest was a level-seven professional, which was Black William. The other five were all level-eight professionals. The Inquisition was already thinking highly of Rex by using such a powerful force. Although the combat power of Mages was lower than that of Mages, that was when they didn't have equipment and had the same level.
Once a mage's level was higher than a mage's, they would still have overwhelming power.
The second Arbiter, Dras, and the fourth Arbiter, Fanyin, were both eighth-level mages. They were the absolute upper echelons of the Holy See. But when they saw the fifth Arbiter, who had a demigod artifact, being killed by the enemy, they were both afraid of death.
Black William was a smiling tiger, but he was ruthless and full of schemes. If he used Semi-Divine Weapons, neither of them would be a match for him. And looking at the traces of the battle, Black William had been killed in one move. It would be strange if Draas and Brahman were not afraid.
How would they know that Salin did not allow Black William to take out the Quasi Relic? If Black William had used a Quasi Relic, Salin would have been able to kill him, but even if he didn't die, he would still be gravely injured.
Five hundred jailers led the way. Jailers was just a title for these people. They were the backbone of the Inquisition, and their strength was even close to that of Emperor Tanggulas's personal guards.
The prison guards advanced cautiously. The few people at the very front pointed their spears at the ground. They were all God's Chosen, and their mental power was very high, so they could detect danger.
They advanced very slowly. Draas and Brahman did not urge their subordinates to move. They only followed slowly from behind. It was late at night, and the temperature was frighteningly low. Only then did the two of them ask the prison guards to stop.
The stars in the sky were dim, and the desert was dark. The smell of death made these people, who had dealt with death all year round, feel like they were going to go crazy. Not a single magical beast attacked them. Even the most famous sand scorpions were nowhere to be seen. The more it was like this, the more pressure everyone felt.
The name of the Purgatory Desert was not just for show. Before it became a forbidden land, countless adventurers had died in it.
"Let's set up camp." Brahman felt that the prison guards were exhausted, so she discussed it with Draas.
"Okay." Before Draas's voice faded away, the prison guard at the front shouted in fear.
"Sand scorpions!"
"What are you shouting for?!" Draas scolded, and then stopped talking. In the darkness of the night, hundreds of giant sand scorpions surrounded them. These sand scorpions were not the size of a basin, but larger than a car wheel. This did not include the scorpions' tails that were more than three meters long.
"Damn it. Stay close! Don't be left behind!" Draas and Brahman both took out their equipment. Faced with hundreds of sand scorpions, they were not confident that they could control the casualties.
The sand scorpions waved their tails. At the end of the tails were sharp bone spikes that were glittering coldly. The bone spikes were so venomous that they could kill someone in half a second after they touched blood.
Rex's team ran into trouble, too. Although they were slow, they were much faster than the prison guards of the Inquisition Tribunal who had to walk. Her team ran into sand scorpions first, but they were very small. It took the ten swordsmen two hours to finish them off. When they dug out the sand scorpions' heads, they only found level-three magic cores. However, the level-three magic cores were extremely pure and of the best quality that Rex had ever seen.
This made Rex and Salin realize a serious problem. They couldn't see any plants in the desert. According to the knowledge of the mages, magical beasts had to have a huge basic community in order to feed on each other, and this community usually survived by eating plants. On the other hand, the sand scorpions were obviously evolved magical beasts. It must be noted that the elements in the Purgatory Desert were rather chaotic. Except for Salin and Rex, it was hard for the other Mages to cast spells steadily after they left the magic tank.
The magic cores of those sand scorpions were extremely pure, which meant that they had adapted to the desert environment. However, there shouldn't be too many creatures in the desert.
Salin and Rex were not scared of powerful magical beasts in the desert, but they were scared of a large community.
A long, narrow metal drill was drilling into the camp. Rex thought that he wouldn't have to use this magic equipment, but it turned out that his preparation was not in vain.
Rex was looking for water. Generally speaking, there would be water dozens of meters below the sand in the desert. However, there was very little water, and it only made the sand slightly moist. Rex asked someone to drill 180 meters down. Every meter, they would store a portion of the sand that the magic machines brought out in porcelain bottles and deliver them to the magic tank.
Rex set up a set of simple equipment on a small platform in the middle of the tank. There were many glass beakers and bottles. The sand samples were put in, and Rex personally mixed magic potions into every beaker.
Under the effect of the magic drugs, the water in the sand was separated and poured into the glass tubes, before they were poured into the small bottles.
"Salin, do me a favor."
"What?"
"Analyze these samples to see if there's any power of life in them." Rex pointed at the sand in the beakers.
Salin was enlightened. Many creatures couldn't be seen with the naked eye, but they were the food that all large creatures relied on. There was a kind of mushroom spores that could be directly inhaled by Dibasian beasts that were more than three meters long to absorb the nutrients needed for life.
Salin soon discovered that the sand wasn't dead. There were indeed signs of life in the black sand, but they were too weak. Salin wasn't an expert in this area, and he could only sense them with the divine power of the goddess. As for what life was in the sand, he couldn't analyze it at all. Unless he had the Tree of Wisdom, he wouldn't know everything in this world.
Rex quickly analyzed the data she wanted. She said to the people in the car, "The Purgatory Desert … probably has a lot of precipitation. However, this black sand is much more permeable than normal sand. But below 500 meters, there will definitely be underground water sources, or even underground rivers and lakes.
"What's the use of this?" Neris asked, confused. She also had a thirst for human knowledge.
"Some plants have roots that reach hundreds of meters. Because the water source is too deep in the Purgatory Desert, it's hard to have oases, but it doesn't mean that there won't be life. If there's a plant whose roots can reach thousands of meters deep, then it can survive in the desert.
"I've never heard of plants that can evolve like magical beasts." Salin shook his head.
"Daniel even has ghoul plants. Anything is possible. Otherwise, where did those sand scorpions come from?"
"That's true, but it won't help us at all."
"Not necessarily. This information is useless to you, but it will save your life in the future. As Rex spoke, she marked the depth of the sand with all the collected water and put it away. She was going to bring it back to Metatlin City for the mages to analyze. Then, she filled a beaker with Restoration Water.
There was a finger-thick grain of black sand at the bottom of the beaker. After a full beaker of Restoration Water was filled, something in the sand suddenly moved.
This time, even Sicar stared at the beaker, not knowing what Rex had done.
The water in the beaker rippled, and dozens of tiny, dust-like creatures suddenly emerged from the black sand. These creatures swam in the water and grew rapidly. Restoration Water itself was nutritious. If one drank it directly, not only could it quench their thirst, but it could also solve their hunger problems.
These dozens of tiny creatures grew to the size of a finger in the blink of an eye. They looked like fish but had transparent insect-like wings.
Salin and Rex fell into silence at the same time. They started searching in their minds, trying to remember which books had recorded such strange creatures.
"Taklamama Fish!" Salin and Rex shouted at the same time.
Both of them reacted quickly and attacked at the same time. Rex used Frost Ray, while Salin simply put his hand on the beaker and performed a Cold Touch.
Crack …
The water in the beaker froze, but it cracked quickly. The dozens of Taklamas broke the solid ice and jumped out of the beaker.
The people in the chariot reacted quickly. Nelis and the four demons moved at the same time and pinched the dozens of Taklamas in their hands. Every demon's action was similar. They crushed the heads of the fish monsters with their fingers without hesitation.
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