The area of the oasis was not large, only dozens of acres. A crystal-like pond was embedded in it, like a jewel on a crown, dazzling. A large tree was rooted at the side of the water, its branches and leaves dense, providing a cool breeze.
"There really is an oasis!"
"There's water, I want to drink water …"
Everyone could no longer hold back and hurriedly rushed over.
"Don't be hasty …"
Frowning, Zhang Xuan shouted anxiously.
However, at this moment, no one cared about his words. Their eyes were all red as they walked straight to the pond and scooped up the water to drink.
"Senior, what's wrong?"
The Intuitive Impulse expert from before looked over doubtfully.
While the young man before them had refused to give them any spiritual essence in order to lure the sand giants away, he had indeed brought them to the oasis. On top of that, he was a powerful individual, so it was likely that he had noticed something amiss, which was why he had stopped them.
"Nothing! I just feel that it's a little strange! "
Zhang Xuan shook his head and explained, "If we can find this place, others can too … There are footprints, but there are no traces of humans. Where did they go?"
He had been delayed in the forest for several hours. If he could find the oasis like that, the others would definitely be able to as well.
After all, those who were able to enter the Temple of Confucius could be considered as influential figures in their own right. It was only natural for them to notice the uniqueness of the sand giants and find their way here.
But... what about these people?
"There really are footprints …"
The Intuitive Impulse Realm expert was taken aback. He hurriedly looked over. Indeed, in the yellow sand in front of the oasis, he saw some shallow footprints. However, they were buried by the sandstorm and were no longer clear.
"Great, this water is useful. I won't feel thirsty after drinking it …"
The few people who rushed into the oasis tasted the water and shouted excitedly.
The more they drank, the more thirsty they became. It was completely useless. Their thirst was unbearable and they were about to combust.
"Let me try …"
Seeing that they were able to quench their thirst, the rest of the crowd was filled with excitement. They hurriedly rushed forward and scooped up the water. Just as they were about to drink it, they saw blood flowing from the eyes of the middle-aged man who had just finished drinking the water. His body trembled uncontrollably, and white smoke rose from his body.
"Ah …"
With a miserable cry, he rolled on the ground as if something was strangling his neck.
However, the more it rolled, the more smoke it emitted, as if it would burst into flames at any moment.
"I …"
He wasn't the only one who fell to the ground. The other three who had rushed over to drink the water also fell to the ground at the same time. Smoke was rising from their bodies, as if they were suffering from inhuman pain.
"Oh no …"
Zhang Xuan's face darkened as he hurriedly rushed forward. With a tap of his finger, a surge of pure zhenqi shot forth in an attempt to stop the flames. However, before the surge of zhenqi could even come into contact with the other party's body, 'huala!', the rolling figure before him abruptly crumbled into a pile of yellow sand.
"This …"
Everyone was so frightened that they took a few steps back at the same time. Their faces were pale.
If the person before him was reduced to ashes or bones after being burned, he could accept it.
He had already mentally prepared himself for certain death when he ventured into the Temple of Confucius … but to be reduced to a pile of yellow sand all of a sudden, what in the world was going on?
After people die, they turn into sand … Could it be that the surrounding desert is made up of the bones of the dead?
Just thinking about it made him feel terrified, and he felt fear from the bottom of his heart.
"Senior, save me, save me …"
The first one turned into yellow sand, and the other three all revealed deep fear.
They had thought that they would be able to obtain some benefits from entering the Temple of Confucius and overcome their bottlenecks, but who could have known that they would be so close to death?
Zhang Xuan was also shocked by the sight before him. However, this wasn't the time for him to be thinking about such things. He hurriedly walked up to the three and tapped his finger on them. His zhenqi flowed through their meridians and into their bodies.
Huala!
As soon as his zhenqi flowed into their bodies, he immediately felt a bundle of searing flames flickering within their bodies, threatening to burn them into cinders.
"Humph!"
Zhang Xuan harrumphed coldly as he directed his zhenqi toward the flames.
Tzzzzz!
As soon as his zhenqi collided with the flames, Zhang Xuan immediately felt a powerful force assaulting him, threatening to set his zhenqi ablaze.
"Break!"
Zhang Xuan channeled his zhenqi furiously, and a brilliant golden glow emanated from his body. As if a moving golden statue, his Heaven's Path zhenqi gushed forth.
His zhenqi, physical body, and soul were able to withstand even the Empyrean Heavenly Flame. As bizarre as the flames in the other party's body were, they weren't able to harm him in the slightest.
Hu!
Under the frenzied surge of zhenqi, the flames were extinguished. The trio's faces paled, and they hurriedly kneeled to the ground in gratitude. "Elder, thank you for saving our lives!"
"There's no need to stand on ceremony!"
Zhang Xuan waved his hand casually before sweeping his gaze across the crowd. "There's something strange about this place. Let's not linger around the lake. Let's retreat from the oasis!"
Needless to say, the crowd was already frightened.
Death was nothing much to them, but to be reduced to a pile of yellow sand without even leaving a single bone behind, anyone would be horrified by the sight.
Instead of retreating from the oasis like the others, Zhang Xuan walked up to the fellow who had been reduced to cinders and casually picked up a grain of sand from the ground to take a closer look.
Not even his clothes were left behind. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have never believed that a person could disappear so completely.
"Elder, what do we do now?"
The Intuitive Impulse realm expert walked up to the corpse and examined it for a moment, but he was unable to discern anything at all.
"Bring this Spirit Essence to the others!"
Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist and tossed out a few gourds of water.
This was the Spirit Essence that he had drunk back in the forest, and it had the effect of quenching one's thirst.
The reason why he did not give it to the others was because he wanted to lure the sand giants here. Since they were already here, there was no need for him to continue hiding it.
"Thank you, elder!"
The crowd quickly gulped down the Spirit Essence, and their mouths were no longer as parched as before. They turned to look at Zhang Xuan gratefully.
Paying no heed to the crowd, Zhang Xuan slowly walked around the lake after examining the sand giants.
The lake before him emanated a cold aura, but standing by the side, he could not feel the heat at all. The water was exceptionally clear, and it did not seem to have anything to do with the flames that had reduced the man to cinders earlier.
After walking around the lake, Zhang Xuan did not notice anything out of the ordinary, and there were no other animals around either. Thus, he walked up to the lake and cupped the water in his palm.
"Elder, be careful!"
Seeing that Zhang Xuan was touching the water, everyone leaped in fright.
"It's fine!"
Zhang Xuan replied with a smile.
His physical body was impervious to even the Empyrean Heavenly Flame, so even if the ball of flames were to appear once more, it would still be useless.
Zhang Xuan scanned the water in his palm with his Eye of Insight and Spiritual Perception, but he did not find anything amiss. With a frown, he raised his palm and gulped it down just like the others.
"Elder!"
"Elder, be careful!"
Everyone's faces paled in fright.
That man had died right after drinking the water. If something were to happen to this elder, what would happen to them?
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
