The sky was high and the earth was vast, boundless.
Five days later, the cultivator finally brought him to a secluded mountain forest and handed him a jade archive. As though they had never met before, the cultivator expressionlessly said, "Your location is in here. You can just wait here!" After saying this, the cultivator flew away without even giving an explanation.
"Hey! Who are you waiting for? "Miao Yi called out, but the other party ignored him.
After watching the cultivator disappear into the sky, Miao Yi took out the jade archive and examined it. Only then did he realize that he was already within the Buddha Nation's borders. He was about three days away from Flowing Clouds Dune Sea, which was marked on the map.
He didn't know why the other party wanted him to wait here. It wasn't until a day later that he finally understood the reason. The nine Manor Heads had also arrived on their dragon steeds to meet up with him. It seemed that his current location was the same as the other nine's. Furthermore, the designated location they had received from Traversing Water Palace wasn't where everyone thought it was supposed to be. Someone had sent them off to different parts of the Buddha Nation before telling them to meet up on their own. This way, the cultivators who had sent them off wouldn't be able to meet up with each other, and probably wouldn't know what they were doing either. It was quite a secretive move.
Even so, they had no choice but to send them off. If they were to come here on their mounts, who knew how long they would have to travel?
Now that all ten of them had arrived, Miao Yi looked at them and sighed, "From now on, we can only rely on ourselves."
The nine of them cupped their fists together as though they had been trained to do so. "We are willing to obey the Leader's orders."
"Don't use 'Leader' all the time. Just respect him in your heart. Otherwise, you'll be courting death by coming to Flowing Clouds Dune Sea. For safety's sake, let's all change our names. From today onwards, call me Niu …" Miao Yi almost blurted out 'Niu Youde'. However, after thinking about how popular this name was, he realized that there might be people who had heard of it before. If he said it out loud, it would only bring him trouble. Thus, he quickly changed his mind and said, "Just call me Niu Er!"
This name was a little too casual, but it was easy to remember. Everyone committed it to memory. Then, they all changed their appearances and changed their names.
"Deng Hu, Hu Baiyi." Miao Yi picked out two names that were easy to remember and said, "There is a city fifty li to the east. The two of you, go and steal a set of clothes for all of us. Otherwise, we won't look like rogue cultivators if we all gather together. From now on, we have to pretend to be poor … "He glanced at the storage rings on everyone's hands and took off his own first." Take off the storage rings on your fingers and hide them properly. "He waved his hand and pointed at the two people he had just named. "Of course, I'm not asking you to steal tattered clothes. Just those that have been washed and worn out will do. Go and come back quickly. We'll wait for you here."
The two of them were speechless. How could a Manor Head steal a mortal's clothes …? However, they didn't dare to disobey the order. Traversing Water Palace simply gave Miao Yi too much authority, so they quickly complied and left.
With their cultivation, stealing a few clothes from a mortal's house was a piece of cake. Two hours later, they returned with a pile of old clothes for everyone to choose from.
He changed his old clothes. Then, he messed up his handmaidens' neatly combed hair a little before mounting his steed. Under Miao Yi's lead, the group galloped away.
Without stopping, the ten riders charged out of the Buddha Nation's territory after three days of long travel. The journey became more and more desolate, and finally, they charged into a vast desert.
The sun was scorching hot, and vultures circled the sky in search of carrion. From time to time, small lizards would quickly crawl across the dry sand. The air was dry, and a hot breeze brushed past their faces.
There was no one around them. The ten riders stopped on top of a sand dune and looked around. It was as though there was only an endless expanse of yellow between the heavens and the earth.
This was Miao Yi's first time seeing a desert. He looked down at the jade archive map in his hand, then looked up ahead and muttered to himself, "Flowing Clouds Dune Sea, Flowing Clouds Dune Sea …"
He had never been to Flowing Clouds Dune Sea before. He didn't know much about it, and he didn't have the time to understand the situation in detail either. In the past, he didn't think he would come here. He never thought he would be forced to come.
Back when he first met Yao Ruoxian, he had heard Yao Ruoxian talk about the geographical location of Flowing Clouds Dune Sea.
The Celestial Nation, Buddha Nation, and Boundless Nation each occupied a continent, while the Yao Nation, Ghost Nation, and Devil Nation occupied another. The two continents that were the largest in the small world, and also the most suitable for humans to live on, were divided among the Six Sages. Those who refused to obey the Six Sages were forced to live in other places.
These two continents were shaped like two crescent moons. The crescent moons were slightly hooked together, and the position of these hooks was also connected to the two largest continents in the miniature realm. Flowing Clouds Dune Sea was located at a tiny spot. This place was completely unsuitable for humans to live in. Even cultivators were reluctant to come here. It had always been a desolate place, as though it was a forbidden zone for all life. It was only when the Netherdragon Ship appeared that a large number of cultivators came here to settle down, and this place became the famous Flowing Clouds Dune Sea of the cultivation realm!
Looking at the desolate scene before him, a dusty memory surfaced in Miao Yi's mind. If he had to ask if he knew anyone in Flowing Clouds Dune Sea, there were a few. He remembered his encounter at the Mystic Arts Temple all those years ago. After that wild and flirtatious woman led a few people to fool around with him, she told him to look for her in Flowing Clouds Dune Sea if he had the chance, and that she would treat him to a drink as the host.
'How time flies!' In the blink of an eye, it had been a hundred years since then. If he hadn't come to Flowing Clouds Dune Sea this time, he would have almost forgotten about this incident. He couldn't even remember how long it had been since he last thought about it. It seemed like he hadn't thought about it ever since he left the Mystic Arts Temple. The only reason he had a deep impression of it was because of that flirtatious woman.
Even he himself had almost forgotten about her. Even if he did manage to find her in Flowing Clouds Dune Sea, she probably wouldn't remember him. Her cultivation was so high, and he was nothing more than a passerby in her life. She wasn't even willing to tell him her name, so why would she bother to remember a nobody like him?
Miao Yi couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle as he recalled the situation back then. "Niu … Niu Er.
What's wrong? "One of the Manor Heads, who had changed his name to Deng Hu, asked.
"It's nothing!" Miao Yi turned around and said, "We still have to walk for about three more days in the desert before we reach our destination. The terrain here looks pretty much the same. This is our first time here, so remember the direction. Don't get lost."
"Yes!" Everyone replied in unison.
Miao Yi barked, "Get rid of that boot-licking habit of yours. Get this straight. The people here hate officials the most. If you don't want to die, then get rid of that bad habit of yours!"
Everyone obediently agreed.
Just as they were about to continue forward, they suddenly heard the dull sound of hoofbeats coming from behind them. It was the sound of mounts galloping through the desert.
Everyone turned around and saw three riders galloping towards them. There was one woman and two men, and they were all dressed in exotic attire. To everyone's surprise, the three riders were charging towards them.
As they approached, the three riders circled around the ten of them without any scruples, sizing them up.
The leader of the group was a woman with a head full of tiny braids. She wore a garland of colorful flowers on her head, and her facial features were pretty, yet sharp. She exuded a masculine aura. She tilted her head and stared at Miao Yi with her large and bright eyes. After sizing him up for a while, she laughed heartily and asked, "Are you all heading to Flowing Clouds Dune Sea as well?"
Miao Yi nodded. "Yes!"
The woman smiled. "I believe you all must be new here. I've never seen you in Flowing Clouds Dune Sea before."
Miao Yi smiled. "I've never seen you before either."
The woman said heartily, "My name is Cheng Yingwu. Cheng as in 'journey', 'ying as in' goshawk ', and' wu 'as in' dance '."
"Good name!" Miao Yi introduced himself as well. "I am Niu Er. Niu as in 'very awesome', and 'er' as in 'two'."
The two men behind the woman exchanged glances when they saw Miao Yi's reaction. This must be the first time someone in Flowing Clouds Dune Sea could act so nonchalantly after hearing the name 'Cheng Yingwu'. And Miao Yi's name sounded a little fake.
Cheng Yingwu shrugged and smiled. "Now we know each other." She then turned to the other Manor Heads and asked, "May I know your names?"
Miao Yi replied on her behalf, "I don't think we're close enough that we need to know each other's names."
"Brother Niu sure is cautious." Cheng Yingwu pointed to their surroundings and said, "There are bandits everywhere in this desert. Why don't we travel together? That way we can look out for each other!"
Without hesitation, Miao Yi replied, "Alright!"
Cheng Yingwu flashed her dimples and waved her hand. She then led the other two forward.
Miao Yi followed suit and galloped off.
The nine Manor Heads looked at each other, a hint of worry in their eyes. Hu Baiyi chased after Miao Yi and transmitted his voice over, "Niu Er, we have to be careful in this place. Anyone who dares to approach us on their own like this might be someone with ulterior motives!"
Miao Yi replied, "We're not familiar with this place. If they really do harbor ill intentions and insist on attacking us, we won't be able to avoid them. Rather than keeping our guard up against our enemies in the open, we might as well keep them by our side. That way, we'll be able to react in time if anything happens. Tell everyone to relax a little. Don't look so nervous. Are you afraid that others won't know that you're afraid? The more afraid you are, the more likely they'll attack you! "
He suddenly raised his hand and caught a floating flower petal with two fingers. He brought it to his nose and took a whiff of it. It smelled fragrant. He looked ahead and saw that it was the flower petal floating towards him from the garland on Cheng Yingwu's head. Occasionally, a few petals would fall to the ground along with the wind.
Hu Baiyi was a little speechless after hearing Miao Yi's explanation. This didn't match up with his beliefs, but he had no choice but to obey. He could only transmit his voice over to the others.
At the same time, Cheng Yingwu heard a voice transmission from the person behind her. "Sixth Young Lady, this Niu Er is the one in the portrait. When should we make our move?"
Cheng Yingwu replied, "I've already seen through him. Don't act rashly! This is the first time we've met this person, but he's already following us with just a few words. There's a calm look in his eyes as well. There must be something extraordinary about him. Otherwise, his life wouldn't be worth ten million Gold Crystals. It won't be too late to make our move when we're ready. We must succeed in one fell swoop! "
"This Niu Er sounds like a fake name. Why isn't the person who's paying us revealing his true identity?"
"That's not something we need to worry about. All we need to do is exchange his head for our reward."
The blazing sun was a little blinding to the eyes. The colors of the surroundings were almost unchanging, almost like an oven.
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