For over ten days, Li Er finally emerged from the desert. Ahead lay an oasis, bustling with people. Li Er glanced back, wondering if anyone else had entered the desert and if they were still within it.
"How many years has it been? I never thought anyone else would manage to leave the Death Desert!" someone exclaimed, drinking wine.
"Haha, I wonder which unfortunate soul it is!" another laughed loudly.
As Li Er approached, the two men raised their eyebrows and sauntered over with grins. Before Li Er could speak, one of them demanded, "Kid, hand over your spatial ring, and we'll let you live!"
Li Er's eyebrows twitched. It seemed these two were looking for trouble.
The surrounding onlookers watched with the anticipation of a good show, their faces filled with amusement.
"Boom!" Li Er struck suddenly, his fist slamming into the man's throat. The man's eyes bulged, a mouthful of blood erupted from his lips, he swayed, and then collapsed to the ground.
Before his companion could utter a word, Li Er moved again, sweeping out with a leg. After all, Li Er had practiced the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, his physical body immensely strong. Here, although his cultivation was suppressed, the strength of his physique remained largely intact, which was why Li Er had acted so decisively.
With Li Er's sweeping kick, the other man's neck was snapped. He was undeniably dead.
The bodies of the two men then vanished, leaving behind only their two rings.
Li Er picked up the rings and took a look. Inside were ordinary items and quite a few magical treasures, though in this world, such treasures were unusable.
"Brother, here, take this. Tell me everything about this place!" Li Er walked up to a man sitting and drinking, tossing him a ring.
The man glanced at the ring and chuckled, "Alright, straightforward. This is Emperor Star. Anyone who enters here has their cultivation erased. Your strength will be limited to mortal levels. We all stumbled in here and are now trapped. Of course, Emperor Star is vast, but the outside is dangerous. Many people are unwilling to venture out, preferring to eat sand here every day rather than leave!"
Li Er's eyebrows rose. "Dangerous? What kind of danger?"
"We don't know. We only know that outside, a wind suddenly blows. Anyone caught in it ages and dies, then disappears. And this wind is very frequent," the man said, a lingering sense of dread in his voice.
"Have you heard of 'One Glance, Ten Thousand Years'?" Li Er asked.
"Haha, how could I not know? That guy, they say he built a city outside and lives quite freely! Right, it's called Ten Thousand Year City!" the man laughed.
Li Er realized with a start. He hadn't imagined that person would truly be here.
After some thought, Li Er decided to wait there for a few days. If he saw his companions, they would leave together. If not, he would go alone.
More than ten days later, Zhuge Liang appeared, and Tong Tian stumbled out like a dead dog. Glancing back at the desert, Tong Tian felt a chill run down his spine, realizing they had nearly died inside.
As Li Er was about to greet them, someone else stepped forward first, clearly looking to cause trouble.
However, Tong Tian was also physically powerful. After quickly subduing the troublemaker, no one else dared to say anything. They had the strength and the right.
"This way," Li Er said calmly.
Tong Tian was overjoyed to see Li Er and ran over. Spotting the water on Li Er's table, he immediately grabbed it and began to drink.
"How many people entered with you this time?" Li Er asked.
"Li Yang, us, Chen Chi Chi, Jie Yin, Lan Ran," Tong Tian replied directly.
Li Er nodded. Li Yang and Chen Chi Chi were nowhere to be seen. It seemed they had either exited elsewhere or had perished.
He wasn't sure if they were truly dead.
Li Er decided not to wait any longer. "I've found out that One Glance, Ten Thousand Years is in Ten Thousand Year City. We'll go there. But there's a strange wind outside that kills if it blows on you."
Zhuge Liang nodded. "It's likely the power of time. Those caught by it age and die. It must be a temporal rule."
"That's a bit troublesome," Li Er sighed. This was hard to deal with.
"Let's go see. We can't be trapped here forever, can we? We are all Heavenly Dao Saints; we shouldn't die," Tong Tian said indifferently.
The three then left the oasis. There seemed to be a barrier. Upon exiting, the scenery instantly changed. Li Er had already gathered his information and headed west.
Soon, the sky shifted, and it seemed like the wind was about to blow. Li Er's expression changed. The wind meant they might perish here, and they were still a day's journey from Ten Thousand Year City.
Gradually, the wind began to blow. Li Er felt something enter his body, and his spatial origin began to change.
Meanwhile, Zhuge Liang and Tong Tian aged rapidly, visibly. Soon, only piles of dry bones remained, and their two rings fell to the ground.
Li Er reached out and took the rings, his expression peculiar. He was… unharmed!
Outside Emperor Star, Zhuge Liang and Tong Tian appeared. They exchanged glances, not seeing Li Er. They had noticed when they were aging that Li Er was inexplicably fine, which was absurd.
"Big Brother? You're here. Let me tell you, it was like this, and then like that," Tong Tian explained the situation to Tai Qing Lao Zi.
Tai Qing Lao Zi nodded. "Go and cultivate."
Upon returning to the Heavenly Dao group, they found Jie Yin and Chen Chi Chi had also emerged. This meant Lan Ran and Li Yang were still alive inside.
Within Emperor Star, Li Er continued his journey towards Ten Thousand Year City, where One Glance, Ten Thousand Years resided. As for the time wind that had blown, Li Er no longer cared.
Soon, Li Er arrived at Ten Thousand Year City. The guards didn't even try to stop him. After all, people came and went frequently, and the guards' duty was to prevent disturbances.
Li Er felt a surging power within him, a new kind of strength, perhaps similar to Feng Yun's spatial-temporal power.
Li Er inquired and found his way directly to the City Lord's mansion. He told the guards, "Young man, please inform the City Lord that I have an urgent matter to discuss."
The guard eyed Li Er suspiciously but finally nodded. "Alright, wait here."
As the guard left, Li Er waited. Soon, a steward emerged and led Li Er inside.
Of course, the steward subtly tried to gather information, but Li Er ignored him, and the steward stopped asking. He would let his master handle it.