"But what about the Head of the Clan?" Gan Wuchen sighed, his expression troubled. "If he blames us..."

"I'll take the responsibility!" Gan Wutian thumped his chest. "What kind of man of the Gan family would be afraid to take the blame for something like this? You're scared? I'm not!"

"Fine! If you're not afraid, then I'll go with you! If the Head punishes us, I'll bear it with you!" Gan Wuchen stepped down hard on Gan Cheng's shoulder. The delicate shoulder cracked with the sound of bone snapping under the sudden force... Old Gan Chen's body bent slightly. Gan Wuchen looked at the pain etched on his face, an unspeakable satisfaction rising within him. Now that Gan Jin was surely dead, even crushing Gan Jin's father's shoulder didn't warrant fear of Gan Jin returning for revenge! You have a son named Gan Jin, don't you? Then I'll break your shoulder!

Gan Wutian grinned inwardly; his few words had ignited Gan Wuchen's spirit. Bringing him into the team later would certainly be an asset.

A faint smile played on Gan Wuchen's lips. Gan Wutian controlled a significant portion of the Gan family's resources. Building a good relationship with him meant potentially gaining more resources down the line. In the future, I might not be inferior to someone like Gan Wutian, or even Gan Wushuang!

"...Wutian, for this pursuit, perhaps we should lure them outside the city before we strike," Gan Wuchen murmured, leaning low over his horse, observing Gan Wutian's already souring expression. "Two months' time..." After all, those were the Clan Head's words. Killing inside the city would certainly lose face for the Head.

Gan Wutian snorted but merely nodded slightly. The Head's face still had to be considered; openly and completely defying his words within the city would not end well. "I have a way!" Gan Wutian lifted his chin. "We will drive them into the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea, and then we strike!"

"The Ancient Desolate Sand Sea?" Gan Wuchen was so shocked he nearly tumbled off his horse. "You—you're going into the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea?"

"Naturally!" Gan Wutian spurred his horse into a gallop, an air of aloofness blooming around his cheeks. "I have long wanted to see the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea. The family always refused. This is the perfect excuse to explore it!"

Gan Wuchen slumped over his saddle, watching the ground in silence, suddenly regretting following. That was the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea! There was a reason the Gan family had guarded it for generations! This mysterious sea of sand not only housed countless demonic beasts and an astonishing number of high-level ones, but the sea itself seemed to be a singular, peerless monstrous entity!

Even with the Gan family's years of careful management, they had only managed to make the outermost two kilometers of the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea relatively safe.

This safety, however, was only relative, and only for warriors above the Fifth Battle Stage of Demon Subjugation.

Furthermore, this safety didn't cover the entire outer two kilometers; it corresponded only to an area the size of Gan City. The training trials for the Gan family's bloodline warriors were also limited to this two-kilometer range! Looking at Gan Wutian's expression, Gan Wuchen knew this young man certainly wasn't planning to stay within those relatively safe two kilometers. He intended to delve deeper into the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea.

On the main road outside Gan City, the thunder of hooves vibrated through the ground. Passersby instinctively yielded the way as four warhorses thundered past.

Pfft!

Gan Jin spat out his third mouthful of blood since leaving Gan City, slumped over the jolting horse, nearly slipping into unconsciousness. He strained to keep his eyelids from closing.

"Gan Jin, there might be a tail behind us..." Duan Feng'er rode alongside, turning his head to speak in a low voice toward the rear.

Fen Tu Kuang Ge nodded in agreement. The moment they stepped out of the Gan family gates, the venomous killing intent in Gan Wuchen's eyes was definitely not just for show; it would translate into concrete action! If he lacked even that much discernment, he wouldn't be worthy of being a descendant of the Fen Tu Noble Family, having received years of military judgment and training for nothing.

Gan Wuchen! Although far from Gan Jin's equal, his strength at the Fifth Battle Stage of Demon Subjugation was not to be dismissed!

Gan Zhanxuan’s strike had severely wounded Gan Jin. Even if Chekefulite activated his Fallen Angel Bloodline War Body, he only possessed the strength of the First Battle Stage of Demon Subjugation—still insufficient to defeat Gan Wuchen. Time was all Chekefulite needed—perhaps a month, or even two! Compared to Gan Wuchen, Chekefulite was already at the Second Awakening stage, meaning his Dou Qi advanced far faster than Gan Wuchen's First Awakening.

With just a few months, Chekefulite was confident he could kill Gan Wuchen! It was just a pity... it seemed Gan Wuchen didn't plan to grant them even a few days.

"Head south towards Yongliu." Gan Jin suddenly yanked his horse's head, sending the steed careening south in a sharp angle. "I'll go somewhere else..."

Somewhere else? What lay to the south? Fen Tu Kuang Ge and the other two wheeled their mounts south instantly. The only destination in that direction was the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea! One of the most perilous forbidden zones in the Zhence Dynasty, a place where even bloodline warriors who had achieved the Soul Domain Saint Realm had entered and never returned.

"I think we should stick together," Duan Feng'er said with a wry smile, leaning over his saddle. "The four of us working together, maybe we stand a chance against whatever tail is following us."

Gan Jin barely managed to lift his eyelids to glance at Duan Feng'er. Normally, he wouldn't fear Gan Wuchen. But that strike from Gan Zhanxuan, which seemed casual, was anything but! A Kun Dou Skill! It was just that when used by a master like him, others couldn't recognize it.

But everyone in the Gan family knew—that was a genuine Kun Dou Skill! The instant the attack landed, the true threat wasn't from the front; the attack was essentially a force field! The true nature of a Kun Dou Skill was controlling a localized force field! By using special Dou Qi techniques, it simulated a field known as gravity, capable of instantly multiplying the gravitational pull several, even dozens, hundreds of times! In that instant, the overwhelming gravity felt like a giant elephant pressing down, even suppressing the Dou Qi so it couldn't be exerted to its full potential..."The Ancient Desolate Sand Sea..." Gan Jin sighed softly, his eyes weakly fixed on the vast south, praying silently that the Gan family disciples giving chase were not avid readers, especially not of miscellaneous tomes.

Records of Wandering, this was a memoir left by a Second Awakening Elf King bloodline warrior of the Gan family. In the Gan family, a Second Awakening Elf King bloodline warrior was hardly an outstanding figure; people paid more attention to the accounts left by warriors who had achieved the ultimate bloodline power awakening.

Gan Jin had stumbled upon this notebook entirely by accident, covered in dust and tucked away at the very bottom of a bookshelf.

"The mystery of the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea is far stranger than people realize. Many assume that entering the Sand Sea, encountering strange flora and demonic beasts, is the extent of it. This is incorrect. I have always believed the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea is alive!" Gan Jin struggled to recall his reading of the Records of Wandering concerning the Sand Sea. At the time, he found the account absurd. The Ancient Desolate Sand Sea likely predated all life on the surface; how could a mere desert be alive?

As he continued reading, even though Gan Jin didn't believe the Sand Sea was alive, he learned that it was indeed profoundly strange, possessing some extremely secret and peculiar gateways. Normally, entering the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea was unremarkable, but in certain locations—at specific times or places—stepping into the Sand Sea meant that the landscape behind you was instantly replaced, transporting you directly into the interior of the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea! As for where one's body ended up within the Sand Sea, no one could say for sure. Endless yellow sand surrounded them, the scorching sun blazed overhead, and lethal crises lurked everywhere. Did such places truly exist? Gan Jin couldn't confirm if the Records of Wandering's accounts were genuine or if that Gan family senior had simply tried to play the part of a bard and scribbled down such bizarre things.

Now, with the Gan family disciples in pursuit and his body still injured, his only option was to gamble! To bet that the records in the Records of Wandering were true! That the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea still held wonders undiscovered by people over all these years, just as that senior had chronicled.

With a destination and a distance in mind, the horses galloped relentlessly, kicking up a visible plume of dust against the sky.

Gan Wuchen watched the distant dust cloud with surprise. What were those people trying to do? Was their goal also the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea? Did they think that once they entered the Sand Sea, we wouldn't dare follow? Yes! That must be it!

Gan Wuchen instinctively snapped his whip hard against his mount, urging the horse to accelerate, wanting to resolve this before they reached the edge of the sea of sand. As for entering the Sand Sea? Gan Wuchen sneered; he wasn't crazy! Gan Wutian might wish to die, but he hadn't lived enough yet!

"Why the rush?" Gan Wutian caught up to Gan Wuchen, reaching out to yank on Gan Wuchen's reins. The horse reared up on its hind legs, its speed instantly dropping. "I don't believe they'd actually dare enter the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea. Toying with such small rats is amusing enough." Gan Wuchen glanced at Gan Wutian, thinking this man was far too arrogant, actually looking down on the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea—a place even Gan Wushuang wouldn't easily enter.

The warhorses thundered on, and the boundless, golden-yellow sea of sand slowly emerged into view. Legend claimed this was a land vaster than the ocean! Even on the raging, tumultuous high seas, there were moments of calm. The massive fleets of the Zhence Dynasty could sail the ocean surface to explore the endless water and create detailed nautical charts, but they could never construct instruments capable of traversing the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea.