Scattered, wispy clouds offered little shield against the sun's blistering intensity. A magnificent Roc plummeted from the ethereal banquet of countless broken clouds, diving straight toward an oasis on the ground.

Lu Yuan sat upon the Golden-Eyed Roc's back, casually taking a swig from his gourd. The wine offered a slight respite from the oppressive heat.

With the increasing number of fiends slain, his spoils had grown substantially, especially from the Sand Demon he’d dispatched recently—one who had reached the first layer of the Body Tempering stage. That demon yielded the most: a Sand Flame flying sword, one hundred and thirty spirit stones, and a Spirit Sealing Plaque. Within the plaque resided a Sand Serpent and three Sand Crabs. Oh, and a Sand Cloak, a magical artifact that allowed one to sink into the quicksands undetected.

That artifact was rather intriguing; he’d played with it a few times and found it quite amusing.

As for spirit beasts, most fiends in the Body Tempering stage possessed one or more, but the type varied according to their distinct magical cultivation.

A Sand Demon, naturally, kept sand-attribute beasts, whereas Lu Yuan cultivated cloud-attribute spirits.

At the Cultivator’s Market, the beasts sealed within the plaques could be traded or sold for high prices. Any beast that didn't suit one’s preference could simply be sold off for a considerable sum of spirit stones.

Focusing only on the Body Tempering stage fiends, those in the Qi Condensation stage also yielded spoils, albeit minor ones that wouldn't be itemized. Naturally, these fiends all left behind crucial items redeemable for rewards—all of which were tossed into his Asura Pouch. Speaking of which, the Asura Pouch was nearly full; it had a fixed capacity, and now, crammed with loot, it was straining at the seams.

This desert truly was an excellent training ground. Fiends were abundant, yet they didn't hold the upper hand, allowing him to train in relative safety.

In Dongping Province, where he originated, finding a single fiend was no easy task.

It was no wonder the Fifth Immortal Alliance established its Tenth Hall, dedicated to training newcomers, right here. The Golden-Eyed Roc executed a powerful dive straight for the oasis. Only slowing down at the last moment, it finally landed steadily on the oasis floor. Yet, despite the late deceleration, the sheer force of the wind snapped a small tree beside them. This oasis featured a clear, flowing river—the Roc had come here to drink. The Golden-Eyed Roc plunged its head into the water, gulping down several mouthfuls until its thirst was slightly quenched.

Lu Yuan also walked toward the oasis. In the desert, every oasis was precious, usually inhabited, a gift from the heavens that no one would waste. Lu Yuan planned to exchange for some wine; drinking at high altitudes had depleted his supply stored in the Asura Pouch, so he needed to stock up. He casually strolled toward the oasis’s deeper parts.

Deeper within the oasis lay clusters of yurts. Finding a merchant within these yurts was a simple skill Lu Yuan had mastered, as four months wandering the vast desert were not spent in vain.

Of course, the merchants sold wine, but at prices inflated dozens of times compared to Dongping Province. He had no choice but to buy. Gold held little value for him anyway. Lu Yuan paid readily, purchasing twenty jin of wine, then tossed the bulging wine skins into his Asura Pouch.

Then, Lu Yuan ambled through the oasis, contemplating whether to get a full meal. Food preparation in the desert differed entirely from the Central Plains—here, there were roasted sheep heads, skewered mutton, and sheep’s milk. For vegetables, there were desert onions and the like, all infused with an exotic flair and surprisingly delicious. Sampling the desert cuisine was quite an experience.

The thought of sheep heads, mutton skewers, grilled lamb kidneys, and chops made his mouth water involuntarily.

At that moment, he heard a shriek.

It was the Golden-Eyed Roc. After spending so much time together, Lu Yuan was intimately familiar with its cries and knew this one certainly wasn't cheerful. Without hesitation, he immediately activated his Myriad-Mile Solitude movement technique, flashing forward like lightning. That technique was an exceptionally fast movement art.

This skill increased in speed as one's cultivation grew; on flat ground, it could practically render the user traceless, making the name Myriad-Mile Solitude well-deserved.

He quickly arrived at the riverbank.

The clear water continued to flow, rushing audibly. However, a massive black net materialized out of thin air, trapping the Golden-Eyed Roc securely. It was impossible to tell what the net was made of; wisps of black miasma clung to it. Even with its cultivation nearing the ninth layer of Qi Condensation, the Roc couldn't break free, managing only to shriek in distress.

With several swift whooshes, fiends burrowed up from the ground. Lu Yuan realized with a shock that he was surrounded.

The leader appeared to be a Great Asura, seemingly at the third layer of Body Tempering. The Asura clan followed this hierarchy: Qi Condensation level fiends were called Asuras, while Body Tempering level ones were called Great Asuras. The Great Asura shared a resemblance with the Asuras Lu Yuan had fought before—entirely black bodies—but their pupils had changed, showing concentric white rings. Great Asuras were formidable; their combat prowess far surpassed that of regular Asuras. Not only could their entire bodies transform into weaponry, but many parts could also extend. Their techniques were bizarre to the extreme; Great Asuras were known as perfect killing machines, and few within their own level could defeat them.

Beside the Great Asura was a bulky Sand Demon, perhaps half a zhang tall—significantly larger than the average Sand Demon—and no shorter than the Great Asura. This Sand Demon also possessed the third layer of Body Tempering cultivation.

Flanking these two leaders were numerous low-level fiends: Qi Condensation level Asuras, Qi Condensation level Sand Demons, and even Green Field Monsters. Green Field Monsters weren't particularly strong fighters; they often concealed themselves within oases. They could automatically turn their entire bodies green, making them very difficult to spot. Their primary use was scouting enemy positions on the ground. Earthbound demons were diverse, belonging to various races, each with unique abilities.

"This is the one commanding the Golden-Eyed Roc…"

"It must be. This person commands that damned Roc, killing so many of our kin." Hearing this, Lu Yuan finally understood why they had tracked him down—he had slaughtered too many of them. The fiends possessed intellect and reason, prompting them to retaliate.

It seemed they had set an ambush here at the oasis, waiting for the Roc to descend for water before striking.

"I recognize this one…" a Green Field Monster rasped, "When the Tenth Hall recruited a wave of newcomers, I disguised myself as a patch of grass nearby to observe. This person stepped right over me back then, but he didn't notice my hide was different from the other grass patches. This person ranked one hundred and eighty in the Tenth Hall's probationary test."

"What? Ranked one hundred and eighty…" Clearly, the fiends inhabiting this area were quite familiar with the Fifth Immortal Alliance’s Tenth Hall. They all understood the implication of a rank one hundred and eighty finish.

"Hah! Rank one hundred and eighty!" "With such strength, he dares to hunt us?" "It's all that accursed Golden-Eyed Roc; with its Qi Condensation eighth or ninth layer strength, it certainly could hunt some of us…"

"Right, this person can't have much skill. We'll teach him a lesson today and show him his place. Hopefully, he'll regret it in the afterlife." Upon hearing Lu Yuan’s rank, all the surrounding fiends burst into loud laughter. He was just an insignificant nobody ranked one hundred and eighty. Had they known, they wouldn't have needed to mobilize; simply capturing the Roc would have sufficed for a few Asuras or Sand Demons to kill this man.

As they jeered, several Qi Condensation Asuras and Sand Demons, eager to seize the first kill for a meritorious deed, lunged at Lu Yuan. The Asura rushed forward, hands morphing into claws sharp as blades. The Sand Demon rolled from the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust. Lu Yuan merely smiled, his hand resting on the hilt of his Yang Wu Sword. Truly suicidal. With a swift movement, his sword left its sheath, the blade-light slashing in succession. The lunging Asura was instantly reduced to a corpse, while the Sand Demon collapsed with a hole through its throat, blood gushing onto the sand.

A few more Asuras and Sand Demons, disbelieving, attacked from all directions—left, right, front, back, above, and below—employing every possible angle.

Facing such assaults, Lu Yuan remained utterly unconcerned. These attacks were too weak. The Yang Wu Sword, barely back in its sheath, moved casually. The sword light traced beautiful arcs against the yellow sand, the blade seeming almost sentient.

The sword light flashed repeatedly; with every strike released, an Asura or a Sand Demon perished, none lasting a single exchange.

Moments later, only the young man in blue stood erect, surrounded by over a dozen corpses, their blood staining the yellow sand.

What kind of joke was this? A newcomer ranked one hundred and eighty, striking with such speed, one sword kill after another, no opponent surviving one move.

Could this truly be a rank one hundred and eighty performance? If this was the bottom tier, how powerful must the number one ranked disciple be? Yet, the fiends had dealt with the Tenth Hall extensively; they knew the standard—newcomers shouldn't be this strong.

Now, everyone felt that the rank one hundred and eighty assessment was completely bogus.

At this point, the fiends who had been loudly mocking Lu Yuan’s rank fell utterly silent. They all looked at the Green Field Monster with suspicion, wondering if it had misidentified him. The Green Field Monster immediately insisted, "I saw him receive the rank of one hundred and eighty with my own eyes!" Silence. A dead, profound silence!

The oasis river continued its onward flow.

(Third update delivered.)