Zhong Zha and the others stood several hundred meters away from the Temple of Abu Simbel. On the ground lay several enormous, deep craters, all created by Zhong Zha using his ultra-high explosive charges. Since this was sandy terrain, before burying the charges, Zhong Zha had already used the Spear of Judgment to fiercely gouge out shallow indentations over three meters deep. He then tossed the ultra-high explosive charges inside. With the explosion contained in such a manner, the power of the explosives was maximized, blasting out a massive pit ten meters deep and about twenty meters in diameter. Once those stone statues tumbled in, they would absolutely never be able to climb out.

“Precisely because they cannot climb out, I am worried. This task shouldn't be that simple. They might indeed scramble back up. Think about it: a colossal stone statue over eight meters tall, standing thirteen to fourteen meters down in a pit, would at most just stick its hands into the sand wall and push hard. At the very least, you wouldn't be trapped in a pit just a little over two meters deep.”

Zhong Zha stated firmly to the others.

Jonathan was taking a swig from a small liquor bottle as he spoke, “I refuse to believe these giant stone statues will start hopping. Don’t you think their sheer weight would cause them to sink directly into the sand if they tried to jump?” Zhong Zha smiled and said, “I wouldn't be so sure about that. It’s precisely because I’m not sure that we absolutely must use the quicksand magic. When they all fall to the bottom of this pit, I need three seconds from everyone. During this time, you absolutely cannot let them jump out or do anything else.

I will try my utmost to chant the incantation quickly, and you all must use the explosive packs to blow them up. Remember, once they fall, don't worry about whether they can jump out—just keep throwing explosive packs down. In short: buy me three seconds!” Everyone else glanced at their neighbors, beads of sweat forming on their brows. Zhong Zha wasn't lacking in many things, but this time he had brought over ten cubic meters of TNT high-explosive packs. His spatial pouch had more than enough capacity, and he had already sold about seven cubic meters worth of gold, so he naturally had ample room to load up on these TNT packs. Each person had at least a dozen bundles placed beside them. If one of those packs accidentally detonated, everyone would be meeting God right then and there.

Eve looked somewhat pale, and she managed a weak smile. “Zhong Zha, perhaps you should put some of those explosive packs away first. Don’t you think you’ve laid out a bit too many?” Zhong Zha looked around at the explosives by everyone’s feet. Indeed, there seemed to be too many. Not only was Eve’s complexion off, but O’Connell and the bearded man in black also looked uneasy. Their movements in placing the packs had become light and slow, as if they were treading through a minefield. In reality, these explosive packs were far more potent than landmines, considering they were TNT high explosives.

Under the circumstances, Zhong Zha reluctantly began recalling some of the packs, leaving only three next to each person’s feet. Calculating it out, finishing the chant would take him a little over two seconds, approaching three. If each person threw one pack per second, three seconds would be just enough time. Still, he felt he had been too abrupt, considering they were facing three immensely powerful colossi. A knot of anxiety was tightening in his chest.

Once everyone had moved to the opposite side of the pit.

Zhong Zha finally took a deep breath and slowly walked toward the temple. This temple was severely damaged; its main gate had almost entirely vanished. The three stone statues sat on the cliff behind the structure. From this vantage point, one could feel a shocking sense of ancient grandeur. Of course, comparing the size of the statues to Eve’s estimate, her ‘over eight meters’ was a massive understatement—these statues were nearly ten meters tall.

Zhong Zha inwardly felt bitter. From his previous encounter where he chased and was chased by a statue around seven or eight meters tall, he had noticed a distinct pattern in their leg movements—they only swung a few times within a set period. Therefore, the seven-to-eight-meter statue was slightly slower than him. But if they reached ten meters, with their legs considerably longer, their speed would immediately increase by nearly thirty percent. He wasn't confident he could escape this time.

No matter what, Zhong Zha could only steel himself and advance toward the temple. When he neared the statues to about fifty meters away, the three colossi remained motionless. But as the distance closed, until they were only ten meters apart, the three statues finally began to tremble. Then, all three simultaneously leaped up from the cliff edge, each stride covering several meters. The leading statue swung its massive fist down violently toward Zhong Zha.

The fist alone was larger than his entire body. Zhong Zha stamped his feet hard and activated his Qinggong, fleeing desperately toward the great pit. Immediately behind him came a violent thud, and a terrifying blast of wind pressure washed over him. He didn't need to look to know that with that single punch, the statue had surely carved another massive crater into the ground. The destructive power was utterly terrifying.

Zhong Zha ran forward as if his life depended on it. The speed of the three statues was indeed much faster than the ones he encountered previously, covering several meters in a single stride. Meanwhile, Zhong Zha’s Qinggong only covered a few meters in a flash. Their speeds were nearly matched as they raced toward the great pit.

The distance of several hundred meters vanished in the blink of an eye. Zhong Zha had no time for further thought. A few meters short of the pit, he stomped his foot violently on the ground, then rolled sideways with momentum, tumbling several meters away. The colossal statues had already reached the spot where he had just stood. Due to inertia, the giant stone figures tumbled into the pit one after another. The immense sound of them hitting the bottom was like falling meteorites. Simultaneously, the three figures of O’Connell had ignited the fuses and begun tossing the TNT high-explosive packs into the pit.

Instantly, the entire great pit resembled an erupting furnace, continuously throwing up blinding dust clouds, accompanied by violent explosions and the sound of heavy objects crashing down. Just as Zhong Zha had predicted, the three statues actually jumped straight upward! But as they leaped, they slammed into the explosive packs being dropped on them, which blasted them back down to the pit floor. Even so, the sheer scale of these giant statues terrified everyone present.

Zhong Zha quickly retrieved the Livre des Morts from his spatial ring and loudly chanted the section pertaining to quicksand. As his vampiric energy dissipated, the sand directly in front of his position began to rapidly loosen and soften, the area constantly expanding until it covered the entire massive pit. Only then did the expansion of the quicksand cease. The giant statues, mid-jump and mid-fall, sank into the quicksand with this latest impact. Due to their terrifying weight, they rapidly subsided, just like the previous statue. Before long, the three colossal stone figures had completely vanished without a trace.

Zhong Zha was fine, but O’Connell and the others collapsed onto the ground, gasping heavily. The explosive packs that had been by their feet were entirely gone. Those few seconds had felt like an entire year to them. Every time they saw a statue leap up, the rapidly approaching, enormous stone face represented an immense and horrifying pressure to ordinary people. In reality, the fact they could remain standing long enough to toss all the explosive packs was sheer survival instinct. Once those ten-meter-tall statues jumped out, they wouldn't have been able to withstand even a brush against them—a fate far worse than being smashed to pieces.

Zhong Zha walked over to the group with a smile. Jonathan, breathing heavily, managed to say, “Z-Zhong Zha, are you sure there’s a giant diamond in that pyramid? And seven—” Zhong Zha quickly interrupted him, “There’s definitely a diamond, trust me. And it’s a diamond the size of a soccer ball! For goodness sake, I never said the diamond was the size of seven soccer balls!” O’Connell and the others let out weak chuckles. Only then did they manage to sit up straight, though they seemed to lack any energy for immediate action. At that moment, the bracelet on Zhong Zha’s wrist suddenly jumped and shot out another beam of light. However, this time it didn't display the next scene; instead, it directly illuminated the Abu Simbel Temple before them. The view then slowly moved backward from the temple, first crossing a vast canyon filled with flowing river water, then continuing until the end of the canyon where a forest appeared before them. Right in the center of that forest stood a pyramid shimmering with golden light.

“The Scorpion King’s treasure,” they all murmured in unison. Then, they exchanged glances, all burst into laughter, and pulled themselves up from the ground. All their hard work had paid off; the path to the Scorpion King’s Pyramid had been revealed. All that remained was for them to cross the canyon directly to the pyramid via airship. In other words, it was now within sight! Zhong Zha glanced at the sky; the sun was setting, painting the horizon a blood red. Although the path to the pyramid was clear, they couldn't possibly rush into it exhausted after such a trial. So, he laughed heartily, “Everyone, let’s rest here for the night. Tomorrow, once we’re refreshed, we’ll charge into that pyramid! Hahaha, let’s face that so-called Scorpion King together and seize his army of death!” The others smiled silently. After several life-and-death situations relying on each other, a feeling transcending friendship had formed between them. So, when Zhong Zha said this with such excitement, the others felt genuinely happy for him from the bottom of their hearts. Especially Jonathan, who, while drinking, clapped Zhong Zha on the shoulder, then linked arms with him as they walked toward the airship. The rest followed, smiling, noticing how well Zhong Zha and Jonathan seemed to get along.

But before they could reach the airship, a ring of yellow sand suddenly appeared on the distant horizon. As they looked over, the dust cloud was rapidly sweeping toward them—the most terrifying phenomenon of the desert: a sandstorm! Leaping to

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