Chapter 1168: Gathering in the Underground Palace

Spirit Beasts!
There are countless spirit beasts in the martial world—those that swim in water, run on land, and fly in the sky. These spirit beasts usually possess strengths ranging from the Liberation Realm to the Mythical Realm.

The formation of spirit beasts is actually caused by many different factors…

There’s the matter of bloodline!
Examples include the White Tiger of Clear Skies, commonly known as the Giant Beast; the black apes in the mountains; the Wolf King; the Golden Roc; and the Snow Sculpture. All these are at the top of the food chain due to their innate bloodline traits, possessing natural strength and dominating their domains.

Yet, there are also spirit beasts that become powerful for other reasons.

For instance, mutation…
Like the Nine-Tailed Fox, which caused quite a stir in the Central Plains—it mutated into a spirit beast at the Mythical Realm level due to going astray.

There are also the fierce beasts in the Myriad Beasts Villa, which become stronger and more ferocious under the influence of various drugs, becoming brutal beasts lacking wisdom among spirit beasts.

The last category is quite special—spirit beasts like the Black Wind Sand Scorpion, which live in extremely harsh environments and possess unique talents. Their strengths vary greatly.

Take the Silkworm Spider, for example…
It lives in extremely cold regions. If it leaves those cold areas, it will die. It has a very fragile life, but the silkworm silk it produces is a rare treasure in the world.

The Fire Qilin is a spirit beast that lives near volcanoes. It is so powerful that it can rival experts at the peak of the Mythical Realm, with a vitality comparable to those who control the laws of nature!

The Black Wind Sand Scorpion is a fierce spirit beast from ancient times!
Although its strength and wisdom are not as great as those of the Fire Qilin, it has eaten sand grains for a long time, making its body as hard as steel. It has also acquired several special abilities—such as the ability to move freely through flowing sand, just like running on land. Additionally, the Black Wind Sand Scorpion can spit out black crystals, which are more hard and sharp than ordinary metals. These crystals can easily pierce through gold and stone, allowing it to hunt targets from a distance.

Upon recognizing the Black Wind Sand Scorpion, Osaaya’s expression immediately darkened. The long white veil coiled around it changed its attack pattern, sweeping in a circle to tightly bind the scorpion’s open mandibles.

“Sss!!”

The Black Wind Sand Scorpion relied on spewing black sand crystals from its mouth to fight enemies. With its mandibles tightly bound by something as hard as steel, it struggled violently in pain.

Its massive, slender body twisted ferociously in the air, causing loud noises everywhere. Eventually, it helplessly fell into the swirling sand vortex along with the white veil, like a stone dropped into a river.

In mid-air, Osaaya seized the opportunity to remind Happy and the Face-Shifting Fox: “The bodies of Black Wind Sand Scorpions are made of sand grains, making it hard to deal serious damage to them. Even if they’re injured, they recover quickly once they enter the shifting sand, rendering any effort futile. The best way to deal with them is to stay away from them!” Unbeknownst to Osaaya, by the time she uttered the name “Black Wind Sand Scorpion,” the Face-Shifting Fox had already quickly transmitted its information to Happy. Their accounts were exactly the same. “Be careful!” Just then, a gust of yellow sand rushed toward them from afar… The three of them couldn’t dodge in time and were hit head-on, being swept into the swirling sand vortex where the Black Wind Sand Scorpions were. At that moment… Happy only had time to activate his True Vital Energy Field! Boom! Darkness enveloped them. Happy felt as though he was instantly swallowed by the sand. His last thought before being engulfed was: “At least the scorpion’s mouth is sealed by Osaaya!” But soon, a strong sense of weightlessness came over him… Being swallowed by the sand wasn’t like being trapped and suffocating; it was more like the intense weightlessness of falling from great heights. Happy quickly realized he was plummeting rapidly with the sand, spinning wildly as if thrown from somewhere! With his spiritual senses expanded, he immediately noticed that the surrounding sand was also dispersing as it fell, cascading down like a waterfall. There was nothing around except above him—dozens of holes ten meters in diameter, pouring sand downward frantically. Below, Happy couldn’t see any buildings or ground for a while. “Not good!” Happy knew that if he didn’t do something at this distance, he would surely be crushed by the sand waterfall and die—dying in a forbidden zone mission wasn’t a dignified way to die. Boom!! With a sweep of his Celestial Crystal Sword, a dazzling light burst forth from the heavy sand waterfall, severing it instantly. Almost at the same time, a graceful black shadow flew out of the waterfall, moving with ease. Along with it came a Black Wind Sand Scorpion that tried to attack Osaaya by tearing through her veil—unfortunately for it, it was stunned by Osaaya’s hidden energy palm and flew out of the waterfall, plummeting straight downward. “Go!” With his spiritual senses, Happy had fully taken in everything around him. Reaching out, he grabbed the nearby Face-Shifting Fox, took a deep breath, and like a lightning bolt, flew out of the sand waterfall in a rather chaotic manner.

Although the ground was high, with two masters of extraordinary lightness skills together, there would naturally be no problem…
At the moment before landing, the Thousand-Faced Fox was thrown out by Happy. The latter cleverly used a palm strike to eliminate its own downward momentum and simultaneously sent a palm strike into the air, saving Happy from the crisis of freefall.
Bang.
Happy didn’t waste the Thousand-Faced Fox’s efforts. His true energy field activated as he braced against the palm strike and landed silently on his feet.
“Thank you, master, for saving me.”
The Thousand-Faced Fox bowed in gratitude.
But Happy paid no attention to this. Casually raising his hand, he glanced around and said, “Enough talk. Let’s see what place this is.”
Whoosh!
Bang!!!
The first sound was the wind noise as Osaaya landed, while the second, a sound that shook the ground, came from the Black Wind Sand Scorpions.
Nodding, the Thousand-Faced Fox began to observe their surroundings without delay:
It was a huge artificial palace!
With a diameter of over 200 meters, it resembled a giant circular dome.
“What is this?”
The Thousand-Faced Fox’s gaze fell on the giant pits on the ground, each over ten meters in diameter, revealing a look of astonishment.
Each pit corresponded to a huge hole in the sky above!
The yellow sand pouring down from above filled these large holes… like yellow sand waterfalls flowing into the massive pits.
Over time, the pits inside the palace gradually filled up with yellow sand.
“Master…”
Seeing this, the Thousand-Faced Fox couldn’t help but gasp. After counting them, he exclaimed, “Forty-nine pits… This seems to be the ancient Seven-Seven Forty-Nine Heavenly Array!”
…
There were not just Happy, Osaaya, and the Thousand-Faced Fox in the palace. In several other directions, some people stood alone, while others gathered in groups.
The seven great Heavenly Dao masters who had once stayed at the ruins had all reunited here in this unknown and mysterious palace at the same time.
However!
Because they had just fallen from a height of a hundred meters and were far apart, no one noticed the others right away.
Boom!!
“Sss…”
What fell through the holes in the sky were not just people but also ferocious Black Wind Sand Scorpions.
These iron-hard creatures were incredibly tough; falling from over a hundred meters high didn’t harm them at all. They twisted their bodies with agility, like centipedes, targeting those nearby, and rushed forward with a “dodododo” sound at lightning speed.

Neither Osaaya nor Dongfang Bubai had any way to deal with these iron-hard giants. After Osaaya was targeted by the vengeful Black Wind Sand Scorpion, the two struggled fiercely. Though the scorpion was constantly knocked back and let out pained screams, it persistently chased after Osaaya’s skirt, refusing to give up. Dongfang Bubai wasn’t someone with a gentle temper… But against the Black Wind Sand Scorpion, even using over a dozen embroidery needles proved useless. The scorpion seemed highly sensitive to the slightest changes in the air; whenever something approached its eyes, it would skillfully dodge or twist to get away, or close its eyes and let it pass by. Although in a better position than Osaaya, Dongfang Bubai still couldn’t do anything against the scorpion—his formidable palm strength could shatter boulders, but it couldn’t break these mutated beasts that survived by feeding on sand grains. Dozens of Black Wind Sand Scorpions descended from the sky and landed on the ground, immediately seeking the nearest target and lunging at it with fangs bared, like perverts who hadn’t seen a woman in decades. No one paid attention to the pits in the hall gradually filling with yellow sand. Until… Boom! When the first pit was filled, the corresponding yellow sand waterfall disappeared, as if the hole in the sky had been forcibly closed. One! Two, three… More and more pits were filled. As the yellow waterfalls from the sky decreased, it finally caught some people’s attention—especially Happy’s. “What is the 77×49 Heavenly Gang Formation?” came the anxious cry of the Thousand-Faced Fox. Happy frowned and turned to ask. “The 77×49 Heavenly Gang Formation was created based on ancient I Ching techniques. It’s said to be the oldest and most powerful formation in existence. As for exactly what it is, I don’t know either; the ‘Records of Strange People and Seas’ doesn’t explain it in detail.” The Thousand-Faced Fox spoke with a bitter and awkward tone. “Master, be careful!” Just then, another Black Wind Sand Scorpion suddenly fell from a yellow sand waterfall near Happy. Its body was identical to those of the others, and it landed in the sand pit beside Happy. With a loud noise, it leaped out of the pit like a writhing dragon. Hiss!! After appearing in a fierce and grotesque manner, it lunged at Happy with its giant pincers. Its mouth opened wide, and dozens of black objects, like hidden weapons, blocked all possible escape routes.

Xingkai had already seen this guy’s strength before; even a powerful attack from Wind-Filled Sky couldn’t deal serious damage to him. He didn’t even bother drawing his sword, instead flying back to maintain distance while dodging, thinking: Since ordinary attacks won’t work against it, I’d better use another method of attack.
Roar!!!
In an instant, a loud and majestic dragon roar filled the hall.