Chapter 1190: Escaping Danger

“What’s going on?”
“How could there be quicksand here?”
The quicksand vortex seemed to emerge right beneath Zhou Huai’an’s group, then expanded rapidly, instantly engulfing most of the Jinyiwei. It continued to grow at an unstoppable pace, causing panic among everyone.
Many people cried out in alarm as they tried to ride their horses to escape the quicksand trap. But under the power of nature, even martial artists struggled desperately in the vortex—let alone ordinary horses. Alarms and screams filled the air as the more they struggled, the deeper they sank…
On the other hand, Zhou Huai’an’s group, having no mounts, used their light-footed skills and moved with ease. Seizing the opportunity, Zhou Huai’an whispered urgently, “Heaven favors us! Charge forward—be careful of Cao Shaoqin.”
“Alright!”
Shadow, Silver Fox, and the others could no longer hold back. Hearing this, they drew their weapons and followed Zhou Huai’an and Mo Yan, charging left in unison.
Some Jinyiwei, panicked by their horses, had no time to deal with Zhou Huai’an’s group. Caught off guard, they were quickly dismounted by Mo Yan’s swift sword strikes.
“Go!” Mo Yan shouted over his shoulder, only to see, in the chaos, Cao Shaoqin crush another long sword. The flying shards pierced Zhou Huai’an’s shoulder and knocked down a dozen players behind him, who tumbled to the ground and were instantly swallowed by the fierce quicksand vortex.
Zhou Huai’an and his group had overlooked one thing… While ordinary Jinyiwei were greatly weakened by their panicked horses, turning their numerical advantage into a disadvantage, the eighteen secret guards and Cao Shaoqin remained calm. In this sudden disaster, Cao Shaoqin struck first, killing over twenty careless martial artists, including Niu Dali, who was also hit by shards and rolled into the quicksand vortex.
“Seize these rebels!”
After crushing two more long swords, Cao Shaoqin leaped off his mount. His soft voice, laced with the authority of a long-time ruler, reached every Jinyiwei’s ears from above.
“Yes!”
The eighteen secret guards shot like arrows at Zhou Huai’an’s group. The Jinyiwei around them also abandoned their mounts, ignoring everything else, and surrounded Zhou Huai’an to attack.
“Oh no!”
Shadow, Silver Fox, and the others had barely rescued Zhou Huai’an when they were once again trapped in a siege by skilled Jinyiwei. Pressure came from all sides, turning their faces pale with fear.

“You go first; I’ll hold off Cao Shaoqin.”
Just then, suddenly from the flowing sand beneath Cao Shaoqin, a dark figure broke through the yellow sand and surged upward. A brilliant sword light cast a blinding glare under the scorching desert sun.
The Jinyiwei guards and Cao Shaoqin were caught off guard; their eyes were struck by the intense light, forcing them to close their eyes…
“Protect Commander!”
The two secret guards closest to Cao Shaoqin immediately turned around!
The dark figure that emerged from the sand was the Bone-Slicing Thug from Longmen Inn. In the movies, it was this thug who, with a single strike, turned Cao Shaoqin’s limbs into a skeleton, rendering him useless.
But here, Cao Shaoqin was clearly not going to fall victim so easily!
The Bone-Slicing Thug’s attack was temporarily disrupted by the appearance of the secret guards, who swiftly intervened and pierced through their defenses like whirlwinds.
“Ah!”
“My hand!!!”
“My leg!!!”
Cao Shaoqin’s fate from the movies was met by each of the two secret guards—one after another—they were thrown to the ground with agonized screams.
But the Bone-Slicing Thug also suffered greatly; faced with two legendary warriors, he was struck by three knives and two swords, losing his balance and falling to the ground, resulting in a mutual defeat.
At that moment, an astonishing scene unfolded!
The desert dunes covering an area of a thousand square kilometers had transformed into a huge desert basin, with a two-hundred-meter-deep pit in the center. Countless mounts screamed in terror; it seemed impossible to save them.
Yet an even more terrifying sight followed.
Boom!!!!
Thousands of warhorses abandoned by the Jinyiwei experts suddenly erupted in a burst of blood. Amidst their brief, agonized screams, the Jinyiwei guards felt a terrifyingly powerful aura rising from below. They stopped and stared down at the center of the swirling sand, where hundreds of warhorses were sliced apart by sharp blades, their flesh torn into pieces in an instant.
Blood rained from the sky, forming a thick, horrifying mist. A towering, majestic blood-red figure rose from the mist, instantly capturing the attention of everyone in the desert.
“This is…”
In an instant, all the Jinyiwei guards were speechless!
Not only because the figure had slaughtered hundreds of warhorses in one go, but also because, after rising into the air, it miraculously hovered there, its domineering posture and supreme strength sending chills through everyone’s hearts.

Even Cao Shaoqin, the commander of the Imperial Guards, gave up pursuing Zhou Huai’an and his group at this moment. He stopped in his tracks, abandoning his earlier arrogant demeanor. His brows were tightly furrowed as he stared intently at the man in green armor with fangs floating in the air.

Just one glance…

Suddenly, Cao Shaoqin’s gaze fell on the golden-colored divine weapon in the man’s hands.

“Tiger Soul…”

As a high-ranking official of the court with access to countless resources, he immediately recognized that bone-shaped weapon, which emitted an astonishingly fierce aura under the scorching sun, as the legendary ancient divine weapon, Tiger Soul.

“Tiger Soul has reappeared—the people will suffer!”

“What?”

“Is that Tiger Soul?”

Zhou Huai’an and his group were also shocked by the strange phenomenon behind them. They stopped in their tracks, staring in awe at the dark figure in the sky that resembled a demon: “Who is that man?”

“Could it be that the secrets of the Desert Palace have been uncovered?” Jin Xiayu, who had always remained low-key, turned pale and exclaimed in shock.

The group tasked with the plot mission stopped as well. People like Shadow and Silver Fox were also disturbed. Hearing Zhou Huai’an and Jin Xiayu’s words, they all showed expressions of deep shock.

“The Desert Palace?”

A glint of excitement flashed in Shadow’s eyes.

“It’s been half a day since the Black Storm passed. I never expected we’d encounter the treasures in the Desert Palace… No wonder the plot of Longmen Inn is different from the original. So, the Desert Palace and Longmen Inn are connected?”

“Lord!”

“Tiger Soul is a divine weapon of the Celestial Crystal level. Its power and value far surpass those of even the highest-grade divine weapons today.” The experts from the Xifeng Tower were filled with excitement.

But then they thought again—there was already Cao Shaoqin, a commander of the Imperial Guards, who they couldn’t defeat. Now, another man in green armor with fangs, known for his brutal methods and unfathomable strength, had appeared. Trying to take Tiger Soul from these two was nothing short of seeking death.

At the same time, Silver Fox and the others also noticed this scene and exchanged shocked looks.

“The Desert Palace?”

“The plot of the Desert Palace has intersected with that of Longmen Inn—this is utterly unimaginable in ordinary plot missions.” Silver Fox frowned, then thought of another question: “It’s said there are seven great experts of the Heavenly Way who can enter the Desert Palace, but this guy isn’t one of them… Who is he?”

“And also…”

The group thought of another question:

If the palace was beneath the desert, where were those seven great experts now? Were they dead or alive?

It seemed as if to answer the group’s doubts.

The man in blue armor with fangs hovered in the air for less than two seconds before a majestic and loud dragon roar sounded from below. The countless red-colored sands suddenly erupted.
Boom!!
Boom boom boom boom boom!!!!!!
The remains and severed limbs of countless horses swallowed by the sand vortex were suddenly flung back up due to the force erupting from beneath the sands, mixed with the red sands like layers of sandstorms.
Under the astonished gazes of thousands of Jinyiwei, figures emerged from the center of the sand vortex, rising into the sky along with an impressive aura.
“Hmph!”
In the air, the man in blue armor with fangs, holding a tiger spirit sword, narrowed his eyes and without hesitation swung his sword horizontally.
The snow-white blade light, carrying the power to destroy heaven and earth, slashed downward, enveloping everyone below in one strike.
The moment the blade light appeared, the entire sand vortex seemed to be pressed by some unknown pressure! The sand and dust rushed downward!
Immediately afterward, an invisible shockwave swept in all directions!
The people on the side of Meiying and Yinhu turned deathly pale upon feeling the power of the man’s sword strike.
It was too far! The gap in strength was enormous!
Even they had seen experts like the Heavenly Dao Master Xie Wang before, but compared to this mysterious powerhouse, there was a huge difference.
They had no doubt that getting any closer would result in them being killed by the aftereffects!
Could they really confront someone of such immense strength?
Just then!
Cough!!!!!!
The world was shocked!
Meeting the bright blade light was an astonishing sword intent that seemed to pierce the sky, causing the air and the desert itself to tremble violently.
The sword strike that had dominated the desert was instantly shattered, and both turned into intense energy waves sweeping in all directions…
The fierce sandstorms knocked the Jinyiwei around.
The man in blue armor with fangs failed in his attack and watched helplessly as the group that had followed him out of the pyramid rushed out of the sand vortex.
Yet the power of that sword strike left many strongmen in the desert in awe.
The man’s unparalleled martial prowess already made people feel utterly helpless, but this sudden, divine sword strike easily shattered that world-destroying attack. Zhou Huai’an and Mo Yan were stunned into silence, murmuring,
“Where did so many strongmen come from?”
They had seen a few experts like the Heavenly Dao Master at the Longmen Inn, but none reached this level. They grew highly curious about the identities of these strongmen who emerged from the sand vortex.
But upon closer inspection…

What they saw was a strangely assembled team, including men, women, and children of all ages, who had landed nearby in a pitiful state. Aside from the young man in white, who seemed unharmed, everyone else was seriously injured.