Maiden Galaxy

Chapter 67: One Qi Ring

Desolate and uninhabited, the scorching Western Desert was endless with not a single blade of grass in sight. As far as the eye could see, a boundless ocean of sand distorted under the high temperatures of the sun's rays. Rolling heat waves rose from the ground. The entire expanse of dunes were like boiling water.

Thus, a quall from the north blew and scratched past the desert, sending sand flying, covering the sky and earth. The wind blew over the dunes like they were the water's surface, producing ripples across their level surface. The hills that filled the eyes were pared into fantastical shapes by the wind, appearing menacing and ghastly.

A line of camels were in the middle of moving slowly over the dunes. Their distinct footprints extended from one crest to another, but very quickly, their trail would be buried by the wind, vanishing without a trace.

This place was the Western Desert, the Great Chong Dynasty's most remote area. It was also the Tail Fire Star Field's most dangerous area. Among the Foreign Tribes, the Western Desert also had another name.

Tail Fire Hell.

These words were not a mistake. The vast desert was like an enormous cage; this dangerous area had many Demon Beasts, blistering heat during the day, and plummeting cold during the night. The environment was also full of quicksand, desert storms, and shen¹ that even Three Flowers Overhead warriors would have headaches over.

Traversing this desert would be a burden to any warrior.

Even so, an endless stream of warriors still attempted every year to cross the Tail Fire Hell Desert. This vast desert was a domain that even the Great Chong Dynasty was unable to touch, and legend said that many treasures were buried under it, ruins innumerable.

Countless Star Generals had fought each other and were buried here.

And by crossing the edge of this desert, one could reach the Mauryan Star Field's Maurya Dynasty.² Compared to the barbarous and uncivilized Foreign Star Field, the Maurya Dynasty was the complete opposite – that was an opulent nation of gold and gems.

Of course, to any cultivator without magic weapons, crossing the desert was a fool's sleeptalk. However, even outside of fate, it was still brimming with the allure of wealth.

"How much longer until we reach the destination??" Fatty rode on a camel, hanging his head in dejection. He was dispirited, baring his upper body and exposing his obese flesh, gulping down water nonstop.

"We've only been going for three days so far." Chen Mo answered.

"Three days? I feel we've already been going for three years." The fat man wailed.

"You should never have showed up in the first place." Yun Sha expressionlessly asserted.

"This is what they mean by sharing delights and hardships." Fatty pitifully looked at Chen Mo, and expression that said, "I'm doing all this for you."

Chen Mo rolled his eyes.

You're not a beauty, don't you feel disgusted making this kind of face, and this relationship about roping me in is too obvious. You're so shameless about it that it's actually very impressive.

"How much longer?" Chen Mo asked Luo Kui. He still had the metropolitan examination of the Divine Warrior Examination to participate in. If this trip through the desert took more than a month, there would be big trouble.

"A couple more days."

Luo Kui said.

"Two or three more days, the round trip would take half a month." Fatty's face soured.

Chen Mo said: "How about I give you the White Sands Camel to ride."

Fatty looked at the White Sands Camel that Chen Mo straddled, his eyes gleaming. He chuckled: "Brother, you obtained this White Sands Camel yourself. Forget about me. And your little sister needs it more than I do."

Chen Mo said, "Bullshit, even if you actually wanted this, you wouldn't ever think to do it."

Fatty feigned a very hurt expression.

Everyone laughed. Even the corners of the stone-faced Yun Sha's lips slightly curled.

"I need to go take a leak." Fatty jumped off his camel. He was currently bursting now after drinking so much water during the trip.

Fatty jogged behind a dune. After all, Nianyou was nearby. This guy could not in good conscience go in front of such an adorable little girl even if he was any more shameless.

"Be careful." Luo Kui warned.

Fatty waved his hand without turning around.

Everyone stopped to rest. "Brother, your friend is quite tenacious. Want some water?" Luo Kui gazed at Zhongli Sanmei and said.

Zhongli Sanmei sat on the rump of her camel. In the Western Desert's soaring temperatures, warriors would already be drenched in sweat. Even the Li Xiunian who had cultivated to Qi Flower was perspiring profusely. On the other hand, Zhongli Sanmei was unflappable, not a single drop of sweat to be seen.

"She practices a Fire-type cultivation method, so that's why." Chen Mo wondered whether or not reveal her identity to everyone. In the end, he chose not to elaborate.

Zhongli Sanmei's Five Elements was Fire. Any Fire-type environment would have no effect on her whatsoever.

Yet after Nianyou entered the Western Desert, she had always been in a lethargic state, making Chen Mo somewhat worried.

All of a sudden, an ear-piercing scream came from Fatty's direction.

This frightened Nianyou into opening her eyes.

"Brother, save me!!" Fatty howled.

Luo Kui and the others dismounted and quickly bounded over. Chen Mo passed Nianyou over to Zhongli Mo before rushing to see just what was going on.

Fatty's voice was distressed. Luo Kui and the others stood at the dune's crest, not taking another step.

"Fatty, what's the matter?" Chen Mo said. He looked and was taken aback by the first thing he saw.

The vast desert slowly contorted as if it had come alive. It seemed to have become viscous water. Fatty had sunk into the middle of a sandtrap, being dragged under by the sea of sand.

"This is?"

"This is a quicksand trap. Shit, Fatty is dead for sure." Luo Kui's expression became extremely unsightly.

A quicksand trap was one of the Western Desert's most dangerous calamities. The desert would become like a swamp. If a cultivator fell in without a life-preserving item, they would sink faster the more they struggled. In the end, their corpse would be devoured by the sea of sand, forever buried in this desert.

That quicksand slowly flowed. Although Fatty was the young master of the Great Tool Court, no one dared take a step forward.

It was dangerous for even a complete Three Flowers Overhead warrior to enter this quicksand trap. No one was stupid enough to court death.

However, a quicksand trap would not be too deep at all when one just stepped into it. If an experienced warrior used full power, they could extricate themselves. Currently, Fatty had unexpectedly sunk down to his waist. He had no way to escape on his own anymore. "Fatty, you idiot, you must have been too giddy relieving yourself to be completely oblivious to quicksand." Luo Kui cursed.

"Isn't there a way to save him?" Chen Mo had quite the good impression of Fatty. He did not want to stand by and watch him die.

"We don't have any way." Luo Kui wretchedly said. "The range of the quicksand trap is too wide. From this far away, we'd sink in for sure if we went in."

"He's the young master of the Great Tool Court. If he dies like this…" Zhuang Jing softly said.

"This is what they call bringing about your own doom!" Yun Sha coldly said. She glanced at Chen Mo, "The Western Desert is always dangerous, and there aren't too many warriors here even in normal times. This fatso made no preparations at all, we can't be blamed."

"Hurry and save me!"

Fatty screamed as he twisted his body to break free. He was practically mustering all his strength. A flower appeared over his head; he was surprisingly Essence Flower Late Stage Realm, shocking everyone.

The fat man who normally indulged in food, drink, and debauchery unexpectedly had such high cultivation.

Yun Sha and Zhuang Jing had a new level of respect for him.

But even so, Fatty could hardly move. Following his struggle, he instead sunk even faster.

"Don't flail about. The more you struggle, the faster you'll be swallowed." Luo Kui shouted.

When Fatty heard this, he froze. He turned his head back, wearing a mournful expression.

"Fatty, don't tell me that the Great Tool Court didn't give you any protective Astral Tools for this trip to the Western Desert?" Chen Mo felt this was a waste of breath the moment he finished.

Even if he did have some kind of protective item, Fatty had already sunk to his chest now; he would not have been able to bring it out anyways, and he had not reached the stage of controlling Divine Intent. There was basically no use.

"Sanmei, do you have any ideas?" Chen Mo walked over and asked the King Of Extinguished Ashes.

As a Star General, she was certainly much stronger than an ordinary warrior or cultivator.

Zhongli Sanmei glanced over and very quickly made a declaration: "I can walk over there, but I won't be able to save him."

"Why?"

"He's sunk in too far. If I forcibly pull him out, his body will break in two. Do you want to make This King do such a thing?" Zhongli Sanmei smiled and said.

Chen Mo sunk into thought.

"Save me, Big Brother. Someone come save me." Fatty at this time sensed he was in desperate straits. He cried out: "Someone come save me, from now on, This Fat Master will succeed the Great Tool Court and will definitely make the Great Tool Court spare no effort in aiding them."

"Don't pointlessly yell right now. Save a bit of strength." Chen Mo berated him.

Fatty immediately shut his mouth, but his expression was frightened to the extreme. He was truly scared to the point his soul was about to fly away.

The quicksand trap was still slowly shifting.

Luo Kui was helpless in the face of this crisis.

"Actually, you can save him." All of a sudden, Zhongli Sanmei seemed to smile as she spoke.

"Me?" Chen Mo was taken aback. "How do I do that?" All of the warriors has cultivation higher than his. Even Zhongli Sanmei said that she herself was unable to save Fatty. Chen Mo did not understand what method he had.

"Don't you have the Bagua?" Zhongli Sanmei said. "The Bagua was developed from the Book Of Changes, and the Book Of Changes has a saying, to use softness to conquer strength. And you can use the Bagua by Fatty to force open a wide enough space to pull him out."

"Of course. This is very dangerous, and there's a chance you meet a tragic end here." Zhongli Sanmei narrowed her eyes, "Let's see if you dare or not."

Chen Mo grit his teeth. "Then let's try it." If something actually felt wrong, he would be able to pull himself away in time.

Chen Mo looked at the vast expanse of quicksand before his eyes. The distance to Fatty was thirty, forty meters. He thought quickly, immediately stepping forward.

"Brother, you're mad." Luo Kui was aghast.

"Don't go, you'll die." Zhuang Jing hastily reached out to stop him.

Chen Mo's figure warped. On the ground, they saw six shallow footprints. Instantly, he was on the sand a dozen meters away.

This was "Kun Six Severed," representing "Earth" in the Bagua, essentially a technique involving footwork.

Indeed, what Zhongli Sanmei said was correct.

Stepping over the quicksand, Chen Mo only felt as light as a feather, no sense of weight at all. But if he hesitated at all, the quicksand beneath his feet would instantly ensnare him.

"Brother, save me! From now on, I'll definitely work hard." Fatty glimpsed hope.

"Quiet." This fat man's voice was honestly loud. His shouts clearly accelerated the quicksand.

Chen Mo saw that he could not delay too long and recalled that Bagua pattern his Auntie had demonstrated. This was the highest standard of the Bagua Chant, to manifest the Bagua in a ring. Because of the warrior's power, the Bagua pattern would be carved into the ground, its power boundless.

However, to completely display the Bagua pattern, he needed to comprehend it extremely thoroughly. Chen Mo's Bagua Qian Three Linked had not been practiced at all. Even if he had once practiced the Bagua Diagram, that was nothing more than display. Seeing Fatty sink deeper and deeper, up to his neck, Chen Mo could only grit his teeth.

"Fatty, whether you can be saved or not next relies on your luck." Chen Mo took a deep breath, preparing to put his all into using the Bagua.

Just at this moment, the terrified Fatty suddenly cried out. "Wait a sec!"

"Hm?"

Fatty extended his right hand. On his right hand was a very ordinary-looking white iron ring. Brother, take it. This ‘One Qi Ring'³ can help you save me."

One Qi Ring?

Upon hearing this name, the Luo Kui, Zhuang Jing, and Yun Sha on the nearby dune were immediately shaken.

1. 蜃, a mythological clam-like monster that produces mirages ↩
2. A kingdom existing in India from 322-184BCE ↩
3. 一氣戒 ↩