Heaven, Earth, Me

Chapter 1606: Chapter 1606. Moving in the Death Dunes.

If Yasenia had to give a short impression of the Death Dunes, it was turbulent. Instead of a desert, it felt as if they were navigating an ocean of sand. The sandstorms in the distance, massively large moving dunes, and rumbling clouds in the sky made the location look stormy.

Evelyn was quite interested as well. "The principles of storm are etched in the surroundings... However, instead of using Lightning, Wind, Water, and Ice as sources... it is using Earth, Glass, and Wind."

"A strange phenomenon." Andrea smiled. "I guess it is worthy of being called a Forbidden Zone. Falling into these dunes would not be a pleasant experience."

Dune and her three subordinates glanced back, curious. Seeing all of them following along effortlessly, they were once more surprised. Dune asked Yasenia, who was dipping a Heaven Ranked Sword into the sand with her tail. "Should we continue forward?"

"No rush."

Yasenia had not forgotten that they needed to return every few days. After all, her handsome little boy was waiting for Mommy at home!

Lifting the sword, Yasenia made a small exclamation. "Wow. Look at this. The sword is basically destroyed."

The once pristine, gleaming blade was now rugged and riddled with holes. The thing was that Yasenia had only dipped the Heaven Ranked sword for 10 minutes.

Tatyana looked around as well and spoke. "Some dangerous zones might appear in this Forbidden Area. Don’t be overconfident, Little Treasure."

Yasenia threw the sword into her ring and smiled. "That’s good. It has been quite a while since I faced a challenge."

Fennec, somewhat unaware of Yasenia’s true strength, muttered to Snake. "Isn’t she a bit too arrogant?"

Snake hummed, following behind Dune as they moved around the outer area. "Who knows. Do you think Leader would’ve lowered her head so easily if she didn’t have strength?"

While they were speaking, they noticed Yasenia summon a massive broadsword. The sword, as it was forged out of dragon scales, had an edge that gleamed with the faint sunlight that poured from the dark clouds.

Dune tensed up. "L-Lady Yasenia, what are you—?"

Before she finished, her gaze moved forward. From a massive moving dune several hundreds of meters tall, a finned, furred beast jumped out with its mouth wide open. However, the second it did, Yasenia gently flicked Draheart. "[Celestial Sunder]."

SLASH!

The beast and the dune behind it split apart as if a giant had carved a hole into space itself. While the lifeless beast fell from the sky, Yasenia waved her hand, and Garest sucked the beast into the World Storage.

Yasenia smiled. "Sorry, that beast was camouflaged much longer than I expected."

Fennec looked back and forth and then spoke to Snake. "Forget what I said."

Snake’s lips twitched, laughter flashing in her gentle eyes. "As I said, the Leader has bowed her head for a reason."

That casual strike had caused space in the attack’s trajectory to tremble violently, almost cracking it apart. It was enough to show just how overwhelmingly powerful Yasenia was.

Scorpion looked at Yasenia once before glancing at Dune. ’Leader, who are they?’

Dune answered firmly. ’Don’t ask too many questions. Just focus on what we need to do. These people are probably one of the strongest individuals in the entire world, bar none.’

Even Dune was not aware of how strong they were. However, people who could kidnap her, a Level Six Transcendence Realm cultivator, without anyone knowing, were a group that Dune would not dare offend.

Meanwhile, Cecile asked Yasenia. "What’s the composition of the beast?"

Yasenia tilted her head. "It’s like... a bulky wolf that substituted its limbs for fish fins without losing its fur. Even the tail is slightly thicker, but not a fish tail. Such a bizarre creature."

Cecile, being an expert in beasts, spoke softly. "The evolution is quite appropriate for this environment. Fur won’t get easily ground away by the sand dunes, unlike hard surfaces. Beyond that, fins can help move inside the sand more than limbs. Finally, a long, sturdy tail is much better for borrowing around and pushing sand. Overall, it’s a beast that has evolved quite neatly to live inside the Death Dune Forbidden Zone."

Once more, Dune and the others were surprised to hear the woman they thought would treat words like gold babble away. The tone was cold, but her rambling didn’t even end there.

Yasenia just listened, her lips arched into a smile as Cecile spoke of her speculations and ways to hunt them better. Nearby, Clara and other hunting-related maids complemented Cecile’s theories.

Angel blinked. "So, to summarize, we should not pierce the sand regularly, but use powerful pulses. A sort of echolocation."

Cecile nodded. "It’s the best way. The only problem is that it will make us a touch more visible to other beasts."

Yasenia spoke softly. "It doesn’t matter much. It’s better to know where they are than to be ambushed constantly because we stepped into someone’s territory. Moreover, worst-case scenario, I can just unleash my bloodline."

Dune spoke, worried. "Lady Yasenia, may I ask what level of bloodline you have? I’ve heard that there might be some Low-Level Ancient Beasts here."

Yasenia didn’t answer straightforwardly. "Then, there is no problem. My bloodline is enough."

She didn’t need to say that her bloodline was that of a Low-Level Immortal Beast. According to Mirrory, such beasts were rare even in the Divine Heavens. So, spreading this knowledge was not smart.

Dune was surprised, but she didn’t say much else. If the other party believed it was enough, then there was no need to be meddlesome. ’We’ll know later either way.’

So, their group roamed the outer edge of the Forbidden Zone, encountering some beasts from time to time. Evelyn clicked her tongue. "There is nothing much else, is there?"

Dune answered. "Indeed. The ruins and hidden locations move around with the underground sand currents. Therefore, encountering them is as rare as seeing driftwood in the ocean."

Kali spoke softly. "If that’s the case, won’t it be good to map the currents? We can go along them and probably encounter more eventful locations, right?"

Dune shook her head. "This sand area is far too deep. There was someone who used their powers to dig down through brute force, but they didn’t find the end of it even after excavating several hundred kilometers."

"Only several hundred?"

Yasenia was confused, and Dune clarified. "That’s right. The sand gets tougher as you dig deeper. From that point on, the sand grains are far too compact to dig with brute force. Moreover, you need to maintain the hole. Imagine trying to dig into an ocean, keeping that hole open, and on top of all of that, the water gets incredibly dense the further you ’dig’."

The girls understood. In those conditions, several hundred kilometers is quite an impressive feat. Evelyn glanced around, her Spiritual Sense pulsing. ’There are only beasts...’

It was at this point that one maid suddenly spoke up. "Young Miss, that direction."

Yasenia blinked and turned. Then, she smiled. "Great job. There is indeed something over there."

The group moved, and while Dune remained skeptical, they soon arrived at the area. Over there, a platform of tightly packed rock slabs was floating along the moving dunes. Dune was surprised. "There really is a ruin?"

Snake spoke, surprised. "I know that ruin. That broken pillar with the images of battling winged beasts is familiar."

Everyone landed on the floating rocky surface, looking around with awe. This structure, buried in the flowing sands, was like a piece of wood. It floated along the waves, and while some of the larger dunes made some sand roll inside, the entrance was constantly kept afloat.

Yasenia asked, curious. "What happens if the entrance sinks while fighting inside? Won’t you get trapped?"

It was Scorpion who answered. "That happened to me, Lady Yasenia. Back then, I thought I was done when my Spiritual Sense briefly picked up the sand covering the structure’s entrance. Surprisingly, there should be some strange formation hidden somewhere. The sand was unable to pass through the entrance, and shortly after, the structure was afloat once more."

"Oh?" Yasenia was surprised and interested. With her spiritual sense, she grabbed a rather large chunk of sand, then she threw it toward the entrance.

As Scorpion had said, the sand collided with an invisible barrier and was flown into the sky. Moreover, it was not gently thrown upward, but accelerated to the point that it reached the clouds.

Kali’s eyes flashed. "Is that how those sand clouds and storms form? Sand pours onto these entrance ruins, and the formation flings it to the sky..."

Speaking up to that point, most of those present understood what Kali meant. So, Kali didn’t linger.

Yasenia hugged Kali’s soft body from behind, her tail entangling with Kali’s tails. "It seems like so. Such weird meteorological events... is your treasure not reacting at all, Honey?"

"It isn’t." Kali shook her head. "I was also somewhat certain that part of my Natural Treasure was here. However, it doesn’t seem like it."

"By the way, how many more chunks are left?"

Kali leaned back onto Yasenia’s curves, and feeling the softness, she answered languidly. "I believe there should be four more. Now that the structure is much more complete, I can tell that it is at least four, and at most eight pieces."

"So many..." Yasenia couldn’t help but sigh. "I wonder how or why your Natural Treasure got blasted into so many pieces. We’ve recovered five of them, yet there are so many left..."

Kali laughed. "Its current strength is already very high, so don’t worry much. I believe that one or two more pieces will give it recovering capabilities."

"Recovering?"

Evelyn asked, intrigued. Kali nodded. "If I get one or two pieces, depending on size, the Natural Treasure will regain its ability to grow once more. Currently, it has a fixed quality, which is Five Star Supreme Rank."

Yasenia hummed and then glanced at the entrance. "So... shall we go inside? Or do we go back first?" ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

Dune spoke. "Lady Yasenia. I am unaware of what you have to do outside. Still, finding these places is a matter of luck. I believe that entering and exploring them has priority."

Yasenia asked, puzzled. "Can’t we leave a beacon marker here?"

Dune smiled wryly. "If it were so easy, I would’ve guided you straightforwardly to the ruins we encountered. Sadly, beacons and such don’t work due to the interference of the zone. They are not completely useless, but their range is limited to a few kilometers."

Tatyana glanced at Yasenia and spoke softly. "Yasenia, Forbidden Zones have turbulent flows of energy. So, all communication is usually limited by distance. Similar to how your Spiritual Sense, which can usually cover entire worlds easily, can now only spread a few dozen kilometers in the air, and perhaps even less in the dunes."

Feeling convinced, Yasenia nodded. "Let’s dive inside, then. I am curious what the ruins in this area have."