Chapter 1164: Palace, Tunnel

More than one hundred martial artists were gathered in the hall of Dragon Gate Inn. They sat beside the braziers and discussed the plot related to the inn.

Phantasmal Shadow’s party had naturally gained the upper hand in this quest.

The group with the second strongest advantage was Niu Dali’s Stained Shirt Sect, who was a local sect in West Region. He worked together with some of the scattered forces of power in the quest and the people from Embroidered Uniform Guards to form a power that could fight on equal footing with Wind Assault Tower.

Silver Wolf and his party might be insignificant, but due to the sect emblem on their chests, they could occupy a spot of their own in an imposing manner, and they were not harassed in the slightest.

Lovely Land was famous in West Region as well.

Due to One Emperor winning the two battles at Thailand and Vietnam, no one dared to underestimate the Chinese players’ ability to fight outside their borders anymore, and no one would dare to readily offend the sect masters from Lovely Land as well.

Besides, while Silver Wolf was not famous in the game, during the battle at Song House, Happy had mentioned his name twice, and now, his name had spread far and wide as well.

Also, even Phantasmal Shadow had made a guess that Happy might have come to West Region, so the others must have definitely made the same guess. Normal people would not actively search for trouble and make their own lives miserable, after all, so they would not bother Silver Wolf and his party.

“No matter what, she’s the second most influential person in the Chinese plains.”

Silver Wolf observed the people in the inn while he sat in a corner. He mumbled, “Most people have already given up on the quest in the desert palace and decided to focus on Dragon Gate Inn’s quest, but judging by her expression, she wants to clear both quests.”

“It’s not strange for her to think this way. Wind Assault Tower might not be as famous as Lovely Land, but it was once the leading power in the Chinese plains.” Knife took a small sip from his cup.

Even though it had been a short time since they joined Lovely Land, after they found a branch and settled there, the party of four had already understood the situation in Lovely Land clearly. At the same time, they gained an even clearer understanding of Lovely Land’s system. Naturally, they knew that Lovely Land was on the path of becoming a proper sect, and they were a strong and new force of power full of life and vigor.

“It’s a pity that she lost the wariness that she should have when she reached the peak of her power, or else, why would she have let Blood Robes become independent from Class One Hall and set up his own sect, and why could she have let Dream Clouds have the chance to set up twelve major sects in Beijing in such a relaxed manner? In the end, Dream Clouds was the one who controlled the Chinese plains in secret.”

Silver Wolf smiled coldly.

Right now, due to the competition for the title of the strongest in Lovely Land, none of the elites in Lovely Land had relaxed because they had become the strongest in the Chinese plains. Instead, because of the legacy from Song House and all the rewards, they were motivated to train diligently day and night. They grinded at full force to accumulate strength.

As of current, Lovely Land’s development speed was much faster and fiercer than any of the sects in the Chinese plains, unlike the sects that appeared saturated and powerless once they became too big. Even Silver Wolf and his party could sense an unprecedented pressure, and he was not entirely certain as to whether he could seize the title of the strongest in Lovely Land.

And since the sect had been able to make even Silver Wolf feel pressured, he believed that soon, Lovely Land could turn into an organization that could fight against Wild Wolves on its own, much less a formerly powerful sect that had been torn to shreds because of Class One Hall and was currently working hard to repair itself.

“Wind Assault Tower will definitely gain a lot of benefits if they manage to get the treasures from the desert palace. It’s understandable that Phantasmal Shadow came here to take a risk. If I were her, I wouldn’t miss the chance either.

“Unfortunately, the quest should have been activated by our sect master. Phantasmal Shadow doesn’t even know what is going on with it, so her chances of getting into the desert palace are slim to none.”

When he said this, Silver Wolf suddenly frowned and turned his head to look at the door. There was an attentive look on his face.

Knife and the others, along with all the players in the inn, turned to the door one after another as well.

Bang!

As disorderly and rapid footsteps as well as the sounds of fluttering sleeves rose, the wooden bolt behind the door was broken with a bang, and people stumbled in while the sand danced madly outside.

A large group of people rushed into the inn.

Cold wind rushed in, and the players in the inn sucked in sharp breaths. They felt as if the cold was seeping into their bones.

Bang! Bang!

The people sitting near the entrance were the first ones to fly into a rage. They stood up quickly and were prepared to yell at them. Some of them even drew their weapons.

But when they sensed the qi realms of the people who stood still, the curses that were already at the tips of their tongues died away.

The people who came over from the ruins were practically all Myth Realm elites. The people who took the lead and charged into the inn were all powerful martial artists at the peak of Myth Realm as well.

Even though there were no shortage of Myth Realm elites in the inn, this was still a world where the strong ruled. The players still did not have the right to challenge those at the peak of Myth Realm. After all, these people were all qualified to become sect masters.

The crowd got up and watched dumbly as more Myth Realm elites rushed in. They got up and left their own tables.

“What’s going on?”

“Damn it! You destroyed my door again?! How am I supposed to open for business now?!” Jin Xiangyu walked out of her room on the first floor while she pulled her clothes around herself. When she saw the shattered wood laying horizontally on both sides of the door, she glared at the people and started cursing them. However, the cunning owner of the inn knew what was going on, and she did not mention any names.

“Owner, the black sandstorm is here. We’ll be using your place to avoid the sandstorm for a while. This is our lodging fee.” One of the martial artists in the lead was at the peak of Myth Realm. He knew that he was in the wrong, and he did not intend to cause any trouble. He threw two golden leaves to Jin Xiangyu.

Once she took the golden leaves, Jin Xiangyu’s expression changed drastically. “Black sandstorm?”

For the first time ever, Jin Xiangyu did not look at the golden leaves in her hands. When she saw more people enter her inn, she quickly stomped down the stairs.

A few of the employees in the inn also rushed out from their rooms.

“A black sandstorm?!”

Their faces were filled with panic.

“What’s going on?”

The people who came from the Chinese plains did not understand what was going on, but when they saw that the West Regioners beside them had turned pale and frightened, they had a general idea of what was going on—something bad happened.

The players reacted in the same way.

“Shut the door! Quick! Shut the door!”

Right when Jin Xiangyu arrived at the door, she sensed a strong wind of unmatched force blowing at her. The sand cut at her skin like knives, and right when she reached the entrance, she could no longer stand on steady feet.

“I haven’t entered just yet! Why are you shutting the door?!”

Many people were still rushing to the inn. When they saw that the inn had been shut, they started cursing.

However, at the moment the door was shut, the people in the inn could already see black tornador connecting to the sky, along with a sandstorm that covered the sky.

“Hiss…”

The power of nature made all the people in the inn sense the fear toward death.

Bang!

The two doors, which were never sturdy to begin with, were completely crushed.

“Young Wu, open the tunnel!”

Jin Xiangyu no longer had the coquettish air she usually had. She shouted and had her employees rush into the kitchen.

At that moment, everyone received a system notification.

“Ding!

“You’ve encountered the black sandstorm, a phenomenon that appears once every fifty years!

“It is rumored that once the black sandstorm passes, the desert palace will show up. Once you get through the black sandstorm, you will be able to see the desert palace.”

“Follow Jin Xiangyu!”

At the moment he received the notification from the system, Silver Wolf was just in time to see Jin Xiangyu and her employees rush into the kitchen. He quickly sent a signal to Knife, Bar, and Thunder.

Whoosh!

The party simultaneously chased after Jin Xiangyu.

“The inn has been destroyed!”

“Jin Xiangyu ran!”

“Hurry! If you want to live, enter the tunnel!”

Right when the party entered the kitchen, they heard chaotic shouts ring from behind them.

Phantasmal Shadow and the rest might have seen Jin Xiangyu and Silver Wolf’s party enter the tunnel, but the Wind Assault Tower members were more concerned about Wu Kuo and co, who had followed the young man in white, Evil King, and the others to head to the ruins of the former Dragon Gate Inn.

Right now, the elites from the ruins had all returned to hide from the disaster, but Wu Kuo and his company were nowhere to be found. They were incredibly worried.

“Wu Kuo!”

“Hurry up and send a messenger pigeon over!”

Phantasmal Shadow did not panic like the others.

Since the white-clad young man and the other elites in the dao of heaven did not show up, there might be some sort of secret in this. Phantasmal Shadow forced herself to remain calm and waited in the inn. More people headed into Jin Xiangyu’s tunnel, but the people from Wind Assault Tower stayed back with grim determination to wait for Wu Kuo.

Boom!

Wu Kuo led two people and rushed in a pathetic manner.

“‘m…’ere…”

“‘urry up ‘n go!”

Wu Kuo and the other two had their mouths and noses filled with sand, and their bodies were covered in wounds as well. Right after they rushed in, the first thing they did was to grab Phantasmal Shadow and the others.

Phantasmal Shadow’s expression changed.

“What about those people?”

“Bah! Let’s go! Those lunatics stayed at the ruins and didn’t come over! I reckon they’re already swallowed up by the black sandstorm! We have to leave! If we don’t, it’ll be too late!”

Wu Kuo spat out the sand in his mouth and hastily urged Phantasmal Shadow to take action.

Phantasmal Shadow might still not be able to give up on the fortuitous event by the elites in the dao of heaven, but when she saw that the practically substantial tornado outside the inn had almost drawn close to the stable in the inn and countless horses neighed in panic while they were dragged up to the sky, she knew that even if she went over right now, she would die. She gritted her teeth and gave her order.

“Let’s go! We’re entering the tunnel!

“Open the path!”

Boom!

Before Dragon Gate Inn was destroyed, the ruins of the former Dragon Gate Inn was already trampled about so badly by the black sandstorm that it had already disappeared without a trace.

A huge tunnel that was so deep that the end could not be seen appeared from under the ground at the place where the seven elites in the dao of heaven originally were. Then, together with the chains connected to the door of the tunnel, the tunnel was slowly buried by the yellow sand that filled the air.

“Ding!”

When he was in the dark environment, Happy suddenly heard the clear sound of the system notification. “You found the tunnel to the ruins.”

Thud!

Thousand-faced Human Fox brought an item out of his sleeves and flung it in the air. A red spark quickly started burning brightly before it turned into flames to illuminate all that was in the rather wide tunnel.

“Master! Master, are you alright?

“I’m fine. Where’s Osaya?”

“I’m here.”

Happy patted away the dust from his body and quickly activated his spirit sense to locate Osaya, who clung to a high spot with just one hand.

It was rather surprising.

At the moment the chains appeared on the empty area of the ruins, one of Martial Paragon Bi Xuan’s followers followed his order and yanked at the mechanism. The entire ruins sank underground. The seven elites in the dao of heaven, including the hundreds of elites nearby were all affected. Everything within a circular area of 328 feet that did not have anything that could serve as platforms for them to jump sank.

Since Osaya was in the dao of heaven, she was in a slightly better condition. She did not end up covered in dust.

“Gusu’s Blue-robed Hero, you’re skilled indeed. Even if this happened, you remained safe…”

Osaya floated down and saw that Happy was covered in dust. She could not help but smile.

Happy did not care about Osaya’s teasing words. He looked around and said to Thousand-faced Human Fox, “Ten Thousand Years, this might be the tunnel leading to the desert palace. Be careful and check whether there are any traps here.”