The nature of the sandy ground changed, and Earth Escape could not burrow into the earth. Moreover, there was a force in the sand and soil that Lu Yu could not perceive, restricting his movement.

Although he couldn't sense that force, Lu Yu was very familiar with this nature-altering ability, having just used it not long ago.

Precisely because he couldn't feel the power within the sand and soil, Lu Yu confirmed that the sand manipulator before him was using God Soul Power.

He looked at the giant hand descending from above with a solemn face.

Boom! A giant palm print with a hundred-meter diameter appeared on the ground, the earth sank more than two meters, and yellow sand filled the sky, obscuring vision.

With a mental command, Sha Tong made the sky-full of yellow sand fall, revealing Lu Yu's figure. Surprisingly, he was unharmed. Sha Tong showed a look of astonishment, not expecting Lu Yu could withstand his attack unscathed.

Returning to a second before, as the giant sandy hand was about to fall, Lu Yu pointed upward, the Great Annihilation Finger creating a cavity right above him just large enough to accommodate himself.

Though the giant sandy hand seemed to hit Lu Yu, in reality, he hid within the hand's opening and was unharmed.

Seeing the surprise on Sha Tong's face, Lu Yu's tension eased considerably; the opponent seemed unaware that he poked a hole in the giant sandy hand.

This force wasn't his own, and not being able to perceive subtle changes in it was entirely normal.

In simple terms, Sha Tong could only use this power without receiving feedback from it.

Even so, the chances of Lu Yu defeating Sha Tong were negligible.

"Asura Slash!"

The sharp blade energy sliced through the air with a hissing sound. Sha Tong saw Lu Yu's attack and casually summoned a sand wall to block it in front of him.

However, the blade energy that could cut through gold and jade left not a mark on the seemingly loose sand wall.

Sha Tong spread his five fingers towards Lu Yu, causing the yellow sand around him to transform into countless spikes, raining down and covering every inch of Lu Yu's space.

Watching the spikes descending like a torrential rain, Lu Yu constantly evaded, his figure leaving afterimages in the air.

To Lu Yu, whose dynamic vision was enhanced by his ice jade pupils, this seemingly dense attack was filled with gaps. He easily dodged all spikes with a leisurely stride.

If Sha Tong had a slightly higher ability to control this power and could change the direction of the spikes in the air, Lu Yu wouldn't appear so relaxed.

Seeing his attack being dodged, Sha Tong's first thought was to increase his power.

Instantly, hundreds of spikes turned into thousands, reducing the gaps between them. Dodging became more difficult for Lu Yu, appearing perilous.

The ground fragmented as Lu Yu dodged, constantly approaching Yellow Sand City.

He didn't believe it—would Sha Tong dare to chase him into Yellow Sand City?

The commotion from their fight had long alerted the guards within Yellow Sand City. Rather than saying it was Lu Yu and Sha Tong's battle that alarmed them, it was more accurate to say it was the commotion from the Asura demon's self-explosion that did.

The chief guard of Yellow Sand City, Chen Pei'en, led the soldiers out of the city to investigate the explosion outside.

The Western Desert Border had not seen such a disturbance for hundreds of years. Since the Desert Dynasty's fall a thousand years ago, Western Desert's foreign races had voluntarily distanced themselves from the Great Zhou Dynasty and hadn't appeared on its borders for centuries.

For the first time, Chen Pei'en, as the chief guard of Yellow Sand City, was leading troops into battle. He felt both excited and a little anxious.

Watching Lu Yu, whom he couldn't hit, Sha Tong felt both angry and furious. He realized he was being toyed with by Lu Yu; despite accelerating and strengthening his attack twice, Lu Yu still maintained that look of almost collapsing.

"Sand's Coagulation of Space!"

Sha Tong expressionlessly uttered four words, and the divine source power within rapidly drained away.

Instantly, Lu Yu felt the space freeze. It was as if he were an insect trapped in amber, unable to move.

His eyes darted, catching sight of Sha Tong's figure approaching him, a sharp spear formed from yellow sand in his hand, glittering with an indestructible light.

"Frozen space?" Lu Yu's mind raced, seeking a way to break this predicament.

With his whole body restrained, using the Great Annihilation Finger to shatter this vast space wasn't an option—he neither had the time nor the capability.

Sha Tong stepped on yellow sand stairs forming beneath him, continually approaching Lu Yu. He wanted Lu Yu to experience the fear before death, to feel the overwhelming power.

His eyes shifted to the sand stairs beneath Sha Tong's feet, the sand spear in his hand, the sand that previously trapped his legs, the descending giant sandy hand, the falling sand spikes...

A breeze swept by, and a flash of inspiration struck Lu Yu's mind, "It's not frozen space!".

He boldly hypothesized that the God Soul Power of the Sand Emperor's hall sand manipulator could only control yellow sand.

He expanded his perception, detecting countless micro-dust particles suspended in the air, all immobilized. Not a single particle budged even as the wind blew.

Lu Yu understood how Sha Tong was limiting his movements. He lacked the ability to control space; he used ever-present micro-dust to create a false illusion of spatial freezing.

Knowing the truth about Sha Tong's "Sand's Coagulation of Space," Lu Yu devised a countermeasure.

His right hand, densely covered in black characters, swelled with vast spiritual power. The power of the Great Annihilation Finger was activated, but Lu Yu did not use it for attack; instead, the gray annihilation power spread across Lu Yu's body surface.