CHAPTER 262: CHAPTER 262: ENDLESS DESERT, UNICORN

Maiev and Nalorin Sylvia were stunned. They were just watching the show—how did this get pinned on them?

Maiev frowned. "Don’t slander me. Master and I are clean."

Honestly, not explaining might have been better; that title made people think more.

"Yeah, Johnnie is my Master. Don’t think so poorly of him!" Nalorin Sylvia glared at Finn. If not for Johnnie’s sake, she would’ve already acted.

"What do you mean? Are you saying my sister is the one who’s shameless?" Finn snapped, already fuming.

"I didn’t mean that!" Nalorin Sylvia frowned.

"Enough!" Atlas cut them off. "Right now the most important thing is saving Cecilia."

Johnnie nodded, looked at Blade King, and asked, "Why did Pitiless take Cecilia?"

Blade King shook his head. "I don’t know the exact reason, but it should also be related to the Dragon Pulse."

Johnnie felt he wasn’t lying. If it was for the Dragon Pulse, she probably wouldn’t be in danger for now.

He asked again, "Where is Pitiless?"

"In the depths of the Hundred-Thousand Snow Mountains. I don’t know the exact spot," Blade King said. "That place is forbidden. No living being dares set foot there."

He paused, then added, "Human, I’ve told you what you want to know. Will you spare me?"

"Spare you?" Johnnie sneered. This guy abducted Cecilia—he had to die.

Coldly, he said, "I won’t trap you in The Map of Heaven and Earth again, but you still have to die. Maiev, do it!"

Maiev and Nalorin Sylvia struck without hesitation.

Blade King watched them coldly and didn’t resist. He knew he wasn’t their match now.

Besides, dying here wouldn’t destroy his Divine Soul. In a month he could rebuild a body and be fine.

Working together, the two women easily killed Blade King.

If the Seven Sword hadn’t been corroded by poison mist, Johnnie would’ve killed him himself.

When Blade King died, only one divine essence dropped, and his Divine Soul fled.

Seeing the fleeing Divine Soul, a new idea came to Johnnie.

When a Domain dies, a divine essence is guaranteed to drop. Could he use this to mass-produce divine essences?

With enough divine essences, he could mass-produce Domains.

For players, reaching stage 9, peak isn’t that hard.

The hardest part is the godhood heavenly tribulation. It’s terrifying; almost no players can withstand it.

But with a divine essence, you can refine it to become a god directly and skip the heavenly tribulation.

Though this path is weaker than becoming a god through tribulation, for regular players it’s a great choice.

Johnnie was tempted, but rescuing Cecilia mattered most now. He’d think about it later.

"Seniors, please return to The Map of Heaven and Earth first. I promise I will save Cecilia," he said to Atlas and the others, solemnly.

Their strength was too low to help and would only hold him back.

Atlas nodded and warned, "Not just Cecilia—my great-great-grandchild must be safe too."

"Okay." Johnnie agreed seriously. With a thought, he drew them into The Map of Heaven and Earth.

The Hundred-Thousand Snow Mountains lay at the far west of the land of confusion, covered in ice and snow all year, harsh and deadly—a forbidden zone for life.

No one dared go there except Pitiless.

Johnnie led Nalorin Sylvia and Benz west toward the Snow Mountains.

Monsters kept popping up in the forests along the way.

Johnnie didn’t make a move; Nalorin Sylvia and Benz killed them all.

Besides monsters, many strong folk of other races were around too, most of them searching for the Dragon Pulse.

As long as they didn’t provoke him, Johnnie left them alone.

"Master, they look like players!" Nalorin Sylvia stopped. Fighting sounds came from ahead—a group of players were battling monsters.

Players came in here too?

Johnnie was puzzled. These players weren’t strong. The leading knight was only stage 7. On the Universe Continent that’s top-tier, but in the land of confusion it’s near the bottom.

Even if they wanted to level up, this isn’t the place they’d choose.

"Go." Seeing them surrounded and in danger, Johnnie moved without hesitation and saved them.

Buzz!

The Intent of the Sword hummed. Hundreds of cold flashes of light cut down the forest wolves with ease.

The rescued players let out a breath.

The lead knight hurried over and said gratefully, "Thank you, guru, for saving us."

He also noticed Johnnie was a player, so he wasn’t too surprised.

Johnnie nodded and asked, "Why did you enter the land of confusion?"

"Guru, you don’t know?" The knight looked confused. "There’s news that the Dragon Pulse has appeared here. Our guild came to find it, but the monsters are terrifying—way beyond what we can handle."

"The Dragon Pulse news spread that fast?" Johnnie frowned. He’d only heard about it from Nalorin Sylvia.

The demon race and the big powers were trying to block the news. It shouldn’t have spread so quickly. Even regular players being drawn here was clearly not normal.

Nalorin Sylvia also frowned. "Someone must be spreading it on purpose to stir things up."

Johnnie nodded, looked at the knight again, and asked, "Do you know the exact location?"

"We do." The knight pointed deeper into the woods. "Go through this forest and over a mountain range, and you’ll be there. But dragons are guarding it. I heard they’re all stage 7 and above."

Dragons!

Johnnie’s eyes lit up. The Dragon Patterned Sword needs dragon slaying to advance.

And Red Carp, the Dragon Patterned Sword’s Sword Soul, is already at stage 9 peak. If the sword advances, she might break through to stage 10 or even higher.

"Master, are we going to slay those dragons?" Red Carp’s excited voice sounded.

Johnnie said, "We save Cecilia first, then we check out the Dragon Pulse."

The snow mountains weren’t in the same direction as the Dragon Pulse.

Johnnie wasn’t in a rush to explore. Saving Cecilia came first.

No one objected, and they kept heading west.

...

Three days later, they finally came out of the forest. A barren scene spread before them—a vast desert.

Benz scratched his head. "My lord, did we go the wrong way? This is a desert. There are no snow mountains."

Johnnie was puzzled too, but he was sure the direction was right.

Blade King likely hadn’t lied.

He should’ve asked for more details.

"Keep going. Maybe the snow mountains are past this desert." Johnnie took a deep breath and stepped into the yellow sands.

Whoosh!

A wave of heat swept over them. Sand filled the air, stinging their faces.

"Huh? We can’t fly here?" Nalorin Sylvia sounded surprised. She tried to rise into the air to see the desert’s edge, but an invisible force pressed down on her—flying was impossible.

This vast desert was strange. Looked like they could only cross it on foot.

With no choice, Johnnie and the others started walking.

Rustle... rustle...

Sand hissed under their feet as they trudged on, their steps sinking deep and shallow into the dunes.

Soon the forest behind them vanished from sight. Everywhere they looked was rolling yellow sand, barren and empty.

Oddly, no Monsters showed up along the way.

It felt like there was no life in this desert at all.

Night fell, and they ran into another headache:

They couldn’t tell direction anymore.

"Sylvia, can you still tell which way to go?" Johnnie asked.

Nalorin Sylvia shook her head, scanning around for any landmark she could use.

But under the dark sky, it was just sand and more sand. Nothing to go by.

"My lord, just keep going straight. Can’t go wrong," Benz said with confidence.

Johnnie and Nalorin Sylvia both shot him a look like he was an idiot.

Go straight?

They couldn’t even be sure they were walking in a straight line.

"Don’t force it. Let’s rest for the night," Johnnie said.

He’d been on edge for days. Now that he could relax a bit, the fatigue hit him hard.

He didn’t log off though. Resting in-game was fine too.

Nalorin Sylvia raised a hand. Divine power flowed out, putting up a barrier that kept out the blowing sand. Even the wind noise dropped a lot.

It was blistering hot here during the day, but at night it turned chilly.

The temperature shift didn’t bother them much.

Before long, Benz started snoring like thunder.

Johnnie and Nalorin Sylvia looked at each other, both tempted to toss him out.

They held back.

Nalorin Sylvia set up another layer of barrier, and the snoring faded. They both sighed in relief.

"Master, you rest. I’ll keep watch," she said.

This was still unknown territory. Even if nothing had happened yet, they couldn’t relax.

"Okay." Johnnie didn’t refuse. He really was exhausted. He lay down on the sand and quickly fell asleep.

Nalorin Sylvia sat cross-legged, resting her chin in her hand as she watched Johnnie sleep, her eyes shining with unreadable thoughts.

"Sigh... maybe I shouldn’t have taken this guy as my master..."

She sighed softly, muttering to herself. For some reason she felt restless and couldn’t calm down to cultivate.

Outside, the sand still flew, but the night grew a bit brighter.

The moon had risen.

A bright full moon hung high, but it still didn’t help with directions.

Nalorin Sylvia stared blankly at the clear moon.

"Huh?"

She let out a startled sound and shot to her feet. Under the moonlight, a figure whiter than the moon itself flashed across the sky.

It was a tall steed, pure white like jade, with wings on its back and a single horn on its head, walking on air.

"Pegasus? Or an illusion?"

She shook her head, but the sight didn’t fade. She realized it wasn’t an illusion.

"Master, something’s up!" She hurried to wake Johnnie.

Mm?

Johnnie opened his eyes and saw a pure white horse in midair, walking on the wind.

No—this was a unicorn!