dognovel Chapter 126 Sandstorm
Chapter 126 Sandstorm
Yang Qingfeng led the group to continue their journey on the ark, encountering many other arks from other sects and factions along the way.
"Senior Sister Yuan, look, is that the Ark of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion? Their Ark is so beautiful!" Xu Xiaoxiao watched as a blue crystal Ark flew past them, noticing the flag on it that read "Heavenly Mystery Pavilion."
"You read that right, it's the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion. I heard that all of their top ten disciples have come this time, including Su Miaoyin, who you competed with before." Yuan Mengyao frowned as she looked at their flying speed. Many disciples with high cultivation levels had come this time. She wondered if they could find any useful resources among them.
"It's been so many years since I've seen Sister Su. I wonder what level her cultivation has reached now." Xu Xiaoxiao seemed even happier to hear that there was someone she knew.
"Don't be too happy yet. Her cultivation level is about the same as yours, which means our opponent is stronger." Yuan Mengyao flicked her forehead when she saw her laughing too happily, to bring her back to reality.
"Senior Sister Yuan, I will work even harder in my cultivation," Xu Xiaoxiao said coquettishly, pretending to be hurt by the flick.
"I must have hit it too hard, let me see," Yuan Mengyao went to check her forehead, really afraid that she had hurt her junior sister.
"Senior sister, it's alright. I was just pretending. Let's go cultivate now and try to break through as soon as possible." Xu Xiaoxiao took Yuan Mengyao's arm and walked towards her room.
Xu Xiaoxiao held Yuan Mengyao's arm tightly, her face beaming with a bright smile. Her big eyes sparkled, and the corners of her mouth turned up, revealing two deep dimples. She said coquettishly, "Senior sister, let's go quickly!" With that, she pulled Yuan Mengyao and walked quickly toward the room.
Upon entering the room, Xu Xiaoxiao immediately released Yuan Mengyao's arm, her expression becoming serious and resolute.
"Senior Sister Yuan, let's begin." Xu Xiaoxiao took out a defensive array to cover the entire room, preventing anyone from breaking in and disturbing them when they were most focused.
"Xiaoxiao is still the most reliable," Yuan Mengyao said, sitting cross-legged on the ground and giving Xu Xiaoxiao a thumbs up.
The two quickly entered a meditative state, immersed in cultivation, with the only sound being the subtle flow of spiritual energy in the surroundings.
Suddenly, the ark lurched violently, and the tea set on the table fell to the ground and shattered.
Xu Xiaoxiao opened her eyes instantly, her gaze still carrying the lingering light of spiritual energy. She quickly stood up and looked around warily.
Outside the window, the once calm sky was now obscured by rolling yellow sand, and a howling wind swept in, making the ark sway precariously.
The gale was like an angry beast, roaring deafeningly, its sharp winds seeming to tear everything apart.
The air was thick with a pungent, dusty smell, making it difficult to breathe.
Yuan Mengyao also stood up, her expression grave, gripping her long whip tightly, and shouted, "Oh no, we've probably encountered a sandstorm!"
She stood tall and straight, her clothes fluttering in the wind, a few strands of hair blowing onto her face, but she paid no attention to them.
Xu Xiaoxiao's face was slightly pale, but her eyes were firm. She quickly went to Yuan Mengyao's side and said loudly, "Senior Sister Yuan, we have to find a way to stabilize Fangzhou!"
As she spoke, she quickly formed hand seals, attempting to mobilize spiritual energy to reinforce the ark's defenses.
However, the sandstorm was too powerful, and every output of spiritual energy was like a stone sinking into the sea, mercilessly blown away by the gale.
Sensing something amiss, everyone came out of their rooms and used their spiritual power to reinforce the barrier on the ark.
The ark continued to rock violently in the gale, seemingly on the verge of being swept into the endless sea of sand.
Yuan Mengyao and Xu Xiaoxiao supported each other, trying to stand firm, their eyes revealing a hint of anxiety and determination as they prepared to face this sudden and severe challenge.
Seeing that everyone was struggling more and more, Yang Qingfeng used his spiritual power to land the ark first. "Disciples, listen to my command! Hold on, we will get the ark safely to the ground first and then look for a more suitable solution."
Everyone obeyed the order and took out their defensive magical artifacts to defend themselves, making it difficult for the barrier to be broken so easily.
Seeing that some of her senior brothers and sisters were running out of spiritual energy, Xu Xiaoxiao quickly fed each of them a Rejuvenation Pill.
"Thank you," the senior brothers and sisters who had taken the pills said to Xu Xiaoxiao with gratitude.
The ark rocked violently in the gale, like a lone boat adrift in raging waves, at any moment it could be swallowed by the sea of sand.
Yang Qingfeng stood at the bow of the ship, his clothes being torn behind him by the gale, his hair flying wildly, but his eyes were as firm as an eagle's as he stared intently at the blurry ground below, channeling his spiritual power to try and control the ark's descent.
Yuan Mengyao and Xu Xiaoxiao came to the bow of the boat, leaning on each other, and stood side by side with Yang Qingfeng.
Yuan Mengyao brandished her long whip, the tip of which shimmered with spiritual energy, creating faint barriers in the gale to try and reduce the direct impact of the wind on the bow of the ship.
She bit her lower lip tightly, her cheeks flushed slightly from the effort, her forehead covered in sweat, but her eyes were focused and resolute.
Xu Xiaoxiao quickly formed hand seals and chanted incantations, continuously injecting spiritual power into the bottom of the ark to slow down the descent. Her face was as pale as paper, and her body trembled slightly in the gale, but her eyes were firm and fearless.
The other disciples were scattered throughout the ark, each doing their own thing.
Some disciples summoned defensive magical artifacts, continuously pouring their spiritual power into them. The artifacts shimmered, forming a faint shield around the ark, but it was constantly eroded by the wind and sand, causing the light to flicker unpredictably.
Some disciples paired up, supporting each other and working together to cast defensive spells. Their hands moved, and spiritual energy wove into a net to barely resist the onslaught of the gale.
But as the ark gradually approached the ground, the wind became stronger and stronger, and everyone struggled more and more. Many disciples swayed and almost lost their footing.
Seeing that the ark was about to crash into the ground out of control, Yang Qingfeng shouted, "Everyone, hold on! Follow my instructions!"
He suddenly raised both hands upwards, using all his spiritual power to try to lift the bow of the ark.
Yuan Mengyao understood immediately. With a flick of her whip, she wrapped it around the railing on one side of the ark and used the force to pull it to the other side to balance the ark's tilt.
Xu Xiaoxiao quickly went to the disciples whose spiritual energy was exhausted, forcibly stuffing pills into their mouths while shouting, "Hang in there, everyone!"
With everyone working together, the ark finally landed slowly on the ground at a tilted angle.
The moment it landed, a cloud of dust rose up, the ship shook violently, and everyone staggered, but they all breathed a sigh of relief.
At this moment, the surrounding sandstorm was still howling. Although the ark had landed, it was still in danger of being buried by the sandstorm. No one dared to slack off in the slightest and continued to rely on the remaining spiritual power and magical artifacts to maintain the last defense.
As soon as the ark landed, a gale-force wind carrying yellow sand engulfed it instantly like a surging tide.
Yang Qingfeng's eyes were sharp, and his hands moved quickly with hand seals. He uttered a low shout of "Collect," and the ark rapidly shrank, disappearing into his pocket.
He turned to the crowd and shouted, "Everyone, follow me closely and head towards the big rock ahead!"
The strong wind tore at his voice, making it sound fragmented, but everyone could hear the determination in it.
Yang Qingfeng, with his agile figure, struggled to carve out a path through the wind and sand.
He stood tall and straight, his steps steady yet somewhat hurried, each step kicking up a cloud of dust.
His clothes fluttered wildly in the gale, and his hair danced wildly in the wind, but his eyes remained fixed on the large rock in front of him, without flinching.
Yuan Mengyao followed closely behind, occasionally waving her long whip to disperse the small vortexes of sand and dust that rushed towards her.
Her brows were furrowed, her eyes were wary, and her face was slightly dull from the wind and sand.
She would occasionally turn around to check on her junior brothers and sisters. If she saw someone staggering, she would reach out and pull them up, shouting, "Everyone, be careful!"
Xu Xiaoxiao helped an injured senior sister as they struggled to move forward through the sandstorm.
Her eyes were stung by the sandstorm, and tears streamed down her face, but she simply wiped them away hastily with her sleeve and continued on her way.
Her face was flushed red from the wind, her lips were chapped, but her eyes showed a stubbornness.
She gently comforted her injured senior sister: "Senior sister, we're almost there, just hang in there a little longer."
The group continued on their journey and came across an abandoned, damaged airship.
The airship's hull was mottled and eroded by wind and sand, and the cabin door was teetering on the verge of collapse, making a creaking sound in the gale.
Some of the sails had been torn apart by the gale and were flying wildly in the wind, like desperate distress signals. It seemed that they were not the only ones who had encountered a sandstorm.
Finally, they reached the large rock. Yang Qingfeng ran to the back of the rock first, then turned around and called to the others, "Come on, hide behind the rock!" The group filed in, huddled together, listening to the howling wind outside the rock, their hearts filled with the relief of surviving a disaster.
They huddled together, panting, but their eyes still held a wariness of the unknown, preparing to face the challenges that the sandstorm would bring.
Some of the injured disciples quickly sat down to regulate their breathing and heal their wounds, so as not to become a burden to the sect.
Xu Xiaoxiao quickly took some medicine to regulate her chaotic spiritual energy. After half an incense stick's time, Xu Xiaoxiao withdrew her spiritual energy and went to Yang Qingfeng's side. She saw Yang Qingfeng frowning as he looked at the sandstorm outside, seemingly lost in thought. It was because they had set up a small isolation array here that they had this chance to catch their breath.
Xu Xiaoxiao's expression also turned serious. "Senior Brother Yang, we just saw a damaged, abandoned ark on the road. There must be disciples from other sects here. Could they be..."
Yang Qingfeng was also thinking about this problem. "Junior Sister Xu is right. In such a harsh environment, it's common for people to kill, rob, and steal resources. So we must be careful from now on. Once everyone has recovered, we'll discuss countermeasures together."