The sandstorm breaks apart under the beating wings of the giant crows.
What remains is not an empty desert.
It is an army.
Stone puppets stand in rigid ranks across the dunes, humanoid figures carved from layered rock and metal veins, their bodies radiating cold, oppressive pressure. Most bear the physical strength of Bronze Wizards, while the larger, heavier constructs approach the power of Silver Wizards. Among them prowl thousands of sand wolves, their bodies half-formed of grit and shadow, eyes glowing with feral intelligence. These beasts are mostly First Grade, no stronger than wizard apprentices, yet their numbers turn them into a living tide.
At the centre of the formation, the Sand Wolf King raises its massive head and howls. Golden light ripples across its body, sand hardening into armour as its aura spreads outward. A Golden Wizard-level threat.
Above them, shadows shift.
Flying stone puppets—gargoyle constructs—drop from the clouds, wings grinding as they dive. Their physical strength ranges widely, from Bronze to Gold Wizard level, each one a weapon shaped for aerial slaughter.
Behind the enemy lines, members of the Divine Puppet Sect stand calmly, controlling their creations. Five Gold Wizards. Twenty-five Silver. Fifty Bronze. Five hundred apprentices.
The battlefield is set.
In the sky, Zhou An's voice rings out.
"Form up!"
The giant crows respond instantly, wings snapping into formation. They surge forward as one.
Then the gargoyles strike.
Stone claws tear through the air as flying puppets slam into the crows, the sky erupting into chaos. Feathers scatter. Stone shatters. Wind blades slice through wings and torsos alike. Crows scream and counterattack, talons ripping into stone, beaks piercing runes that hold the constructs together.
The aerial battle becomes a storm of bodies and debris.
On the ground, Chen Qi's voice cuts through the tension.
"Apprentices—fire!"
Five hundred wizard apprentices step forward behind the barrier, lifting their guns in unison. Arcane mechanisms hum as mana charges.
The night explodes with sound.
Bullets streak across the sand, tearing into the wolf pack. Sand wolves fall in droves, bodies collapsing back into loose grit as they are shredded. The sheer volume of fire keeps the beasts from advancing, thinning the tide before it can reach the barrier.
The official wizards move next.
Bronze and Silver Wizards step out from the barrier, spells already forming. Fireballs streak outward, lightning tears through stone ranks, and blades of compressed air slice apart puppets at the joints. Stone bodies collapse, shattered into rubble under coordinated assault.
Chen Qi strides forward, spear spinning in his hand.
A Divine Puppet Sect Gold Wizard steps out to meet him, metal-element energy surging around his body. Blades of floating steel form at his command, slashing toward Chen Qi from every angle.
Chen Qi answers with flame and shadow.
His spear thrusts forward, dark fire spiralling around the tip as it clashes with metal constructs. Explosions bloom in the air as fire meets steel. He chants sharply, shadow binding spells snapping around the enemy's limbs, slowing their movements.
Metal shrieks under pressure.
The two clash repeatedly, each impact sending shockwaves through the sand.
Elsewhere, Tian Ruyang charges.
The Sand Wolf King lunges to meet him, jaws wide, golden aura blazing. Tian Ruyang raises his Demon Sword, its blade screaming as it drinks in ambient energy.
They collide.
Claws meet steel.
The Demon Sword carves through sand-armour, leaving burning black wounds that refuse to heal. The Wolf King counters with crushing force, shockwaves rippling outward, but Tian Ruyang stands firm, eyes alight with ferocity.
Above them, cannons on the flying boats roar to life.
Heavy blasts rain down on the battlefield, each shot obliterating clusters of puppets and wolves alike. The ground is torn apart, dunes collapsing under relentless bombardment.
Slowly, the enemy lines break.
Divine Puppet Sect members fall back, constructs collapsing as control is lost. The gargoyles shatter under combined aerial assault. The Sand Wolf King staggers, driven back by Tian Ruyang's relentless strikes.
By dawn, the desert is littered with broken stone and scattered sand.
The wizards stand victorious.
Losses are light.
As the final echoes of battle fade into the desert wind, Chen Qi stands at the centre of the camp, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield with a commander's calm scrutiny.
Broken stone litters the sand.
Scattered grit marks where sand wolves fell and dissolved.
The wounded are few.
Then his eyes stop.
They rest on a young figure moving swiftly among the injured, hands steady, movements practised.
Chen Qin.
Chen Qi raises his voice, letting it carry across the camp.
"Chen Qin, take care of the wounded."
The young man straightens instantly.
"Yes, Grandfather."
He moves faster, coordinating with other apprentices, directing healing spells, stabilising injuries, and ensuring no one slips into danger.
Tian Ruyang walks up beside Chen Qi, Demon Sword resting against his shoulder, eyes still burning with unspent intent.
"Shall we give chase?"
His gaze follows the retreating traces of the enemy.
He wants the Sand Wolf King dead.
During their clash, an idea had taken root in his mind.
His mana and spirit are strong enough.
But his physique lags behind.
Raising it naturally to break through the Spiritual Wizard Realm would take too long.
The Sand Wolf King's blood is a shortcut.
A dangerous one.
But a real one.
Chen Qi does not answer immediately.
He studies the horizon.
"They're heading back to their camp on the plateau."
Tian Ruyang's brows knit together.
"So… we're not chasing?"
Chen Qi shakes his head slowly.
"We are."
He pauses, then continues.
"But not now."
"Let them return to their camp," Chen Qi says calmly. "Then we strike."
Tian Ruyang's eyes widen slightly.
"You want to wipe them all out."
Chen Qi nods once.
"A dead enemy causes no trouble later."
He does not intend to let the Divine Puppet Sect retreat, regroup, and return stronger.
Chen Qi raises his voice again, issuing orders without hesitation.
"All official wizards, except Chen Qin and the injured, prepare for immediate movement."
"Board the flying boats and the crows."
Apprentices move instantly, lowering platforms, stabilising mana lines.
Official wizards climb aboard the flying boats and mount the giant crows with practised ease.
Engines hum.
Wings beat.
The formation lifts silently into the night sky.
They move fast.
Too fast for scouts to warn anyone.
Ahead, the fleeing enemy reaches their camp, a fortress built into the rocky plateau, barriers already forming above it.
Chen Qi raises his hand.
"Fire."
The flying boats roar.
Cannons blaze, sending concentrated blasts of energy slamming into the barrier.
The impact ripples across its surface, light flaring violently.
The Divine Puppet Sect reacts quickly.
Like wizards, they use the spiritual node beneath the camp as the core of their array.
But their preparations are incomplete.
With the materials on hand, the flying boats can fire only six more times.
On the second volley, Chen Qi gives another order.
"Cast."
Spells rain down alongside the cannon fire, hammering the barrier from multiple angles.
At the same time, ten Silver Wizards break away from the formation and descend around the camp.
They form a precise ring.
Their power sinks into the ground.
Ley-lines tremble.
The Night Dynasty and the Divine Puppet Sect know how to use spiritual nodes.
But no one understands spiritual nodes better than wizards.
After Kaelan published the task of transforming spiritual nodes into magic energy nodes, most of the wizards present here had participated.
They researched.
They experimented.
They failed and succeeded again and again.
Now that knowledge is weaponised.
The power of the ten Silver Wizards seeps deep into the earth, threading through ley-lines and reaching the spiritual node beneath the camp.
They do not seize it.
They block it.
Only for a moment.
But that moment is enough.
The barrier flickers.
Cannons fire again.
Spells pour into the camp like a storm.
Explosions erupt inside the fortress as runes crack and shatter.
The defensive array fails to fully activate.
The wizards descend.
Flying boats hover overhead, cannons continuing to fire whenever targets appear.
Giant crows dive from the sky, tearing into escape routes, blocking every path outward.
The Divine Puppet Sect is trapped.
The battle lasts a full day.
Within that time, Chen Qin finishes stabilising the wounded and leads the remaining forces to join the assault.
By the time the sun rises again, the camp has fallen.
Not a single enemy escapes.
Chen Qi stands amidst the ruins and gives his next order.
"Transform the spiritual node."
He joins the process himself.
Mana flows.
Runes carve.
The spiritual node is reshaped into a magic energy node.
The feedback surges through Chen Qi's body, his magic circuit resonating violently.
For a brief instant, he feels the threshold of the Spiritual Wizard Realm.
He is closer than ever.
Tian Ruyang retrieves the corpse of the Sand Wolf King.
He seals it carefully, preserving every trace of blood and essence.
No one here can extract it yet.
That will come later.
When the wizard tower rises at the camp, it connects seamlessly into the greater network of wizard towers.
Tian Ruyang immediately requests books on Life Engineering.
He begins reading, studying, and preparing for the transformation he plans to force upon himself.
Days pass.
The camp is repaired.
Defences are reinforced until they surpass what existed before.
Then the Night Dynasty arrives.
Their army surrounds the camp and places it under siege.
They cannot break the wizard tower's barrier.
But the wizards cannot retaliate either.
The Night Dynasty positions itself just outside spell range.
Within cannon range—but the cannons are nearly empty, their ammunition exhausted during the assault.
The battlefield sinks into a stalemate.
Then the pressure changes.
An Earthly Official of the Divine Puppet Sect arrives.
The pressure descends before the figure is fully seen.
High above the plateau, the air twists and condenses, and a lone figure floats in the sky, robes unmoving despite the violent winds gathering around him. His presence alone bends the flow of mana, suppressing everything beneath it. This is no Golden Wizard, no half-step existence.
This is a Spiritual Wizard.
The Earthly Official raises one hand slowly.
Below the plateau, on all four sides, the desert responds.
Sand begins to undulate.
Not shift.
Not flow.
It heaves.
The ground swells like a living thing, dunes collapsing inward as something massive forces its way upward. Gigantic arms form first, then torsos, then heads crowned with jagged stone and compressed sand. One by one, sand giants rise, towering over the plateau, their bodies radiating heavy, crushing force.
Each giant lifts its gaze toward the camp.
Then they move.
Massive hands swing forward and slam into the barrier surrounding the wizard tower.
The impact is catastrophic.
Waves ripple violently across the barrier, light distorting as if struck by a tidal wave. The wizard tower shudders, runes flaring wildly as stabilisation arrays scream under the strain. Even the plateau beneath trembles, cracks racing across stone as the force transfers downward.
Inside the camp, fear spreads instantly.
Wizard apprentices stumble.
Bronze Wizards pale.
Even Silver Wizards grit their teeth as pressure bears down on their spirits.
They knew this would happen one day.
They knew Earthly Officials and Core Formation Demons would come.
But not now.
Not so soon.
They had no time to prepare layered defences.
No reserve ammunition.
No contingency arrays tuned for a Spiritual Wizard-level assault.
Another blow lands.
The barrier ripples again.
The tower groans.
Inside the core room of the wizard tower, Chen Qi's expression hardens.
He does not hesitate.
He activates a high-priority communication array and sends a message directly to Kaelan.
A short message.
Precise.
Urgent.
He does not expect Kaelan to come.
He knows better than anyone that Lord Kaelan is in deep retreat and cannot intervene directly.
But if Kaelan can contact the Twilight Divine Race—
If even one powerhouse can be dispatched—
Then there is hope.
The sand giants strike again.
This time, cracks of light appear across the barrier.
The wizard tower tilts slightly, stabilisation runes flaring desperately to compensate.
Chen Qi clenches his fists.
Then he freezes.
The scanner array spikes.
Two new energy signatures appear on the display.
Both immense.
Both stable.
Both are unmistakably at the level of a Spiritual Wizard.
Chen Qi's eyes widen.
He abandons the core room and sprints out of the tower.
The moment he emerges, golden light floods the sky.
Two figures streak across the battlefield, their auras blazing like miniature suns.
They collide with the Earthly Official mid-air.
The shockwave tears clouds apart.
The sand giants falter, their movements stalling as control wavers.
The Earthly Official recoils slightly, surprise flashing across his face for the first time.
Two against one.
Equal realm.
Equal authority.
Blades of light and condensed law clash violently with puppet-constructed power. Explosions ripple through the sky, sending shockwaves rolling across the desert. One of the newcomers moves with overwhelming speed, their attacks sharp and decisive, forcing the Earthly Official on the defensive.
The second strikes with ruthless precision, severing control threads and disrupting formations.
The sand giants collapse one by one, their bodies losing cohesion and crashing back into lifeless dunes.
The battle does not last long.
Outnumbered and outmatched, the Earthly Official retreats, tearing open space and withdrawing without another word.
The pressure lifts.
Almost instantly, the Night Dynasty army begins to pull back, formations dissolving as they retreat beyond the desert horizon.
Silence falls.
Slowly, two figures descend from the sky and land before the main gate of the camp atop the plateau.
Golden light fades.
Chen Qi exhales, tension draining from his body.
Then recognition strikes.
One of them—
He knows him.
Tian Ruyang, still gripping his Demon Sword near the gate, stares in disbelief.
"Lin Zian!" he shouts.
His voice carries across the plateau.
"Why are you here?"
Lin Zian turns slightly, his expression calm, his aura restrained but unmistakably vast.
Tian Ruyang's eyes widen further.
"When did you advance to the Second Stage of Transcendence?"