Chapter 351: Ch 351: The Dark Desert
Chapter 351: Ch 351: The Dark Desert
It was a vast desert.
This desert stretched far into the distance, with no end in sight. This was not a normal desert. The sand here was not golden or brown but black, like ashes from a dying world. This was the Dark Desert, one of the most strange and terrifying lands in Spiritarium. The sky above the desert was always gray, and the sun barely appeared. Even when it did, it only gave weak light for no more than three hours a day. The rest of the time, the land stayed cold and lifeless, as if the desert itself had forgotten what warmth was.
This desert was feared by all creatures. It was home to countless dangerous Soul Beasts, even those who are said to have never been seen anywhere in the entire Spiritarium. Some Soul Beasts were large enough to swallow the village Emrys was in before.
The desert was always shifting. Dunes rose and fell every day while hiding deadly creatures.
In this silent and deadly land, five almost-transparent humanoid beings could be seen standing before a huge pit. Their bodies were shimmering like glass in the dim light, barely visible to the eye.
These five humanoid beings were Pure Spiritas. They had no real flesh, only a form shaped by incredibly pure soul power. They had come to the Dark Desert to search for rare soul treasures and secrets from long ago. After all, this desert is very famous for its dangers and sites from ancient times.
What they found today, however, was something far more shocking.
This pit before them was not here yesterday. Just a day ago, this spot was covered with tall dunes of black sand. But now, the sand had collapsed, revealing something buried deep below.
The five Spiritas stared down into the pit. It was deep and wide.
At first, the pit looked empty. But after focusing their senses, they saw a giant skeleton buried under layers of black dust. Even in the darkness, the shape of the bones could be seen. It was the skeleton of a Soul Beast and not an ordinary one at that. Its skull alone was larger than a three-story building, and its spine curved across the pit like a mountain range.
The Spiritas exchanged glances.
None of them spoke a word, but they all knew what to do.
They knew a creature this big must have lived in ancient times. Its bones still held traces of powerful soul energy.
Without hesitation, they all jumped into the pit.
As they reached the bottom, they felt an invisible pressure pressing down on them. The soul energy coming from the skeleton was strong, even after all these years. Standing next to the bones made them feel like tiny ants beside a mountain.
The giant Soul Beast’s skeleton was partly broken, but its shape was still clear. Sharp claws, thick limbs, and a horned skull suggested it was once a terrifying beast, powerful enough to easily suppress or even kill Ethereal Mist Realm Spiritas like them.
The Spiritas slowly moved closer to the bones.
Just looking at this beast was enough to raise a few questions in their mind.
What was this beast?
How did it die?
The five Spiritas took a deep breath and calmed their breaths first. Then they adjusted their bodies and nodded at each other before starting to walk. They slowly followed the skeleton, walking along its long spine toward its head.
Although they were prepared, they still felt the pressure growing heavier with every step they took. It was like something powerful was pushing down on them, trying to stop them from going further. This pressure came directly from the massive Soul Beast’s skeleton.
The pressure coming from the beast’s bones was too strong. It was as if the beast had left behind its will, warning all intruders to stay away.
Still, the Spiritas were strong beings. Each of them had lived for who knows how many hundreds of thousands of years, or maybe even millions of years. They had faced many dangers and knows how to deal with dangerous situations. Even though their movements became slower, they didn’t stop walking at all. They kept moving forward step by step with great focus and caution.
It took them nearly half an hour to finally reach the front of the Soul Beast’s skull.
As they arrived before the huge skull, they noticed that the massive beast’s jaw was broken, but its sharp teeth still looked deadly, like swords waiting to pierce the sky. The skull had deep cracks on it as if proving that it had taken some powerful blow before dying.
"This...?!"
Just as the Spiritas arrived near the skull, they all froze in shock. It is because they saw someone standing not far away.
It was a young man, and he was a human.
This young man’s back was facing them, and he didn’t move. He was standing in front of a stone monument that rose from the ground like a dark blade.
The monument appeared very old. Moreover, they could see strange glowing characters carved into its surface. The characters or symbols gave off a strange light that flickered like weak flames in the dark. The light was neither warm nor cold. In fact, they could actually feel an ancient aura on those characters.
The five Spiritas looked at each other with surprise and confusion.
Who was this human?
Moreover, there was no gap before the dunes fell and a pit appeared. Then... How had this man reached this place without them noticing?
The pressure here was so strong, yet the human stood calmly like he didn’t even feel it.
Even stranger were the characters on the monument. None of the Spiritas could read them. The language was unknown. They could only guess that this was perhaps an ancient language. They could also only guess that the monument and the beast were perhaps from the same time period.
The wind blew softly, stirring the black sand.
One of them stepped forward and asked, "Who are you?"
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