Chapter 351 350: Oasis City

When passing through the boundary of the Desolate Realm, Jiang Qiu's body couldn't adapt to its fundamental Laws after wandering the void for so long, preventing him from flying.

During his descent, he gradually began to adapt to the Laws of this world, allowing him to change direction and land in a more suitable location.

Luckily, the Laws of the Desolate Realm weren't too restrictive toward outsiders. The world's will here was unformed, which allowed Jiang Qiu to recover quickly.

Moreover, he happened to spot two living members of the Human Race in the vast, boundless desert. This was a rather rare occurrence; after all, across so many worlds, not every place had humans. They were just one small branch among thousands of races.

However, not long after he landed, the two humans started running away from him...

THUD!

With a great leap, Jiang Qiu's agile figure landed in front of Ni'Er and her grandfather, directly cutting off their escape. With a casual wave of his hand, the wind and sand retreated, revealing the starry sky and the desert.

"You two, what is this place?"

He hadn't removed the Dragon-shaped Mask from his face. It wasn't because there were too many restrictions after practicing the Hundred Ghosts Dao, or that removing it would shorten his lifespan.

In fact, when he broke through to the Half-Step Fusion Realm in the Dragon Spirit Secret Realm, Snow had activated the True Dragon Will, which had already swept away the threat from the Law. It was equivalent to severing Yin Yang's control over his soul, but he retained the benefit of a long life, rendering the mask purely decorative.

He still chose to wear the mask now mainly to hide his identity and avoid being targeted by other powerful experts.

The mask's cloaking function could be called truly Unrivaled; no one could see through it to his true appearance. To discard it would be a terrible waste.

But now, it was also creating a bit of a barrier...

"My lord, we're just weak natives of this Desert Sea. Please don't take us to the Great Wilderness Arena. We don't have much meat on our bones, we can barely get enough to eat as it is, so please don't eat us," the hunched-over old man said, clasping his hands and bowing repeatedly. "I beg you, please spare our lives."

Ni'Er, at his side, was already used to her grandfather acting like this. He said it was called praying—a blessing people offered for their own long life.

When encountering strange creatures from the Outer Realm that were clearly not native to this world, one absolutely had to pray. It was a rule of the world.

Recalling this, she pressed her small, wind-scraped hands together and mimicked her grandfather, bowing as her small lips mumbled, her prayers barely a whisper.

"Relax. I'm not going to eat you, nor will I drag you to any Great Wilderness Arena," Jiang Qiu sighed. "I just need you to tell me what powerful factions are nearby and where I can make contact with the Outer Realm."

He hadn't arrived via a Teleportation Array and hadn't even gone through any "customs." He was undocumented, and his knowledge of this world was zero.

Furthermore, after leaving the Yin Yang Great Realm, his Yin Net had stopped working. Now, he had to figure out this world's location, identify its powerful factions, and, ideally, find out where the Nine Venerable Great Realm was...

"My lord, are you trying to get to an Oasis City?" Ni'Er's grandfather seemed to have understood his intention. 'This lord must have gotten lost due to some special circumstances; he didn't come to the Desert Sea specifically to capture natives.' "I know the biggest nearby Great Oasis City. It's called Celestial Star Oasis City. That should be the place you're looking for..."

He offered the name tentatively. The strangely-masked being from the Outer Realm fell silent for a moment before nodding. "Alright, we'll go there. Please lead the way. I will reward you."

"Yes, yes, of course, we'll lead the way for you, my lord. Ni'Er and I will lead you well," the grandfather said, bowing and scraping. He held Ni'Er's hand tightly, glanced up at the sea of stars, and pointed in a direction. "Head that way for three days and three nights, and you'll see a very large oasis..."

"Three days?"

Jiang Qiu furrowed his brow, which sent the grandfather into a flustered panic. "Are you dissatisfied, my lord? We could go to a small oasis instead, it's only half a day's journey. But you probably can't make contact with the Outer Realm there. It's just a place for us natives to trade goods."

He knew that to these strange-looking dignitaries from the Outer Realm, he was just a native. 'Perhaps this lord before me isn't actually from the Outer Realm, but a descendant one of them left behind here.'

'Based on the way he just dropped from the sky, he has to be the scion of a super-noble family from a top-tier Oasis City. Due to certain... biological urges, some of the great figures from the Outer Realm leave descendants behind in the Desolate Realm.'

'The humanoid creature before me is probably one of them.'

'Whether in status or Realm, this lord could crush me to death. To someone like him, the wealth he earns in a single day would be enough to buy thousands, or even tens of thousands, of arena slaves.'

'I daren't guess what level of existence he is, or why he'd ask me for directions because he's "lost." All I can do is submit. Maybe if he's in a good mood, he's just toying with a native for fun. It's not impossible he'd let me live.'

'I've heard that there are indeed noble scions with such "low-brow tastes."'

"Let's go to the small oasis first, then."

'I had originally wanted to just fly the two of them there, but I'm being cautious since this is my first time in this world. It wouldn't be good to suddenly show up in a major area and attract the attention of a powerful faction.'

'I'll go to a smaller place first to adapt, get a clear understanding of this world's systems, buy a map or something, and then head directly for a place where I can contact the Outer Realm.'

'I saw quite a few Teleportation Ships entering and leaving this world while I was in the void. There must be a place like a Great World Community trade hub here.'

'Once I get there, I'll have a chance to get the coordinates for the Nine Venerable Great Realm.'

'After all, the Nine Venerable Great Realm is one of the more well-known upper-tier Great Realms in the [Primordial] Great World Community. Anyone with a bit of worldly knowledge should recognize it.'

And so, the grandfather breathed a sigh of relief. He and Ni'Er changed direction and started leading Jiang Qiu back the way they came. They walked ahead, and Ni'Er mumbled in a low voice, "Grandpa, we haven't gathered enough Sand Mine yet. If we go back like this, won't we be unable to buy Oasis Fruit?

We're going to go hungry..."

"Shh~" The grandfather exhaled softly, his voice as thin as a mosquito's buzz. "Satisfying the lord's needs is what's important right now. That's how you live a long life."

"..."

'Even though I'm five or six paces away and they're speaking very quietly—like a thin wisp of air tickling my ears—I am, after all, of the Dragon Race bloodline and at the Half-Step Fusion Realm.'

'To put it bluntly, if I opened my Dragon Eye, I could see right through them, down to every throbbing blood vessel.'

He didn't quite understand why the grandfather and granddaughter were so terrified of him. He had suppressed his Realm, so on the surface, he looked just like an ordinary person.

'Oh, right. The two of them don't even see me as a person.'