600  Across The Sand

Several days went by in the time-accelerated area of the Lord of Lords. And in that time I understood many things.

First thing first, this isn't a poison as I had suspected. It is a disease. Which is frankly surprising. Is it a type of virus? -And I'm going on a limb calling it a virus- That only works on a dead body. I used a small chicken to test it out, the chicken died immediately after being injected with a small dose of the poison but after a small while it stood back up.

However, it kept slamming its head against the ground until it 'died' again.

Which was frankly disturbing.

I then continued on testing on the virus. But couldn't come up with anything of value. I'm not a scientist and I'm not planning on becoming one. But I still needed to understand some of the basics of the virus. After all, I'll be venturing into a den of these things.

The only good thing I learned was that it cannot by any means affect me. Since the moment that virus comes in contact with my flesh, it immediately melts and dies out. The toxins and poison in my blood are vastly superior and extremely potent that not even that zombie-making virus could survive.

Another thing was that these creatures are sensitive to the death of their partners. After some rigorous testing of poison on one of them, it finally died and that caused the other two who were trying to wiggle out of their restraint to go on a rampage.

After noting all of that, the automaton arrived.

"Master, it is time," he said.

I nodded to him and left the Lord of Lords pagoda. When I was outside, Dwei was already waiting for us behind the door of the guest room.

"We're coming out," Old Fu said as he noticed my arrival.

"Shen Mo," he said to me, "What did you find out," he asked.

I didn't want to correct him about my name, but I feel that I should do that soon. He had proved to be a loyal and good companion and made sure to have my back no matter the situation. So, I owe him at least that. But not now.

"To be honest, nothing of good use, though they're weak to some of my poisons, anything else is really hard to figure out. The thing that makes them into what they are is a living microorganism that lives in blood and only prospers when it's inside a dead host. Not to mention that it actively kills the host first."

"So it's like a disease," he said.

I shook my head, "Most diseases want their host to live as long as possible as they're reproducing inside it. This one does the opposite, it kills its host for it to prosper and natural or man-made. We need more information on it to have a better understanding of these walkers," I explained.

Dwei then shouted, "Dragon Squad!" and suddenly a group of ten people arrived in our presence, they were fully decked out in the general of the east's premium armor. The quality of their Qi and their overall cultivation level was incredible, to say the least.

Three of them were at least a stage above me, which I could deduce from the Qi they were releasing. As for the rest, they were all at the highest stages of the Emperor stage if not at the peak.

"Quite a force," I replied.

"This is the least we can afford to send on this recon mission, we can't weaken our city's defenses as we like," said Dwei.

I nodded to the man and said, "We'll be heading out then,"

Some of the guards seemed dissatisfied and old Fu instantly intervened, "If any of you think that my junior brother is unable to lead you due to his cultivation level, or dares disrespect his authority, then I'll personally twist your necks."

That was enough to put every one of the soldiers in line. I guess hearing those words coming from a man in the Void Shattering Stage was enough for them to all lower their heads and follow along with whatever I have to say.

"In case we are delayed," I said to Dwei, "Can you obtain this item for me, from the auction house," I said as I gave him the slip that the ant Queen handed me before.

Dwei took a look at the picture of the painting and nodded to me.

'Good, his expressions didn't change, that means that the painting is only of value to the people who know it.'

"There will be a carriage outside that will lead you to the area where the walkers attacked us and where we got ambushed. I wanted to come with you guys, but the General has many tasks for me." Dwei said.

"Don't worry about it," I waved him off as we headed outside the palace to the waiting carriage.

There were two carriages there, one of them was for us to ride in and the other for the squadron that would follow us.

One of the squad members took the driver position in the leading carriage and headed out.

"Don't you find it interesting, that although a lot of the people here are powerful cultivators, they still take carriages when they move through the desert instead of just flying," said old Fu.

"Not at all," I replied.

"How come?"

"Because of the atmosphere of the Sea of Demons. At points in time sand storms happen and if you're unlucky while flying you might just get swept away, the sandstorm originate from the center area of the Beyond and they come with the same nasty disability of the centermost region," I said.

"What is that?" he asked.

"It's the fog." I said as I pointed out, "The fog at the edges of the Sea of Demons is very thin and doesn't affect people at least not visibly so. But the one deeper is far more cruel, and once it comes in contact with a desert storm and is mixed with it, it gives it the ability to seal a person's Qi inside their body.

The sandstorms also happen unnaturally fast and are unpredictable. So if someone was just moving about flying and a sandstorm happened, their qi would be sealed and they would instantly turn into an immortal dying in the process.

The closer you are to the ground or sand the safer you are from the fog," I said.

"How do you know so much about the Sea of Demons? We got here not a couple of days ago," he said.

"I have read a few books about it," I replied to him, there was no need to lie to old Fu, and since the only time I was away from him was when I entered the Lord of Lords pagoda, it was certain that he'd understand that it was a secret of mine and he had no business asking further.

"I see, then good to know, if we're in trouble I'd rather fly out than walk out," he said.

"I completely agree with you," I said. "If shit gets ugly I'd rather bolt out and risk encountering a sandstorm than just run on foot," I said as I gazed through the window at the mounds of sand we were on.

The carriage we had had no wheels, but it had sleds. The horses we were using had a strange-shaped hove that allowed them to run on the sand and thanks to them having six legs their weight was distributed perfectly for them to not just straight out sink.

The time trickled by as we passed through hundreds of mounds as we moved closer and closer to a mountain range in the distance. From the looks of it, it seems to be our destination.

"Interesting, It seems, that they were prepared for this," I muttered.

"You saw them too," he said. "That's impressive, even with my cultivation I had a hard time seeing them, My divine Sense is pretty strong but once it's affected by the atmosphere of the Beyond I'm almost blind how did you see them," he said.

"Our divine senses work on a different wavelength," I said as I shouted, "Ambush up ahead!"

The guards immediately jumped on top of their and our carriage readying for a fight, swords drawn and eyes peeled out.

The tension in their body was visible, but their eyes couldn't locate any signs of danger.

"There is nothing here," one of the guards atop our carriage said.

And just as he finished his words, my arm pierced into the ceiling of the carriage and I dragged him by the foot down. A fraction of a second later, a powerful sword Qi went right where his head was supposed to be.

"They're hiding in the sand," I said to the stunned soldier, "Better get ready, this fight is going to be ugly."