The waiter happily carried the untouched wine and food back to the kitchen. These could be sold to other guests, and he didn't have to clean the table himself. He liked guests like Lu Yu, who came from outside the region.

Walking down the street, Lu Yu thought about what he had just heard, murmuring to himself, "Sand King Palace? Sounds like a faction. I wonder if this faction collaborates with Iron Tomb, or perhaps it's affiliated with Iron Tomb."

Iron Tomb and Sand King Palace, they don't seem to be significantly related at first glance.

Following the idea of asking when unsure, he sent a message to Fu Mingcheng, inquiring about the power of Sand King Palace.

It wasn't long before Fu Mingcheng replied, informing him that Sand King Palace is a rather mysterious faction, founded by a western desert exotic tribe, which even the Jianghu network doesn't know much about.

Virtually no players have much understanding of the exotic tribes outside the Great Zhou Dynasty.

"According to ancient records, Sand King Palace might be linked to the desert dynasty from a thousand years ago, though the desert dynasty was destroyed during the Great Zhou Western Expedition a millennium ago."

"A faction left over from a dynasty that fell a thousand years ago shouldn't be underestimated even after all these years. How did you come into contact with Sand King Palace?" Fu Mingcheng asked puzzledly in the end.

He knew Lu Yu had gone to the western desert border but didn't expect him to get involved with a faction within the desert.

"It wasn't me who got entangled with Sand King Palace, but Iron Tomb that did." Lu Yu casually replied to clarify Fu Mingcheng's question.

"So it seems Sand King Palace and Iron Tomb are indeed partners?" Lu Yu thought.

Thump, thump, thump~ Heavy footsteps echoed, and Lu Yu looked up to see a gigantic desert rock lizard carrying a carriage walking down the street. People nearby scattered in panic, avoiding the desert rock lizard to prevent being trampled.

The rock lizard measured over ten meters in length, with a three to four-meter long and wide carriage fastened to its back. Sitting at the front was a coachman, holding the reins tied around the rock lizard's neck, controlling its movement.

Lu Yu leaped onto the adjacent rooftop to avoid being squeezed by the crowded people, then stood atop, watching the rock lizard pass before him.

Through the carriage's open window, Lu Yu saw a man inside with golden hooped earrings and bronze skin, appearing handsome and possessing a strong exotic charm.

The man sensed Lu Yu's gaze, glanced at the window, and swept his eyes over Lu Yu standing on the rooftop. Lu Yu noticed his golden eyes.

"Exotic tribe?" Lu Yu thought to himself.

The exotic tribes of the western desert, apart from having slightly yellowish skin and different eye colors, looked not much different from the people of Great Zhou.

Thinking of exotic tribes reminded Lu Yu of Sand King Palace. He shook his head vigorously to clear unnecessary thoughts from his mind.

After wandering around Black Sand City for a while, Lu Yu was surprised to find there wasn't a branch of Divine Weapon Pavilion here, although he did spot a lot of Spiritual Treasures, Divine Soldiers, Spiritual Armor marked with the Pavilion's insignia in various weapon shops.

No matter where you go, items from Divine Weapon Pavilion are always the most popular.

As there was no branch of the Pavilion stationed in Black Sand City, Lu Yu could only find a clean, fair-priced inn to stay at.

If Iron Tomb and Sand King Palace had any actions recently, it should stir up some commotion in Black Sand City. Then he could trace the disturbance to find Iron Tomb's base.

Working with a faction left from a millennium past, Iron Tomb certainly takes it seriously and will likely send out high-ranking figures.

This was Lu Yu's chance to contact Iron Tomb's upper echelons.

Before dusk, Lu Yu roamed around Black Sand City several times, exploring it thoroughly, yet he couldn't sense the location of the Shura Demon Ghost.

He was either hiding in a special place capable of shielding spiritual markings or had already left Black Sand City.

Lu Yu wasn't worried about this, he was contemplating a strategy to deal with the Shura Demon Ghost.

Snap~ Lu Yu casually slapped away a hand stretching towards his waist, attempting to steal from him.

The thief, clutching his broken wrist in cold sweat, stealthily retreated into the crowd, realizing he had targeted someone he shouldn't have.

This was the third time Lu Yu encountered a thief trying to handle him. The thieves openly stole from people on the street, and as long as they weren't stopped, even if caught, it turned from theft to robbery.

Lu Yu had seen no fewer than five chase-and-beat incidents caused by thefts, and nobody managed these matters, showing the chaos in Black Sand City.

Glancing at the tightly walled, impenetrable City Lord Mansion, Lu Yu returned to the inn, waiting for Iron Tomb and Sand King Palace to make a stir.

Eating a Spirit Fruit, Lu Yu sat on a pile of Spirit Stones for cultivation. Although the cultivation speed was unmatched by Divine Weapon Pavilion's cultivation room, it was still notably fast.

With the system's mall, Lu Yu could continuously swap for new varieties of Spirit Fruit to accelerate his cultivation, avoiding the issue of fruit losing effectiveness after multiple consumptions.

Lu Yu stayed in his room training, without going downstairs for dinner.

After several hours, the sky was filled with stars; in the moonless night, the world could be seen clearly without the need for light.

Boom! The ground shook, houses rattled constantly, and everyone rushed out of their rooms, fearing an earthquake had occurred.

Lu Yu floated in mid-air, seeing many people with fabric tied around their waists quickly escaping from their homes below.

He looked toward the direction of the City Lord Mansion; the shaking and noises were coming from there. What happened in the City Lord Mansion?

Sand King Palace? Lu Yu pondered.

He flew toward the direction of the Mansion, activating the Fighting God Formulation to perceive spiritual marks. If the Shura Demon Ghost or Xue Ming appeared nearby, he would sense them.

After flying a certain distance, two marks appeared within the sensing range, and Lu Yu showed a look of surprise; unexpectedly, both Xue Ming and Shura Demon Ghost were here.

He accelerated towards the location denoted by the spiritual marks.

Just as he was about to fly over the City Lord Mansion's high walls, a figure shot out from the shadows beneath the wall, striking Lu Yu.

Bang! Lu Yu halted his advance, focusing on the suddenly appearing person; although masked, his exposed abdomen and calves indicated he was a western desert exotic tribe.

He had hidden below the city wall, and Lu Yu hadn't sensed his presence.

He seemed to be one with the earth, so Lu Yu hadn't sensed his aura, making Lu Yu vulnerable to the ambush.

"Sand King Palace?" Realizing the opponent was from the exotic tribe, Lu Yu asked.

The masked exotic man didn't speak, instead shooting a sand arrow at Lu Yu.

As Lu Yu casually wrapped Spiritual Power around his fist and punched, the fist shadow formed from Spiritual Power met the sand arrow, pierced by it, then shattered the sand arrow.

The fist shadow proved weak against the sand arrow, leaving Lu Yu slightly embarrassed.

Before he could ease the awkwardness, the masked exotic man unleashed his power, sand beneath the stone bricks surged, sand dragons emerging from below to attack Lu Yu.

Seeing this, Lu Yu dashed towards the masked exotic man, realizing long-range bombardment wasn't the right choice.

Boom boom boom~~~ Bang bang bang~~~

Lu Yu kept punching, shattering the sand dragons charging at him, but the shattered dragons quickly returned to form.

If Lu Yu's speed wasn't fast enough, he might have been trapped inside the sand dragons' stomachs.

"Yellow Sand Cage!"

The masked exotic man shouted loudly, and the sand dragons swirling on the ground tightly surrounded Lu Yu, merging heads mid-air to form a gigantic Yellow Sand Cage trapping Lu Yu inside.

The Yellow Sand Cage fluttered with fine sand particles, incessantly grazing Lu Yu's skin, producing a grating sound.

The Yellow Sand Cage not only trapped foes but also wore away the flesh of enemies inside, weakening their defenses.

The Celestial Aura enveloping Lu Yu was instantly pierced by the sand particles. He extended out from the Yellow Sand Cage, his skin gleaming with a golden hue, resembling a statue forged from gold.

"Freeze!"

Lu Yu unleashed a mass of chilling Yin Nether Cold Qi, causing the dancing sand particles to lose their strength and settle on the ground, forming a mound that covered his feet.

The chilling Qi could freeze Spiritual Qi, Qi Blood, and the masked exotic's Yellow Sand Cage.

With its energy frozen, the sand pillars forming the cage became fragile, and Lu Yu easily shattered them with a casual strike, stepping out of the Yellow Sand Cage's range.

Seeing the cage lost effectiveness against Lu Yu, the masked exotic man ceased maintaining it.

Lu Yu also retracted his power, causing the enormous Yellow Sand Cage to collapse on site, dumping a large quantity of sand to block the street.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.