The appearance of the Sixth Princess of the Tianqi Empire immediately caused a stir. Within the oasis base camp, numerous astonished gazes fell upon this woman. Clearly, no one had expected that the sole surviving princess of the Tianqi imperial family would show up.
Moreover, it was largely because Ye Chen had personally spoken to lift the kill order. The various intricacies behind this inevitably led to deep contemplation.
Many trialists even believed there was some ambiguous, unclear relationship between Ye Chen and this Sixth Princess. Otherwise, given Ye Chen's attitude of wiping out trialists from the Tianqi Empire and its vassal states, why would he specifically spare the Sixth Princess alone?
"Little Chen, your lover is here. Aren't you going up to greet her? Or perhaps give her a kiss as a courtesy?" Old Yan cackled, seemingly delighted by the potential chaos.
Ye Chen ignored Old Yan's mischief and also looked towards the Sixth Princess. Her arrival was somewhat unexpected to him as well.
Naturally, he could not reveal his true identity and simply watched the scene unfold.
Facing the many gazes, the Sixth Princess appeared remarkably calm and natural, handling the situation with practiced ease. However, at this moment, she looked towards one person—a young woman, Vivian.
Because Vivian was also looking at the Sixth Princess. Under the watchful eyes of many, she proactively stepped forward, approached the princess, and extended a section of her fair wrist, as pure as frost and snow. Her voice, melodious as a heavenly tune, spoke softly, "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness."
The Sixth Princess naturally knew who this young woman before her was—a member of the Xia Feng Kingdom. It was even because of her that her own foolish imperial brother, the Eighth Prince Yang Jun, had hunted down other Xia Feng trialists.
She was somewhat puzzled. Logically, the two should be enemies. Yet now, this gentle, water-like young woman was greeting her amicably, catching her off guard. However, she distinctly saw a hint of a different kind of hostility in the other's dark, clear eyes.
It wasn't the hostility of a life-or-death enemy, but another kind... akin to rivalry between women.
But ultimately, as the princess of a great empire, she understood immediately. She extended her own fair wrist and shook hands cordially. "Hello, Miss Vivian. The pleasure is mine."
The two women seemed to be exchanging pleasantries, but everyone felt an undercurrent of rivalry between them.
Old Yan's strange laughter kept echoing in his mind. "Well, well, Little Chen. If you just used a little tact, you could probably enjoy the blessings of having both beauties."
Ye Chen merely watched all this calmly, unmoved.
Everyone had expected an invisible struggle, but these two women with immense presence simply shook hands gracefully, exchanged a smile, and then parted ways, leaving many feeling rather bewildered.
Ignoring the gazes of others, the Sixth Princess Yang Miaoxue stood alone on a hillock. Her delicate figure seemed somewhat lonely, yet no one dared to approach and disturb her. Even princesses from superpowers like the Tenglong and Jiuhua Empires surprisingly refrained from making sarcastic remarks.
After Vivian returned, Princess Hong Rong pulled her aside and asked curiously, "Vivian, how was it?"
Vivian shook her head. "Sister, this Sixth Princess is very formidable. Brother Ye Chen must have a rather close relationship with her."
Princess Hong Rong was taken aback. How did Vivian know that?
After the Thirteenth Prince and the others arrived, Ye Chen never appeared from start to finish. But the three of them understood that Ye Chen was hidden within the large group.
Not long after, the large group held a strategy meeting, unanimously deciding to attack the mysterious land at sunrise. At that time, crimson sandstorms were relatively rare, and crimson sand scorpions generally wouldn't appear. It was a relatively safe time period.
All this was decided by the leading Hundred Strong Trialists. The other trialists had no objections.
After night fell and silence reigned, many trialists fell asleep or entered meditation to recuperate, conserving their energy and preparing for the march into the mysterious realm the next morning.
The trialists were unusually united at this time. No one dared to start fights or snatch identity tokens. Faced with the mysterious land, everyone chose solidarity. Many Hundred Strong Trialists jointly declared that anyone who dared to act would face unanimous sanctions from everyone.
The night deepened. Dark clouds quietly shrouded the full moon in the sky. The crimson sand desert was plunged into darkness. At this moment, only the campfires in the camp burned slowly, illuminating the dark desert, creating an exceptionally tranquil atmosphere.
Even the Sixth Princess returned to the camp. The large group had specially reserved a tent for her to rest.
At this time, only a team of twenty trialists was selected as security personnel to patrol and guard the safety of the desert.
Surprisingly, for most of the night, everything remained peaceful, unusually quiet and uneventful. This surprised the patrol personnel. Usually, even after nightfall, at least some small demonic beasts would appear to harass the large group and be driven away by them. But this night was different, extraordinarily quiet.
This point made people vigilant. There was always a sense of foreboding, as if something was about to happen, making them uneasy.
A full hour passed like this, still peaceful. But at this moment, Ye Chen, who had been in quiet cultivation, suddenly opened his eyes. The demonic flood dragon beside him also opened its eyes, letting out a low growl and exhaling rough breaths.
His gaze turned towards the distant portal of the mysterious land. He murmured softly to himself, "Such a problem before we even set off?"
Meanwhile, in the minds of the Thirteenth Prince and the others who were also in quiet cultivation, Ye Chen's voice sounded. "Be careful. Prepare to start fighting. If necessary, ride the Scaled Golden Lion into the sky to avoid danger. Don't force yourselves."
The three were shocked. What had happened that Ye Chen would warn them to be careful, even suggesting they fly into the sky if necessary? Clearly, there would be a fierce battle, for even Ye Chen gave such a warning.
However, among the three, even the Thirteenth Prince felt nothing. Not just him, but none of the other Hundred Strong Trialists in the camp knew either. They were still in quiet cultivation. Only Ye Chen knew what was happening.
"Ye Chen, what exactly is happening?" the Thirteenth Prince responded in his mind.
"A crimson sand scorpion swarm is coming. They'll be here in half an hour," Ye Chen transmitted.
The three immediately paled. The Thirteenth Prince knew Ye Chen wouldn't protect the trialists here. At most, he would let them issue a warning. He immediately said gravely, "A crimson sand scorpion swarm is coming in half an hour. We need to inform the others. Right now, we must rely on everyone's combined strength to resist the swarm."
He knew that an ordinary crimson sand scorpion swarm wouldn't warrant a personal warning from Ye Chen. The number of scorpions in this swarm was probably far beyond imagination.
At this moment, he felt gathering everyone's strength to resist was necessary. Although the three of them were in competition with the others and could use the Scaled Golden Lion to fly into the sky and escape calmly, they might still need the power of the group to enter the mysterious land.
Vivian and Princess Hong Rong both nodded in agreement.
Roar—
A tremendous beastly roar echoed over the oasis, startling all the trialists awake. Even the Hundred Strong Trialists emerged from their tents, looking up at the Scaled Golden Lion circling in the sky with the Thirteenth Prince and the others on its back, their expressions filled with doubt and suspicion.
A beautiful princess from the Jiuhua Empire asked in confusion, "Fellow Daoist Xia Teng, why did you have the Scaled Golden Lion wake us in the middle of the night? What exactly has happened?"
"Brother Xia Teng, we need an explanation," several princes spoke up one after another. Being so abruptly awakened from their quiet cultivation, even as Ye Chen's friends, they felt somewhat displeased.
The Thirteenth Prince's voice, infused with True Yuan power, rolled out like thunder. "Everyone, please prepare for battle. A crimson sand scorpion swarm is about to arrive."
The trialists were first stunned, then many of them laughed dismissively. Although crimson sand scorpions were social demonic beasts, they were very weak, only palm-sized, and generally only at the second or third tier of the Houtian realm. They couldn't threaten any Xiantian cultivator. Even dozens or hundreds of them could hardly pose a real threat.
Generally, trialists didn't take crimson sand scorpions seriously unless they formed a large-scale beast tide, moving together by the thousands or tens of thousands. But such large-scale swarms were rare, seldom encountered in the desert.
However, those who were truly perceptive changed their expressions. After all, the Thirteenth Prince was a Hundred Strong Trialist, and as a prince, he wouldn't make such a low-level mistake. That left only one possibility—
This wasn't an ordinary crimson sand scorpion swarm. It was likely the most terrifying crimson sand scorpion beast tide was about to arrive!
This kind of crimson sand scorpion beast tide was far from ordinary. It wasn't a swarm of one or two hundred, but often numbered in the thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions—enough to oppose a human army hundreds of thousands strong.
"Li Yi, Li Er, Li San, Li Si, Li Wu, you five quickly climb the sand dune and observe the distant situation. Report back immediately," the Third Prince of the Jiuhua Empire ordered, sending out the personal experts who had protected him since childhood. As a prince, he naturally understood a real crisis was at hand.
Other princes and princesses also paled, successively ordering people to climb the tall sand dunes to observe the distance.
Many trialists began to change their expressions. These princes and princesses wouldn't act without cause or waste effort. A terrifying beast horde must be charging over.
Not long after, many subordinate trialists quickly returned, their faces all greatly changed, reporting everything. "Reporting to Your Highness, there are a large number of crimson sand scorpions rapidly approaching from ten li away. Rough estimates put their numbers at over several million."
"Several... million!?" Many trialists paled on the spot.