Full health is the kill threshold, no matter if you're a god or a demon!

The scenery beneath my feet changed from lush green plains to brown wastelands, and then from wastelands to dark red sand.

Bloodstained wasteland.

The earth here is dark red, as if it has been soaked in blood, with cracks everywhere. Occasionally, you can see a few withered plants, stubbornly rooted in the sand, their leaves curled up as if they would break at the slightest touch.

The air was unbearably dry; with every breath, you could feel the moisture being drawn from your nasal cavity.

The wind was strong, and the fine sand it blew against my face stung.

Liu Nian put away the little fire dragon and landed on the sand.

"Little Blue".

A ghostly blue light emerged from the backpack, and the Demon King Jellyfish unfurled above the sand, its translucent umbrella-shaped body gleaming eerily against the dark red earth. Little Blue's tentacles drooped down, gently brushing across the sand with a rustling sound.

"Let's start searching!" Liu Nian pointed to the sea of ​​sand ahead.

Little Blue emitted a low hum, and its entire body instantly liquefied, seeping into the sand beneath its feet.

The wind and sand lashed against Liu Nian's face. He squinted and looked at the endless golden sea of ​​sand in the distance.

The Desert of Dry Bones—what an apt name. Dry bones were buried everywhere in the sand, some humanoid, some animaloid, and some enormous skeletons he couldn't recognize, half-buried in the sand like arms reaching out from the desert, desperately pleading for help.

Liu Nian did not wait.

After Xiao Lan submerged into the sand, he began to wander around the outer edge of the Bone Sand Sea, fighting monsters while maintaining his sensory connection with Xiao Lan.

The monsters here are all level 170 or higher.

Giant sandworms or swarms of scorpions occasionally emerge from the sand. You can also sometimes see wandering undead warriors, half-buried in the sand with only one arm holding a bone knife showing, which suddenly leaps out when you get close.

But for Liu Nian now, level 170 monsters are no different from paper-thin monsters!

A sandworm burst from the ground beneath his feet, its massive jaws, filled with sharp teeth, lunging at him. Liu Nian didn't even look; he punched it, and the sandworm's head exploded, splattering dark green fluid everywhere. (Level difference prevents attribute stacking)

A swarm of scorpions emerged from behind the sand dunes, their stingers raised high, gleaming with an eerie green light. A deafening roar shook the earth; a shockwave swept through, and all the scorpions simultaneously exploded into fragments.

Liu Nian continued forward while fighting monsters, occasionally stopping to check the detection data transmitted back by Xiao Lan. The terrain of the Bone Sand Sea was more complex than he had imagined, with numerous cavities and fissures beneath the sand layers, which Xiao Lan was exploring layer by layer.

You'll occasionally encounter other players along the way.

Several casual players who were grinding monsters at the edge of the desert saw Liu Nian, and were first stunned, then their eyes widened.

"Holy crap, isn't that Liu Nian from the Divine Dragon Guild?"

"Is that the one... who killed Kazron with one punch and scared Reinhardt so much that he didn't dare to fight?"

"Yes, yes, that's him! The one who's been spamming the main channel every day!"

"Why is he here? The Crimson Wasteland is not close to Ovitan."

"Whatever, shall we go take a look?"

"That's not a good idea..."

"What's wrong with this? It's a rare opportunity, let's get to know each other!"

A few players hesitated for a moment, but still gathered around.

"Um... are you Liu Nian?" The leader was a level 160 human warrior who looked rather honest. "I'm a solo player, leveling up in the Crimson Wasteland. I never expected to run into you, what a coincidence."

Liu Nian nodded: "Hello."

The soldier rubbed his hands together, a little embarrassed. "Brother Liu, can we be friends? I really admire you!"

Liu Nian glanced at him.

Level 160, average gear, but his eyes are quite sincere. He's not from any big guild, just an ordinary solo player.

"OK."

"My name is Tori!" The soldier's face flushed with excitement. "Brother Liu, don't worry, although my rank isn't high, I'm absolutely reliable! If you ever need my help, just say the word!"

Liu Nian wasn't aloof. He believed in treating people with respect and reciprocating even more. He wouldn't put on airs or act superior to those he genuinely wanted to be friends with.

"Brother Liu, what are you doing in the Desert of Bones?" Tori asked curiously. "There aren't any high-level dungeons here, are there?"

Actually, this was quite a taboo, but Liu Nian saw that the guy's eyes were a bit wide-set, and he didn't seem very bright, so he didn't argue with him and just casually said:

"Nothing much, just browsing around and leveling up."

Tori said, "Need a guide? I've leveled up from 140 to 160 here, and I've basically explored everything around here."

Liu Nian thought to himself, "If you'd explored every inch of it, you would have already discovered the area's boss by now..."

However, Liu Nian didn't stand on ceremony and casually asked if there was anything special about the place or any unusual events.

After thinking for a moment, Tori gave a general account of the situation.

Just as the two were talking, Liu Nian suddenly frowned.

Something was wrong with Little Blue. It was frantically fleeing deep into the sand, several times faster than before, as if it were hiding from something.

And that thing—it's huge.

The sensory signals transmitted back by Xiao Lan were blurry and chaotic, but Liu Nian could sense that a huge shadow was chasing it deep within the sand. The shadow's outline was twisted and enormous, like a giant snake or a giant sand worm, far exceeding the size of ordinary monsters.

"Brother Liu? What's wrong?" Torrey noticed that Liu Nian's expression was off.

Liu Nian didn't answer, but just stared intently at the sand beneath his feet.

The sandy surface trembled slightly.

It wasn't the wind that was moving; something was moving underground and rapidly approaching the surface.

"Little Blue, come up here!" Liu Nian ordered in his mind.

Little Blue was flowing upwards with almost all its might. It was already at its maximum speed, but the thing was faster; it had already swallowed more than half of Little Blue's body!

The sand layer trembled more and more violently, and fine cracks began to appear on the sand surface, spreading in all directions like a spider web.

Tori realized something was wrong at that moment, his expression changing drastically: "Oh no, it's a Dimensional Sand Devourer! Run!!"

Those individual players reacted extremely quickly, turning around and running away.

Anyone who has spent a long time in the Bone Desert knows that if you encounter a Dimensional Sand-Eating Beast, you should run away if you can, and never look back!

The sand suddenly bulged up, as if something was about to burst out of the ground.

In that instant, a stream of pale blue water shot out from the sand crack—the endangered Little Blue had finally emerged. Liu Nian immediately recalled it into his magic servant space!

Little Blue is only level 99, which is far too low for the monsters here. Besides, it's a demon servant, so once it dies, it's gone!

Xiao Lan was a great help to Liu Nian's mission, and he didn't want her to die like that.

The next second, the sand beneath Liu Nian's feet completely collapsed.