No strange things are allowed to evolve!

"I know this in my heart. After all, although I have not personally taken action, with my help, whether the living environment has been compressed or the defense has been targeted, quite a few humans have indeed lost their lives. If you do not agree with my idea of ​​assimilating them and insist on killing me, that is understandable."

I'm not telling you where the void is, not because I'm afraid of dying, but simply because I genuinely can't explain it clearly.

The Sand Demon explained:

"There are no landmarks, no reference points, and no specific coordinates there. Only I can find it. If you want to go, you'll have to wait for me to personally guide you."

"Is that so?" Jiang Shu nodded.

Taking a deep breath, the Sand Demon asked seriously, "I don't mind leading the way, but can you guarantee you can really end all of this? Turn the newborns back into humans, stop or even eliminate desertification, in short, eliminate conflict and betrayal in this world. Can you do that?"

"I can only say I will try my best." Jiang Shu did not give a perfunctory answer or make empty promises. Faced with the Sand Demon, whose ideals were very clear, he finally chose to be realistic: "I have the ability, but I dare not guarantee whether I can do it. But I always believe in the saying that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. As long as I do it, it is possible. I dare not say anything else, but at least I am the only person in this world who is likely to do it."

"Hmm." The Sand Demon's expression relaxed slightly.

Then, his long neck gradually blurred and disappeared, and his huge head slowly shrank. Before long, he returned to his original pilot appearance and came to Jiang Shu.

He stretched out his hand and placed it on his forehead, then suddenly exerted force with his fingers.

click!

With a crisp sound, the fragment of sand embedded in his forehead, along with a small piece of skull, some tissue and tendons, was pried off by him, soup and all.

Even Jiang Shu's eyelids twitched at the sight.

That's ruthless.

With one hand, he handed over the blood-soaked fragments of the Sand of All Things, while the other hand covered the hole on his forehead. The Sand Demon smirked, "Here, take this. I don't need it anymore, but it might be of some help to you."

"You... oh dear... I didn't even ask for it... why bother... oh really..."

As Jiang Shu spoke, he stretched out both hands.

The instant Jiang Shu received the fragment of the Sand of All Things, an item notification suddenly appeared before his eyes.

【Boundless Sand (Fragments)】

[Level: Catastrophe]

[Description: One begets two, two begets three, three begets all things...]

[Function: Currently usable only within the Hatchery, grants a portion of the Boundless Sand Power]

[Note: Obtaining the complete Boundless Sand will unlock its actual function.]

The Sands of All Things are indeed Boundless Sands!

It's just that the name used in the hatchery is different from its actual name.

At the same time, Jiang Shu received another notification—

[Mission Objective 1: Slay a Sand Demon] [Completed]

[They can now leave the incubator at any time.]

[Note: The escape time is ten minutes. Please try to escape while not in combat. If attacked within the escape time, the escape will fail, and you must complete mission objective two to get another chance to escape.]

[Activate Mission Objective Two] [Optional]

[Task Objective Two: Obtain the complete Boundless Sand]

Jiang Shu was taken aback.

What's going on? Without the Sand Demon, it's no longer the Sand Demon, so is being demoted also considered an execution?

Okay, okay, so it's the "execution threshold" you're referring to, right?

Also, why can we break free now?

This is something I've never encountered before.

In the past, we had to complete all the mission objectives before we could leave, so why is it different this time?

There's also cheating: Can I return to town?

So it's called mission objective two, but it's actually more like a hidden mission.

Although there were no hints, Jiang Shu felt that the reward for collecting the complete Boundless Sand would be this item, so he definitely wouldn't leave just yet.

He has to complete all the mission objectives.

Moreover, this escape is limited and may be interrupted, so it cannot be regarded as a life-saving measure in critical moments.

So if you think about it carefully, whether he can break away now or not doesn't really make any difference to him.

Seeing Jiang Shu suddenly start to stare blankly for some reason, the Sand Demon asked in confusion, "What's wrong? You can't possibly not need it, can you? Why don't you give it back to me?"

"No way, it will definitely come in handy. I was just thinking..." Jiang Shu's eyes darted around, "Oh, I was just wondering if your companions will still be there after we go over there."

“Then they’re definitely gone,” the Sand Demon said. “Because when I came out of there the second time, I brought them all with me. Didn’t I just say that I’m afraid of being alone? I feel more at ease having familiar people around me.”

As he spoke, the Sand Demon waved his hand, and ten sand golems appeared out of thin air.

They looked like puppets, even more so than the sand puppets you could see outside. If it weren't for their instinctive movements, they would be no different from giant figurines.

A hint of reminiscence appeared in the Sand Demon's eyes: "They..."

But just as he opened his mouth...

"Awoo!"

Amidst the rampant poison raging within White Cloud City, a ferocious beast suddenly swept past and bit off one of the men's arms.

Jiang Shu: ......

Sand Demon: ......

The two then realized that while they were talking, Baiyun City was being constantly eroded by the deadly poisons.

"Mine, I forgot." Jiang Shu awkwardly snatched the young cub from the vitiligo family that was holding her arm and pulled it close, then grabbed it by the scruff of its neck and slammed it in the throat: "Are you trying to die? Spit it out right now!"

"vomit!"

Jiang Shu handed the arm, now covered in white spots, back to the Sand Demon: "Hey, why don't you go look for someone on Douyin? I see a lot of people advertising there, maybe there really is a miracle doctor."

"..." The Sand Demon shook his head: "Never mind, you can give it to him, we don't want it."

"That would be so embarrassing."

"It's for the child, not for you, so it's fine."

"Okay then..."

......

outside world.

"It's been so long...Isn't something wrong?"

One of the guards asked with concern:

"What if the Sand Demon comes out and kills us all in a little while?"

"I don't know." The falcon shook its head and looked at the Yellow Crane Tower. "Do you know what happened?"

Huang Helou only came to his senses after being patted on the shoulder.

"Huh? I don't know, it shouldn't be." Huang Helou scratched his head and said perfunctorily.

Seeing Huang Helou's attitude, the Falcon didn't say anything more and could only nod reluctantly.

Jiang Shu saved their lives, and he had had conflicts with both Jiang Shu and Huang Helou before. To be honest, he felt a little awkward in front of them now, so he couldn't treat them the same way he used to.

If someone doesn't want to talk about it, they'll just brush you off, and you'll feel too embarrassed to ask further.

To put it bluntly, it's understandable that Huanghelou would treat him and retaliate against him in an even worse way; there's nothing wrong with that.

This is just a perfunctory response, which is already quite mild and can be considered repaying evil with kindness.

But in reality, Huang Helou had no such thoughts at all; he was simply focused on other things and had no time to pay attention to them.

Just now, he also received a mission notification.

Jiang Shu has already killed the Sand Demon and can now escape.

He was torn about whether or not to leave.

He felt he couldn't be of much help, and continuing might even be a hindrance.

Moreover, I've never even heard of what Wuliangsha is, and I've never seen it in the incubator.

Collecting the complete Wuliang Sand means it's not just one or two pieces, but possibly a whole bunch scattered all over the world without a single clue. How long would it take to find it?

Now we can only wait and see if Jiang Shu has made any progress before deciding whether to stay or leave.

Just as they were thinking this, Jiang Shu's mountain-sized body gradually shrank under the astonished gazes of the crowd, eventually becoming the size of a normal person.

His consciousness finally returned to the outside world.

His first thought was to look at Xue Wang and Wang Tiezhu lying beside him: "They're still not awake."

Then he asked the falcon, "Is everything alright?"

The guards nodded awkwardly.

They never expected that the newcomer they initially thought was dim-witted would eventually become their savior.

Falcon forced a smile and was about to say something when he heard Jiang Shu say, "If there's nothing else, you can go back. We have things to do, so we won't see you off."

As he spoke, he began to discuss something with Huang Helou.

So the falcon's expression suddenly turned very unpleasant. It wasn't that he was angry with Jiang Shu, but seeing that Jiang Shu not only had no intention of settling scores later, but even simply ignored him, he felt an indescribable discomfort.

Even if Jiang Shu said a few words to him, or ridiculed or belittled him, he would apologize and say that he had misjudged him.

But the other party ignored me, as if the previous conflicts were nothing to them, while I was the one who kept agonizing over it. In this way, it seemed that the two of us were not on the same level at all.

This was hard for him to accept.

Although he admitted that the two forces were not on the same level, he was still the leader of the guard and the leader of the team that bore the future destiny of mankind.

No matter what you're planning to do next, I'm willing to help. Just pay attention to me!

This frustration caused him to suffer internal injuries from using up his sand-transformation opportunity, and he actually coughed up blood on the spot.

"puff!"

Seeing this, the guards beside him quickly helped him up.

"Are you alright?!"

Jiang Shu was also startled and shuffled to the side, afraid that blood would splatter on him.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly making baseless accusations?"

"It's not a good thing."

Seeing that Jiang Shu had noticed him, the falcon quickly suppressed his intense discomfort and spoke casually:

"I've used up all my chances of desertification, and I didn't have much time left to live. My only wish now is to see humanity continue to thrive thanks to our efforts."

But I probably won't live to see that day. I'm worried that without me, the guard will become lost and weak without a leader. I hope there will be a new person to lead everyone to continue on this path.

I just heard you say that you're going somewhere to find the truth about desertification.

Well... although I may not be able to help much, this is also our goal, and we are willing to give our lives for it. So now I have a favor to ask: I hope you can lead everyone to continue the struggle.

"You... will become the new leader of the defense!"

After saying that, the falcon spat out another mouthful of blood.

Seeing this, Jiang Shu quickly calmed him down: "Oh dear, if you're not feeling well, don't talk so much. What do you mean by dying? It's not that serious. When Tie Zhu wakes up, he'll treat you, and then I'll try to remove the curse from your body. You can live for quite a while. Don't keep thinking you're about to die and are even entrusting your children to others, making it seem like it's really happening."

The falcon was taken aback.

No?

Why this reaction?

So I don't have to die after all?

He was initially pleasantly surprised, but when he thought about how his words, which he had been preparing for so long, had been so easily dismissed by Jiang Shu, he felt a strong sense of shame and discomfort.

"No, no, no." He said earnestly, "I really have to die! There's no way to save me!"

Chapter 173 Hiding Merit and Fame

After the group returned to the area outside the hills, where the ecliptic train had stopped, the doctor was peering through the observation window like a lonely old man or a child left behind in a mountain village.