Searching for Treasure (4)

While Emily drew arrays inside the oasis, Shui and Maha were staring at the map as if they were trying to burn a hole into it with their glares. Maha already knew that it would be difficult for her to obtain any further clues about the inheritance because she wasn't an array master, but that didn't mean Shui was having an easier time deciphering it. He could confidently say that he was more knowledgeable about arrays than most tier 4 array masters and even some tier 5 array masters, but this was a tier 6 array made by an Array Lord. It was only natural that he would struggle to discover its hidden intent.

More than a few times, he considered opening his Sage Eyes and peeking at the true nature of the desert and the map, but his pride restrained him. Although it was part of his power, he thought that relying on his eyes too much would be a detriment to his future growth. It would be different in a life-threatening situation, but he didn't want to give up on himself so quickly.

Two days later and the oasis was protected by both tier 3 and tier 4 arrays, in addition to pseudo-arrays made using talismans. No progress had been made in finding the inheritance, so they finally left the oasis to search of a clue. Based on the map, even if the array on it was set up in the desert at the minimum size, they should still be able to detect it nearby, but that wasn't happening.

At Shui's suggestion, they went to the areas which had the highest concentration of fire element in the desert. However, these places were also the most dangerous because of what they attracted. The closest place appeared to be a bright red forest, but if you looked closely you would notice that the trees were collectively rising and falling at a steady pace.

'So this is firesand turtle.'

Before them was a slumbering great beast with a shell that mutated flora grew on. Its unique features were proof that there was much that could be harvested from its body, but they weren't here to disturb the beast. Once they were this close, Shui could make a connection to the fire element that was here and try to use it to find the clue that they were missing.

As he closed his eyes and sat down, Shui felt himself sink deep into the sand and then plunge even further. He ended up in a tributary of fire element, where a small stream of fire elemental energy from the lump that was under the firesand turtle, flowed into a great river that ran through the entire desert. When he first detected this space under the desert, he believed that it had to have some connection to the map and the inheritance, but not only was it too big to properly assess, the rivers and streams seemed to shift depending on the day and time. The great river was mostly stable, but there were points that they were unobservable to him.

Hoping that he could gather more information on this system, the next two days were spent on searching for power spots. They were able to carry out their objective in peace, but it didn't bring any results. Although the system was fascinating and studying it was very beneficial to his comprehension, entering it was like a maze. So far, every time he dived into the fire element channel system, he was able to make it to the great river, but at some point it would be as if he had hit a solid wall that denied him further access. Depending on which power spot he dived from, the distance he could travel differed, but that barely gave him enough hope to keep trying.

The next spot they were heading to was a little tricky, so Shui would be going closer by himself. Due to the nature of this spot, they could find it long before they were actually near it. There were a few areas in the desert where sandstorms always occurred, and this was one of them. Like a violent clash of wind gods, the sand dominated the land and sky in a vicious spiral. It was goal of all cultivators to rebel against the heavens, but this was a perfect example of how meaningless one's efforts could be before nature's wrath.

"Are you sure this is safe, Brother?"

"Don't worry, Shino. I'll be fine."

The winds were strong enough to rip a Soul Realm cultivator into shreds and severely wound people of their cultivation, so Shui decided that it wasn't worth the risk for all of them to enter it. Neither of the girls thought that he had a death wish, so they didn't try to stop him, but they frowned as they watched his figure be engulfed by the storm.

Within the war of sand and wind, it was pitch-dark, denying access to even the sunlight that blessed this region. No animals or plants lived in this area, so Shui was truly alone here. There was a constant clawing at his skin, but Shui ignored it as he went to the center of the sandstorm. For someone at the first steps of body cultivation, this wouldn't be a bad location for training, but it was ineffective against him.

He couldn't escape from the storm's attempts at tearing open his flesh at its center, but its fury was dampened here so he sat down and began spreading his perception. Normally, he would get straight to diving, but as he tried to accustom himself to the slashing winds, he realized that there was another option.

Meanwhile, Emily and Maha waited outside the storm. They could have returned to the oasis since Shui usually didn't suffer any difficulties that would require their assistance after spreading his perception, but a mixture of habit and concern kept Emily here. She kept her eyes on the sandstorm, but she hadn't lost her awareness as she would always shift away whenever Maha tried to get closer to her.

"Why are you avoiding me? Don't tell me you're still upset."

"..."

"I apologized, didn't I? You were just so cute; I couldn't help myself."

"..."

"Aw, I'm hurt. I told Shin that we would be good friends, but I don't want to force myself on you."

Finally, Emily clicked her tongue and looked at her. Maha showed a discouraged smile and had praiseworthy acting skills, but Emily didn't buy it.

"What do you want?"

"Do I have to want something? Can't we just have a chat?"

"No."

"That's too bad. I was going to share all my stories of Shin, but if you don't want to hear them..."

Emily's finger twitched. She tried to ignore the bait that was thrown to her, but her mind had already split into factions.

'Maybe, maybe just one.'

'No. I have to stay strong.'

'That's right. I can't fall to this vixen.'

'But, what if she's seen a side of Shui that I don't know about?'

As the 'talk' faction grew louder, Emily was about to make a move, when she noticed a change in Maha's atmosphere. By following her focused gaze, she came upon a group of four men that was approaching.

"Sorry, Shino. It seems like I'll have to leave our talk for later."

"Hmph, it's not like I was looking forward to it."

"Is that so? Then I guess I won't use that topic next time."

Emily flapped her lips while her face went through a myriad of expressions, but she eventually decided to stay silent and prepare for a confrontation.