*Chapter 44: Sands of the Forgotten**
The Scorched Expanse stretched endlessly, a sea of dunes under a sun that burned like a vengeful god. Heatwaves warped the horizon, and the air shimmered with ancient qi, thick enough to choke even seasoned cultivators. Li Tian led the alliance through the inferno, the Celestial Mirror hanging from his belt, its cracks glowing faintly as though resonating with the desert's buried secrets. Behind him, the sects trudged in wary formation—Verdant Lotus disciples shielded by blightbane parasols, Frostbite elders trailing frost in their wake, and Iron Citadel mechanoids whirring as their gears clogged with sand.
"This place reeks of death," muttered Lady Ruolan, her war orchid wilting in the heat. "Even the spores refuse to bloom here."
General Kael adjusted his breathing apparatus, its filters already caked with grit. "The maps say the ruin lies at the heart of a storm. Let's hope your Mirror knows the way, Tian."
Li Tian didn't answer. The Mirror's whispers had grown urgent, its light pulsing toward the northeast. Xiaoling's voice, faint but clear, threaded through the static: *"Gege… hurry."*
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**The Storm's Edge**
By dusk, they reached the Eye of the Expanse—a perpetual sandstorm that devoured the sky. The dunes here moved like living things, swallowing footprints within seconds. The Frostbite elders summoned a glacial barrier, but the storm's winds gnawed at the ice, howling with voices that mimicked the dead.
"We can't hold this for long," warned Elder Fen, her qi flickering.
Li Tian stepped forward, the Mirror raised. Its light pierced the storm, revealing a path of calcified bones buried beneath the sand—a road laid by the Magic Emperor's fallen foes. "Follow the trail. Quickly."
The sects pressed on, the storm clawing at their heels. A Blood Moon assassin screamed as the winds seized him, shredding his flesh to bone. The alliance didn't pause.
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**The Oasis of Lies**
At dawn, the storm relented, revealing a mirage: an oasis lush with jade trees and crystalline waters. Verdant Lotus disciples broke ranks, sprinting toward it.
"Stop!" Li Tian's spatial staff struck the ground, rippling the air. The oasis wavered, its trees twisting into skeletal hands that dragged two disciples underground.
Lady Ruolan's vines yanked the others back. "Illusions. The Emperor's humor is as cruel as his legends."
Li Tian approached the mirage's edge. The Mirror's light shattered the illusion, exposing a sinkhole lined with serrated stone. At its bottom lay the ruin's entrance—a towering archway carved with the Emperor's visage, his eyes voids that dripped black sand.
"A welcoming sight," Kael grunted.
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**The Gate of Teeth**
The archway's entrance was guarded by statues of winged lions, their stone fur etched with runes. As the alliance approached, the statues stirred, sand cascading from their bodies.
*"Only the worthy may pass,"* the lions intoned in unison, their voices grinding like millstones. *"Prove your blood."*
Li Tian cut his palm, letting his blood fall onto the runes. The ground trembled as the archway's doors split open, revealing a descent into darkness.
"Charming," Lady Ruolan said, eyeing the statues. "Shall we?"
The sects descended, their lights revealing walls frescoed with the Emperor's conquests—cities drowned in shadow, celestials chained to his chariot. Deeper in, the air grew colder, the qi denser.
Xiaoling's voice echoed ahead: *"Gege… I'm here."*
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**The Chamber of Echoes**
The tunnel opened into a cavern where time itself seemed fractured. Mirrors lined the walls, each reflecting a different era—Li Tian's childhood, the Sovereign's rise, the Emperor's fall. At the center stood a pedestal cradling a skeletal hand clutching a scroll.
Lady Ruolan reached for it. "The Emperor's scriptures—"
"Don't." Li Tian yanked her back as the floor gave way, replaced by a pool of liquid shadow. The scroll dissolved, and the mirrors shattered, their shards coalescing into a figure robed in starlight and sand.
*"Thieves,"* the figure hissed, its face shifting between the Emperor's stern visage and Xiaoling's tear-streaked features. *"You dare claim what is mine?"*
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**The Guardian's Wrath**
The guardian—a construct of memory and malice—attacked. Its sandblade severed a Frostbite elder's arm before Li Tian parried, spatial energy clashing against ancient qi.
"Aim for the core!" Kael's artillery scorched the walls, missing the guardian by inches.
The construct dissolved into sand, reforming behind Lady Ruolan. Vines ensnared it, but it laughed, its body scattering into a swarm of scorpions.
Li Tian focused the Mirror's light, targeting the flicker of Xiaoling's face within the storm. "I'm here, Xiaoling! Fight it!"
The guardian froze, its features warring. *"Gege… help—"*
A sandblade pierced Li Tian's shoulder. The vision shattered.
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**The Price of Truth**
Enraged, Li Tian unleashed the Mirror's full power. Light devoured the guardian, revealing a crystalline heart embedded with Xiaoling's fading soul.
"No!" He lunged, but the heart disintegrated, its energy absorbed by the Mirror. The cavern stabilized, the pool of shadow solidifying into a floor of obsidian.
Lady Ruolan eyed the Mirror's deepened cracks. "A costly victory."
Li Tian ignored her, clutching the spot where Xiaoling's soul had vanished. The Mirror now pulsed with her voice, clearer, *closer*.
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**The Path Forward**
Beyond the chamber lay a labyrinth of gears and glowing sigils—the ruin's inner sanctum. Kael's scouts reported corridors lined with dormant constructs, their eyes flickering to life as the alliance advanced.
"The Emperor's toys await," Kael said, priming his artillery.
Li Tian gazed into the labyrinth's heart, where a spire of black jade pierced the cavern's ceiling. "The Sovereign's anchor is here. We destroy it, or the horde returns."
As the sects prepared to march, the Mirror trembled, projecting a final warning: Xiaoling, chained within the spire, her eyes voids of despair.
*"Gege… he's coming."*
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