“Where the hell are you bringing me?” Mengjun spat out a mouthful of sand only to have more grains enter his mouth. He was held up by the powerful currents of flowing air and sand, swaying violently for the past hour.

Holes had appeared in exposed areas of his clothing, after being tossed and thrown around in the cloud of golden dust, it was starting to tear at him. Grains of sand were like miniature knives that left long scratches on his pale skin. Although one cut wasn’t fatal, they cut him every second and stung like fire.

Mengjun shielded his eyes with his forearms, “Is that the best you can do? Scratch me like a little whining child?”

A powerful gust of sand slammed down on Mengjun’s back. He grunted. A rumbling noise came from all around him, as if the sandstorm itself was alive and laughing at Mengjun’s pathetic state.

“Damn it! I can’t get a solid hold of anything!” Mengjun swore under his breath. “And my energy seemed to be depleted for some reason. Could it be because of that tree demon? Damn! I had let down my guard!”

After he drank the water Yuelong gave him, he almost immediately felt tired and sleepy. But something at the back of his mind warned him of falling asleep. Eventually, he gave in to the sleepiness and shook off the warnings as paranoia. When he woke up, he found himself hanging from the burning branches of the tree. Then came the storm.

Once he was picked up by the storm, Mengjun lost sight of the other members. No matter how hard he cried for the other people, the only response was the howling winds of the storm. From detecting the energy in the storms, he knew it was not born of nature and he had been separated from the others.

“Who are you? And where are you taking me!?” Mengjun called out to the storm. The sandstorm responded with multiple gusts of sand blown into his face. It did not like him.

After struggling in the air, Mengjun finally calmed the flow of energy inside of himself and covered himself in a cloak of darkness, steadying him against the violent gusts of sand. Although Mengjun was now protected, he could still feel the intensity of the winds around him getting stronger, as if trying to break through his protection.

“Don’t waste your time, you’ll never break through my defenses,” Mengjun crossed his arms and looked around him in an arrogant way. “Just let me go and I won’t have to eliminate you.”

After a moment, wisps of sand gathered in the space in front of him, forming into the shape of a human figure. Although the sand was of one color, the features of the figure were still outstandingly detailed. From the roundness of her head to the apsara clothing and drifting ribbons, it looked like a normal person except made of less finer matter.

“Well, well, well, you've got yourself in a tight situation here, haven’t you, demon?” The sand maiden spoke.

Mengjun responded, “So you’re the spirit of this storm? A maiden of the Huangxue Sect? You’re no match for me, just release me and you won’t get hurt.”

“What cockiness! You must really have no idea who you’re dealing with…” The sand maiden drifted around Mengjun, her “ribbons” flowing in the air, the forces of the storm having no effect on her form.

“Oh? Then who am I dealing with here?” Mengjun questioned, smirking to himself.

The sand maiden smiled and opened her arms. Numerous figures of sand appear all around Mengjun. Each sand maiden had a completely different look and clothing to them. It was like each sand maiden was once a real cultivator of the Huangxue Sect.

“We were once the disciples and leaders of the Huangxue Sect. Although our physical body no longer exists, our powers and souls are still here.” The first sand maiden explained. “You’re not only up against one previous leader of the Huangxue Sect, but all of the previous ones as well. Not to mention the powers of a thousand years worth of cultivation.”

At the sound of her words, Mengjun let down his arms. But after a quick moment, he smiled. “You think I would be scared of a bunch of cavewomen? Me? Afraid of you old ladies?” He laughed.

“Demon, you really want to fight against us heads on?” The first sand maiden drifted closer to Mengjun. 

Mengjun stopped laughing and looked into the eyes of the sand maiden. “So be it.”

The sand maiden melted back into the storm, the sands that complied her dissipated into the wind current circling around Mengjun. Within seconds, Mengjun could feel the intensity of the storm through his protective layer of energy. Then he felt a breath on the back of his neck.

Reacting out of reflexes, Mengjun turned around and slashed through the air with his hand, leaving a trail of dark tendrils of smoke. Nothing, he missed. Faint laughter echoed around him.

“This foul ghoul missed!”

“He’s so bad at aiming!”

“You call that a strike?”

Mengjun smirked. He gathered energy from the dan in his abdominal area and condensed it into a tiny ball at the front of his chest. The dark, protective layer around him grew in thickness and aura, like dark flames, it licked and burned away the grains of sand that came too close to him. Opening his arms, Mengjun released the condensed ball of energy. It expanded into a large, black sphere that extended to the edge of the storm. Red electricity sparked and zapped in random areas of the storm, burning grains of sand into fine dust.

“How’s that, cavewomen?” Mengjun mocked.

“Not bad, demon lord, not bad…” The voice of the sand maiden echoed.

Mengjun looked above him and saw a large lotus forming outside the radius of the black sphere. Immediately, a white beam of light bursted out from the lotus and cracked the black sphere. The red electricity faded away and the sphere disintegrated. The beam struck Mengjun square in the chest and he flew back a couple meters.

A hole was burned right through his clothing, exposing his beautiful chest out in the air. Mengjun casually dusted away the fragments of burnt fabric from his chest. 

“Thank goodness I had that protective layer on me, or else I would have been in big trouble,” He thought to himself. “So this is the power of the Huangxue Sect. But, isn’t it a bit weak if it's the power of all the leaders combined?”

“Is that all you got?” Mengjun asked mockingly. “It didn’t even hurt.”

Once again, the familiar form of the sand maiden materialized in front of him. This time, the sand maiden was looking at her own nails, completely ignoring Mengjun’s presence.

“My fellow sisters haven't even moved yet.” She said calmly. “That was my power, alone.”

His heart was stumped. “May I ask your name? So I may remember you as a worthy opponent.”

The sand maiden looked at Mengjun. “Jinglian is my name. And you must be the son of the previous demon lord, Chixi Mojun, am I right?”

At the mention of his title, Mengjun’s smile faded. “How did you know who I am?”

“I fought with your mother once, the previous Demon Mistress, and naturally, you have her eyes. We are no longer creatures of the physical world and so, your disguise cannot fool me.” Jinglian replied. “But honestly, I was expecting a bit more…”

Mengjun thought to himself, “Damn, I’m not at my full power right now, I might not stand against her if that last attack was created by her.” He clenched his fists, erupting a greater black aura around him. “Perhaps I should call for her…”

“Enough talk, you know my name now and I know yours, it’s time we wipe you off the face of this earth!” Jinglian declared.

Sand from the air around them gathered at her palms, forming into numerous lotuses. At the command of her palm, she directed beams of searing white light at Mengjun.

No longer holding back, Mengjun soared upwards, dodging the beams of light. He gathered the cold from his body and focused it into his palm, slowly forming it into a needle. Flying directly above Jinglian, he stealthily released the thin needle under the cover of one of the white beams.

Upon impact with her sand body, ice began to spread across her body, gradually immobilizing her. 

“A bug’s tricks, useless against me.” With a shake of her body, the ice cracked and melted away. “Now, Chixi Mojun, any last words before you die?”

A dozen more lotuses formed at her side, the flower cores all facing Mengjun. Outnumbered by the lotus canons, Mengjun smiled and lifted his hands.

“They don’t call me Chixi Mojun for no reason.” He murmured.

Just as Jinglian was about to release the beams of energy, the entire right half of her sand body exploded outwards. A spider’s web, entirely made of ice, had emerged from her right side. The threads of ice pierced through every lotus flower on the battlefield and rendered them back to the original state of sand.

“You! How did you do this?” Jinglian questioned, her eyes in surprise. “Could it be… that needle?”

“Bravo, fair maiden,” Mengjun clapped his hands, “It was the needle. Quite different from the ones my mother used, don’t you think so?”

“I have to say, you are quite the creative fighter, condensing the webs into a single ice needle.” Jinglian approved. “When struck by the needle, they will merely shake it off as a useless freezing spell, but unknowingly dooming themselves.”

“Now then,” Mengjun clasped his hands together. “Who’s next?”

“Demon lord, my sisters have a proposition for you,” Jinglian suddenly said.

“And why should I comply?”

“Because your beloved shi-xiong’s life is at stake.”

Mengjun’s face immediately turned dark and clenched his fists. “Why should I care about his life? He betrayed me, he used me for his own benefits!” His knuckles turned white with rage. “What did you do to him?”

“Not us, Chixi Mojun. But will you listen to the proposition first?” With a twist of her body, the icy web shattered and was immediately pulverized by the surrounding storm.

“I guess I have no choice then. Tell me.” Mengjun was slightly startled by Jinglian shattering his webs with a single move.

“My sisters and I have found demons and spirits from The Wastelands recently in the desert. Not just one or two, but we have found dozens. It is unnatural for them to be in our world, let alone a large number of them.”

“And what do you want me to do about it?” Mengjun crossed his arms. “I have nothing to do with The Wastelands.”

“Oh? Then explain this,” Jinglian held out a black cloud-shaped badge.

Mengjun sighed. “That was the commanding badge that Bi An Sect used. But it was used before my time. After I came into power, I changed the badge to a moon shape. But if you found that here too, then it can only mean…”

“What? What does it mean, demon lord?”

“It means that this was the doing of him. The one the Gods sealed in the Wastelands.”

Jinglian looked at Mengjun in surprise. “No! It cannot be!? This world would once again fall into chaos! That vile demon!”

“What does this have to do with my shi-xiong?” Mengjun demanded. 

“We are merely guardians, protecting Huangxue from enemies who enter from the desert.” Jinglian continued. “If they choose to enter by other means, we cannot stop them.”

“So you want me to go into the Huangxue Caves to find out?”

“Yes.”

A searing pain suddenly struck from the inside of Mengjun’s head. An image of a skull with glowing eyes stared back at him and the cackles of a woman. Then the cracking of the earth, and a tall figure emerged from the ground. It was a glimpse at the possible future.

“No! No!” Mengjun cried out. “You have to let me out now! Bring me to the Huangxue Caves!”

“Why? What happened?” Jinglian asked.

“They’re already there! He is coming! I saw it!”