Originally, Old Man Bamboo Stick and the other two Foundation Building stage cultivators were engaged in a fierce battle with a large army of sand monsters, along with their subordinates, hundreds of miles away.
Suddenly, the sand monster army, which was actively fighting against the human cultivators, began to retreat voluntarily. Sand monsters are creatures without independent intelligence; they act solely on instinct. Whenever they encounter human cultivators, they fight to the death and never retreat or flee. Even if only one sand monster remains, it will fight to the end against the human cultivators without wavering.
However, there is one exception that can make the sand monsters retreat - when their nest encounters a problem, they will call upon all the nearby sand monsters. Any sand monster within the summoning range of the nest will abandon everything and rush to it at the fastest speed.
Observing the retreat of the sand monsters, the three experienced Foundation Building cultivators immediately deduced the reason. They ordered their subordinates to entangle the retreating sand monster army while they pursued them to find the location of the sand monster nest.
After a while, the three Foundation Building stage cultivators still couldn't find the sand monster nest and accidentally stumbled upon the ongoing battle of Meng Zhang and his companions. Listening to the narration of the old Taoist and combining it with Meng Zhang's report, they were certain that the sand monster nest was nearby.
"Very good, very good. You were the first to discover the clue about the sand monster nest. You shall be rewarded once we exterminate the nest," Xiao Shenqiang praised Meng Zhang. He then turned to the other three Foundation Building stage cultivators and said, "This area falls under the responsibility of our Twin Success Valley. Since we have found the sand monster nest, it should be our responsibility to exterminate it."
Xiao Shenqiang seemed determined to rely solely on Twin Success Valley's strength to eradicate the sand monster nest and didn't plan to utilize the help of the other three cultivators.
The friendly-looking old man's face turned sour, and Old Man Bamboo Stick sneered, "Benefits should be shared. You Twin Success Valley wants to hog it all for yourself, but you should ask us first."
The silent middle-aged man's face darkened, and he said in a low voice, "Since we have already tracked it to this point, unless you can defeat the three of us, we will not back down."
Meng Zhang, watching the tense confrontation between the five Foundation Building stage cultivators, recalled some rumors circulating in the Endless Sea of Sand. Sand monsters were enemies of humanity, but killing them yielded no spoils. Battling sand monsters was purely a losing proposition. However, within the sand monster nests, there were valuable treasures. If they exterminated the sand monster nest, they might obtain these treasures.
Though Meng Zhang had killed sand monsters before, he had never verified this rumor. However, seeing the five Foundation Building stage cultivators ready to fight for it, the authenticity of the rumor seemed probable.
As for what kind of treasure lay within the sand monster nest, nobody knew. Taiyi Sect in the past was too weak and had no ability to eliminate a sand monster nest. Despite Meng Zhang gaining extensive knowledge from the Trial Ground, there was no information about this aspect. It made sense since that knowledge was a legacy left behind by the peak Taiyi Sect, which wouldn't have concerned itself with remote places like the Endless Sea of Sand.
The five Foundation Building stage cultivators divided into two groups and continued arguing.
Meanwhile, a sudden piercing whistling sound emanated from afar, and strong winds started to blow. The five cultivators stopped their dispute and turned their attention to a distant black line rapidly approaching them, composed of sand and wind.
"General grade sand monster?" Xiao Shenqiang looked serious.
"Yes, that General grade sand monster is at least at the mid-level of Foundation Building stage. Even if the three of us team up, we can't defeat it," the old Taoist expressed some concern in his tone.
The atmosphere grew tense as the wall of sand and wind, a General grade sand monster, closed in on the five Foundation Building stage cultivators. Meng Zhang activated his Deception Breaking Eye to observe the creature.
The General grade sand monster was entirely composed of sand and wind, towering over everything with a constantly changing human-like shape, resembling a giant made of sand and wind.
It seemed that there was no communication or need for communication between humans and sand monsters. When they encountered each other, the only consideration was how to completely eliminate the other party. The wall of sand and wind displayed a massive face that distorted and contorted. Countless yellow sand particles rained down like a torrent, heading straight for the five human cultivators.
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