Chapter 155 Getting Back on Track

"To practice this divine art, one must first castrate oneself!"

These eight large characters echoed continuously in Lin Zhengyi's mind. He stood frozen on the spot as if struck by lightning, completely dazed and looking as though he had lost his soul. His body trembled and heaved involuntarily.

Ning Xiu looked at Lin Zhengyi for a moment, then turned and walked away.

This was a tiny spark that Ning Xiu had ignited in this dark world. As to whether it would eventually be extinguished by the wind or blaze into a towering inferno, he had no way of knowing.

Everything that transpired at the Hill of Chaos was merely a minor interlude in Ning Xiu's journey across the desert.

Deep within the Desert of Death, inside a hidden cavern, Nine-Tail gripped Wang Danfeng by both shoulders, her expression filled with agitation. "What did you say? The Twin-Life Flower has bloomed, and it has even entered that kid's body?"

"Y-Yes, Miss," Wang Danfeng stammered.

"Why didn't you speak of this sooner? If I had known the Twin-Life Flower was inside him, no matter the cost, we should have kept him here," Nine-Tail's face darkened noticeably.

"Given the circumstances at the time, I simply had no opportunity to say anything." Wang Danfeng lowered her head, looking like a child who had committed a wrong.

"The Twin-Life Flower is lost. If that person returns, how are we of Loulan to give an account..."

"Miss, isn't that person just a legend?"

"You don't understand." Nine-Tail gently shook her head, her expression gradually turning resolute. "No, we must find that man. He must still be somewhere within the Desert of Death."

Meanwhile, at the Temple of the Moon Wheel, a different scene was unfolding.

On a high platform in the exact center of the grand hall stood a blood-red stone statue towering several dozen feet high. Wisps of an ancient and distant aura emanated from the statue.

This was the Moon God, worshipped and revered by countless believers across the Desert of Death.

Through the stone statue, one could discern that this Moon God was male, with cascading scarlet hair, a crimson moon marked between his brows, and an indifferent gaze that seemed to look down upon all living beings.

Even as a mere stone statue, it delivered a powerful psychological impact. Those with weaker wills might feel an irresistible urge to prostrate themselves in worship at just a single glance.

At this moment, countless followers in the hall plaza surrounded the statue, prostrated on the ground. They all wore identical white hooded robes that concealed their faces. Their features were indistinguishable, and each person murmured unfamiliar scriptures and incantations under their breath. The atmosphere within the hall was indescribably eerie and terrifying, unsettling to the mind.

A middle-aged man stood at the very front of the crowd, facing the statue of the Moon God with his hands raised high above his head, shouting aloud, "We beseech divine revelation!"

"We beseech divine revelation!" all the followers in the hall shouted in unison.

On the altar, the eyes of the stone statue suddenly flashed with an eerie red glow, shooting a ray of light directly into the middle-aged man's eyes.

The man shuddered violently, a look of agony crossing his face. After a moment, he finally recovered, speaking in a raspy voice, "The Twin-Life Flower—we must obtain the Twin-Life Flower. That person has not yet left the great desert; no matter the cost, we must find him."

"According to the Moon God's instructions, that person should be in the northeastern part of the Desert of Death. Baha, you and the others are to bring him back immediately."

"Understood!" A bald, burly man below stood up and responded loudly.

Legends had it that the Twin-Life Flower possessed various miraculous and even unbelievable properties, the most widely circulated and accepted of which was its ability to bring the dead back to life. In other words, possessing the Twin-Life Flower meant gaining a second life.

Of course, these were merely street rumors recorded in unofficial histories and biographies; its true efficacy remained unknown. For thousands of years, not a single person had even laid eyes on the Twin-Life Flower in the flesh.

Naturally, Ning Xiu would not play games with his own life. He could sense a black-and-white flower rooted deep within his elixir field and sea of qi. Originally rootless, it had now grown blood-red roots.

Although the flower and the man coexisted peacefully without disturbing one another, and Ning Xiu had felt no abnormalities over the past several days, for some reason, whenever he looked at it, an inexplicable sense of unease would arise in his heart. Anyone who discovered a flower inexplicably growing inside their own body would feel the same way.

Ning Xiu frowned, but his brow quickly unfurled.

He still had a system in his mind; compared to that, the Twin-Life Flower was not entirely unacceptable.

"It seems this Twin-Life Flower isn't as simple as Wang Danfeng claimed at the time..." Ning Xiu muttered to himself, resolving to track down those Loulan remnants and demand a clear explanation sooner rather than later. Yet, clearly, now was not the time. The vast Desert of Death was devoid even of anomalies, which deeply frustrated Ning Xiu.

Without a way to make money, he couldn't recharge credits. Without recharging credits, he couldn't grow stronger. Without growing stronger, he couldn't directly march into the lair of the Loulan remnants to demand answers.

Recalling the scene he encountered at the "Xiezhi" shrine of the Six Doors, Ning Xiu had some guesses regarding the Temple of the Moon Wheel in the Desert of Death.

"It seems my target must still be the Temple of the Moon Wheel."

After all, the divine statue inhabited by the remnant will of the "Xiezhi" had gifted him a massive stash of sycee. He just wondered what kind of monster this Moon God turned out to be.

With these thoughts in mind, Ning Xiu took out his map, intending to check the location of the nearest oasis city, when a group of uninvited guests surrounded him.

Looking at the group before him, Ning Xiu's eyes revealed a strange expression.

"R-R-R-Robbery!"

They were a band of desert bandits, and their leader looked rather foolish, stuttering so badly when he spoke that Ning Xiu genuinely wondered how someone like him had ever managed to become a leader.

Ning Xiu had slaughtered countless such blind fools along his journey. The only reason he gave this particular pack of bandits a second look was not because their leader was so eye-catching, but because he spotted an emblem pinned to the man's chest.

It was a crimson moon badge—the distinct insignia of the Temple of the Moon Wheel's followers.

Believers of the Temple of the Moon Wheel usually resided in oasis cities; very rarely did desert bandits count themselves among their followers. It was truly as if a pillow was handed to him just as he grew drowsy.

The corners of Ning Xiu's mouth lifted slightly. His water supply was running dangerously low anyway, and relying solely on the system to draw wine was impractical.

The would-be robbers ended up being the ones robbed; if these desert bandits wanted to blame someone, they should blame themselves for following a foolish boss.

Ning Xiu reclined lazily on his camel, water skins hanging heavily from both sides. With a flick of his finger, he tapped the newly acquired crimson moon badge in his palm, pondering how best to approach the Temple of the Moon Wheel.

At that moment, Ning Xiu had no idea that the Temple of the Moon Wheel had already dispatched divine envoys to scour the desert for him. Had he known, he wouldn't have bothered taking extra steps.

Waiting for the prey to come to him would have been far easier and more effortless.

After all, to the current Ning Xiu, those so-called divine envoys were practically mobile storehouses of delivered sycee.