Outside the Material Plane. In a vast demiplane, raging four-element energies howled beyond the boundaries of the plane, sending towering ripples across the void.
The starfield looked shattered, with countless distorted reflections visible everywhere.
There was no sun and no moon — only a crystalline radiance emanating from the plane itself.
Layers upon layers of ashen-white bones lay scattered across the ground, piled so deep it was impossible to tell how thick. Small white flowers crawled out of empty eye sockets, blossoming into delicate buds.
Numerous plant roots clung to the bones, seemingly drawing nourishment from the remains to survive.
A gust of fierce wind swept through, sending white petals swirling into the air like a rain of flowers. The layers of vegetation parted, revealing the ground beneath — and the ground was nothing but a sea of bones. This entire plane was constructed entirely from bones of every conceivable kind.
Some of these bones were only the size of ordinary humans. Others were abnormally short and stout, thick-boned — they appeared to be from halflings and dwarves. There were even the skeletal remains of enormous beasts, so vast they formed small hills.
This was the Plane of Bones — a crumbling small demiplane hidden in the interstices between countless dimensions. It seemed that no visitor had come here for a very long time.
*Crack! Crack!* At that moment, a faint sound of brittle splitting came from underground, followed by a tremor.
*Rumble! Rumble!* A hill of bones collapsed, sending up clouds of dust. At the same time, a round, bulbous head rolled out of a fissure in the ground.
It was a crystalline human skull, with two flickers of dead ghost-fire burning in its eye sockets. A layer of dark death energy coiled around it, radiating powerful fluctuations.
"Gar-le! Ga-la!"
The skull seemed dazed, its teeth grinding together with a sound of cracking bone.
"I've been asleep for over a thousand years…"
The skull spoke in a desolate tone, laden with an archaic accent. Anyone who wasn't a scholar specializing in ancient history would have understood nothing.
*Crunch! Crunch!* The skull continued to clack its teeth, and from its mouth it spat out something like a piece of sheepskin parchment.
A layer of fluorescent light flickered, projecting a host of text and images into midair.
"The year the Elemental Tide howls past. The month of the Dark Crow's cry, when the Blood Moon rises! The Frost Fall Canyon of the Western Desert… the northeast angle of the North Cross!"
The ghost-fire in the skull's eye sockets blazed brighter. It immediately found several nearby bone fragments — equally crystalline, clear as crystal — and slowly reassembled its body.
"A
The skull spoke in a chanting tone. Dense black aura of despair spread across its surroundings, coalescing into a black cloak.
"That Floating City must be mine!!! It belongs to me, the Skeleton Lich, Illyrio Pagraslu!!!"
A staff composed of countless bones flew of its own accord into the lich's hand. The blood-red spherical gem at its tip emitted a sanguine glow.
"Grrroooar…"
The lich struck the ground with its staff. Layer after layer of the surface cracked open, revealing the head of an enormous creature.
A body dozens of meters long, massive bone wings, and a grotesque, terrifying two-headed form — faint soul energy pulsed within its skull. This was clearly the most prized pet of any necromancer: a Two-Headed Bone Dragon!!!
"Heh heh… Let's go, my darling…"
The wind howled. The Two-Headed Bone Dragon spread its wings and carried the Skeleton Lich on its back into the terrifying Elemental Storm.
The raging Elemental Storm now seemed to quiet under the creature's presence, parting to form a pitch-black corridor.
The bone dragon roared and vanished into the far end of the plane…
Meanwhile, in several other places, others had also received the news.
"An anomaly in the Plane of Bones? It seems that lich has awakened…"
"That Illyrio fellow, has it? It's been far too long. The old debts are due for settlement…"
"The Herald of
Countless concealed divine senses flickered across the world, and then, in unison, they directed their attention into the Plane of Bones.
Several among them seemed to have known their target already, and set off immediately toward the Western Desert.
…
Scorching sunlight beat down on the dunes, sending waves of heat-shimmer rippling through the air.
Every drop of moisture seemed to have been completely evaporated. Each breath felt like inhaling a mouthful of fire.
The surface temperature of the desert had already reached its limit — hot enough to bake a person alive!
A glance across the landscape revealed that the entire golden desert was a lifeless wasteland. Even the sparse cacti that had dotted its outskirts had vanished entirely. Not a single trace of green remained.
"We've gone deep into the desert. From now on, we need to conserve our stamina as much as possible, and our supplies and water will have to be carefully rationed… What is it, Elerie? Still thinking about that dream from the other night?"
The blade-wielding team leader studied the map in his hands, his finger tracing distances across it.
When he looked up, he found that the female mage in the group had fallen into a trance again. He couldn't help but ask, a note of irritation in his voice.
"No! I'm much better now… It's just this weather, honestly…"
Elerie pushed back the strands of hair behind her ears, feeling the dry cracking of her skin. She sighed inwardly.
That dream had not returned to haunt her since, but the brutal desert environment had already given Elerie a vivid lesson. Even with the protection of spells, the female mage felt pushed to her limit.
Seeing this, the blade-wielder could only curse under his breath that mages were useless in terms of stamina. With no better option, he offered what encouragement he could: "Just hold on a little longer, and we'll reach the Dream Oasis. We can rest properly there…"
At the word "oasis," not only the female mage but every other member of the group showed a flicker of hope on their faces.
Their current position was deep within the Western Desert — incredibly dangerous. A terrifying black sandstorm could strike at any moment.
Even though their party consisted of high-rank adventurers approaching Legendary levels, they had no effective counter against the raw forces of nature. Danger was ever-present.
The Dream Oasis was the only source of water in the depths of the Western Desert. Rumor had it that it was a crescent-shaped lake and thicket that moved about — the sole lifeline and hope for lost travelers.
"Based on my latest intelligence and maps, the Dream Oasis is just up ahead. I'm sure of it!"
The blade-wielder raised his voice to bolster morale.
Upon hearing this hope, the group's pace quickened.
However, none of them noticed that behind them, someone had been watching their every move.
"The Dream Oasis, hm… Once we get there, the Frost Fall Canyon won't be far. If it weren't for this group of guides, who knows how long it would've taken me to find the way on my own…"
Leilin sat atop a massive sand scorpion. Before him fluttered a flying eyeball, relaying the images of the party ahead.
With that group of adventurers blazing the trail, Leilin's journey had been remarkably smooth. He essentially only needed to retrace their already-cleared safe route.
Moreover, ordinary detection spells would never have uncovered Leilin's presence, given the distance limitations and other factors.
"Now that we're here… how to put it… their value seems to be getting smaller and smaller…"
Leilin stroked his chin. In his estimation, this band of adventurers was probably the weakest faction among those coveting the Floating City.
"Still, they seem to have a leader of their own. I'll let them go on ahead for now and see what they attract…"
Leilin patted the scorpion beneath him. The enormous desert scorpion squeaked and scuttled forward on its eight legs, moving swiftly through the sand.
Along the way, there was nothing but yellow sand and more yellow sand.
No — not quite. Here and there, one could still spot the skeletal remains of ascetics who had perished on the road.
Leilin had once come across a desiccated corpse, drained of every last drop of moisture, dried out like a mummy.
The ascetic path was truly a gamble with death. Without enough water in the desert, their only fate was to collapse by the roadside. Those fortunate enough to be rescued by a kind caravan were exceedingly rare.
"Still… something feels too quiet along this route…"
Ignoring the corpse, which was already half-buried in sand, Leilin urged the sand scorpion onward.
The Western Desert certainly harbored countless dangers, but the group ahead was, after all, an elite party of high-rank adventurers. Aside from encountering a true natural disaster like a black sandstorm, they could handle most threats — and so far, not a single member had been lost.
It seemed normal enough, yet Leilin couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
After all, a route leading to a Floating City shouldn't be this eerily calm.
It was only just now that a look of sudden realization appeared on Leilin's face: "So they've shown up after all. I didn't expect that deep in the Western Desert, there would still be native inhabitants. Could they be survivors of the Nether Arcane era?"
At that thought, he abandoned his mount entirely. Activating a flight spell, he spread his wings and shot into the sky.
After crossing countless dunes, a stretch of deep greenery suddenly appeared before Leilin's eyes.
In the midst of the endless yellow desert, a crystal-clear crescent-shaped lake materialized, surrounded by a vast stretch of oasis.
In this forsaken land where life had been extinguished, the sight was nothing short of moving — a testament to the stubborn power of life.
But even now, there were discordant scenes unfolding.
For instance, fierce fighting had already erupted around the oasis.
"No wonder I kept feeling something was off — it was right here!" A flash of realization crossed Leilin's face.