“Return to your place, giant.”

William winced as a vaguely familiar voice boomed behind him. His breath hitched in surprise after he turned to see who was talking. It was the serpent that let him off with a little slap on his wrist for stealing, except it was far more massive than he remembered it.

The serpent was floating in the sky with its lengthy body fully visible. There were no trees to coil around, unlike in the forest.

The Magmaheart Goliath’s head was out of the sand, with its shoulders slowly following as it pulled itself up. It roared in reply at the serpent.

“You are replaceable. Do not force my hand.”

William winced again before deciding to put more distance between him at the fight about to break out. If the sound of just its voice was uncomfortable, then anything else might be deadly.

“W-What’s happening?”

He glanced down at Princess Jin, who was waking from the nap the turtle had put her in. “Lord Paddlington happened. If you ask why I’m running, there will be a fight behind us.”

The princess turned her neck to see the standoff and whispered, “The Lord Protector.”

“This might sound like a stretch, but trust me when I say we must stay away. Don’t try to help the serpent, princess.”

“I didn’t plan on doing so,” Princess Jin said firmly, to his surprise, “Let me down.”

William slowed his pace and did so immediately, blinking in surprise when she turned and pulled him behind her.

Immediately after, a loud boom deafened him before a blast of air combined with sand particles acting like tiny razor blades slammed into her. At least, that’s what he assumed the sand would have been like if Princess Jin hadn’t used the Qi shroud to protect them from any effects.

Another boom was heard before the princess grabbed him, and his vision blurred. By the time it became clear, he had found that they were far enough that it was hard to make out any distinct features of either the serpent or the giant.

But the plumes of sand kicked up from the repeated attacks from their fight were more noticeable than the fighters themselves.

“We should be far enough to avoid the aftershocks.”

William nodded silently before asking something that had been bothering him, “How are you already used to your new cultivation?”

“I’m not,” she replied flatly, “I only trust myself with the basics, and even then, I can feel how much Qi is wasted with my every move. It will take me years to adjust. Still, an excellent trade-off, if you ask me.”

“True,” William agreed before he trailed off again. The princess’s focus was on the serpent in the distance. It looked small to him, but the eyesight of a cultivator in the Nascent Soul Realm would be exponentially better than his.

“Ancestor Sophia gave you a task.”

“What?” William’s voice cracked. She still wasn’t looking at him, but it felt like a massive weight had been put on his shoulders. No matter how friendly they were on the surface, Princess Jin was still part of the imperial family.

With Sophia, the Seedling, and Lord Paddlington having feelings about the Empire ranging from disappointment to hatred, this wouldn’t end well for him.

“I heard you mention it.”

Before William could fully process the horrifying realization that the princess truly meant it when she had said she was aware of everything, the Qi shroud came back to life around her, except the intensity was at unmatched levels. The previous times she had done the same, he couldn’t feel much more than a slight tingling on his skin, but this time it felt like he was doused in Qi.

“You have benefited greatly. Did you find the boy?”

William stiffened at hearing the serpent’s voice speak as if it was right beside them. He could still see the plumes of sand in the horizon, so it was simply some type of voice projection.

“The Oasis of Respite gave me some opportunities, honored protector,” Princess Jin’s voice didn’t show any sign of the visible strain she was under to maintain the thick Qi shroud, “As for the boy, I never came across him.’

He stared at the princess in surprise.

“Shame. No matter. Inform your Elders that the situation is out of control. I need their help.”

Princess Jin paused momentarily before saying, “Yes, honored protector.”

William kept his mouth shut even though there was no further communication from the serpent. The princess still had the Qi shroud flaring around her, keeping him submerged for protection.

There was a faint shriek heard for the first time at this distance as a larger-than-usual plume of sand billowed in the distance. The serpent must have finished the fight. Unfortunately for it, it seemed like this was the moment Lord Paddlington was waiting for.

“THANK YOU FOR TAKING CARE OF THE ABOMINATION, UGLY SNAKE. YOUR MASTER IS A GENIUS FOR BEING ABLE TO COPY THE EMPRESS’S MARK.”

William grunted in pain before he felt the Qi surrounding him thickening even more. He gave Princess Jin a grateful look when he found that it dulled his senses, or at least his hearing.

“I HAVE BEEN WAITING. FOR TOO LONG.”

The princess might have saved his hearing, but it didn’t stop either of them from flinching in surprise when the sky was blotted out. All he could see was the underside of Lord Paddlington’s shell.

“TAKING YOUR LIFE IS ONLY THE START.”

“Stay close, Wei Liang,” Princess Jin ordered with a strained voice, pulling him into a loose hug, “I have a feeling Ancestor Sophia’s creation will overdo it if the past actions mean anything.”

He couldn’t agree more. Lord Paddlington was unnecessarily showy, especially when the only witnesses were himself and the princess. Even though the princess seemed strangely distant to the idea of the serpent meeting its end, he wasn’t keen on her seeing so much. It might bring an outburst of emotion that would be detrimental to his future in the Tianxia Empire.

[Lord Paddlington: Do not move.]

William barely finished reading the system alert when Lord Paddlington made its move. Nothing exotic or complex. No flashy techniques or even an attack with Qi involved. Just a simple movement of its flipper.

Of course, to him, it felt like the world was ending.

The air displaced by Lord Paddlington’s flipper descending stripped a few meters of sand from the surroundings, with Princess Jin being the only reason he hadn’t been blown away along them. He could see that she feared what was to come when the flipper actually crashed into the desert, and a tiny part of him felt the same, but he trusted that the turtle didn’t want them dead.

Thankfully, William had been right.

It sounded like a muffled explosion when Lord Paddlington’s flipper made contact with the ground. The plumes of sand that were kicked up during the fight between the serpent and the giant were quickly dwarfed, making any comparison between them unfair to even think of.

A massive wall of sand formed at the spot of impact, rising all the way till it hit Lord Paddlington’s shell in the sky before it quickly rippled outward. It was like the desert was getting turned inside out.

“I’m almost depleted,” Princess Jin said quickly, “Reinforce yourself!”

William paled in fear as he frantically tried to ready his Qi for the use of his trump card. But it was impossible. A second was far too much time. The wall of sand reached them in a fraction of that and was about to slam into them before a transparent barrier protected them as it passed by.

“… Looks like we weren’t forgotten, but that might have been just the beginning.”

He nodded, staring at the destruction before them. The desert was no longer a desert. All the sand was gone, and the ground was demolished beyond reason. It was more similar to the hellscape they had just got out of.

[Lord Paddlington: We will meet again.]

William glanced at the alert before he felt the ground shake violently. Lord Paddlington pulled its flipper up before slamming it back down even with even greater force, and this time it seemed like it broke the entire realm.

The sky started to shift colors, the ground formed meters-thick cracks as far as the eyes could see, and lava spewed into the air. He was coming to the realization that the turtle wasn’t satisfied with waiting for the secret realm to fall apart. It wanted to expedite it.

“Wei Liang!” Princess Jin yelled over the sounds of the apocalypse around them, “Grab onto me! We’re about to leave!”

William wasn’t hesitant and wrapped his arms around the princess before his eyes followed where she was looking. There was a familiar vortex directly above them. They started to be lifted into the air, just in time to avoid the chasm that opened where they were standing.

He shuddered when he sensed someone watching him and looked up to see Lord Paddlington staring directly at them. Right when they reached the opening of the vortex, he saw the turtle open its mouth. A ball of light formed between the opening, glowing brighter than the sun.

The last thing William saw before darkness surrounded him was a massive beam of energy barreling down to the already-broken ground, likely seeking to complete the destruction.