The Dawn of the New World Chapter 1527

"See those flags? That's where your life ends. Go outside and no one will be able to protect you!"

He guided the slaves to either the left or the right side of the rock formation while continuously shouting threats and warnings one after the other.

"Do NOT underestimate the desert, she is not a kind mistress! If you hear any voices you come get me, if you see anything suspicious then you come get me. If you find ANYTHING of value you come get ME, understand?"

"There is nothing around these parts so venturing outside the flags is certain death! You might see and hear things but DO NOT follow after them, it's just the desert spirits trying to lure you away! The Djinn- they like to play tricks you see? If you sit anywhere brush it off with your hands first in case there are any of their children messing about."

Hao Xuan's brow rose higher and higher the more he heard. Sumeet really was trying his best to guide them.

He had heard a lot about the Djinn even back on earth, let alone here where he came across one in one of the other worlds.

They were spirits born from fire and smoke, invisible to all but the ones they chose to reveal themselves to. Many were tricksters and often far too vengeful about the smallest of things to be able to hold proper discourse.

He threw a cursory glance at the surroundings but nothing stood out.

"You- to the right," Sumeet shoved Hao Xuan away when his turn came but he didn't care enough to speak up.

"Can you carry these?" Hao Xuan asked while handing Che Yun the bag.

It wasn't that heavy anyway so he didn't have any trouble, not that he would have said something even if he did.

"Yes, Sir- Mr. Jin!" Che Yun nodded while hugging the bag with both hands.

*Sigh*

"Just sir is fine I guess, not need to correct yourself every time. Come."

They walked along the side until an empty dig site came up. Each site was marked by a white resin and the one he had chosen was closer to the outer boundary.

Hao Xuan peered towards the nearest flag which was a little more than 10 meters away. It was full of runes and sigils that he hadn't seen in a very long time.

'Seems like quite a complex array. Each flag is connected to the two beside it and two on the other side of the rock formation. It hides what's inside while also putting up several warning and attack sigils.'

The power of an individual flag wasn't much more than a full-powered attack from an Origin Realm expert but when combined with the other four flags the attack power would jump up to the first or second stage of the Profound Realm.

'Smart and efficient. As long as the formation isn't overwhelmed at multiple points simultaneously it should work fine.'

Hao Xuan emptied the contents of the bag to take inventory. As mentioned there was enough food and water for one person along with a pickaxe and some sheets of cloth.

Using some of the larger rocks nearby Hao Xuan created a quick shelter for Che Yun so he wouldn't have to stand in the heat.

"Alright, you sit here and keep an eye out. Tell me if you see something, okay?"

Che Yun looked at the makeshift shelter speechlessly.

"Is that...will that be okay? I can work-"

"Not this kind of work," Hao Xuan cut him off before he could even make his case.

He appreciated Che Yun's work ethic but realistically speaking there was nothing else he could do.

Hao Xuan pointed to the dig site, "We have to take out a lot of rock and stones and then break them open to find any usable spiritstones. Without any Qi of your own you will get poisoned by the energy of the spiritstones. I just need you to keep an eye on the perimeter- er, I mean the border. You heard the slaver right? There is a lot of danger out there."

After giving it some thought Che Yun nodded, "Un! I can do that!" he said with a newfound conviction.

"Good. You guard while I dig."

Realistically speaking Hao Xuan didn't need any protection. His acute senses far surpassed anything Che Yun could do but he needed to give him something to keep the boy busy.

Che Yun sat facing the flag, staring out into the blinding white desert looking for anything out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, Hao Xuan got to work at the site just a few meters down.

The heat was a lot worse since he didn't have a Qi barrier active but the rest of the work was as easy as it could be.

He didn't even need to use the pickaxe since with Hao Xuan's full strength he could probably destroy the entire rock formation in less than ten minutes but that wasn't the goal.

Each slave was meant to dig down into the rock formation where its heart would be. If there was indeed a 'super' spiritstone that could power the city then it would be there. And spiritstones could often be quite sensitive so they needed to be careful and take their time rather than risk destroying it in a hurry.

Thankfully Hao Xuan had an abundance of memories from the countless souls he had absorbed of being in similar situations. It was seen as a common punishment in almost every corner of the universe so he had plenty of experience to go off of.

Once Hao Xuan got down to it he managed to clear more area in an hour than all other slaves combined. He knew exactly where to dig and how much, using the leftover rocks as a foundation to support the deepening tunnel.

It was not long before Che Yun could not even see him.

But the boy sat on his post like a duty-bound soldier, keeping a watchful eye for anything unusual- which he soon found.

It had been three hours since they arrived even though it felt like 10.

Che Yun was drawing in the sand when he felt minor tremors in the ground. Upon raising his head he saw the sand outside of the flags beginning to shift in an unnatural way.

Che Yun jumped to his feet to get a better look when he felt the ground shake.

"Wha-"

He could see something moving in the far distance, the sand dunes shifting left and right.