Chapter 1710: Desert Space

"Of course I've seen him; it hasn't been long since Teacher Kong left..."

The huge dragon head nodded, and the Qiongmu Azure Dragon looked as if it were stating the obvious.

"Not long?" A strange thought emerged, and Zhang Xuan couldn't help asking, "Teacher Kong, how long has it been since he left here?"

"Just over four hundred years, I suppose!" The Qiongmu Azure Dragon said after a moment's thought.

"As I thought!" Zhang Xuan's whole body trembled.

Earlier, when this creature said it had been captured by Teacher Kong, he had guessed that the flow of time here might differ from the outside world; otherwise, it would surely have turned to dust long ago.

Now, hearing these words, he finally confirmed it.

Teacher Kong left the Master Teacher Continent roughly over forty thousand years ago by external reckoning, yet here it had only been four hundred years. Didn't that mean... the flow of time here was a hundred times slower than outside?

In other words, one day here equaled a hundred days outside?

If this time dilation were applied to ancient sages, it could greatly extend their lifespans, sparing them the need to rely on slumber to survive.

"No... I have comprehended the true essence of time. If time here truly differed from outside, I should be able to perceive it... Why can't I sense anything at all?"

Then he frowned.

His understanding of time was no longer as ignorant as before. If the rate of time here were completely different from the outside, he would surely notice something amiss. Yet he felt nothing—how could that be?

"Never mind for now... Perhaps I'll only find answers when I reach the Confucian Temple!"

After pondering for a while and failing to find an explanation, Zhang Xuan shook his head and stopped dwelling on it. "Take me to see the entrance!"

The Qiongmu Azure Dragon led the way.

The cave was vast, with a huge opening in the center where molten lava churned, giving the impression that it could melt anything.

"This is... the entrance?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

It looked more like a volcanic crater. Was the Confucian Temple inside?

"I'm not sure either. Teacher Kong had the five of us guard this place; it should be the passage to the Confucian Temple," the Qiongmu Azure Dragon explained.

Teacher Kong's actions were like a hornless dragon leaving no trace—beyond the comprehension of mere sacred beasts like them.

Frowning, Zhang Xuan activated his Eye of Insight and scanned the area but saw nothing unusual. He finally nodded. "You all enter the folded space first. Whether this is the passage or not, we'll know once we go in and see."

Knowing that waiting here would yield no results, Zhang Xuan waved his hand, gathering the beasts into the folded space, then leaped and plunged straight into the crater.

His physical body was indestructible even by heavenly fire; the lava, though scorching, had no effect on him.

After swimming downward for a while, a seal resembling an underground cavern appeared before him. He gently shook and slipped through.

Whoosh!

The next moment, Zhang Xuan felt dizzy and disoriented, finding himself in an entirely different place.

The previous location of the five sacred beasts had been a dense forest with lush vegetation, but here it was a desert. The ground radiated intense heat, stretching endlessly without a visible end.

With a flick of his wrist, the Qiongmu Azure Dragon appeared before him.

"Is this the entrance you mentioned?"

Zhang Xuan was filled with helplessness.

This desert seemed to be another folded space, completely unrelated to the Confucian Temple.

Could it be that he had taken the wrong path?

"This..."

Seeing the scene before him, the Qiongmu Azure Dragon also seemed startled, full of confusion.

Apparently, it had never been here before and did not know that behind the entrance it and the other beasts had been guarding lay such a sight.

"Master, I've searched the entire forest, and there was only that one entrance... Could this be another trial deliberately left by Teacher Kong? To find the Confucian Temple, we might have to keep searching for entrances?"

After a moment's thought, the Qiongmu Azure Dragon said.

"That seems to be the only possibility..."

Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly.

Other than that, he couldn't think of any other explanation.

This desert, like the previous forest, probably required finding an entrance to reach the next layer, while the real Confucian Temple was hidden in who knew how many layers of space.

Still, he had known from the start that the Confucian Temple would not be easy to find. So he randomly chose a direction, sat on the azure dragon's back, and sped forward.

The desert was dry and scorching, with not a single soul in sight. After flying for less than an hour, both man and beast began to feel dizzy and their lips cracked.

"Something's wrong..."

Standing on the hot sand, Zhang Xuan frowned deeply.

Given their strength, even lying in molten lava for an hour would cause no change, let alone dehydration.

After observing for a while, he noticed that the space here was different from the outside. Even someone with his power would continuously lose water and energy. Zhang Xuan took off again. "This seems to be no ordinary desert. We must find the entrance quickly, or we might actually die here!"

He took out some spiritual liquid he had stored in his ring, drank a mouthful, and felt somewhat relieved. Then he continued forward.

After flying for another half hour, he suddenly noticed footprints on the ground.

"Human footprints. Could someone have already entered from the entrance?"

He was full of doubt.

He had only entered after dealing with the five kings, and the location of the lava was very secluded. Under normal circumstances, no one should have been able to find it... Yet here, so far from the entrance, there were footprints that looked freshly made.

Could it be... someone had entered before him?

"Let's catch up and see..."

Growing more curious, his Eye of Insight flickered as he followed the trail of footprints, flying rapidly.

Before long, he indeed spotted a group of people ahead. Their true energy surged like dragons, as if they were fighting something.

There were about seventeen or eighteen people, dressed in varied attire. The strongest among them had reached the Heart's Blood stage, while the weakest were at the Golden Body realm.

Their faces were pale, lips cracked, looking far more wretched than he was.

They were battling a giant made of sand particles. It had no discernible features but exuded a powerful aura, comparable to an early-stage Immortal realm expert.

Because of this, despite their numbers, they were no match for it and had been locked in a stalemate.

"Break!"

Being of the same race, Zhang Xuan could not stand by idly. The Bone Dragon spear appeared in his palm, and gathering all his strength, he thrust forward.

Swish!

True energy shot forward like a sharp sword. The moment it touched the sand giant, it pierced through, and the giant's life force rapidly diminished. With a crash, it fell to the ground and turned back into sand.

"Thank you, senior, for saving our lives!"

Seeing that he had defeated the sand giant they could not handle with a single strike, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and looked at him with respect.

"How... did you get here?" Seeing their disheveled state, which suggested they had been here for at least a few hours, Zhang Xuan asked curiously.

"We were enveloped by a beam of light from the Confucian Temple and woke up here. Senior, why do you ask?"

The Heart's Blood expert among the crowd looked at him with confusion.