Chapter 81

Another half year passed, and Sain returned to the sandy valley where the sandworms gathered.

This sandy valley was the only landmark Sain had discovered in the world of yellow sand, and it was also the starting point for Sain to find his way back.

Whenever Sain lost his way in the sea of sand, he would return to the sandy valley based on the marks he had left, and start exploring again.

Considering that most of the areas in the world of yellow sand were quicksand,

the location of the spatial passage might be changing at any moment.

As time went by, the possibility of Sain finding the spatial coordinates became lower, and his heart gradually sank.

"Perhaps I can venture deeper into the sandy valley. Rather than losing my way in the yellow sand and driving myself to madness, I would rather die as a truth seeker in the process of discovering the unknown," Sain thought, having gained nothing for almost a year.

No matter how many times Sain came to this sandy valley, he found that it had not changed much.

The special funnel-like terrain made it so that even occasional sandstorms from the outside could not affect the sandy valley much.

As for the quicksand nature... Sain discovered that this sandy valley did not seem to be moving.

This was also the reason why Sain could find it again and again.

Whether out of curiosity, the torment of a lonely life, or some other factor, Sain once again stepped into the central depths of the sandy valley.

A large and deep cave entrance still appeared in the center of the sandy valley.

Since Sain last blew it open, the cave entrance had not been repaired by the sandworms.

The number of sandworms resting outside the cave entrance was clearly much less.

Sain did not see those few large and medium-sized sandworms.

What he saw were only small, densely packed sandworms.

Thanks to his research on the characteristics of sandworms, Sain was no longer as awkward and wary when facing these small creatures as he was at the beginning.

Like returning to his own home, when Sain covered his body with a thin layer of water using the Water Ball spell, he even approached within two meters of the sandworms.

The harsh environment and lonely life had honed Sain's magical skills to the extreme.

At least half a year ago, he would not have been able to control the Water Ball spell to such a degree.

Not only the Water Ball spell, but also the other spells Sain had mastered, had been refined to a very high level.

After all, in the world of yellow sand, Sain had no new way to acquire knowledge.

He could only gain knowledge through his own research or by repeatedly studying his few spell books and practicing the spells he had mastered.

The appearance of the water film lowered Sain's body temperature, making him almost invisible.

The properties of water also made the small sandworms dare not approach at all.

However, this could only fool the small sandworms. Sandworms larger than two meters would not be fooled by Sain.

Otherwise, Sain would not have directly used the Magic Cannon to forcibly retrieve the elemental pearls more than half a year ago, but would have taken a more gentle and low-key approach.

After collecting some sandworm samples, Sain looked around and then jumped into the cave.

...

Perhaps because the surroundings were all yellow sand and the sun was shining from the outside,

the underground space hollowed out by the sandworms faintly revealed a weak light.

However, the overall tone was still quite dark.

This made Sain think of the underground world of the dark regions.

The situation in this underground cave was somewhat different from what Sain had expected.

He did not see many sandworms here and did not know where the giant sandworms had gone.

A layer of relatively hard and viscous yellow fluid appeared in various corners of the cave.

Sain habitually collected a bit of it. The super-strong adhesive properties of this fluid led him to initially conclude that the underground space had not collapsed due to this fluid.

"It doesn't seem to be the liquid from melted sandworms. What is it, the body fluid of sandworms?" Sain thought.

Continuing deeper into the underground space, this time he saw the giant sandworms.

In a large sand pit that resembled a greenhouse, over a dozen giant sandworms, ranging from two to several meters in length, were writhing and rolling.

White eggs of various sizes appeared in different corners of the large sand pit.

The smaller ones were only the size of sand grains, while the larger ones were about half a meter in diameter.

Sain even saw a sandworm larger than the giant sandworm king from last time. He initially estimated its length to be about sixteen meters.

However, among these giant sandworms, the ones that left the deepest impression on Sain were two medium-sized sandworms, each about seven meters long.

These two sandworms had only one mouth, and the obvious gaps at the other end of their tails clearly indicated that they were the giant sandworms that Sain had injured a year ago.

"Not only did they not die, but they also split into two. The vitality of giant sandworms is really that exaggerated?" Sain couldn't help but exclaim.

At this moment, Sain, wearing tattered robes and hiding in a corner of the underground space, did not attract the attention of the giant sandworms in the sand pit.

They seemed to be busy reproducing, and the densely packed white eggs were the results of their efforts.

With a research mindset, Sain crawled to the edge of the sand pit and took many sandworm eggs.

The spatial ring could not contain living creatures, but these sandworm eggs were clearly an exception.

Perhaps he really wanted to study something, or perhaps he was just being reckless, but the bold Sain touched the area closer to the center of the sand pit.

Relying on the ample remaining space in his spatial ring, he also collected a giant egg with a diameter of about half a meter.

This collection led to trouble.

The sixteen-meter-long giant sandworm king, which was rolling with another sandworm, suddenly let out a roar.

Feeling the disappearance of its offspring's aura, the giant sandworm king stopped rolling, threw the sandworm beside it away, and aimed its fanged mouth at the crouching Sain.

The lock-on from the sandworm king made Sain's hair stand on end.

Without continuing to hide, Sain immediately stood up and ran deeper into the underground space.

Sain did not choose to return to the surface immediately because the "rustling" sound of the sandworm tide behind him indicated that his retreat had been cut off.

He could only grit his teeth and continue deeper into the underground space.

After running for an unknown amount of time, Sain found that the "rustling" sound of the sandworm tide chasing him gradually faded away.

The surrounding space became much darker again, of course, indicating that this underground space was much larger than he had imagined.

"Come here, spellcaster of the wizard world, we can make a deal." A gender-neutral voice suddenly echoed in Sain's mind, causing him to feel a splitting headache.

It was not that the voice intended to harm Sain, but the difference in life energy levels between it and Sain was too great.

Just a single mental transmission was enough to make the apprentice-level Sain struggle, indicating how powerful the entity must be.