The deep, shifting dunes of the Scorched Badlands finally leveled out as the wooden runners of the sand skiff ground across the hard, interlocking slabs of the Imperial Southern Highway.
The loose red sand receded behind them, giving way to vast expanses of cracked clay plains and jagged, iron-rich foothills that jutted from the earth like rows of rusted wedges.
Ye Chen leaned his weight into the leather harness strapped across his chest, the heavy iron tow bar creaking under his grip as he set a steady, unrelenting pace along the stone thoroughfare.
With ninety percent of his cultivation sealed behind the dark violet walls of the Crystalline Shackle, every mile took a real, physical toll on his calves and lower back, forcing him to rely on the brutal bone alignment he had forged over y
