Transmigrated into a tortoise, the Empress and the Goddess became my sisters.

The Empress did not delay, gradually reducing the fire of her spear to conserve her strength for the upcoming bloody battle.

Lin Tian had Xiong lead the way, with the Imperial Guards flanking him on both sides, forming a large, tightly packed army formation.

The desert climate remains harsh, with the sun hanging low in the sky, its light cold and sharp as a knife.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, several dark figures could be seen moving about on the sand dunes in the distance, seemingly scouting for any movement.

The goddess of asura urged herself on, and her tortoise feet rolled out of the sand.

"Is someone over there?"

The Empress squinted, gripping the spear tip, ready to fight.

Queen Loulan wiped the sweat from her forehead and indicated that she could first send her imperial guards to probe and find out the origins of the other party.

A man in dark gold armor turned his head, his movements strange yet fierce. He didn't speak, but simply tapped the ground lightly with his scabbard.

With a whoosh, another thirty or so Imperial Guards surged to the front, forming a solid formation.

Lin Tian quickly stepped forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Goddess of Asura, and looked up at the sand dune. There were several warriors with their faces covered by cloth, who looked like poor refugees, staring at them with only crude weapons.

"I thought they were Black Armor Guards, but they don't look like them."

Turo shouted a rebuke.

"Who are you, spying here?"

The group seemed startled and immediately turned tail and ran, not wanting to talk at all.

The empress brandished her spear and spoke in a cold voice.

"Ignore these people, we want the high priest's head."

With the Queen of Loulan's tacit approval, there must still be many refugees wandering outside the city, whose lives have been made miserable by the High Priest lately.

They continued onward, encountering two more scattered black-armored scouts along the way, who were immediately killed by the Imperial Guards without making a sound.

This group marched towards the Loulan Palace with murderous intent.

As the sun set, the team found a dry well and managed to rest for a short while.

Lin Tian asked the bear to lick the remaining water stains on the well wall, but it didn't find anything, so it could only shrug.

The Asura Goddess took out the strange pill she carried, bit off half of it, and fed it to the Loulan Queen.

"Don't complain about the strange taste; it can replenish a small amount of energy. Just don't faint again."

The Queen didn't make a fuss; after eating, she felt a little warmer in her stomach, but lamented her bad luck.

"If my herb garden were still intact, I wouldn't have to worry so much."

The Empress said coldly.

"We must survive this battle before we have a chance to rebuild."

Queen Loulan bit her lip and didn't reply. Her gaze unconsciously fell on the group of dark gold imperial guards. They were completely different from ordinary people. They neither ate nor drank, nor did they show any signs of fatigue.

As dusk settled, the setting sun cast long shadows on the sand.

Turo felt he couldn't delay any longer and signaled everyone to continue on their way. He remembered there was a stone forest nearby that could serve as a shortcut.

The Asura Goddess rolled her eyes, not wanting to take a detour, but seeing the Queen's physical condition, she knew it wasn't advisable to force herself to walk at night.

"Let's go with the Stone Forest then. Let's see if it saves us some walking distance. My skin is already sore from all the knocking."

The group, leading the legion of the dead, continued their trek. The night wind was biting, and the desert temperature dropped rapidly.

Lin Tian exhaled white mist with each breath, using fire to ward off the cold and also to warm the queen slightly.

The bear left footprints ahead, occasionally emitting muffled sounds to warn of hidden pits or loose rocks.

The Empress followed Xiong to the right, her fingers tracing the shaft of the spear, probably contemplating how to handle the upcoming battle.

“That high priest won’t surrender easily. He can control poisonous snakes and uses necromancy. I’m afraid we’ll have a tough fight.”

The Queen of Loulan stood proudly with her chest puffed out.

"With the Imperial Guards here, who can rival us!"

The Asura Goddess flicked her tail; she was naturally pleased with this explanation, but she couldn't let her guard down.

Turo carried the broken hammer, his body tense the whole way, fearing an ambush by the enemy at night.

"The Stone Forest area is just ahead. If it gets any darker, we'll sneak over there."

About ten minutes later, the group did indeed arrive at a rugged stone forest. The scattered rock pillars seemed to be baring their fangs and claws, and the wind was howling through the crevices.

They tried to pass through the gap, but suddenly discovered that there were faint lights flickering deep in the stone forest.

Lin Tian stopped and squatted down, feeling the vibration as the bone whip touched the ground.

"About ten people nearby?"

The Empress narrowed her eyes, noticing that they were flying torches, unlike the scale of the Black Armor Guards.

The goddess of asura, impatient, climbed a few steps towards a slightly higher rock pillar. Just as she was about to peek out, Turo grabbed her arm.

"Don't rush in recklessly. If the other side has archers, we'll just get hit by stray arrows for nothing."

Just then, several dark figures appeared in the shadows of the stone forest, each carrying an iron crossbow and aiming in their direction.

The Asura Goddess roared, and her tortoise shell slammed into the ground, creating a hard shield.

"Come on, who's afraid of you?"

Instead of firing their crossbows immediately, a voice rang out from somewhere.

"We are a wandering adventure team, passing through the Stone Forest in search of water. And who are you?"

The Queen of Loulan remained silent for a moment, but before she could speak, Lin Tian had already raised his voice in response.

"Hey passersby, don't block our way! We have something important to do!"

The torches over there were flickering, indicating that they were also observing nervously.

The Empress felt she was wasting some time and prepared to continue forward.

However, the other party suddenly made a low, discreet reminder.

"Be careful ahead. There are at least twenty men in black armor patrolling at the other end of the stone forest. They are very aggressive and will hunt down passersby."

Upon hearing this, the Queen of Loulan's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and she whispered to the Goddess of Asura.

"That's perfect timing, we're exactly looking to take down Black Armor."

The Asura Goddess grinned, about to make a sarcastic remark, but Lin Tian stopped her.

"Don't alert those torchbearers. Let's deal with the black-armored ones ourselves, so the whistle won't be misinterpreted."

The Empress raised the tip of her spear and signaled to the Dark Gold Guards to split into two groups: one to flank from the left and the other to encircle from the right, ready to kill at any opportunity.

The Queen of Loulan took a deep breath, her body swaying slightly, but she still slowly advanced towards the center.

Turo showed no more pity for the black-armored man and immediately followed him inside, his warhammer slamming against the stone pillar with a loud thud.

The sound of footsteps attracted the attention of the black-armored patrol ahead, who quickly dispersed and blew their whistles as a signal.

The Asura Goddess sneered, then charged forward, smashing through the outermost black-armored shield formations.

The Empress then hurled a spear, pinning the archers in the back row to a rock pillar, their blood splattering across half the wall.

Lin Tian swung his bone whip to the side, the short blade cutting through the air and catching fire, directly crippling the opponent's legs.

Just as the black-armored man was about to retaliate, a torrent of metallic blade light swept across the entire area, giving them no chance to react.

The Dark Gold Guard has appeared and is reaping the spoils.

Heads and blood flew everywhere, and screams echoed between the rock pillars.

The Queen of Loulan simply watched coldly, without uttering a word.

Turo was horrified by the methods of these legions of the dead; no matter how much the enemy screamed, they were torn apart by a single blow.

In the blink of an eye, the Black Armor Squad was wiped out, and the ground was littered with broken limbs.

Lin Tian seemed quite pleased, but he still withdrew the whip, maintaining his killing intent.

"This small group of fish isn't even enough to warm up."

The Asura Goddess kicked away the still convulsing guy, her tail lashing out and causing a spray of blood.

"Let's get through quickly, don't waste time."

The Empress silently took the spear and returned to the Loulan Queen's side. Finding her expression frozen, she patted her on the shoulder.

"If you can still hold on, then continue on your way?"

She didn't waste any words, she just nodded.