The freezing depths of the Astrakan seabed still left salt crystals on Huo Tian Xian’s robes, but he now stood on the threshold of a different kind of hell. Before him stretched the Endless Sands Desert at the western edge of the Altheia Continent. This was no ordinary desert; the sand here contained spiritual silica so pure that, under the midday sun, the grains transformed into microscopic glass shards capable of flaying the skin and lungs of anyone lacking energy shielding. "The thermal pressure is hitting boiling point," Wei Bo reported, adjusting his mechanical goggles. He held a detection device whose needle spun wildly. "If it weren't for the cooling armor Kenjiro designed, we’d have roasted in five minutes." Tian Xian stared at the horizon, which shimmered with mirages. On his back, Sol and Mani felt heavy, as if reacting to an energy anomaly beneath the sands. "The second Earth Seal is out there, beneath the Ziggurat of the Setting Sun. But Mimir was right; this place is gu