The towering monstrosity blocked out the sun as it faced the ship, its singular pupil staring down at Feng Zhiming.

He scanned the creature with his spiritual sense, unable to use his eyes as they were still blindfolded.

Everyone on the ship quickly arrived at the deck, Anissa unsheathed her sword awaiting Feng Zhiming’s command.

Ellia also removed his great sword from his storage ring and stood beside Lyra, gauging the beast’s intentions.

Feng Zhiming gracefully descended from the crows nest to join them, Dolly followed closely behind him, still visibly in thought about what she and Feng Zhiming had been discussing.

Feng Zhiming looked over at Dolly and realized that she didn’t seem overly concerned by the beast, it was obvious that despite the beast’s impressive cultivation base she was confident in dealing with it.

The creature smashed into an invisible wall as it tried to swallow them whole, it was a formation barrier born of the ship’s spiritual inscriptions.

There were clear cracks starting to form on its surface, at most it would take a few more hits before shattering.

Lyra was beyond impressed at the sight, not only was there a single point of the ship but she also powered a barrier strong enough to take hits from a creature with an actualized spirit.

Feng Zhiming also acknowledged that the ship was engineered beyond his expectations, compared to this his original world was a backwater village in terms of spiritual engineering.

“It’s not just my strength, I empower spiritual inscriptions that uptake Qi, that Qi is actually what empowers the barrier.”

Dolly spoke as she saw the intrigue on their faces.

The conversation was cut short as the creature slammed into the barrier once more, even more cracks started to appear.

Anissa’s sword began to move before her into an overhead stance and her expression hardened, she could not lose the initiative to slash an opponent two minor realms above her in strength.

As she was about to slash the creature, Feng Zhiming held his hand out in front of her, stopping her in her tracks.

Anissa halted the attack immediately and sheathed her sword, without a whisper of complaint.

Ellia and Lyra looked at him with confusion.

“What is he, some sort of worm demon monster thing whisperer? Why else would he stop her from attacking it.” Lyra said to Ellia.

“I wouldn’t be surprised." Ellia shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, not sure what was going on here.

“What do you think it is, it doesn’t look like a regular sand crawler, they usually don’t attack ships either.” he spoke as he looked the creature up and down.

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“The fangs protruding from its sides, I’ve never seen a desert creature like that. Not to mention despite being a spiritual awakener it appears to be mindless. Even worse is that disgustingly weird eye, I’ve never seen a creature with an eye that wraps around its body.”

Lyra observed the creature drooling from the top of its head, almost as if it was foaming at the mouth, its uncontrolled sway and dilated pupil told her that even if it was an intelligent beast, it was currently at an altered level of consciousness.

That was when Feng Zhiming turned to Dolly who stood beside them with her arms crossed, staring down the beast.

“Well captain, as the hired transportation, shouldn't you deal with the obstructions we face?” Feng Zhiming shamelessly demanded for Dolly to fight it alone.

Lyra rolled her eyes, not surprised by the action, she expected such things from Feng Zhiming at this point.

Anissa flinched for a moment but did not say anything.

“How can you bid a lady to fight our battles, slaying monsters is a man’s job.” Ellia chose his words very selectively, not wanting to trigger a reaction from Lyra.

Feng Zhiming turned his head to face him, “This woman could defeat all four of us at the same time.”

He turned his head slightly.

“Unless you think that men are inherently stronger than women.”

Ellia quickly shook his head, not wanting to get an earful from Lyra.

“Good, good.”

Feng Zhiming turned his gaze back to Dolly.

“Well captain, are you prepared to protect your passengers?”

The conversation was cut short once again as the barrier shattered and the creature’s gaping maw descended to devour Feng Zhiming.

Anissa did not unsheathe her sword, despite her instincts yelling at her, if she did it would be akin to her doubting Feng Zhiming and she had long since burned that bridge.

In her eyes he was no longer just a talented cultivator preaching of a god, he had become something more, when she saw him stand confidently in the face of a horrific death at the hands of an opponent he could never resist.

She knew that despite her talent which was considered amazing even to Feng Zhiming, she was nothing. Because she had been in the same situation and she had been forced to bow and endure, she had been forced to forfeit everything she had. She had felt fear in the same situation.

As the jaws of death came ever closer and Feng Zhiming continued to stand at the forefront unfazed, Anissa felt that as long as she stood behind him, she could borrow his courage, his confidence. She knew, even in the face of a Dao Lord, she would stand fearless.

That was the boon of serving a great lord.

As the jaws surrounded Feng Zhiming they bounced back as soon as they pressed down and the beast recoiled, its head smashing back into the desert sand.

Feng Zhiming smirked as he looked over at Dolly, she had begun to take flight and move towards the bow of the ship floating before the beast which slowly returned its head to its original position.

Lyra walked over to Feng Zhiming.

“If our ship operator and navigator dies here, the time to get the heart would go from the remaining two days to two weeks.”

Feng Zhiming continued to look at Dolly.

“You underestimate her, she’s stronger than any of us.”

Lyra sighed.

“She is too naive, she doesn’t seem fit for this life. Fighting the monster alone just because you asked her? What a joke.”

“Indeed, it is true but it is also true that if a naive person managed to live this long, it either means they have luck bestowed by the very heavens themselves. Or they have power the likes of which a mere beast in the same realm can never rival.”

He lifted his hand in the air and the chair he sat on earlier in the crow’s nest floated down to the deck.

He took a seat and smiled.

“Show me the strength you rely on so much, Dolly of the Workshop.”