William was on his hands and knees, fingers buried in the coarse sand as he panted heavily with sweat dripping down his face. He had stored his outer robes in the spatial stone when the heat became far too unbearable, with most of the clothes soon following when even that was too much.

William only had his underwear and the Impact Boots on his body, and even still, it felt like he would spontaneously combust. So much for his belief that the desert weather couldn’t affect him since he wasn’t a mortal. His cultivation meant nothing here.

Especially since he had gained a trait that would kill him eventually.

Adverse Conditions in Environment - Loss of 50 Health per hour

As William had come to realize, on multiple instances already, his cultivation meant nothing here. It certainly didn’t stop him from getting a trait that would kill him in less than a day.

Of course, he had plenty of Vitality Restoration Pills in his spatial stone, capable of extending his life for weeks. Still, the result of ingesting so many pills would increase the Impurity in his body so much that cultivation would be a path cut off from him unless he met someone at Daoist Chen’s level.

In other words, that was simply a death of a different kind.

Thankfully, it seemed that only a little over thirty minutes had passed, and speaking of time, that horrible trait he recently gained did come with the convenient advantage of letting him keep track of that.

Health: 1073/1100

Positive thoughts were always good things to have, or some saying similar to that. William was too stressed to give a damn if that was correct or not.

He was currently halfway up one of the sand dunes he had seen at the start, and he dreaded what he would see when he reached the top. If it was more sand and even taller dunes in the distance, there might be a chance that he would experience a mental break.

William had been thanking his luck that he hadn’t woken up in the void when he was first dropped into this dimension, but even that would have likely been a better choice. Trudging along, popping pills to extend your lifespan, all the while knowing that death still awaited you in the end and nothing could be done except for hoping a miracle would drop out of nowhere, was horrible.

Horrible enough that the desert would soon join the void as the places William feared the most. However, that all depended on whether hope could be seen at the top.

With a grunt, William pushed himself back on his feet after his Stamina had recovered. It was being sapped at a much faster pace than usual, so that was another thing that would slow his progress up the sand dune.

With it having taken around three to four hours to reach the halfway point up the sand dune, it should be a little longer than that to reach the peak, with the steepness of the dune increasing the higher he climbed.

It was a series of slow climbs followed by William on all fours on the sand, waiting for his Stamina to recover before getting on his feet again. He didn’t have the presence of mind to keep track of how many times he had done that, but he knew how much time had passed.

Health: 761/1100

Just over six hours of slogging through the exhaustion got William right to the top. There were still a few more steps to take, but he wanted to ensure his Stamina was full, just in case.

While most of William’s mind was filled with crude curses at his situation, he was well aware that he had somehow spent most of the day walking but still hadn’t encountered anything dangerous. While he hoped this area was so inhospitable that even spirit beasts couldn’t exist, it was better to be cautious.

And the least he could do was make sure his Stamina was at its peak when he was about to step into a place that hopefully wasn’t simply more sand as far as the eye could see.

William tried to expect the worst as he slowly stepped to the peak of the sand dune, hoping beyond hope that there was something different within his vision.

His eyes frantically darted across the barren landscape as the wind gusted around him. With sand being the only thing he could see at first glance, William couldn’t practically feel the cracks in his mind forming at his hopeless future.

However, his heart skipped a beat when he caught a glimpse of something in the distance. A tiny dot, barely visible amidst the vast expanse of the desert. While he wanted to let himself feel relief, nothing assured him this wasn’t just a particularly large rock. Still, this was enough for William to regain a small amount of hope that would let him push through this hell.

It was the smallest of mercies that the trek down the sand dune was nowhere near as taxing as climbing it. William still had to pause occasionally to let his Stamina recover, but that was to be expected.

Health: 605/1100

It took William a little over three hours to reach the bottom of the dune, which was quicker than expected, but welcome nonetheless. However, the tiny dot in the distance had barely changed in size.

Assuming that this wasn’t his mind playing cruel tricks by creating the shittiest of mirages, he guessed that it would take him the better part of a day to reach what he was seeing.

The question was whether he should take a Vitality Restoration Pill preemptively to be safe. It would take him into stage two of Impurity immediately, but he would have peace of mind in the short term, as in the next few hours.

William grunted and decided to see what would happen on the way there. If the dot didn’t get bigger, it would be time to forget about Impurity levels and other such nonsense and go into pure survival mode instead of hinging his hopes on something.

Hours passed, his health decreased by the minute, but William was still in good spirits. In great spirits, actually.

With every step he took, the anticipation of finding a miracle grew, and his exhausted mind seemed to gain a new life.

That dot was no rock but a sweet, life-saving, beautiful oasis. Heaven in the middle of a dead desert, and William wasn’t describing it simply because of the harsh contrast with its surroundings.

At his full sprint, he was no more than a few more minutes from the oasis, and he could clearly see the paradise it offered.

Lush palm trees were moving slightly in the breeze, with plentiful shadows that would hopefully give William a break from his newly gained trait. In the center was an inviting body of water, and while he couldn’t be sure from this distance, it looked crystal clear.

His parched throat almost cried in relief at the sight, even though he knew his body didn’t need food or water for a day or so more. The simple option to have it without thinking of future supply was a balm on his mind.

If William had to think of the closest comparison of the oasis, he would say that the illusion Daoist Chen created would be the closest. Everything he wished for was presented to him right when he was losing all hope.

William’s entire body slumped in relief when his feet stepped onto the soft grass. Not only was the lack of sand under his foot something he wanted to cheer about, the drastic difference between the weather was astonishing.

It felt like he was right back in the forest, with everything feeling just right.

[Trait Removed | Adverse Conditions in Environment]

William let out a manic chuckle when he was no longer under the threat of dying simply by being alive.

Health: 297/1100

The trek to the oasis from the bottom of the sand dune took a little over six hours. It wasn’t as bad as William was expecting.

He glanced at his Impurity level briefly before shaking his head. Restoring his health with a pill would still take him to the next stage. With his safety hopefully no longer in question, William wanted to wait a little longer before taking that step.