"Wow! It's cold here," one of Riley's wives exclaimed, wrapping her arms around herself as a gust of dry wind swept past them.
Her voice echoed faintly across the desolate plain, carried by the biting breeze that offered no comfort.
"I know," another replied, rubbing her arms briskly. "I'm starting to think I don't like this place already. It's lifeless. Ugly."
"And our cultivation bases are sealed too," a third woman added with a frustrated sigh. She tried to channel spiritual energy into her palm, but nothing happened. "It's like someone shut off all the qi in the world."
"This place is just… weird," one of the younger women muttered, glancing around with visible unease.
Riley stood silently at the center of the group, surveying the barren desert surrounding them.
Cracked earth stretched to the horizon, dotted with twisted rocks and the occasional skeletal tree that looked like it had died centuries ago.
