Build the deck. Cultivate power. Slay the gods. When a magic ritual goes disastrously wrong, Jaden is exiled to the heart of the desert and left to die. Battered and bruised, Jaden encounters the outcast Nomadwater Sect, who grant him a second chance at life as a mysterious arcane cultivator. With its savage beasts and cryptic mysteries, survival in the sprawling desert of Southfall is a dangerous game. Yet Jaden and the Nomadwater Sect persevere, growing closer and forming bonds over the course of a long summer. This changes the day the Gods kill their leader, seize the sect, and task Jaden with competing in the legendary Tournament of the Gods. If Jaden survives the tournament, the members of his sect live. If he dies, they die alongside him. Jaden now has just ten days to rank up. Ten days to master the dragonessence system. Ten days to save those who have become his new family. Arcane cards, mana cultivation, martial arts, elemental magic, a LitRPG system, and incredible relics are all at his disposal. And even then, it might not be enough …