Yan Qingshan sipped two small sips of the cool water Qingling carried close to his body. The cool, refreshing feeling was refreshing.
In the desert, drinking ice water directly wasn't necessarily a good idea; it could even cause stomach upset. Cool water at a comfortable temperature was far more beneficial.
As the possessor of the Green Serpent Triple Eyes, Qingling possessed a naturally formidable constitution, making even the harsh desert environment less susceptible.
Serpents possess a naturally cold constitution, allowing them to survive and thrive in the harsh environment of the Tagor Desert. Qingling, a hybrid of two races and having awakened the Green Serpent Triple Eyes, possessed a bloodline level even higher than that of Queen Medusa.
Due to her Serpent Triple Eyes, Qinglin's body continuously released a cold, yin energy, protecting her. The cool water she carried close to her was naturally the perfect temperature.
Yan Qingshan drank some water and ate a little to replenish his energy. He held a first-grade Qi-recovering elixir he had purchased in Black Rock City in his mouth and practiced his cultivation techniques to rapidly restore his Dou Qi.
With the second-grade Qi-recovering elixir provided by Yao Lao, a top-tier alchemist, Xiao Yan never worried about expending energy during his cultivation, always having more Dou Qi.
He was much more pitiful. While he had money, elixirs, even first-grade ones, were extremely precious. He was only willing to spend them during these moments of arduous cultivation. Normally, he simply practiced his techniques to restore Dou Qi.
After more than half an hour, Yan Qingshan's Dou Qi had fully recovered and he stood up. He clenched his fists, sensing a slight improvement in his cultivation, and that he was not far from reaching the Seven-Star Dou Rider level.
...
Across the vast desert, yellow sand raged. The rising sun illuminated the earth. In the direction where the sun was setting, two men and two camels slowly approached a patch of sand, a somewhat warm patch, in the light of the rising sun.
This was a flat desert, its terrain extremely common. Such yellow sand formations were rare in the desert.
Yan Qingshan walked for a day and a night, stopping and starting for so long that he finally reached a sandy beach that could be reached easily by camel. He took two steps forward, then stood on a small sand dune, looking around, a look of deep thought on his face.
This place wasn't far from Shimo City; a good camel at full speed could make the round trip in half an hour, yet they had walked for a whole day and a night.
It wasn't that Yan Qingshan was slow, but rather that he chose to walk slowly, stepping over the sand, using the wind and sand to train his body and fighting spirit. He had to stop every few steps to replenish his fighting spirit, which took longer than walking.
Furthermore, after nightfall, the desert temperature dropped rapidly, making it shivering at night and easy to get lost.
Yan Qingshan wasn't one to seek hardship. He followed Qingling's advice and rested for the night. He continued his journey when the sky was just beginning to brighten, and after another stretch of travel, he finally reached the warm sandy ground at dawn.
The temperature difference between day and night in the desert is enormous. During the day, the surface temperature can reach nearly 100 degrees Celsius due to the sun. In the hottest places, eggs are cooked shortly after being buried. At night, the temperature can even drop below zero. This temperature difference is truly unimaginable.
In the morning, the surface temperature is still a bit chilly. In some places, as the sun rises, the temperature rises and even dew appears. This is the most precious and rare thing in the desert - water.
However, the sandy land that Yan Qingshan is now standing on is getting warmer as he gets closer. When he reaches the edge of the destination marked on the map, it feels like yesterday's noon. The temperature in this area is quite abnormal.
However, looking around, there are no special buildings, let alone caves, not even the shadow of a mountain. The highest sand dunes are also normal. It looks like a very ordinary desert.
"Shuguang, scan and analyze the data in this area..."
Yan Qingshan stared intently at his surroundings. His lightning eyes, after the Lionheart baptism, had greatly enhanced his observation and intelligence-gathering abilities, and even his spiritual perception had grown considerably. However, the vast expanse of yellow sand before him was too vast to see the end, making it difficult to locate his target.
"The target is beyond our detection range. I can only vaguely sense an inexplicable heat source underground, but I can't get any detailed information... The object is underground, and with my strength, digging in the desert will only end up burying me alive!"
Yan Qingshan squatted down and grabbed a handful of yellow sand. The scorching sand made him frown. The Azure Lotus Earth Core Fire and the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Serpent were undoubtedly beneath this desert, but he seemed to have no way to get down.
Digging in the desert is a dangerous practice, as the sand is very soft. If you dig diagonally or horizontally, the sand above will soon collapse.
But if they dug straight down, they'd find themselves at a subterranean lava pool. The heat would likely scorch them before they even reached the surface, and if they did, the lava backflow would be devastating.
The underground lava pool hadn't erupted, suggesting that a solid layer of condensed quartzite, located between the sand and the pool, was holding back the magma.
However, magma is inherently unstable. Xiao Yan's memories suggest that there are multiple underground tunnels, likely created by the lava's subsequent eruptions.
However, most of these tunnels are currently unconnected to the outside world, otherwise they would have erupted to the surface during the magma's upwelling.
Queen Medusa later discovered this location and, relying on her immense strength, used her Dou Qi to carve a tunnel directly underground.
Her extraordinary strength, capable of maintaining the passage with her fighting spirit, naturally meant nothing would happen. But Yan Qingshan lacked that ability. His only option now was to dig a path from the surface directly to the underground passage.
The problem was, if he dug recklessly, he'd more likely hit a magma pool than to reach it. He also had the possibility of digging to great depths and still failing to stumble upon a hollow underground passage. The latter scenario would be even more daunting.
Without knowing where the hollows lay, a random digging would likely be a waste of effort. The situation seemed to be at an impasse.
Yan Qingshan, however, remained undeterred. Instead, he led Qingling and the camel back out of the sandy expanse, heading south until they reached a rare forested area in the desert.
At the center of this forest lay a shallow pool of water. While the water was salty and unfit for human consumption, it was a haven for the drought- and salt-tolerant plants that grew nearby.
Within the forests of poplars, angustifolia trees, and saxaul ammodendrons, sparse grasses left vast expanses of unobstructed loess. In areas of clear shade, low-growing plants like cacti, lithops, and aloe vera thrived, while desert weeds also crawled through the loess. Even at the edge of the forest, gazelles and wild camels could be seen.
"Qingling, let's camp here for now!"
This area was devoid of human activity, save for the occasional remnant of a fire, which was perfectly normal.
While this patch of forest was barely habitable, it lacked a source of fresh water, requiring considerable time to gather daily. Furthermore, with Stone Desert City nearby, there was little need to stay here.
...
Ten days later, Yan Qingshan, damp and practically wearing only shorts, had his once-fair skin stained a pale yellowish-black hue,
almost bronze, and a damp, sticky, faint odor, as if it were not sweat but the sap of some plant.
This was a potion Yan Qingshan had created, using local ingredients. He blended the golden shuttle fruit from the forest with juicy herbs like snow jade orchid and aloe vera to create a liquid for his skin. It provided sun protection, boosted his physique, and enhanced his resistance to fire, though it certainly wasn't exactly pleasant.
This forest actually contained a wealth of medicinal herbs. Because of the spiritual energy in this world, even ordinary plants possessed magical properties not seen in previous lives.
For example, the golden shuttle, snow jade orchid, and aloe vera Yan Qingshan had just used were considered useless plants by the people of Stone Desert City, barely enough to fill their stomachs when food was scarce, but not enough to sustain them as food. While they
possessed medicinal properties, they weren't as valuable as lower-level herbs like Coptis chinensis essence. There were simply too many of them in the desert, making them unworthy of harvest.
But here, Yan Qingshan, through a special processing method developed by Shuguang, transformed them into something truly miraculous, creating a potion to aid his cultivation. Over the past ten days, he'd been able to consolidate his Seven-Star Fighter cultivation. These ingredients proved incredibly useful.
"Dawn, data analysis!"
Host: Yan Qingshan.
Cultivation: Seven-Star Fighter. Cultivation
Method: Xuan-level Advanced Lionheart King Technique (one Lionheart Baptism)
. Fighting Skills: Xuan-level Advanced Wild Lion Chant (Proficient), Xuan-level Low-level Phoenix Soaring Step (Proficient)
. Strength: 8.
Status: Healthy.
Agility: 6.5.
Spiritual Power: 33.
Primary Attribute: Wood.
Secondary Attribute: Thunder (Thunder Eye).
(Data collection target: One-star Fighter average, with the median for all attributes being 1.0.)
Ten days of arduous training transformed Yan Qingshan from the inside out. He could sense the profound change within himself and realized this was his opportunity. Perhaps, in this woodland outside Shimo City, he could find the chance to break through to the Fighter Master level.
So, he decided to put other matters aside and continue his arduous training...
Two months later, in the woodlands outside Shimo City,
Yan Qingshan sat upright beneath a poplar tree, a hazy green aura emanating from him, spreading in all directions. As his rhythmic breathing echoed, the surrounding plants seemed to resonate with him.
Each vibrant plant was imbued with a layer of green, and wisps of azure spiritual energy lingered faintly in the air.
This otherwise lifeless place seemed to be filled with a rich breath of life, especially the poplar trees behind him, which glowed with green and flourished, standing out in the forest.