Devour

The two returned to the shore where they camped, and studied the culprit that caused them to slip, and worked together to dig out the huge tri-color ore weighing more than 10,000 kilograms from the stream. The weight was not a big deal for the two of them, but it was too slippery to carry, and they worked hard for a long time before carrying it to shore.

"What is this?" Lu Miaoting touched it again and again, but the ore was not slippery even without water.

Cheng Bai opened his spiritual eyes and realized that the vitality in the stream had greatly decreased, and turned to focus on the tri-colored ore, which must be an incredible treasure.

"Not only is it slippery, it's also extremely hard. I'm afraid it's stronger than star gold and burning iron. I'll ask my friends in the Weapon Sect about it later."

Cheng Bai studied it for a while but found no further results, so he put it into his treasure bag.

In the evening, the chef showed off his cooking skills by grilling delicious bear paws that were so tasty and fragrant that one's mouths were watering.

Lu Miaoting completely forgot about her unhappiness and ate with her mouth full of oil. When she heard that she would leave the next day, she still felt reluctant to leave the Colorful Forest.

After eating the greasy food, Cheng Bai enthusiastically boiled tea with the pure water from the upper reaches of Jiuzhu River and tasted the sweet tea soaked in the seeds of the Wuji Baoshu.

The fragrance diffuses, and the taste is fragrant and intoxicating, which makes people feel relaxed and happy. The artistic conception is ethereal, peaceful and enlightened. The processes of past battles come to mind. When you think about it carefully, your vague thoughts will suddenly become clear.

In an instant, Cheng Bai's eyes lit up, and he was secretly delighted: "I feel that the road ahead is unfathomable. The sword opening the door to life and death is just the beginning. The great way of the sword is endless, and there must be a sixth sword of a higher level."

Although I have seen the direction, my own experience and martial arts skills are still insufficient. I must go further to make great achievements.

Out of curiosity, Lu Miaoting also tasted a few sips of tea and enjoyed it very much.

Unfortunately, the number of seeds of the Five Extremes Treasure Tree was too small. After making a few cups of tea, the effect was no longer obvious. Cheng Bai simply chewed the seeds slowly, thinking about something, and gained a deeper understanding of the use of multiple knife techniques.

Lu Miaoting was thinking about something else and said with some concern: "If we go further east, we will reach the edge of the Liujin Desert. The environment and monsters there are not something that ordinary hunters dare to face, and I don't have enough experience."

Cheng Bai packed up the tea set and asked, "What's the most troublesome thing?"

"Sand demons are the most dangerous demons and killers in the desert. They move through the sand as if they were in the air. They are extremely powerful and are more powerful than iron-armed bears and iron-sharp bulls."

Early in the morning, the two prepared enough drinking water in the upper reaches of Jiuhui Creek and entered the Liujin Desert.

There seems to be an invisible border between the woodland and the sand, separating the two areas. Just a few steps away, you will step into another world of huge contrast.

The heat waves in the Golden Desert are overwhelming. During the day, the ground is like a steamer, which can cook eggs. The heat is unbearable. At a glance, the vast golden sand sea stretches to the horizon, and the border between the sky and the earth is undulating with jagged sand dunes. The monotony and vastness make people tired.

The two rode on Xiaobai for a long time, and saw from afar some unique pale white giant pillars appearing in the desert. They were tall and curved in two rows, forming a regular giant chest structure.

"That's the skeleton of a giant beast, with very big ribs." Cheng Bai recognized the material characteristics at a glance.

Lu Miaoting's eyelids jumped and she said, "It's the skeleton of a camel dragon. It's a chariot in the desert. The transportation in Tianxuan City mainly relies on tamed dragons. With such a large body, it might be a sword camel dragon."

"Such a huge monster died here... The skeleton looks quite fresh. This is not good. Let's leave here." Cheng Bai urged Xiao Bai to go around.

But it was still a little too late. The sand in front of the giant beast's skeleton began to boil, and a giant beast more than ten meters tall and nearly twenty meters long emerged. It was covered with yellow scales, had four arms and two feet, four curved horns on its head, and a ferocious face. It pounced towards Cheng Bai and others.

Even Xiaobai, who was always vigilant, did not notice the monster hidden under the sand pile.

"It's a sand monster, and there's more than one." As Lu Miaoting exclaimed, another huge sand monster emerged from the ground beside the skeleton and pounced on her madly.

A chase broke out across the vast desert, with Xiaobai far ahead, and two clouds of sand and dust chasing closely behind him. It was hard to believe that such a huge creature could run so fast.

"They hide underground, using leftover bones to attract prey. They are cunning hunters." Cheng Bai let Xiaobai carry Lu Miaoting and continue to run wildly. He pulled out his knife, leaped up, turned around and killed them.

Lu Miaoting looked back and saw a cross of sword lights flashing in the air. In an instant, two huge sand monster heads flew into the sky. The sonic boom that tore through the air came slowly, and the huge body of the sand monster fell to the ground with a bang, splashing thick smoke and dust on the sand.

Xiaobai stopped his rapid steps, turned around and trotted towards his owner happily, reaping today's prey.

Cheng Bai took out the crystal core of the sand monster. It was light yellow in color, large, plump and round. Unfortunately, the meat of the sand monster was sour and smelly, not a delicacy, and very different from the delicacies of the past.

Lu Miaoting did not forget to remind Cheng Bai: "Sand demon horns are the ingredients for the Dragon and Lion Blood-Reversing Pill. They are expensive. The Medicine Sect store has them."

The two sawed off eight giant horns of the sand monster that could be used as medicine. Cheng Bai asked, "What should we do next?"

Lu Miaoting knew the general direction: "The bones of the camel dragon have appeared, which means we are on the right road."

The two headed towards the Star-Moon Oasis and ran for a long time, gradually seeing people along the way.

In the distance, there was a huge monster that was over thirty meters long, with its lizard-like head stretched forward. It strode with six pillar-like thick legs. Its steps were heavy and rhythmic, like a moving hillside more than ten meters high.

The skin of the beast is rougher than that of an elephant, and there are two rows of huge fleshy pillars like camel humps on its back, extending from the top of the head, with the highest at the spine and gradually spreading to the tail. The humps become a natural protective barrier, and a series of wooden houses with roofs are built between the two rows, and many people stand or sit inside, which become carriages.

Lu Miaoting cheered, "That's the Tuolong, traveling between Tianxuan City and other stations in the desert. We are almost reaching the Xingyue Oasis."

Xiaobai cheered himself up and quickened his pace.

In the distance, there is an oasis full of life, with bright mountain flowers like clouds, green lakes like spring, clear rivers embracing each other, and lush vegetation. A cool breeze blows, dispelling the scorching sun in the desert, making it feel like arriving in heaven.

Entering the Star-Moon Oasis, you will see crowds of people everywhere, and tens of thousands of cars and stalls of all sizes. Although it is not as busy as a big city, it is also bustling with traffic.

The newly arrived camel dragon entered the station loaded with passengers. Groups of travelers came down to unload. The owners let the giant beast eat and rest, and the people who were preparing to leave loaded their goods one after another. Everything was busy and orderly.

Seeing Cheng Bai's surprised look, Lu Miaoting smiled and said, "Do you know why the Liujin Desert is called Liujin?"

Cheng Bai recalled the guild governor's description and responded, "Because of the gold mines in the desert."

"The Flowing Gold Desert has the largest gold mine on the continent, as well as rotten silver mines and various minerals. Countless people come here to take risks in the panning for gold and silver. Over time, the largest gold and stone trading market on the continent was established in the Star-Moon Oasis, and the guild was named the Gold and Silver Hall." Lu Miaoting told him what she knew truthfully.

The market revolved around several larger castle buildings and continued to expand outward, gradually developing into the current town, which is quite city-state-sized.

The Tianxuan Temple dispatched a corps to manage the order of the Xingyue Oasis, which was divided into multiple areas. The vendors who settled in were strictly controlled, and no protection was provided to areas outside the Gold and Silver Hall. The oasis was relatively safe, and sand monsters rarely appeared nearby.

The two walked towards the center of the gold and silver hall.

The locals were very sensitive to the appearance of new faces and soon received several waves of active contacts.

The silver shop owner said, "Sir, Miss, do you need to exchange gold? It's of high purity."

The gold and iron dealer said, "Are you looking for corrupted silver? Or black iron? If you don't want rare resources, we have large quantities of ordinary pig iron in stock."

The jade vendor asked, "Are you buying raw stones or ingots? Or loose gemstones?"

Various gold and stone resources circulate easily here. Cheng Bai can easily find channels to exchange the rubies, jadeites, and mutton-fat jade he has accumulated in the past for gold by asking about prices and channels.

Lu Miaoting said with some regret: "The turquoise from yesterday could be exchanged for a lot of money."

Cheng Bai smiled and said, "I'll give you half of the proceeds from the jewels I just exchanged. I won't let you suffer any loss."

Lu Miaoting muttered softly: "That's not what I meant. I'm just worried that you'll suffer."

Cheng Bai said confidently, "I know what's going on. Don't worry."

The Gold and Silver Hall also has branch altars for the Weapon Sect and the Medicine Sect, making transactions quite convenient.

Cheng Bai entrusted the burning iron cake to the Qi Zongmen store for refining. Due to its high purity, it has fewer procedures than ore smelting and can be obtained on the same day.

A large number of rare and precious metals appeared on the market, and the news spread quickly, attracting many people to watch with envy.

"Young man, is this your cargo? A total of 7,600 kilograms. It's rare to find so much iron in a century."

The visitor was dressed in gorgeous clothes, had a handsome face and extraordinary demeanor. He must be rich or noble. He looked around the store for a while and was reluctant to move.

He silently assessed the value and proposed: "Little brother, how about I give you 75 taels of gold and give you all this cargo?"

Cheng Bai looked the other person up and down, then smiled honestly and said, "My sister said she won't sell it."

Lu Miaoting rolled her eyes at him, but she cooperated with him: "Boss, my brother and I went through untold hardships and dangers to get this treasure, so we can't just sell it away."

The visitor spoke eloquently, constantly persuading, "After purifying the shit from the iron ox, only 75% to % will remain at most, and there are still various processing costs. The materials in the Gold and Silver Hall are very cheap. taels is a reasonable price. You can clear out the inventory and make a fortune every day. Why not do it?"

"Let's refine it first." Cheng Bai said with a silly smile, thinking in his heart that this might be the poop of the Iron Bull King, and the purity would be higher.

The masters of the Weapon Sect were nimble and skillful. They started the refining cauldron expertly, purified the energy and cast it into rectangular ingots of 20 jin each for easy use. There were a total of 6460 jin.

The number of ingots produced from this batch of raw iron materials exceeded expectations, becoming a hot topic in the market and attracting more attention from people in the town, with more and more merchants gathering there.

The person who made the bid could no longer sit still and proposed again, "You two are so lucky to have offered so much. I am Shen Rong, can I give up some of my treasures?"

Seeing that he was very sincere, Cheng Bai said, "One ingot is 4800 taels of gold. How many do you want? I have to leave some for my sister as a dowry."

Hearing Lu Miaoting rolling her eyes at him again, he was actually overjoyed in his heart.

This unit price was almost twice as high as the previous bid. I thought we would need to negotiate further, but Shen Rong was so straightforward.

"It costs 240 kilograms. Here are two." Shen Rong was generous. He paid the full amount, took away the twelve iron ingots, quickly left the gold and silver hall, boarded the camel dragon, and set off for the final destination, Tianxuan City.

The steward of Qi Zong's store smiled and came over to whisper, "Brother Cheng, can you invite more customers to come and support us? If you are willing, I guarantee that all the goods will be sold out in a few days, and at a good price."

Cheng Bai took out 140 taels of gold and handed it over, saying with a smile, "Thank you for your secret help, brother. I'll give you an extra taels as labor fee. The rest of the iron can be used for other purposes, so I won't bother you any more."

Everything was as expected. Cheng Bai had just inquired about the exchange price. How could he let others take advantage of the situation? The amount was correct. He packed up everything and took Lu Miaoting to the Yaozong store. He sold the sand demon horn and made another profit.

As the sun sets and it gets dark, people who missed the last bus to Tuolong choose to stay at the Xingyue Oasis.

There was only the Hunters Guild's inn in the town of Gold and Silver Hall, so the two stayed there for the night and divided the gold they obtained equally.

Cheng Bai stayed in the top-floor room as usual, looking at the stars in the night sky, wondering: "The oasis has a large population, but there are no city walls. What if the sand monsters attack?"

Lu Miaoting said absentmindedly: "Sand monsters are afraid of water and will not come to the oasis. Even if they come, the Temple Legion has ways to deal with them."

Cheng Bai noticed that there were many turrets around the castle building and asked in surprise, "Are those the weapons?"

Lu Miaoting nodded and said, "Water cannon is the most effective way to kill sand monsters."

The people of Qiongqi Continent have a unique understanding of weapons and equipment. Cheng Bai thought for a moment and said, "When we get to the main altar of the Weapon Sect, I will use the burning iron to refine a new weapon for you and leave a crystal core for embedding. You can pick the best one."

Lu Miaoting blinked her eyes and said, "I want to inlay two."

"Okay, as you say." Cheng Bai turned around, picked up Xiaobai, and went into the house to rest.

Watching Cheng Bai close the door, Lu Miaoting felt a little resentful. She looked down at her clothes and wondered, "Am I dressed in a very rustic way? I look very old, like his sister?"

Early in the morning, the first camel train at the Gold and Silver Hall station welcomed passengers who were on their way one after another, embarking on a new journey and leaving huge footprints in the vast desert.

Some hunters who have mounts of their own follow the tracks left by the camel dragon and set out in groups. If such a team encounters scattered sand monsters, they will also be able to fight against them.

"They are so diligent! They are here even earlier than us." Cheng Bai said with a smile. He and Lu Miaoting got on Xiaobai and followed the main group to prepare to leave.

"The weather is a bit gray, there might be fog." Lu Miaoting was a little worried.

The desert is dry and fog is rare.

Cheng Bai sat on the giant wolf and stared around. His sharp eyes were also affected by the visibility. His gaze stayed on the dark yellow horizon in the southwest. The lines across the sky like mountains were wriggling and rolling towards him.

"It's not fog, it's a sandstorm coming, let's go." Cheng Bai urged Xiaobai to run forward.

Lu Miaoting's face turned pale.

The most terrifying thing in the desert is the sandstorm. The sand and rocks are flying everywhere and it is dark. It is easy to get lost. The rolled sand will break the water bags and make people despair. The bigger trouble is the sand monsters rushing around in the sandstorm, bringing death and destruction.

Severe sandstorms once destroyed the Star-Moon Oasis. Although it was miraculously rebuilt many times, each time was separated by dozens or even hundreds of years. Is it facing its end again today?