A life of leisure is worse than a life of flowers and splendour

As the screams rang out, many people jumped to their feet. Although they were indeed exhausted after two days of fleeing, this little fatigue was nothing when their lives were at stake. The Du family soldiers were even more energetic.

The Du family quickly packed up their things and gathered together. They had measured out the things before. If they encountered an emergency, the Du family would try to gather together so that they could take care of each other when fighting the enemy and avoid getting separated during the escape.

Du Shuangshuang shuddered as she crawled out of bed. It was so cold outside! The people ahead had already started fighting, and yellow sand filled the air. There were the sounds of swords clashing and people shouting in response. Everyone was on edge, constantly monitoring their surroundings. Suddenly, the sand surged, and a massive creature emerged from it, leaping up, showering it with dust.

Everyone reacted quickly, "Attack its belly, team one will lure the enemy, team two will interfere, team three and team four will attack from the front and back, charge!" Before Du Shuangshuang and her family could react, Lieutenant General Huo had already made arrangements. It was obvious that he was very experienced.

Mr. Du and half of the guards were left behind to protect Second Aunt and his cousins, while the rest of the Du family also rushed forward. They were inexperienced and could only try to cooperate with Deputy General Huo and his men.

Du Shuangshuang slashed at the desert giant lizard's scales with her sword, only causing a dent, but it quickly recovered, leaving no mark. Although she didn't use any spiritual power, she was using a magical weapon! This thing really wasn't easy to kill.

The two sects gathered together, and there were more than a thousand people in the camp, but desert giant lizards appeared all around the camp. Du Shuangshuang didn't have time to count them, and the surrounding area was dusty because of the battle.

In a moment of carelessness, someone was slapped away by the monitor lizard, and someone quickly went to rescue him. Each of them had a petal of the Black Water Blood Lotus given by Du Shuangshuang on them, just in case, to give everyone a chance to save their lives.

Desert monitors have no special abilities, relying solely on their powerful physical attacks. However, in the desert, few can rival them, requiring a large group attack. From time to time, someone is unable to dodge and is sent flying. Monks are more secure, able to use their spiritual power to protect themselves in times of crisis, but mortals can only rely on their bodies to withstand the pressure. At this moment, Du Shuangshuang deeply realized the advantages of monks and the difficulties the Du family army had faced in living in the desert for so many years. Besides the harsh environment and the difficulty of getting food and water, they often encountered various monsters, and even had to fight monsters for a bite to survive.

The front troops encountered three desert monitors, but fortunately, they all had high cultivation levels, quicker reactions, and greater physical strength, so dealing with them was not difficult. After one of the desert monitors was successfully dispatched, the situation became more manageable. Chu Yue said to Master Xuancheng, "Uncle Master, I'll go check out the back." Everyone knew what he was going to do without asking.

He had just taken a few steps back when a charming figure fell towards him. "Ah, Senior Brother Chu, save me!"

Seeing the figure flying in front of him, Chu Yue couldn't help but reach out and help. "Junior Sister Gu, there are so many people here. You don't need to rush up. It would be bad if you get hurt. It's not easy to travel through this desert." He wanted to say that if he was not strong enough, he shouldn't rush forward and cause trouble for others! But he didn't want to cause trouble for himself.

Uncle Chongxu of the Daowen Peak has only two disciples: one is his own son, and the other is Gu Xiaoxiao. He dotes on her to no end. One is a dandy son of the sect, and the other is like the sect's eldest daughter. She never leaves home to do missions, and all tasks are paid with spirit stones. One is that Uncle Chongxu of the Daowen Peak started out as a merchant and is very good at business. Daowen Peak has many businesses. True Master Chongxu also truly dotes on his disciple. I heard that she is the only daughter of his good friend, so naturally she is different. The other is Gu Xiaoxiao's background. She comes from the Gu family, a family of immortal cultivators, also a prominent family in the world of immortal cultivators.

Many of the sect members came from large families, including Chu Yue himself. Whether it was a sect mission or just for personal gain, he would often take on missions. They had no shortage of spirit stones. As direct disciples, they had their allotment plus what their master gave them, and what their family gave them. They were all very wealthy, but most of them didn't take on missions for the spirit stones, but to train themselves.

Therefore, everyone secretly looked down on those who never completed quests, especially this time in the secret realm. They had arrived, but no one from the Daowen Peak had entered the secret realm, not because of cultivation limitations, but because they simply didn't want to go. They had only come out because they heard the journey was long and wanted to join in the fun. Furthermore, True Lord Chongxu wanted to train them, letting them cross the desert and endure some hardships, but he didn't force them to enter the secret realm.

Chu Yue helped the man and said a few words before he was about to leave, but Gu Xiaoxiao refused. "Brother Chu, please help us here too. We are all struggling."

Chu Yue took a look and said, "How can it be difficult? With a hundred of you surrounding a giant lizard, you can wear it to death."

The fighting was in full swing in the entire camp, when suddenly screams were heard again, "Ah..." The screams came from the group of people on the westernmost side.

Then another scream was heard, "It's fire ants, the fire ant swarm is coming, run away." The whole camp exploded in an instant!

Chu Yue wanted to rush to Du Shuangshuang and the others. Although nothing seemed to be happening over there, the fire ants were coming and everyone had to run away! But at this moment, he was firmly grasped by Gu Xiaoxiao. He wanted to shake off, but Gu Xiaoxiao did not give him a chance and called on the people around her to pull Chu Yue away. A stinky beggar from the mortal world, with no status and no looks, why should she marry the noble, talented, and handsome Senior Brother Chu Yue? If she could do it, why couldn't she? She was the daughter of the Gu family. Her parents had saved countless wealth for her. She had all the materials she wanted for her cultivation. She was also a precious existence in the Dao Peak. What qualifications did that stinky beggar who hadn't even entered the sect have to compete with her? And he brought a group of stinky beggars with him. It was simply disgusting. It would be better to die in the back!

Chu Yue watched the distance between him and Du Shuangshuang and the others getting farther and farther. He thought that there were so many people and they would definitely be able to catch up, so he gave up struggling and fled with the crowd.

Desert monitors can still hold their own, but fire ants are truly deadly. Many people accidentally killed fire ants before they could react. Others were helpless, with several already crawling onto their bodies. If they hadn't dealt with them quickly, they would have been the ones killed. These were lucky, at least temporarily saved their lives, but the road ahead would have been full of running. Others were completely engulfed by the ant swarm before they could react. Some were rescued by those around them, but they too were incapacitated and needed at least three hours to recover. Some never got up again, remaining there forever.

Many people didn’t take the monitor lizard seriously before, thinking that there were enough people to deal with it sooner or later. However, no one wanted to mess with the fire ants.

At this time, the desert monitor lizard that the Du family was dealing with was already seriously injured. Du Shuangshuang took the opportunity to pour spiritual power into his sword, jumped up, and pierced the desert monitor lizard's eyes with a sword, going straight into its brain.

After collecting the bodies, everyone gathered together, carrying the wounded and evacuating quickly. They wanted to follow the main group, but as they fled, the crowd scattered. Although they would eventually head southeast, their routes would definitely be different, and whether they would encounter them was uncertain. Who knew how far they had run in the panic?

They tried hard to catch up with the nearby group, but they were injured and a step behind, so naturally someone had to cover the rear. When they encountered fire ants, they had to use spiritual power to sweep them away, otherwise they would be stuck and unable to shake them off. Du Shuangshuang and Uncle Du took the initiative to cover the rear, while the people in front, carrying the injured, randomly chose a direction and started running.

The team ahead ran faster and faster until they lost track, leaving them all alone on the desert road. When Du Shuangshuang and the others caught up with the Du family's team, they couldn't find even a single footprint anywhere.

Without a leader, they had to rely on themselves. Drawing on years of experience, the Du family army led them through quicksand. Quicksand is a dangerous desert terrain. Even for cultivators, escaping it is difficult for ordinary people to escape. Even a large door panel thrown in wouldn't last more than a few breaths. Lieutenant General Huo said they'd suffered heavy losses in quicksand before, losing many of their men. While cultivators could switch from external breathing to internal breathing, temporarily surviving, being buried in the sand would inevitably lead to starvation. And there was no telling what lay beneath the quicksand. Although Du Shuangshuang was curious, she wasn't prepared to venture down on her own. Curiosity killed the cat, and her own life was more important. It would be great if she had a robot with equipment to explore. This ancient technology wasn't enough. Unbeknownst to Du Shuangshuang, this place could also be a possibility. This was the almighty world of immortal cultivation! Puppets could accomplish the task perfectly, but a misstep might result in the loss of one. Therefore, it was their luck to meet the Du family army. Otherwise, if they were separated from the main force, it would be very difficult for them to survive in this desert and reach the sect smoothly.

It's hard to tell the direction in the desert, but luckily there's a compass. Following its guidance, heading east will lead us out of the desert. We'll see where we are then. Finding the sect should be much easier. Actually, the Du family army had a compass at the beginning, but after Oasis brought them here, most of their belongings were damaged. Their clothes shredded into rags when they hit the ground, and only their armor held up. The compass was completely destroyed, but their weapons were still there. So they kept wandering in the desert, unable to find their way out.

After shaking off the fire ants, the group rode their camels, continuing their journey day and night, not even stopping for meals. When they tired, they would sleep on the camels, and when they woke, they would switch. However, camels couldn't be used constantly without rest, so everyone's sleep was kept to a minimum. After five or six days of this, everyone finally relaxed. Perhaps it was the unique nature of their chosen route, but they didn't encounter a single soul along the way. The communication stone was also malfunctioning, making it impossible to contact anyone.

A surprised voice came from the front, "Cactus! It's a cactus forest! We are so lucky!"