Transmigration: A person in a martial arts world, cultivating to ascend to immortality

Viewed from above, the overall terrain of the Great Desert resembles the shape of a gourd.

If someone wants to travel between the two countries of Dali and Daqian, they will usually choose to go straight through the Huluyao, which is the fastest route across the Great Desert.

Anhe City is located in the upper half of the gourd shape, while the ruins of the ancient Beirong Kingdom, according to Qu Ziming's calculations, are located in the lower half of the gourd shape.

Although the terrain of the upper and lower halves of the Great Desert is composed of irregular ellipses, the lower half of the ellipse is at least three times larger than that of the upper half.

This large area, also known as the 'heartland of the desert,' is the most dangerous place in the entire desert, but also the richest in resources.

Red foxes, with their glossy and soft fur that fetches high prices, and other sandy animals and plants, such as the highly medicinal fire-heart grass, all inhabit and grow in this area.

Many martial artists who make a living in the desolate desert frequently travel in and out of this heartland, but none dare to venture too far. They almost always hunt or gather near the edge of the desert. This is because the deeper one goes into the heartland of the desert, the fewer objects become that can be used to determine direction, and the greater the chance of encountering sandstorms. At the same time, other unexpected dangers may also arise.

Especially now that the climate across the entire Yellow Sands region is abnormal, this desolate desert has practically become a forbidden zone.

However, at this moment, this treasure-hunting team of nearly a thousand people, composed of various forces and a group of independent cultivators, is being led by Qu Ziming and is gradually making its way into this forbidden zone.

By combining his one-foot-square compass with celestial observations, Qu Ziming was always able to accurately calculate the rising and falling times of sandstorms. Therefore, this group of a thousand people was not threatened by sandstorms at all after leaving Anhe City.

The spiritual energy fluctuations that Jiang Yuchuan had sensed on Qu Ziming earlier were emanating from this seemingly ordinary compass.

Because they had to avoid sandstorms, the treasure-hunting team often had to stop and go, or even take detours, which made their progress much slower than usual. It took them more than a month to finally cross the "gourd waist" and officially reach the edge of the desolate desert.

After the group entered the heart of the desert, they traveled for about seven miles. Qu Ziming, who was at the front, looked at the wildly spinning pointer on the compass and his expression suddenly became serious. He quickly raised his hand to signal the people behind him to stop.

"We can't go any further. In two hours at most, a massive sandstorm will appear ahead. This sandstorm will be much larger than any we've encountered before! We're probably not safe here yet; we'd better retreat another mile."

Upon hearing Qu Ziming's words, the leaders of the various factions immediately led their teams to retreat.

The group of independent cultivators who were following far behind the major forces did not understand what was happening, but when they saw that the people from the major forces were retreating instead of advancing, they immediately followed suit and began to retreat as well.

It was already sunset.

After retreating to a safe distance, everyone began to take out their belongings and rest on the spot.

Jiang Yuchuan, who was mingling among a group of rogue cultivators, was currently sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, wearing a windproof cloak and leaning against a rock.

Among the group of ten people not far from Jiang Yuchuan, there was a middle-aged woman whose gaze would occasionally linger on Jiang Yuchuan as she observed her surroundings.

This woman was none other than Zhuo Yuehua, who had previously teamed up with Jiang Yuchuan.

Sitting next to Zhuo Yuehua, Song Weipeng noticed that her gaze kept lingering on a certain spot, so he also looked in that direction.

"What are you looking at? Is there anything unusual about this person?"

"It's nothing." Zhuo Yuehua shook her head, thought for a moment, and then said, "I just felt that person looked familiar."

"look familiar?"

Upon hearing Zhuo Yuehua's words, Song Weipeng's gaze immediately began to scrutinize her carefully.

"Don't you think that person looks somewhat like Young Master Jiang?"

Zhuo Yuehua whispered her thoughts.

"Young Master Jiang?"

Song Weipeng was immediately taken aback, then shook his head and said, "I don't think so. Their ages don't match. They probably just look alike."

Although he had never seen Jiang Yuchuan's true face, he could roughly judge Jiang Yuchuan's age by his voice, speech and temperament.

In his opinion, even if Jiang Yuchuan was young, he wouldn't look like that boy, who was only fifteen or sixteen years old.

Zhuo Yuehua wasn't entirely sure of her guess; her connection between the two was purely based on intuition.

"Where do you think that Young Master Jiang is right now? I still can't figure out why he and the evil Taoist priest from the White Bone Temple disappeared without a trace that night."

Although Song Weipeng was also puzzled by this, he didn't think as much as Zhuo Yuehua did, so he said, "Who cares? Anyway, he disappeared on his own, it has nothing to do with us. Whether he lives or dies is entirely up to him."

Zhuo Yuehua nodded and withdrew her gaze from Jiang Yuchuan.

Jiang Yuchuan naturally noticed Zhuo Yuehua and Song Weipeng's secret scrutiny.

In fact, Jiang Yuchuan had noticed the existence of these two people from the moment he joined the treasure hunting team.

To his slight surprise, the team that was previously four people had quickly dwindled to just the two of them.

Chu Wei and Ding Huiru never showed themselves from the beginning. Jiang Yuchuan also couldn't detect their presence among the treasure hunters.

It seems likely that the two younger men lost their lives that night when they fought the Taoist priests of the White Bone Temple.

In terms of overall strength, Song Weipeng and his group were clearly weaker than the Taoist priests from the White Bone Temple.

As for why Song Weipeng and Zhuo Yuehua were able to escape unscathed and even kill their opponents, that's quite intriguing.

Just then, an elderly man with gray hair, well past sixty, walked briskly toward Jiang Yuchuan, his eyes crinkling with a smile, holding a sizzling, fragrant roasted rabbit.

The old man's name was Yan Guang. Like Jiang Yuchuan, he was a lone wolf among the group of independent martial artists who had not joined any team.

The two met shortly after leaving Anhe City.

Rather than saying they were acquaintances, it would be more accurate to say that Yan Guang took the initiative to get close to Jiang Yuchuan.

As for why Yan Guang would take the initiative to strike up a conversation with Jiang Yuchuan, who looked inconspicuous and was young, among so many martial artists, he did not explain it clearly, only attributing it all to a matter of chemistry.

Jiang Yuchuan did not sense any malice from Yan Guang, so he went with the flow and did not reject the other party's deliberate approach.

Upon reaching Jiang Yuchuan, Yan Guang immediately tore off the two hind legs with the most meat from the whole roasted rabbit and handed them to him.

"Young Master Jiang, please try it and see how well I roast rabbit!"

Jiang Yuchuan didn't refuse and took the rabbit leg to eat.

Yan Guang also sat down cross-legged to the side and started eating roasted rabbit with Jiang Yuchuan.

"These sandy brown rabbits, which are usually extremely rare, have suddenly appeared in large numbers. Those who haven't eaten meat for a long time along the way are in for a treat."

Jiang Yuchuan smiled upon hearing this, "Perhaps it was frightened by something."

"Scared?"

As Yan Guang chewed on the rabbit meat he had just torn into his mouth, he chuckled and said, "Is there anything scarier than a whole pack of hungry wolves like us?"

"Maybe there is."

Hearing Jiang Yuchuan say this, Yan Guang couldn't help but glance at the group of people at the front, composed of various powerful forces, and suddenly realized:

"It seems these little creatures probably came from the area ahead. Animals living in sandy areas are very perceptive; they must have sensed an impending sandstorm and were forced to flee backwards. Little did they expect to be caught red-handed by us."

After the two finished eating the roasted rabbit, it was completely dark.

As the temperature continued to drop, a cold wind quickly swept across the open sandy ground.

As the cold wind grew stronger, everyone could clearly see in the distance directly ahead that large swathes of yellow sand rose with the wind, forming thick yellow sand pillars that reached straight into the sky.

"A massive sandstorm is coming!"

Even from such a distance, Yan Guang was still awestruck by the terrifying power emanating from the vast expanse of sand dunes.

The other independent cultivators also stood up one after another, gazing ahead with expressions of shock.

"As expected of a sandstorm originating from the heart of the desolate desert, this spectacle is simply incomparable to anything outside!"

"The power of this sand tornado is probably enough to tear a person to pieces!"

"I wonder what kind of magical method that senior Qu used to be able to predict the time of the sandstorm so accurately."

"This is truly a case of 'the real expert doesn't reveal their abilities, and the expert who reveals their abilities isn't the real expert.' I never imagined that there would be such a powerful figure among us rogue cultivators!"

……

At this moment, Qu Ziming, who was being discussed by the group of rogue cultivators, was standing on a rock, holding a compass, looking solemnly at the sandstorm in front of him, and muttering incantations.

"Strange, the sandstorm has already appeared, and the signs of crisis should have subsided by now. Why do I still feel uneasy?"

At this moment, Ning Xiangfei, who had been watching Qu Ziming closely, walked over and asked with concern, "Senior Qu, has something happened?"

"I don't know." Qu Ziming frowned and pondered, "This sandstorm probably won't stop anytime soon. I'd better tell everyone to be more careful. I have a bad feeling about this."

"Understood, senior. I will inform everyone."

Having witnessed Qu Ziming's abilities, Ning Xiangfei dared not be careless at all. He immediately turned around and walked towards the crowd to relay Qu Ziming's words.

Of course, this so-called "masses" would not include the group of rogue cultivators following behind them.

In Ning Xiangfei's view, it was already a great favor to have these useless rogue cultivators come along; as for anything else, he shouldn't even think about it.

The flying sand and terrifying sandstorms raged for more than two hours before gradually subsiding.

Although the sandstorm was still quite strong, it no longer hindered the team's continued progress.

Normally, Qu Ziming would have immediately notified everyone to prepare to set off, but tonight, because of the lingering sense of urgency in his heart, he did not do so.

Thus, at Qu Ziming's suggestion, the treasure-hunting team continued to rest in place until the next morning before setting off again.

Upon hearing that they were to rest in place until the next morning, many martial artists began to look for sheltered spots around them and dozed off, leaning against each other.

During their more than one-month journey, they rarely had the opportunity to rest as much as they did tonight. They usually rested for two or three hours at a time, and then set off again as soon as the storm subsided.

Although martial artists are much stronger than ordinary people and do not need to rely on several hours of sleep each day to restore their energy and strength, everything has its limits.

Even the strongest martial artist is still human. They can go three or four days without sleep and relieve fatigue through short meditation sessions, but this method will not work after seven or eight days, or even longer.

Therefore, when they learned that they could have almost a whole night to rest, many martial artists' first reaction was to get a good night's sleep.

Even though the environment and climate here are vastly different from those in Anhe City, it does not hinder their rest at all.

One of the great advantages of working with so many people is that there's no need to specifically choose who rests first or who stays up at night. There will always be someone who stays awake while others sleep.

Time passed slowly, and before we knew it, it was late at night.

The sandstorm that had been blowing for most of the day finally stopped completely.

The stars and the moon shone brightly in the clear night sky, illuminating the entire sandy area.

Jiang Yuchuan, who was sitting cross-legged with his back against the rock, slowly opened his eyes at this moment.

Lying beside him was Yan Guang, who was covered with a cloak and a pillow and was snoring loudly.

The two were positioned on the outer edge of the group of rogue martial artists, with almost no one else around.

Jiang Yuchuan casually picked up a small pebble from the sand and flicked it at Yan Guang with his finger.

With a "smack," the pebble hit Yan Guang's forehead with just the right amount of force. Yan Guang immediately woke up, sat up, and looked around warily.

"—Who? Who threw the hidden weapon!"

Finally, his gaze fell on Jiang Yuchuan, who was staring at him. "Was it Young Master Jiang who hit me just now?"

“Not bad.” Jiang Yuchuan stood up. “Old people sleep well. But if you continue to sleep, you might lose your life later.”

Seeing that Jiang Yuchuan didn't seem to be joking, Yan Guang immediately took it seriously, picked up his weapon, and stood up.

Only then did he realize that the various forces in front of him had also stood up, gripping their weapons and looking around warily.

This posture doesn't resemble guarding against a sandstorm at all; it looks more like something extremely dangerous is approaching.

Soon, amidst a series of loud, eerie howls, Yan Guang finally understood what danger Jiang Yuchuan was referring to.

"—Sand Wolf!!"

The Great Desert is one of the four most threatening pests to humans. Once it appears, it comes in large groups and will not stop until it kills its prey.

The wolf howls came from all around, which meant that they had been surrounded by a pack of sand wolves without even realizing it!

Keep in mind that their treasure-hunting team consisted of nearly a thousand people. The largest packs of sand wolves that usually roamed the area only numbered a little over a hundred.

But the pack of sand wolves that are currently surrounding them already numbers several hundred, judging from their howls alone.

Since intelligent animals like sand wolves dare to attack such a large group of people, they must be absolutely certain that their numbers far exceed those of the group!

"Damn it, this time we're really going to be food for the hungry wolves!"

Yan Guang gave a wry smile and casually drew his longsword.

Just as all the warriors raised their weapons and gathered together, the burly sand wolves with fierce eyes appeared in everyone's sight with light steps.

When Yan Guang saw the sand wolves surging from all around him, his eyes widened instantly, cold sweat poured from his palms, and he could no longer hold back, letting out a loud scream:

"What the hell?! Aren't there way too many of them?! And what do they eat to grow up like this?! Aren't they ridiculously big?!"