Train Survival: You're really trying to survive!

"There's no solution yet," Song Mingyu said with a hint of helplessness.

Su Li pointed to the surrounding barriers, "Won't this work?"

“No.” Song Mingyu shook her head. “This barrier is created by me using my own magical energy to neutralize the elemental fields from the outside world, and then continuously healing everyone’s souls. It’s only a temporary solution.”

"The consumption is too high, and it cannot be maintained indefinitely."

"However, as long as we cleanse ourselves of the elemental erosion in time, the damage to our soul is nothing to worry about."

Sophia had a different idea: "You've forgotten about the native creatures. They've adapted to this elemental field, and with so many of them, they've most likely evolved the ability to utilize it. If we fight them, we might be subjected to special attacks that exacerbate the elemental erosion on our bodies, and then damage our souls."

The tactic of stacking layers on the enemy and then unleashing them all at once is not uncommon; many poison-using monsters employ this technique.

Song Mingyu paused for a moment, then sighed, "Until I figure out an effective method, everyone be careful during battles. I'll distribute some anti-elemental erosion medicine to everyone later; please take it regularly."

After saying that, Song Mingyu looked at Su Li and said, "I suggest that we find some native creatures as soon as possible to conduct research and study how they adapt to this special elemental field."

"Understood!" Su Li nodded in response.

This problem will be put on hold for now, as there really isn't a good solution.

"Does anyone else have anything to say?" Su Li asked.

At this moment, Sun Keke raised her hand and said, "I've made a discovery."

Su Li gestured for Sun Keke to speak.

Sun Keke said, "I don't know much about elemental fields, but I have studied curses."

"In my view, this elemental field is not just an anomalous area of ​​elements; its manifestation and the way energy operates within it are more like a curse."

"A curse?" Song Mingyu asked, puzzled.

"Yes, a curse. This elemental field contains a malevolent intent. It is this malevolent intent that gives the elemental field its soul-scorching effect."

“I have further evidence,” Sun Keke said. “Remove the barrier, let everyone wait in the elemental field without protection for a while, and then test the damage everyone has suffered.”

Song Mingyu removed the outer barrier, and everyone waited for 10 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Song Mingyu began to examine everyone.

Among the entire team, Su Li suffered the least damage. Su Li's fire resistance was extremely high, so it was expected that she would rank first.

Second place goes to Sophia, who is proficient in elements and has high resistance.

The third place goes to Sun Keke.

That doesn't make sense. Logically, Song Mingyu or Ivan are more likely to be third. One excels in life and healing, and the other cultivates a microcosm within herself, making them both highly resilient. It shouldn't be Sun Keke, this fairytale-playing, shadowy witch, who should be in third place.

Song Mingyu conducted a more detailed examination and found that the elemental erosion on Sun Keke's body was at a normal level, but the damage to her soul was negligible.

“Curse resistance!” Song Mingyu grasped the key point.

As expected, this soul-scorching power comes from some kind of curse.

Upon receiving this answer, Su Li was utterly dumbfounded.

"Such a widespread curse, could there be something beneath this desert?"

Most curses have a source, and this source is usually an intelligent being.

Sofia calmly said, "The source that can destroy a high-energy world must be extraordinary."

The higher the energy level, the more stable the world is, and the more difficult it is to destroy the world.

Under such conditions, the world still perished; there must have been some truly horrific events.

"Sigh~" Su Li sighed.

After figuring out the information about the element's anomaly, the next step is to solve the problem.

Su Li looked at Song Mingyu and the Sun sisters, "Do you have any ideas?"

These three have some relevant experience.

Sun Lili spoke first: "I have a light attribute cloak woven from the feathers of the Light-Swallowing Bird. It was originally used to counter dark attribute environments, so it should have some effect on curses. Then I'll re-weave it and add some fire and earth attribute resistance to it."

Sun Keke chimed in, "I'll help my sister too; I'm better at cursing."

After saying that, Sun Keke sighed, "This curse is not simple, but as long as I study it for a while, I am confident that I can dispel it. The problem is that this curse comes from this world. Even if I dispel the curse on my body, the next second, the curse will be attached to me again."

Song Mingyu replied, "Then leave the healing and elemental erosion to me. The potions I prepared before can be adjusted a little. By the way, I need some World Flower dew to make soul healing potions."

“The flower dew reserves are running low. I’ve been researching new secret recipes recently,” Sophia said. “After the small world was upgraded, the flower dew was also upgraded. The low-level flower dew we stored before is almost used up. With the new flower dew, I’m trying to see if I can make gold-level soul-related secret recipes. It’s already used up quite a bit.”

“I’ll just use the regular kind. It would be even better if you could develop a suitable secret food.” Song Mingyu smiled slightly. “People prefer secret food to medicine.”

Sophia thought for a moment and said, "We can give it a try. Here's what we'll do: you can use the upgraded floral dew to make medicine, and I'll use the regular kind to make fruit juice with the ones I stockpiled before the upgrade."

"Then it's settled. Let's not rush today; let's get the exploration preparations done first."

After Su Li finished speaking, she took out a prop that looked like a compass. "This is the support prop for this mission. It's a compass that can help us determine the direction."

Su Li took out the compass.

【Sand Compass】

[Iron Grade]

[It can guide you in the desert.]

Su Li flicked the Sandstorm Compass with her index finger, and the compass immediately began to spin on the table. "The God of Pioneers wouldn't speak without reason. The existence of this artifact means that even we risk losing our way in this world. We're not weak, and we have mind links, manuals, and other means. If we can still lose our way, it must involve extraordinary methods. Next, I'm going to think of a way to study the principles of this compass and make some similar artifacts so that everyone can have one."

Now, everyone in the convoy except Ivan had a job. Ivan raised his hand, "What about me?"

"Go and pull all the barnacles off the outside of our car. Fire element, dehydration effect plus soul curse, the barnacles can't take it."

Su Li stared speechlessly out the window. Outside, the once glossy black barnacle shells were now turning slightly reddish. If left unattended, they could be peeled off and eaten immediately. Those that weren't peeled in time would become dried scallops.

Ivan nodded speechlessly.

After the meeting concluded, Zurich attempted to launch a satellite.

Fortunately, despite the sandstorm, the satellite was successfully launched into space and began scanning the surrounding terrain.

Ivan also put on a sand-proof mask and went outside the train.

As soon as Ivan stepped out of the car, he felt a dryness on his skin, a sensation of moisture being robbed from his body.

"The situation outside is even more serious than inside the train."

Ivan erected a shield of starlight around himself. With the shield's protection, his body became as stable as a star. This stability manifested externally as increased resistance to external objects, enhanced defense, elemental resistance, and resilience.

Ivan stepped outside the train and stomped down. The sand went right up to his calves before he could feel the solid ground beneath his feet.

"It's less like sand and more like ash. The combined impact of earth and fire elements turned this sand into dust."

That's why the outside is always yellowish, with large grains of sand and a layer of dust invisible to the naked eye.

Ivan took a couple of steps. Familiar with various mineral materials, he suddenly sensed something was wrong.

"Something seems off about this sand."

Ivan plunged his hand into the ground and grabbed a handful of sand.

He weighed the sand in his hand.

It's very heavy, much heavier than I expected. But it's not the weight of the sand itself.

Ivan could sense a trace of energy within the sand. It was this energy that made the sand heavier.

[I wonder if it can be used to extract energy for crafting equipment?]

Ivan picked up a few grains of sand from his hand.

[Its shape is also different from desert sand.]

Desert sand, due to frequent erosion by strong winds and friction between the grains, is very smooth, round, and extremely small. It has poor water absorption and stability, which is why desert sand is not used in concrete pouring for construction.

However, these grains of sand are quite rugged, covered in sharp spikes. Stepping on them barefoot would definitely be very unpleasant.

[Strange sand. What could be causing this?] Ivan was very curious.

Ivan jotted down this discovery, planning to tell his brother-in-law about it later. He then began to operate according to the manual.

He first deactivated the barnacle armor.

Upon receiving the order, the barnacle armor began to secrete a dissolving liquid, dissolving the glue on its body. It was this glue that allowed the barnacle armor to adhere to the train.

Before long, cracks appeared on all of these barnacles.

Ivan walked up and, like peeling the chocolate shell off an ice pop, disassembled the barnacle armor and sent it into the small world, saving the barnacle armor from dying.

The train was over 100 meters long. Waiting for the glue to dissolve, disassembling, and transferring it took a considerable amount of time.

During this period, the desert outside was not peaceful.

Under the distant, hazy sky, a long, brownish-yellow wall slowly rose up, like a giant python that had been sleeping for a thousand years suddenly awakening, twisting and writhing as it unfolded.

It rolled higher and higher, rose wider and wider, and drew ever closer.

In Ivan's ears, a heavy breath hissed in the wind, like muffled thunder rolling across the earth, growing closer and clearer, transforming into a deep yet resolute roar.

The timid might be frightened by this roar from nature and hide inside the train.

But Ivan only glanced back once before continuing with his work.

The wind is so strong, it must be very fast. If we don't hurry up and put away our armor, it would be a real shame if it gets blown away.

Ivan quickly installed the barnacle armor on the outside. Then, he began to activate the mechanisms on the vehicle.

The barnacles, having suffered a soul attack, became even more mentally impaired, so there was no way to expect them to activate the external mechanisms; Ivan had to activate them himself.

After the mechanism was activated, Ivan quickly loaded the decompressed armor onto the train.

This time, the external environment consisted of both fire and earth elements, plus a curse. After thinking for a moment, Yi Xian chose a hard metal that was resistant to earth.

Ivan was very fast, and by the time the sandstorm was approaching, the outer armor was already more than half completed.

Ivan glanced at the remaining carriage, gritted his teeth, and continued installing it without stopping.

Seconds later, a sandstorm enveloped the train.

The train felt like a tin can being shaken by an invisible giant hand. The shadow of the sand walls had already obscured half the sky, and the carriage suddenly darkened, shrouded in a constantly trembling gray-yellow veil. The scenery outside the window blurred rapidly; the distant sand dunes were swallowed by the sandstorm, leaving only the sand grains whipped up by the wind frantically pounding against the windowpanes, making a dense and sharp "crackling" sound, like countless tiny poisonous bees colliding with the last barrier.

The train was well-sealed, with no whistling sounds from leaking air, but the wind blowing through the wheels still produced a whistling sound.

Ivan activated his magical energy in advance, releasing a light shield that protected the entire train.

Ivan only breathed a sigh of relief after all the armor was installed.

Even knowing that the wind couldn't move him, the terrifying sound of it still made him nervous.

Ivan jumped off the roof of the car, feeling thirsty and longing for a sip of sweet spring water.

This discovery made Ivan realize something was wrong. He was already a Silver-level cultivator, and he had eaten and drunk his fill before coming out, so how could he be thirsty so quickly?

Ivan licked his lips and found them to be very dry.

[The reason is the elemental field? I just discovered it; being caught in a sandstorm intensifies the erosion effect.]

Ivan checked the elements in his body and found that the water element was balanced, but this abnormal thirst just didn't seem right.