The Tager Desert is a place with extremely dry and hot weather. The scorching sun pours down from the sky, heating up the ground and giving off intense and oppressive heat. The rising heat causes the air to appear distorted and blurry.
Two figures descend from the sky, with Li Xiu using his force field to carry Xiao Yan and gently place him on the ground.
"Master, weren't we doing well in our training at the Magic Beast Mountain Range? With the help of the medicinal pills, I have already reached the level of a Three-Star Dou Shi in just two months. It can be considered rapid progress."
As soon as Xiao Yan landed on the ground, he felt a sense of dry heat surrounding him, causing him to frown and question Li Xiu with suspicion.
Li Xiu glanced at Xiao Yan and said: "The training in the Magic Beast Mountain Range was mainly to push you to the brink of life and death to hone your martial skills and combat experience. As for your so-called rapid progress in Dou Qi cultivation, it's still far too slow in my opinion."
"This place can truly accelerate your Dou Qi cultivation speed to a terrifying level."
Xiao Yan was taken aback and scratched his head, asking: "Master, what's special about this Tager Desert? It doesn't seem like there are any precious treasures or resources growing here."
Li Xiu didn't answer and started walking towards a yellow mud city standing in the middle of the golden desert. Xiao Yan had to hurry and follow him.
As they approached the city, more and more people could be seen on the streets. Most of the men were bare-armed, with tanned and muscular bodies that exuded a sense of boldness. The occasional women who passed by also had tanned skin, but with a touch of sexy bronze color that exuded a charming temperament.
As they walked, Xiao Yan couldn't help but admire the sights along the way. He licked his lips and looked up at the yellow city walls that were now visible. Above the city gate, two pale red characters were carved into the wall, giving off a sense of bloodiness even from afar.
"Desert City..."
Xiao Yan murmured as he surveyed the city. Although the feeling of dry heat had already dissipated, his curiosity had not diminished in the slightest. The Tager Desert and the Desert City seemed to have nothing particularly special about them.
At the city gate, more than ten soldiers in armor held long spears and shouted at passersby to pay the entrance tax. Xiao Yan was slightly surprised at the heavily armed soldiers in this place, which seemed more strict than the defenses of some large cities.
After entering the city, Xiao Yan looked around at the bustling streets and after a moment of confusion, he asked Li Xiu: "Master, where are we going now? Are we going to prepare for a water source to enter the desert for training?"
Li Xiu didn't even turn his head and said: "First settle down. Your master is going to get something for you. With it, you don't have to worry about cultivating Dou Qi before reaching the Dou Zun level. You can focus more on honing your martial skills and practicing our sect's techniques."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan was stunned, his eyes widened in disbelief and he stammered in repetition: "Dou...Dou Zun? Dou Zun!"
Since he was born, the strongest person Xiao Yan had ever met, apart from Li Xiu, was only a Da Dou Shi. He had never even seen a Dou Ling or Dou Wang.
Legend has it that a Dou Huang expert can walk sideways in the Jia Ma Empire, yet Li Xiu was talking about paving a direct path to the Dou Zun level for him. This made him feel somewhat unreal, and he began to doubt whether his goal of surpassing Nalan Yanran within three years was too small-minded.
At night, in the vast desert, the wind and sand raged, but they could not invade the several zhang area around Li Xiu.
The ethereal soul of Yao Chen sat cross-legged on a flat sandy area, focusing his mind on the black medicine cauldron in front of him. Li Xiu stood silently by his side, observing every step of Yao Chen's pill refining process and carefully storing them in his mind.
Two hours had passed, and inside the cauldron, wrapped in a pale flame, a dragon eye-sized, blood-red round pill was rotating. Yao Chen was in the final step of condensing the pill.
At the same time, the spiritual energy around the two began to stir, and the blood-red pill suddenly released an extremely strong medicinal fragrance, which was blood-red in color, overflowed from the cauldron, and finally dispersed throughout the air.
This is also why Li Xiu and Yao Chen chose to refine pills in the wilderness. When pills of fourth-tier or higher are formed, they will all cause unusual phenomena that are difficult to cover up, and the deserted wilderness without any human population will not attract any unnecessary attention.
After dozens of breaths, Yao Chen finished refining the pill, and Li Xiu took the pill and put it in the jade bottle that had been prepared earlier, then put it into his arms.
"After listening to your specific description, I finally chose this fifth-tier pill called the Blood Awakening Pill. It can temporarily awaken the bloodlines hidden in the body of both humans and beasts, allowing them to be manifested, and can be maintained for three days."
"As for this pill, it was made by me, Yao Chen, and has reached the limit of this kind of pill, and can last for five days."
Yao Chen's eyebrows showed a hint of pride as he spoke lightly.
Li Xiu nodded without saying anything. He waved his hand, and Yao Chen turned into a white light and returned to the storage ring on his finger.
In the early morning, Xiao Yan finished his cultivation in the inn. As soon as he opened his eyes, he found that Li Xiu had appeared in the room at some point, and there was a small monster lying unconscious on the ground.
The monster was humanoid but had no legs. Its lower body was a long tail, and its body was covered with snake scales, including its face, which was also covered with blue scales and had a somewhat snake-like appearance. From a human perspective, it was extremely ugly.
Xiao Yan quickly stood up, bowed respectfully to Li Xiu, and asked in a puzzled and surprised manner: "Master, what is this monster?"
Li Xiu sat on a wooden chair and answered calmly: "This is the opportunity that will bring you closer to becoming stronger."
After solemnly examining the monster on the ground for a few moments, Xiao Yan still couldn't see anything and respectfully asked Li Xiu: "Please enlighten me, Master."
"In the Tager Desert, apart from humans, there is actually a race similar to humans, called the Snake-People. They are cruel and cold-blooded by nature and are considered enemies of humans."
"All the soldiers in this city you saw yesterday were fully armed and on high alert because of the Snake-People."
After hearing this, Xiao Yan understood and looked at the monster on the ground, guessing: "Master, is this a Snakemen?"
Li Xiu shook his head and smiled: "Yes and no. It should be said that this is a very special Snakemen. She is a Snakemen with the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils."
"Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils?" Xiao Yan asked in confusion.
In fact, this was supposed to be one of his "loves" whom he would meet in the future when he joined the Desert Metal Mercenary Company - Qing Lin.
Qing Lin was a rare hybrid of human and Snake-People with extremely rare Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils. The reason she looked like this was because Li Xiu gave her a Blood Awakening Pill.