Xiao Ding knew that continuing with mindless expansion would soon lead to a situation where they couldn't control the tail. So, he temporarily halted the expansion and decided to stay in Rock Desert City for a while to manage things.
After helping Xiao Ding stabilise the situation, Xiao Feng, Little Doctor Fairy, and Qing Lin left Rock Desert City temporarily and entered the Tagore Desert for a new round of training.
...
Over half a month later.
Apart from the harsh natural environment, the Tagore(Tager) Desert is also home to many dangers, such as various magical beasts and the Serpent Tribe, who harbour great hostility toward humans.
In this desert lies a notorious magical beast forbidden zone called Snake Sand Valley, home to a large number of Rock Snakes.
Rock Snakes are third-tier earth attribute magical beasts. Their entire bodies are sand yellow, their skin is more complicated than steel, and their defence power is astounding.
Although Rock Snakes aren't large, with adults only reaching about three meters in length, they are venomous. Anyone bitten by one will experience increasing stiffness, eventually turning as hard as rock.
Even a Dou Spirit-level expert, if bitten by a Rock Snake and unable to expel the venom in time, could end up dying from the poison.
Because of this, ordinary merchant caravans and mercenary groups avoid going near Snake Sand Valley, fearing an attack by a Rock Snake suddenly emerging from the sand.
"Shh shh shh…"
With a strange sound, a vast shadow appeared on a distant dune and rushed toward Snake Sand Valley.
It was a giant desert scorpion, over five meters long and covered in sand-yellow scales. Three figures sat atop its back—Xiao Feng, Little Doctor Fairy, and Qing Lin.
Xiao Feng sat at the front, bare-chested and wearing black shorts, while Little Doctor Fairy and Qing Lin wore white robes with ice attribute magic core jewellery to keep cool, sitting side by side behind him.
As the giant desert scorpion approached Snake Sand Valley, Qing Lin suddenly said, "Young Master, I sense something ahead; its aura is similar to Little Black's."
"Stop!" Xiao Feng commanded.
The corpse-controlling insect residing in the desert scorpion's body received Xiao Feng's command to halt and immediately stopped moving.
Indeed, the desert scorpion they were riding was the corpse of a magical beast.
Stone Desert City and Snake Sand Valley are hundreds of miles apart, and Xiao Feng and his companions encountered many magical beasts along the way. One of the most powerful was this third-tier desert scorpion, whose strength rivaled that of a Dou Grandmaster.
Since Xiao Feng had cultivated several corpse-controlling insects, he had Little Doctor Fairy poison the scorpion first before he personally shattered its heart, thus preserving its body.
After killing the scorpion, Xiao Feng manipulated the corpse-controlling insects to enter the scorpion's body, turning it into a beast puppet.
Though its strength couldn't match its former self, the scorpion's powerful physique as a third-tier magical beast, combined with its fearless nature, made its combat ability superior to most second-tier magical beasts.
"Sss sss sss…"
The small black snake coiled around Qing Lin's wrist also sensed the danger ahead, flicking its tongue while its body tensed.
"Whoosh!"
The tiny black snake shot into the air, growing rapidly into a giant black serpent over four zhang (about 13 meters) long.
The black serpent's entire body was covered in dark scales with colorful patterns, and on its sides were a pair of purple-black wings.
This was a Two-Winged Black Snake, a third-tier magical beast with immense potential for evolution.
With enough resources, the Two-Winged Black Snake could evolve from a third-tier to a sixth-tier magical beast. With each advancement, it would grow an additional pair of wings, and when it reached eight wings, it would become the fearsome Eight-Winged Black Snake Emperor of Dou Qi Continent!
Unfortunately, this Two-Winged Black Snake had the bad luck of encountering Qing Lin, who possessed the Green Serpent's Three-Flower Eyes, and was forcibly enslaved by her, earning the name "Little Black."
After reverting to its original form, the Two-Winged Black Snake flapped its wings and dived toward the area where the Rock Snakes were hiding.
"Whoosh—"
Sensing the threat posed by the Two-Winged Black Snake, the Rock Snake emerged from the sand to confront it.
"Swish!"
As the two beasts clashed, Qing Lin activated her Green Serpent's Triple Jade-Flower Eyes, and a strange green light burst from her eyes, enveloping the Rock Snake.
Since the Two-Winged Black Snake was already under Qing Lin's control, it was unaffected by the green light, but the Rock Snake froze in place, paralyzed with fear.
The green light rapidly shrank, converging on the Rock Snake's head, where it imprinted a palm-sized green flower mark.
As the contract was successfully signed, the terror in the Rock Snake's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a confused look. It gazed at Qing Lin with gentle eyes.
"Come here!" Qing Lin called with a sweet smile, waving at the Rock Snake.
The Rock Snake slithered toward her and then shrank into a small snake, no thicker than a thumb, jumping into her palm.
"So obedient~" Qing Lin stroked the Rock Snake's head with her fingers and said in a childish voice, "From now on, I'll call you Little Yellow!"
"Sss sss sss…" The Rock Snake happily flicked its tongue and rubbed its head against Qing Lin's fingers.
Watching Qing Lin easily subdue a Rock Snake as strong as a Dou-Grandmaster, Little Doctor Fairy couldn't help but feel a bit envious.
Though her Woeful Poison Body was no less powerful than Qing Lin's Green Serpent's Triple Jade-Flower Eyes, it came with great risks. The stronger Little Doctor Fairy became, the closer she came to death.
Now that she had reached the seven-star Dou Practitioner( is it true guys because that is what the raws directly translate to, I believe she was in Dou-Master realm) level, if she continued to progress at this pace, her Woeful Poison Body would fully erupt within a few years.
If Xiao Feng hadn't promised to resolve the hidden dangers of the Woeful Poison Body before it fully erupted, she might have already considered slowing down her use of poison.
"Alright, let's keep moving!" Xiao Feng said, guiding the desert scorpion corpse puppet closer to Snake Sand Valley.
(End of chapter)