As night falls, the sky is dotted with diamond-like stars. The crescent moon gently caresses the Milky Way, casting its light on the earth, adding a touch of mystery and romance to the quiet night.
Due to the black scales of the Rayquaza, even if people on the ground looked up at the sky, it would be difficult to spot its figure. After the Rayquaza flew continuously for a day, Xiao Ling and his companions had already arrived at the edge of the Tager Desert.
Above Rayquaza's head, Xiao Ling's hand seals kept changing, controlling the flame in the medicine cauldron in front of him and nourishing the embryonic pill inside.
What was being refined inside was the fifth-grade pill, the Dou Ling Pill. In order not to waste time, Xiao Ling also refined all the herbs he had collected from Yue Mei into pills during the flight. Now Xiao Ling had already refined one Dou Ling Pill, and the embryonic pill in front of him was refined with the last batch of herbs.
When the pill was fully formed and emitted a layer of energy ripples, Xiao Ling dispersed it easily and put the pill into a porcelain bottle that had been prepared long ago. With a flash of white light, it sank into the storage ring.
Zi Yan, who was sitting on the side watching the scene with her head propped up, wiped her eyes, yawned, and said to Xiao Ling: "Xiao Ling, I ate too many herbs today, I need to rest for a while."
Seeing Zi Yan's expression, Xiao Ling said helplessly, "Who asked you to take so many pills today? These pills were originally intended for you to take for a week, but I didn't expect you to finish them all in one day."
Hearing Xiao Ling's words, Zi Yan scratched her head, turned her eyes away, and said with a guilty conscience: "I have been sitting on the back of the Rayquaza, and there is nothing to do here. There are not many decent medicinal herbs in this desert. I was bored, so I ate all those pills."
Xiao Ling sighed. He could understand. After all, Zi Yan was not an ordinary cultivator. She did not improve her cultivation by practicing, but simply by taking medicinal herbs. Zi Yan, who had never practiced seriously, could not practice seriously even if she had nothing to do. She could only take the pills in her hand.
Picking up a map, Xiao Ling looked at the route depicted on it. He found his current location and discovered that the location of Rock Desert City was not far away. Seeing this scene, Xiao Ling also had a plan in his mind.
After patting Zi Yan's head, Xiao Ling said, "When we get to Rock Desert City later, I'll arrange a place for you to have a good rest."
Feeling the caress of the palm on her head, Zi Yan nodded and replied, "Then hurry up, I'm really too sleepy."
As soon as she finished speaking, Zi Yan felt her whole body go limp and she fell into Xiao Ling's arms.
Seeing this, Xiao Ling hugged her in his arms, and looked at the purple energy radiating from her body, and said helplessly: "Hold on for a few more minutes and we'll reach our destination. Stay awake for a while and remember this lesson. Don't take so many herbs next time."
Zi Yan, who was lying in Xiao Ling's arms, answered dazedly: "I know, I know. I will definitely not eat so much at once next time."
After signaling to Rayquaza to speed up, Xiao Ling first stabilized Zi Yan's body, and then turned his gaze towards the direction of Rock Desert City.
After a few minutes of flying, the outline of a huge city located on the eastern outskirts of the Tager Desert also appeared faintly in Xiao Ling's sight.
Looking at the Rock Desert City not far away, Xiao Ling breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Zi Yan was not completely asleep yet, she was just a little sleepy, so she could still walk a few steps.
If I were to enter the city carrying a sleepy little girl and be misunderstood by others and spread the news, people would think that I, Xiao, like to smelt copper.
They landed a few hundred meters away from Rock Desert City, put away the Rayquaza, and walked into Rock Desert City holding Zi Yan's hand.
Compared with the cities in the empire, the cities in the desert are more simple and heavy, perhaps because they are close to the Tager Desert. The defense here is also much stricter than that in the empire. In the city, fully armed soldiers can be seen patrolling everywhere.
The soul's perception spread out, and the entire Rock Desert City appeared in Xiao Ling's mind like a floor plan. In a courtyard in the south of the city, a familiar smell of the snake people was found.
Now that they had found their destination, Xiao Ling took Zi Yan's hand and walked towards the south of the city. After turning a few streets, a courtyard that was almost as large as the Xiao family compound in Wutan City appeared in their sight.
Above the courtyard, a flag fluttered in the wind, with the large characters "Desert Metal Mercenary Group" painted on it, faintly revealing an aura of solidity and blood.
This is the mercenary group established by Xiao Yan's two brothers in the original novel. Xiao Ling plans to let Zi Yan rest here for a while, and by the way kidnap Qing Lin who is still working as a maid here.
Outside the compound, several burly men were standing upright with weapons in hand, their sharp eyes scanning the passers-by outside the door. From the faint smell of blood emanating from their bodies, they were truly iron-blooded men who had fought on the edge of a knife. They were not comparable to those rookies who thought they were mercenaries just because they had a weapon on their waist.
As Xiao Ling and Zi Yan walked towards the Desert Metal Mercenary Group, the burly man in the lead noticed the commotion and cast his gaze towards the two of them. Seeing that Xiao Ling and Zi Yan had quite delicate looks, he thought that they were some young master or young lady who came to hire mercenaries.
He walked forward and blocked the two men's way, saying, "Sir, it's getting late today, and the brothers in the mercenary group have gone to rest. If you need to hire mercenaries, let's talk tomorrow."
Xiao Ling shook his head and handed a token with the word "Xiao Ling" written on the front and "Xiao Family" written on the back to the sturdy man. He explained, "The leaders of your mercenary group are Xiao Li and Xiao Ding, right? My name is Xiao Ling, from the Xiao Family in Wutan City, so I can be considered their cousin. This time when I passed by Rock Desert City, my companion was a little unwell. It happened that two cousins in the clan had a piece of land here, so I planned to stay here for a while and catch up with them. I will accompany my companions to rest first, and then go to see the two cousins later."
After listening to Xiao Ling's explanation, the sturdy man understood Xiao Ling's purpose. Although he didn't know whether the two team leaders' families were from the Xiao family of Wutan City, looking at the expression of the young man and the family token he took out, he thought it should be true.
After returning the token to Xiao Ling, the burly man in the lead arranged for a man to take Xiao Ling and Zi Yan to the accommodation area, and he went to the leader's residence to report the matter.
After putting the token into the ring, Xiao Ling held Zi Yan's hand and followed the man, walking for a distance in the compound. After a while, they arrived at the residential area of the mercenary group.