Tagor Desert

"Venture deep into the Tagor Desert? Master, you must never head west. That is the territory of Queen Medusa and the Snake-People Tribe," Hai Bo Dong said. "Queen Medusa, in particular, is extremely troublesome; even I was defeated by her once."

"Queen Medusa, is it?" An enchanting, bewitching figure instantly flashed through Xiao Yan's mind.

"I will go find her, but not now," Xiao Yan said, raising an eyebrow.

"You actually intend to provoke that terrifying madwoman?" Hai Bo Dong was nearly driven insane.

In the Tagor Desert, amidst the wind and sand, a figure flickered in and out of sight.

Xiao Yan sat cross-legged on a high dune of yellow sand, his upper body bare, resting upon a Lotus Pedestal. Facing the scorching sun, he formed a mysterious hand seal, his chest rising and falling in a rhythmic, disciplined breath.

Yao Lao suddenly manifested beside him with a mischievous smirk. He held a Rouge Jade Bottle, pouring a trickle of blood-red liquid onto Xiao Yan's chest and back.

"Hehe, time to add some spice."

"Hmph!" Xiao Yan let out a muffled groan of pain. As the cooling liquid touched his skin, his absorption of the fire-attribute energy drifting in the air accelerated several times over. The fire energy on the desert surface was already exceptionally active, and sitting on the Lotus Pedestal of the Green Lotus Core Flame made the intensity almost unbearable.

Knowing Yao Lao was up to his tricks, Xiao Yan did not wake up. Instead, he closed his eyes, focused his mind, and diligently circulated his cultivation technique. He knew that absorbing this energy would be of immense benefit to his progress.

As evening approached and the sun began to set, the Tagor Desert grew quiet. Feeling the effects of his training wane, Xiao Yan concluded his daily session.

"How was it?" Yao Lao, floating to the side, asked with a smile as he put away a scroll.

"This half-month of bitter training in the desert has truly benefited me greatly. The feeling of instability from my rapid breakthrough after absorbing the Green Lotus Core Flame has completely vanished. I am ready to break through to the Seven-Star Dou Shi realm at any moment," Xiao Yan said, clenching his fist with satisfaction.

"Don't rush the breakthrough. Let it settle a bit more," Yao Lao advised.

"Yes, Teacher."

"Eh? Teacher, what are these?" Only then did Xiao Yan notice a circle of desert-specific magical beasts lying around him, including two third-tier Leopard Gecko Lizard specimens.

"You thought you were safe the whole time you were training? If I hadn't been guarding you, you would have been devoured by these beasts long ago. Desert magical beasts are far more cunning than those in the Magical Beast Mountain Range; one moment of carelessness and you wouldn't even have bones left," Yao Lao laughed.

"Hehe," Xiao Yan chuckled awkwardly.

"Starting tomorrow, you should engage these desert beasts in personal combat to hone your battle skills," Yao Lao suggested.

"Yes, Teacher."

"Swift Wind Violent Rain."

Under the scorching sun, Xiao Yan leaped and slashed upward, decapitating a second-tier Desert Rattlesnake. The headless body twitched in the yellow sand.

Just as Xiao Yan was feeling proud, Yao Lao suddenly flew out and said, "Little Yan, something is wrong. The wind-attribute energy in the air is gathering abnormally. You seem to be in trouble."

No sooner had Yao Lao finished speaking than a black pillar of wind, piercing the sky in the distance, began moving rapidly toward them.

Xiao Yan stared at the gargantuan phenomenon in a daze and muttered, "Damn it, a tornado combined with a sandstorm."

Xiao Yan turned, preparing to deploy his Purple Cloud Wings, but Yao Lao lashed out with a burst of energy, striking his arm.

"You want to fly into the sky at a time like this? Are you trying to die faster?" Yao Lao was almost moved to tears by his own foolish disciple.

"Run! Head west!" Yao Lao shouted before diving back into the Storage Ring.

"Uh..." Xiao Yan rubbed his nose awkwardly, then channeled his Dou Qi into his feet and sprinted toward the west.

Time passed, and the sandstorm finally began to dissipate. Xiao Yan, wrapped entirely in a black robe, walked with heavy, uneven steps toward the horizon.

"Phew, the sandstorm is finally over. Damn it, the water in my Storage Ring is all gone. I need to find a source," Xiao Yan said, shaking the yellow sand from his robes and lowering his hood to reveal a weary, dirt-streaked face.

"One thousand meters to the northwest. There should be a water source there," Yao Lao's voice suddenly came from the Storage Ring.

Xiao Yan quickened his pace toward the northwest, though he couldn't help but retort, "Heh, Teacher, you certainly have it easy staying inside that Storage Ring."

"Hehe, Little Yan, how about we trade places?" Yao Lao teased.

"Uh..."

"Haha, the water is close. If my senses are correct, it should be a small lake," Yao Lao said.

Xiao Yan crossed a patch of shrubs and a small grove, and sure enough, he found a small lake lying quietly before him.

"Haha!" Having gone nearly two days without water, Xiao Yan was overjoyed. He rushed over, cupped his hands, and gulped down the water.

Just as Xiao Yan was drinking his fill, Yao Lao suddenly warned, "Careful, it seems someone is coming."

At that moment, seven or eight figures emerged from the opposite side of the lake. Their clothes were tattered, clearly having suffered through the recent sandstorm. Xiao Yan looked up and realized they were members of the Snake-People Tribe; their faces were covered in large snake scales, making them easy to identify. Upon seeing the water, the Snake-People erupted into cheers, rushing forward in a swarm to frantically wash their faces and drink.

The approaching Snake-People clearly noticed Xiao Yan on the other side of the lake. The triangular pupils of the seven or eight male Snake-People stared intensely at him.

"Captain, should we capture him and take him back to the tribe?" a Snake-Person Dou Shi asked, his gaze cold and fixed on Xiao Yan.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."

"Forget it. This brat doesn't look weak. Let's just drink our fill and return to the tribe as quickly as possible," the leading Snake-Person Da Dou Shi hissed, flicking his tongue. After a moment of thought, he ultimately abandoned the idea.

Xiao Yan watched as the Snake-People glared at him with ill intent for a while before returning to their drinking. He didn't pay them much mind. Among those Snake-People, only the leading Da Dou Shi could cause him any trouble, but it would be nothing more than a minor annoyance.

Although he had ventured deep into the Tagor Desert solely for cultivation and did not intend to provoke the experts of the Snake-People Tribe, if these idiots dared to provoke him, he would simply deal with them all.

As Xiao Yan thought this, he reached into his Storage Ring to retrieve a canteen to fill up before leaving. At that moment, the Snake-Person Da Dou Shi on the opposite bank, who had been secretly observing him, saw Xiao Yan produce a canteen out of thin air, and his eyes suddenly lit up.