The golden sun scorched the earth without restraint, covering the entire Gobi Desert in searing red gravel.
A spirit boat appeared intermittently in the distance. Before long, it descended into a valley.
Five or six cultivators disembarked.
The man leading them held a special insect-tracking disk in his palm, adjusting it repeatedly before the valley.
At first, the disk shone with only a faint layer of spiritual light. Then the light intensified, tracing peculiar insect silhouettes within the valley.
"This should be the last place those Gold-Essence Insects appeared. To think we would find such ancient exotic insects here on the Sand River Battlefield." The leader wore lavish robes and a hair crown, his face brimming with delight.
Gold-Essence Insects were unusual insects that produced spirit materials. They could devour ordinary rocks and ores, refining them into precious metals.
These precious metals were at least fourth-stage spirit materials. Mature insects could even refine fifth-stage precious metals, and sixth- and seventh-stage metals had appeared in the Cultivation World as well.
"Young master, with these spirit insects, the name of our Duan Family of Soul-Repelling City will surely shine brilliantly once again!" A young cultivator beside him was equally delighted.
"We should still be careful. This is neutral territory, after all. The Jade Soul Race, the Yaksha Race, and the demonic beasts could all appear here. If they also learn about the Gold-Essence Insects, things won't go so smoothly!" Another elder was less optimistic.
By his reckoning, this place was actually somewhat closer to the Jade Soul Race's Heavenly Jade Pass. Fortunately, he also knew that the Jade Soul Race had recently been beset by enemies on both fronts and had no energy to spare for dealing with the human race. Otherwise, even if there were Gold-Essence Insects here,
he would never