Silent Falling Leaves

The sandworm's enormous head shifted, as if searching for Qing Mo and Qing Lin's direction.

Its two long feelers swayed rapidly through the air like radar.

Suddenly, the feelers sharply turned and locked onto Qing Mo. Its massive body began to roll, like a swiftly moving earthen mound, crushing toward the two of them!

Qing Mo used Gale-Chasing Step, each foothold exquisitely avoiding the sandworm's charges.

As he dodged, Qing Mo pulled several ordinary flying daggers from his knife pouch and shot them at the Rock-Armored Sandworm's feelers. Though these daggers lacked the power of Silent Flying Dagger, they made up for it in numbers.

"Screech!"

A cutting sound rang out. The two feelers, each thicker than an adult's arm, were severed at once, and yellow-brown mucus immediately sprayed everywhere.

With its feelers cut, the Rock-Armored Sandworm's huge body suddenly jolted. A pained shriek burst from its mouthparts.

Its body began rolling and twisting wildly in place, destroying everything around it without distinction.

The sand within dozens of meters was churned into chaos, and yellow sand shot into the sky, forming a small sandstorm.

The air was thick with sand, obstructing vision, but Qing Mo's gaze only grew calmer.

He seized the instant the Rock-Armored Sandworm opened its mouth to roar.

Qing Mo took a deep breath and poured thirty percent of his Dou Qi into his palm. Silent Flying Dagger shot forth.

The dagger traced a graceful arc through the air, drifting into the sandworm's mouth like a naturally falling dead leaf. It passed through layers of serrated teeth, avoided the hard throat bone, then pierced straight through its tough skull with unstoppable force.

"Roar—!"

The Rock-Armored Sandworm let out a pained wail. Its body convulsed uncontrollably, but in the end, it failed to endure and collapsed to the ground.

Its fall kicked up another cloud of sand.

Several minutes later, once the dust settled, only a large pit over ten meters wide remained before them.

The Rock-Armored Sandworm's corpse lay at the center of the sandpit.

"Time to open another blind box." Qing Mo's face carried a hint of anticipation.

He swept his gaze around, confirming that no other magical beasts had been drawn over by the commotion before carefully setting Qing Lin down.

The two walked over.

"Little Qing Lin!"

Qing Mo called softly. Qing Lin immediately understood and took a specially made short knife from her backpack. Its blade was small but exceptionally sharp, while its handle was wrapped in snakeskin.

She went to the sandworm's head, carefully identified the patterns on its shell, then skillfully cut open its skull.

Qing Lin's small hand reached into the wound and felt around inside its head. Her face lit up with joy.

"There's a Magic Core!"

Qing Lin took out the Magic Core and placed it in her palm. It was an earthy yellow Magic Core of quite decent quality.

A Six-Star Dou Practitioner-level Magic Core could probably sell for around fifteen hundred gold coins.

"Not bad. At least we won't lose money this time."

Qing Mo said with a smile. This Magic Core had recovered fifteen hundred gold coins for them.

Qing Mo took out some water and washed Qing Lin's hands, then put the Magic Core away.

"You really do have good luck, Little Qing Lin," Qing Mo could not help saying.

There had been nothing the previous few times, yet whenever Qing Lin did it, there was always a Magic Core.

I'm a transmigrator with a system. Shouldn't my luck be heaven-defying? Why am I still so unlucky?

"Hehe."

Qing Lin smiled happily.

"Keep moving!"

The two continued onward.

An hour later, the sun gradually began to set.

Some tents appeared not far ahead of Qing Mo. It looked like a marketplace, though it was far too crude to be called one.

Outside the tents stood a fence made from sharpened wooden stakes.

"Strange, is this the place?" Qing Mo frowned slightly.

Shouldn't settlements all be built around oases? Why isn't there even a single tree here?

Without an oasis, there's no water source. Building a settlement without water is just waiting to die, isn't it?

No one here would transport water all the way from Stone Desert City.

"According to the map, the settlement should still be thirty sha li ahead."

Qing Lin took out the map, her face equally puzzled.

"Could the map be wrong? That's unlikely. We bought the latest edition, so it shouldn't be inaccurate."

Qing Mo stroked his chin in thought. The maps were updated monthly and jointly drawn by the Mercenary Association and the major mercenary groups. The latest information on settlements should have been accurate.

Of course, the map he held only contained detailed routes from central Tagor to its outer regions. Deeper in lay the Snake-People's main base, a place even Dou Kings did not dare enter lightly.

The map in Xiao Yan's possession had been drawn by Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, so it could not be compared to this one.

"Looks like something happened."

If there was nothing wrong with the map, then the settlement itself had to be the problem.

"Let's go over and ask. If it doesn't work out, we'll have to find another settlement."

"Mm."

Qing Lin nodded obediently.

Just as the two were about to approach, the three guards at the entrance came forward to meet them.

They all wore crude leather armor and carried long blades in their hands.

"Sorry, you two. Something happened at this settlement. Please head elsewhere. We truly apologize."

A dark-faced burly man stepped before them and spoke apologetically.

"What happened?"

Qing Mo asked. Since they had already come this far, he at least needed to know why.

"You would be better off not knowing, sir."

The dark-faced man looked the two of them over and shook his head. They looked too young, and their strength probably was not much to speak of.

Seeing that Qing Mo and Qing Lin did not move, the other two guards said impatiently:

"When we tell you to leave, leave. What's with all the nonsense?"

"Yeah. With skin as soft as yours, you wouldn't even be enough to fill a Snake-Person's teeth."

Though the words were unpleasant, they were true. This was already considered dangerous territory in the desert, and they could encounter Snake-People out hunting at any time. Without sufficient strength, coming here was simply courting death.

Qing Mo raised a brow. So it had something to do with the Snake-People. No wonder they were so vigilant.

Though he knew they meant well, their tone truly irritated him.

Their behavior made it obvious that they were judging by appearances. Qing Mo could not be bothered to explain. He released his Dou Qi, and a powerful aura instantly erupted from him, pressing down on the three men before him.

"Oh? How about now?"

"Seven-Star Dou Practitioner!"

The dark-faced man's face filled with shock as he looked at Qing Mo. He instantly discarded his contempt. His own strength was only that of a Six-Star Dou Practitioner, yet this young man was stronger than him? Had such a genius appeared in Stone Desert City, or had he come from elsewhere?

"I never expected this little brother to possess such cultivation. We were blind and truly apologize."

The dark-faced man's tone immediately became polite. He then gave the other two a meaningful look.

The guards who had been impatient moments ago instantly changed expressions after feeling that pressure.

"Um... ahem... sorry. We meant no harm. I was blind. Please don't take offense, little brother."

"Y-yeah, little brother. Don't take it to heart."

The two hurriedly apologized, their attitudes making a complete one-eighty turn.

"Alright, tell me now."

Qing Mo waved a hand. Since they had apologized, that was enough. He was not that petty.

"Of course."

The dark-faced man nodded and said, "To be honest, our settlement was originally at a small oasis thirty sha li from here, but the Snake-People occupied it, so we moved here."