Chapter 354: 354
The princes, who originally wanted to cause a mutiny suddenly turned quiet, their hearts wavered, but their innate arrogance told them that they could lead just as well as Xue Wei had .
There were, of course, a few exceptions . Three princes had not been able to gather enough power to struggle in the fight for the Crown Prince position, and hence they were not as arrogant .
They felt that the words said by the woman held some strength, and one of these princes even nodded his head while being deep in thought .
A second one spoke up, "you are correct," he said apologetically . "I can see that we once again got arrogant . It seems that we have never experienced real danger back in the Demon Phoenix Continent, and now we expect everything to be a walk in the park for us . "
Many of the geniuses were also embarrassed and quickly changed their attitude towards Xue Wei, but this time he had had enough .
His face was emotionless, but a heavy storm was brewing in his eyes .
"This is all very good, but for how long?" Xue Wei asked, his voice apathetic and his eyes sharp .
The others looked at each other guiltily .
"This is not the first time you are questioning my leadership," Xue Wei continued, this time a bit of impatience could be heard in the voice . "I am not doing this for my own vanity's sake, nor am I helping you because I feel I owe you anything . I am doing it because your Emperor asked me to do this .
"I am doing my best here to bear with the unhappy glances you guys send out . I am trying to ensure that we get the richest harvest, but all you do is complain . You don't even protect yourself!"
"I am here to benefit from the realm that has opened, not to be a nanny for you guys . Either you start taking this serious, or we split up here and no longer have any responsibility towards one another . "
The princes were choked when they heard his words . They were also split between wanting to take the people with them, and staying with Xue Wei .
In fact, they wanted to leave on their own, but they knew that if they did, then the geniuses might not follow them .
Right now, when they looked at the regular members of the clan, they could see the reverence these geniuses felt towards Xue Wei . If they left, it might end with a group consisting purely of princes, and that'd be quite bad . Not even all the princes would go with them, so their group would likely be small . Walking in a small group was suicide in this realm, even they understood this .
Realizing that Xue Wei had once again countered them, the First Prince's face turned malicious for a moment before it returned to the gentle expression he usually wore .
"I am afraid you misunderstood," he said with his melodious and calm voice . "You said it yourself, there is the most treasure in Summer, and we are heading more towards spring right now . We just wanted to get the best rewards from this year in the realm . We did not mean anything offending with it . "
Xue Wei looked at the First Prince and praised him in his mind . He was sure good at turning black into white, good at hiding in the shadows, and never showing his real thoughts .
This First Prince was without a doubt the most dangerous amongst them all; it was him he had to watch out for .
The other princes, although they had managed to fight for the throne of the Crown Prince, they did not have the ability to hide as deeply as the First Prince, neither could they endure as much as him .
"Since it has been solved, if anyone questions me again, they can leave our group . " Xue Wei said casually, his words were neither loud nor low, but it caused a chill to rise in the hearts of all present .
If they were chased out of the group, then they would be unable to survive . It was evident that Xue Wei was not some vegetarian; he was not pleased with being questioned time and time again .
They understood this and felt ashamed . He was the one who had saved them time and time again . He was the one who had gotten them a lot of treasures, but all they gave him was doubtful eyes and questioning his leadership .
It was natural that he had become upset with them .
Truthfully, Xue Wei was not really upset . If he had been upset, then he would have left a long time ago an let them do whatever they wanted to do on their own .
He wanted to continue working together with the ones from the Demon Phoenix Continent, but to do so, they had to understand that he was not one to be trampled upon .
It seemed that his gamble had paid off . Instead of them attacking him, he had attacked them, knowing full well that it could go both ways . If they had been insulted, they would have left, but instead, they still have a sense of shame and were able to be trained into becoming his personal Vermilion Bird Army .
Of course, these geniuses and princes were unaware of Xue Wei's thoughts . Although he wanted to use them to gain more resources and treasures, he also wanted to share equally with them, so they felt it was worthwhile working together with him .
Xue Wei sighed and continued towards the southeastern directly, all of the others following him closely, but this time they were alert and solemn . They understood that it was not as friendly a place as they had initially thought .
They continued forward for a full five days before they exited the jungle-like forest . At this point in time, all their storage treasures were bulging with herbs, spirit fruits, beast cores, and other resources they had come across .
Although they had all these resources, they could not help but want other items . More rare items . These things were all useful, but they were not the most unusual things that could be found within the realm - if they were, they would not be so numerous .
As they headed forward, Xue Wei was extremely vigilant when he saw that the forest ended . Their new surroundings were in sharp contrast to what they had come from, and a frown surfaced on his face .
In front of him, as far as the eye could see were dunes . San was flowing in the wind, and nothing living could be seen . Even then, Xue Wei had a feeling that this place was filled with life underneath the sand, and that they might have an opportunity here to find real treasures .
Although Xue Wei wanted to use the geniuses of the Demon Phoenix Continent, he did not want to abuse them .
He was calm as he considered what to do . Entering the desert in front of them was dangerous, but he could see that these people were also eager to test their strength, anxious to get their hands on rarer items .
"Are we going to follow this border between the forest and the desert?" one of the geniuses could not help but ask as he looked at Xue Wei waiting for an answer .
"We are going to enter the desert," Xue Wei answered with a grin on his face as he turned around and looked at the others .
"Entering . . . Entering the desert?" The others were puzzled . Even Xue Wei's friends were wondering why he would intentionally pick such a dangerous and highly unsuitable route .
Even so, they did not doubt him . As such, they just shrugged their shoulders and began preparing to enter the desert .
"Right," Xue Wei nodded his head decisively .
"But, why?" someone could not help but ask, and Xue Wei glanced at him .
"You think everyone would intentionally avoid this desert?" he asked, and everyone nodded their heads . "Entering this desert is something you only do if you have no other option," The First Prince was the one who answered .
Although he was cheering inside because Xue Wei had made such a stupid decision, he was not showing anything outside . He had learned that Xue Wei should not be underestimated .
"Correct," Xue Wei nodded his head . "Everyone avoids it, does this not mean that any treasure within can become ours?" he asked, and all of them were suddenly stunned .
If no one had ever entered the desert, it would have a few immensely rare treasures .
"Not only this, it is a scorching environment," Xue Wei continued, "So every treasure within will be of Yang nature, something that is very useful to your flaming bodies, your flames will be refined further . "
Every single word that Xue Wei said tempted them further . They suddenly understood why he was interested in this desert .
Knowing that they could maybe enhance their flames and that there was a chance for even more outstanding treasures, all apprehension that these people had before vanished like fog in the sunshine .
Xue Wei snickered when he saw their eager expressions and felt relieved . The many people who were initially against it could suddenly no longer wait to enter and explore the desert .
After resting for half a day, and preparing themselves, they sat off into the desert . The First Prince had naturally not said anything after realizing that the people were no longer on his side, and he too felt a need to get his hands on some items that could enhance his flames .
The desert was challenging to traverse . Although they were no longer in need of water to clench their thirst, their throats were still feeling rough from the sand that was everywhere when they breathed .
The sand was also very soft, so whenever they took a step, they would sink slightly into it, requiring some force to continue forward .
They encountered a few creatures on the way, most of which were scorpions and snakes .
None of them were very strong, but their bodies were filled with poison, so instead of wasting them, they were saved for the sake of giving them to alchemists when they returned .
They also encountered a few herbs . These herbs were very different from the ones they had seen in the jungle .
While the jungle's herbs were green and filled with vitality, these were all brown, and if one did not look closely, they would have thought them withered .
But within these herbs was a tenacious lifeforce alongside overwhelming medicinal properties . Although there were none so far, which improved the quality of their flames, these were not bad for increasing one's cultivation base .
Although they were very beneficial to one's cultivation base, they had to be refined by an alchemist first . The medicinal properties within were simply too overbearing, and if one were to consume it directly, they would explode .
They had walked for two days before Xue Wei stopped in his tracks and a smile flitted across his lips .
"We are almost there," he said smilingly as he looked at the sand in front of him .
Looking in the direction of his gaze, the others stilled . There were traces of others moving this way .
Although the traces seemed human, there was something about them that seemed out of place .
"Did you not say that no human would enter this desert? Now they are here, haven't they taken all the good stuff?" the First Prince was not happy, and he directly attacked Xue Wei who just glanced at him . It seemed that the First Prince was about to lose his cool and could no longer act righteous, calm, and gentle .
"They are not human," Xue Wei smiled as he looked closer at the traces he had found . "At least not the kind of humans we are used to . "
His words puzzled the others, but by now they all trusted him an thus they asked no more, they just waited for him to continue .