Chapter 355: 355
Xue Wei did, however, not go into details with what he meant, just smiled with his eyes glued onto the traces he had found in the sand .
These traces were human footprints, but the human footprints were not the only thing that they could see, there were also traces of something slithering across the sand .
It was clear that there were more than just humans, and Xue Wei, who was new to this place, had a somewhat accurate guess as to whom it was .
The ancestor of the Vermilion Birds had placed beasts from outside the world inside this dimension, then why would it not also bring in humans?
However, these humans were likely different from the humans that they were used to . These humans were likely to cultivate differently . They were also expected to look different .
But while Xue Wei had guessed this, the others were still clueless . The princes and geniuses from the Demon Phoenix Continent were all curious, but the friends of Xue Wei knew he would explain it eventually .
They continued forward, but now the speed was much slower than before . They advanced while observing everything around them .
Suddenly, a whistling sound could be heard, and soon after it was accompanied by a scream, and someone who was cursing . Looking back, Xue Wei saw that one of his group members had been dragged halfway into the sand .
His face was pale, and his breathing ragged . The sand around him had splashes of blood, and a thin trail of glaringly red blood was tickling down the corner of his lips .
"Get him up!" Xue Wei said, and the others rushed over an helped him up . They managed to drag him up the sand, and when he was free, they all took in a deep breath of air .
His legs were mutilated, blood was smeared all over the shredded flesh on his legs .
Looking into the hole that he had fallen into, nothing was there apart from bits of flesh and blood . Whatever had caused him to be buried like this and bleed this badly had already vanished .
Xue Wei did not push them to continue onwards . He fetched a Returning Spring Pill that he had concocted and gave it to the wounded man before they decided to set camp for the night .
"Tonight, we need to be extra alert," Xue Wei said . "They will return, so keep an eye on the sand beneath us . Also, make sure never to be alone . "
The others understood the severity of the matter . During the entire evening, they continued to give the wounded man Returning Spring Pills, and his wounds healed slowly . As the next morning arrived, his legs were once more healed, and he was immensely grateful towards Xue Wei for giving him this many pills, all of which were of perfect purity .
Without Xue Wei, he would not have been healed this fast and would have delayed them all .
Even so, Xue Wei was not happy . He had expected that the strange human tribe and their companions would make a move during the night that passed, but nothing had happened . They had complete peace .
Frowning, he was looking into the distance, but nothing was moving . He spread out his spiritual energy, but it was suppressed in this realm, and he could sense nothing moving around .
Then he frowned . Even the ordinary beasts that should have been here were not around any longer . Had they been frightened away by whatever had arrived last night to drag their friend underground?
"Let's set out," he said . He no longer understood the thoughts of the humans living in the desert, but he was eager to find them . They ought to have the most treasures within the entire place, and they were likely to have the desert glass rose that Xue Wei had entered the desert to get .
The desert glass rose was a specific kind of herb that allowed for flames to increase in purity .
He needed it for his alchemist flame that he was using to refine pills with . If he wanted to become a four-colored Rainbow Alchemist, then he needed to have a much more refined flame .
The Vermilion Birds also needed this kind of desert glass rose . It could refine their flames, so they had to get a lot of these roses . The only way to get them was to find the humans who would likely harvest them when they came across them and had a large quantity of them .
At least, that was Xue Wei's hope . If they just had to find these desert glass roses in the desert itself, they would have to spend the rest of their year in the desert, and he was not willing to do that . He wanted much more treasures for the time they were here .
Xue Wei and the group advanced . They were alert, and their eyes were always looking at the dunes around them, staying alert in case an ambush was prepared .
Just as they had walked half a day, the whistling sound that was familiar to them all appeared again .
"Jump!" Xue Wei called out, and although the pressure in the dimension was higher they could still stay in the air for some time, and as they flew into the air, a group of scorpions and snakes broke through the surface of the ground .
These scorpions and snakes were unlike the beasts they had encountered so far .
The scorpions had a black carapace that was covering their entire body . They were glistening in the sunlight and seemed to absorb all light that appeared around them .
The snakes were red and golden, their eyes were also golden, and when someone looked into them, they could see intellect .
These beasts were at least ten times bigger than the other monsters they had encountered so far .
Hovering in the air, the expressions of all the people were pale as they saw the twenty beasts beneath them, ten of each kind .
It was no wonder that the guy who had been injured had ended up looking like he had . When they saw these snakes and scorpions, they understood it completely . It was actually a surprise that he was still alive .
"Strangers, what is your purpose of tracking us down?" a voice suddenly sounded .
It came with the wind, arrived right at the ear of all of them, but there were no humans in sight .
"We are here to trade," Xue Wei said with a loud voice .
"Trade?" the voice, and Xue Wei's group were all shocked .
"Yes . We need Desert Glass Roses . We can trade with spirit fruits, essence stones, beast cores, herbs from the jungle, and pills . "
"Desert Glass Roses?" the voice was contemplating .
While the voice seemed to contemplate, the eyes shone, and the hearts of the Demon Phoenix Continent's cultivators started beating rapidly .
They knew what the Desert Glass Rose was, and they really needed it .
As to the spirit fruits, herbs, and other resources, they were not that important, and they had so many of them, so trading some for the Desert Glass Roses was something they were more than willing to do .
"We will do the trade," the voice sounded, and moments after, the sand suddenly started rising and taking the shape of a human . Moments after the sand cracked and a person appeared from within .
It looked peculiar and strange, but they quickly understood that it was a martial art technique that had helped him move towards them fast, by merging with the sand .
The man was looking very different from the humans they were used to seeing in their world .
This man had brown skin with white tattoos, his hair was white, and his eyes were blue .
He was strong and sturdy, he seemed young, but his eyes showed the vicissitudes of life . He was not as young as he appeared .
After raising his head and counting the number of people who were hovering in the air, he waved his hand, and the scorpions and snakes dug into the sand and vanished .
"I have enough Desert Glass Roses to be able to trade three for each of you," he said .
His words shocked them all, but then their eyes widened in happiness and smile spread on their lips .
"That's enough for us," Xue Wei said with a nod and descended to the sand again .
"Queue up," he ordered, and all of them obediently stood in a queue, waiting for it to be their turn .
The price for one of the Desert Glass Roses ended up being ten spirit fruits, five beast cores, and three random herbs .
Although the price was high, it was definitely worth it . The benefit they would get from the Desert Glass Rose was impossible to be measured in wealth, so they quickly found the items and traded them without feeling even an ounce of loss .
After trading the items, everyone was happy .
Xue Wei then looked at the man an wondered if he could get some information . "Senior, we are going towards the Summer region of this Dimension, is it possible for you to perhaps guide us in the right direction?"
The man nodded his head and said, "head straight west from here . Then you will encounter an oasis where you can rest before heading southwest from there on, and you should be out of the desert in around a week . That direction leads you towards Summer . "
Xue Wei cupped his fists to the man and then thanked him before he left with his friends . All of them were energetic and felt that the trip into the desert was definitely worth it .
Although they did not have to fight for these Desert Glass Roses and traded them, that was still okay . They had gained some herbs and beast cores while heading deep into the desert, and on the way back, they would definitely encounter more, that could help them make up for what they had traded away .
Xue Wei was calm as he led the way, but then all of a sudden, his expression turned ugly .
"Everyone, gather together!" he called out before his body started changing its shape . He began growing azure scales, and his body became much larger than before .
Wrapping every member of the team within his coiled body, he started activating his defensive techniques .
Scale Shield!
Everyone was puzzled . What happened had happened in less than a moment, from Xue Wei had called out until they were wrapped up, not even a moment had passed .
Seeing the green layer that was present on top of Xue Wei they were stunned, what had happened?
Moments after they were given an answer, a sandstorm appeared!
This sandstorm was different from normal sandstorms in their world, every single grain of sand was like a razor blade, and the Scale Shield was starting to wane .
Life Scale Shield!
Xue Wei was not sure how long it would take for the sandstorm to pass, but he knew that if he were not shielding them, at least a few would die . This was merely the outskirts of the sandstorm, and it had already penetrated his regular Scale Shield .
Xue Wei gritted his teeth, and as time passed, he felt how the life force within his body - the wood elemental qi that he relied on to control the Life Scale Shield was running out .
Devouring Life Scale Shield!
This was the ultimate version of the Scale shield .
The Scale Shield itself, relied on the body to create a shield .
The Life Scale Shield relied on the wood elemental Qi inside his body .
The Devouring Life Scale Shield absorbed the wood elemental Qi in the surrounding air and transferred it into Xue Wei's body, allowing him to convert it to his own strength .
Unfortunately, there was not much wooden elemental Qi in the desert, so while it was somewhat useful, Xue Wei could feel that the wood elemental Qi in the surrounding air was about to dissipate .