“Seventy meters!”
Nie Tian’s eyes shone with a bright light as he sat there upright, trembling slightly with elation.
Not long ago, when they were searching for the Frost Python in the glacier area, the range of his psychic awareness was merely fifty meters.
That was the best he could achieve after several significant upgrades, as well as after exhausting his psychic power several times in a row.
Clearly, he didn’t expect that after eating the Lurker Lizard meat and strengthening himself he would have such a significant improvement in psychic power.
“Good stuff! It’s absolutely good stuff!”
As soon as he remembered that An Ying and others had diarrhea after having the Lurker Lizard meat, he couldn’t help but start cheering in his heart.
The second grade spirit beast meat could not only speed up his cultivation, but it could also strengthen his fleshy body.
The strength of his fleshy body, on the other hand, could benefit his psychic power, enabling him to holistically increase his strength!
As of that moment, he suddenly felt much more excited about the Green Illusion dimension trial, as if the Ghost sect and the Blood sect weren’t the terrifying entities he’d thought them to be.
As for the discussion between Jiang Lingzhu and An Ying, he had completely lost interest. All he wanted to do was consume all the Lurker Lizard meat as fast as possible.
“But the weather in the desert…”
Looking over towards the distant corpse of the Lurker Lizard, his brows furrowed as a question occurred to him.
The desert was different from the glacier area, where he was able to carry raw spirit beast meat on his back without any trouble.
Because of the cold weather there, spirit beast meat could remain fresh for a long time before it spoiled.
In the desert, however, it was burning hot. Without special processing, meat would rot fairly rapidly in a short time, making it inedible.
“From the look of it, I need to air-dry the meat. Only in this way will I be able to carry it with me and consume it over a longer period of time.”
With these thoughts, he stood up and took a step towards the Lurker Lizard corpse.
Seeing him rise to his feet, Jiang Miao didn’t think twice before hurrying to catch up. Curious, she asked, “Nie Tian, what do you want to do?”
“I’m going to make some Lurker Lizard jerky!” he answered.
“Let me help you!” said Jiang Miao.
Nie Tian was surprised. “Do you know how?”
“Nope.” Jiang Miao replied honestly. “But you can teach me.”
“I don’t know how either,” Nie Tian said, smiling wryly.
“Ahhh?!” Jiang Miao turned to look at Guo Qi who was sitting not far from them. “Eldest Brother Guo, do you know how to make jerky with spirit beast meat?”
“Sure,” Guo Qi replied.
“We may not run into more spirit beasts in the desert, and we’ll still need to eat,” Jiang Miao said. “Since elder sister An Ying and those guys are in discussion, and we don’t have much else to do, why don’t we make jerky out of the spirit beast meat?” Said Jiang Miao.
“Okay, I’m in,” Guo Qi said, nodding.
When they were in the glacier region, and the Ghost sect disciple had suddenly showed up wearing the Grayvale sect’s clothes, Guo Qi had nearly been ambushed and killed. Thanks to Nie Tian’s acute perception, and the immediate attack he launched upon the Ghost sect disciple, Guo Qi had narrowly escaped.
No matter how he used to think of Nie Tian, now that Nie Tian had saved his life, he nodded in consent, even though he wasn’t completely willing.
Ye Gumo from the Cloudsoaring sect smiled and said, “I’ll help you guys, too.”
He didn’t participate in the discussion among Jiang Lingzhu, An Ying, and the others. As soon as he had finished recovering with his spirit stones, he sat down at a place not far away from Nie Tian, secretly observing him.
He caught every word of the conversation between Nie Tian and Jiang Miao, and realized that making spirit beast jerky would provide sufficient food for everyone to eat for a long time.
Since they were grouped together now, and wouldn’t split up in their future endeavors, they needed to work together. Therefore, he stepped up.
“Thanks,” Nie Tian said, smiling.
Ye Gumo laughed out loud and said, “You’re welcome, we’re doing it for everybody.”
While talking, Nie Tian and Jiang Miao started cutting meat off the spirit beasts with Ye Gumo and Guo Qi’s assistance.
After discussing for a while, it seemed that An Ying and the others had finally reached an agreement.
When they saw that Nie Tian and his companies were making jerky, they also realized that it could solve their future food problem, so they all pitched in.
However, before getting started, Pan Tao released another signal into the air.
A pitch-black line of smoke shot up into the heavens, distinctly visible in the desert sky.
“Now that we’ve restored our full strength, even if the evil witch returns, we won’t fear her any more.” Pan Tao arrived by Nie Tian’s side and said, “Although the Grayvale sect’s Yuan Feng is a troublemaker, he isn’t stupid. Since he has been attacked by the Ghost sect in the glacier area, he won’t dare to stay there any more.
“As long as Yuan Feng is alive, he’ll definitely come to the desert like we did.
“Perhaps Yuan Feng has already led the Grayvale sect’s survivors into the desert. It’s hard to say.
“This signal is intended for Yuan Feng and his group,” Pan Tao explained to Nie Tian while cutting meat off the Lurker Lizard. “I hope they can find us the way we found the Cloudsoaring sect’s people.”
“We’re not going to return to the glacier area?” Nie Tian asked.
Pan Tao was very frank. “No, we’re not. The people from the Blood sect are currently here in the desert. If we were to head over to the glacier region, the Blood sect and the Ghost sect would very quickly join forces. Therefore, we made the decision to wait for a short while to give the Grayvale sect a chance to find us.
“The signal has been released. If they don’t show up any time soon, it probably means that they are dead.
“In that case, if we make a rushed decision and go back to the glacier area, we would possibly have to face the Ghost sect and the Blood sect with just our two sects’ forces.
“That wouldn’t be the wisest move.”
Nie Tian was surprised by his words. “Do you plan to set up camp in the desert?”
“No.” Pan Tao shook his head. “Whether Yuan Feng and him group can find us or not, we’ll leave the desert, and go look for Zheng Bin of the Mystic Mist sect in the volcano area. Upon entering the Green Illusion dimension, Jiang Lingzhu and Zheng Bin already had an agreement that Jiang Lingzhu would lead her group to the desert, while Zheng Bin would led his group to the volcano area.
“The Grayvale sect has suffered great casualties. Even if Yuan Feng is still alive, he won’t have many left in his group.
“They won’t be able to provide much help. Plus, for all we know, the Ghost sect might be going after them.
“So, for everyone’s sake, we’ve decided to look for Zheng Bin of the Mystic Mist sect in the volcano area.
“We figured they shouldn’t be in any worse state than the Grayvale sect. If they haven’t come across people from the Hell sect, their group should still be intact.
“With their help, we’ll be become a lot stronger.”
After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian understood that because the Grayvale sect had lost too many people, they already considered the Mystic Mist sect as their best choice. Besides, there was still an unknown number of Ghost sect disciples hovering about in the glacier area.
The signal Pan Tao had released was the last chance for Yuan Feng and his men. If he failed to show up after the smoke dissipated, they would completely give up on him.
That was cold, yet the wisest decision. Deep down, Nie Tian agreed to it.
The black smoke hung high in the desert sky, while everyone worked as one under the guidance of the experienced members, like Pan Tao and Ye Gumo, to process the spirit beast meat into jerky.
After learning that An Ying and her group had diarrhea after eating the Lurker Lizard meat, the Cloudsoaring sect’s disciples all voluntarily distanced themselves from it.
The trial takers of the Spiritual Treasure sect had witnessed An Ying’s misery, and also didn’t dare to even touch the Lurker Lizard meat.
As the result, after the second grade Lurker Lizard jerky was processed, all of it went into Nie Tian’s backpack.
After floating in the sky for a long time, the black smoke eventually dissipated.
An Ying said with a plain face, “If Yuan Feng saw the signal right before it disappeared, he should be able to arrive here in an hour. We’ll wait for another hour. If they don’t show up in an hour, then there will be no use for us to keep on waiting.”
Jiang Lingzhu agreed. “Alright, let’s wait for one more hour then.”
Zheng Rui snorted and said with a hateful tone, “That Yuan Feng guy was a real asshole. It wouldn’t be a bad thing if he actually died. Back when we were in the glacier area, he almost started a war with us over Nie Tian. Even if that guy survived, I’m afraid he will bring us more trouble in the future.”
Puzzled, Jiang Lingzhu asked, “Why did he demand Nie Tian from you?”
“Ask him yourself.” Zheng Rui pointed at Nie Tian.
Jiang Lingzhu thus looked over towards Nie Tian.
Nie Tian was busy dealing with the Lurker Lizard meat when he heard them. He said, “Do you still remember the battle between me and Yun Song in front of the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion the other day?”
“Of course, I do.”
“Yun Song is Yuan Feng’s cousin.”
“Ah, so that’s how it is.”
“The Yuan clan…” said Nie Xian, eyebrows furrowed, face cold. “They live far away in Frost Stone City, yet constantly used underhanded ways to cause trouble for our clan. It would be the best if Yuan Feng died in the glacier area, so that I won’t need to look at him any more!”
As a member of the Nie clan, he clearly knew that because of Yuan Qiuying, the Nie clan had been suppressed by the Yuan clan for years.
Moreover, Nie Donghai had been injured by powerful experts of the Yun clan and the Yuan clan. This had fueled his hatred towards Yuan Feng even further.
“I heard something!” Jiang Lingzhu’s expression flickered, as she looked in the direction of the glacier region. “Be careful everyone. If it’s Ghost sect disciples, immediately attack and kill them all!”
“Very well!” Everyone chimed in with her.
“It’s Yuan Feng!”
Soon, Yuan Feng and Yun Song appeared in the distant horizon.
At first glance, both of them seemed to have lost a lot of weight, and their tattered clothes were covered in bloodstains.
It was hard to tell whether those bloodstains were their own or from Ghost sect disciples.
Faces pale and eyes spiritless, they had completely lost their previously imposing aura.
As soon as they approached and saw the trial takers from the Cloudsoaring sect and the Spiritual Treasure sect, Yuan Feng’s eyes glittered with the light of hope.
“Finally, we’ve found you!” Yun Song cried out loud. “We ran into Ghost sect disciples in the glacier area! Everybody was killed. My cousin and I are the only survivors!”
He was trembling with the excitement of a drowning person who had just caught sight of a rescue boat. “It’s a good thing that you guys are here! Hurry. Let’s go back to the glacier area and kill each and every one of them!”
An Ying cast a cold look towards Yuan Feng. “We’ve waited for you for a long time. Let’s go. Don’t waste our time. We’re heading to the volcano area to find Zheng Bin from the Mystic Mist sect.”
Yun Song yelled, “Why do we go find them? We should return to the glacier area to kill off the Ghost sect disciples, and then continue with our trial!”
“Shut the hell up!” Zheng Rui put on an unfriendly expression. “We’ve already taken a huge risk by waiting for you. I don’t care how many of you died! As long as you’re with us, you’ll take orders from us. You’re in no position to tell us what to do!”
“Cousin.” Yun Song looked piteously at Yuan Feng.
Yuan Feng’s swept everyone with his bleak gaze, and after a moment of silence, he said coldly, “Listen to them.”
If he still had his team, Yuan Feng would never fear the Spiritual Treasure sect or the Cloudsoaring sect. However, times had changed. The only people who remained on his team were himself and Yun Song. They could only listen to the other two sects.
“We have a lot of spirit beast jerky,” Nie Tian mentioned. “Somebody has to carry it for us. Why don’t we let them do it? What do you guys say?”
“I agree!” An Ying nodded.
“It’s only fair!” Zheng Rui chiming in.
Jiang Lingzhu agreed. “Yeah, they have to do something.”
Yun Song said angrily, “We haven’t had the chance to recover yet!”
Nie Tian grinned. “We don’t need people who don’t work.”
“Fine, I’ll do it!” said Yuan Feng, voice cold and firm.
“Well then, I’ll do it, too.” Yun Song had no choice but act obediently.
“Good, now this is the way to behave,” said Nie Tian, with a foxy smile.