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(Southern Region- Xercopolis Empire)

(The Forbidden Desert)

Xu Lu stepped out of the tent and squinted slightly as the harsh desert sunlight fell down on her body.

In the distance she could see the tribespeople staring at her with fearful expressions on their faces.

The young children\'s mouths were covered by their parents and the older ones looked at her with terror in their eyes.

Xu Lu let out a heavy sigh and turned away. There was no point in lingering here any longer and frightening these poor people.

No matter what she said or did... they would never trust cultivators again.

How could sheep trust wolves who promised them no harm?

No... a better analogy would be how could mortals not be fearful of gods whose casual whims could kill them in a heartbeat.

The saintess walked away from the oasis and followed the direction that the village head had told her about.

The sand crunched beneath her feet and her shoes sank ever so slightly with every step that she took.

The landscape of the desert was dry and barren.

Only occasionally broken by the tall sturdy green plants that grew beneath the shadows of the large dunes.

The trunks of these plants were covered in thick needle-like spines. Xu Lu approached one of the plants and used her sword to cut off a small piece of the trunk.

She remembered watching a few videos on the internet during her life as Sui Li that claimed that plants in the desert stored water in their trunks.

She split the trunk open and was pleasantly surprised to a see a moist fleshy underlayer. Xu Lu placed the piece of the plant into her storage ring as a souvenir.

Her fingers brushed against the amulet that now hung around her neck. A broken blade was an odd shape for a pendant but Xu Lu liked how it looked.

And according to the old man who sold it to her, it would ensure that her journey would always be smooth!

Xu Lu didn\'t believe him of course but who knows...

The saintess took a small compass out of her storage ring and checked her bearings to make sure that she was still going in the right direction.

Her mission was to rescue or find out what happened to the missing disciples of the Guang clan but now she had another objective.

If they were alive then she would make sure that they paid for their crimes.

The sect elders may not see harming mortals as worthy of punishment but as saintess Xu Lu had the authority to punish those beneath her rank.

A determined expression flashed across Xu Lu\'s face as she continued to walk through the desert towards the missing disciple\'s last known location.

Hours passed and soon the bright midday sun had sunk towards the horizon. Darkness crept up slowly but surely and long shadows appeared on the ground.

The temperature had dropped to below minus zero but Xu Lu\'s Ice Yin Root meant that she was unaffected by the cold.

In fact, her body felt comfortable by the rapidly plunging temperature. Xu Lu hummed softly under her breath as she made her way over a particularly large sand mountain.

On the other side of the mountain she saw several large holes in the ground that were big enough to fit a person inside.

Xu Lu cautiously moved towards the strange holes and her hand drifted towards the sword attached to her hip.

She extended her spiritual senses and waited for any threats. \'The Forbidden Desert\' did not get its name just from its harsh environment.

Terrifying monsters, demonic beasts and rogue cultivator clans called this hostile place their home.

The ground beneath Xu Lu\'s feet rumbled ominously and then multiple dark shadows burst out from the holes.

Xu Lu narrowed her eyes to get a better look at the mysterious beings but soon came to regret her decision.

They looked disgusting.

Long, fat worms around seven feet in length with translucent pale skin.

Dark blue veins could be seen beneath their fleshy exterior and certain parts of their bodies were covered in yellowish boils.

These boils would occasionally pop and spill out a foul-smelling liquid that stained the desert sand.

SCREECH! SCREECH!

Horrific screams erupted from the creatures as they all simultaneously turned towards Xu Lu and opened their mouths.

Their jaws stretched impossibly wide, and one could see layer upon layer of razor-sharp teeth.

Xu Lu readied her sword and swung her blade at the incoming horde.

A beam of sword light burst out of the tip of her weapon and neatly bisected the first worm that approached her.

The temperature around her body dropped even further as Xu Lu\'s dantian began to pump qi into her meridians.

Xu Lu\'s sword movements were basic and without any special technique. She had honed her fighting style over the lifetime that she had spent by Camilla\'s side.

There was no shortage of arrogant vampires who did not believe the rumors of the blood witch\'s power and sought out her blood to turn themselves into highborn.

She ensured that they would never make that mistake again.

Xu Lu\'s body shifted to the side as she dodged an incoming worm who lunged at her with its mouth wide open.

Slash!

Her blade disappeared and the worm\'s body was split in two.

Xu Lu kicked the corpse away from her and then ducked to avoid a thick wad of phlegm that was spat in her direction.

Danger!

The ground beneath her feet trembled and Xu Lu\'s senses went haywire.

In that microsecond of a moment, she quickly realised that the worms in front of her were not the only members of the colony.

The saintess\' figure blurred and then vanished from the spot.

She reappeared several hundred metres away just as three worms rose up from the sand where she had just been standing.

If she had been only a second later to react...

Xu Lu did not even want to think about the possibility.

She clutched her sword and prepared to deal with the remaining worms when something strange happened.

Screech! Screech! Screech!

The worms cried out several times and then wriggled back to the large gaping holes in the sand.

Was this some kind of trick?

Xu Lu steeled herself for another ambush but the worms ignored her and retreated back to their underground lairs.

They left behind the corpses of their companions whose bodies were already beginning to give out a really unpleasant scent.

If Xu Lu had to describe the smell then she would say that it was a mix of raw sewage and rotten eggs.

The saintess waited for a few more minutes but no attacks came. Maybe the worms sensed that she was not an easy opponent and retreated?

Still just to be safe Xu Lu took the long way around the holes before continuing on her journey through the desert.