CHAPTER 203: CHAPTER 71: OASIS

The mysterious and ethereal voice echoed in the air, and Rong Ye and the others turned their gaze to Gu Qingqing.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, a silver-purple lightning bolt as thick as a barrel appeared in the sky, striking straight at the core of the Blood Ghost Vine.

The blood-red sky above them was illuminated by the silver-purple lightning. Gu Qingqing had summoned the Heavenly Punishment Thunder, which was immensely powerful.

The core of the Blood Ghost Vine was directly split in half, with sparks visible at the break. The vines, which had been aggressively attacking Gu Qingqing and her group, lost their nourishment from the core, withered instantly, and fell to the ground. They struggled for a moment before becoming motionless.

Witnessing this, Yue Zhao and the others sighed in relief and descended to the ground one after another.

Seeing that her Power of Word Spirit was effective, Gu Qingqing also breathed a sigh of relief. But then she felt a wave of dizziness; her vision went dark as she swayed and was caught by Rong Ye beside her.

"Geng Geng, are you okay?" Rong Ye asked with concern, looking intently at Gu Qingqing’s pale face as he supported her to the ground.

Gu Qingqing shook her head, feeling that the dizziness had subsided and her vision cleared. She then looked at Rong Ye, "I’m fine, Fifth Brother."

The others noted her condition as well and gathered around her.

"Geng Geng, are you alright?" Just like Rong Ye, Yue Zhao was worried upon seeing Gu Qingqing’s pale complexion.

"I’m alright, Second Brother." Gu Qingqing said as she felt much better than before, shaking her head and offering a weak smile to Yue Zhao to reassure him.

Without a word, Mu Chen grasped Gu Qingqing’s wrist and examined her, "Fortunately, she’s just spiritually exhausted. No injuries this time. Resting a bit should do the trick."

Hearing this, Yue Zhao and the others sighed in relief. Jun Wu, unable to approach Gu Qingqing while supporting Si Lin, could only watch as Gu Qingqing rested with Rong Ye’s support.

Mu Chen also checked on Si Lin, whose condition was far more severe than Gu Qingqing’s. Besides external injuries, his internal injuries were quite serious. If they were outside, a few elixirs and a few days of rest would suffice for Si Lin. The problem was, in this place, they couldn’t use Spiritual Power, nor could they access the Qiankun Ring; Mu Chen’s elixirs were sealed within it, so there was nothing available to treat Si Lin.

"Mu Chen, how is Eldest Brother?" Yue Zhao, seeing Mu Chen’s furrowed brow, asked anxiously.

"Not great. Without access to the Qiankun Ring, I can’t retrieve my elixirs. Thankfully, Eldest Brother’s recovery abilities are decent; we’ll have to wait for him to heal on his own once he wakes up." Without Spiritual Power or elixirs, Mu Chen was at a loss to help Si Lin recover quickly.

Yue Zhao nodded, understanding Mu Chen’s predicament. He directed that Si Lin be taken care of properly, saying nothing further.

"Fourth Brother, please check on Fifth Brother as well. He blocked one of the vine attacks for me and might be injured," Gu Qingqing said, sitting down to regain her strength while Rong Ye supported her, urging Mu Chen to examine Rong Ye.

Mu Chen glanced at Rong Ye and approached him, ignoring Rong Ye’s gesture of refusal. He took Rong Ye’s hand to diagnose him, "Fortunately, it’s just some internal injury. A bit of rest should improve it."

Gu Qingqing sighed in relief, focusing on her recovery.

Originally, they had planned to head towards the oasis marked on the map, but due to injuries, they couldn’t move for the time being and had to rest within Sand City. Luckily, because of the presence of the Blood Ghost Vine, there were no other demon beasts or spirit plants in Sand City, making it relatively safe for now.

Trial Land seemed to lack a distinction between day and night; since their entry, the sky had remained blood-red, without any change.

After resting for about two hours, Gu Qingqing was able to stand and move around, and Si Lin also regained consciousness.

"Eldest Brother, you’re finally awake. How do you feel?" Mu Chen asked with concern, helping Si Lin sit up.

"Not bad. What happened with the Blood Ghost Vine?" Si Lin asked, clutching his chest and glancing around.

"Geng Geng used the Word Spirit Technique and split the Blood Ghost Vine in half with Heavenly Punishment Thunder, so it’s dealt with," Mu Chen explained briefly, then checked Si Lin’s pulse and found some improvement in his condition, making him sigh in relief, "There’s no elixir or Spiritual Power here, so recovery will be slow. Try to avoid exertion for now."

Si Lin nodded in agreement, knowing full well that the Trial Land was fraught with danger. Avoiding exertion would be challenging, but he kept this to himself to avoid worrying Mu Chen.

After speaking, Mu Chen also contemplated their current predicament. They had just entered the Trial Land, and things had already become so difficult; who knew what lay ahead? Avoiding exertion indeed seemed like a tall order!

"Geng Geng used the Word Spirit Technique, is she alright?" Si Lin asked quickly, looking around for Gu Qingqing without seeing her.

"It’s just some exhaustion, she just went with Jun Wu and the others to continue searching Sand City." Mu Chen said to Si Lin with a relaxed expression.

Si Lin, who had just been worried, finally felt relieved, struggled to stand up from the ground, and looked around, "How long have I been unconscious?"

"About two hours?" Mu Chen said somewhat uncertainly, "It seems like there’s no distinction between day and night here; the sky has always looked like this, so I can only roughly estimate."

Si Lin looked at the sky and indeed found it to be as Mu Chen described, nodding in agreement.

"Since we’ve found half the map now, when they return, if there’s nothing else in Sand City, we should head to the place marked on the map at the oasis as soon as possible. Surviving is the most important thing." Si Lin withdrew his gaze and said to Mu Chen.

Initially, they thought the danger in the Trial Land lay in the possible presence of many demon beasts or arrays or something similar. They never expected that this place would disable the use of Spiritual Power and prevent them from using storage spaces, which imposed many restrictions on them!

Now, the most important thing is to find a place with food and water so that they won’t starve or die of thirst during their time here!

Mu Chen naturally understood Si Lin’s meaning and nodded in agreement.

Soon after, Gu Qing and the others returned as well, and seeing that Si Lin had woken up, they were very happy. After learning that Si Lin was somewhat better than before, they felt relieved as well.

"We just searched all over Sand City and didn’t find the other half of the map or anything else." Yue Zhao informed Si Lin about their recent exploration of other parts of Sand City.

"After all, it’s been many years since anyone has been here; it’s not surprising. Since there’s nothing useful here, let’s head directly to the oasis marked on the map. This way, we can have food and water sooner, since we’re not like outside here." Si Lin wasn’t surprised by the result; finding half of the map earlier was already an unexpected surprise.

Yue Zhao and the others naturally had no objections. In fact, although they had eaten by the water pool earlier, the recent battle with the Blood Ghost Vine had consumed much of their energy, and everyone was almost famished, urgently needing food and water; they just hadn’t voiced it.

So the group studied the map again, then left Sand City and headed towards the place marked on it.

Although the two locations didn’t seem far apart on the map, in reality, there was quite some distance.

After leaving Sand City, they were surrounded by a vast desert, and they could only roughly discern the direction. Initially, they chatted, but later, to conserve energy, the group fell silent, and without strong willpower, they might not have endured the monotonous and seemingly hopeless journey.

They didn’t know how long they traveled, and on the way, they encountered several waves of attacks from sand scorpions, overcoming them with difficulty, until they were almost exhausted when they finally saw a patch of green.

"I see the oasis!" Due to Si Lin’s injury, Yue Zhao took the lead. Usually the calmest among them, he couldn’t help but get excited at the sight of the green in front of them.

The others, initially with heads down, lifted them upon hearing Yue Zhao’s words, and when they saw the green, smiles appeared on everyone’s faces.

"Great, if I didn’t see the oasis soon, I’d go crazy!" Nan Hua said excitedly behind Yue Zhao.

"I feel so thirsty now; I want to drink water!" Mu Chen licked his almost chapped lips, speaking with hope.

Rong Ye, carrying Si Lin, also lifted his head, looking equally excited.

The group quickened their pace and soon reached the green grass.

Upon seeing the lake, each of them instinctively hastened their steps, and when they reached the lake, they threw away their image, pouring water over themselves, cupping it in their hands, and gulping it down.

"Phew, I never realized water could taste so good." Nan Hua, who usually wasn’t fond of plain water, finding tea, Spiritual Dew, or wine more palatable, tasted the sweetness of water after enduring such dryness.

Gu Qing, similar to Nan Hua, nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

Once they no longer felt as parched, they began to observe their surroundings.

The lake they were now at was extensive, and across from them was a lush forest. The air here was not dry at all, the temperature was comfortable, completely different from the desert they had been in, making them feel at ease.

Besides the forest, they also saw some ordinary small animals, like rabbits and deer, which were startled by their earlier movements but didn’t run far, perhaps due to infrequent encounters with humans, and watched them curiously from nearby.