Maria and Celaine finally caught their breath and were able to look around a bit, but immediately despaired when they saw the scene in front of them.
"Really?! Why did we have to run into a scorching hell?! I'd rather be stuck in that damn tornado than this! Cough… Cough… Damn it!!" Maria yelled but inhaled a bunch of sand in the process.
"I don't think this place is very suitable for me. I just wanted to go treasure hunting and maybe occasionally kill some beasts! Why does it have to be like this?! Mira, I think you are the most unlucky person I've ever met!" Celaine complained as well.
Mira just shrugged as she put on her clothes. Luckily her new Daoist robes are extremely durable and also very weather resistant.
"I've never been lucky. In fact, I don't think I've met anyone more unfortunate than me, but that's beside the point. This is also an opportunity. Mira's elemental affinity is Light, maybe you'll be able to find some sort of treasure related to that here. Also, Vulcan is a beast made from fire, so this is the perfect place to find something for him. Celaine has a wind affinity so finding something related to that here is not probable, but not impossible. While for me, it's highly unlikely I'll find anything related to ice here..." Mira paused there to let them soak in that information. The two of them were also feeling rather good about the possibility of treasures.
"...There's also another good thing about being here. Body Tempering! Hehe." Mira gave an evil grin and her two companions couldn't help but groan and shudder. They've been tempering their body this entire time and now they have to do more?! Are you fucking kidding me?!
"Well, let's not waste time. Let's go." Mira said and started walking in a random direction.
The others just followed along and groaned in pain as the scorching sun became hotter the farther they walked.
***
Mira's group has been travelling in this desert area for a while now, but since the sun doesn't change positions it's impossible to tell how long. Their current appearances look very haggard since they haven't found a way out of the desert no matter how far they walk and the heat only seems to increase.
They ran into quite a few giant worms, but with their ability dealing with them was as easy as breathing.
During this time, the 3 of them haven't come across any treasures or any other people. The only thing that was of interest is them finding fire tornados to temper their bodies with.
After their bodies would absorb one fire tornado they'd move onto the next one.
Since they don't have a destination and only spending their time walking would be pointless, Mira forced them into this.
But it didn't take long for the fire tornados to no longer have any effect on their bodies. So they ended up stop paying attention to the fire tornados and just tried to look for anything that stood out.
This desert is void of any life except for the occasional giant worm, but even these worms are rather weak and are useless to them.
But Mira was secretly collecting their poison sacks since they might be useful in the future.
At some point, Mira stopped and looked in a certain direction.
"What?! Did you find something interesting?!" Maria asked excitedly.
"Maybe, I feel an abundance of fire energy in that direction. Maybe it'll be something good." Mira answered vaguely, but this was enough for Maria and Celaine.
"Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go check it out!" Celaine exclaimed as she tried to run in the direction Mira pointed in but was grabbed by Mira.
"Idiot, if there is something so good, it'll definitely attract the nearby beasts' attention. Let's scope out the area first before just diving straight in." Mira said with an irritated voice. Even Maria knows this.
Celaine dropped her head dejectedly but didn't lose her determination as she wanted to see what kind of treasure it would be.
The three then made their way over towards the source and were surprised by the overwhelming heat coming from that area. It was many times hotter than the fire tornados and the sun. If they aren't careful, they might even get burned as well.
They also noticed quite a few giant worms gathering together, seemingly waiting.
Mira's group snuck around them but stayed far enough away that they wouldn't notice them.
They got as close as possible and were a little stunned by what they saw.
It was a flaming red lotus flower that was collecting all of the fire energy within the area. It seems that it hasn't matured yet since it's absorbing at such a crazy speed.
"Let's camp out here and wait for this thing to bloom." Mira suggested and the other two agreed.
Time went by slowly and the lotus flower was still collecting the surrounding heat, but the range of absorption has increased, bringing in more giant worms.
It seemed that it was finally about to bloom, but as soon as it did two massive centipedes came out of the cracked ground.
They noticed each other immediately and started fighting.
These beasts were on another level compared to the giant worms. These things were hundreds of meters long, spat fire, had a poisonous stinger, and razor-sharp mandibles. Their exoskeleton also seemed impenetrable, at least from Mira's perspective.
She knew she stood no chance against a beast like that. Even with the help of Maria and Celaine, they don't have enough power to even break the shell. Even if Mira were to use her combo attack, beating it would only give her a less than 1% chance of winning.
These beasts were Mid-Stage Rank 6 Magical Beasts, which is around a Stage 3 Core Formation Realm cultivator, but there was a huge difference between the two.
To break through this centipede's defenses, a Stage 6 or even 7 Core Formation Cultivator would be needed, much less them, who are not even in the Xiantian Stage of the Foundation Realm.
All they could hope for is mutual destruction, which didn't seem out of the question since insect magical beasts are rather stupid. They also did Mira's group a favor by killing most of the surrounding giant worms and scatter the rest of them.
"Those things just HAD to show up, didn't they?!" Maria complained a bit, but there was nothing they could do.
"Right! That's our treasure! How dare some stupid insects try to claim it!?" Celaine also complained but knew it was pointless.
"Shut up, you two! We can still get the treasure. One way is to hope for mutual destruction then just pick up the flower and leave. Another way is to wait until one of them is almost dead, sneak up on it and try to finish it off, but this will require some preparation. The third way is to sneak past them while their fighting and take it under their noses. Though I don't really recommend this one, since their target will switch from each other to us."
"I'd give the first option a 20% chance and the third option a 10% chance. Well, it might be a bit higher, but we have to outrun them which may prove difficult. I'd give the second option a 25% chance, but will be higher or lower depending on how injured the survivor is after the battle and how well we are able to prepare." Mira explained and the other two listened intently.
They also knew of these options but just felt like it was impossible and after hearing Mira's calculations they still felt it was unlikely, but Mira seemed to have a plan.
Mira then began explaining her plan for taking out an injured centipede. Maria and Celaine couldn't help but gasp when they heard Mira's psychotic plan, but regardless of how crazy it was, they felt like it might work.
***
The two centipedes fought for many hours before finally one of them collapsed with many holes in its body. Its reddish-purple blood started filling up the cracks in the ground, but then the lotus started sucking up its blood as nutrients.
The other centipede had quite a few holes in its body as well and was near death, but if given time to rest plus this lotus flower, it would definitely recover as well as get much stronger.
It curled up around the flower, protecting it while waiting for it to bloom.
It didn't know that someone was currently targeting it and was about to make their move.
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