Douluo: I am a biologist, awakening the weapon spirit?

Chapter 158 Desert Night
The temperature difference between day and night in the desert is extreme, but fortunately the group had made thorough preparations beforehand.

The desert is hot during the day and cold at night, and many terrifying soul beasts also emerge at night, making it extremely dangerous to travel in the Death Desert at night, just like in the Star Dou Great Forest.

After arriving in the Death Desert, the group became more cautious.

After all, this place is a no-man's land; if you're careless, you might die without even knowing how.

"In the Death Desert, danger mainly comes from several sources," Flander explained as they walked:

"First, there are the overwhelming sandstorms, which can obscure vision and disrupt sound, and also change the surrounding environment. Once you encounter one, it can not only make it difficult to distinguish directions, but also easily cause the team to get separated. In fact, when the sandstorm is strong, it can even lift people into the air."

"So the dean told us to prepare ropes," Chen Feng replied.

“That’s right. We have enough people this time. Although tying everyone up with ropes will hinder our movement, it will be very useful in dealing with sandstorms and will also reduce the impact of quicksand.”

“But your design is quite good; it will make our daily lives less hindrance,” Flander nodded and said.

At this moment, everyone had ropes wrapped around their waists, but these ropes were not connected yet; instead, they were tightly fastened with a metal buckle.

These buckles are all made of iron essence, designed by Chen Feng and then completed by Tang San.

They are modeled after the buckles on mountaineering ropes on Earth, and their function is to quickly and securely connect to other people's ropes.

In this way, Chen Feng and his group don't need to stay connected all the time. Instead, they can quickly link together with ropes when they encounter dangerous situations, so as not to affect their actions in normal times.

Whether it's a sandstorm or quicksand, there's always some reaction time, which is enough for Chen Feng and his group to react.

"Besides the two natural dangers, the remaining dangers should be those brought by soul beasts, right?" Chen Feng asked.

“That’s right. The spirit beasts here usually hide beneath the desert and then launch surprise attacks on their prey, making them quite difficult to defend against. You need to be especially careful about this,” Flander warned.

"They're all old hands! Compared to this place, even the Star Dou Great Forest seems to have a more rustic, untamed spirit," Chen Feng remarked.

“Exactly, this desert is nowhere near as good as the Star Dou Great Forest,” Xiao Wu chimed in.

Gu Yueling glanced at the two of them but said nothing.

Ma Hongjun muttered:

"Now is not the time when you were captured by the Titan Ape."

"Fatty, what did you say?" Xiao Wu asked with an unfriendly expression.

"I didn't say anything wrong." Ma Hongjun cowered a little and moved closer to Tang San, then argued:
"I think this place is much better than the Star Dou Great Forest. Also, I'm not fat anymore, so please stop calling me fat."

"Fatty, fatty, fatty." Xiao Wu showed no intention of changing her tune.

Ma Hongjun was furious, but he didn't dare to confront Xiao Wu directly, fearing he would get beaten up. So he could only ask Tang San for help.

"Tang Xiaosan, say something!"

“Actually, I also think the Star Dou Great Forest is better than here,” Tang San said.

Knowing Xiao Wu's situation, he naturally couldn't speak ill of the Star Dou Great Forest, since it was Xiao Wu's hometown.

"Doesn't anyone else feel the same way as me?" Ma Hongjun had no choice but to ask for other people's opinions.

He felt very comfortable in this desert, much more at ease than in the Starry Sky Forest.

Unfortunately, no one agreed with him, as the desert environment was ultimately too harsh.

Gu Yueling then strolled over to Xiao Wu's side and asked, seemingly casually:

"Were you captured by the Titan Ape before?"

"Huh? Oh, right, but that was an accident. The gorilla was scared away by a cow's roar." Xiao Wu brought out her go-to excuse.

The Ming Dynasty was a basket into which anything could be put.

"Then you're quite lucky," Gu Yueling exclaimed.

"Yes, I've always been quite lucky," Xiao Wu said with a smile.

"Is that so? Actually, I'm quite lucky too," Gu Yueling said with a smile.

"So, with you two lucky people around, wouldn't we be able to encounter suitable soul beasts very soon?" Chen Feng interjected.

"That depends on whether our luck will work in this death desert." Gu Yueling looked at Chen Feng. "If we encounter a suitable soul beast, what do you plan to do?"

"Of course, we'll try to communicate first. What we need are thousand-year-old soul beasts, which the teachers can easily suppress. Next, we'll see how intelligent the thousand-year-old soul beasts are and whether they are willing to cooperate," Chen Feng replied.

"What if they don't cooperate?" Gu Yueling asked.

"If there's really no other way, we can only resort to traditional methods," Chen Feng said.

"I hope things go smoothly." Gu Yueling nodded and said nothing more.

The group chatted as they made their way through the desert.

Most of the soul beasts in the Death Desert live in the sand, which makes it difficult to find them. If you are not careful, you can easily be attacked by them.

Fortunately, the spirit beasts they encountered were not strong and were easily driven away.

Although there were thousand-year-old soul beasts among them, none of them were suitable for Ning Rongrong and Ma Hongjun.

"So, which way are we going?" Xiao Wu asked, puzzled, after chasing away another soul beast that emerged from the sand.

"Of the soul beasts that Ning Rongrong and Hong Jun need, Hong Jun's requirements are more specific, so I plan to take you to find the soul beasts he needs first. If we encounter the ones that Ning Rongrong needs along the way, that would be even better."

“What Hongjun needs is a flying spirit beast. These spirit beasts usually live in higher places, so we need to go and take a look at that mountain peak in the distance first,” Flander said, pointing to a yellowish-brown mountain peak in front of them.

The mountain peak didn't seem too far away, but everyone knew the saying "looking at a mountain makes you want to run to death," and it would probably take several days to get there.

"So, are we just going to walk there like this? It'll probably take a long time," Xiao Wu asked.

“No, we’ll speed up when the temperature rises around noon, so we’re less likely to be attacked by soul beasts,” Flander said.

Even though many fire-attribute soul beasts live in the Death Desert, the probability of encountering them is still much lower in the hot environment.

In his search for the blood of dragon-type soul beasts for the master, Flander had traveled to the Death Desert many times, and these experiences were the result of his research.

When it got really hot at noon, the group, led by Flander, began to speed up their advance.

Sure enough, they didn't encounter many spirit beasts after that until the temperature dropped again in the afternoon, at which point the frequency of encounters with spirit beasts increased.

As evening approached, the group still hadn't encountered any suitable spirit beasts, so they had no choice but to find a place to set up camp.

When setting up camp in the desert, you need to find a sheltered spot. Fortunately, the group was lucky enough to find a low-lying area on a leeward slope, where they could avoid being exposed to the cold night winds.

Since they had to travel the next day, everyone pitched their tents and rested early. Tang San, Chen Feng, and Ma Hongjun took turns keeping watch at night.

Tang San can absorb sunlight to replenish his energy, so daytime travel has little impact on him.

Chen Feng, on the other hand, is immune to water and fire, so the desert heat doesn't affect him much, and Ma Hongjun is quite comfortable here.

Therefore, it is very appropriate for the three of them to keep watch at night.

In the dead of night, Chen Feng had completed his night watch and was now lying in the same tent as his classmates.

Next to him was Ning Rongrong; the two of them became the dividing line between boys and girls.

"Rongrong, have you decided what type of soul beast you want to choose this time? Attack? Defense? Or soul power enhancement?" Chen Feng asked in a low voice.

"Actually, either way is fine," Ning Rongrong replied softly. "Our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda doesn't have a fixed order of enhancement; it mainly depends on whether the soul beasts we encounter are suitable."

"I see." Chen Feng remembered that Ning Rongrong's third soul skill in the original work was soul power enhancement, while her fourth soul skill was defense enhancement.

It's just unknown what kind of soul beasts Ning Rongrong will encounter in the Death Desert this time, and what kind of third soul skill they will bring her.

As they were chatting, Chen Feng suddenly felt a slight tremor coming from the ground where he was lying.

He immediately became alert and turned to the side, pressing his ear to the ground.

Ning Rongrong wanted to ask something, but seeing Chen Feng's serious expression, she remained silent.

When Chen Feng pressed his ear to the ground, he vaguely heard a gurgling sound, as if something was flowing, but the sound was not very clear.

"Flowing?" Chen Feng frowned at first, then widened his eyes and shouted:
"Get up! Something's happened!"

He stood up and lifted the tent flap, waking everyone else up as well.

When Chen Feng arrived outside, everything was still quiet, and there seemed to be nothing unusual.

Tang San, who was observing the surroundings from outside, turned around and asked in confusion:
"what happened?"

"I heard some noise underground, and I think it might be quicksand. Everyone, let's get out of here first," Chen Feng said without hesitation.

He wasn't really sure if it was quicksand, but to be on the safe side, it was better to stay away for now.

Unlike those idiotic characters in movies who hear noises but think it's their imagination, only to die because of the source of the noise.

He knew he was in a death desert, a desert that had swallowed countless lives, and that he could never be too careful here.

At this moment, everyone woke up and came out of the tent, and heard what Chen Feng said.

Xiao Wu listened for a moment while lying on the ground and said:

"There does seem to be some movement, but I don't know if it's quicksand."

She was, after all, a forest rabbit, and her understanding of the desert was practically zero, or at least completely unknown.

"To be on the safe side, let's leave this place first," Flander quickly decided.

The group quickly packed up their tents and began to move back the way they had come.

The path we've already traveled is definitely safer than the unknown, so there's nothing wrong with this choice.

However, after running a short distance, the group stopped because they noticed something strange happening around them.

Under the bright moonlight, ridges appeared in the desert, and these ridges were constantly moving.

The reason why everyone stopped was that the movement paths of these bulges were roughly circular, and the people were currently in the center of the circle.

Clearly, they were surrounded.

"What are these things? Are they soul beasts?" Oscar asked, his face looking rather grim.

"Most likely, and it seems to be a clan." Tang San's face also darkened; he hadn't noticed any signs before.

Gu Yueling looked at everything in front of her calmly. There was a small wound on her little finger, which had already scabbed over, leaving only a few traces of blood.

"Prepare for spirit fusion," Flander said in a deep voice. Grandmaster and Liu Erlong stood beside him as instructed.

The surrounding mounds didn't move for long, and just as everyone began to prepare for battle, a huge figure burst out of the sand.

This is a soul beast that looks like a snake, but compared to ordinary snakes, this soul beast exudes a metallic texture all over its body, and appears iron-gray in the night, as if it is not made of flesh and blood.

Upon seeing this spirit beast, the master took a deep breath. "A giant steel snake, around 60,000 years old."

After the 60,000-year-old giant steel serpent appeared, the other mounds also emerged, all of them being snake-like spirit beasts similar to the giant steel serpent.

However, compared to the giant steel snake, other snake-type soul beasts are much smaller and do not have a metallic texture; instead, they are like rocks.

This group of special snake-like spirit beasts coiled around the group, silently watching them.

"It seems this is a group of Onix, and Steelix is ​​their leader," the master concluded.

"But why are they surrounding us? We haven't encountered them along the way, nor have we provoked them," Liu Erlong said, puzzled.

She didn't lift a finger along the way; the spirit beasts she encountered were all driven away by the children.

“I feel like they’re more like they’ve been attracted by something,” Flanders whispered.

What was attracting him? Chen Feng's mind raced.

Rock Serpent. Earth Dragon!?
Chen Feng's eyes suddenly brightened; he seemed to have figured out why the group of soul beasts had come to surround them.

But how do we solve this problem?
“That giant steel snake leader must be a dragon.” A clear, cold voice rang out at this moment.

Chen Feng turned his head and saw Gu Yueling taking a step forward.

"What do you want to do?" Chen Feng asked, frowning.

"I want to communicate with it in the way of the dragon race." Gu Yueling closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes had transformed into dragon eyes that radiated a brilliant golden light.

"Won't that provoke it?" Flander asked.

The master looked at Gu Yueling and nodded, saying:

"You can give it a try; if it really doesn't work, then you can take action."

Looking at the calm and composed Gu Yueling, a guess suddenly popped into Chen Feng's mind.

(End of this chapter)