"We mainly need to find some high-level spirit beasts. You just need to follow my lead and don't engage in combat immediately to waste spiritual energy."
Yan Jiaojiao possessed an innate aura that imposed dominance over spirit beasts. With her presence, even the most powerful spirit beasts would submit and bow before her might.
The积分 they had accumulated from the Li Hun Grass was more than enough, so they didn't require many spiritual herbs at the moment.
Moreover, the desert hinterland was also a habitat for certain special spiritual herbs. If they could find high-level spirit beasts, high-level spiritual herbs would surely grow nearby, making it a win-win situation.
"Alright."
Xu Changzong and Jiang Yiling were now almost blindly obedient to Yan Jiaojiao. Even if Yan Jiaojiao claimed to be male, they would undoubtedly believe her and swiftly change their address from "junior sister" to "junior brother."
Yan Jiaojiao's charisma was evident.
If Dongfang Cangwu were present, he would surely remark that this woman had no other great abilities, but her overflowing compassion was far more infectious than anyone else's. Coincidentally, these were qualities he disdained and completely disregarded.
However, after following Yan Jiaojiao for so long, even though he found her disposition annoying at times, Dongfang Cangwu had to admit that she was not bad in this way.
Yan Jiaojiao herself didn't realize that although she always felt like she was going her own way and rarely communicated with others, she had, without her knowledge, influenced many people and drawn them into the center of her world.
The desert hinterland was not easy to traverse, but for cultivators, such difficulties were as simple as child's play. With a few spiritual talismans, they could walk on the soft desert ground as if it were level terrain.
However, the desert hinterland was more dangerous than dense forests. Moreover, everyone clearly knew that there were treasures in the desert. Thus, not long after Yan Jiaojiao and her companions had started, they encountered other teams.
"Yan Jiaojiao! Everyone be careful."
"Be on guard!"
Everyone had witnessed Yan Jiaojiao's capabilities. They feared that Yan Jiaojiao might directly seize their wooden tokens, so they were all extremely cautious, wishing they could sprout wings and flee.
"What are they doing? Do I look like I eat people?" Yan Jiaojiao was confused. Although they were rivals now, these people were being excessively wary, weren't they?
Jiang Yiling glanced at Yan Jiaojiao and remembered that he hadn't yet explained this to her. He lowered his voice and said, "Actually, during the team competition of the Academy Grand Competition, there have been teams that didn't pick spiritual herbs but instead waited to steal from others."
Yan Jiaojiao's eyes lit up: "There's such a good thing? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Jiang Yiling: "..."
"Junior Sister Jiaojiao..."
Yan Jiaojiao waved her hand: "I was just kidding."
Jiang Yiling and Xu Changzong exchanged a look and smiled helplessly.
Although Yan Jiaojiao claimed to be joking, her eyes told a different story.
Her ambitious gaze made it hard to believe she was just kidding.
The other teams realized that Yan Jiaojiao didn't know this rule before. Seeing her eager look upon learning that she could steal wooden tokens, they clutched their tokens and fled in disarray.
They were merely disciples from mid-tier academies, and their main purpose this time was to gather some spiritual herbs that were difficult to obtain normally.
They hadn't come to work for others. After all the hard work they had put in to gather these items, they couldn't afford to have them stolen.
Perhaps because the fleeing team had spread the news that Yan Jiaojiao might steal wooden tokens, all the teams that Yan Jiaojiao and her companions encountered subsequently became somewhat wary.
Yan Jiaojiao felt rather speechless: "These people are treating me like a monster."
Jiang Yiling remained calm: "This is good. It avoids contact with others. We won't steal from them, and they won't be able to steal from us."
Xu Changzong, unusually, interjected: "You think someone would dare to steal from her?"
Jiang Yiling burst into laughter.
"I misspoke. No one would dare to steal from her."
Seeing that the two were joking about her, Yan Jiaojiao shook her head and smiled helplessly.
Fine, for the sake of the team's peace, stability, and trust, she could tolerate being joked about.
"Help!"
After walking in the desert hinterland for about an hour, Yan Jiaojiao and the other two suddenly heard a faint cry for help.
"Help!"
As if sensing that someone was approaching, the faint voice gradually grew louder.
"Help me!"
Yan Jiaojiao and the other two became vigilant.
"Are there any talking spirit beasts in the desert hinterland?"
Some spirit beasts were naturally capable of human speech, but such spirit beasts were usually extremely terrifying.
Like the female demons in storybooks, they would use speech to attract others' attention, then capture and devour them.
"It's hard to say. I saw in the Compendium of Spirit Beasts that there's a type of snake that lives in the desert and can imitate sounds it hears. These spirit snakes feed on humans. They lure people with cries for help and then kill and eat them from an unexpected angle."
Yan Jiaojiao raised an eyebrow: "Is it a humanoid snake?"
"Humanoid snake, yes, exactly! I remember this creature had a strange name, called—"
Jiang Yiling frowned, feeling as though the name was on the tip of his tongue but couldn't quite recall it.
Xu Changzong, standing beside them, silently added: "It's called the Desert Velius Snake."
"Yes, yes, the Desert Velius Snake!"
Jiang Yiling's face was filled with excitement: "I was quite surprised when I saw that name. It's different from the naming conventions of other spirit beasts I've seen before."
"Desert Velius Snake?"
Yan Jiaojiao inexplicably felt that the name sounded a bit familiar.
And why did this spirit beast's name sound like ordinary snakes from the era of the end of magic?
"I heard it was named by an elder who claimed to foresee the future. Although everyone found the name very strange, they thought that since the elder was very powerful, the name he chose was actually quite fitting, so it was kept. However, most people still prefer to call them humanoid snakes, as these humanoid snakes can learn human speech."
While they were discussing, they had already reached the source of the sound. As the voice grew closer and began to echo in their ears, they knew they had indeed encountered a humanoid snake.
"Be careful."
Yan Jiaojiao said: "I remember that humanoid snakes are the guardian beasts of Dragon Tongue Grass. They need Dragon Tongue Grass for their cultivation. Dragon Tongue Grass must be found near humanoid snakes, so keep your eyes sharp."
Jiang Yiling directly assigned this task to Xu Changzong.
"I don't recognize Dragon Tongue Grass, so I'll have to leave it to you."
Xu Changzong nodded.
The unknown danger lurked in the shadows, and there was no time to explain what Dragon Tongue Grass looked like.
"I—" Jiang Yiling had just opened his mouth when Yan Jiaojiao's voice suddenly rang out—
"Careful!"