The sky was painted with shades of orange, marking the end of the day in the scorching desert. In a region to the east of this desert, thunderous roars and earth-shaking tremors echoed over a vast area.

Then, a large amount of earth abruptly rose into the sky. The shadow of a serpent, almost ten meters long, soared with its jaws wide open, shooting as fast as an arrow released from a divine bow, distorting the space around it.

"Watch out!!!" A tense cry from a woman reverberated.

"Worry about yourself and trust your back, idiot." The response came from a giant whale, floating a good distance from the battlefield, apparently just observing.

In the next second, Langrum made a frustrated click with her tongue and leaped toward the giant serpent without looking back. A violent impact generated a wave of Qi that swept the area, raising more sand and earth into the air like a sea wave.

Two figures flew several meters, surrounded by a layer of earth runes; then, they landed, firmly planting their feet on the ground. It was Zanou and Mira, extremely breathless but without apparent injuries.

After stabilizing themselves and turning with extreme focus, they saw a figure flying away, several meters above, spitting out a lot of blood.

"Attack!" Zane shouted.

Mira immediately drew her bone saber, almost the same size as her, and ran forward, without looking back, covered by a penetrating violet aura.

The earth runes that protected her alongside Zanou flew in her direction, merging with her small body. Then, the ground beneath her feet seemed to lose all resistance, propelling her forward.

Zanou watched in shock, holding his trembling spear. 'How can a cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Gathering be so fast and have Qi as dense as this girl?' Zanou reflected, not knowing if he was more frightened by the girl or afraid of death.

"Wake up, bastard! Use all the fire you have!" Zane and Gael's furious voices hit Zanou like thunder.

With a few meters left for Mira to reach the front of the bestial serpent, the dark and dimly lit environment due to the approaching night seemed to turn into day. From above, a giant fireball flew in front of Mira, making her stop in her tracks. Her eyes lit up, and at that very moment, the serpent's eyes, previously fixed on the fireball above, also changed to violet.

BOOM!

It only took a second for the serpent to feel an external interference in its body. But it was already too late, and the fiery power exploded within its body.

Its scales slowly melted under that sinister power. It wasn't just a simple fire; it possessed a mixed Yin Qi, draining its defenses.

Two seconds in that sea of fire were enough for the serpent to despair in pain, just that. In the next second, the feeling of being close to death suddenly appeared. The serpent looked in astonishment ahead and saw a figure that looked like an ant near it jumping into the flames. She was surrounded by brown runes, quickly piercing a bone saber between the serpent's scales.

A little earlier, several meters away, Langrum got up, covered in blood and sand. It was in that second that she saw the fireball fall onto the serpent. Then, her heart almost stopped as she watched Mira jump into the flames with the bone saber pointed forward.

Mira was practically a mortal, not to mention she was a child. Just by entering that sea of fire, she was signing her death sentence. But Langrum sighed in relief to see those earth runes protecting her. At first, she thought the whale was taking care of her. However... she fell in shock when she noticed that those earth runes came from Mira herself and not the Zane in the distance.

So, Mira thrust the saber between the serpent's scales and hit its heart. Right after, Langrum smelled the acidic scent in the air. "Poison..."

There was no time to speak; a venomous explosion sent Langrum flying even farther, spinning like a kite whose strings were cut by the wind. After several seconds, Langrum hit something and stopped. Then, she fell to the ground again, with her mind still spinning.

"If you're not dead, get up. You're the pack mule, don't forget that." The mocking voice of the whale reached her ears.

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Langrum struggled to prop her arms on the soft sand and stand up. Her whole body was injured, covered in blood and sand. Her eyes were clouded with sand and redness, and even trembling, she forced herself to rise. Then, she saw the giant whale still blurry.

"Carry this, and let's go." He spoke, throwing something black in her direction.

The impact of something large knocked her down to the ground again. Then, she spat out a mouthful of blood, not knowing if it was from the wounds or from intense anger. Langrum understood why she was recruited as a carrier. It wasn't the first time this happened; she was responsible for carrying a certain half-dead man after each fight... Yes, she was responsible for bringing Zanou right and left nonstop after Zane and Gael finished with his... thoughtful training.

"Don't waste time, pack mule. We need to move," Zane remarked.

"Stop calling me that!" Langrum was finding it very hard to hold her anger.

"Hum... Yes, you are right." Surprisingly, Zane truly agreed with Langrum, which shocked her for a moment. Yet... "You are not carrying items but a person. That's not a pack mule's job. Instead, that makes you a horse. Yes, that's a lot more suitable. To think you would receive an upgrade so soon. I'm way too soft. Oh well, whatever. Let's go, horse! Carry him."

"You!" Langrum almost fainted with the 'upgrade.'

It was then that Zane remembered something. "No, wait, you are female, right? A Mare you are, then. Let's go, Mare, carry him."

Zane didn't bother to help Langrum get up and just threw Zanou at her before turning around. Langrum spat even more blood, becoming pale from fury. Too bad she was absolutely no match to Zane.

Then, Zane stroked Mira's hair, who was on his shoulder, panting and extremely tired. He completely ignored all of Langrum's curses from behind.

"Don't blame yourself too much," he spoke calmly after checking her body.

"Sorry, master. I should have sensed the poison and sealed it in the serpent's body before killing it," she murmured, struggling not to faint from exhaustion.

The beast had a venomous core that was destroyed by itself before dying. It was a malicious attempt to take everyone with it in death. But, of course, Zane and Gael noticed and protected Mira. As for Langrum and Zanou, he just helped a little.

"You wouldn't have the QI to invade its mind and seal the poison at the same time. It was already a miracle to hold it for a second. It only happened because it was a beast without much intelligence. In the future, you can cultivate properly. For now, you're just gaining experience." Zane said, placing her from his shoulder to his chest and covering her with earth runes.

Mira smiled awkwardly and instantly fell asleep, seeming to enjoy resting cuddled against the large, fat belly. They then collected all the remains of the serpent and continued walking eastward.

Langrum followed behind without haste, trembling with each step, refusing to fall behind or faint from exhaustion. The poison penetrated her wounds, and the pain was amplified, but it wasn't lethal. On Langrum's back, Zanou was completely unconscious.

The night passed slowly as they walked. It was already the sixth day in the desert, and they had already defeated the sixth beast with the serpent's death. The mission had more than fifty estimated points in the region, and they worked tirelessly, maintaining an average of one defeat per day. It was a frenetic pace that would make any elder laugh, thinking it was an impossible joke.

Thanks to the second drop of bloodline, Zane and Gael could sense everything around them within a kilometer radius in the desert without a significant cost of IQ. Navigating safely there was extremely easy. They could also sense when they were near a beast, getting a good sense of its power in advance.

The desert, filled with laws of the earth, seemed to be their home. With a thought, they could move a large number of runes. Even with just two drops, the power level of the Behemoth was surreal, even for them, who had seen everything in their universe.

With a few hours left for the day to start, Zane and Gael stopped abruptly. They stood for a few minutes, feeling all the tension below the ground and checking for anything or danger. Langrum finally reached their side, her steps almost extinguished. She turned her face with the little strength she had left and saw the whale with closed eyes.

"You can rest," Gael said without looking back.

Langrum stood still and made a furious face. "I... don't pity..." Then she felt an impact on her head, and her vision blacked out, falling face-first into the ground.

"What a competitive and tough woman," commented Zane after using a stone with earth runes to make her sleep.

After the first beast they fought, Zanou absorbed that bestial flame, incorporating the flaming core into his meridians. At first, he hesitated, but Mira convinced him; this was a rudimentary and ancient method of using external powers without studying the specific law.

Poisonous and flaming cores were the most common for this, but the risk of killing oneself with a furious core inside the body was astronomical. It was a stroke of luck that a beast with such a core appeared so soon. Of course, Zane and Gael were somewhat confident that Zanou faced very small risks after properly measuring his abilities.

Inside him, that core was like a small furnace. In exchange for QI, Zanou could use a bit of that flame. However, Zanou had little available QI, his flame had little Yin, and its total capacity couldn't even be called fire for cooking. He was mediocre even in that.

So, in addition to the mission beasts, Zane and Gael made a point to attack anything that moved in the desert. They pushed Zanou to the brink of death every time. He consumed all the QI he had using the fire. His days lasted only a few hours until he fainted from lack of QI.

It should take two or three days for him to fully recover, but they didn't give him that rest. The next day, he was forced to wake up and fight again. Did he want to be strong? He had to work for it or accept being a simple person as he was before.

Desperate, Zanou tried to escape after three days. However, escaping from Zane within the desert was an illusion. It didn't even take five minutes for him to be caught and beaten. That night, he went to sleep for another reason.

It was a good lesson for both him and Mira. No one gets gifts; that's just foolishness. All skills and possessions are earned with blood and sweat. The heavens don't give offerings to anyone. If you're hungry, make your food. No one will do it for you and put it in your mouth.

At first, the giant fireball was flashy, but it was just that. Now, after six days, Zanou's firepower, when used after Mira invaded the enemy's mind, became sufficient to burn through defenses a bit, causing a lot of pain.

The main point of this improvement was the fact that Zanou was a dual cultivator. He had a good amount of Yin IQ in his body, coming from women; he was just useless at using it before, but he learned the hard way.

During this time, Langrum seemed to understand a bit about all of this. She stayed silent, but her competitive spirit surfaced on a large scale. She wouldn't accept being left behind, and seeing Zanou's improvement, she didn't want to lose.

Watching Mira cling to the whale like a baby every day, Langrum was shocked; Mira seemed to have a very strange taste. Just thinking about that whale made her feel disgusted... and this little one still asked some pretty strange questions at times...

Langrum cursed, complained, and didn't bow down, but silently, she did her best in what was asked of her. Zanou was relentlessly pushed to exhaustion, but even against his will, he was improving. Mira was calmly learning to fight as her abilities allowed.

To the surprise of Zane and Gael, fate led them to something strange entirely unintentionally. The whole group seemed to be working together as if they were truly a proper group.

They ended up becoming a leader and coach. And today, after killing that serpent, Zane and Gael didn't want to admit it. But they were undeniably a team... even if there was a lack of sincerity among them.

Amidst those strange thoughts, Zane felt a sudden excitement coming from Gael.

'Finally! It's one of the ores. And there's a large quantity of it; we can finally practice the Dao of forging with this!' Gael exclaimed, excited.