Don't Mess with That Dragon-Chapter 601 - 052: The Journey

Gold glitters because it is inherently gold.

Years of wandering have made Li Xin fully understand himself.

He is not gold, just a grain of sand in the desert with no hope in sight, living an ordinary life,

"Sigh, this time, I'll venture into the Desperate Heaven Abyss once more, then return home!"

Li Xin sighed and said melancholically in his heart.

Even though he has wandered for so many years, in the Cultivation Realm of this world, Li Xin is still only a low-tier martial artist. Perhaps he can still show some fortitude in front of low-tier Body Refining Realm martial artists, but in this vast Cultivation Realm, after so many years of wandering from north to south, he is merely an ant that those big figures can crush at will.

Having roamed for more than eight years, Li Xin clearly knows that the Condensing Essence Realm is really nothing.

In any slightly larger city's market, it's almost as common as a handful.

In slightly more famous city mercenary corps, the leader must be a master of the Sea of Qi Realm or above.

Back then, Li Xin luckily obtained a high-grade Yellow Tier spirit medicine, allowing him to break through to the Condensing Essence Realm, which almost exhausted his luck.

If nothing unexpected happens, his future is likely to be entrenched in the lower rung of loose cultivators, wandering from city to city collecting cultivation resources. At best, he may break through to the middle or late Condensing Essence Realm, then marry a decent village girl and return home to raise a family.

However, while the Condensing Essence Realm is common outside,

back in his hometown, the small mountain town, being at the Condensing Essence Realm makes him a pillar-level master in the family.

Undoubtedly, if he returns now, he will surely cause a huge sensation in his hometown.

"Returning might be good, at least I could be seen as a big figure in others' eyes, rather than constantly being cautious every day about my safety."

These years of adventure weren't without any gains.

Although his experiences over the years are not like those widely told in stories, where the protagonist casually finds a divine artifact or invariably gains great rewards in secret realms, he was able to obtain a high-grade Yellow Tier spirit medicine by fortunate coincidence back then, which is already much better than many loose cultivator martial artists.

Many wander through life doing mediocre work, laboring year-round to accumulate spirit stones bit by bit, buying cultivation resources to gradually elevate their realm. This is the norm.

In martial arts competition, people see those exalted prodigies suppressing a generation.

But who pays attention to the countless ordinary cultivators in the backdrop, busily and cautiously entering and exiting demon beast mountains daily, doing tasks, collecting resources, cultivating spiritual objects, and exhausting their heart and soul to obtain even a little elixir resource for breakthroughs in cultivation? If they're not careful, years of accumulation could be lost overnight, and they might even attract lethal danger from others.

In comparison, Li Xin's experiences are actually nothing special.

But placed in his birth town's small city, that would count as legendary for a generation.

Those top graduates from the same Martial Arts Academy cohort back then, at most, might now have reached the late stage of the seventh or eighth level of the Body Refining Realm. Being able to break through to the Condensing Essence Realm before their life's end would already make them standouts.

Thinking of the townsfolk's shock and envy when he returns home, returning triumphant, the melancholy in Li Xin's heart has lessened a lot.

He doesn't know why, but after making this decision, Li Xin's heart has settled significantly.

Perhaps,

he has grown tired of the endless roaming over the years.

"Everyone, let's push on a bit more and find a place to rest in the Gobi!"

A strong shout came from the front, belonging to the leader of a mercenary escort captain.

At this time,

their group had just crossed a vast expanse of desolate sandy desert and was about to enter a Gobi area ahead. Compared to the lifeless sandy desert, the Gobi at least had sparse, resilient gray-green plants growing, and occasionally one or two large trees scattered around.

Although water sources were still hard to find, in this barren place, at least they could find some shade under the trees to rest.

With the mercenary captain's words,

the entire caravan, which previously seemed somewhat listless, now revived, mustered a bit more strength, and moved much faster.

A few moments later,

the long caravan entered the Gobi, finding a giant canopy-like tree that had been growing for an unknown number of years, and rested beneath it for a short recovery.

The caravan members, whether they were fellow martial artists or mercenaries on guard, all took out water flasks to drink or brought out dry rations to wash down with cold water in two gulps.

Around them, the huge camel-like beasts were also resting on the ground, feebly nibbling on the dry, thorny bushes.

"Dong, how long until we reach that place?"

"You monkey, what's the rush? From Xichuan City, we need to traverse 800 miles of desert, with no places to stop midway. We're only about halfway there now..."

"Stay vigilante on the road. It's said to be bone-strewn. Aside from mentioning those desert demon beasts, the most fearsome would be encountering those dreadful sand bandits."

Members of the caravan gathered in groups of three or five, chatting.

Li Xin sat in the cart,

listening casually to their conversations, paying attention to some information he needed. He roughly understood this journey so far.

In conclusion, even traveling with a large caravan requires utmost caution.

He pulled out water from the pouch, first took a big bite of the dry ration, then gulped down some water, swallowing it with a gulp.

Li Xin's thoughts,

at some point drifted to the middle of the caravan, in that luxurious sandalwood-carved carriage.

At this moment, the caravan's owner,

was diligently running back and forth to the luxurious carriage. Li Xin also saw him presenting some extremely precious fruits from the desert, making those around him, who were still gnawing on their dry rations, swallow their saliva.

Their eyes were full of envy, jealousy, and resentment.

The master of the carriage was a young man in a green robe, very young, seemingly unable to endure the wind and sand and stayed in the carriage without coming out all year round.

The rough and tumble mercenary guards speculated that he was likely a young master from a wealthy family, out to gain experience, looking frail and always staying in the carriage, which made some brawny mercenaries secretly laugh at him as a pampered pretty boy.

People in the caravan didn't regard him with much respect.

Of course, these bottom-level folks would only internally curse his good fortune in being born into wealth. They wouldn't dare openly mock or provoke him, as only a fool would do that.

They were just lower-class laborers; they could look down upon bluebloods in their hearts but could not show any disdain on their faces.

However,

Li Xin felt that the young master might not be so simple.