Chapter 245

Chapter 245

At first, Wen Qiao thought they had seen wrong.

The situation in this desert was somewhat eerie. Not only did it affect the temperature differences between day and night for cultivators, but there was also that black wind that had blown for over half a year. No one knew where it came from, making the desert's conditions far from normal.

The scenery appearing within the rainbow light resembled a mirage in the desert, seeming illusory and highly unreal.

It was rare to witness such an anomaly. Even if it were a mirage, it still compelled them to approach and investigate.

Ning Yuzhou, being decisive, immediately said, "Let's go take a look."

They then changed direction and headed towards where the rainbow light appeared.

Flying above the desert with their magical tools, they noticed that the creatures in the desert were also converging on that spot, as if something was attracting them. Looking down, Wen Qiao saw countless multi-legged creatures crawling out of the sand, densely packed, which made her scalp tingle. Among these multi-legged creatures were various insects, ants, and venomous snakes native to the desert.

Due to the appearance of the rainbow light, these creatures did not notice Wen Qiao and the others above, showing no signs of aggression.

As they approached, the scene within the rainbow light became clearer. It was a Floating Island, lush with green mountains and clear waters, exuding abundant spiritual energy. From afar, it looked like an oasis in the desert.

Wen Qiao thought, perhaps this could be considered an unconventional oasis in the desert?

Having traveled through this desert for over half a month, all they had seen was endless sand, without even a blade of grass, let alone an oasis. Even in shifting deserts, one could occasionally find oases, but here, there wasn't a single one. Considering the black wind that had blown for half a year, Wen Qiao speculated that it might be the reason for the absence of oases.

The desert creatures on the ground had already arrived at the Floating Island and were surging towards the rainbow light.

The rainbow light seemed like a large cocoon, enveloping the Floating Island. When the creatures entered the rainbow light, they instantly vanished within it.

Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou did not rush in. They stopped nearby and observed the rainbow light and the Floating Island within. When they saw the desert creatures disappear inside, Wen Qiao keenly noticed that they were not entering the island but falling into a pit beneath it.

There was indeed a deep pit beneath the Floating Island, filled with multi-legged creatures and various insects, ants, and venomous snakes.

It seemed these desert creatures could not enter the Floating Island. When they approached, they were blocked by an invisible force and fell into the pit below.

After observing for a while, Ning Yuzhou said, "Let's go over and try."

Wen Qiao agreed. For safety, she held his hand and flew towards the rainbow light, with two demonic beasts tightly clinging to her shoulders.

Ning Yuzhou glanced at their clasped hands and smiled slightly.

When they entered the rainbow light, they felt nothing unusual. Wen Qiao threw out her long whip, which latched onto a plant on the island. With a leap, they landed on the Floating Island along with the two beasts.

A rich aura of spiritual energy enveloped them, dispelling the desert's heat, leaving only a comfortable coolness.

"This island is real!" Wen Qiao exclaimed in surprise.

Not only was it real, but the island was also covered with spiritual plants, and some spiritual beasts hiding among them peeked curiously at them, gentle and harmless.

The two demonic beasts, tired from the desert's extreme temperature changes, found this place wonderful. Seeing the fruit-laden spiritual trees, they jumped onto one and began munching on the red fruits.

Both Wen Tuantuan and Wen Guangun were omnivorous demonic beasts and were delighted by the abundance of spiritual fruits.

Wen Qiao was also delighted because the island was home to many spiritual herbs and medicines. Everywhere she looked, there were plenty of century-old, millennium-old, and even ten-thousand-year-old plants.

However, she did not rush to harvest them but released her divine sense to inspect the Floating Island thoroughly.

The island was small—almost tiny—but it was rich in spiritual energy and abundant in spiritual plants, with little danger.

The Floating Island felt like an oasis in the desert, nurturing various spiritual plants.

Considering the black wind that had blown for half a year, Ning Yuzhou had a realization.

"Husband, there are so many spiritual plants here, including ninth-grade Longyi Flowers and Starry Sky Tianyuan Fruits..." Wen Qiao exclaimed excitedly, darting towards the Starry Sky Tianyuan Fruit tree.

Ning Yuzhou looked over and saw the half-zhang-tall Starry Sky Tianyuan Fruit tree, bearing five white-skinned fruits nestled among the green leaves, glowing like stars.

Wen Qiao carefully picked the five Starry Sky Tianyuan Fruits and placed them in a jade box.

After picking the Starry Sky Tianyuan Fruits, she gently touched the tree, infusing it with some primordial spirit energy to help it grow better.

Next, she dug up the Longyi Flower.

After digging up the Longyi Flower, Wen Qiao sighed, "This island looks small, yet it can nurture two ninth-grade spiritual herbs and medicines. That's truly remarkable. Husband, do you think this place is a secret realm?"

Only a secluded secret realm, undisturbed by cultivators, could nurture so many valuable things.

Ning Yuzhou walked around the island, casually plucking a hanging spiritual fruit from a branch. The fruit was bright red, emitting a sweet fragrance, incredibly tempting. He handed the fruit to Wen Qiao, who took a bite, clearly enjoying its taste, her face showing satisfaction.

Seeing her cheeks puffed up as she chewed the fruit, he couldn't help but smile and said, "It's probably not a secret realm, but few cultivators can come here."

Wen Qiao tilted her head and looked at him, thinking about the black wind that had blown for half a year, and asked, "Is it because of the black wind?"

"Perhaps."

Having traveled through the desert for half a month without seeing anyone, it was evident that this place was rarely visited. The sudden appearance of the Floating Island in the desert allowed it to have so many good things, benefiting them greatly.

Besides the Longyi Flower and Starry Sky Tianyuan Fruits, there were many other spiritual herbs that were rarely seen outside. Wen Qiao carefully transplanted a couple of each into her space.

"Husband, do you think this place is located deep in the desert, making it dangerous, which is why the continent's teleportation array is set up here?" Wen Qiao asked while digging up spiritual herbs. "The person who set up the teleportation array must not want too many people to know about it, so they chose this place."

"That's possible."

After discussing the teleportation array and the Floating Island, they continued to pick spiritual fruits.

Wen Guangun and Wen Tuantuan had climbed up the trees, finding some spiritual fruits delicious and others equally tasty, quickly filling their bellies.

The island had many types of spiritual trees, laden with fruits of various colors—red, yellow, green, purple... Each type was fragrant and delicious. Ning Yuzhou thought they could be used as flavorings, adding some juice when roasting meat, which would surely be very tasty.

Hearing his words, Wen Guangun and Wen Tuantuan looked at him with bright eyes, eager to taste the fruits.

Ning Yuzhou ignored them and picked the spirit fruits with Wen Qiao.

This island was indeed small; they finished picking all the spirit fruits on the island in just half a day.

After digging up the spirit herbs and picking the spirit fruits, the two decided to leave.

When they left Floating Island, they saw the dense swarm of multi-legged creatures and venomous insects outside, almost getting swarmed by them. The long whip lashed out, creating a bloody path through the chaos.

Only after they successfully left Floating Island did they look back and see that many desert creatures had gathered below the island, their numbers reaching a terrifying level. At this moment, the rainbow light surrounding the island was dimmer than before, gradually fading.

By nightfall, the rainbow light had completely disappeared, and Floating Island vanished along with it.

Wen Qiao exclaimed in surprise.

Ning Yuzhou said, "It seems the rainbow light is a barrier protecting Floating Island. When the light fades, the island disappears too." As for where the island went, they didn't know.

Thus, they understood that the rainbow light not only protected Floating Island but also prevented the crazed desert creatures from entering. Otherwise, if they were allowed in, there wouldn't be enough for them to eat. They weren't sure why cultivators could enter, though.

Wen Qiao summarized, "This place is quite magical. I wonder if we'll encounter Floating Island again."

The well-fed Wen Tutu and Wen Guangun agreed with her, hoping to encounter Floating Island again. Staying on Floating Island was more comfortable than being outside, as it was a world entirely different from the desert.

After Floating Island disappeared, the crazed creatures noticed them again. Wen Qiao quickly pulled Ning Yuzhou away and continued flying east.

Perhaps Wen Qiao's luck was really good; the next day, while traveling, they saw the rainbow light in the distance. Following the swarm of frenzied desert creatures, they found Floating Island within the rainbow light and flew in without hesitation.

This Floating Island was slightly larger than the previous one, also filled with spirit plants. They happily began their treasure hunt, transplanting some spirit plants into their space and picking plenty of spirit fruits.

They left Floating Island when the rainbow light surrounding it was about to fade.

Wen Qiao patted her storage bag and said to Ning Yuzhou, "Husband, the space is running out. I've picked many spirit herbs that aren't in our space, but unfortunately, there's no room to plant them."

Ning Yuzhou replied, "...I will work hard to cultivate."

Hearing his words, Wen Qiao felt a pang of guilt, wondering if she was putting too much pressure on him. She quickly said, "It's okay. I can wait until the space expands before planting them."

Ning Yuzhou smiled and gently ruffled her hair.

In the following days, they consciously searched for Floating Islands in the desert.

These Floating Islands varied in size, each rich in spirit energy and filled with spirit herbs and plants. An uninformed person might think they were meticulously maintained spirit herb gardens of some sect.

Apart from this, they encountered many dangers, especially the sand lizards inhabiting the desert, which they couldn't handle. Whenever they spotted a sand lizard, Ning Yuzhou would immediately pull Wen Qiao into their space.

Although sand lizards had low intelligence, their senses were extremely sharp. No matter where they hid, they couldn't escape its pursuit unless they hid in their space.

This made them understand why they hadn't seen any cultivators in this area.

With sand lizards around, cultivators couldn't come here to seek treasures. Even if they knew about the Floating Islands, they lacked the strength to reach them.

Knowing there were Floating Islands in the desert, they didn't rush to leave, wandering and searching for them.

Two months passed. When they passed by a Floating Island, they noticed the rainbow light around it had become very dim, indicating it would soon disappear, so they didn't enter.

Just as they were about to bypass the island and leave, a female cultivator emerged from Floating Island, fleeing in panic.

Soon after, two other cultivators flew out, chasing the panicked female cultivator.

Seeing these three people, Wen Qiao's spirits lifted.

Having been in this unfamiliar continent for nearly a year, they finally encountered others.

Wen Qiao was overjoyed but didn't act rashly, deciding to observe first and figure out what was happening.

Unfortunately, although she wanted to observe, the three had already spotted them—there were few hiding places in the desert, making it easy to spot anyone nearby.

The panicked female cultivator, seeing them, showed a look of joy and quickly called out, "Fellow Daoists ahead, please help me. I will reward you handsomely."

Neither Wen Qiao nor Ning Yuzhou moved. Instead, they looked at the two cultivators chasing her, a man and a woman.

Upon seeing Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou, the two pursuers showed displeasure but didn't give up, quickly intercepting the female cultivator.

The intercepted female cultivator was beautiful and graceful, holding two thin spirit daggers in her hands, which she swung at them.

The male cultivator blocked her attack and struck her chest without hesitation.

The female cultivator spat out blood and flew backward, crashing heavily into the sand.

The female cultivator accompanying the man saw this and smiled maliciously, saying, "Su Molan, where do you think you're going this time? Look how unsuccessful you are; no one wants to save a wretch like you!"

She turned to Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou, saying, "Fellow Daoists, this woman is Su Molan. You must have heard of her. Don't be fooled by her pitiful appearance. This woman is deeply scheming and has deceived countless innocent men..."

"You're lying! I haven't done those things!" Su Molan shouted, tears in her eyes. "Don't slander me for what I haven't done."

"Hah, whether you've done them or not? Do you want me to reveal your past misdeeds in front of these fellow daoists? Su Molan, you may be shameless, but I still have my dignity."