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Chapter 62: Discovery
Meng Zhang came up with a method to conduct a more detailed search underground to avoid missing any potential clues. He and Tian Zhen selected a predetermined location and took turns using the Earthshaking Technique.
They controlled the range of the Earthshaking Technique and enhanced its depth. Meng Zhang's talent was extraordinary, and the spells he cast were powerful. Tian Zhen had previously cultivated the Earth Element's Yellow Sand Art but later switched to the superior Fifth Earth True Secrets, resulting in a robust Earth True Qi. Using the Earthshaking Technique with the Earth Element allowed him to fully unleash its power.
After using the Earthshaking Technique, Meng Zhang pressed his ear to the ground, carefully listening for any sounds from below. If there were any signs of collapsed passages, it wouldn't escape his detection.
Once the Earthshaking Technique depleted their True Qi, Meng Zhang and Tian Zhen took turns meditating to recover. Fortunately, Meng Zhang had made arrangements with Shi Weiming, the spokesperson for the Wild Alchemists, and obtained numerous pills for True Qi recovery. They had brought most of these pills with them on this expedition, and they were coming in handy now.
Every time they searched a certain distance, Meng Zhang would release Earth Escape talismans and enter the ground to conduct a meticulous search. Even though the surrounding ground was mostly soft sand, the depth they could reach with the Earth Escape Spell wasn't too profound. If the sand monster nests were indeed underground, they would likely be buried deeper. However, if they were searching for the passages leading to the sand monster nests, the depth they could reach was sufficient.
While Meng Zhang and Tian Zhen were busy searching for the sand monster nests, Fang Yong took on the role of guarding and staying alert. The task of searching for the sand monster nests was, in fact, very dangerous. If they didn't find the nests, it would be fine, but if they did encounter the sand monsters swarming out, being slow to escape could cost them their lives.
Fang Yong's vigilance was necessary to react quickly if the sand monsters appeared.
After working hard through the first half of the night, the tired trio took a brief rest. At daybreak, they resumed their work.
Searching for the sand monster nests underground in the vast desert was indeed an extremely strenuous, monotonous, and tedious task. Cultivators with little patience might become irritable and unwilling to continue after working hard without any results. Meng Zhang and Tian Zhen were both very patient individuals, though they were starting to feel a bit impatient inside, they maintained a calm exterior.
Coincidentally, the area they were searching was adjacent to the region assigned to the Forest Mountain School for searching. During the search, they had encountered each other a few times at the boundary between the two regions.
Xu Chengxian, the Sect Master of the Forest Mountain School, was naturally optimistic and easy-going.
"Sect Master Meng, as a Grand Sect Master, why are you personally participating in the search? It doesn't match your status as a Sect Master," Xu Chengxian teased.
"What Grand Sect Master? My Taiyi Sect has only two or three cats, far fewer than your Forest Mountain School, which has a large family and many people," Meng Zhang replied with a wry smile. "If I, as the Sect Master, don't participate, there won't be anyone left to do the job. It sounds nice to be a Sect Master, but doing it is not enjoyable at all."
During their breaks, Meng Zhang didn't mind chatting casually with Xu Chengxian to relax and take his mind off the work.
The Foundation Building stage experts of the Forest Mountain School had already been summoned by Twin Success Valley to participate in the direct confrontation with the sand monster colony. Xu Chengxian brought a group of Refining Qi stage cultivators here, feeling that they were just filling the numbers.
Xu Chengxian assigned the searching work to his disciples while he roamed around, chatting with neighbors assigned to the surrounding areas.
After chatting with Xu Chengxian for a while, Meng Zhang excused himself and returned to work.
Taiyi Sect only had two people doing the work, and if he slacked off, there would be no one left to do it. The area surrounding them for hundreds of miles could potentially contain sand monster nests. However, with over a hundred cultivators from various vassal forces of Twin Success Valley, it was as if sprinkling pepper in the river—no waves were stirred.
After five days of hard work, half of the allotted time had passed, but all the cultivators hadn't achieved any results. During these five days, they had all worked tirelessly, almost to the point of not resting day or night. When they were too tired, they would meditate while sitting on the ground, recovering their energy before immediately returning to work.
At this moment, Shan Ying and Xiao Shenqiang, who were overseeing the main camp, received news that Forest Spring Watch had discovered a sand monster nest and, with the help of cultivators from Liu Family and Green Bamboo Mountain, had successfully destroyed it.
Now, Shan Ying and Xiao Shenqiang were starting to get anxious. Twin Success Valley had many Foundation Building stage cultivators and had always been overbearing, considering themselves superior to the other three forces. Falling behind in eradicating the sand monster nests made them feel uneasy.
Shan Ying and Xiao Shenqiang couldn't stay put any longer. They led a group of Twin Success Valley disciples and headed to the target area. By supervising the search in person, they could motivate the vassal force cultivators to work harder, and their personal involvement could greatly speed up the search.
As expected, the search speed of everyone increased significantly. Even Xu Chengxian, who had been slacking, had to get involved personally.
As usual, on this day, after Meng Zhang and Tian Zhen used the Earthshaking Technique, they pressed their ears to the ground, carefully listening for any movements from below. Faint sounds of trembling passages entered their ears.
Meng Zhang made a hand gesture, signaling Tian Zhen. Tian Zhen activated his True Qi to release a more powerful Earthshaking Technique, causing stronger vibrations on the ground and making the trembling sounds from below more distinct.
To confirm, Meng Zhang used an Earth Escape talisman and went underground in the direction of the trembling sounds. He knew that if it was a passage used by the sand monsters, his actions would be extremely dangerous. However, he had no choice but to confirm.
In the vast desert, it wasn't just the sand monsters that dug tunnels underground. For example, the sandworms he had encountered before were creatures that habitually traveled underground.
If the sand monster nest was truly nearby, the likelihood of other demonic beasts in the vicinity was small. The ferocious and ruthless sand monsters wouldn't spare any other beasts they encountered. The area around the sand monster nest was a forbidden zone for life, a burial ground for living creatures.
On the other hand, if other demonic beasts were present underground, the likelihood of a sand monster nest nearby was minimal. In that case, Meng Zhang's work in this area could come to an end. No matter how carefully he searched, it would be impossible to find something that simply didn't exist.
Meng Zhang ventured underground to confirm whether he had Big Luck in finding the sand monster nest or whether he had encountered a demonic beast living underground. Whatever the result, there was no need to continue the search in this area.
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