As Cheng Xiaofan steadied himself on the large tree opposite, the crested snake raised its head, let out a rooster's crow, and flew towards him.
In a flash, Cheng Xiaofan dodged out of the way.
As the crested snake was about to dart past him, he quickly extended his right hand.
With a flash of golden light, his hand was covered in golden dragon scales, transforming into a dragon's claw in an instant.
The dragon's claw seized the crested snake by the neck.
"Ka—"
The crested snake let out a scream and fell silent.
With a whoosh, Cheng Xiaofan leaped from the tree.
He retrieved a ten-jin empty bottle from his spatial storage, took out a short knife, slit the crested snake's neck, and bright red blood immediately gushed into the bottle.
Before long, the bottle was filled with the crested snake's blood.
Cheng Xiaofan then squeezed out more blood from the snake's neck and drank it directly.
Unlike the fragrant deer blood, this crested snake's blood had a strong腥味. However, once it entered his abdomen, it turned into a surge of heat that spread throughout his body.
At that moment, Cheng Xiaofan felt a powerful energy filling his meridians.
His bones creaked and groaned, a reaction to the sheer abundance of vital energy and essence.
He hadn't expected the crested snake's blood to contain such potent spiritual energy.
Then again, it wasn't surprising. This venomous snake resided in the spiritual realm, where all its food was imbued with spiritual energy.
Moreover, it had long guarded the auspicious cloud ice ganoderma, bathed in its aura, enough to sprout new branches from a withered stump.
Cheng Xiaofan immediately cut open the snake's belly and extracted a warm, goose-egg-sized gall bladder, which he carefully stored in a separate small bottle.
Next, he placed the snake blood and gall bladder into his spatial storage.
As for the meat of this crested snake, which grew in the spiritual realm, it was tender and nutritious. Cheng Xiaofan certainly wasn't about to discard it.
He skinned the snake, cut the flesh into pieces, and stored it all in his spatial storage.
After finishing these tasks, Cheng Xiaofan finally approached the ancient cypress tree and carefully plucked the large auspicious cloud ice ganoderma, placing it into his spatial storage.
Beneath the ancient cypress tree, two petrified demonic beasts stood guard, one on each side.
With a wave of his hand, Cheng Xiaofan beckoned the two petrified demonic beasts, which, with beaming smiles, entered his spatial storage.
Boom!
Another clap of thunder echoed.
The surrounding scenery immediately vanished with the sound.
A stretch of yellow sand was revealed.
Cheng Xiaofan leaped forward, flying towards a different area.
What unfolded before him was a towering mountain peak, shrouded in spiritual mist around its mid-section and summit. Cranes shuttled back and forth through the spiritual mist in the sky.
A waterfall cascaded down from the mountainside.
At the foot of the mountain lay a pond surrounded by blooming flowers and lush trees. The waterfall crashed into it, creating a roaring sound and sending up a spray of mist more than ten feet high.
By now, dusk had fallen.
Time in this spiritual realm was synchronized with the real world.
The only difference was that the climate here was consistently temperate, unlike the Gobi Desert, where temperatures plummeted at night, capable of freezing one to death.
Any flat patch of grassland would suffice for a night's rest.
Despite the abundant spiritual energy and the boost from the deer blood and snake blood, Cheng Xiaofan had had a long day and his stomach began to rumble.
He gathered a pile of dry firewood and started a fire.
As soon as the fire was lit, a fragrant aroma permeated the surroundings.
Cheng Xiaofan paused slightly, surprised that the firewood from this place emitted such a pleasant, clear scent.
This fragrance also contained spiritual energy.
Alas, some things couldn't be taken out of the spiritual realm.
For instance, this firewood, as well as some flowers and trees, would completely lose their spiritual energy once they left this realm.
Only certain special substances here, like celestial flowers and seeds of life, retained their spiritual energy in the real world.
Cheng Xiaofan took out a large chunk of river monster meat from his spatial storage and placed it on the fire to roast. In an instant, a mysterious fragrance exploded outwards.
"So fragrant!"
He couldn't help but exclaim inwardly, "No wonder the river monster wanted me to kill it, saying its meat was exceptionally delicious. Just smelling this aroma, I can tell!"
"It's truly humbling. Compared to this river monster meat, the immortal fish I cultivated back in Zhuxi Village are like chalk and cheese!"
After more than ten minutes,
The river monster meat was cooked.
Cheng Xiaofan sliced the meat with his knife and arranged it on a plate.
He retrieved a bottle of Thousand-Year Drunkenness wine from his spatial storage, opened it, and took a sip of wine and a bite of the river monster meat. Ah, it was simply divine.
At this moment, he activated his Dragon Eye clairvoyance and peered outside.
Under the bright moon, Lu Si and the nine non-human cultivators were all huddled in a cave. Trembling uncontrollably, perhaps from the cold or hunger.
Haha!
As a man, one must always appear caring in front of a woman.
Why not let them smell the aroma of the roasted river monster meat too.
With that thought, Cheng Xiaofan waved his hand, using his dragon power to tear open a long fissure at the edge of the spiritual realm.
Eh!
How interesting!
He had actually torn open such a fissure!
Cheng Xiaofan then took out another piece of river monster meat from his spatial storage and placed it on the fire to roast. Instantly, the mixed aroma of the firewood and the river monster meat squeezed through the crack.
The scent, carried by the wind, quickly drifted towards the cave where Lu Si and the others were.
"Ah, so fragrant!"
"Big Sister, what is this scent?"
"It smells like meat, such a beautiful aroma!"
"This is bad, smelling this scent is making my stomach churn!"
The non-human female cultivators cried out in longing.
Lu Si frowned, the alluring fragrance wafting towards her almost made her feel life was pointless.
At that moment, she understood.
This must be Cheng Xiaofan cooking some roasted meat in the desert oasis.
But what puzzled her endlessly was that the oasis was isolated from the outside world; how could the aroma of his roasted meat escape?
*Slurp*. Lu Si swallowed.
What kind of creature was this Cheng fellow?
Cook your roasted meat, but don't let the aroma out!
Ding ding ding…
Just then, Lu Si's phone rang.
She took it out and saw it was from Riel'd's number.
Lu Si immediately recalled that Riel'd's phone was already in Cheng Xiaofan's possession, so it must be that Cheng fellow calling her.
"Cheng Xiaofan, what do you want by calling me?" Lu Si asked angrily.
In the spiritual realm of the oasis, Cheng Xiaofan said with a smile, "Lu Si, why are you talking like you've eaten gunpowder? So fiery?"
"I'm calling you to ask, is my roasted meat fragrant?"
"Fragrant your head! You're spewing poison!" Lu Si roared in exasperation.