Tang Zheng and Evil Spirit Dog continued onward after encountering several Desert Scorpions. The presence of living creatures at least indicated a possibility of finding intelligent life in this place.
If he could obtain even a little basic information, Tang Zheng wouldn't consider this trip a waste.
But it was just too desolate.
The air was dry, and the midday temperature could reach over 40 degrees Celsius. Aside from sand, there were only gravel and pebbles.
Even Desert Scorpions, in Tang Zheng's subsequent exploration, were only encountered once or twice on lucky days. It seemed that even Demon Creatures with strong vitality found it extremely difficult to survive in this land.
Furthermore!
Tang Zheng discovered a crucial point: he hadn't found any water sources in this desert-like Gobi.
Since he arrived in this area, there had been almost no clouds in the sky, and the sun had been blazing.
The reason those Desert Scorpions could survive was likely due to groundwater.
Tang Zheng had many spare water pouches in his Item Box, so he didn't need to worry about water. Even if he emptied all the water in those pouches, there was still the Great Wine Jug he obtained from the Lizardmen.
The seventh day of entering the Gobi Desert.
Tang Zheng patted the dust off his clothes, his throat feeling a bit dry. He took a big gulp from a water pouch and handed it to the Evil Spirit Dog beside him.
"Woof~"
The Evil Spirit Dog panted, its tongue lolling out, and eagerly opened its mouth to catch the water flowing from the pouch.
As a Demon Creature with thick fur, used to living in the forest, it was clearly not adapted to the desert environment.
"Thanks for the hard work, let's continue searching." Tang Zheng poured most of the water into the Evil Spirit Dog's mouth and patted its head.
"Roar."
The Evil Spirit Dog licked the water from its mouth, nodded, and then its body quickly shrunk, transforming into a Hawk and soaring into the sky.
Tang Zheng put away the water pouch, scanned his surroundings, and walked towards a black Rock about half a person's height not far away. He raised his hand and gently pressed it on the black Rock: "Magic Mark."
Currently, he left a Magic Mark on conspicuous Rocks every so often to ensure he wouldn't get lost in this vast Gobi Desert.
He could also use this to determine the direction he was traveling through perception.
Bang! Just as Tang Zheng took his hand off the black Rock, he saw the black Rock tremble, and the ground centered on the black Rock also shook.
"This is…"
Tang Zheng raised his eyes, leaped backward, and moved six or seven meters away from the black Rock.
Boom! Boom! The sand around the black Rock began to sink, causing the surrounding sand to form quicksand, constantly converging towards the center.
The black Rock trembled even more violently, as if some creature had been suddenly awakened.
The black Rock, about half a meter high, suddenly began to rise and change slightly, actually turning into a stone head. With a loud bang, an arm made of Rock stretched out from the desert and slammed heavily on the sand. A Rock giant, entirely black and over five meters tall, crawled out from under the sand.
Boom! The Rock giant, with a vague face, looked down at the seemingly tiny Tang Zheng with its stone eyes, and raised its thick Rock arm to smash down on Tang Zheng.
"It's actually alive."
A look of surprise and delight appeared on Tang Zheng's face. Facing the Rock arm that was smashing down, he pushed off with his right foot and moved horizontally to the left.
Bang! With a loud noise, a large pit was smashed into the sand.
"All-Race Charm!" Tang Zheng activated Magic. This was the first race resembling intelligent life he had seen since arriving in this area.
This wasn't the northwestern corner of the continent where humans lived. Most of the continent was ruled by Demi-human and alien races.
Therefore, it wouldn't be strange to see any kind of strange race in this unknown region.
The Magic fluctuations spread, flashing across the Rock giant's body!
Huh? Tang Zheng was stunned and jumped backward again. The Rock giant's other arm continued to smash down, making a roaring sound.
All-Race Charm had no effect! Racial trait? Some unique races did have the ability to resist mental effects.
"If I disturbed your slumber, then I apologize."
Tang Zheng dodged the somewhat frenzied attacks of the Rock Giant, attempting to communicate, "Excuse me, where is this place? Would it be possible to have a proper conversation?"
Boom! Boom! The Rock Giant continuously swung its thick arms, smashing them towards Tang Zheng, showing no intention of speaking.
"Can't it speak? Or is it not an intelligent race, but rather some kind of unique Demon Creature?" Tang Zheng frowned slightly, seeing that the opponent not only wouldn't speak, but didn't even seem to have emotions.
Bang! Seeing that its continuous attacks consistently failed to hit the annoying little thing dodging back and forth, the Rock Giant retracted its raised arm, shrinking its entire body.
It transformed into a large black stone ball, charging forward fiercely.
The black stone ball rolled twice and was already in front of Tang Zheng, exuding an indomitable and terrifying aura! "Since communication is impossible."
Facing the encroaching shadow, Tang Zheng summoned an Iron Sword in his hand. The moment the black stone ball reached him, the Iron Sword in his hand was swung out.
Hiss—
A spark burst out the instant the blade made contact with the Rock Giant, and the originally terrifying impact speed plummeted. Immediately afterward, it rolled past Tang Zheng and came to a stop behind him.
Tang Zheng stood unharmed, putting away the Iron Sword in his hand, "Only around level 20, it really just has a body. But the hardness of the rock body is quite good."
[Gained Experience: 3271]
[Experience Bar: 11162/120000]
Rumble!
With a 'crack!' the giant rolling stone shattered into two halves behind Tang Zheng, crashing onto the rocks on either side with a roar.
Tang Zheng turned around to look at the Rock Giant that had turned into rubble. It didn't have the blood of a normal creature; it only had a shattered body constructed like ordinary stones.
"What is this thing?" Tang Zheng saw something reflecting a brown light in the chest area of the Rock Giant's shattered body.
He walked over and picked it up.
It was a black stone the size of a fist, and he could clearly feel the fluctuation of Mana.
"Item Appraisal."
...
Item: Stone Man's Heart
Level: Intermediate (21-30)
Effect: A Magic material containing earth-attribute energy. If placed underground, there is a certain probability of a Rock Giant being reborn.
Introduction: I am not yet dead!…
Tang Zheng glanced at the appraisal information and put it into his Item Box. It was a decent material and an unexpected gain.
"I have to leave a 'Magic Mark' again."
With the death of the Rock Giant, the Magic Mark on its body was also indirectly destroyed. He could only find another rock to use as a new marker.
Whoosh—
In the sky, the afterimage of the Evil Spirit Dog transformed quickly returned from a distance, and Tang Zheng also noticed something at this moment, his eyes lighting up.
Now!
About five kilometers away from Tang Zheng's location.
A wooden cart was struggling to move through the desert. Three figures were pulling it from the front, while two figures were pushing the wooden cart from behind.
These five figures were not tall, only about 1.5 meters in height, but their bodies were exceptionally strong, and one could see well-developed, bulging muscles.
The wooden cart was piled with various ores.
After the group had traveled some distance, everyone stopped to catch their breath.
"I wonder if the war at the Oasis is over."
"Haha, with that group of trash who don't even have a few decent weapons?"
"Don't joke around, this can't even be considered a war. Those lowly, stupid races don't deserve to live on the Oasis."
"That's right, our real opponents are those bastards outside Shadow Valley. We will rebuild our kingdom and take back everything that belongs to us!"
"Um, I've heard ancient rumors..."
"Shut up!"
"You idiot, you actually believe rumors like that."
"......"
The voices of five figures rang out from time to time.
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