Chapter 1697: Taming the Desert Giant

Glancing at Qingfeng Li, the Desert Giant turned and prepared to run.

It knew that it had to escape from this man if it wanted to survive.

Although the Desert Giant's body was made from sand, it suspected that this man's golden flame could still do it harm. The flames were incredibly powerful, and the Desert Giant felt a sense of danger coming from them. He had no doubt that the golden flame could melt all the sand in his body.

"You want to run?" A cold glint appeared in Qingfeng Li's eyes. "But can you get away?"

Merging into the void using spatial talisman scriptures, Qingfeng Li appeared before the Desert Giant in an instant.

He then activated his vital essence and struck out with his fist, blowing a large hole in the Desert Giant's body. The Giant was sent flying, landing heavily on the ground.

But, a moment later, sand from the Crimson Fire Desert began to converge toward the Desert Giant, filling the hole in its chest; it had recovered to its original state.

Qingfeng Li furrowed his brows. "Huh, you didn't die?" He said. "Your body is actually made completely from sand? How strange."

Beside him, Sky-Devouring Snake spoke. "Qingfeng Li, this thing is practically immortal. I tried so many times, hell, I even blew up its heart. But the sand always comes right back."

Qingfeng Li nodded. "Since you won't die," he said, "then I'll just use my flames and melt all your sand."

When he finished speaking, Qingfeng Li called upon his golden flames, which appeared over his fingers again. A hint of killing intent flashed over Qingfeng Li's eyes as he prepared to cast the flames onto the Desert Giant's body and kill it.

The expression on the Desert Giant's face changed to one of terror. It had just witnessed the king of the carnivorous ants being burnt to death by the golden flame. There hadn't even been a body left behind.

The golden flames were far too powerful. The temperatures it contained were at the Saint level. The Desert Giant was just a master of the Supreme Realm; there was no way it could withstand it.

With a shocking thump, the Desert Giant fell to its knees. It put its forehead to the sand and bowed toward Qingfeng Li. "Don't kill me," it begged, "don't kill me. I don't want to die."

Qingfeng Li was left speechless. He had expected the Desert Giant to be a tough guy, but it turned out that it was surprisingly afraid to die. But then again, maybe it wasn't so strange.

Whether it was humans or demonic beasts, or any other race for that matter, all living things had an intrinsic fear toward death. No one wanted to die; everyone wanted to live.

Qingfeng Li's rolled its eyes. "You want me to spare you, I can do that. But you must agree to become my servant."

The Desert Giant's expression shifted. "No," it said, "I can't become your servant. I'm a subject of the Desert Queen. If she found out that I've become your servant, she'd kill me for sure!"

A cold glint flashed through Qingfeng Li's eyes. "Since you won't become my servant, then you can die."

He continued after a pause. "If you become my servant, you'd still have a chance at life. As for this Desert Queen, rest assured that she is no match for me. You should know how powerful my golden flames are."

The Desert Giant's eyes shifted restlessly. It seemed to be struggling to reach a decision. Finally, it decided to pledge itself to the man before him. If it didn't, it would die right now. If it pledged itself to this man, there was still a chance he would live.

With a heavy thump, the Desert Giant fell knelt before Qingfeng Li again. "I agree to pledge myself to you," it said, "I will become your servant."

Desert Giant raised a finger. From deep within its mind-space, it produced a golden sand seal. This seal appeared identical to an ordinary grain of sand, only it was made from soul energy. The seal flew directly into Qingfeng Li's hand.

Qingfeng Li stored the seal deep in his own mind-space. It appeared there, a floating grain of sand. The grain of sand took the shape of the Desert Giant's current appearance.

With just a thought, Qingfeng Li could force the grain of sand to shatter, to explode. If that happened, the Desert Giant, too, would die.

Seeing that the Desert Giant had pledged itself to him, Qingfeng Li was visibly pleased. The reason he had let the Desert Giant live was that he needed to ask it for information about the Crimson Fire Desert.

Although Qingfeng Li had obtained a complete map of the Crimson Fire Desert, it was a map from five centuries ago. During those five hundred years, some of the geography, landmarks, and the distribution of demonic beasts within the Crimson Fire Desert should certainly have changed.

For example, the king of the carnivorous ants had not been marked on the map. But Qingfeng Li had encountered it soon after entering the desert.

Qingfeng Li stared at the Desert Giant. "Right now, "he asked, "what are the biggest forces in the Crimson Fire Desert? Tell me about them."

The Desert Giant nodded. "Right now, there are three large forces in the desert," it said, "The first is a powerful human self-cultivator called the Fiery Supreme.

The second is the Desert Queen. Her whole body is made of the golden sand from the Crimson Fire Desert. She is extremely powerful, capable of consuming human self-cultivators and demonic beasts and turning them all into her own power.

The third major force in the desert are the Mirage Beasts. They can create illusions and mirages in order to confuse self-cultivators. They would trap their prey and eventually kill them."

Hearing the Desert Giant's words, Qingfeng Li nodded. He now had a clearer understanding of the distribution of power in the Crimson Fire Desert.

Combined with the five-hundred-year-old map of the Crimson Fire Desert in his possession, he had a clear idea of the area's terrain and major players, along with the locations of some of the spirit herbs.

Turning, Qingfeng Li walked to Sky-Devouring Snake's side. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Sky-Devouring Snake shook its head. "I feel like crap," it said, "I'm heavily wounded; my demon essence is exhausted. And even if you told me to walk in this damn desert right now, I wouldn't be able to."

Qingfeng Li nodded. With the power of a thought, he retrieved some healing elixirs from his interspatial ring. He placed these in Sky-Devouring Snake's mouth. "Eat these," he said. "Absorb their power and recover your demon essence."

The Sky-Devouring Snake's eyes lit up, pleasantly surprised. "Where did you get all these Supreme level healing elixirs?" it asked. "These are very valuable, I've never seen these on the Crimson Fire Continent before."

Beside them, Black Puppy wagged its tail haughtily. "You've got it the worst of any of us," it said, "First you got chased around, then you nearly die. We've been having a great time on this continent. See this guy beside us? Yeah, that's the Second Prince of the Country of Lingyun. And he's our friend."

Sky-Devouring Snake glanced at Black Puppy, eyes filled with envy. It had nearly died, and these two were living the chill life.

Without a moment's hesitation, Sky-Devouring Snake hurriedly swallowed the supreme level elixirs that Qingfeng Li had given it. The elixirs turned into a massive amount of energy, repairing its broken body and internal injuries.

This supreme level healing elixir was extremely effective. It was made entirely from treasures of the heaven and earth. In just a few minutes, the Sky-Devouring Snake's body had been fully restored.