Li Bai ran towards Backwater City. He did not worry too much about Meng Shan, as he already set up an array to get there quickly once he was done with his business in Backwater City.
Between the Light Forest and Backwater City, there was a large desert. The desert's temperatures were completely opposite of that of the Northern Mountains, even though they were right next to each other.
Of course, Li Bai had a solution to this extreme temperature. He wore a fabric that could retain the normal heat no matter the condition, whether it be hot or cold. The fabric was made from the skins of both the Ice Serpent and the Lava Serpent, and was thus named Serpent Coat.
This Serpent Coat that Li Bai possessed was only one out of three that he made. The other two, he sold for 10000 crystals each.
Since both the Ice Serpent and the Lava Serpent were both rare creatures, as well as the fact that one needed extremely high precision and skill to craft such a thing, the price of the Serpent Coat was justified.
He could remember the buyers of one of the Serpent Coats being the Zhao clan, but he could not remember the other one.
.....
Wu Tai and his army marched along the harsh conditions of the desert.
Even though he commanded his knights to do a million pushups, he was not patient enough to wait for them to finish it all. Besides, Zhao Mei's case was of great urgency, more so than stress relief and the discipline of his soldiers.
Zhao Mei walked beside Wu Tai as they trekked along the scorching hot desert.
Even though cultivators of the Heavenly Mark could withstand heat easily, this did not stop them from sweating all over their body. Their internal cultivation only helped with making sure that they won't die, and not that they won't feel pain.
The knights also practiced a bit of external cultivation, but it was too hard for them to keep up with both internal and external that they had to drop one or the other for the other one to progress.
The effects of external cultivation was more immediatr than internal, but the latter was better in the long run. As such, most of them chose internal. Anyways, they could still practice either cultivation in their spare time.
They were now facing the consequences of choosing internal cultivation over external.
"It's so hot!"
"Is it just me, or is it scorching here?"
"Are you implying that you are hot?"
Even Wu Tai succumbed to complaining. Staring at the princess, his eyes went from desperation to desire.
"Eh... Uncle Wu, what are you doing?" Zhao Mei was starting to feel uncomfortable.
"It- it's nothing!" Wu Tai averted his eyes from the princess. Soon after, however, he found his sight drifting towards her again.
Zhao Mei felt a stare piercing through her.
"Uncle... if you want the Serpent Coat, just say it. I can withstand the heat for a short period." Zhao Mei said matter-of-factly.
"What? Who said I want that stupid coat?! Can't you see that I'm holding up just fine?" Wu Tai retaliated her claims with an angry tone.
While walking, the sky was becoming darker and darker.
"Seems like it's going to rain..." Zhao Mei uttered as she saw the clouds cover the bright sun.
This sight relieved all of the knights!
