Star Farming, the eldest lady relies on alchemy to counterattack

Chapter 208 Underground Environment
Fortunately, the army ants seemed to have a predetermined goal; they marched along a set route and showed no intention of stopping to attack Ning Xuan and her group.

However, the direction where Emperor Youlin was located was exactly on the path of the army ants.

"Di Youlin, get out of the way!" Ning Xuan called out anxiously when she saw that he was not moving.

Di Youlin's legs were already stuck in the quicksand, his feet were stuck and he couldn't pull them out. In order to prevent poisonous insects and beasts, the military boots they wore had soft leather leg wraps that covered up to the knees, making it impossible to easily shake off the military boots.

"There's something under this quicksand, and I can't pull my leg out." Di Youlin looked at the approaching army ant swarm with a fierce gaze. If they got any closer, he would have no choice but to wipe them out.

Wang Teng had already been pulled out by Lin Mo with a rope, leaving only Di Youlin trapped in the quicksand. Ning Xuan threw out a rescue rope and tied it around Di Youlin's waist. The group worked together to pull Di Youlin back.

Di Youlin was stuck in the mud and sand and couldn't exert much force. Ning Xuan and the others pulled him out quickly, even though it felt a bit heavy.

Just as Di Youlin was pulled out, the black line pressed down on the spot where he had just been.

“These ants swarm in large numbers and are quite troublesome. Hunting them is pointless. The most important advice I found is not to provoke army ants. Apparently, there are a lot of them in the desert. If you kill one colony, you'll be vulnerable to attacks from other army ants later,” Zhang Nan said quickly.

"Isn't it said that no one can come out of the Crimson Sands alive? Where did you find the guide?" Ning Xuan asked him.

“There’s a special information exchange area in the trading market. I heard someone there selling the Ten Important Things to Note About the Red Sand Sea, so I bought a copy.” Zhang Nan took out a thin booklet about the size of a palm from his pocket and showed it to Ning Xuan.

"Stop looking at that, Master, come and see what these things are stuck to the bottom of his boots!" Lin Mo called to Ning Xuan and the others.

Di Youlin had already taken off his boots, and everyone else gathered around to look at the things stuck to the soles of his boots.

The substance was crystal clear and seemed to be alive, slowly flowing. In just a short while, it had spread from the bottom of the boot to the top of the boot.

"It looks like some kind of gelatinous substance," Wang Yue said from the side.

"How could gelatinous substances be produced in this vast sea of ​​sand?" Chen Nan asked rhetorically.

Normally, only special living plants secrete gelatinous substances, but there are no plants in this desert.

“I don’t know what this thing is for, but it doesn’t look dangerous. How about we take some back and study it? That would be part of our exploration, right?” Wang Yue suggested.

"I think we should take a look at this. With such strong viscosity, it should be able to be used as a powerful adhesive." Wang Teng, wearing a pair of latex gloves, was forcefully scraping down the gelatinous substance.

“These things are buried in the sand, and it would be very dangerous to encounter a situation like the one we just encountered.”

Wang Teng tried to pry it off for a long time but couldn't. He took out a flamethrower and sprayed fire at the boots. The boots they were wearing were made of fire-resistant material and would not be damaged by short-term fire.

The gelatinous substance became more transparent and soft after being exposed to fire. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Wang Teng grabbed a small piece and took out a glass bottle he had prepared. He then took off his gloves and threw the piece into the bottle.

"Do you still want these?" Chen Nan asked, pointing to the boots.

“Yes, give it to me, I’ll pack it up.” Wang Teng took the boot directly. “Master, are we still going to look inside?” Chen Nan asked.

"No need, Zhang Nan, is the compass back to normal?" Ning Xuan asked.

"No, the compass seems to be broken." Zhang Nan looked at the compass in his hand and handed it to Ning Xuan.

Ning Xuan looked at the unmoving pointer on the compass and sighed.

"Lan Xin, Zhang Nan, draw the map according to your own judgment, and remember this location." At this point, you can only rely on your subjective impression to judge the location.

Lan Xin and Zhang Nan agreed, and the group continued deeper into the desert.

Although Ning Xuan and the others lost their way, they were all spirit controllers after all, and their sense of energy was very keen. They used this sense to move towards the direction where the energy was concentrated.

Zhang Nan and Lan Xin, who were in charge of drawing the map, were in a very difficult position.

Unable to determine direction, how could the two draw a map? In the vast desert, even the sand dunes were moving. There were no fixed plants as landmarks, nor any special mountain terrain. Without fixed reference points or direction, they could only draw a map based on their subjective understanding.

Lan Xin looked at the map she had drawn in her hand. It was nothing but sand dunes, with no valuable information left behind.

He had just tried using the Water Mirror Technique, but all he could see within a radius of several kilometers was a vast sea of ​​sand, no different from what he was seeing before him.

Lan Xin felt she hadn't completed the task assigned by her master, and lowered her head, feeling somewhat defeated.

He wanted to discuss map-drawing methods with Zhang Nan, but the master had just told them to draw their own maps based on their own judgment and not to interfere with each other.

However, the map he drew was completely meaningless, and continuing like this would only be a waste of time. Thinking of this, he found Ning Xuan and told her about his concerns.

Ning Xuan looked at Zhang Nan, who was sitting in the sand with his eyes closed, sensing something. In front of him was a tough piece of parchment. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, picked up a pen, and began to write on the paper.

About ten minutes later, Zhang Nan opened his eyes.

Zhang Nan opened his eyes and found everyone looking at him. He grinned and said, "Although the surface environment is difficult to draw, the underground environment and star trails are relatively regular. Don't worry, everyone, you won't get lost."

The map drawn by Zhang Nan did not describe the surface environment, but instead used the underground environment as a reference, showing the direction of underground rivers, the distribution of underground water sources, the special landforms underground, and so on. It also referenced the star trails in the sky, making it seem very reliable.

With Zhang Nan's map, everyone was no longer worried about not finding their way back. The group continued to move towards the direction with the most energy. On their way, the little fox also hunted down more than a dozen exotic beasts unique to the desert and dragged them to Ning Xuan.

Ning Xuan looked at the strange beast in front of her, which was dozens of times larger than the little fox. Seeing the little fox lying on the ground panting from exhaustion, she felt a pang of heartache.

"Why did you go and provoke such a big guy when you're so small? And you ran so far away, what if you encountered danger?" Ning Xuan held the little fox and tapped its head.

The little fox's two ears drooped softly, and its two front paws clung to Ning Xuan's chest, refusing to leave.