Influenced by the Dragonelephant Temple and the sadhus, the Western Region was filled with temples and monks.
It was even more so in a desert like this.
Often, one could see groups of monks in dark green monk robes and straw sandals walking by in groups.
Most of them were mortals, though. Only a few were true cultivators.
Lu Qingshan gave the novice monk a second look.
Apart from his light red kasaya, which only a lecturing monk could wear, the novice monk's appearance was different from most people in the desert.
The monk's lips were red and his teeth were white. His features were delicate and pretty. One look and one could tell that he had a good foundation.
Lu Qingshan could even sense a lingering Qi from the novice monk.
He was clearly a cultivator.
Perhaps he'd learned some special spell or had some special Dharma artifact, but Lu Qingshan couldn't find out the monk's specific cultivation level.
This novice monk's background was not simple.
Lu Qingshan concluded.
But this wasn't something he should be concerned about.
His top priority was to gather the information he needed.
"Sir, what should we do next?" Ever since they'd entered the desert, where fire and earth elements were abundant, Qin Yitian had become much more active. She was no longer as lazy as she'd been before.
"Let's go to the East Sparrow Tribe's cultivator shop and buy the most accurate map of the Mogao Desert," Lu Qingshan said.
A map was the most important thing in such a vast desert.
Lu Qingshan pulled a passerby over and asked for directions to the largest shop in the city.
In a city where cultivators and mortals lived together, the largest shops were definitely run by cultivators.
Following the directions of the passerby, Lu Qingshan walked at a steady pace. After a while, the shop called "East Sparrow" appeared in his line of sight.
From the name, one could tell that the owner of the shop was the ruler of East Sparrow City, the East Sparrow Tribe.
Walking slowly into the shop, Lu Qingshan looked around.
Although it was the largest shop in East Sparrow City, there weren't many cultivators inside. It looked cold and cheerless.
However, the cultivators loitering in the shop all had a rough aura unique to body cultivators. Their clothes were also rough and casual.
This was due to the unique atmosphere of body cultivators.
Among the six major cultivation sects, sword cultivators focused on their lifebound swords. Their need for Dharma artifacts was relatively low.
But compared to body cultivators, sword cultivators were nothing.
That was because body cultivators cultivated their bodies.
To body cultivators, having too many Dharma artifacts would hinder their cultivation.
Moreover, no matter how many powerful Dharma artifacts were, they were still external objects. How could they be more reliable than their own bodies?
Therefore, a body cultivator would usually only have one or two magic items on them. Some extreme body cultivators would not even have a single magic item on them.
Plus, most of their resources were used to buy spirit herbs of body cultivators.
Therefore, according to the statistics of the busybodies, body cultivators were the poorest among the Six Cultivators of True Virtue.
Because of this, there was a saying: Rob Dao Cultivators, not Body Cultivators.
His skin was coarse and his flesh was thick. Not only was he a tough bone to chew, he was also penniless.
To make things difficult for these people, if there wasn't something wrong with their heads, what else could it be?
Lu Qingshan didn't agree with body cultivators. To him, the sword was not an external object. It was something as important as one's life.
But at the same time, Lu Qingshan didn't reject this cultivation philosophy.
After all, the path of cultivation should be full of flowers. All roads lead to Rome.
There was no best path, only the most suitable path.
Sword cultivators were the most suitable path for him.
.....
There was a white-haired old man sitting at the counter. His eyes were half-closed, as if he was resting.
Seeing Lu Qingshan come in, the old man didn't greet him warmly.
This was a characteristic of a barren place like the Western Desert.
If this were a prosperous place like the Southern Mountain Range, it would be very difficult to retain those Dharma cultivators who boasted of being superior to others with such hospitality.
Lu Qingshan didn't mind. He walked slowly to the counter. "Sir, can you give me the most accurate and detailed map of the Mogao Desert?"
Hearing Lu Qingshan's question, the white-haired old man opened his eyes. His murky gaze swept over Lu Qingshan.
"The Mogao Desert is filled with danger. Even the East Sparrow Tribe, who has lived in the Mogao Desert for thousands of years, can't say that they know everything about it.
"This map was pieced together by the nine clans from the maps of the Mogao Desert. There's no map in the entire Mogao Desert that is more detailed than this." The white-haired old man took out a map made from the skin of a demon beast. "However, the price is naturally not cheap. I wonder if you can afford it, Fellow Daoist?"
Lu Qingshan smiled. "I should be able to afford a map."
One hand handed over the money, the other hand handed over the goods. In the end, Lu Qingshan received 20 fourth-grade spirit stones for this map. It was indeed worth a lot of money.
Lu Qingshan, who had far more wealth than the average cultivator, naturally didn't care about this little expense.
"In the Mogao Desert, do you know the areas where thunderstorms occur most frequently?" Lu Qingshan asked tentatively.
Seeing that they had just completed a big business deal, the white-haired old man was not stingy with talking to Lu Qingshan.
He opened the map and pointed at three places on the map. "Do you see the signs of these three places?"
Hearing this, Lu Qingshan quickly looked at the map carefully.
The map that he had bought at a high price was indeed very detailed. Not only did it mark out the settlements of the various small human tribes in the Mogao Desert, there were even warning signs in places where demon beasts were active.
The three places that the white-haired old man pointed at had corresponding lightning signs.
"These three places are the places where thunderstorms occur all year round in the Mogao Desert." The white-haired old man explained. "This is the information provided by the Giant Bear Tribe.
The cultivators of the Giant Bear Tribe cultivate the Body Tempering Cultivation Method with the help of lightning, so they are very familiar with the places where lightning occurs in the Mogao Desert. "
"However," the white-haired old man paused, thought for a while, and said meaningfully, "If you cultivate any Cultivation Method with the help of lightning, it's best to go to the two thunderstorm areas in the northeast and southeast. As for the one in the northwest … if possible, it's best not to go there."
"Please teach me, Old Mister." Lu Qingshan cupped his hands and said politely. His underling's eyes were already brimming with life as he handed over another Third Rank spirit stone.
The white-haired old man smiled and swept the spirit stone into his sleeve. At the same time, he explained, "The first two thunderstorm areas are the places where the cultivators of the Giant Bear Tribe cultivate their Body Tempering Cultivation Method.
Because the power of the lightning increases in a very regular pattern, from the outside to the inside, the lightning gradually becomes violent.
The power of the lightning in the outermost layer is something that even Qi Refinement cultivators can withstand for a while, and the power of the lightning in the innermost layer is something that even Nascent Soul cultivators can't withstand.
This stability makes these two areas suitable for cultivators of all realms to cultivate their Body Tempering Cultivation Method according to their own endurance.
But in the last thunderstorm area, there is no such stability. "
The white-haired old man said with lingering fear, "The last thunderstorm area is close to the deepest part of the Mogao Desert, and there are very few people there.
It was discovered by a Nascent Soul elder of the Giant Bear Tribe by chance. At that time, he thought that he had found a treasure place suitable for Body Tempering Cultivation Method.
Who would have thought that just after he explored that area for a while, when he was still in the outermost safe area, the originally weak lightning suddenly became violent for some reason.
The power of the lightning suddenly increased to the point that even he couldn't withstand it, and he could only hurriedly escape. Fortunately, he hadn't gone too deep at that time, so it didn't take long for him to escape that forbidden area.
But even so, he still suffered heavy injuries, and only recovered after a few years of recuperation.
So since then, that thunderstorm area has been designated as a forbidden area by the Giant Bear Tribe.
Even a Nascent Soul great cultivator is in such a sorry state, so it's best if this young master doesn't enter rashly … "
With the Nightwalker Ancient Jade, the white-haired old man couldn't see through Lu Qingshan's cultivation base, but Lu Qingshan looked so young and didn't have the slightest trace of lethargy on him, so his true age couldn't be that old.
In the old man's heart, Lu Qingshan was at most a Golden Elixir Daoist, and was most likely a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Lu Qingshan nodded slightly. "Thank you for your guidance, old mister."
Although he agreed verbally, Lu Qingshan knew in his heart that the Thunder-Generating Fruit was most likely in that forbidden area.
The reason was not difficult to explain.
The other two areas were the Body Tempering Grounds of the Giant Bear Tribe. If the Thunder-Generating Fruit really grew there, it should have been discovered by the Giant Bear Tribe cultivators long ago after so many years. Why would it wait until more than ten years before fully ripening and appearing in the world, thus triggering the Blood Calamity?
Having obtained the information he wanted, Lu Qingshan turned and walked out.
When Lu Qingshan's figure disappeared from the shop, the white-haired old man narrowed his eyes and fell silent for a moment. Suddenly, he took out a communication token from his sleeve and circulated his Spiritual Power, and the token immediately flashed with a faint Spiritual Light.
"A forbidden area that even a Nascent Soul body cultivator can't withstand …" Walking out of the shop, Lu Qingshan rubbed between his eyebrows with a slight headache.
He had roughly determined the location of the Thunder-Generating Fruit, but how to get it had become a problem.
The strength of sword cultivators lay in their offense, but defense had always been a big problem for sword cultivators.
Lu Qingshan couldn't overcome this flaw.
Even with the Five Elemental Sword Armor, he couldn't guarantee that he could withstand the lightning bombardment in the forbidden area.
This was no joke. If he didn't handle it well, he would lose his life.
However, he had to get this Thunder-Generating Fruit that was about to ripen.
"Looks like I can only rely on external items." After muttering to himself for a moment, Lu Qingshan came up with a plan.
He had hurried into the city. After obtaining the information he wanted, he hurried out of the city as well.
His figure shot up and headed toward the Giant Bear Tribe's Giant Bear City according to the map's guidance.
.....
In the vast desert, the wind and sand wreaked havoc and the scorching sun shone brightly.
Lu Qingshan, who had turned into a streak of light, finally encountered his first cultivator after leaving East Sparrow City.
It was a bald monk who was completely naked except for a narrow strip of cloth covering the sensitive parts of his lower body. He was walking barefoot in the desert.
The monk didn't activate any spiritual power to protect himself. Therefore, the yellow sand, which was as hot as iron on a hot pan, burned the soles of the monk's feet, leaving wounds one after another.
This was the most famous ascetic monk among the body cultivators of the Western Regions.
Ascetic monks weren't some kind of inheritance, but a cultivation method and belief.
Most body cultivators cultivated their bodies.
Ascetic monks cultivated their hearts as well as their bodies.
In their eyes, if one didn't have a strong heart, no matter how strong one's body was, it was nothing but a bag of skin.
If one's heart was free of distracting thoughts, one would be able to achieve enlightenment.
This was the ascetic monk's cultivation philosophy.
They forced themselves to endure things that ordinary people would consider painful in order to train their endurance and desire for separation.
The word ascetic originally meant "heat" in Sanskrit. Therefore, heat was the main method ascetic monks used to cultivate.
The various deserts became places where these ascetic monks frequented.
If an ascetic monk cultivated this cultivation method to perfection, he would probably become a piece of wood with no desires.
Having no desires wasn't bad, but at the same time, he would lose his humanity.
This was a very frightening thing. Without humanity, one could be called a saint, but they could also be called a demon.
Lu Qingshan wasn't afraid of the pain of cultivation, but he couldn't agree with the ascetic's self-inflicted suffering.
What's more, cultivation was about cultivating one's true nature, not about destroying one's seven emotions and six desires.
If that was really the case, then it was better not to cultivate "truth" at all.
Although he had some complaints about the ascetic monk's philosophy, Lu Qingshan still had some respect for this group of cultivators who could endure what ordinary people couldn't.
He slowly landed in front of the young ascetic monk and put his palms together in a monk's salute. He asked politely, "Fellow monk, do you know which direction to go to Colossal Bear City?"
Yes, even with a map, Lu Qingshan was still lost.
After leaving East Vermilion Bird City, he encountered a sandstorm. After leaving the sandstorm, he lost his way.
Although he would be able to get back on track after the stars appeared at night, he still didn't know what to do.
But since he had encountered an ascetic monk, why not ask for directions and save some time? Why not?
Since the ascetic monk dared to train in the desert, he naturally had his own way of finding his way, unlike Lu Qingshan who could only rely on the stars in the sky.
When the ascetic monk saw Lu Qingshan descend from the sky, he knew that Lu Qingshan was at least a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He put his palms together and bowed back to Lu Qingshan. He said politely, "Please wait for a moment, Fellow Daoist."
Then, he grabbed a strand of fine sand from the yellow sand under his feet and gently scattered it.
The fine sand was blown away by the wind. The ascetic monk used some unknown method to identify the specific direction from the sand. He pointed in the opposite direction of where the fine sand was drifting away and said, "Fellow Daoist, Great Bear City should be in this direction."
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist," Lu Qingshan said gratefully.
Then, Lu Qingshan rose on his sword again and continued forward in the direction the ascetic monk pointed.
The ascetic monk didn't think much of this chance encounter in the desert. He continued to walk barefoot under the scorching sun.
.....
Half an hour later.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Whoosh! Another dozen figures descended from the sky and landed in front of the ascetic monk.
The leader was an ugly male cultivator with a black birthmark on his face. His expression was ferocious, and his tone was extremely cold. "Monk, did you see any cultivators passing by in the sky?"
The ascetic monk's heart skipped a beat.
Since he had chosen to train in the Mogao Desert, he naturally had a certain understanding of the people in the desert.
As for the appearance of the person in front of him, the black birthmark was too conspicuous, so he recognized the identity of the person at a glance.
He was an evil cultivator wanted by the Da Xia Kingdom, a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, Sindhu.
Because he cultivated evil arts and harmed mortals, he was wanted by the Da Xia Kingdom. With nowhere else to go, Sindhu fled to the Mogao Desert and joined the bandits.
Using his cultivation and ruthless methods, Sindhu gradually became a small leader among the bandits. He was responsible for intercepting and killing the so-called "fat sheep" that had strayed from the group.
Mogao Desert was so vast that even a bird couldn't be seen. How could it be so easy to encounter a cultivator?
The ascetic monk knew that this Sindhu must have come for the young cultivator who had asked him for directions.
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