Chapter 240 | After My Side Profession Hit Max Level, I Transmigrated

Due to the tight time constraints, Shi Yu had worked with broad, bold movements when refining these pills. By the time the sandstorm was about to end, she had barely finished dividing the pills, leaving no time to perform the final step of spirit infusion. She had simply sealed a layer of spiritual Qi over the surface of the pills in a rush to temporarily prevent their medicinal efficacy from leaking away.

Lacking spirit infusion, these pills—or rather, pill embryos—looked rough-skinned and pitch-black. Their appearance was truly far from appealing, falling quite short of the round, smooth, and delicate finished pills in everyone's mind. They looked no different from a pile of waste pills.

In reality, however, seventy to eighty percent of their medicinal efficacy remained intact. The missing portion was merely what had dissipated due to the lack of spirit infusion.

After the old Sand Camel swallowed the pills, everyone held their breath, waiting for the result.

“Will it really work?”

“Let's wait and see...”

Although they held a glimmer of hope, deep down, no one truly believed these rough, hastily made pills could actually be effective. In the past, the caravan had tried numerous ways to resolve the issue of raging Earth-element spiritual Qi inside the Sand Camels after a sandstorm, but none yielded results. Could this young master of unknown origin really produce an effective cure just by stuffing spiritual plants into a furnace and churning them out like that?

However, what happened next caught everyone completely by surprise.

Not long after swallowing the pills, Dahuang's breathing gradually stabilized. Its nostrils twitched, no longer showing the agonizing struggle from before. The bloody, mangled wounds on its body began to heal, and its once dim, lifeless eyes slowly regained their luster.

Seeing this, everyone was astonished.

“This!”

“Heavens...”

Before they could say anything more, the Sand Camel was already able to stand up. Snorting softly and lightly tapping its hooves against the ground, it repeatedly bowed its head toward Shi Yu, clearly expressing its gratitude.

Overwhelmed with mixed joy and shock, Su Guanying looked up at it, tears welling in her eyes once more. “Dahuang, you're all right?”

The old Sand Camel let out another gentle whinny, nudging Su Guanying's cheek with its snout as if answering her.

“Dahuang is all right! Dahuang is fine!” Seeing this, the surrounding caravan members burst into cheers. Their gazes toward Shi Yu instantly grew warm and friendly, treating her as one of their own.

Su Guanying extended her spiritual Qi to inspect the inside of the Sand Camel's body. Turning her head toward Shi Yu, her expression was complex beyond words. “The lingering Earth-element spiritual Qi from the sandstorm has calmed down significantly.”

The blue-robed cultivator was equally overjoyed. Letting out a long sigh of relief, he looked at Shi Yu with gratitude in his eyes. “Young Master, thanks to your pills, Dahuang's life was saved. I was blind earlier not to realize you possessed such talent. Please forgive my offense.”

When conducting trade in the ancient desert, Sand Camels were indispensable. However, these extraordinary beasts were difficult to breed and extremely expensive. Even with the Su Clan operating continuously over many years, they had only managed to acquire seven or eight of them. Losing even a single one would be a devastating blow to the caravan.

The blue-robed cultivator's mood had gone through a dramatic roller coaster. He felt immensely relieved that when Su Guanying insisted on bringing Shi Yu and her group along, though he had been somewhat displeased, he hadn't spoken up to stop her.

If Shi Yu hadn't been here, this Sand Camel truly would have perished today. Even the camel-cart it pulled would have had to be left behind, and the resulting losses were easy to imagine.

“It was merely a trivial trick, not worth mentioning.” In the face of the blue-robed cultivator's gratitude, Shi Yu smiled slightly. Now that the pills were proven effective, she handed the remaining pills to Su Guanying. “Feed some to the other Sand Camels as well.”

Su Guanying carefully took the pills and instructed her men to feed them to the other Sand Camels. Shaking her head at Shi Yu's humble words, she said solemnly, “Fellow Cultivator Shi, you are far too modest. My Su Clan relies entirely on these Sand Camels for our trade. Traveling and resting alongside them year after year, they are our companions and family. Fellow Cultivator Shi, your selfless kindness is a favor the Su Clan will remember with deep gratitude.”

Around them, the rest of the caravan members cupped their fists in respect and shouted in unison, “Grateful beyond words, etched in our hearts!”

Meanwhile, the six traveling cultivators who had repeatedly mocked her had assumed Shi Yu was an ignorant pretender who knew nothing about alchemy. Seeing her actually refine pills with such miraculous effects made their expressions turn as foul as if they had swallowed flies. Watching Shi Yu's group gain the caravan's full recognition and be treated as honored guests made them extremely uncomfortable, and for the moment, none dared to provoke them again.

Over the next short while, after taking the pills and eating plenty of fodder, the Sand Camels quickly regained their energy and stamina. With the imbalanced Earth-element spiritual Qi cleared, their wounds healed at a rapid pace. After resting for another quarter of an hour, setting off again posed no problem at all.

The camel-carts were also repaired swiftly, leaving only minor bumps and scrapes that could be patched up on the way.

As they set off once again, Su Guanying invited Shi Yu's group to ride on the same Sand Camel with her.

“Young Master Shi, regarding those pills... I wonder if I might trouble you to refine a few more batches? My Su Clan is willing to purchase them at a high price.”

Conducting trade in the ancient desert, no matter how cautious they were, it was hard to completely avoid sandstorms. If they could stock up on these pills, they could minimize their losses should a situation like today arise again.

Refining these pills was not difficult—just a simple matter in passing—and the required spiritual plants were all common. Shi Yu readily agreed. “I've benefited from the caravan's convenience on this journey. What harm is there in refining a few batches of pills?”

Over the next stretch of the journey, everyone urged the Sand Camels to speed up, encountering no further trouble. Occasionally, a few sand worms popped out from underground or a few sand wolves leaped out from behind the dunes, but they were swiftly dealt with by the three Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators without causing any delay.

However, because the sandstorm had delayed them for over an hour earlier, and the days were short while the nights were long in the ancient desert, losing an hour meant falling significantly behind schedule.

The caravan had originally planned to spend the night at the nearest Temple of Eighteen Golden Statues. Even as they rushed along now, there was a limit to how fast the Sand Camels could pull the heavy camel-carts.

“If we try to reach the Temple of Eighteen Golden Statues, I'm afraid we won't make it in time.” Su Guanying's expression turned serious. After discussing in hushed tones with the blue-robed cultivator beside her, she decided to adjust their direction slightly and called out, “There is a small temple ahead. We will take shelter there for tonight!”

The caravan members held great trust in Su Guanying and raised no objections to her decision.

However, the six traveling cultivators grew restless, voicing their displeasure: “The protective golden light of a small temple could dissipate at any moment! How can you take such a risk?”

Su Guanying explained patiently, “At the speed of the Sand Camels, there is no way we can reach the nearest Temple of Eighteen Golden Statues before nightfall.”

The cultivators grumbled in dissatisfaction, “At worst, just abandon the cargo for now and come back to search for it tomorrow morning.”

“That's right. These goods aren't more important than lives. Why run such a risk? Miss Su, you should know better than anyone how terrible the empty spirits in the ancient desert are.”

If they abandoned the cargo pulled by the camel-carts, traveling unencumbered would certainly speed them up enough to barely make it in time. However, since they were traveling as merchants, how could they put the cart before the horse and abandon their goods?

No one paid them any mind.

Frowning slightly, Su Guanying said, “Our caravan has stayed in that small temple ahead several times before. The golden light is still relatively stable, so there will be no danger in the short term. You need not worry.”

The blue-robed cultivator didn't possess such patience. He let out a cold snort and said, “If you think the small temple isn't safe enough, feel free to head to the Temple of Eighteen Golden Statues on your own. None of us will stop you.”

The traveling cultivators fell silent. They indeed had that intention, but the landscape in the ancient desert was monotonous and repetitive. Unless one frequented the area, telling directions was nearly impossible. Without the caravan, they had no confidence they could find the Temple of Eighteen Golden Statues, so they had no choice but to stay unwillingly.

The sky gradually darkened.

In the ancient desert, the temperature dropped rapidly. A bone-chilling cold washed over their bodies and seeped into their organs, accompanied by lingering Yin Qi that proved surprisingly difficult to dispel.

One after another, everyone put on cold-resistant spirit robes and pulled out their prepared cold-proofing items, activating magic treasures, spirit talismans, and the like to barely dispel some of the chill.

Shi Yu retrieved the cold-resistant magic treasures she had prepared in advance and distributed them to Qingzhou and the others. She originally intended to use spiritual fire to drive away the cold, but sensing the Yin Qi embedded within it, she gave it some thought and simply allowed the chill to penetrate her, converting the Yin Qi inside.

“We need to hurry! We must arrive before dark!” Glancing at the sky, Su Guanying blew a sharp whistle. The Sand Camels neighed in response, accelerating their pace further.

Once the final ray of sunlight faded, the empty spirits arising from the depths of the ancient desert for unknown reasons would swarm out. Even Golden Core Realm experts would find it difficult to protect themselves against a tide of empty spirits!