Interstellar Farming: I Make Potions and Climb to the Top

Fortunately, the Marching Ants seemed to have a set objective. They followed a predetermined route, showing no intention of stopping to attack Ning Xuan and her group.

However, Di Youlin was positioned directly in the path of the advancing Marching Ants.

"Di Youlin, get out of the way!" Ning Xuan shouted anxiously when she saw he wasn’t moving.

Both of Di Youlin’s legs were already trapped in quicksand. The soles of his feet were stuck fast, and he couldn’t pull them out. To protect against venomous insects and beasts, the military boots they wore had soft leather gaiters that extended up to their knees, making it impossible to just kick them off.

"There’s something under this quicksand. My legs are stuck," Di Youlin said, his gaze turning fierce as he watched the approaching swarm of Marching Ants. ’If they get any closer, I’ll have no choice but to annihilate them.’

By this point, Lin Mo had already pulled Wang Teng out with a rope, leaving only Di Youlin trapped deep in the quicksand. Ning Xuan threw a rescue rope, looping it around Di Youlin’s waist, and several of them pulled together to drag him out.

Di Youlin hadn’t been able to get any leverage while sunk in the sand, but with a pull from Ning Xuan and the others, he came free. Though it felt heavy, they managed to pull him out quickly.

The moment Di Youlin was pulled free, the black line of ants surged over the very spot where he had been trapped.

"These ants are a huge pain when they swarm, and there’s no point in hunting them," Zhang Nan said hurriedly. "The guide I looked up said the most important rule is not to provoke the Marching Ants. Apparently, there are tons of them in this desert. If you wipe out one colony, you’re likely to be attacked by others."

"I thought no one was supposed to make it out of the Red Sand Sea alive. Where did you find a guide?" Ning Xuan asked him.

"There’s a dedicated information exchange area at the trading market. I heard someone over there hawking a guide on the top ten things to watch out for in the Red Sand Sea, so I bought a copy." Zhang Nan pulled a thin, palm-sized booklet from inside his coat and showed it to Ning Xuan.

"Never mind that, Contractor. Quick, come and see what’s stuck to the bottom of his boot!" Lin Mo called over to Ning Xuan and the others.

Di Youlin had already taken off his boot, and the others were gathered around, looking at the substance stuck to the sole.

The substance was translucent and seemed to flow slowly, as if it were alive. In just a few moments, it had already spread from the bottom of the boot up onto the vamp.

"It looks like some kind of gelatinous substance," Wang Yue remarked.

"But how could a gelatinous substance form out here in this vast desert?" Chen Nan asked in return.

Normally, only specialized living plants would secrete something like that, but there were no plants in the desert.

"I don’t know what it’s for, but it doesn’t look dangerous. Why don’t we collect some to take back and study? That’s part of our exploration mission, isn’t it?" Wang Yue suggested.

"I agree, we should study it. With adhesion this strong, it could probably be used as a powerful adhesive." Wang Teng, having put on a pair of latex gloves, was already trying to pry the gelatinous substance off.

"But having this stuff buried in the sand is pretty dangerous, as we just saw."

Wang Teng couldn’t pry any off after trying for a while. He pulled out a blowtorch and blasted the boot with flame. The boots were made of fire-resistant material and wouldn’t be damaged by a short burst of heat.

The gelatinous substance became even more transparent and pliable under the heat. Seizing the opportunity, Wang Teng grabbed at it and tore off a small chunk. He took out a glass bottle he had prepared, pulled off his glove, and tossed both it and the substance into the bottle.

"Do you want the rest of it?" Chen Nan asked, pointing at the boot.

"Yeah, give it to me. I’ll pack it all up together." Wang Teng took the entire boot.

"Contractor, should we still go check out that area?" Chen Nan asked.

"No, let’s not. Zhang Nan, is the Compass back to normal?" Ning Xuan asked.

"No, I think the Compass is broken." Zhang Nan looked at the device in his hand and showed it to Ning Xuan.

Ning Xuan looked at the motionless needle on the Compass and sighed.

"Lan Xin, Zhang Nan, from now on, you’ll have to draw the map based on your own judgment. Just do your best to mark this position." Now, they could only rely on their subjective perception to determine their location.

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

Although Ning Xuan’s group had lost their sense of direction, they were Spirit Controllers, after all. Their perception of energy was incredibly keen, so they relied on that sense to advance toward the area where the energy felt most concentrated.

This put Zhang Nan and Lan Xin, who were in charge of mapping, in a very difficult position.

How were the two of them supposed to draw a map when they couldn’t even determine their direction? In this vast desert, even the sand dunes were constantly shifting. There were no stationary plants to serve as landmarks, nor were there any unique mountain formations. With no fixed points of reference and no sense of direction, they could only draw based on their subjective perception.

Lan Xin looked at the map he was drawing. It was just sand dunes after sand dunes, with no valuable information recorded at all.

He had just tried using the Water Mirror Technique, but for more than ten kilometers in every direction, there was only the vast desert—no different from what he could see with his own eyes.

Lan Xin felt a sense of defeat, feeling he had failed the task his master had assigned. He hung his head, frustrated.

He wanted to discuss mapping techniques with Zhang Nan, but their master had just told them to draw based on their own judgment and not to influence each other.

’But the map I’m drawing is completely meaningless,’ he thought. ’Continuing like this is just a waste of time.’ With that realization, he went to find Ning Xuan and told her his concerns.

Ning Xuan looked over at Zhang Nan. He was sitting on the sand with his eyes closed, sensing something. A sheet of tough parchment was spread out in front of him. Suddenly, he picked up his pen and began to write on the paper.

About ten minutes later, Zhang Nan finally opened his eyes.

When Zhang Nan opened his eyes, he found everyone watching him. He broke into a grin. "The surface terrain is hard to map, but the subterranean environment and the star-trails are actually quite regular. Don’t worry, everyone, we won’t get lost."

The map Zhang Nan had drawn didn’t depict the surface environment. Instead, it used the subterranean world as a frame of reference, noting the direction of underground rivers, the distribution of aquifers, and unique geological features deep below. It also incorporated references to the star-trails in the sky, making it look incredibly reliable.

With Zhang Nan’s map, the group no longer worried about being unable to find their way back. They continued onward, toward the direction of the concentrated energy. Along the way, the Little Fox even hunted more than ten Exotic Beasts unique to the desert and dragged them before Ning Xuan.

Ning Xuan looked at the Exotic Beast before her—a creature easily dozens of times the Little Fox’s size—then at the little creature itself, panting with exhaustion on the ground. Her heart ached for it.

"You’re so tiny, why would you go and pick a fight with a beast this big? And you ran so far away! What would you have done if you’d run into real danger?" Ning Xuan said, cradling the Little Fox and gently tapping its little head.

The Little Fox’s ears drooped limply, and it planted its front paws in Ning Xuan’s embrace, refusing to budge.