Ye Feng wasn't as complicated as Xue Yuli imagined; he was merely making arrangements based on the situation at hand.
As for the mysterious person who had placed a high bounty on him, Ye Feng didn't care much.
After all, he didn't plan to stay in the desert permanently. After purchasing gasoline in Gas Town, he intended to drive in the direction indicated by the arcane pointer.
Whether the mysterious person was from the Bald Gang, the Skull Society, or Ocean Paradise, it didn't matter much to him!
...
At noon,
A short distance from Gas Town,
Ye Feng and his group found a slightly shaded spot and began their lunch.
"Drinking milk, eating jerky, braised chicken legs, braised eggs, bread, cola...."
"You're living quite luxuriously!"
Xue Yuli exclaimed in admiration as she gnawed on a chicken leg.
"We were lucky; we found quite a few treasure chests before!"
Ye Feng replied indifferently.
Because Xue Yuli, an "outsider," was present, Ye Feng, unwilling to reveal too much information, didn't bring out popsicles and ice cream...
After all, he had opened many treasure chests himself and had heard many people describe the contents. He hadn't heard of anyone opening frozen foods!
Xue Yuli gave Ye Feng a deep look and said nothing!
After a lunch that wasn't particularly lavish but fully replenished the body's required carbohydrates, proteins, and other nutrients,
The Humvee started again, heading towards Gas Town.
...
At two in the afternoon, when the air temperature was at its peak,
Ye Feng and his group finally arrived near Gas Town.
"Ye Feng, see that flag over there? That's Gas Town, and it's also the base of the Bald Gang, the leading force among the three major factions of the Dune."
As the Humvee drove slowly, Xue Yuli suddenly pointed in a direction.
Ye Feng followed Xue Yuli's gaze and immediately noticed a flag fluttering high in the air behind a cement wall not far away.
The flag had a white background, depicting a fierce-looking, blood-red rat with a ferocious face, and a cat reduced to just bones trampled beneath the rat's feet...
"That flag is called 'Blood Rat Crushing Cat,' and it's the symbol of the Bald Gang. Their members' vehicles are also painted with a large rat."
At this moment, Xue Yuli's voice rang out again.
"Uh... this Bald Gang... I thought their symbol would be a bald head or something... Why is it a blood-red rat?!"
Ye Feng was quite perplexed and couldn't help but ask.
"What a strange focus," Xue Yuli thought, feeling speechless, but she still explained, "The name 'Bald Gang' comes from the fact that all their members are bald."
"Everyone who joins the Bald Gang is also required to shave their head!"
"As for the Blood Rat Crushing Cat flag, it's said to be related to the Bald Gang's boss, Su Shu. I don't know the specifics..."
At the end, Xue Yuli hesitated, "I only know that anyone who has fought against the Bald Gang's boss has basically been killed on the spot. Even those who managed to escape... after some time, they all died of illness..."
"And there's a rumor that an arcane energy cultivator, whose strength far surpassed Su Shu's, left unharmed after a battle with Su Shu."
"But not long after, that person died... died a gruesome death. Moreover, his wife, children, and even the entire village were wiped out... It's said that Su Shu cursed them!"
Xue Yuli said slowly, looking at the Blood Rat Crushing Cat flag that was getting closer.
"A curse?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Feng frowned, his expression puzzled.
"Yes!"
Xue Yuli nodded. "Su Shu, besides his own immense strength, also possesses a very strange ability: cursing people!"
"That arcane energy cultivator who fought Su Shu was already a Silver-level expert at the time!"
"Although he left unharmed after the battle, and Su Shu was even beaten until he vomited blood and fell to the ground, Su Shu cursed the opponent, saying he wouldn't live for more than half a month, including his wife and children..."
"It was precisely because of that battle that Su Shu, leading the Bald Gang, surpassed Ocean Paradise and the Skull Society to become the leading force among the three major factions of the Dune," Xue Yuli added after a pause.
"A strange ability... curses... wait... Silver-level expert?"
"Arcane energy cultivation levels?!"
Hearing this term, Ye Feng's eyes suddenly lit up, and he couldn't help but slow down the car.
This was the only information about arcane energy cultivation levels he had heard from others besides his system.
Earlier, in the City of Icy Frost, Ling had focused on awakening Ye Feng's innate arcane energy, especially some basic knowledge of arcane energy cultivation...
And after awakening his innate arcane energy himself, Ye Feng speculated that the system's point allocation method and the definition of strength might be related to arcane energy!
From Bronze beginner, intermediate... to the current Black Iron beginner...
According to the system, after Bronze and Black Iron, there were still Steel, Silver, Gold, Diamond...
"It is indeed the level of arcane energy cultivation... You don't know?"
Seeing Ye Feng's surprise, Xue Yuli looked at him with a look of disbelief.
"Uh, I'm not very familiar with these arcane energy cultivation levels."
"How are these arcane energy levels determined?"
Ye Feng told the truth.
"The classification of arcane energy levels... Generally, if an arcane energy cultivator is unsure of their strength level, they can go to the Golden Hall in the City of Arcane for testing."
"But very few people do this now, except for some novices and those with special arcane energy attributes!"
"Arcane energy cultivators basically judge their strength by sensing the arcane energy fluctuations of others or by engaging in combat."
"And high-level arcane energy cultivators, if their levels differ significantly, can very clearly sense the strength of low-level arcane energy cultivators," Xue Yuli quickly explained to Ye Feng, though she didn't know why he was asking.
"Is that so?"
Ye Feng frowned slightly, thinking of Bing again. He remembered that Bing was from the City of Arcane.
"It seems I need to visit the Golden Hall when I have the chance."
After Xue Yuli's explanation, Ye Feng's previous speculations about strength were confirmed for the most part.
Whether or not the system's Bronze-level and Black Iron-level power classifications were based on arcane energy, they were most likely related to it.
Especially since Ye Feng's current point allocation required absorbing arcane energy...
"By the way, how exactly did that Silver-level expert who fought Su Shu die? Did he contract some contagious disease?"
At this point, Ye Feng asked another crucial question.
"This... I'm not very clear... I only know that there seemed to be a plague spreading in the village where the Silver-level expert was located at the time."
"Most of the sick people had high fevers but also shivered all over... and had difficulty breathing, coughed violently, and even coughed up blood..."
"And the sick people developed many frightening black spots on their skin... They would die in about 10 days," Xue Yuli recalled and replied.
"And no one dares to go to the village of that Silver-level expert to this day... because everyone who goes there contracts the terrifying plague, and it spreads to a large area... Only after everyone dies does the plague subside," Xue Yuli added with lingering fear.
"High fever, chills... coughing, difficulty breathing... black spots..."
Ye Feng muttered the information Xue Yuli had just provided, frowning. He felt like he had heard these words somewhere before, but he couldn't recall them for a moment.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, the roaring sound of a massive engine interrupted Ye Feng's thoughts.