Chapter 21: Manglong Mountain

  Manglong Mountain, known as the backbone of the nine states, the first heroic mountain on the vast mainland!

  It stretches for tens of thousands of miles from east to west, passing through the borders of three major provinces: Yan Yun, Mo Bei and You Yuan, famous for its majestic and steep terrain, with many branches.

  In the vast and boundless mountain range, there are hidden deep gorges that stretch for thousands of feet. The mountain ridges are lush and green, with snow-capped peaks, providing a habitat for countless ferocious beasts and spiritual birds. Ordinary people absolutely dare not venture into it.

  Qin Yun raised his head and gazed at the distant towering mountains, feeling a sense of relief in his heart.

  Like other new disciples of the Qin family, he got up very early today, packed his luggage and set out on the journey to Manglong Mountain to complete his first family mission.

  But unlike others, Qin Yun was alone, which made him appear somewhat isolated among the groups of children.

  For newcomers, the experience of their first outing task is undoubtedly fresh.

  All the way they chatted excitedly, encouraging and blessing each other, as if the rare treasures of Manglongshan were waiting for them to pick.

  Some people even have a more beautiful vision, knowing that the mountain gate of Tiān Chéng Jiàn Zōng is in Mǎng Lóng Shān. They may meet people from Jianzong when they enter the mountain to collect medicine.

  Qin Yun was not as naive as these young men, he didn't have those unrealistic fantasies in his heart, but rather calculated how many stalks of Bileaf Grass he could collect within the seven days, and what would happen if he couldn't complete the task.

  For this task, Qin Yun made meticulous preparations.

  He brought the Qinglian sword, and also bought a good hunting bow and hunting knife in the arms shop of Qianchao City, plus outdoor supplies and herbal medicine tools, fully armed.

  But his appearance of carrying a sword and bow on his back has attracted no small amount of ridicule.

  "Where did this hunter come from? Do our Qi-refining realm warriors still need to use bows and arrows when picking herbs? This is ridiculous!"

  "Hicks are just hicks, and they really think that picking herbs is a big deal. Just follow me, and I guarantee you'll all complete the task!"

  "Big brother, I heard you found out about the growth region of Bileaf Grass from Dan Yao Tang?"

  "Alright, ahead is the Manglong Mountain, everyone can act on their own now!" The leader in front stopped and turned around to loudly say to the crowd of disciples: "Remember to pay attention to safety, absolutely do not be reckless and venture deep into the mountain. The demonic beasts there are not something you all can handle, if you get lost it will also be a huge trouble!"

  "Got it!" The young men chorused.

  They had heard similar warnings many times before, but those arrogant young masters didn't take it to heart.

  Seeing their eager appearance, Guan Shi couldn't help but shake his head.

  He had seen too many newcomers like them, but reality would teach them a lesson, only some people might have to pay the heaviest price for it.

  What the Qin family needs are those who have been tempered in hardship and danger, as for those who sacrifice, they just sacrifice, except for their relatives, no one cares too much.

  Competition within a big family is always motivating and cruel!

  Hundreds of young people entered the great mountains, just like hundreds of drops of water falling into the ocean, disappearing in an instant.

  Taking a deep breath of the fresh air mixed with the scent of trees, mud and grass, Qin Yun climbed up to a mountain ridge alone.

  After half an hour of climbing, no other figures could be seen around, the dense forest was quiet and cold, with a faint bird call coming from deep in the woods.

  This is the outer edge of Manglong Mountain, where there are no ferocious beasts roaming about, and ordinary mountain hunters can set foot, so Qin Yun did not expect to find valuable Biye grass in this area.

  He observed the surroundings from a high point on the mountain ridge and chose a direction to continue moving forward.

  The mountain forest was more and more lush, and there were no ready-made roads to walk in the forest. However, Qin Yun had several years of hunting experience and was familiar with the environment of the mountain forest, so he quickly found a hidden animal path in the trees and vines.

  He cut through the obstructing vines with his hunting knife and proceeded cautiously step by step.

  Hiss!

  Just as Qin Yun was about to leave the forest, a violent commotion suddenly appeared in the grass thicket ahead, and a huge black-skinned wild boar burst out from inside.

  Like all the invaded territories of the fierce beast, it glared with blood-red eyes, its snow-white fangs raised high, and lowered its head to charge at Qin Yun, revealing its ferocious nature!

  One pig, two bears, three tigers! In the forest, even an experienced old hunter would retreat in the face of a furious adult wild boar.

  But the current Qin Yun is no longer the little hunter from before. In the instant when the black wild boar charged in front of him, he suddenly dodged to the left, and his hunting knife switched from his right hand to his left.

  Clang!

  The Qinggang sword is out of its scabbard!

  Only a flash of sword light was seen, and the wild boar's head that had been running wildly by Qin Yun's side fell to the ground.

  The neck burst open with a gush of blood, and the headless corpse continued to run forward for several steps before crashing to the ground.

  Qin Yun sheathed his Qinghua Sword, very satisfied with his own reaction and sword-drawing speed.

  He had only relied on the combination of two basic sword styles, "Sword Drawing" and "Sword Slashing", to kill a full-grown black wild boar in one breath, which was something he could never have done before.

  With a tinge of regret, Qin Yun glanced at the prey on the ground and turned to leave.

  He came to collect medicine to complete his family's task, and it wasn't worth wasting time picking up the prey no matter how fat it was.

  But Qin Yun did not expect that in the next three days, he almost got nothing.

  ………

  Not knowing the true face of the fierce dragon, is only because I am in this mountain!

  The famous saying passed down from ancient times fully expressed the grandeur and magnificence of the Manglong Mountains. For three days, Qin Yun had been traversing mountain ridges, passing through forests and fording streams, several times almost losing his way.

  The mountain weather is unpredictable, it was sunny in the morning, but suddenly foggy and rainy, the temperature difference between day and night is huge, if Qin Yun wasn't well-prepared, he would definitely suffer a lot.

  The mountains seemed to stretch on endlessly, with layer upon layer of peaks rising and falling in a majestic rhythm. As he walked, the trail led him deeper into the mountain range, where the tracks of wild beasts grew more frequent.

  Although he hadn't encountered any truly threatening demonic beasts yet, Qin Yun understood that if he continued forward, the possibility of encountering such terrifying fierce beasts would be very high.

  The so-called demon beasts refer to fierce beasts such as tigers, leopards, and wolves in the natural world. Due to coincidental circumstances, they swallowed spiritual medicine or strange objects, or suddenly opened up their spiritual wisdom, thereby absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and the essence of day and night, resulting in a transformation that grants them special abilities.

  Yao beasts are also divided into different levels, with lower-level yao beasts having boundless strength and ferocity, or being impervious to swords and guns and moving as fast as flying, while higher-level yao beasts can swallow clouds and spit out fog, control the five elements, and rival the strongest of the pre-heavenly realm, not falling behind even the most powerful of the Lingshen boundary.

  With Qin Yun's current strength at only one layer of Qi Refining Realm, encountering even the lowest level of demonic beast would be extremely dangerous.

  If it's a spiritual beast, it's better. Spiritual beasts are different from demon beasts. The vast majority of them are gentle in nature, such as rabbits, deer, cattle, horses, birds, fish and insects. As long as you don't provoke them, they usually won't attack people on their own initiative.

  But knowing the danger, Qin Yun did not want to give up his first family task.

  The green leaf grass only grows in the shaded mountain wall rock crevices, he doesn't know how many places of mountain rocks he has searched, but not even a single blade of grass was found.

  As he watched nearly half of the task's time pass by, Qin Yun couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

  He also understood that since the Bileaf Skullcap was very valuable, there must be many people who came to the mountains to pick it every day. Over time, it was normal for this herb to become extinct in the outer mountains.

  But as they say, hard work pays off for those who are diligent. On the fourth day, in a small valley where people rarely set foot, Qin Yun finally made a discovery.

  On the moss-covered mountain wall, a few emerald-like leaves stretched out, and on one of the tender leaves, dew drops still clung to it.

  That's right, it is!

  Qin Yun couldn't help but swing his fists on the rocky wall of the mountain valley, a joyful smile spreading across his face.

  These were exactly the Bileaf Grass he had been searching for days, and they were a whole nest of them!

  Bileaf grass is a perennial herb, its medicinal properties are closely related to the number of years it has been growing. It only grows one leaf per year, and the more leaves it has, the stronger its medicinal effect.

  Qin Yun found a nest of bluish-green grass with three plants, the largest one in the middle had at least ten leaves, and the two on either side also had five or six leaves, far exceeding the family's task requirements.

  But delighted as he was, Qin Yun didn't let joy cloud his mind. He took out a medicine box from his backpack and prepared to harvest the three stalks of Bileaf Grass with his medicine pick.

  Picking herbs was not an unfamiliar task for Qin Yun, as he had followed Qin Yang to the Cloud Mist Mountain to pick herbs when he was young. As he grew older, he even picked herbs alone and sold them in Da Jing Town to supplement his family's income.

  Whoosh!

  The medicine was just about to be administered when a green shadow suddenly darted out from the rock crevice and pounced on Qin Yun's right hand.

  It was a completely instinctive reaction, Qin Yun withdrew his arm without thinking, and the green shadow crashed into the medicine shovel.

  The scene before him made him break out in a cold sweat!

  All that was seen was a thumb-thick, slender green snake with its mouth open wide, biting tightly onto the handle of the hoe, its curved fangs deeply embedded in the wood. The rear half of the snake's body was still hidden in the rock crevice.

  If his reaction had been just a little slower, he would have been bitten by the green snake with a triangular head, and the consequences would have been difficult to predict.

  This is undoubtedly what Qin Yun meant.

  He knew that many spiritual medicines had demonic beasts guarding them, and some of the better herbs might have insects or animals with magical powers watching over them. He just hadn't expected to find a poisonous snake hiding in such a small rock crevice, and he almost paid dearly for his mistake.

  However, the green snake bit too hard, its venomous fangs stuck in the handle of the hoe, and it couldn't pull them back out, giving Qin Yun the best opportunity to counterattack.

  He unhesitatingly drew out the hunting knife inserted at his waist with his left hand and cut off the green snake's head with one slash.

  This hunting knife, although far inferior to the Qingxia Sword in sharpness, is also a fine product that has been tempered and forged hundreds of times. Slaying this type of insect beast is not very difficult, unless the opponent is an existence at the level of a demon beast.

  The snake's body, cut in two, contracted back into the rock crevice, its solitary head still tightly biting the hoe, with tiny drops of venom oozing out from between its teeth.