Chapter 4: Xiao Yun Mountain

An hour later, night fell.

The moon climbed onto the willow branches, and the surroundings were quite quiet, with only the occasional bird call.

Lu Changsheng lay on the bed, and with a thought, he summoned the pangolin.

A round exotic beast lay on the open ground in the room, its eyes glowing with a faint light, quite magical.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

After coming out, the pangolin squeaked excitedly; it had been stifled in the system space for a long time.

Lu Changsheng then separated a sliver of his mind to control the pangolin to walk outside.

Soon, it arrived in the center of the courtyard.

He thought silently of the Drill Earth skill, and saw the pangolin's two claws like wind-fire wheels, rapidly digging up the mud on the ground.

Because the mud in the courtyard was all soft soil, often soaked by rain, it was very loose.

Soon, a deep small pit was dug out by the pangolin, with a large amount of brown mud scattered around the pit.

Lu Changsheng controlled the pangolin to drill quickly into the hole, then headed toward the outside of Changping County.

Although Changping County was located on the border of the dynasty, the number of people was not small, totaling hundreds of thousands.

It was considered a populous county in the entire Great Zhou.

Dozens of miles south of the city wall, there were some small mountains, and further south was the famous Cangyun Shan Range.

Some small mountain peaks connected together, easy to defend and hard to attack, with bandits of all sizes entrenched on them, which even the government found extremely troublesome.

Not to mention that the dynasty's situation had been turbulent in recent years, and the county office no longer had much energy to suppress bandits.

Lu Changsheng's target for this trip was a mountain peak named Xiao Yun Mountain.

This mountain was closest to the county city and was neither big nor small, making it perfect for his first exploration.

At this moment, outside the southwest city wall of the county city, five or six meters underground.

"I dig, I continue to dig..."

Lu Changsheng dug the soil tirelessly, without feeling any fatigue.

The surroundings were pitch black, and the smell of mud permeated the air.

He did not choose to go deeper; the soil at a depth of five or six meters was already quite hard.

However, if it was too close to the ground, it was easy to make a commotion and expose his position.

If a martial arts expert were to strike, it would be extremely dangerous.

A depth of five or six meters was also the best depth he had tested.

While the people of Changping County were fast asleep, Lu Changsheng had been digging hard.

On the way, he would stop to rest for a while when tired, and gnaw on some wild vegetable roots when hungry.

It was not until the early morning of the second day after departure that he reached the foot of a mountain peak.

Night, everything was silent.

The bright moonlight spilled into the surrounding jungle.

Countless pitch-black tree shadows intertwined, appearing quite creepy.

"Swish, swish..."

Just then, a slender beast head suddenly broke through the soil, squeezing aside the surrounding weeds.

A pangolin suddenly appeared on the grass, its back covered in armor, emitting a faint fluorescence under the moonlight.

"Is this Xiao Yun Mountain?"

Lu Changsheng looked at the mountain forest in front, his eyes flickering.

He had never been out of the county city and had only heard of this mountain from others.

However, according to his digging speed, this was likely the place.

Then he put away his thoughts and quickly drilled into the dense forest ahead.

The weeds around were very lush, rubbing against Lu Changsheng and making a rustling sound.

Lu Changsheng expanded his own perception and rushed up the mountain quickly.

After he activated the attribute modifier, as long as he focused his mind to perceive, he could vaguely perceive the situation within a radius of twenty meters.

Relying on this ability, he directly avoided some large wild beasts nearby.

Because martial artists often frequented the foot of the mountain, it was probably difficult to find good things.

His target was the mountain top.

Traveling forward all the way, until half an hour later, he reached the mountainside.

He still hadn't found anything of value.

"Could it be that this mountain has already been ransacked?"

Lu Changsheng's heart gradually sank.

This mountain was closest to the county city, so this possibility was not non-existent.

Some poor mountain people might also come here to collect mountain goods and medicinal herbs.

Thinking of this, he had some other plans.

If there was still no harvest at the top of the mountain, he could only go deeper into the Cangyun Shan Range.

This was also what he least wanted to encounter; this exotic beast's strength was too weak, and the closer he got to the Cangyun Shan Range, the more dangerous it was.

He didn't want to rashly lose this exotic beast.

As Lu Changsheng gradually approached the top of the mountain.

Some fierce beasts gradually increased, and the surroundings were full of the urine smell left by powerful wild beasts.

"Roar, roar, roar..."

At this moment, a deafening roar resounded through the mountain forest, extremely domineering and majestic.

"There's a tiger in the mountain!"

Sensing the power of the Beast King, Lu Changsheng's body tightened, as if he had met a natural enemy.

As the king of all beasts, coupled with the nourishment of the spiritual energy in the mountain, its strength was extremely terrifying, and even some low-level martial artists could not threaten it.

With this exotic beast body, he could only go around the other side for now. Lu Changsheng became even more careful about this, and his crawling speed slowed down a lot.

He tried his best to make his movements more secretive.

After sneaking for half an hour, he arrived not far from a cliff.

Just then, a touch of yellow appeared in the weeds ahead.

"Could there be a harvest?"

Lu Changsheng's face was full of joy, but he didn't rush over, instead carefully sensing the surroundings.

An invisible wave instantly spread out, covering the jungle within a radius of twenty meters.

Like a God's perspective, the entire space presented a blue radiance.

This was his first time fully stimulating the system's perception, which was quite practical.

If his strength improved in the future, the exploration range might also increase.

After scanning the vicinity and seeing no danger, Lu Changsheng rushed up quickly.

Soon he arrived in front of that yellow plant.

This plant was only a foot high, and the yellow flower at the top was quite bright, with nine petals.

A fresh fragrance drifted around.

He immediately stretched out his claws and reached forward.

The moment he touched the flower, a prompt sound came instantly.

"Dragon Cry Grass, thirty years old."

"Mainly treats muscle and bone damage, non-toxic, long-term consumption can enhance physical constitution."

"Collect or not?"

"Collect."

Lu Changsheng thought silently, and saw the medicinal herb in front of him disappear into thin air, leaving a small pit in its place.

Although he didn't understand medicinal herbs, this thirty-year-old Dragon Cry Grass must be worth some money.

After the initial harvest, his confidence increased greatly.

He climbed toward the top of the mountain again.

Time passed slowly.

Along the way, relying on the powerful perception brought by the modifier, coupled with the instinct of the exotic beast, he found several more medicinal herbs.

The medicinal age was about twenty years.

Before long, Lu Changsheng arrived near the top of the mountain.

The surroundings became quieter, and an invisible sense of oppression shrouded the mountain top.

"This place is probably extremely dangerous."

Lu Changsheng was extremely vigilant, and just as he was about to go down the mountain, his eyes flickered.

A touch of blood red suddenly appeared under a large tree in front.

"This is...?"

Just at first glance, he determined that this medicinal herb was far more precious than that Dragon Cry Grass.

He could smell a fresh fragrance from far away, making his blood boil.

Seeing no danger within a radius of twenty meters, Lu Changsheng rushed up quickly.

Soon he arrived in front of that medicinal herb and reached out his front claws.

"Ginseng, ninety years old."

"Greatly supplements blood and energy, non-toxic, long-term consumption prolongs life..."

Lu Changsheng's face was full of joy; this was a good thing.

It was almost a hundred years old, and it was not at all weaker than the Polygonatum left by his father.

Just as he was about to collect it immediately, an unexpected change occurred.

"Roar, roar, roar..."

A tiger's roar shook the mountain forest, scaring all the animals on the entire Xiao Yun Mountain to crawl on the ground, shivering.

Even the surrounding dense forest swayed, as if moving without wind.

A strong tiger, several meters long with round, glaring eyes, appeared in the jungle.

It looked at Lu Changsheng full of murderous intent.

To think a thief dared to steal its spiritual medicine made it extremely angry.

It had waited for several years for this spiritual medicine to mature.

The fierce tiger rushed forward quickly, and after a few jumps, it arrived not far behind Lu Changsheng.

Clouds follow the dragon, wind follows the tiger.

The momentum of the King of the Mountain Forest was perfectly displayed in front of Lu Changsheng for the first time.

"Damn, this spiritual medicine has an owner."

Sensing the incomparably powerful pressure coming from behind, Lu Changsheng's expression tightened.

His muscles were tense, as if facing a great enemy.

"Collect, collect..."

He shouted loudly in his heart.

However, every collection took a few breaths, which was a bit fatal.

"Collection successful."

Just at the last moment when the fierce tiger approached, Lu Changsheng finally succeeded in collecting it.

However, he still didn't dare to relax in his heart.

The fierce tiger approached, and even the fishy smell in its mouth rushed to his nose.

Lu Changsheng didn't have time to think too much and quickly darted into the dense forest ahead.

The distance between the two sides was too close; even if he started digging a hole to hide now, it would be too late.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 5 =====