Chapter 162: Ten‑Hundred‑Thousand Mountains

Three days passed just like that.

Chen Shicheng logged into the game once more, and after nearly half a month of traveling, finally arrived at the destination of this journey, the Ten‑Hundred‑Thousand Mountains!

Of course, it's only nearby; although there are some rolling mountains along the coast, they are still some distance away compared to the Ten‑Hundred‑Thousand Mountains.

After landing here, one still has to continue north for over a thousand kilometers before officially entering the border of the Ten‑Hundred‑Thousand Mountains.

Chen Shicheng first acclimated to the land at the shore, then dismantled the sail and stored it in his Storage Bag, tidied his gear, and only then abandoned the now‑useless vessel to set off on the road.

He had no intention of concealing his figure at all, and swaggered toward the place ahead where smoke rose from cooking fires.

Just before reaching the destination, Chen Shicheng checked the Cloud‑Noble player posts corresponding to the Ten‑Hundred‑Thousand Mountains, which differed from the cries of Zhongyuan inland players being hunted by Righteous Sect Cultivators.

The Dayu Dynasty Court and Righteous Sect Cultivators cannot reach in at all, so the concerns are the mountain‑claiming demons and the culturally diverse minority peoples.

Here, Righteous Sect Cultivators are actually the ones who should act cautiously; anyone who dares to provoke will be left dead on the wilderness, and no one will care about any subsequent retaliation.

Moreover, the cultivators here differ from the mainstream in Zhongyuan: although they all advance through techniques, their Skills lean toward using gu and poison, making them hard to defend against.

The local customs swing freely between simplicity and fierceness, and some players, for unknown reasons, suddenly turn pale and die instantly.

Of course, such cases usually stem from violating local taboos; as long as one proceeds cautiously, accidents are unlikely.

Or, once you become familiar here, a player's situation can be even better than a Zhongyuan player before being hunted, limited only to players.

The customs here are rather fierce: one mountain peak per village, and the natives, due to hunting or some poisons, often erupt into conflict at the slightest disagreement, resulting in rivers of blood and a chaotic spray of five poisons.

When players first appear, the encounters aren't great; a person who looks like a pampered Zhongyuan elite shows up here, surely with ill intent, while the simple mountain folk are equally naive.

Thus these players are thrown into gu‑raising pits to feed insects.

However, over time they gradually realize that these players don't seem to be the same unscrupulous Zhongyuan types who only buy low and sell high.

And whenever trouble arises, seeking these people—whether it's cleaning insect droppings or testing poison—just pulling out a crippled gu‑insect will settle it, instantly turning the situation around.

Even some crude Task notices appear; whenever someone needs help, they post the information there, and someone soon comes to resolve the issue.

By now, the Ten‑Hundred‑Thousand Mountains' Task Publishing System is more developed than Zhongyuan's wanted‑notice system; at every village gate, one can see the task demands of all tribes, a veritable ancient version of the internet.

Having these discovered pieces of information as a foundation, Chen Shicheng felt at ease on his journey; occasionally, when he met local mountain folk on the trail, they would proactively nod and greet him, leaving those people baffled, prompting him to quickly check his own gu‑laden mountain path difficulties. Even though Chen Shicheng's movement Skill was already maxed out, it still took a day and a night to reach inside the Ten‑Hundred‑Thousand Mountains, and he immediately summoned Hui Siye.

"Siye, we've arrived. How do we find the Gray Immortal Clan's stronghold?" Hui Siye, a bit excited, flew out of his mask, hovering in mid‑air dazed, and only when Chen Shicheng tried to urge him did he start chirping "chi chi chi" toward the surroundings.

The sound was faint, yet its range was vast, echoing endlessly through the boundless mountains.

Soon, a rustling came from the dense forest, and moments later countless Southern Rats swarmed, making Chen Shicheng's scalp tingle.

Compared with Hui Siye, a mouse less than a palm in size and looking cute, these Southern Rats seemed far less tractable—each about the size of a calf's leg, with black fur and bald tails, instantly giving anyone goosebumps.

Not to mention the sheer number; Chen Shicheng even spotted a Bamboo Rat among them—are they the same species? Hui Siye's entire focus was on locating the Gray Immortal Clan, completely overlooking Chen Shicheng's discomfort.

Fortunately, these rats also belong to families; after each leading rat gave a "chi chi", a small group would depart, and soon the area was clean, leaving only Chen Shicheng and Hui Siye.

However, Hui Siye's expression turned somewhat gloomy.

"What's wrong, Siye? Not going smoothly?" Chen Shicheng asked tentatively.

Hui Siye nodded, "These rat tribes nearby have never heard of the Gray Immortal's name."

"Perhaps they don't live nearby; the Ten‑Hundred‑Thousand Mountains are vast, at worst we can go elsewhere to look."

The Ten‑Hundred‑Thousand Mountains is merely a generic term; although called 'ten‑hundred‑thousand', the combined peaks and forests total no less than a million, and while the mountains vary in size, overall they are almost as large as real‑world China.

He quickly dug a hole in a nearby large tree, placed a carved Yánluó Statue inside, thereby unlocking a Teleport Point here, and then proceeded toward the not‑far village.

Just as the forum described, as he approached the village gate, he saw a massive sign made of wooden planks, its style unrelated to the locally distinctive architecture, clearly a later construction.

The sign was densely covered with Tasks, ranging from searching for lethal plants to slaying the Demon King.

Task rewards were varied: Bow and Arrow, Talisman, Spiritual Medicine, Storage Bag, Tattoo. Aside from some Spiritual Medicines native to the Ten‑Hundred‑Thousand Mountains, the rest were gear full of local flavor.

Chen Shicheng examined each, and finally pulled a young man returning to the village for clarification, finally understanding the abilities of these rewards.

What intrigued him most was the Tattoo; using special dye, one can ink various patterns onto the body, granting players myriad abilities—such as poison Immunity, fire repelling, Attribute boosts—essentially anything you can imagine, nothing the Tattoo cannot achieve.

However, to obtain strong enhancements, the raw materials for the dye are extremely demanding: the simplest version that can repel insects requires only some special Plant Juice, while a higher tier that raises Attributes needs some Demon Blood.

As for buying with money? Sorry, here they live off the mountain; money is hardly a necessity for the mountain folk, and barter is far more common.

(End of Chapter)