Chapter 4: Little Cloud Mountain

An hour later, night fell.

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

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

A round exotic beast lay on the open space in the room, its eyes glowing faintly, quite magical.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

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

Lu Zhangsheng then separated a wisp of his mind to control the pangolin to walk outside.

Soon it arrived in the center of the courtyard.

He thought silently about the burrowing skill, and saw the pangolin's two claws like wind-fire wheels, quickly digging up the mud on the ground.

Because the mud in the courtyard was soft soil, often soaked by rainwater, 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 Zhangsheng controlled the pangolin to quickly burrow into the hole and then dig toward the outside of Changping County.

Although Changping County was located on the frontier of the dynasty, the population was not small, totaling several hundred thousand people.

It was considered a large 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 Mountain 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 government no longer had much energy to suppress bandits.

Lu Zhangsheng's goal for this trip was a mountain peak named Little Cloud Mountain.

This mountain was closest to the county city, neither too big nor too 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 Zhangsheng dug tirelessly forward, without feeling any fatigue.

It was pitch black all around, and the smell of mud rushed to his nose.

He didn't choose to go deeper; the mud five or six meters deep was already quite hard.

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

If a martial arts expert took action, it would be extremely dangerous.

Five or six meters deep was also the best depth he had tested.

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

On the way, he stopped to rest when tired, and chewed on some vegetable roots when hungry.

It wasn't until the early morning of the second day after departure that he arrived at 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 instantly broke through the soil, pushing 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 Little Cloud Mountain?"

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

He had never been out of the county city, only hearing about this mountain from others.

But according to his digging speed, it should be this place.

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

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

Lu Zhangsheng expanded his perception and quickly rushed up the mountain.

After activating the attribute modifier, as long as he concentrated his mind, 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 difficult to find good things.

His goal was the summit.

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

He still hadn't found anything of value.

"Has this mountain already been ransacked?"

Lu Zhangsheng's heart gradually sank.

This mountain was closest to the county city, so it was not impossible.

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

Thinking of this, he had some other plans.

If there was still no harvest at the summit, he could only go deeper into the Cangyun Mountain 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 Mountain Range, the more dangerous it was.

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

As Lu Zhangsheng gradually approached the summit.

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

"Roar, roar, roar..."

Just then, a deafening roar resounded through the mountain forest, extremely domineering and majestic.

"There's a tiger in the mountain!"

Sensing the king of beasts' power, Lu Zhangsheng's body tightened, as if encountering a natural enemy.

As the king of beasts, plus the nourishment of 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 walk around the other party now. Lu Zhangsheng became even more careful about this, and his crawling speed slowed down a lot.

He tried to make his movements as secretive as possible.

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

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

"Is there a harvest?"

Lu Zhangsheng was delighted, but he didn't rush forward, instead carefully sensing the surroundings.

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

Like a god's-eye view, the entire space presented a blue radiance.

This was the first time he had fully activated the system's perception, which was quite practical.

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

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

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 probed forward.

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

"Dragon Roaring Grass, thirty years of medicinal age."

"Treats bone and muscle injuries, non-toxic, long-term consumption can enhance constitution."

"Collect or not?"

"Collect."

Lu Zhangsheng thought silently, and saw the herb in front disappear out of thin air, leaving a small pit in place.

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

After the initial harvest, his confidence increased greatly.

He climbed toward the summit again.

Time passed slowly.

Along the way, relying on the powerful perception brought by the modifier, plus the instinct of the exotic beast, he found a few more herbs.

The medicinal age was about twenty years.

Before long, Lu Zhangsheng arrived near the summit.

The surroundings became more and more quiet, and an invisible sense of oppression shrouded the summit.

"This place is probably extremely dangerous."

Lu Zhangsheng 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 ahead.

"This is...?"

Just at a glance, he determined that this herb was much more precious than that Dragon Roaring Grass.

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

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

Soon he arrived in front of the herb and probed his front claws.

"Ginseng, ninety years."

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

Lu Zhangsheng was delighted; this was a good thing.

It was almost a hundred years old, not weaker than the Yellow Essence left by his father.

Just as he was about to collect it immediately, a sudden change occurred.

"Roar, roar, roar..."

A tiger roar shook the mountain forest, scaring the animals of the entire Little Cloud 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, staring eyes, appeared in the jungle.

Looking at Lu Zhangsheng, it was full of killing intent.

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

For this spirit medicine to mature, it had been waiting for several years.

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

Clouds follow the dragon, wind follows the tiger.

The momentum of the king of the mountain forest was perfectly displayed in front of Lu Zhangsheng for the first time.

"Damn, this spirit medicine has an owner."

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

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

"Collect, collect..."

He shouted loudly in his heart.

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

"Collection successful."

Just at the last moment when the fierce tiger approached, Lu Zhangsheng finally collected it successfully.

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

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

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

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

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