Chapter 313

Chapter 313: Entering the Mountains

At the end of January, spring arrived, bringing warmth and blooming flowers.

The newly-built White Tiger City welcomed its best time of the year.

The Giant Whale of the Four Seas Trading Association buzzed like a diligent little bee, visiting the immortal city at the foot of Yulong Mountain time and again, bringing wave after wave of cultivators.

This made White Tiger City even more prosperous!

Just after the morning hour had passed, Wang Chen closed the door of the talisman shop.

From this moment on, the shop no longer belonged to him.

Over the past half month, besides his daily cultivation, Wang Chen had done everything he could to earn spirit stones.

Every time he crafted talismans, he fully expended his mana.

Then, the next day, he would sell the finished talismans in the shop.

Due to their excellent quality and affordable prices, Wang Chen’s business thrived.

It even sparked some jealousy and hostility from his competitors.

But Wang Chen didn’t care; just before he left, he quickly sold the shop and found a buyer.

At the same time, Wang Chen spent a significant amount of spirit stones to purchase a batch of high-quality supplies and cultivation resources through the Four Seas Trading Association, along with life-saving elixirs and spiritual symbols.

Among these were five second-level top-tier spiritual symbols, reportedly crafted by a Golden Core expert, which cost him a full thirty thousand spirit stones!

There was no choice; although Wang Chen had mastered the "True Explanation of the Upper Clear Spiritual Symbols Atlas" and learned Intermediate Talisman Making, he could currently only produce the lowest-grade second-level spiritual symbols, and his success rate was still quite low.

Additionally, he bought a few bottles of second-grade elixirs.

After disposing of some unusable magical tools and miscellaneous items, along with selling the shop and buying elixirs and talismans, he ended up with around fifty thousand spirit stones remaining.

Now, he was light on his feet as he left.

As Wang Chen arrived outside the city, a large team was getting ready to depart.

It was the Mountain Crossing Society’s expedition team!

After showing his Mountain Crossing Token to the manager, Wang Chen was assigned a mountain-steeding rhino.

The mountain-steeding rhino was a domesticated magical beast, roughly the size of a cow, with massive and powerful limbs, and its outer skin was incredibly tough and thick, reputedly high-quality material for crafting leather armor.

Despite its bulky physique, the mountain-steeding rhino was quite agile and adept at climbing, easily traversing steep slopes and rocky paths as if walking on flat ground.

Additionally, although the mountain-steeding rhino wasn’t skilled in combat, its defense was exceptionally strong; its thick skin could withstand even a wolf beast’s bite.

Thus, when crossing Yulong Mountain without the ability to fly, the mountain-steeding rhino naturally became the best means of transportation.

Along with the mountain-steeding rhino, Wang Chen also received a booklet.

This booklet was quite interesting, containing hundreds of notes on matters to pay attention to while traversing the mountains.

For example, once in the mountains, flying was strictly prohibited, whether using one’s own strength or magical tools.

Hunting and gathering were also forbidden within the mountains, and one should not stray from the group…

The details were extensive and thorough.

The most crucial rule was to obey the ferrymen’s commands and not act on one’s own.

Whoo～

As the powerful horn sound echoed, the expedition team, led by the ferrymen, advanced northward.

The Mountain Crossing Society had dispatched nine ferrymen, all at the Purple Palace Level, with the leader’s cultivation reaching the pinnacle, just a step away from forming his Golden Core!

These nine ferrymen led a team of three hundred cultivators!

Among them, over a hundred were Purple Palace cultivators, and the rest were Qi Training cultivators, all at least at a higher level, making the team quite formidable.

The mountain-steeding rhinos moved swiftly, quickly leaving White Tiger City far behind.

Seated atop his rhino, Wang Chen quickly adapted to his new mount, skillfully guiding it as it galloped forward.

As they journeyed, vast, dense forests obscured their view, yet the rhino’s speed only slightly decreased.

They pressed on until the leader was the first to halt.

He surveyed the surroundings and commanded, “We’ll camp here for the night!”

Three hundred mountain-steeding rhinos formed concentric circles, creating a defensive formation.

The cultivators dismounted and, while the sky was still lit, began felling nearby trees to clear space for the group.

Soon, a bonfire was lit in the temporary campsite.

As night enveloped them, Wang Chen sat by the campfire he had built, patiently roasting a freshly taken hind leg of a magical beast.

The meat was exceptionally fresh, with a perfect balance of fat and lean, releasing a tantalizing aroma under the flames’ "catalysis."

This drew curious glances from nearby teammates.

Most cultivators carried dry rations, eating them with spring water to stave off hunger.

Few, like Wang Chen, took the time and effort to prepare dinner, regardless of its practicality.

The next morning, they resumed their journey.

In the following days, the Mountain Crossing Society’s expedition team encountered no trouble.

The magical beasts lurking in the mountains seemed to have vanished, and the animals that occasionally appeared near the group were not monsters.

Wang Chen was secretly amazed—indeed, the Mountain Crossing Society had some tricks up their sleeves!

If it could stay this way, the long journey would be much easier.

However, disappointment awaited him.

“Fire ants!”

That morning, the leader at the front suddenly shouted in a deep voice, “Dismount and climb the trees!”

“Don’t provoke them!”

The cultivators’ reaction times varied.

Wang Chen was among the fastest.

He leaped down to the ground and swiftly stored the mountain-steeding rhino into his spirit beast bag.

The spirit beast bag was specially designed to carry the large and heavy mountain-steeding rhinos and belonged to the Mountain Crossing Society.

After stowing his mount, Wang Chen jumped high onto a tree branch.

Just as he steadied himself, a rustling sound reached his ears.

It was chilling to hear!

Soon, countless fire ants swarmed in, sweeping across large areas like locusts.

These fire ants were not very large, but their appetites were astonishing; they would eat anything they encountered, showing no disdain for any food ingredients.

One fire ant was nothing, but when their numbers reached a certain level, they became terrifying.

Wang Chen watched as they caught up to a fleeing wolf beast, which let out a spine-chilling scream and desperately tried to escape.

But in just a moment, the wolf beast collapsed to the ground, instantly reduced to a skeleton!

Even the cultivators, who usually wielded the power to call the winds and rain, were curled up on the branches.

There was no way; they could not afford to provoke them.

It was mainly due to the special environment of Yulong Mountain, where the dense forests and inability to fly greatly limited the cultivators’ ability to fight back.

After hiding in the trees for nearly half an hour, the army of fire ants finally disappeared.

Everyone climbed down, retrieved their mountain-steeding rhinos from the spirit beast bags, and reorganized the group to hit the road again.

After this experience, they had all become much more cautious.

None knew what kind of dangers lay ahead!