Behind Qin Ming and Xu Sheng, Chixia City shone brightly like daylight, with its tall and sturdy city walls made of blue stones, illuminating the area within.
In front of them lay a misty night, with towering mountains standing like giants, casting heavy shadows and shrouding the landscape in darkness.
It felt as if they were in two completely different worlds, one before them and one behind them.
Xu Sheng said, "After the first spring thunder, the mountains have dimmed again for a while. But in a few days, when the underground fire springs fully awaken and surge, the wilderness will present a different kind of spectacle."
Even now, things were different; most of the ice and snow had melted, and the scent of earth filled the air. Some old trees even had new buds sprouting from their branches.
"Could luck be coming?" Zhou Lin exclaimed excitedly, pointing her spear ahead.
At this moment, they had already ventured deep into the mountains.
"Is that a mutated plant? I’m about to turn my luck around!" Zhou Lin, though only in her twenties, referred to herself in such a manner due to her bold personality.
"It really seems to be that kind of special plant rich in spiritual essence, and it has just been born. We should still be able to catch up!" Xu Sheng was also taken aback.
Without further ado, the three of them dashed forward.
In the forest, on a special ancient tree, silver flowers bloomed, continuously glowing and gradually illuminating the dense woods.
Mutated flowers could cause various birds and beasts to transform. If humans consumed them, they could enhance their physique and quickly rejuvenate.
This was not the first time Qin Ming had seen mutated plants. Once, when he and Xu Yueping went to Yinteng Town, they had seen red clouds billowing and "red butterflies" fluttering along the way.
Unfortunately, they had been too far away then, and the petals had long been blown into the night sky by the strong winds.
"We really caught up!" Xu Sheng exclaimed joyfully.
In the mountains ahead, an old tree was rapidly sprouting and blooming, with radiant light and a fragrant aroma filling the air.
A gentle breeze blew, causing some petals to fall, dancing in the night like fireflies.
The blooming of mutated flowers did not follow any season or pattern, making them hard to seek out. Moreover, after their splendid display, they would completely wither and die.
Because of this, Zhou Lin and Xu Sheng were so excited; it could be said they had struck a stroke of good fortune.
"Xiao Qin, don’t hesitate, not a single petal should be left behind!" Xu Sheng reminded.
"The mutated beasts from the mountains will arrive soon, hurry up!" Zhou Lin thrust her spear forward, and with a crack, a thick branch fell down.
"Roar!" A fierce beast roared, startling all nearby creatures.
Though Qin Ming and Xu Sheng wanted to carry the entire old tree away, it was not realistic. A massive predator had already appeared in the sky, diving down toward them.
The emergence of mutated plants would inevitably cause chaos; no one could monopolize them.
"Ugh, why does it smell like blood?" Zhou Lin had just put a glowing flower bud in her mouth when she spat it out again.
"Poof!" Xu Sheng also spat, his expression changing as he quickly looked down at the roots of the tree, sensing something was wrong.
"The smell of blood is strong!" Qin Ming spoke up.
Xu Sheng's expression grew serious. "This is not a mutated plant; it has been artificially stimulated. Could it be that someone from outside wants to lure beasts here for alchemy?"
He had once been a traveling merchant and had seen much of the world. He immediately bowed toward the depths of the forest and said, "I apologize, senior, we did not mean to intrude."
"Quick, let’s go!" Zhou Lin whispered.
A large claw had already reached down from the sky, aiming to grab them.
Zhou Lin thrust her spear, and upon colliding with the claw, sparks flew. It was a nearly ten-meter-long predator, its black wings sharp as steel blades, cutting through the treetops as it flew low, its eyes shimmering with golden light.
"Roar!"
In the night-shrouded forest, a multitude of mountain beasts rushed in, a dense swarm of black shadows flying toward them.
"It hasn’t been long, and already the flying beasts and fierce animals are overwhelming us. We need to break through!"
The expressions of the three changed.
The last time Qin Ming discovered mutated plants was outside the mountains, very close to Yinteng Town, where there were no powerful mutated creatures.
Now, they were deep in the mountains, and their situation was extremely dangerous.
"The five-times mutated venomous python has crawled out from underground this early in spring!" Xu Sheng's face darkened as he faced a python as thick as a water barrel charging at him.
"Is it a spiritual creature?" Qin Ming charged forward.
"No, it’s highly venomous. Be careful of its poison mist!" Xu Sheng quickly warned.
The python opened its mouth, unleashing a fierce wind, sending a wave of colorful mist rushing out.
Qin Ming had a protective light flowing around him, and he dodged at the first moment; there was no need to fight if it wasn’t a spiritual creature.
The python was fierce; with a flick of its tail, it snapped off some tree trunks as thick as a thigh and coiled toward Qin Ming.
Poof!
Qin Ming struck down with his hammer, instantly turning the python's tail into a bloody mess, severing a section.
Meanwhile, Zhou Lin had clashed with a golden leopard twice using her spear.
Xu Sheng encountered a six-meter-tall black bear and shouted angrily, "I’ve been so unlucky lately; trouble arises as soon as I enter the mountains. You blind bear dare to bully me? I’ll take your bear gallbladder!"
Without hesitation, he charged forward and knocked the black bear down.
"Xu Ge, hurry and run! There’s a bigger bear!" Qin Ming shouted.
Xu Sheng was momentarily stunned, then his expression changed. There was an even larger bear?
With a howl, a twelve-meter-tall giant bear appeared behind the six-meter-tall "little bear," glaring down at Xu Sheng.
"Roar!" The six-meter-tall black bear seemed to be complaining.
"Could it be a creature that has mutated six or seven times?" Xu Sheng's scalp tingled as a massive shadow pounced, and a terrifying bear paw smashed down.
He turned and ran.
If it were just one giant bear, Qin Ming could consider facing it, but now the area was filled with flying beasts and fierce animals, making it impossible to stay any longer.
Most importantly, these mutated creatures regarded the three of them as flesh and blood elixirs, all eyeing them hungrily.
"Boom!"
In the end, Qin Ming collided with the giant bear once, smashing one of its paws with his long-handled black gold hammer until it was bloodied and mangled, causing it to stop pursuing them.
At the same time, this also intimidated the other mutated creatures.
Even so, the three of them were in a sorry state, having nearly fallen into the army of flying beasts and fierce animals.
"I thought I had struck it rich, but who knew I would be so unlucky, almost ending up in a beast's belly." Zhou Lin felt that things had been going poorly for her lately.
"Is there really someone from outside over there?" Qin Ming asked.
Xu Sheng shook his head. "Not necessarily; perhaps it’s a blood-red potion that has flowed out from the outside world, used by others to lure beasts."
Zhou Lin said, "Xu Sheng, did you offend something unclean when you were a traveling merchant? I feel like I’ve been unlucky ever since I came out with you."
"How could that be!"
After a fierce battle, Zhou Lin and Xu Sheng were exhausted and decided to return to recuperate, planning to enter the mountains again the next day.
"As long as we can find that kind of spiritual shell tomorrow, we won’t need to fight, because its combat power is very weak."
The next day, Xu Sheng and Zhou Lin led the way, with Qin Ming following them to a swamp, searching for a very rare type of shellfish.
This area had sparse trees, with water pits everywhere, and the muddy terrain was extensive, surrounded by faint black mist.
"Do you see that? The glowing substance in the mud is the trace left by the spiritual shell." Xu Sheng pointed to the blue slime in the muddy water.
"Be careful; last time we were ambushed here." Zhou Lin warned.
This time, they were not secretly attacked.
But an hour later, they began to flee in a panic as a group of "mud dragons" chased after them, as if they were herding dogs, causing the entire swamp to boil.
Deep in the seemingly calm swamp was a large nest of mud dragons, resembling crocodiles but with a single horn on their heads and long legs, running much faster than crocodiles.
Each adult mud dragon weighed several thousand pounds, their eyes red as they chased after them, mistaking them for egg thieves. With spring arriving, some mud dragons had already begun to lay eggs.
"Ahhh..." After escaping the swamp, Zhou Lin couldn’t help but scream in anger, as she was covered in mud, her hair and face smeared with muck.
Once a graceful beauty, she now resembled a muddy monkey, and she angrily said, "Xu Sheng, there’s definitely something wrong with you. I’ve been so unlucky since I came out with you!"
"It’s not my fault! Who knew the trace left by the spiritual shell led straight to the mud dragon's nest!" Xu Sheng was also fuming, even suspecting someone was deliberately trying to harm him.
Qin Ming was also quite frustrated; he had rolled around in the mud pit as well, and now all three of them looked the same.
Undoubtedly, Zhou Lin had transformed back into a foul-mouthed sister, cursing all the way from the mountains to the city.
Xu Sheng advised, "Don’t be angry. Tonight, I’ll go find my merchant master and ask him where spiritual creatures have recently appeared that are safe enough."
Many people in the city looked at the muddy Zhou Lin, which only made her more furious.
"Xu Ge, why don’t you let your master check if there’s something wrong with you?" Qin Ming wiped some mud off his face and said.
In fact, Xu Sheng himself was starting to doubt his life, nodding, "Alright, I’ll have him check me thoroughly tonight."
In the morning, Chixia City was radiant, and the three set off again.
"My master said there’s nothing wrong with me." Xu Sheng began explaining as soon as they met, insisting it wasn’t his problem.
"Are we really going to the Red Mist Cave? There’s a huge swarm of fire bats there, and their numbers are terrifying; we can’t afford to provoke them!" Zhou Lin shook her head.
Xu Sheng said, "We’re not going to provoke the fire bats; there’s an underground cold pool connected to an underground river where spiritual eels have appeared."
The Red Mist Cave was located in the mountain belly, and the three of them descended along a fissure. Inside, it wasn’t very dark because the mountain's interior had fire springs awakening.
"Let’s hope we don’t disturb the fire bats in the Red Mist Cave," Qin Ming worried.
Xu Sheng shook his head. "Don’t worry; the Red Mist Cave is very large, and we’re heading in the opposite direction of the bat nest."
They arrived near a cold pool in the Red Mist Cave, where the black water was icy cold, and colorful light flashed within, confirming the presence of spiritual eels.
"I’ve brought bait, fishing rods, harpoons, and large nets. I’m fully prepared; the moment of harvest is coming!" Xu Sheng said confidently.
Zhou Lin scoffed, "Don’t say such things. Ever since I came out with you, I’ve developed a psychological shadow."
Half an hour later, the entire Red Mist Cave was filled with the sound of flapping wings as a large number of fire bats took flight, overwhelming the area.
"Why are there so many?" Qin Ming felt horrified; they could never kill them all.
Xu Sheng said, "There are too many mutated insects in the mountains. This is a nest of fire bats that the city lord’s mansion specifically ordered everyone not to disturb, meant to control the pests. As a result, the number of fire bats here has grown increasingly large."
In the end, the three of them "burrowed in," jumping into the cold pool and fleeing along the underground river.
Along the way, they kept searching for an exit to return to the surface, finding only a few breathable spots. They swam for over ten miles before finally emerging from a lake in the mountains.
"Ahhh..." Zhou Lin couldn’t help but scream again, warning Xu Sheng not to ask her out next time.
"It’s not Xu Ge’s fault; I’ll go back and investigate!" Qin Ming spoke up, a cold glint in his eyes. He felt it couldn’t be such a coincidence; it seemed someone was deliberately targeting them.
Although they had escaped safely each time, a slight misstep could have led to death.
Moreover, from these incidents, it appeared that if someone was intervening from the shadows, they hoped for them—or rather, for him—to naturally lose their lives in the mountains.
"Is there an invisible hand reaching out from afar?" Qin Ming felt it was unlikely because if those people were involved, it would be ten times more intense and terrifying than what they were experiencing now.
"Could it be that some little rascal has come back? Someone I dealt with back then is now using these methods to make things difficult for me?" he speculated silently.
"What are you saying? Could he really withstand six or seven waves of heavenly light?!" In the city lord’s mansion, Meng Xinghai stood up abruptly upon hearing a report from a black-clad man.
That day, he had been drinking with a group of nobles in the Mountain God Temple, admiring the wonders above the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall, unaware of the specific situation inside the golden hall.
"Is the news reliable?"
The black-clad man replied, "That corpse collector, Xu Hai, vomited blood and died two days ago. Before he died, he told his family that his greed might have harmed a rare talent, as he deliberately let that young man endure six or seven waves of heavenly light impact, so in the end, he received retribution himself."
"Unacceptable! Hmm, you keep this matter to yourself and don’t mention it again!" Meng Xinghai instructed his trusted aide.
He waved his hand, signaling the black-clad man to leave.
Standing by the window, Meng Xinghai said, "To withstand so many waves of heavenly light impact and not die, such a talent... will make the Cui family regret it."
He smiled, saying, "A group of the most outstanding disciples from outside will compete for that legendary item, rumored to be in the spiritual cave where the heavenly light is exceptionally dense. It seems that if Qingyue were to switch to a golden-armored guard, she might obtain it and become the ultimate victor."