Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Chapter 313 Entering the Mountain

By the end of January, the warmth of spring brought life to the blooming flowers.

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

The Giant Whale of the Four Seas Commerce Association, like a diligent little bee, visited this Immortal City at the foot of Jade Dragon Mountain time and time again, bringing batch after batch of cultivators.

This made White Tiger City even more prosperous and thriving!

Just after the morning "hour" had passed, Wang Chen closed the doors of his talisman shop.

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

Over the past half month, Wang Chen had been earning spirit stones to the best of his ability, apart from his routine cultivation practice.

Every time he crafted talismans, he would expend all of his mana.

The next day, he would place the freshly made talismans in the shop for sale.

Due to their excellent quality and reasonable prices, Wang Chen's business was booming.

It even caused some envy and hostility among his peers.

But Wang Chen didn't care; he only put the shop up for sale before leaving and quickly found a buyer.

At the same time, Wang Chen took out a large amount of spirit stones and, through the Four Seas Commerce Association, purchased a batch of high-quality supplies and cultivation resources, as well as life-saving pills and spirit talismans.

Among them, five top-tier second-tier spirit talismans, reputedly crafted by a Golden Core hand, cost him a total of thirty thousand spirit stones!

There was no helping it; even though Wang Chen had learned the basics of the "True Explanation of Upper Clear Spirit Talisman Atlas" and mastered an intermediate level of talisman crafting technique, he was currently only able to craft the lowest-tier second-tier spirit talismans, and the success rate was still very low.

He also purchased several second-tier pills.

After getting rid of some magic artifacts and miscellaneous items he wouldn't need, plus the sale of the shop and the purchase of pills and talismans, Wang Chen was left with about fifty thousand spirit stones.

Now, he was leaving light.

When Wang Chen arrived outside the city, a large team was fully equipped and ready to set off.

The mountain-breaking team of the Overmountain Association!

After showing his Overmountain Order to the person in charge, Wang Chen was allocated a Guardian Mountain Rhinoceros.

The Guardian Mountain Rhinoceros, a domesticated monster beast, was roughly the size of a cow with strong, powerful limbs; its thick and tough hide was said to be excellent material for making armor.

Despite the hefty build of the Guardian Mountain Rhinoceros, it was quite agile and excelled at trekking through mountains and scaling steep slopes with ease.

Although the Guardian Mountain Rhinoceros was not adept at fighting, its defensive capabilities were extremely strong; its hide was so tough that even wolf beasts could not bite through.

Thus, when traversing Jade Dragon Mountain and without the ability to fly across, the Guardian Mountain Rhinoceros naturally became the best means of transportation.

In addition to the Guardian Mountain Rhinoceros, Wang Chen also received a booklet.

This booklet was quite interesting, as it contained precautions for traversing the mountains, with several hundred entries.

For example, it was forbidden to fly, whether by one's own power or using a magic artifact, after entering the mountains.

Additionally, it was strictly prohibited to hunt or gather in the mountain, or to leave the team without permission...

There was an extensive and very detailed list of rules.

The most crucial rule was to obey the ferryman's commands and not to act rashly.

Wu~

As the deep and resonant sound of the horn rang out, the mountain-breaking team set off northward, led by the ferryman.

The Overmountain Association dispatched nine ferrymen, all of Purple Mansion cultivation level, with the team leader's strength having reached the culmination stage, just one step away from forming a Golden Core!

The nine ferrymen were leading a team composed of three hundred cultivators!

Among them, there were over a hundred Purple Mansion cultivators, and the rest were Qi Cultivation cultivators of at least a high tier, making it a team that was not weak by any means.

The climbing speed of the Guardian Mountain Rhinoceros was swift; it left White Tiger City far behind in the blink of an eye.

Wang Chen, seated on its back, quickly got used to his new mount and steered the Guardian Mountain Rhinoceros forward at a trot.

After entering, the dense forest obscured the view, but the speed of the Guardian Mountain Rhinoceros merely slowed a bit.

They continued to press forward silently until the leader came to a stop first.

He looked around and issued an order, "We camp here tonight!"

Three hundred Guardian Mountain Rhinoceroses formed circle upon circle, taking up a defensive stance.

The coachmen dismounted one after another, taking advantage of the remaining daylight to start chopping down the trees around them.

To clear enough space for the team.

In this temporary campsite, a bonfire was quickly erected.

As night fell, Wang Chen sat by the bonfire he had built, patiently roasting the hind leg of a monster beast he had just taken out.

The leg meat was extremely fresh and had the right amount of fat, emitting an enticing smell under the "catalysis" of the flames.

It drew unusual glances from his nearby teammates.

Most cultivators carried dry food with them, munching on it with mountain spring water when they were hungry to stave off starvation.

Very few went to the trouble of making their own dinner like Wang Chen, regardless of whether such an effort was cost-effective.

The next morning, they continued on their way.

In the following days, the Overmountain Association's Mountain-Breaking Team didn't encounter any trouble.

The monster beasts hidden in the mountains seemed to have disappeared without trace, and the occasional creatures that appeared near the team were not of the Monster Race.

Wang Chen was secretly surprised—the Overmountain Association really had some tricks up their sleeve!

If things could continue like this, the long journey ahead would be much easier.

But he was destined to be disappointed.

"Fire ants!"

That morning, the leader at the front suddenly shouted in a deep voice, "Dismount, up the trees!"

"Do not provoke them!"

The reaction speed of the cultivators varied.

Wang Chen was among the quickest.

He flipped down to the ground and swiftly stored the Guardian Mountain Rhinoceros in front of him into the Spirit Beast Pouch.

The Spirit Beast Pouch was specially made, designed to hold the sizable and heavy Guardian Mountain Rhinoceros, and was exclusive to the Overmountain Association.

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

No sooner had he steadied himself, than he heard a creeping rustle that sent shivers down one's spine.

Soon enough, an indescribable swarm of fire ants blanketed the mountainsides, sweeping across a large area like locusts.

These fire ants weren't large, but their appetites were shockingly vast, eating anything they encountered without any discrimination over the type of food.

A single fire ant wasn't much of a threat, but in sufficient numbers, they became truly terrifying.

Wang Chen watched as they caught up with a fleeing wolf beast, which let out a harrowing screech as it struggled to escape.

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

And the cultivators, who usually commanded the elements, were all now crouched in the tree branches.

They didn't have a choice; they couldn't provoke the ants.

The main issue was the unique environment of Jade Dragon Mountain—dense forests prevented flight, greatly limiting the cultivators' strength.

After hiding in the trees for nearly half a two-hour period, the army of fire ants finally disappeared.

Everyone climbed down from the trees, took out the Guardian Mountain Rhinoceros from the Spirit Beast Pouch, and reassembled the team to hit the road once again.

After this ordeal, everyone became much more cautious.

No one knew what dangers lay ahead!

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The second update is here.