Qin Mountain was the boundary range between the Northern Plains and the Southern Forest. It stood 5,570 meters above sea level and had three branches. Viewed from above, it roughly resembled a divination symbol: the vertical stroke stretched 2,400 kilometers, while the dot extended 660 kilometers.
With a mountain this vast, let alone four days—even forty days might not be enough for a thousand people to search it all!
The only advantage was that, besides the eight hundred Immortal Seedlings, there were another two hundred disciples at the sixth to eighth levels of the Body Refinement Realm. Their search speed might be faster.
Yang Ning did not have much on him: a bottle of Grain Abstinence Pills from Lin Tianheng, a talisman, a longsword, a bow, and twelve arrows. He had forged the last three himself.
He also had a spirit artifact chisel, one foot long and shaped like a screwdriver.
The chisel belonged to the Artifact Forging Room and normally was not permitted outside, but when Yang Ning took it out this time, Wei Daocheng pretended not to notice.
The thing was incomparably sharp. It cut through ordinary iron and steel like tofu, but Yang Ning had no idea whether it would work against cultivators. Still, he had not brought it to fight Tuo Buchuan.
Although Lin Tianheng had said that whoever found Tuo Buchuan would receive a bottle of Blood Essence Pills, such pie in the sky was fine to listen to and nothing more. The first person to find Tuo Buchuan would most likely be killed.
Once a person was dead, let alone Blood Essence Pills—even Heavenly Heart Pills would be useless.
Yang Ning not only had no intention of finding anyone, he intended to avoid Tuo Buchuan altogether.
So, the chisel was for hunting in the wild.
Grain Abstinence Pills were Mortal Pills refined from precious medicinal ingredients such as ginseng and Solomon's seal, combined with alchemical methods. After being consumed, they slowly released medicinal power over seven days, ensuring that one would not go hungry.
But Yang Ning was precisely at the stage of practicing martial arts and building Blood Qi. What he needed was meat, eggs, and milk, not plant-based medicinal pills!
Searching for a day or two was fine, but if he had to search for a month and eat Grain Abstinence Pills for that entire month, it would be equivalent to wasting a month of martial training!
For those with poor aptitude, one more month or one less month made little difference. But for someone like Yang Ning, whose strength could multiply several times in a single month, that would be sheer waste.
"Deep Blue, do you know Tuo Buchuan?"
"Vast Universe Records contains no relevant records!"
"What about the Myriad Saint Demonic Cult?"
"The Myriad Saint Demonic Cult lies north of the Taiheng Sect. It was formed from an alliance of many rogue cultivator sects. Because its members referred to the Qi Refining Realm as the Saint Realm, and roughly ten thousand Saint Realm cultivators founded the alliance, it was named the Myriad Saints Alliance. Because the Myriad Saints Alliance had loose rules and disciples of every branch ranged from fine jade to worthless stone, often acting against the righteous path, it later came to be known as the Myriad Saint Demonic Cult!"
"So that's how it is!" Yang Ning frowned. "If it's an alliance of rogue cultivators, doesn't that mean we still know nothing about Tuo Buchuan?"
After all, that sect had no unified style at all.
"The World-Ending Sky Spear wielded by Tuo Buchuan belongs to the Heaven-Shattering Earth-Destroying Dao of the Myriad Saint Demonic Cult. Therefore, Tuo Buchuan should also belong to that Dao," Deep Blue said. "The Heaven-Shattering Earth-Destroying Dao inherits a Heaven-Shattering Earth-Destroying Technique, a Peerless Dao Art said to be capable of crushing the earth and destroying the vault of heaven. It is an ultimate Dao art of offense."
"But Lin Tianheng said his magic power has already been sealed. He can't use Dao arts, and the World-Ending Sky Spear was taken from him too. Now it's become a hairpin on Wang Yi's head." Yang Ning shook his head. The Vast Universe Records was ultimately too grand in scope; when it came to analyzing the personality of a specific individual, it was not much use.
Still, Tuo Buchuan was human, and humans ought to have normal human ways of thinking.
To survive alone in the mountains, one needed not only a dry environment, but preferably a nearby water source. Yet Tuo Buchuan was fleeing for his life. How could he dare approach the water? Wouldn't that be walking straight into death?
Therefore, Yang Ning could travel along the riverbank. First, he would never lack water. Second, small animals also needed to drink, so he would not lack food by the river.
And third, he would not run into Tuo Buchuan!
That settled it!
Yang Ning had spotted a river below while still on the boat. He had calculated the team's order and deliberately landed here.
This river was called the Qin River, a tributary of the Taiheng Heavenly River. Qin Mountain was the source of the Qin River, so the river was not yet broad, only a little over forty meters wide.
Yang Ning chopped down a tree thick enough that four or five people could barely encircle it, split it into planks with the spirit artifact, and made a small boat. He used the leftover materials to make a long pole, set the boat onto the water, climbed aboard, and began heading upstream.
The vegetation here was lush, with no problem of soil erosion. The water was clear and calm, while towering trees nearly a hundred meters high flourished along both banks. Crisp birdsong rang out without end, and small animals rested and drank by the shore.
Fish swam back and forth in the river without fearing people. When he lowered his hand into the water, some fish even swam over of their own accord. A casual grab would catch a large fish.
"If this scenery were in my previous life, it would absolutely be five-star!" Yang Ning marveled inwardly. Then he carved wood into spears and, with a few quick thrusts, speared several dozen large fish.
Fish meat was still meat!
He did not dare light a fire, afraid that Lin Tianheng overhead would discover him slacking off to catch fish. If he cultivated for a while longer, he could use his Qi-Blood Field to layer heat and roast the fish. Right now, he knew nothing, so he could only eat them raw.
Fish might carry parasites, but his digestion was strong, so he did not care.
A stomach trained with Heavenly Stars Might was no ordinary stomach. It was a stomach from the Classic of Mountains and Seas!
"Raw fish seems to contain a little more Blood Qi than cooked fish?" After gutting and cleaning a fish, Yang Ning took two bites and compared it to the fish he had eaten in the dining hall. He found that raw fish seemed to provide better nourishment than cooked fish.
The difference was not large, but it truly was stronger.
Of course, the dining hall also served other meats, and those were more effective than the fish in Yang Ning's hands.
But his current conditions were limited, and he had no right to be picky. So he ate!
Yang Ning wolfed down more than a dozen fish in one go, then began practicing his fist techniques.
It was still Heavenly Stars Might. In any case, its first few layers were not much different from the Twelve Divine Forms. At most, it made his training seem somewhat miscellaneous, and his postures were not particularly precise.
After only two moves, he discovered that practicing on the water could also train his control over strength.
The current was unstable. With even a little excess force, he would sink into the water, and the stance he had set would immediately be ruined.
Yet the water's deformation followed a traceable pattern; it was not random movement. He did not need any special method. All he needed was more practice and adaptation.
On those calm waters, Yang Ning mastered the technique of practicing on water in merely two hours.
Then Yang Ning poled his little boat upstream to where the current was more rapid. The difficulty increased!
The farther upstream the Qin River went, the steeper the slope and the swifter the current. Whenever he adapted to one spot, he moved farther up and increased the difficulty. When hungry, he caught fish to eat. Once full, he continued training.
There were no sharks or crocodiles in the river. The largest creatures were carp several meters long; attacking the boat would be nothing but delivering themselves onto the chopping block. As Yang Ning trained, he discovered that his cultivation progress here seemed even faster than it had been aboard the Ascension Boat!
At night, he had originally planned to climb a tree and meditate, but as though he had remembered something, he returned to the boat.
He had long since broken through Sleeping Breath, yet he had no clue whatsoever about Entering Stillness, because the Spirit Realm could not help him meditate.
Now, seated in the rocking boat and feeling the fluctuations of the current beneath him, Yang Ning reflected his present circumstances into his mind. He imagined himself sitting upon the water's surface, rising and falling with the current.
He had tried for more than ten days aboard the Ascension Boat, yet had never found the way in.
But today, on the water, Yang Ning's mind suddenly stirred, and he felt something!
During the day, he had killed some fish, giving even the local fish that had never seen humans a psychological shadow toward mankind. Yet now, the fish in the river discovered that the person above them seemed to have vanished?
No, he had not vanished. He had merged into it, becoming part of the river.
At the same time, far away behind a waterfall, a young man holding a gray, round bead the size of a basketball stared excitedly at the bead as it suddenly began to glow.
"What, is this going to acknowledge me as its master?"
He drew a dagger and sliced his hand without the slightest concern for himself, then directly poured the dripping blood over it.
Then he watched the blood slide down the bead, not a trace of it sinking in.
"Fuck, if you're not acknowledging me as your master, why are you glowing?" The young man clenched his fists in fury, yet did not dare make any large movements.
"No!" The young man suddenly thought of something. "The Dragon Pearl can't possibly glow for no reason. But it isn't acknowledging me as its master, so could it be...?"
Who knows what was wrong with Chapter Seven.
Before you continue