Difficulty

The sky finally cleared.

The mountain leeches that had swarmed all over the mountain forests retreated with the rain,

burrowing into damp places to lie low, such as corners beneath fallen leaves, shadowy pools, and the depths of tree hollows.

Only when the next heavy rain came, soaking the world until it was drenched, would they crawl out of those dark corners and move through the mountains again.

Of course,

before the next downpour arrived,

no one knew how many of them would die from lack of water, or how many would be eaten by their natural enemies and left without a whole corpse.

But one thing was certain: that number would not be small.

And one thing was obvious:

every creature living in the mountains would cheer to see these disgusting, terrifying beasts die in droves.

At that moment,

in the nameless mountain cave,

Shen Rongguang emerged from the dark, damp cave where he had been holed up for so long and stepped outside.

Gazing at the clear world beneath the brilliant sun,

he let out a long breath,

as if expelling all the gloom that had built up over nearly two months.

"Damn it, you wretched heavens!"

"It's been raining day after day. Why don't you just collapse and let it rain to your heart's content!"

Shen Rongguang glared at the sky and shouted.

Then,

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Several streaks of magical power blasted out, smashing a number of large trees ahead of him and crashing them to the ground, while tearing up the earth.

He vented his frustration furiously,

and only stopped when he was panting for breath.

"Damn it! I should've known better than to come!"

"I haven't even reached the place, and I haven't found a thing. Instead, I've been cooped up and miserable for two months!"

After spending two months cooped up in the cave,

Shen Rongguang had a bellyful of pent-up anger.

Especially with the mountain forests outside crawling with mountain leeches in the heavy rain. Just thinking about it made his skin crawl.

At the same time,

whenever he thought of the one back home who had been born just a quarter of an hour before him and, for that reason alone, could enjoy the support of the entire branch of the family and glide effortlessly along the path of cultivation,

while he had to toil and suffer, venture out on his own, secure cultivation resources by himself, and plan his own future in the world of cultivation,

Shen Rongguang grew even angrier.

His expression darkened.

"All right, Xiaoguang."

Behind him,

Shen Chongshan and the others also emerged from the cave.

Compared to Shen Rongguang,

their expressions were hardly cheerful,

but when they saw the bright sun overhead and the clear sky, they still showed some relief.

Shen Chongshan walked up behind Shen Rongguang and patted him on the shoulder, like a steady, dependable older brother.

"Our mission got off to a bad start because I failed to prepare properly for this place in advance."

"Brother Shan, I..."

Shen Rongguang hurried to explain.

But Shen Chongshan raised a hand and stopped him.

"I was leading this mission. Before coming to the Border Wilderness, I failed to investigate the weather here and other such details. That was my responsibility."

"If it was my fault, then it was my fault. There's no need to defend me."

Shen Chongshan spoke in a steady voice.

Shen Rongguang and the others were taken aback,

then felt a warmth rise in their hearts, and their trust in Shen Chongshan grew stronger.

"Brother Shan, you can't be blamed. Who could've known the Border Wilderness had such bizarre weather, with rain that lasted two whole months?"

"Exactly! We've had month-long rainstorms in Tiannan City, too. Based on our past experience, traveling through the rain wouldn't have been a problem. But who could've known these mountains were crawling with those things?"

"This place is seven or eight thousand li from Tiannan City. Unless you're a local, there's no way you'd know the ins and outs of this place."

They all spoke up to absolve Shen Chongshan.

In truth, they weren't just trying to defend him.

That was simply how things were.

Compared with the areas around Tiannan City, which had already been thoroughly developed, these Border Wilderness lands were still in the process of transforming from untamed wilderness into places where humans could live.

Not only was the environment harsh,

but information traveled poorly as well.

They said that in this part of the Border Wilderness, ancient caravans still had to travel through the mountains, going from village to village to trade.

Under such circumstances, outsiders would hardly know that the place was plagued by dangerous mountain leeches.

At the thought of it,

the resentment they had built up from being trapped in the cave for nearly two months faded away.

"Even so, I was still careless."

"But this has reminded me that the Border Wilderness is very different from the Tiannan Region. There are still countless details we don't know. If we're going into the mountains to search for treasure, we'll need to find a guide."

Shen Chongshan mused.

"Let's go. We should hurry to Wu Family Market."

"This clear spell of weather may only be a brief reprieve. If another downpour comes and those mountain leeches pour out of the forest again, we'll be in trouble."

"Once we reach Wu Family Market, we'll find a guide and learn about the area."

Shen Chongshan called to the others, and they set off again.

Hearing him,

they remembered the past two months trapped in the cave, with the mountain leeches swarming outside in the forest,

and their hair stood on end. They hurried after him.

"Green Origin Water Grass grows in demanding conditions. It needs plenty of Water Vein Essence. I've observed that the Border Wilderness has had nearly two months of continuous rain, and there are plenty of mountain leeches in the forests. This must be a place rich in Water Vein Essence."

"On top of that, there was a report of Green Origin Water Grass here twenty years ago. The odds are overwhelming that we're in the right place!"

"Once we complete this mission, we may not be able to defy fate, but at least we won't have to worry about our future!"

"I hope everyone will give this their all!"

As they walked, Shen Chongshan continued to encourage the others.

For a moment,

even Shen Rongguang swept away the gloom he had accumulated,

and the team's morale soared.

In Dawan Village,

Shen Changchuan studied the information he had gathered from the people below over the past few days. His brow furrowed as he fell into thought.

Twenty years ago,

Dawan Village had been ruled by a small cultivation family named Hu.

The Hu Clan,

which had migrated here over a hundred years ago and founded Dawan Village, had been the first family to settle there.

It wasn't difficult to gather information about the Hu Clan.

Although twenty years had passed,

there were still mortal martial artists in Dawan Village who had lived there during the Hu Clan's time.

That was because when Dawan Village had changed hands,

the Shen Clan hadn't wiped out everyone there, aside from a few close blood relatives and in-laws. Instead, they had allowed them to serve the cultivators and farm Spirit Fields alongside the mortal martial artists who later moved in.

This had also led to confusion in Dawan Village's household registration records. They weren't properly sorted out until Shen Changchuan arrived and reformed the system.

The problem was,

twenty years had passed,

and those people had grown old or died. Even those who were still alive had memories that had grown hazy with time.

Besides, those who had survived had not been close to the Hu Clan at the time.

They had been the ordinary martial artists on the outskirts, with no access to the inner circle.

Even if people of their generation knew anything,

it was all hearsay and held no real value.

The most they had learned was that the Hu Clan's patriarch back then was named Hu Zhongming, and was said to have been a cultivator at the seventh level of the Qi Induction Realm.

Beyond that, they knew little about the Hu Clan of that era.

But none of that was of any use to Shen Changchuan.

What he needed was information about the hidden cave in Dawan River.

And not a single person knew anything about it.

No one even knew there was a hidden cave beneath the river.

This left Shen Changchuan feeling rather helpless.

"As expected, it wasn't that simple."

"Forget it. Mortals and immortals live in different worlds, and twenty years have passed. Whatever traces were left behind have long since vanished."

"Trying to find anything this way was pure wishful thinking."

"Let it go for now."

Shen Changchuan shook his head slightly and set the matter aside.

But just then,

a messenger arrived,

reporting that Zhao Hangao from Zhao Family Village was waiting outside the village and urgently requesting an audience.