An Encounter with the Herb-Gathering Team

A few more days passed, and Xiao Yang finally finished exploring all the cliffs along the second herb-gathering route.

He still had not found the cave.

But Xiao Yang was not upset.

His purpose in coming to the Magical Beast Mountain Range was not solely to find the cave treasure.

Over the past few days, he had casually killed many First-Rank Magical Beasts, including three Second Tier Magical Beasts!

His Universal Experience had now reached sixty-eight thousand!

Not only that, his shop points were about to break through nine hundred thousand.

After several days, Xiao Yang could be said to have reaped a full harvest.

Just as he began following the third herb-gathering route and inspecting the cliffs along the way one by one, Xiao Yang's soul power suddenly sensed voices in the distance.

They were people talking, and there were quite a few of them!

He carefully made his way in that direction. After getting closer, he scanned the area with his soul power and immediately spotted quite a few mercenaries.

Among those mercenaries stood a young woman.

She wore a fitted outfit suitable for movement, cinched tightly at the waist.

Her slender, willow-like waist was displayed right before Xiao Yang's eyes.

She did not look very old, probably around Xiao Yang's age, sixteen or seventeen.

After seeing this, Xiao Yang confirmed their identities.

They should be members of the herb-gathering team.

The person in the middle should be Xiao Yi Xian.

A few days ago, when he had been asking about the herb-gathering team's routes, he heard that Ten Thousand Medicines Hall was preparing to recruit mercenaries again to form a herb-gathering team and enter the Magical Beast Mountain Range for herbs.

Xiao Yi Xian would also enter the outer region of the Magical Beast Mountain Range with them.

The main reason he had not gone with them was that he preferred the freedom of acting alone.

It would also be more discreet, preventing anyone from discovering his trail and finding the cave alongside him.

Xiao Yang had no desire to test human nature.

But unexpectedly, he had run into them this time.

Xiao Yang had no intention of meeting those people, so he slowly began backing away.

After retreating a certain distance, he deliberately took a slight detour and moved ahead of the herb-gathering team to explore the cliffs.

His speed alone was definitely much faster than that of the herb-gathering team.

After all, if the herb-gathering team found medicinal herbs, they would have to stop and pick them.

Very soon, after Xiao Yang had inspected two cliffs, the sky gradually darkened.

He decided to find a place to eat first.

He began searching around a hillside for a natural cave.

Before long, Xiao Yang actually found one!

Not only that, it even contained natural ingredients—a First-Rank Magical Beast, the Steelhide Boar!

And he had encountered an entire litter of them.

Without hesitation, he killed all three Steelhide Boars and thanked nature for its gift.

After sprinkling some specially prepared medicine at the cave entrance, he went inside and began roasting meat.

Since the Flame Manipulation Art could condense real fire, Xiao Yang did not need to start a fire at all.

Not only that, his skill at roasting meat was exceptionally impressive.

With real fire and soul power working together, he was practically the Dou Qi Continent's version of Huo Yuhao!

Very soon, a huge pork leg was completely roasted through by Xiao Yang.

After sprinkling some seasoning over it, he began eating.

The meat of magical beasts in the Dou Qi Continent was several times more delicious than any so-called Iberian black pork from his previous life.

Although Xiao Yang had been eating it for more than ten years, he still found it delicious every time.

The Steelhide Boar's meat in particular had just been freshly killed and still contained a trace of dou qi.

Meat like this was even more delicious than what was sold in the market!

Very soon, Xiao Yang finished an entire pork leg.

After eating, he began cultivating.

His main purpose in cultivating now was not to recover dou qi, but to relax his mind.

After all, he could directly restore both dou qi and soul power.

What he could not endure instead was mental fatigue.

After cultivating for several hours, Xiao Yang's energy had recovered considerably.

Without hesitation, he stood up and headed once more toward the next cliff.

Other mercenaries did not dare travel at night for fear of being ambushed by magical beasts, but Xiao Yang was not afraid.

He could see the red names of magical beasts from far away, as if he had x-ray vision.

Soon, after traveling for some time, Xiao Yang saw a firelight in the distance.

Besides the firelight, there were also several yellow names.

They were members of the herb-gathering team!

Since Xiao Yang was not a member of the herb-gathering team, yet they were all humans, the information for those team members appeared yellow.

Xiao Yang had no intention of approaching them. He went around the herb-gathering team's location and headed toward a nearby cliff.

After arriving at the cliff, Xiao Yang's heart suddenly shook when he saw the scene before him.

This was the place!

Earlier, when Xiao Yang tried to recall the location of the cliff, he could not remember where it was.

He only remembered the items inside, as well as the fact that there seemed to be a First-Rank Magical Beast within the cliffside cave.

But upon seeing the scene before him now, he suddenly recalled more information.

Under the moonlight, Xiao Yang clearly saw a White Orchid growing on the cliff.

Within the White Orchid was a tiny, unripe White Orchid Fruit!

Upon seeing it, he suddenly remembered that in the original story, Xiao Yan seemed to have spotted Xiao Yi Xian climbing up from the cliff because of this White Orchid Fruit.

Without hesitation, he took out two ropes from his Storage Ring.

Xiao Yang tied the two ropes separately around the trunks of two large trees over half a meter thick.

Then, he slowly began climbing down the cliff along the ropes.

Xiao Yang was extremely careful the entire way down. As he climbed, he took out tools and nails, occasionally securing his ropes.

Very soon, Xiao Yang saw a small platform hidden by trees not far beneath him.

By the moonlight, he vaguely saw a cave entrance there.

Xiao Yang extended his soul power in that direction.

Sure enough, there was a cave there.

Inside the cave was a First Tier Rock Snake!

Xiao Yang prepared himself and climbed toward the cave.

Just as he reached the platform and was about to enter the cave, a slender figure shot out of the cave and attacked Xiao Yang.

Xiao Yang's soul power had been fixed on the Rock Snake inside the cave the entire time, and he also saw the red name rushing at him.

Without hesitation, he threw a punch.

"Bang!"

The next moment, the Rock Snake went limp, and a notification sounded in Xiao Yang's mind.

He had no intention of harvesting the Rock Snake's magical beast materials. He casually tossed it onto the platform.

Then, Xiao Yang impatiently walked into the cave.

Very soon, he reached the end of the cave, where he saw a smooth rock wall.

At that moment, a quest suddenly appeared before Xiao Yang.

[Side Quest—Cave Treasure Hunt: Find the treasure within the cave.

Reward: Universal Experience +50000, shop points +1000000, one random Magical Beast Mountain Range treasure map.]

Without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Yang accepted the quest.