Commanding insects and trekking the mountains

"There shouldn't be any other mountain foragers here. Just the place to give the Darkwater Centipede some practice."

Tall trees and weeds surrounded him. Lingering dew clung to their broad leaves, and everything was damp.

Mountain foragers usually had familiar routes and relatively fixed gathering spots. Particular mushrooms, particular herbs... most had their own patches, ensuring the foragers came back with something.

Unexplored areas naturally held richer mountain bounty, but also more venomous insects, wild beasts, and other dangers.

Rustle, rustle.

The moment the Darkwater Centipede emerged, the broad fern fronds suddenly shook violently, rustling as something flashed through them.

The Darkwater Centipede reacted swiftly, its thousand legs moving together as it pounced into the grass like a purple shadow.

Holding a long stick in one hand and a chopping knife in the other, Su Yan hurried over in two or three strides.

A glossy, pitch-black viper coiled up, raising half its body, its neck spreading as wide as a palm as its forked tongue hissed.

"What a huge viper."

The viper before him was over a meter long and as thick as a wrist. Mountain foragers would never provoke one lightly; getting bitten simply wasn't worth it.

Yet he hadn't expected this Venomous Snake to react like this upon seeing the Darkwater Centipede.

As the Darkwater Centipede approached, the viper thrust its head forward, bared its fangs, and sprayed two streams of translucent venom.

The Darkwater Centipede twisted its body and shot forward like an arrow, disdaining to dodge.

The venom landed on its body without the slightest effect.

The viper lunged to bite, but the Darkwater Centipede sank its jaws into its neck first.

The two immediately tangled together, struggling violently.

Su Yan didn't intervene. After only a few breaths, the snake's struggles lost their strength, and its body went limp.

"Even before reaching a rank, an extraordinary insect with a little supernatural power is beyond any ordinary venomous creature."

"What a pity about this Venomous Snake, though. If it were alive, it should fetch two or three hundred copper coins at the Hundred Herbs Hall."

The Darkwater Centipede climbed off the poisoned viper, then began tearing into it, chewing its head to a pulp.

[Darkwater Centipede: 3/100 (newborn)]

The Darkwater Centipede's growth suddenly changed. Su Yan's eyes lit up, delight spreading across his face.

"Could devouring venomous creatures or natural treasures increase its growth points?"

He immediately ordered the Darkwater Centipede to eat the entire viper.

In just seven or eight minutes, the Darkwater Centipede finished feeding, devouring the snake completely.

He truly had no idea how it could digest something so much larger than itself so quickly.

"Its growth increased by another eight points. That means one large viper gave it ten growth points."

Su Yan was overjoyed. If devouring venomous creatures allowed it to keep growing, nothing could be better for strengthening the Darkwater Centipede.

Cloudridge Mountain had no shortage of venomous insects and wild beasts.

Still, he soon calmed down.

"Even if they provide plenty of growth points, it can't eat constantly. Fully converting them takes time."

The Darkwater Centipede wasn't an eating machine. After this meal, it would need several hours before it could feed again.

Su Yan had the Darkwater Centipede stand guard while he searched the surroundings. Before long, he discovered three stalks of Snake-Spreading Grass beneath a patch of ground ferns.

"This Snake-Spreading Grass is in good condition. It should fetch thirty copper coins or so."

He placed the Snake-Spreading Grass in his back basket, then continued onward with the Darkwater Centipede.

The mountain trail stretched rough and uneven for a kilometer or so, and rainwater on the leaves had already soaked his clothes.

But Su Yan had no time to care about that. Along the way, he gathered plenty of mountain produce: white liver mushrooms, fern-leaf tea, termite mushrooms...

Though they couldn't compare with aged medicinal herbs, they were still worth a fair amount, roughly two or three hundred copper coins.

By the time he reached a pool about the size of a water vat, it was noon. The sun had climbed high, and the dew on the shrubs and weeds had gradually evaporated.

Su Yan found a spot beside the pool and sat down, taking out a dry wheat cake and stuffing it into his mouth with some water.

Just then, the Darkwater Centipede stirred. Rustling, it hurried toward a broad-leaved wild taro plant beside the pool.

Su Yan watched in surprise, then suddenly sensed something amiss and hurried over.

"It's actually yinred root!"

A dark red plant with slender, curled leaves hid beneath the thick foliage.

The entire yinred root plant was poisonous, yet the Hundred Herbs Hall bought it for as much as ten taels of silver per jin. It was said to be a Treasure Plant that could be refined for martial training.

Su Yan was delighted beyond measure. Even if this yinred root weighed less than a jin, it would still be worth several taels of silver if it was in good condition.

He bent down and was just about to reach for it when two palm-sized black scorpions dropped from beneath the broad taro leaves.

He jumped in fright. The Darkwater Centipede rushed forward, ramming and flipping the two scorpions onto their backs.

The Darkwater Centipede was stronger than they were. It quickly bit them to death, ending the danger.

Still shaken, Su Yan thought, I nearly forgot. The more precious the medicinal herb, the more likely something is guarding it, especially poisonous herbs and unusual plants. From what Uncle Xie and the others said, this yinred root practically counts as a treasure plant. Having venomous creatures around it is only natural.

He gathered the two large scorpions and placed them in the Insect Realm as food for the Darkwater Centipede.

Then he carefully began digging down along the yinred root with a wooden shovel.

The whole yinred root plant was poisonous, but only its root and rhizome were useful, so he had to excavate it slowly.

While digging, he absolutely couldn't break its skin or flesh. Otherwise, its medicinal potency would seep away, greatly reducing its sale price.

Besides, a moment's carelessness could send some of its juice splashing onto his skin.

Its poison might well kill him.

"Why don't I let the Darkwater Centipede help?"

Half-kneeling and digging with painstaking care, he had cleared less than a third of the soil and only just glimpsed the deep red rhizome.

Controlling the Darkwater Centipede was as natural as moving his own fingers. Unlike him, it didn't need to fear the poison, and its nimble body should make digging easier.

He immediately set the Darkwater Centipede to work. Sure enough, it used all its legs together, almost as though wrapping itself around the yinred root.

In next to no time, the Darkwater Centipede pushed the soil clinging to the roots into little heaps, exposing the entire yinred root.

Su Yan tore off a fern frond and cushioned the yinred root above and below before taking it in his hand.

The yinred root was palm-sized and looked to weigh about half a jin.

"Five taels in the bag."

Delight flashed in his eyes, but a question arose in his mind. Did the Darkwater Centipede find the scorpions or the yinred root?

He suddenly realized something: no matter how skilled a mountain forager was, they seemed unable to match the unusual insects and beasts living in the mountains.

Rumor had it that some accomplished mountain foragers had special Mountain Trekking methods and kept creatures such as treasure-seeking mice and dogs at their sides.

Perhaps the Darkwater Centipede had a similar ability.

Looking at the soil-covered Darkwater Centipede, he murmured, "Let's see what you can do."

He stopped actively directing their route and let the Darkwater Centipede lead instead.

Upon receiving the order, the Darkwater Centipede plunged straight into the shrubs and weeds in another direction.

He placed the yinred root in the Insect Realm Space and hurried after it.

This experiment brought Su Yan an extraordinary surprise.

Over the next three or four hours, every route the Darkwater Centipede took led through rough, overgrown terrain.

Yet it found medicinal herbs one after another, including wild astragalus and notoginseng, as well as a ten-year-old wild mountain ginseng and a bamboo jade tooth.

The wild mountain ginseng wasn't nearly a Treasure Plant like the yinred root, but it was still a choice mountain harvest worth four or five taels of silver.

Then there was the bamboo jade tooth, a genuine Treasure Plant.

Eating it gently nourished one's blood and vital energy and strengthened the body, making it even more precious than yinred root.

They encountered venomous insects and wild beasts along the way, but the Darkwater Centipede was clearly no weakling.

It defeated a black toad the size of a human head and poisoned a half-grown wild boar to death.

Besides that, Su Yan used the bamboo bow he carried to hunt a Gray Rabbit and a bamboo rat.

His back basket was filled to the brim with mountain produce, while the precious bamboo jade tooth and ten-year-old wild mountain ginseng were stored in the Insect Realm Space.

Seeing the sky grow dark, Su Yan feared he wouldn't make it down if he stayed any longer. Only then did he stop and head down the mountain with the Darkwater Centipede.

He hurried all the way, only putting the Darkwater Centipede away when he reached the foot of the mountain.

By the time he arrived home, the jade-disc moon had risen above the treetops.

He pushed open the gate of his packed-earth courtyard and entered his room.

He lit a lamp before setting down his back basket and carefully tallying the day's harvest.

"White liver mushrooms, termite mushrooms... over ten jin altogether. A jin of fern-leaf tea, plus notoginseng, astragalus, gastrodia... another ten-odd jin. They should fetch a tael or two of silver."

"The most precious things are the wild mountain ginseng, bamboo jade tooth, and yinred root. If I sold them all, they'd probably fetch ten or twenty taels of silver."

Mountain foraging depended on the season. A lucky trip could earn a good deal, but once the season passed, one could only gather scattered odds and ends, scraping by on a hundred or so copper coins.

With the Darkwater Centipede and his greatly improved health, Su Yan had managed a plentiful harvest.

"It's a shame about the beasts and venomous insects the Darkwater Centipede killed. With poison in their bodies, they aren't edible and can only become its food. If I want some meat in the future, I'll have to practice archery."

He sorted the mountain produce in his back basket and spread it out before him.

After considering for a while, Su Yan took out the wild mountain ginseng and bamboo jade tooth separately.

"I can't sell everything at once. That would draw too much attention. A thin stream flows long; I'll stretch this out as long as I can. It wouldn't be good to have someone set their sights on me."

He returned the wild mountain ginseng to the Insect Realm Space, then focused on the panel:

[First-Rank Insect Master: 2/100]

[Insect Realm: 1 cubic meter]

[Mountain Trekking: 3/200 (minor mastery)]

[Darkwater Centipede: 13/100 (newborn)]

Beyond the plentiful mountain harvest, the improvement in his abilities was Su Yan's greatest gain from this trip.

"Besides devouring compatible natural treasures such as venomous creatures, the insect under my command can gain growth points through being directed and fighting, though those methods are relatively slower."

"An insect's improvement also raises its master's experience. That forms a closed loop, so my thinking was right: I have to keep strengthening the insect under my command."

"As for Mountain Trekking, any progress I make myself really does show up. The two reflect and reinforce each other, and I can genuinely feel the improvement."

Su Yan reviewed the changes in himself. The growth in Mountain Trekking wasn't as obvious as the Darkwater Centipede's gains from devouring Poisonous Substances.

But throughout his trek, after reaching minor mastery, he had indeed become more proficient at identifying and gathering mountain produce, finding his way, and so on.

"I really do have to rely on my own efforts. In that case, if I master archery to a certain extent, perhaps it can become a skill too."

Su Yan's eyes gleamed as an idea took shape. Commanding insects, trekking the mountains, and roaming with a bow to hunt—if it worked, his strength in the mountains would rise dramatically.

"Tomorrow, I'll go to the mountain market to exchange these for silver, then replace my chopping knife and bamboo bow. After that, I'll visit the Hundred Herbs Hall and look for some herb books. I can't afford to suffer for not recognizing something valuable, finding a Treasure Plant but failing to bring it back."