Beyond Tianfu Prefecture, farther south, lay vast stretches of rolling hills.
There were no towering peaks or treacherous ridges here, only hill after hill, none more than a hundred zhang high.
The hills rose and fell unpredictably—sometimes stretching together in continuous swathes, sometimes separated by hundreds of li before another appeared. There were even river valleys and wetlands here and there, creating an extraordinarily diverse landscape.
Towering trees claimed the sun-drenched ground, emerald bamboo groves filled the gaps between them, and shrubs and vines of every kind grew thick throughout the mountains and forests. The vegetation was exceptionally diverse.
The climate was hot and humid, the temperatures mild, and natural resources relatively abundant. As a result, this region boasted countless species of birds, with large numbers of spirit birds dwelling here as well.
Yet the humid heat did not merely suit birds—it also bred swarms of snakes, insects, rats, ants, venomous bugs, poisonous frogs, and mushrooms of every kind, brilliant in color. Any one of them could easily claim a life. Some could not even be withstood by Xuanwu cultivators.
At the same time, the unique terrain caused mountain winds to converge here. Every summer, the mountains would fill with vast quantities of miasma capable of killing people with ease.
No matter how one looked at it, until these problems were resolved, this was not a place suitable for human habitation.
Yet one immense people had lived here for generations.
They were the Southern Frontier Barbarian Gu Tribe.
The Southern Frontier Barbarian Gu Tribe's settlements lay deep in the jungle, very, very far from Tianfu Prefecture's border.
In fact, in the earliest days, this entire mountain range had belonged to the Southern Frontier Barbarian Gu Tribe. Even the river-valley basin on Tianfu Prefecture's side had been their territory.
But after