Chapter 93

Tiger Roar Valley is located at the southernmost end of Green Cloud Mountain.

After descending from New Talent Peak and walking for a while, Tang Jie's view suddenly opened up, revealing a village.

The village was not large, with only a few dozen households, but it was bustling and lively. Several villagers dressed as farmers were holding down a large-horned ox. One of them held a long-handled knife and stabbed the ox, killing it. He then casually handed a few coins to a student standing nearby. The student, holding the money, muttered, "Just this much?" and shook his head as he left.

Some old women were spreading herbs to dry on the drying ground, and some middle-aged women were giving money to the students.

Further away, some iron cages could be seen, containing various fierce beasts, including some low-level demonic beasts.

Tang Jie knew this was Tiger Roar Village.

Tiger Roar Village was a very unique place in the Moon Washing Academy. The villagers here mainly relied on trading the valley's produce with the students for their livelihood.

After the students harvested something in the valley, if they found it cumbersome, they could sell it to the villagers. The villagers would process it on the spot and then resell it to the academy. Sometimes, when the prey in Tiger Roar Valley was scarce, the villagers would help catch some and release them back into the valley.

Behind the village was the entrance to Tiger Roar Valley, where a master sat, responsible for collecting fees. Next to the master stood a sign listing the various rules for entering the valley.

There were many rules, such as not using powerful spells to damage the valley's terrain and environment, not digging up herbs less than one year old, not uprooting certain herbs, and not digging up certain herbs less than three years old.

As for whether you could identify them, the academy didn't care. After all, they had taught it in class. If you brought something you shouldn't, you would be punished.

At this moment, as Tang Jie arrived, a middle-aged woman approached, smiling. "Young man, are you going into the valley? Why don't you buy a map from me first? It's only ten spirit coins."

"Map? Ten coins?" Tang Jie asked in surprise.

"Yes," the woman clapped her hands. "Don't think it's expensive. With this map, you won't get lost no matter where you go. You should know, this map was drawn by my husband after several life-and-death experiences."

"Why would I be afraid of getting lost?" Tang Jie smiled. "Entering the valley requires a token, and after six hours, you are automatically teleported out. If there's danger, you can also teleport out temporarily. I won't get lost no matter where I go, right?"

The woman laughed. "That's true, but my map also has information recorded on it. It clearly marks where there are demonic beasts and what herbs are there. Well, you look like a likable young man, so today I'll take a loss. I'll sell it to you for five spirit coins. How about that?"

"If that's the case, your map must sell very well, right?"

"Of course," the woman boasted.

"Since that's the case, I imagine the various herb collection points marked on the map have already been picked clean, right? Even if there are some left, they won't be easy to get," Tang Jie said slowly.

The woman's face immediately stiffened, and she frowned. "So you're not easy to fool. If you don't want to buy, just say so. Don't waste my breath."

With that, she turned and left.

Tang Jie found it amusing and called out, "If you're willing to sell it for one spirit coin, I'll buy it."

The woman immediately turned around. "Deal!"

She quickly handed him the map, as if afraid he would change his mind.

Tang Jie looked at the map. Although the drawing was rough, it roughly marked the terrain and indeed contained information, so it wasn't a fake. He paid the money.

At the entrance to the valley, several students were standing there. Seeing Tang Jie approach, one of them said, "Are you going to Tiger Roar Valley? Interested in going with us?"

Tiger Roar Valley had complex terrain and many demonic beasts, so students often formed teams to enter.

However, Tang Jie had his own plans and had to decline their offer.

The student, seeing him refuse, didn't say anything but sneered, "Another one who thinks too highly of himself."

Tang Jie didn't mind. After paying the two hundred spirit coins, he entered the valley.

After entering the valley, Tang Jie looked at the map and followed the mountain path inward.

Tiger Roar Valley looked small, but the space inside was quite large. After walking for a while, Tang Jie, seeing no one around, patted his chest and said, "You can come out now."

A small head poked out from Tang Jie's chest, and it was Yi Yi.

She looked around and then suddenly jumped onto Tang Jie's shoulder, shouting, "Oh, finally out, out!"

Then, looking at the scenery around her, she exclaimed, "Wow, so beautiful!"

The scenery in Tiger Roar Valley was indeed beautiful. They were standing on a grassy field, and not far away, some unnamed flowers were in full bloom, red, green, pink, and purple, a riot of colors. Further away was a lush forest.

Occasionally, a mountain breeze blew through the valley, rustling the leaves; birds flew through the pines, chirping melodiously; and the morning sun filtered through the trees, filling the air with the scent of fresh grass.

Yi Yi jumped down from Tang Jie and ran quickly on the grass, laughing and giggling.

For her, this was the first time she had come to such a large place without having to hide herself, so it was no wonder she was so happy. This made Tang Jie feel a bit guilty. Ultimately, it was because of his lack of strength that he couldn't let her show herself in public, like the three great demons of Moon Washing, whose entire bodies were treasures, and no one would dare use them as materials for alchemy.

In this world, strength alone doesn't decide everything, but without strength, nothing can be decided!

"Brother, is this our new home?" she asked while running.

"Sorry, this isn't. We can only stay here for six hours," Tang Jie replied.

"Really..." Yi Yi pouted, looking sad.

"But if we have enough harvest this time, we can come here every day in the future."

"Really?" Yi Yi became excited and jumped back onto Tang Jie's shoulder. "Tell me, what are we going to do?"

"Simple, find herbs and kill demonic beasts," Tang Jie replied.

The resources in Tiger Roar Valley were of two types: medicinal plants and demonic beasts with valuable materials. The former needed to be found, and the latter needed to be fought. Neither was easy to obtain.

Hearing this, Yi Yi nodded. "Okay, watch me!"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

The essence of plants was naturally sensitive to the aura of demons and ghosts. Even from several miles away, she could smell the unusual aura, as this was an important means for living beings to avoid danger early on.

After a moment, Yi Yi pointed to the distance. "There are orchids over there, and water lilies over there, and over there, and over there..."

She pointed randomly, making Tang Jie's eyes spin. He could only say, "Orchids need to be at least two years old to be harvested."

"I can't tell!" Yi Yi replied, dissatisfied, wrinkling her nose and continuing to sniff. Suddenly, she covered her nose and shouted, "So smelly... There's a big snake coming from over there!"

She pointed to the west.

"Big snake?" Tang Jie quickly looked at the map to see what creatures were nearby, and his face changed. "It's a spotted snake!"

The spotted snake was a demonic beast in Tiger Roar Valley, with a colorful body and toxic saliva, fond of eating live prey.

This creature was a dominant force in Tiger Roar Valley, and students rarely dared to provoke it. Tang Jie didn't expect to encounter it so soon after entering the valley.

No need to ask, this was definitely brought by Yi Yi.

While the essence of plants was sensitive to the aura of demonic beasts, the demonic beasts were equally sensitive to her aura. Such a life full of spiritual energy was not only a great supplement for humans but also for demons. Therefore, as soon as Yi Yi appeared, a spotted snake immediately pounced.

Although Tang Jie knew that bringing Yi Yi might lead to such a situation, he didn't expect it to happen so quickly and urgently.

At this moment, Tang Jie knew it was bad and shouted, "Run!"

He grabbed Yi Yi and quickly ran forward.

Just as he started running, a colorful snake several meters long and as thick as a barrel appeared from the distance. Its green eyes made people's scalps tingle.

It flicked its long tongue, sniffing the air, and then let out a long hiss, chasing after Tang Jie in the direction he fled.

Running at full speed, Yi Yi shouted in Tang Jie's arms, "It's still chasing us!"

"Really troublesome!" Tang Jie continued to run.

"Why are we running? Didn't you say we came to kill demonic beasts?" Yi Yi asked.

"Because the demonic beasts I planned to kill don't include it!" Tang Jie replied irritably.

Tiger Roar Valley, as the initial practical training ground for students, was considered safer than the outside world for three main reasons.

First, with the teleportation jade token, students could leave immediately if they encountered danger. This was the greatest guarantee of student safety, but leaving early meant missing opportunities, and the academy would not allow re-entry unless you paid again.

Second, all the demonic beasts here had records, and there would be no unknown demonic beasts that students had never seen. Therefore, students knew which demonic beasts they could handle and which they couldn't.

Third, there were no demonic beasts beyond the Spirit Sensing stage here, and only one was of the upper grade, the rest being middle and lower grades.

According to the classification in Xi Xia World, demons and ghosts were generally divided into five levels: Spirit Sensing, Wisdom Opening, Form Transformation, Soul Separation, and Void Return, corresponding to the five realms of cultivation, with each level further divided into upper, middle, and lower grades.

As for Yi Yi, she hadn't reached any grade yet.

Apart from these three reasons, all other situations were the same as the outside world. If you were slow and got eaten by a demonic beast, it was your own fault.

Demonic beasts were very different from students.

For students, realm was one thing, and strength was another.

Realm was like the level of students, and spells were like skills. Having a high level without skills and equipment was useless, so there were many cultivators whose real strength was lower than their realm.

Demonic beasts, however, had their strength directly related to their realm. They truly had the strength of their level. Some demonic beasts had extraordinary talents and were extremely powerful even at the Spirit Sensing stage. Their realm advancement included not only strength but also wisdom, and their development path was very different from humans.

Therefore, there were many demonic beasts whose strength exceeded their grade, and even a Spirit Sensing stage demonic beast could easily defeat a Transcendent Realm cultivator.

The spotted snake was a middle-grade demonic beast in Tiger Roar Valley.

Even if it wasn't a particularly powerful existence, its grade alone meant its strength was comparable to an Invincible Spirit Lake Realm student—Tang Jie hadn't even reached this level in the Spirit Spring stage, so he didn't dare fight it.

While running, Tang Jie asked Yi Yi to transform back into a flower.

After transforming back into a flower, the essence's aura was greatly reduced.

However, the spotted snake had already caught the scent and wouldn't easily give up. Even with the reduced aura, there was still a trace in the air, and it followed the trail, getting closer and closer.

"Damn! It's really persistent!" Tang Jie, seeing that he couldn't shake off the snake, was quite frustrated.

Although he had the jade token and wasn't in danger of losing his life, he couldn't accept being forced out of the valley so soon.

"What do we do now? What do we do now?" Seeing that transforming back to her original form didn't work, the little girl's head poked out again.

This made the big snake chase even harder.

"What can we do? Run with it," Tang Jie said, rolling his eyes.

Thinking about being chased to the brink of death as soon as he entered the valley, he was quite annoyed.

Hearing this, Yi Yi burst into tears. "It's all my fault, it's all because of me... sniff..."

She cried sadly, making Tang Jie feel bad. He knew he had spoken harshly in a moment of urgency, hurting the little girl's feelings, so he could only pat her head and say, "It's not your fault, dear. It's just a snake, it can't do anything to us."

"But it's chasing us and won't stop..."

"Yes, I know." Tang Jie looked back.

In the distance, dust rose as the big snake slithered over, its momentum frightening. It suddenly let out a sharp hiss, almost piercing the eardrums.

Tang Jie snorted. "You just want to eat, right? I'll let you eat your fill!"

With that, he suddenly changed direction and rushed to the side.

On a grassy field on the south side of Tiger Roar Valley, a group of large-horned oxen were slowly walking and grazing on the grass.

The large-horned oxen were undoubtedly at the bottom of the food chain in Xi Xia World. Apart from their sharp horns, they had no other weapons.

Their only purpose in Tiger Roar Valley was to serve as food for the demonic beasts, ensuring the normal functioning of the food chain.

According to the academy's rules, these non-aggressive creatures could be captured and taken out alive, but they could not be killed directly. Occasionally, students who had no harvest in the valley would catch one and sell it for ten spirit coins, but only one at a time.

At this moment, the large-horned oxen were drinking water by a stream.

A young calf tried to push its way to the front but was pushed over by an aggressive bull. The calf cried out in distress, then got up and obediently returned to the herd, seeking comfort by rubbing against its mother.

Then something happened that the calf would never understand.

In the distance, a person was running towards them at full speed.

The person suddenly rushed close, and the calf saw its mother suddenly fly up...

"Moo..." The calf let out a terrified cry.

The herd was in chaos.

Tang Jie grabbed another large-horned ox and threw it backward. The ox, weighing several hundred kilograms, was quite heavy, and even with Tang Jie's current physique, it was a struggle to throw it. At this moment, he activated the Unshaped Golden Body.

The large-horned ox flew through the air and landed in the mouth of the spotted snake. The snake's mouth opened wide, and it swallowed the ox in one bite.

Although it had come to eat Yi Yi, it didn't mind having a main course delivered to it.

The herd ran in panic, and Tang Jie chased after them, grabbing another ox and throwing it backward.

He aimed for the snake's mouth, and the greedy nature of the spotted snake made it accept everything, swallowing another ox and continuing to chase.

"Quite a good appetite... Let's see how many you can eat!" Tang Jie snorted, throwing two more oxen.

The spotted snake swallowed them one after another, and after four oxen, even with its size, it began to look bloated and could no longer chase. It finally stopped, but its eyes still fixed on Tang Jie, and its body moved slowly and clumsily.

"Chase me! Come on, chase me!" Tang Jie sneered. "Beasts are beasts, no matter how capable, they can't change their nature."

Saying this, Tang Jie wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He had been chased by the big snake, and if it weren't for the speed of the Purple Lightning Leap, he would have been forced out of the valley by now.

At this moment, the herd had run far away, and seeing that the spotted snake was too full to move, Tang Jie had an idea. Could he take the opportunity to kill it?

He cautiously approached the spotted snake, taking a few steps closer.

The spotted snake, having eaten too much, was completely paralyzed on the ground.

As Tang Jie got closer, the spotted snake suddenly raised its upper body, opened its mouth wide, and let out a hiss, spraying a large amount of venom.

Fortunately, Tang Jie was alert, and the Purple Lightning Leap was always active. He quickly retreated, and the venom rained down in front of him, withering the grass it touched.

A drop of venom landed on Tang Jie's arm, corroding a large piece of flesh like a strong acid.

Looking at the spotted snake, it was still staring at him, its mouth full of backward-facing fangs, and its tongue flicking, pointing at Tang Jie.

Clearly, even if it was too full to move, it was still not something he could handle now.

Tang Jie pointed at the snake, frustrated. "You win this time!"

He turned and left.

"Hisss!" The spotted snake let out an angry hiss.

Clearly, neither side was satisfied with this outcome.