Chapter 2

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The rain had been pouring for a long time before it gradually subsided.

On the cliff, stones dislodged by the heavy rain kept rolling down, making a loud thud against the cliff face. This also brought Chen Xun back from his reminiscence to the reality before him.

Chen Xun felt a sense of gloom, thinking that the heavy rain had delayed him for so long that he wouldn't have enough time today to climb the mountain ridge ahead and gather the Wu Ling Zi grass.

The slippery rocks brought many unknown dangers, and Chen Xun thought he could only go another day when the weather was clear.

Although the rain outside the mountain had stopped, the distant rumbling of water could still be heard.

Such a heavy rain would inevitably cause a massive flood in the valleys and gorges.

Chen Xun listened to the sound of the water, thinking that the flood must have broken out not far away.

He was not willing to return to the village without any harvest. He thought that the flood might bring out something valuable from the Python Tooth Ridge.

The grass and trees on the cliff were all wet. It wasn't as cold as it was in the early morning mist, so Chen Xun took off his animal skin and put it in the medicine basket, baring his upper body.

When he climbed the mountain in the morning, his exposed arms had been scratched by the rocks, but by now the wounds had already scabbed over. Removing the scabs revealed faint marks, as if they had healed several days ago.

Indeed, the Wu Python tribe's warriors, who were stronger than oxen, did not heal as quickly as Chen Xun, which was one of the reasons he dared to venture into the deep mountains alone to gather herbs.

Chen Xun thought, this must be the change caused by the drop of blood from the six-armed giant demon's heart that entered his body.

In addition to faster wound healing, what surprised Chen Xun even more, or rather, made him laugh and cry, was that the drop of blood had the effect of rejuvenation.

He had been brought to this unfamiliar realm by the giant demon and had walked in the deep mountains and forests for more than two months. When he finally met the Wu Python tribe's hunters, his appearance had already changed to that of a ten-year-old.

This was the key reason why the Wu Python tribe's people eventually took him in, pretending to have amnesia and mysteriously appearing deep in the Python Tooth Ridge.

In addition to rejuvenation and faster wound healing, Chen Xun's strength had also grown rapidly over the past three years.

He now looked like he was only thirteen years old, but he could carry two to three hundred pounds of weight and walk through the mountains for half a day without feeling tired, comparable to a beginner-level warrior.

It seemed that the drop of demon blood that the six-armed giant demon left to this "ant" before his death was no ordinary thing. Chen Xun speculated that his body had even greater potential to be developed, but he didn't know how to do it.

The Wu Python tribe's people had not yet fully trusted him, so they would not easily pass on their thousand-year-old secret warrior techniques to an outsider.

This was something Chen Xun regretted for three years.

In the wild and remote territories, with tribal massacres, countless fierce beasts and birds, and the rampant power of heaven, ordinary people would find it extremely difficult to survive, let alone venture out of the deep mountains to see the outside world...

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Chen Xun securely tied the medicine basket to his back, held the short spear in his hand, and slid down the steep cliff, following the sound of the water. Crossing a low ridge, he saw the mighty flood sweeping through the stone valley.

The stream, which was usually only ten meters wide, had now increased by more than twenty times. The muddy floodwaters, like a thousand horses galloping, carried debris and broken trees, crashing against the stone walls on both sides.

Chen Xun had lived in the Wu Python tribe for three years and recognized about thirty to forty types of herbs in the Python Tooth Ridge.

In the muddy floodwaters, many floating plants and trees, even if Chen Xun didn't recognize them, he could tell from their branches and leaves that many were precious herbs.

Occasionally, he saw the corpses of drowned wild animals floating in the flood. Chen Xun thought that if he could catch one or two and bring them back to the village, they could provide food for several days.

However, the terrain here was too dangerous. A slip on the stone slope could result in being swept away by the flood, and even a beginner-level warrior would likely lose his life.

Chen Xun followed the flood downstream, thinking that in a more open area where the flood was less turbulent, he might have a chance to catch something valuable.

The bare ridge was rocky, and Chen Xun, like a monkey, leaped and ran through the jagged mountains. After walking north for half a day, he reached a place where several ridges converged.

Exiting the mountain pass, there was a grassy slope with several natural mud gullies crisscrossing. The flood had turned the area into a mess. The floodwaters flowed over the grassy slope and into the Wild Horse Creek to the north.

The Wild Horse Creek, swollen with water, was now more than three to five miles wide, with the water overflowing on both banks. Some of the scattered earth houses of the barbarian tribes had been washed away, leaving only some broken walls and remnants. Countless trees had been uprooted and carried downstream by the rolling floodwaters.

Although Chen Xun had lived in this realm for three years, he was still shocked every time he saw such a scene. From the floodwaters of the Wild Horse Creek, Chen Xun could tell that the heavy rain had covered the entire northern part of the Python Tooth Ridge.

This was still the mountainous area of the northern slope of the Python Tooth Ridge, where the barbarian tribes could choose high ground to build their villages.

Beyond the Python Tooth Ridge, to the north, was the Lake Marsh Plain.

Chen Xun thought that with the sudden flood, the Lake Marsh Plain would likely be even more devastated. The vast lake marsh, stretching for thousands of miles, might turn into an ocean overnight, and it was unknown when the floodwaters would recede.

The grassy slope on the south bank of the Wild Horse Creek extended for three to five hundred meters. Many logs, boulders, and the corpses of drowned wild animals, carried down from the deep mountains, had been washed ashore not far from the mountain pass. There was even a dead roe deer among them.

The roe deer was a specialty of Tu Mountain, about the size of a roe deer. Its skin and fat were effective in treating knife and arrow wounds.

Although the roe deer was not a fierce beast and had a gentle nature, it only appeared in the deep gorges and cliffs of Tu Mountain, making it hard to find. The Python Tooth Ridge was just a branch of Tu Mountain, so it was even rarer.

Large tribes or merchants from Canglan City who ventured through the Python Tooth Ridge were usually willing to pay a high price to acquire roe deer occasionally hunted by various tribes.

Chen Xun had only seen the image of the roe deer in the "Western Wilderness Classic" silk book. He never expected that this heavy rain would cause a roe deer to drown and be washed out of the mountains by the flood.

Chen Xun put down the medicine basket, picked up a large tree branch to probe the way, and waded through the deep, fast-flowing water, which reached his chin. His body swayed from side to side, and it took great effort to cross two gullies and reach the roe deer.

The roe deer was already dead, and as it was carried down by the flood, its two curved horns on its head were broken, but the damage to its skin and flesh was not particularly severe.

Chen Xun tied the roe deer to his back, and at that moment, another animal corpse was washed down from the mountain pass.

This corpse was particularly large, and as it was washed out of the mountain pass, it looked like a small boat capsized, lying across the mouth of a gully. It was quickly pushed to the shore by the turbulent water.

The huge, fierce head had been cut in half by something, leaving a charred black area. The black scales covering its body emitted a cold, sharp light, but were undamaged. The two complete, sharp tusks were even more intimidating, and from a distance, it was clear that this was a rare and powerful creature from the depths of the Python Tooth Ridge.

Such an exceptionally strong, feared even by higher-level warriors, would not easily die in a common flood.

Seeing the charred head of the strange beast, Chen Xun thought it might have been struck by lightning in the deep mountains.

When Chen Xun was brought to this realm by the giant demon, he had witnessed countless strange beasts and fierce birds in the depths of the Python Tooth Ridge being instantly reduced to ashes by the power of heaven and lightning. He had always held a deep respect for lightning.

The black-scaled strange beast, although fierce in appearance, was not surprising to have been killed by lightning.

If the black-scaled strange beast were alive, Chen Xun thought he wouldn't even be enough to fill its teeth. But now that it was dead, it made him excited.

The higher the level of the strange beast, the more valuable its blood, flesh, skin, teeth, and bones were for warrior training.

Chen Xun walked over and lightly tapped the tusks with his short spear, producing a metallic sound. Each black scale was the size of a palm, and felt cold like metal. If peeled off, it would make a high-quality armor.

This made Chen Xun even more delighted: it was definitely not an ordinary creature!

Just this one strange beast was worth a thousand or ten thousand ordinary wild animals!

However, Chen Xun was worried about the huge black-scaled beast.

He tried to lift the front legs of the black-scaled beast onto his shoulder, but the beast did not budge on the grassy slope. Using all his strength, he managed to drag it only a dozen meters.

Heaven, how was he going to drag this black-scaled beast back?

The Wild Horse Creek had already left the hunting area of the Wu Python tribe, and the Black Mountain tribe, which lived on the north bank, was definitely not to be trifled with.

Now that the heavy rain had just passed, the Wild Horse Creek was still swollen and flooding, but it was clear that the Black Mountain tribe's people would soon find a way to cross the Wild Horse Creek and come to the south bank to search for the valuable items washed out from the depths of the Python Tooth Ridge.

The many barbarian tribes living in the Western Wilderness had always had a love-hate relationship with heavy rains and floods.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Xun immediately put the roe deer in the medicine basket and tied it to his back. He then took out a rope, tied the four legs of the black-scaled beast, and pushed it into the water, dragging it upstream toward the mountain pass.

Chen Xun thought he would drag the giant beast through the mountain pass and hide it in a hidden gully, then return and lead the Wu Python tribe's people to quietly carry it away.

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The floodwaters had not yet subsided, and the rope was deeply embedded in Chen Xun's shoulders. Each step seemed to be about to tear his thin, weak shoulders.

The black-scaled beast was much heavier than water and sank immediately upon entering the water, but at least the buoyancy of the water allowed Chen Xun to drag it.

The four legs of the black-scaled beast were tied with four grass ropes as thick as thumbs, which were now taut like bowstrings, but were not broken by the flood.

The rope was made from Wu Ling Zi grass, a product of the Python Tooth Ridge, with extraordinary toughness. A rope as thick as a finger was as strong as a steel cable.

Chen Xun had been in this world for three years and had become accustomed to many strange things.

He could now lift five to six hundred pounds and carry two to three hundred pounds while running through the mountains for half a day without getting tired.

If he were on Earth, he could be considered a monster, but compared to the middle-level warriors of the Wu Python tribe who had awakened their barbarian souls, he was still a "weak and frail" young man.

Chen Xun's body was bent like a shrimp, his hands and feet firmly planted on the ground, grabbing onto the rocks. It seemed that each step required all his strength.

His heart beat like a giant drum, almost ready to jump out of his chest.

He gritted his teeth and took one step at a time.

By the time he crossed the stone ridge where the floodwaters poured out of the mountain pass, Chen Xun was already exhausted, his mouth full of blood. Not only had all his strength been drained, but his internal organs felt like they were being torn apart.

Chen Xun dragged the black-scaled beast to the shore, wedging it in a rock crevice to prevent it from being washed away. He spat out a mouthful of blood, which was bright red.

He struggled to take out a piece of meat from the medicine basket and swallowed it whole.

Chen Xun was not worried about the damage to his body from such intense exertion.

After the drop of demon blood entered his body, his body needed this kind of near-collapse extreme exertion to develop greater potential.

This was the only method he had figured out over the past three years to develop his body's potential.

In situations like this, as long as there was enough food and medicine to replenish the consumption afterward, not only would his body not be damaged, but his strength would improve significantly, and his body would become even stronger.

It seemed that his body had been tempered by the drop of demon blood that had seeped into it, or was being tempered through this extreme exertion.

This was somewhat similar to the principle of the Wu Python tribe's people training as warriors and tempering their bloodlines.

After swallowing the six to seven-pound piece of meat, it took a while before Chen Xun felt his body start to recover. He thought, it was really unexpected that dragging the beast's corpse only a few hundred meters into the mountains would be so exhausting.

After being pushed to the limit, to develop potential and temper the body, one must have enough food or medicine to replenish the consumption. Otherwise, the body would be weak for several days before slowly recovering.

This was the valuable experience Chen Xun had summarized over the past three years.

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