Chapter 27

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As autumn set in, torrential rains fell for several consecutive days around Mangya Ridge. The water level of Yema Creek surged, and floods poured in from the mountain pass, submerging the northern valley of Wumang Stone Village.

Before the floodwaters had receded, a bone-chilling cold wave suddenly hit, and within just two days, the nearly twenty-mile-long narrow flooded valley was frozen solid, covered with a layer of ice.

The next day, the heavy rain turned into a heavy snowfall, turning the rugged mountains and deep valleys of Mangya Ridge into a snowy white landscape.

After Yema Creek froze, it became much easier for the Black Mountain tribes from the north to launch a surprise attack. Chen Xun had to temporarily put aside his training and, along with Zong Sang and other Wumang warriors, braved the wind and snow to guard the valley entrance on the south bank of Yema Creek.

This was the fourth winter Chen Xun had experienced in this world. He felt that this year's cold wave came particularly early, and the cold wind blowing into the valley was especially piercing.

He was almost at the peak of the fifth level of martial prowess, wrapped in animal skins and wearing scale armor, but his exposed hands and feet still ached from the bone-chilling wind. It was only the beginning of winter, and he didn't know how many people in the village would survive this harsh winter.

Under the ice, which had frozen solid overnight, there were many dead birds and beasts, as well as many drowned members of the primitive tribes, who had been washed down from somewhere upstream in Yema Creek. Their bodies, trapped under the ice, showed the desperate struggle they had made before drowning.

The valley entrance was about six to seven hundred meters wide, and beyond it was Yema Creek. The natural mud dam had been shattered by the surging floodwaters.

Chen Xun sat on a large rock, resting his heavy spear on his knee, and looked at the valley entrance covered in ice and snow. He thought that if the Wumang could organize people to build a stone embankment here, the nearly twenty-mile-long valley would become a valuable land that would not be flooded by drought or flood.

Although the Wumang now controlled the mountains and hills within a radius of dozens of miles south of Yema Creek and could freely enter the deep mountains of Mangya Ridge for hunting, most of these hunting areas were rugged and steep. Only a small area of gentle slopes south of the stone village and this valley were rare flatlands in Mangya Ridge.

This valley, nearly twenty miles deep, had its narrowest point at the valley entrance, which was only six to seven hundred meters wide, and its widest point was no more than three to four miles. However, the valley floor was flat and open, making it a rare piece of land suitable for farming in the mountains.

Moreover, the floods of Yema Creek brought in large amounts of fertile soil year-round, making it extremely valuable.

Chen Xun read in the "Canglan Miscellany" that the ancestors of Canglan had started cultivating wild grains on gentle slopes a thousand years ago, and the history of raising herbivorous birds and beasts was even longer.

If the Wumang could make good use of this valley, they wouldn't have to worry about the food supply for their over a thousand people.

However, the biggest problem the Wumang faced was that their strength was still insufficient.

Even if the Wumang had the ability to build a stone embankment at the valley entrance to block the floods from upstream during the summer and autumn, and to grow crops and raise animals, the threat from the Black Mountain tribes on the north bank of Yema Creek and the large number of fierce birds and beasts that gathered to hunt in the deep mountains were still severe.

Seeing Grandfather Zong Tu and Nan Liao approaching, Chen Xun shook off the snow from his clothes and armor, jumped down from the large rock, and walked over, saying, "Grandfather, this winter is really cold. With such a heavy snowstorm, the village needs to make more preparations."

"A once-in-a-decade cold wave is not easy to survive!" Zong Tu frowned, his weathered face showing deep concern.

"Cold wave?" Chen Xun had only experienced four winters in this world and didn't know how much of a threat the once-in-a-decade cold wave posed to the primitive tribes living north of Mangya Ridge.

"A Xun, from now on until spring, you must not enter the mountains," Zong Tu said seriously. "This cold wave is more severe than in previous years. We don't know how many strange beasts will come out of the deep mountains to find food. We also need to reinforce the stone walls of the village..."

Although Mangya Ridge was just a branch of Tushan, its main peak was high into the clouds, with the top often shrouded in mist and the middle part covered in snow and ice, appearing white from a distance.

With the cold wave, the stone village in the valley was already freezing, and the high mountains above the clouds must be even colder.

It was only the beginning of winter, and the long winter would last for five to six months.

To avoid the cold, many birds and beasts would migrate from the cold high mountains to the lower areas where they could find shelter from the wind. Although the strange beasts that lived deep in the mountains were not afraid of the cold, they would come out more frequently in the winter to find food, appearing more often in the peripheral areas of Mangya Ridge.

The cold wave coming from the north would bring even more severe challenges to the northern lake and wilderness areas. A large number of fierce birds and beasts from the northern lake and wilderness areas, and even further north, would migrate south to avoid the cold, posing a more deadly threat to the surrounding tribes.

The "Canglan Miscellany" recorded many instances of entire tribes being devoured by herds of beasts.

As if to confirm Chen Xun's concerns, two sharp, long howls came from the northern sky. Chen Xun turned his head and saw two black dots flying over from the distance. In a blink, two giant vultures swooped down from the blue sky into the valley.

In an instant, one of the vultures grabbed a mountain leopard and soared back into the sky, while the other quickly caught a giant snake from the valley and flew into the distance, heading south into the depths of Mangya Ridge.

The vultures, with their wings spread wider than a buffalo, were covered in grayish-blue scales, with no feathers at all. Their massive bodies seemed to be made of divine iron, reflecting a cold, icy light under the pale sun.

Scale Vultures!

The "Canglan Miscellany" and the "Western Wilderness Annals" both mentioned these strange birds, which were hundreds of times more powerful than the Green-eyed Hawks. A mountain leopard, with its fierce claws and teeth, had no chance of struggling against the iron claws of a Scale Vulture.

Chen Xun was secretly alarmed by this sight.

"It seems the village needs to prepare more live beasts..." Zong Tu looked at the Scale Vultures flying into the depths of Mangya Ridge and said to Nan Liao with deep concern.

Even if all the warriors in the village combined could kill one of these fierce beasts, the casualties would be severe. The village had only twenty warriors who had awakened their primitive souls, and the loss of any one of them would be unbearable.

If such fierce beasts attacked the village, the Wumang could only throw out the live beasts they had prepared to protect the people.

"Grandfather, there's still a month before the real cold sets in. I want to go to the northern lake and wilderness area..." Chen Xun said to Grandfather Zong Tu.

In the past, Chen Xun didn't have the ability to leave the surrounding mountains, so he could only stay within the Wumang hunting area. He had never even seen the lake and wilderness area fifty to sixty miles to the north.

Now, the major tribes in the northern mountains were busy preparing for the winter, and hunting teams rarely went out in large numbers. The chances of Chen Xun encountering Black Mountain warriors in the wilderness were very low.

Even if he unfortunately encountered a high-level warrior like Gu Hu, he could still try to escape if he couldn't fight.

Next spring, Deputy Commander Su Qingfeng of the Xuwu would send people to Mangya Ridge to select tribal children to be recommended to the Canglan Academy. After careful consideration, Chen Xun decided to give it a try.

Although the Wumang's Nine Abyss War Spear technique was profound and mysterious, far surpassing the Great Peng Secret Fist, there were no advanced cultivation techniques for the primitive soul, and the Wumang had no detailed cultivation methods for how to condense the blood of the primitive ancestors.

At present, if Chen Xun wanted to learn advanced martial techniques or other cultivation methods, the Canglan Academy was his only option.

However, after seeing the behavior of the Su family's spoiled children, Su Ling and Su Yi, Chen Xun knew that Canglan was not an easy place to live, and the Su family was not a group of kind and gentle people.

He wanted to go to Canglan in the spring, and he needed to strengthen his own power to have more confidence.

Although he still had ten Yuan Gathering Pills, they were only enough for him to train intensively for a month.

Now that the strange beasts in the deep mountains of Mangya Ridge were becoming restless, it would be extremely dangerous to go into the mountains to gather herbs. If he wanted to find more herbs for cultivation, he could only try his luck in the northern lake and wilderness area.

The "Canglan Miscellany" recorded that there would be a one to two-month delay between the start of the cold wave and the large-scale migration of beasts. Chen Xun planned to use this time to go to the northern lake and wilderness area to see if he could gather any herbs.

Although the cold wave was bone-chilling, Chen Xun, who was now at the fifth level of martial prowess, needed such harsh training to temper his bones and muscles.

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For this northern journey, Chen Xun didn't expect to fight anyone. He left his heavy spear and scale armor in his hut, taking only the black-sheathed long sword, the iron-bow, and a quiver of iron arrows. He carried a specially made medicine basket and set out, crossing Yema Creek and heading north over the mountains.

The northern lake and wilderness area of Mangya Ridge was now a vast ice field, with a large amount of wild grass and trees buried under the snow and ice.

Although the lake and wilderness area was flat and had lush vegetation, with vast areas of primeval forests, the unpredictable heavy rains and large amounts of glacial meltwater from Mangya Ridge and Tushan's western ridge would flow out, forming a network of rivers and lakes in the plain area.

These areas could be occasionally entered by primitive tribes for hunting, but the frequent flooding made it impossible for any tribe to live there long-term. The strange beasts living in the vast primeval forests were not necessarily weaker than the fierce birds and beasts in the rugged mountains and deep valleys.

Only a few scattered tribes managed to survive on the high hills and mountains scattered throughout the lake and wilderness area.

The cold wave, however, had some benefits.

The deep lakes and swamps at the edge of the primeval forest, which were extremely dangerous, were now frozen solid. The large number of venomous insects, snakes, and dragons were hibernating under the ice and would not easily break through to harm people.

The ice and snow-covered plains were flat and unobstructed.

Of course, to avoid becoming prey for fierce birds, Chen Xun didn't dare to walk boldly on the snowfield. Instead, he followed the sparse forest at the edge of the lake and wilderness area, moving north cautiously.

When he left Mangya Ridge, he wore a white fur hat and a white fur coat, and wrapped his iron-bow and black-sheathed long sword in white fur to blend in with the snow and ice. This allowed him to focus on searching for the herbs and plants he needed for cultivation.

Some herbs and plants were usually accompanied by venomous insects, snakes, and dragons, making it rare for medicine collectors to dare to enter the lake and wilderness area.

After winter set in, the venomous insects, snakes, and dragons either burrowed into the mud or hibernated deep in the lakes and swamps. On the edges of the lakes and under the ice, with patience, Chen Xun's harvest would be much greater than if he had gone deep into the mountains of Mangya Ridge.

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