Chapter 32

Ting, Ting, Ting, Su Tang?

Ting, Ting, Ting, another member of the Su clan?

Chen Xun thought that within this vast area of several thousand miles, apart from the powerful Heavenly Savages of the major tribes, probably only the Su clan of Canglan could produce such a young and strong individual.

"My name is Chen Xun." Chen Xun used his fingers to write "Chen Xun" in the snow and then casually erased it.

He didn't have much good feeling towards the Su clan's offspring. Although Su Tang wasn't a bad person, compared to their cultivation levels, one was in the sky and the other on the ground, so there wasn't much to talk about. He squatted down and examined the footprints left by the three groups of people who had passed by, trying to gather more information.

Su Tang sat beside him, patiently watching Chen Xun as he squatted and examined the traces around him.

The once-a-decade cold wave would sweep over the Xilin Ridge and the marshy wilderness north of the Pyangya Ridge in autumn, which was no secret to the cultivators in Canglan City.

Su Tang had already reached a critical stage in her cultivation of innate spirit energy, so after the autumn, she entered the depths of the marsh to absorb the abundant spiritual energy and practice.

As Chen Xun had said, practicing alone in the depths of the marshy wilderness was extremely boring. She could watch ants fighting for half a day.

That night, seeing the blood surge to the top of the isolated peak, she ran over to see what was happening. Although she couldn't save the savages from the wolf pack, she did see Chen Xun collecting the remains in the valley.

At that moment, she was quite curious:

Why would the Pyangya Ridge savages let a young, not yet fully grown, and somewhat talented boy enter the marshy wilderness to practice in the cold winter when the cold wave was sweeping south?

She was also particularly curious about how such a low-level cultivator dared to enter the marshy wilderness alone and wasn't afraid of the savage beasts?

After that, she followed Chen Xun intentionally or unintentionally.

With Chen Xun's low cultivation, he couldn't detect her following him. She treated this as a way to adjust her practice in the depths of the marshy wilderness.

At first, she helped him drive away a few vicious birds, but she didn't expect his ability to hide and move stealthily to be so remarkable. In the end, he had to save her from the marshy wilderness.

**************

Three days later, Chen Xun and Su Tang finally broke through the encirclement and search by the Bai Xi tribe and entered the marshy wilderness 500 miles away from the Xilin Ridge.

After three or four days of searching without finding Su Tang, Chen Xun thought the Bai Xi tribe would have given up the idea of killing and robbing.

However, the threat from the fierce birds and beasts increased as they moved south through the marshy wilderness.

In the past, as long as it wasn't a particularly strong savage beast, Chen Xun could escape by running and using the terrain. Now, carrying Su Tang, he had to be more cautious, and his speed was much slower.

Su Tang's injuries did not improve along the way.

Her divine soul and spirit sea were shattered and severely damaged in the battle with the giant ape. Her mystic acupoints were dry, and she couldn't generate any Dao essence true yang.

Without being able to generate Dao essence true yang, even with the nourishment of the Yuan-gathering ointment, Su Tang couldn't completely resist the penetration of the extreme cold mystic energy, and her injuries worsened.

Su Tang wouldn't complain to Chen Xun, who looked a few years younger than her, but seeing her increasingly pale cheeks and her dim eyes, Chen Xun knew her injuries were getting worse.

Fierce birds often flew across the sky, and they couldn't speed up their southward journey.

Chen Xun was also worried that after the spring, the ice and snow on the marshy wilderness would melt, and venomous insects, snakes, and other fierce creatures would emerge from the ice and mud, possibly trapping them in some remote mountain or wilderness, preventing them from moving south.

Chen Xun looked up at the isolated peak in the distance, which was about three to four thousand meters high, standing like a pillar supporting the sky, towering over the forest and snowfield, magnificent and grand.

The dense primeval forest spread like a giant carpet from the middle of the large isolated peak, extending to the edge of the lake where Chen Xun stood, covered by a thick layer of ice.

In the past, Chen Xun wouldn't easily take the risk of entering the forest to search for medicinal herbs, but with the remaining Yuan-gathering ointment, it was difficult to prevent Su Tang's injuries from worsening.

To treat Su Tang's injuries, he had to take the risk.

"Don't go there. There are several fierce beasts in that mountain. Even with your Heavenly Savage cultivation, you might not be able to return unscathed," Su Tang said, seeing Chen Xun digging a snow cave to hide her and go up the mountain alone. She pulled him, "If you go up the mountain now and encounter those fierce beasts, you won't have a chance to survive."

"I'm not going to force my way in; there's still a chance," Chen Xun said, asking Su Tang to tell him about the nests of those fierce birds and beasts.

The more powerful the fierce beast, the stronger its sense of territory.

Since these fierce beasts could coexist in the same mountain, it was a balance formed after years of fierce battles. There would likely be enough buffer zones between their territories, making it safer to pass through those areas.

Chen Xun's thoughts were new to Su Tang, but after careful consideration, they did make sense.

Not only were the savage beasts like this, but the powerful forces in the Western Wilderness were also the same. The marshy wilderness north of the Pyangya Ridge and south of the Xilin Ridge was the buffer zone between the Su clan and the Xuanhan Sect.

If she were in the territory of the Su clan, even with her severe injuries, she wouldn't be in such a dire situation. If she were captured by the Bai Xi tribe, the five venerables of the Bai Xi tribe, even if they didn't dare to kill her and take her blood, would likely hand her over to the Xuanhan Sect...

"I'll go with you," Su Tang said. If something happened to Chen Xun, she couldn't leave the marshy wilderness alone.

Although her mystic acupoints were dry and she couldn't generate Dao essence true yang or resist the penetration of the mystic cold energy into her organs, she had once reached the peak of the mid-stage of the Rebirth Realm. Her body, tempered by spirit energy, was actually stronger than Chen Xun's.

Otherwise, even if her last attack sent the vicious ape flying for tens of miles, relying on the remaining armor to dissipate most of the impact, she would have been shattered into pieces.

She didn't start her cultivation from martial arts, but after entering the Rebirth Realm, she also studied martial arts. As long as her injuries didn't worsen dramatically, she could still be of some use if they encountered any unexpected situations.

Chen Xun gave her the iron-tired giant bow and the quiver, and asked, "Why were you in the Xilin Ridge, fighting that vicious ape?"

He had always been curious. With Su Tang's strength, it wasn't difficult to avoid that vicious ape, so why did she fight it to the death?

"That vicious ape led dozens of snow apes from the ice plains north of the Xilin Ridge. They enjoy eating human brains. Several villages in the Xilin Ridge were not spared," Su Tang said, "I didn't think I could kill it, but I thought I could drive it back..."

Chen Xun recalled the thousands of shattered skulls he saw in the unnamed isolated mountain when he first entered the marshy wilderness, all of which had been eaten clean by the wolf pack. He was silent, not knowing what to say. Could he say Su Tang was stupid?

Just hearing that the giant ape led dozens of snow apes through the Xilin Ridge, Chen Xun was even more shocked, not expecting the giant ape to not be a lone fighter.

If the giant ape was already so powerful, the dozens of snow apes, although not as strong as the giant ape, were still savage beasts and likely not much weaker.

If the giant ape led dozens of vicious apes that enjoyed eating human brains into the Pyangya Ridge, what kind of horrific scene would it be?

Seeing the worry in Chen Xun's eyes, Su Tang said, "You don't need to worry. I didn't expect the ancient bloodline in the giant ape's body to have generated a bit of divine power, so I was careless and was severely injured. But with my last attack, I scattered that bit of divine power. Perhaps the five venerables of the Bai Xi tribe have already dealt with the giant ape..."

The "Canglan Miscellaneous Records" documented the endless feuds and killings among the Bai Xi tribes. The five powerful figures known as the "five venerables of the Bai Xi" would not have joined forces to deal with the giant ape unless they were from the same tribe.

Otherwise, they would have joined forces with Su Tang earlier, increasing their chances of success.

In the past few days, the five venerables of the Bai Xi tribe had not personally come out of the Xilin Ridge to pursue Su Tang, likely because they were restraining each other and could only send tribal warriors to do the dirty work.

From this, he realized that he had to save Su Tang and return her to Canglan.

If the giant ape led dozens of vicious apes into the Pyangya Ridge, he could only save Su Tang to make it harder for the Su clan to ignore the dozens of man-eating vicious apes.

However, thinking that the giant ape was not a lone fighter was unexpected, and he was somewhat worried.

**************

Fierce birds and beasts have their own nests. Su Tang had already mapped out the nests of the fierce beasts in this isolated peak when she passed by last time, providing great convenience for Chen Xun and her to enter the mountain now.

Some fierce birds and beasts that were not cold-resistant had already moved south to avoid the cold wave, and venomous insects and snakes were hibernating under the ice and mud, making the forest particularly quiet.

Chen Xun and Su Tang carefully climbed the mountain, searching for medicinal herbs along the edges of the territories of the savage beasts.

This isolated peak, except for occasional passing cultivators who entered to gather medicinal herbs, might not have had any savage tribes living in it for thousands of years.

After medicinal herbs mature, they emit a spiritual aura, attracting nearby savage beasts, but some ordinary herbs in the forest and valleys grew particularly lush.

Some herbs needed to make the Yuan-gathering ointment had even grown to the point of accumulating spiritual essence