Chapter 13

"Rumble!"

Feeling his rumbling stomach, Zheng Shiyi realized he was hungry. He walked to his bag and reached inside. When he found that the food inside was almost gone, he sighed inwardly, knowing it was not a good sign.

The sect did not provide food for the disciples. To survive, they could buy seeds to grow food, hunt wild game in the mountains for sustenance, or sell the wild game to buy food.

They could also go to the Immortal Spirit Mountain Range to hunt strange beasts and obtain their beast cores, which could be sold for money to buy food or other useful items.

At present, Zheng Shiyi urgently needed food. Waiting for the crops to grow would surely result in him starving to death.

Hunting wild game could solve this problem, but it was not suitable for him. The amount of food obtained from hunting wild game was really too little! To eliminate Lin Song in the shortest time possible, he needed to focus on cultivation, not on solving his hunger.

However, hunting strange beasts in the Immortal Spirit Mountain Range to obtain beast cores was different.

Beast cores could enhance the attack power of weapons, the defense of armor, and the power of formations, making them very expensive.

As long as Lin Feng sold the beast cores he obtained, he would not have to worry about this problem in the future.

Of course, hunting strange beasts in the Immortal Spirit Mountain Range was not an easy task.

The Immortal Spirit Mountain Range was vast and extremely dangerous, with countless strange beasts. It was rumored that ancient behemoths roamed deep within.

Many sects had established themselves around it, and after years of exploration, they had opened their own entrances to the mountains.

Therefore, after entering the Immortal Spirit Mountain Range, one might not only be attacked by strange beasts but also by disciples from other sects.

Usually, those with lower cultivation would not venture into the Immortal Spirit Mountain Range.

Although entering the mountains was dangerous, not entering them was no better. Zheng Shiyi did not believe that Zheng Song would leave him alone.

"As long as I don't go deep into the Immortal Spirit Mountain Range, I won't encounter major dangers."

With this resolve, Zheng Shiyi quickly headed toward the entrance to the mountains.

The entrance to the mountains was very close to where Zheng Shiyi was cultivating. It did not take long for him to reach the entrance.

At the entrance, more than thirty people had gathered.

"What are they doing?"

Zheng Shiyi was a bit curious and walked over.

He soon learned from one of them that they were a team preparing to escort a peak Spirit Medicine Apprentice into the mountains to gather medicinal herbs.

Spirit Medicine was an extremely prestigious profession on the continent, but becoming a Spirit Medicine Master was not easy.

Not to mention other things, the medicinal herbs required to advance from a peak Spirit Medicine Apprentice to a Spirit Medicine Master were not something an ordinary person could obtain.

Usually, after reaching the peak of a Spirit Medicine Apprentice, they would choose to join the Spirit Medicine Guild. This way, they would receive enough medicinal herbs from the guild to advance to a Spirit Medicine Master.

However, once they joined the Spirit Medicine Guild, they would be bound by it.

The person recruiting team members to escort himself into the mountains to gather medicinal herbs clearly did not want to be bound by the Spirit Medicine Guild, so he chose not to join the guild and to gather the medicinal herbs needed to advance to a Spirit Medicine Master on his own.

Following the person's direction, Zheng Shiyi saw the peak Spirit Medicine Apprentice who was recruiting people to escort him into the mountains to gather medicinal herbs. She was a white-clad girl named Su Jingdan, standing among the crowd.

Her skin was as smooth as jade, her captivating eyes like pearls in the night sky, and her long, black, lustrous hair fell over her shoulders. From a distance, she looked like a celestial being descended to earth.

She kept waving her hands, greeting those who joined the team.

To her left stood a man with a sinister face and a scar on his neck, wearing yellow clothes. He was the one with the highest cultivation in the team, having reached the Ninth Wheel of the Qi Wheel Realm, Huang He.

This man kept using his sword to intimidate those passing by, urging them to join his team: "The mountains are dangerous. If you don't want to die, join my team!"

Although many people did not like his attitude, they were afraid of the dangers in the mountains and chose to join his team.

Beside Huang He stood two men with shifty eyes, one named Zhou Qiang and the other named Su Xing. Their cultivation was second only to Huang He, at the Eighth Wheel of the Qi Wheel Realm.

The person who introduced the team to Zheng Shiyi, seeing that he was also going to enter the mountains, warned him, "Young brother, the Immortal Spirit Mountain Range is full of dangers. It's very dangerous to enter alone. Why don't you join our team? Anyway, once you're in the mountains, no one will stop you from leaving."

Seeing the logic in his words, Zheng Shiyi walked up to Su Jingdan and expressed his willingness to join the team.

Su Jingdan smiled at him, just as she had with the others who joined the team, indicating her agreement.

Huang He glanced at Zheng Shiyi, his brows furrowing with dissatisfaction. "With such poor cultivation, you dare to enter the mountains? Don't be a burden later!"

Zheng Shiyi's brows furrowed as he thought to himself. This leader is not someone easy to get along with. I'll observe and familiarize myself with the situation in the mountains. If there are no major problems, I'll leave this team. This time, I'm entering the mountains to get more food, and I'll try not to get involved in any other matters.

"Let's go!"

When the number of recruits was about right, Huang He gave the order, and the entire team set off for the Immortal Spirit Mountain Range.

They hadn't walked far when Huang He, who was walking beside Su Jingdan, suddenly raised his hand and shouted loudly, "Everyone, stop! I need to reorganize the team!"

Zheng Shiyi watched as Huang He, the leader, walked from the center of the team to the front without any polite greetings, directing the positions of the others: "You, you, you, and you! Stand here!"

"You, stand over there!"

No one had the chance to object, and he acted as if he had the final say.

Zheng Shiyi's brows furrowed, feeling unhappy. Huang He had placed the weaker members at the front, clearly treating them as cannon fodder. The atmosphere in the team was terrible! I'll leave this team tonight and explore on my own.

Seeing Zheng Shiyi frown, Huang He's face naturally showed a look of contempt. A new disciple dares to have this attitude? Excellent!

"You, go to the front!" Huang He pointed at Zheng Shiyi and said.

Zheng Shiyi knew he couldn't show his displeasure at this moment. After all, the other party was at the Ninth Wheel of the Qi Wheel Realm, and if they fought, he would likely be at a disadvantage!

Although walking at the front was more dangerous, it also meant he could be the first to kill strange beasts and obtain more beast cores.

Zheng Shiyi did not object, nodded, and walked to the front.

"Brother, your cultivation is so low, you should stay back a bit," a muscular, honest-looking man patted Zheng Shiyi's shoulder.

"Yes, young brother, the Immortal Spirit Mountain Range is full of dangers. You never know when you might encounter major dangers. You should stay back a bit. This way, when major dangers arise, you'll have a chance to escape."

"Young brother, move back a bit, no one will blame you."

The people around him all advised Zheng Shiyi to move back, and he felt a warmth in his heart, reducing his desire to leave the team.

The honest-looking man patted Zheng Shiyi's shoulder and smiled, "Once we're in the team, we're all brothers. Since your cultivation is so low, we naturally have to take care of you. Hehe, Wu Dong!"

"Zheng Shiyi!" Zheng Shiyi nodded and clasped his hands in greeting.

Wu Dong pointed to the dense forest ahead and said, "There might be strange beasts ahead. When they appear, try to avoid them. Don't engage in battle; your cultivation is too weak."

Feeling the warmth in Wu Dong's straightforward nature, Zheng Shiyi felt a sense of closeness to him.

Just as Wu Dong finished speaking, six or seven first-stage strange beasts suddenly rushed out of the dense forest ahead.

They were large, with long fangs, tiger heads, snake tails, and elephant legs, looking extremely ugly.

With a stomp, the entire mountain seemed to collapse, and the rumbling sounds continued.

"Brothers, charge!"

The team members at the front drew their weapons and charged first. Those slightly behind also charged.

Zheng Shiyi wanted to charge forward but was held back by Wu Dong and a few other brothers. "These strange beasts are not easy to deal with. As a new disciple, you should stay here. We'll share the beast cores with you later. For now, you need to learn from our battles."

The team members who drew their weapons clashed fiercely with the strange beasts. The sounds of battle cries and roars intertwined, making the scene extremely intense. It took a long time to finally defeat the strange beasts.

After extracting the beast cores from the strange beasts, the team members were very excited.

Huang He's impatient voice suddenly came from the center of the team, "A bunch of useless people, it took you so long to deal with first-stage strange beasts. I don't know what you're here for!"