The Spirit Ape Catches the Snake, The Origin of Medicine Valley

Chapter 63 The Spirit Ape Catches the Snake, The Origin of Medicine Valley

When Zhou Chun left Hongyafang City, he had a wicked idea in mind.

He deliberately swaggered away from the market with Liu Shiyun, and headed recklessly towards the mountains.

If any foolish bandit dares to attack them, they can use [Azure Ape] to turn the tables and kill them.

To his disappointment, they did not encounter any attacks until they left the Red Rock Mountains.

Seemingly sensing his disappointment and knowing his previous thoughts, Liu Shiyun immediately spoke softly:

"Father once said that for the bandits who roam the Red Rock Mountains, cultivation level and strength are not the most important factors for longevity; the most important thing is vision."

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, you are so young, yet your cultivation is already at the late stage of Qi Refining. You also have a female cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining with you. Such a combination dares to swagger around the Red Rock Mountains. You must have something to rely on."

"Therefore, those bandit cultivators will definitely not show themselves easily before they are sure of the situation."

Zhou Chun hadn't thought of that.

Upon hearing her mention this, Zhou Chun became somewhat interested and immediately asked, "Then, Fellow Daoist Liu, tell me, how do you rogue cultivators typically protect yourselves in the cultivation world?"

"Is Fellow Daoist Zhou also interested in this?"

Liu Shiyun looked at him with some surprise, seemingly not expecting that a cultivator from a large family would be interested in such things.

"These are all things needed to survive and protect oneself in the world of cultivation. Naturally, I, Zhou, hope to learn more about them to avoid being unwittingly caught in a trap in the future!"

Zhou Chun wasn't embarrassed at all and openly stated the reasons for her interest.

Upon hearing his words, Liu Shiyun's beautiful eyes flashed with a strange light, and she immediately nodded gently, saying, "Since Fellow Daoist Zhou is interested in this, I will naturally tell you everything I know."

"My father often said that we, as wandering cultivators, must remember three things not to provoke and three things not to meddle with in the world of cultivation."

"Of the three things you shouldn't provoke, first, don't provoke disciples from major sects who are wearing sect uniforms; second, don't provoke people whose age and cultivation level differ greatly; and third, don't provoke white-haired old men."

"No one knows the strength or background of the disciples of the major sects. Provoking them may bring endless trouble. People with a large difference in age and cultivation level either have a powerful background or are pretending to be weak. The fact that the white-haired old man can live to old age is enough to show that his ability is far beyond that of ordinary people."

"As for the three 'no-man's-land's, the first is to ignore other people's quarrels, the second is to ignore other people's fights, and the third is to ignore other people's opinions."

"Furthermore, there are things we independent cultivators need to be careful about when entering and leaving the market to find companions or even sell things."

Liu Shiyun didn't hide anything from Zhou Chun and immediately told him all the experiences she had gained about the life of a rogue cultivator.

This also greatly benefited Zhou Chun, and he learned a lot.

And so, after leaving the Red Rock Mountains, the two traveled over mountains and valleys, stopping at the gate of a certain immortal cultivation family to meditate and recover their magical power and spirit. It was only three days later that they arrived at the medicine valley that Liu Shiyun had discovered.

This medicine valley is indeed very well hidden.

It is not large in area; it is just a mountain crack less than 20 zhang long and less than 3 zhang wide. It is impossible to enter or exit from below; one can only go up or down from the top through the opening.

Unfortunately, the area around the opening was covered with vines, and the green leaves perfectly concealed most of the opening, while a large number of thorny shrubs grew on both sides.

This unique terrain makes it difficult to detect, whether from the air or the ground.

Liu Shiyun was able to discover this medicine valley because she happened to see two green-crowned flying snakes that were out hunting descend from the sky into the valley.

Once outside the Medicine Valley, Zhou Chun used his flying artifact to fly up and survey the area before returning to the ground and releasing the [Azure Wood Spirit Ape].

Then he took out several large snake-filled bags from his storage pouch and handed them to the blue-haired giant ape.

These snake bags were tools that the Zhou family used to catch small and medium-sized demon snakes. They were all woven from highly resilient demon silkworm silk, impervious to water and fire, and difficult to harm by snake venom.

Moreover, Zhou Chun had already sprinkled a large amount of powder inside that could put the demon snakes into a coma. As long as those emerald-crowned flying snakes were caught and put inside, they would be too weak to move for several days.

"Elder Ape, I entrust those emerald-crowned flying snakes inside to your care. If possible, please do not harm them!"

Oh~ Oh!

Faced with Zhou Chun's instructions, the blue-haired giant ape simply patted its chest to indicate that it understood.

Then it grabbed the bag and strode towards the valley of medicine.

Fearing they might be attacked by the Emerald Crown Flying Serpent, Zhou Chun and Liu Shiyun kept a distance and watched from a distance.

Suddenly, the giant blue-haired ape somehow angered the emerald-crowned flying snakes inside. Soon, twenty or thirty emerald-green flying snakes flew out of the medicine valley and attacked it, spewing venom.

These emerald green flying snakes were not very large; the two largest were less than ten feet long, and the smaller ones were only four or five feet long.

Like the bamboo viper, they are all emerald green, with a fleshy growth on their heads that resembles a rooster's comb, and two pairs of membranous wings like dragonfly wings growing on their sides.

This serpent's main attack method is poison. It can turn its deadly venom into poison arrows and poisonous water to attack enemies, or use its extremely fast flight speed to pounce on its prey.

If bitten by them, unless one happens to have an extremely effective antidote, even a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator will not survive more than half a day.

However, as a mid-grade second-tier demonic beast, the Green-haired Giant Ape would not be harmed by these small snakes.

With a roar, it released a layer of emerald green light, easily blocking the poison arrows and poisonous water.

At the same time, it waved its large hand, and the emerald green light wove into a large net, instantly trapping several emerald-crowned flying snakes in it. Then it pulled the net back, and cast several spells of magic on the heads of the emerald-crowned flying snakes, stunning them unconscious.

Following the same method, before long, the group of emerald-crowned flying snakes were all captured, stunned, and stuffed into bags by the blue-haired giant ape.

This scene left Zhou Chun and Liu Shiyun speechless, both shocked by the power of the giant blue-haired ape.

Whoa whoa!

Upon reaching Zhou Chun, the blue-haired giant ape handed over the bag in its hand, indicating that Zhou Chun could inspect it.

However, Zhou Chun had reservations and trusted the other party completely, so he immediately smiled and said, "Elder Yuan, there's no need for that. You should keep an eye on these bags."

After saying that, he reached out and patted the storage bag at his waist, took out a jade box containing several kinds of spiritual fruits, and handed it to the blue-haired giant ape.

"Please enjoy these spiritual fruits, Elder Ape. I'll go into the valley to gather some spiritual herbs."

Ooh ooh ooh—

The giant blue-haired ape shouted with delight, took the jade box with great satisfaction, and then sat down on the ground to slowly enjoy it.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun immediately nodded to Liu Shiyun, and the two of them walked together toward the medicine valley.

That's why they say the spirit beasts tamed by cultivators are so well-behaved!

Although the blue-haired giant ape had fought a great battle with the emerald-crowned flying snakes outside the medicine valley, and even entered the medicine valley to clean up the mess, preventing any emerald-crowned flying snakes from lurking inside and not yet coming out.

However, it did not damage a single medicinal herb inside throughout the entire process, showing great restraint.

Upon arriving in the valley, Zhou Chun immediately noticed that various medicinal herbs grew on the stone walls and ground, including some that were over a hundred years old.

Golden bamboo orchid, polygonatum, wild ginseng, poria cocos, fragrant grass, red oil flower...

Zhou Chun could identify more than a dozen kinds of spiritual herbs at a glance, and there were many more that he couldn't identify at the moment.

Looking at the densely growing medicinal herbs, he muttered to himself, "Strange, there are far too many kinds of medicinal herbs here. It's unlikely that so many different kinds of medicinal herbs could grow in a single place in the wild!"

"Now that Fellow Daoist Zhou has said that, this matter is indeed somewhat strange."

Liu Shiyun nodded, also showing a look of doubt.

However, no matter how much the two looked around, they could not find any trace of human activity in the place, not to mention that the group of emerald flying snakes had previously lived here.

In the end, Zhou Chun could only wave his hand and say, "Never mind, let's gather the herbs first!"

Then he took out a large number of empty jade boxes from his storage bag, and together with Liu Shiyun, they carefully dug up various spiritual herbs with medicinal hoes.

As Zhou Chun dug, while unearthing a tiger claw golden thread grass growing on the stone wall, he suddenly noticed something unusual about the stone wall next to him, which was covered with vines.

He leaned closer and parted the vines to take a look, and found that there was actually a stone door inside!

The moment Zhou Chun saw the stone door, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he instantly understood where all the spiritual herbs in the Medicine Valley came from.

"I never imagined that a hermitage of a reclusive cultivator could be hidden in such a desolate place!"

He looked at the moss-covered stone door in front of him with surprise, and then revealed the truth.

Indeed, if there is a hermitage of a rogue cultivator hidden here, it would not be surprising that so many different kinds of spiritual herbs grow here.

Because some independent cultivators who live in caves in the wild do have the habit of randomly scattering spiritual herb seeds, whether they will succeed or not is entirely up to fate.

Even many family cultivators and sect cultivators would scatter some spiritual herb seeds in and around their residences, hoping to reap some rewards in the future.

After all, apart from some rare species, most common medicinal herb seeds are not difficult to obtain.

Looking at the spiritual herbs filling the valley now, and the emerald-crowned flying snakes from before, one can tell that the owner of the cave inside the stone gate must have abandoned this place long ago.

When Zhou Chun opened the stone door, what he saw inside confirmed his speculation.

The stone chambers inside the stone gate contained nothing but some rotten wooden furniture and the moldy books and clothes that had originally been stored there.

It is evident that the original owner most likely went out and never returned.

It's highly likely that the guest died outside!

"Is this a case of one generation planting the herbs so another can enjoy the shade?"

Zhou Chun left the stone chamber and looked at the remaining medicinal herbs outside. He shook his head and stopped thinking about these things.

(End of this chapter)