Chapter 266: Tiger Demon Enters The Mountain
After inspecting the construction progress of the Frog Factory, Yuan Zhu gave Senior Student full marks. Everything far exceeded his expectations, and the construction efficiency was simply otherworldly.
At this rate, the Frog Factory will be officially operational in just half a month. The Underground Laboratory will probably be completed in about two months. In this world with Supernatural Powers, even civil engineering efficiency far surpasses that of Earth.
Yuan Zhu was extremely satisfied with Senior Student’s business abilities, and now it was his turn.
Having gained the client’s approval, Senior Student suddenly leaned in close, taking the initiative to ask: “My results have passed your inspection, so what about you? Did you get the one-of-a-kind Spirit Medicine Seeds you promised me earlier?”
Previously, to win over Senior Student and deepen their cooperation, Yuan Zhu had promised to provide her with a large quantity of unique ‘dangerous plant seeds’ to fund her academic research.
In his cognition, the Eclosion World had a large number of Spirit Medicine Seeds mutated by ‘Miasma environment’ pollution. These ‘seeds’ had undergone generations of directed cultivation (Corpse Seed) and evolution, resulting in genetic mutations that made them highly adapted to underground environments.
At the same time, they perfectly matched the needs of the School of Dangerous Botany. With a wide variety and vast quantities, there was sure to be one suitable for her.
Senior Student, who had previously obtained Blood Eggplant and a small amount of Disease Crop Seeds from Yuan Zhu, knew he had wild connections and could always procure rare and dangerous ‘seeds’.
Thus, she believed Candle’s tall tales and held great expectations for him.
Faced with Senior Student’s questioning, Yuan Zhu wore a mysterious smile, nodded lightly, and puffed out his chest proudly: “Of course! I absolutely won’t let you down. Want them now? Or should I hand them over later?”
Senior Student had no hesitation and immediately replied: “Quick, quick, quick, I want them now!”
Yuan Zhu took out a Spatial Small Pumpkin from his Soul Space and handed it to her, introducing: “It contains seeds of 100 types of herbaceous Polluted Spirit Medicine, each wrapped and separated by different sheets of paper. Each sheet, when unfolded, records the name of the medicinal herb, a diagram of the mature Spirit Medicine, and a brief introduction to its properties and usage.”
Senior Student gripped the Little Pumpkin tightly, focusing her attention and projecting her will into it.
Immediately, she ‘saw’ within the limited Storage Space over a hundred white paper packages. Each paper package contained a faint Polluted Aura. But it wasn’t the kind that was completely unusable, the natural enemy of all healthy life forms—Disease Pollution.
“Very good! This time, you didn’t try to fob me off with ‘Disease Pollution’.”
Yuan Zhu had previously given Senior Student quite a few ‘bizarre plants’. The Buddhist mark on the Blood Eggplant was too strong, making it unsuitable for cultivation as an ‘Immortal Dao Seed’. The Disease Crop Seeds were directly passed over!
This evil Forbidden Pollution would only cause pollution, distortion, supernatural diseases, rapid mutation, and degeneration. With no possibility of Immortalization, Senior Student destroyed them immediately and warned Yuan Zhu not to disgust her with such things again.
The Spirit Medicine Seeds provided by Candle this time were excellent.
Relying on years of expertise and experience from the Plant School, she could even smell the medicinal scent of the ‘seeds’ through the Little Pumpkin. It was a very unfamiliar type, yet with the potential to become Rogue Immortal Spiritual Root—a Supernatural Seed.
…
After the secret transaction ended, Yuan Zhu checked the time; it was almost lunchtime.
He said to Senior Student: “The construction site inspection is over. We should head back to Running City, but I have some personal business to attend to. So, I want to hand Nie Yin over to you. Take her for lunch, then stay here and wait for me. I’ll meet up with you both before nightfall, and we’ll return to Running City together.”
Senior Student looked puzzled and glanced around at the secluded, desolate surroundings: nothing but forest trees, weeds taller than people, and majestic mountains rising in the distance.
She asked in confusion: “What kind of personal business could you have in a place like this?”
Yuan Zhu calmly replied: “Entering the mountains!”
“?!”
Senior Student suddenly widened her eyes in shock, thinking this little brother was incredibly bold!
The Misty Mountains were no safe place. This mountain range stretching from south to north across the entire New Continent was shrouded in mist year-round.
This layer of ‘mist’ was itself a powerful and terrifying form of Supernatural Pollution, cloaking the Misty Mountains in a veil of mystery. Once inside, one’s Spirit, consciousness, and personality would be subtly interfered with, polluted, and eroded.
Even powerful Supernatural beings, if lingering long-term in the ‘mist’ while traveling, would unknowingly lose direction, consciousness, and sanity… ultimately having their Soul detach, melting away unknowingly and merging into the mist.
When Yuan Zhu traveled by bus to the Taixi resort, he had glimpsed a bit of the mist’s power from afar, through the specially made bus on the man-made ‘safe highway’.
The Supernatural Knowledge he obtained by listening to the Sound of the Mist was fragments of ‘Knowledge Fragments’ from the dead who had perished in the Misty Mountains—stripped, fused, and stirred together.
It was both a gift from the Misty Mountains and bait to lure mortals into the mist.
Senior Student suddenly asked with concern: “You didn’t listen to some ‘unclean’ things while passing through the Misty Mountains on your last trip to Taixi, did you? After returning to Running City, it’s been whispering in your ear, disrupting your normal thinking and tempting you into the mountains. Now that you’re too close to the Misty Mountains, you finally couldn’t resist?”
“How could that be?” Yuan Zhu looked aggrieved and dissatisfied. “I’m a Holy Light Cultivator with a Soul Crystal formed—my will is indestructible and counters mental erosion and seductive whispers best. I’m entering the mountains for real personal business. Nie Yin is in your hands.”
Senior Student scrutinized his expression and eyes repeatedly, confirming he wasn’t crazy, foolish, or deranged, before nodding: “Alright, I’ll look after her.”
Senior Student Chen pulled the silent Nie Yin to her side and quietly asked some academic questions:
After the Frog School’s skinning ritual, could the polluted organs of the experimental frogs be formulated into special ‘flower fertilizer’ following the Five Elements theory?
Senior Student seemed to know Nie Yin’s personality and spoke on her own, unilaterally imparting her ideas and suggestions to Frog Girl. She didn’t care if the other responded.
In contrast, though Nie Yin remained silent, she memorized Senior Student’s ideas word for word. Her emerald green left eye kept turning, diligently pondering feasibility.
Seeing the two getting along well, Yuan Zhu left the temporary room alone and strode quickly toward the misty mountains to the east.
Now that he had transported over a hundred Worm Pillars from the Eclosion World, it was time for him to personally scout and explore the Misty Mountains, finding an Auspicious Land suitable for settling down and establishing a base.
…
Advancing 1 kilometer in Human Stance through the uninhabited weeds and trees, looking back, everything around was a vibrant green. His view was blocked by lush vegetation; he could no longer see the Frog Factory construction site, nor hear any mechanical sounds.
The vegetation in the Misty Mountains was overly lush, the climate humid, with year-round constant temperature and no seasonal changes.
Thus, the mountains around Running City were in vigorous growth year-round, somewhat like a temperate rainforest. Wildlife and plant resources were exceptionally abundant, the scenery stunning like an Immortal Realm. But one couldn’t look too closely—kill zones lurked everywhere.
As he approached the foot of the eastern mountain, air humidity surged, dew condensing on nearby plant leaves. The thick layer of Leaves underfoot had humified; stepping down created muddy splatters, startling out numerous Crawlers.
At this moment, Yuan Zhu treaded through the thick fallen Leaves, advancing uphill through the pathless forest.
Everywhere he passed, vegetation was dense, air damp and chilly. Tree trunks were covered in thick green Moss, surrounded by incessant bird calls, Insect chirps, and Frog croaks…
As he pressed on, numerous moisture-loving Insects, Reptilian lizards, Frogs, and tree frogs appeared frequently. Looking up, towering trees over 30 meters tall further darkened the already cloud-obscured view, making it eerily serene.
Overhead, bird calls echoed endlessly. From afar, animal howls occasionally sounded.
In an instant, his heart suddenly calmed.
Yuan Zhu closed his eyes, immersed in the Mountain Forest, feeling the wondrous Unity of Heaven and Man. It was like opening his heart, returning to nature—like coming home: relaxed, adapted, at ease, nostalgic, and warm.
The next second, his Body uncontrollably swelled and twisted violently, ultimately—”Roar!”
A tiger roar echoed through the Mountain Forest; he uncontrollably shifted to Tiger Demon Stance, feeling like a dragon returning to the Sea, all gods in place—a true home ground sensation!
“Home at last, finally home!”
Tiger entering the Mountain Forest, the Boss Template surged with intense throbbing; its Ultimate Divine Ability: Mountain Lord’s Domain was stirring eagerly.
Yuan Zhu realized that the Tiger Demon’s ultimate stance required a mountaintop, a deep forest, and a transcendent ‘Spiritual Essence mountain range’ to synergize, achieving mutual elevation to open the Mountain Lord’s Domain.
First become Mountain Lord (Mountain God), then communicate the Yin-Yang Realms, Occupy the position of City God in the Underworld.
This set of Cultivation Method recorded in the Demonic Monster Bloodline (Mutated Spiritual Root) had no relation to Earth’s Heavenly Court, Immortal Class, Reincarnation, or Hall of Hell.
The first half’s Mountain Lord was not a Mountain God enfeoffed by Earth’s Heavenly Court myths, but a powerful Demonic Monster in the vast Cultivation World who Occupied famous mountains and rivers, opened a Blessed Land dojo, forcibly claimed the mountain as king, and ascended to Mountain God.
Similar to a low-end version of Zhen Yuanzi.
The latter half’s City God was also not a subordinate department enfeoffed by the Hall of Hell. It was still a powerful Demonic Monster slaughtering into the Underworld, continuing to carve out territory and dominate, seizing management rights over a portion of the Underworld. Ultimately communicating both realms, covering the sky with one hand.
Similar to a low-end version of Lord of Mount Tai.
…
After the Tiger Demon formally entered the mountains, the Cultivation information dormant in the Bloodline (Boss Template) began surfacing massively, finally giving it a real sense of ‘I’m cultivating immortality’.
Resuming Tiger Demon Stance, Yuan Zhu’s travel speed skyrocketed several levels. Though larger in size and heavier, the Tiger Demon moved not clumsily but with exceptional agility and grace.
Like a Shadow Wind, swiftly shuttling through the forest.
Sometimes shifting form: from a realistic-style ‘black Tiger Demon’; transforming into an abstract shadow with a blurred outline, merely a ‘massive tiger silhouette’.
Then, this tiger silhouette distorted and elongated… ultimately becoming a simple line-drawing shadow, merging into the ground and speeding along.
In the blink of an eye, the black Tiger Demon reappeared a kilometer away. Shadow Escape, like Inch-Shrinking Movement. Thrilling!
The Tiger Demon shuttling rapidly through the Mountain Forest couldn’t help roaring skyward, fully releasing its aura.
Instantly startling countless birds into frantic wing-flapping, a huge flock fleeing in panic; meanwhile, from the underside of the decaying Dead Leaves layer under the Tiger Demon’s feet, countless Crawlers, lizards, and snakes rustled out, fleeing desperately…
This was the might of the Mountain Lord!
…
After entering the outskirts of the Misty Mountains, this area near Running City already had mist appearing as thin fog cloaking the Mountain Forest. Visibility was low, but Pollution Erosion intensity was weak, still a safe zone teeming with ordinary Beasts.
Over the past century, Running City’s industrial groups had continuously explored and developed the nearby mountains. They regularly cleared dangerous creatures, surveyed underground structures, built winding mountain roads, and harvested abundant wild Resources.
Through prolonged mountain searches, clearing dangerous creatures, road-building, tunnel-digging… and other activities, they eliminated vast numbers of Polluted Monsters.
It was as if a super predator (Running City) dominated the area, claiming the surrounding hundred li as exclusive territory.
Thus, deep within the Misty Mountains, those somewhat intelligent and powerful ‘super Polluted Life Forms’ had long proactively avoided and left.
Therefore, the outer mountain range had high safety index and low Pollution Degree, closely linked to Running City—actually unsuitable for Tiger Demon nesting. Once the Mountain Lord’s Domain stirred up any commotion here, it would inevitably draw Running City’s attention.
If venturing deeper into the Misty Mountains to open the Domain, even heavenly anomalies would be shielded and concealed by the mountains’ inherent ‘mist’.
With this in mind, the Tiger Demon no longer lingered on the mountain scenery but accelerated with Shadow Escape and then Shadow Escape again.
In Tiger Demon Stance, it already had boundless Magic Power for unlimited ‘Shadow Escape’ teleportation. Perfectly situated in the serene environment of the Misty Mountains—home ground advantage plus shadows everywhere—it moved with perfect timing, terrain, and harmony.
In just over ten minutes, it wildly displaced over a dozen kilometers deep into the Misty Mountains, enveloped by intense ‘mist’. Continuous murmurs rang in its ears, invading the Spirit World, but were effortlessly blocked by the Soul Firewall.
Besides calls from distant mountains, the Tiger Demon also sensed strong pull from the Shadow Layer.
At this moment, it experienced intense Ascension Impulse.
The Tiger Demon merely pressed its left claw slightly into the shadow beneath, and half its arm vanished. This wasn’t simply sinking into the shadow; with a scoop, its claw pierced the Human World’s Barrier, briefly passing through unknown Space to fish out a segment of ‘Plant Vine’ that rapidly dissipated into wisps of shadowy black smoke.
The Tiger Demon clearly perceived that, leveraging the unique Supernatural environment of the Misty Mountains, its claw had briefly pierced the Underworld Dimension, fishing a segment of ‘Shadow Plant’ from the Shadow World.
Unable to withstand the Rejection of the Human World, it swiftly decomposed and volatilized into ‘Shadow Pollution’.
This space-traversing experience was last felt in the Little Xihong Realm, Escaping into a crude Shadow Dimension. Now, it had rediscovered that sensation, though Du Ling’s Shadow Layer was even more terrifying.
It had a strong premonition: once the Tiger Demon Escaped into it, there would be no return. Thus, it must open the Domain—only with a Domain could it reside long-term!
