When you're hungry, you eat!
Li Zhuo added an extra meal for himself and felt completely satisfied.
Looking at the empty space on the meat-drying rack, he felt a little panicked.
Li Zhuo always prioritized "survival" above all else.
Whether it was his own cultivation or the protection from the Dao-Born Green Vein Banyan, both allowed him to isolate himself from external dangers and feel a strong sense of security.
But to survive, a sense of security alone wasn't enough.
He also needed all sorts of supplies.
In Li Zhuo's current mortal state, the highest-level supply was definitely food.
Therefore, Li Zhuo decided to make some small arrangements and try his hand at fishing and hunting.
Recalling the knowledge he'd learned from wilderness survival bloggers in his previous life, he searched around the protected area for a while and gathered a pile of slender branches.
"Luckily, I'm in the broadleaf tree area, so they weren't hard to find."
Carrying the branches to the lake, Li Zhuo looked at the shimmering water and began his work.
Along the edge of the lake closest to the protected area, he picked a slightly shorter stick.
Stick in his left hand, stone in his right.
He pushed it in.
Then hammered it down.
The stick was firmly embedded in the lake water.
—Right at the edge of the protected area.
He continued this process.
After a long time, a fence appeared in the lake, forming a perfect arc.
It perfectly enclosed the part of the lake within the protected area.
Only a section closer to the shore was left without a fence, serving as an entrance for larger fish.
"This will be my fish pond."
Li Zhuo nodded.
Then, he dug around next to the meat-drying rack.
He pulled out the internal organs of the venomous snake and tiger that he had buried in the soil.
—Li Zhuo knew the organs might be useful, but he was also afraid that the smell of blood would attract powerful beasts.
So, he had buried the organs next to the meat-drying rack.
This time, they indeed proved useful.
After just one night, the organs hadn't spoiled and were perfect for attracting various fish, shrimp, and crabs.
"Using these two sets of offal as bait should attract some big fish, right?"
Thinking this, Li Zhuo rubbed his hands in anticipation.
He then tied the internal organs of the venomous snake and tiger with slender vines and threw them into his fish pond.
Splash!
The organs hit the water.
Sending up a large ripple.
As the lake water washed over them, faint trickles of blood seeped from the organs.
They drifted away with the current.
"I'll wait one night, then block the entrance first thing tomorrow morning! Catching... fish in a jar! Catching a turtle would be even better~"
After setting up the small fish pond, Li Zhuo felt a little more at ease.
Then.
His stomach rumbled again...
— — — —
"As expected of a one-star cultivation method, the cultivation speed is much faster than I imagined!"
Even though he had only cultivated for less than half a day, Li Zhuo could already feel the power of this cultivation method.
Not only did it have the special effect of 【Divine Ox Body】.
It could also strengthen the body and expand the meridians.
More importantly, the cultivation method had no difficulty whatsoever.
Compared to high-star cultivation methods with extremely strict cultivation conditions.
This "Divine Ox Body ★" was definitely a celestial art for ordinary cultivators!
Whew—
He let out a long breath, Li Zhuo chuckled.
In his dantian, there was already a warm air mass the size of a pill.
Moreover, he could feel faint traces of power emanating from the warm air mass.
He threw away the broom and swung his fist fiercely.
"Hey!"
A faint whooshing sound could actually be heard from his fist.
"Good heavens, it's really powerful!"
If judged by the standards of the Li family members who cultivated the "Brutal Ox Body Forging Art."
Li Zhuo's current physical strength had probably reached the minor accomplishment stage of Body Forging.
But in reality, he had only adjusted his breathing technique according to "Divine Ox Body ★" and hadn't truly begun cultivating body forging techniques.
"The feeling of power is great, full of security."
"Divine Ox Body ★" brought Li Zhuo more than just a sense of security; it also increased his work speed.
According to Li Zhuo's estimation.
The core area, which would have originally taken several days to completely level, was already nearly half-finished.
Around his "bed."
There were no longer any dead branches, fallen leaves, or broken stones...
Instead, there was a large expanse of level ground, starkly contrasting with the surrounding natural environment.
Yet, it also had a bit of a "home" feel to it.
"Comfortable~"
Li Zhuo rested his head on "Divine Ox Body ★" and lay on the bed.
He looked at the starry sky and chatted idly with the big banyan tree beside him.
"Have you seen other humans?"
Li Zhuo already knew this mountain was called Longevity Mountain.
He liked the name; it perfectly matched his temperament.
At this moment, Li Zhuo wanted to know if there were other cultivators on Longevity Mountain.
Especially if there were any overly powerful cultivators.
If there were, he would have to be even more cautious.
He couldn't drastically transform this mountain.
The Dao-Born Green Vein Banyan had lived for over a thousand years and indeed had some understanding of Longevity Mountain.
The leaves rustled, forming a gentle voice: "Reporting to the great immortal, I have seen them."
"..."
"That was a short answer question, not a true/false question."
The Dao-Born Green Vein Banyan didn't understand.
However, it roughly understood Li Zhuo's meaning.
It continued:
"Before I encountered the lightning tribulation, I saw a total of seven humans."
"How strong were they?" Li Zhuo was very curious.
"Their strength was not great, roughly equivalent to yesterday's fierce tiger and venomous snake."
The fierce tiger and venomous snake were not strong.
They had no spiritual energy and couldn't be considered demon beasts.
Their strength was even inferior to ordinary humans who had achieved success in body forging.
Moreover, in a thousand years, the Dao-Born Green Vein Banyan had only seen seven humans.
Which meant.
"Longevity Mountain is indeed rarely visited by people, and there are no powerful cultivators."
Li Zhuo muttered, feeling a little relieved.
Looking at the moonlit lake, he asked again, "Are there any powerful creatures in this lake?"
The Dao-Born Green Vein Banyan's voice remained gentle: "There seems to be an old jiao in the lake; its strength is not weak."
"What?!"
Li Zhuo sat up in fright, "A jiao?!"
There were many types of jiao, but none were weak; even those with the most mixed bloodlines were three-star demon beasts.
They were considered an extremely powerful race.
Li Zhuo knew there was danger in the lake, but he hadn't expected it to be this dangerous.
He, a novice, was actually neighbors with an old jiao!
At this moment, Li Zhuo looked at the fish pond by the lake, which was already enclosed by branches.
He seriously considered whether to abandon it.
The Dao-Born Green Vein Banyan's leaves rustled as it continued: "The old jiao should be very difficult to appear again."
"Hmm?"
"Although this lake is large, only the bottom of the lake has a small amount of spiritual energy.
The old jiao is very old and has impure bloodline, so it can only stay in places with rich spiritual energy and cannot appear casually."
"That's good." Only then did Li Zhuo relax.
He lay back down on the bed to rest.
The Dao-Born Green Vein Banyan then said, "Besides the old jiao, there are also many powerful creatures near us."
"Uh..."
Li Zhuo sat up again, "Are they stronger than you?"
"Not as strong as me."
"Then I'll find an opportunity to catch them as pets."
Li Zhuo wanted to completely transform Longevity Mountain.
Turning the entire mountain into his absolute safe zone.
Therefore, he wanted to subdue the creatures on the mountain and make them all his guardians.
Li Zhuo lay back down.
Before long, he drifted off to sleep.
In his dream, Longevity Mountain seemed to have transformed.
The Dao-Born Green Vein Banyan became incredibly massive, overshadowing the sky and sun, guarding the entire Longevity Mountain.
Jiaolong and its descendants guarded the waters, and other powerful creatures each defended their own territory.
Longevity Mountain truly became Li Zhuo's absolute safe zone.
The evening breeze gently blew.
A night passed.
Li Zhuo wiped his drool and immediately went to the fish pond.
He grabbed a few sticks and directly sealed the entrance!
Then.
He started fishing!