Chapter 31 Direction of Maojia ValleySu Chen was thinking in his mind which direction to go. While thinking about it, I remembered what Mr. Ji Sheng had said to me before. The area of Maojiagu was so large that he could not get close to it. There are strong men slaying demons in that area, and if you get close to them, you might get hurt by accident. Su Chen had seen the description of that area in a book. Maojiagu was also a village in the past. The terrain is a depression. But more than two hundred years ago, this area was completely deserted due to an attack by monsters. The place name remains, but the area has been swallowed up by the wilderness. According to historical records, there are earth demons and even sky demons in that area.
According to the records, the celestial demon appeared in that area several times. Su Chen was somewhat confused. Maojia Valley is more than fifty miles away from the defense line of Tiangang City. It’s so far away, even if there are traces of monsters, what can it do? That distance will not have any impact on Tiangang City or the people of Da Zhou. However, these strong men still chose to go there. They said they were going to slay demons, but were they really going to slay demons? Their appearance might even drive the monsters from Maojia Valley to Tiangang City. Su Chen had some doubts in his heart. From the perspective of stopping monsters from harassing the Great Zhou, going to Maojia Valley to kill monsters would not be of much use. If not to slay demons, then what was the purpose? There are some guesses in my mind. There might be something in the Maojia Valley area. Thinking of this, Su Chen did not act impulsively and continued to patiently make plans. Mr. Ji Sheng is a very proud man. Anyone he calls a strong man must be strong enough not to be underestimated. The strength of those people, if nothing unexpected happens, is at least at the fifth level of the Snow Realm. It is even possible that he has reached the fourth level. The fourth level is called the realm of transformation. Simplify the complex and try to bring everything together into one. One's own strength will be greatly improved, far exceeding the fifth level. Although the improvement is great, it is still difficult to enter the fourth level.
There are two most obvious watersheds on the path of spiritual practice. One is to move from the eighth-grade Refining Essence Realm to the seventh-grade Huaigu Realm. This step seems simple, but it really stops a lot of people. From strengthening the body to tempering the mind, many people who lack understanding will get stuck here. The bottleneck will last for twenty or even thirty years. If a person reaches the seventh rank in middle age, there will not be much room for improvement in this lifetime. The other most obvious watershed is the fourth level of transformation. The ninth level of body refining is to strengthen the physique, the eighth level of essence refining is to condense the physique into essence. The seventh level is Huaigu Realm, the sixth level is Shanlu Realm, and the fifth level is Xueyi Realm. Only after crossing these hurdles of the state of mind can one reach the fourth level of transformation. Anyone who can reach the realm of perfection is already a well-known and powerful person in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Even someone like Sun Xuerong, the fifth elder of the Yunyang Sect, who was already an elder, was only at the fifth level of Xue Yi Perfection, one step away from entering the fourth level. If you really want to go to Maojia Valley to take a look, you can't go there casually. You must be alert enough and feel safe enough before trying your luck. According to the initial plan, Su Chen decided to go south first. It is said that there are many rare medicinal herbs in the area to the south. In the book, the wilderness on the south side was even given a name: Da Zhou Medicinal Garden. That is to say, there are so many kinds of medicinal materials there and they are so rich. Su Chen had a plan in mind and decided to go south to Tiangang City first. See what's harvested and if there are any opportunities in the south. If all conditions are suitable, then go to Maojiagu and try. After figuring out the plan in his mind, Su Chen prepared to take action as soon as possible. This year, he had already told his mother and little sister that he would not go back. This trip out is a kind of experience, and it can be regarded as a way to earn some resources and money for myself. In addition to using it for yourself, it can also help my mother and younger sister live a better life. Prepare a big bag and buy some dry food in the city. The main feature of dry food is that it is portable and easy to store, and Su Chen didn’t care about how it tasted. Anyway, I am not from a royal family, so I won’t complain about not being able to eat. Going out to gain experience is enough to fill your stomach.
After everything was ready, Su Chen walked south alone. Outside the city, wherever there was no cleanup, there was a layer of white snow. In fact, the amount of snow is not that heavy. It's just a shallow layer. In previous years, when it snowed heavily, the snow easily reached above the ankles. All the way south, the destiny of [Monster Hunter] is also activated. Although the activities of monsters decrease in winter, we still need to be vigilant when necessary. After crossing the defense line of Tiangang City and heading south, it seemed that there were suddenly fewer people. Outside the defense line, more plants can be clearly seen. Many plants are left with only bare branches, but looking at these branches crowded together, one can seem to feel how lush this place was in spring and summer. Generally speaking, no common people of the Great Zhou would be able to jump over the defense line. Su Chen did not hesitate and continued to move deeper south. There is actually a trick for finding medicinal herbs in winter, which my mother taught me. In the past, I used this technique to look for wild vegetables with my mother in winter. Most plants don't like cold. Even if it grows in winter, many try to choose a slightly warmer location. One of the important reasons for the cold winter is the cold wind. So in that kind of depression, that's the preferred location for the plant. In the past, I have found a lot of wild vegetables using this method. If you don’t have a suitable place in mind for the time being, then start by looking for a valley. Looking up, there is a slightly higher mountain in the distance. Climbing up to look far, Su Chen took a step forward, preparing to go to a higher place to see where there is a depression. With the strength of the middle stage of the eighth level of refining essence, climbing a small mountain is extremely easy. However, while climbing, Su Chen still had to pay attention to the surrounding situation and guard against the appearance of monsters. After a quarter of an hour, we reached the top of the mountain. Looking up, I looked for a depression. In the wilderness, there are still some plants that have not shed their leaves and have withstood the cold winter. However, there are relatively few plants of this type, and most of them are deciduous plants.
There seems to be a depression on my left side. After briefly memorizing the surrounding terrain, Su Chen walked towards the depression. The snow this year was not deep, not even above the calves. Soon, Su Chen arrived at the depression he had just discovered. This place is about thirty miles away from Tiangang City’s defense line. This distance is actually considered quite deep. If it were summer, you would probably encounter a monster every three or two steps. The farther away from the defense line, the fewer people will come. The possibility of those herbs being picked is lower. Many herbalists are experienced, but their strength is average and they do not have the courage to enter this position. Su Chen tried to push away the snow and began to search. There were indeed many herbs hidden under the snow. Some were just weeds, but soon, Su Chen found a medicinal herb, white pine grass. Continuing to clear away more snow, I discovered four clusters of white pine grass growing here. (End of this chapter)