967: Chapter 967: Nether River 967: Chapter 967: Nether River Huang Miao’s team’s current objective was to traverse the extensive expanse of the primitive forest they were in and to reach the heart of the Bitao Mountain Range.
In the heart of the Bitao Mountain Range, where crisis and opportunity coexisted, venturing deeper was akin to a narrow escape from death.
However, with a stroke of good fortune, one could possibly make further advancents on the Martial Dao path, soaring to great heights thereafter.
In the core area of the mountain range, there was a chance to hunt higher-class Spirit Beasts and to harvest higher-level Spiritual dicine, or by a fortunate twist of fate, to stumble upon Cultivation Resources left by powerful beings from the past.
All of these were imnsely tempting to the teams undergoing cultivation training in the mountains.
Not just Huang Miao’s team, but other teams that had entered the primitive forest shared the sa aspirations.
Half a day later, Huang Miao and four others had ventured over three hundred miles deep into the primitive forest.
To their relief, although they had encountered attacks from so Spirit Beasts along the way, these beasts were low-level ones with weak offensive capabilities, and they had not t any formidable mid-level Spirit Beasts.
Moreover, under Fang Bai’s guidance, Huang Miao and the others discovered several three to four hundred-year-old Spiritual dicines in an extrely hidden spot.
Without Fang Bai, Huang Miao and the rest would have missed these Spiritual dicines completely.
Three to four hundred-year-old Spiritual dicines, although not as impressive as mid-level Spiritual dicines with over five hundred years of dicinal age, were still of great value.
rely by taking these few plants back, they could achieve leading results among the teams in this mountain-training expedition, and this had the four of them thrilled.
“Based on the records from previous mountain-training expeditions, returning to Bitao Martial Academy with these Spiritual dicines, and adding to that the previously hidden dicines and Spirit Beasts, would be enough to enter the top ten of all cultivating teams.
With that, we could obtain a multitude of Essence Stones and Elixirs as rewards from the Martial Academy,”
Huang Miao said excitedly.
For Huang Miao, possessing more Essence Stones and Elixirs ant an opportunity for greater progress on the path of Martial Dao.
“It’s just unfortunate we couldn’t hunt any Spirit Beasts with longer lifespans; otherwise, our results from this expedition would have been even better,”
Said Huang Miao with a mix of excitent and slight regret.
However, the longer the lifespan of a Spirit Beast, the more formidable it was.
Should they encounter one, a fierce battle would be inevitable, potentially leading to soone’s demise, sothing Huang Miao did not wish to see.
Their team had been within the Bitao Mountain Range for several days.
During spare monts together, they sparred, discussed Cultivation Techniques, and treated each other as friends.
Nobody wanted anything untoward to happen.
Thus, while they did feel a sense of regret for not encountering any formidable Spirit Beasts, they felt more relieved.
Especially Hou Ziping, who was very content with the result of this adventuring expedition.
According to his opinion, they should imdiately call it quits and return to Bitao Martial Academy.
However, Fang Bai and Huang Miao were determined to press on in search of greater opportunities, with Liu Qingqing and Liu Liehu regarding Fang Baima as their leader, closely following him.
Hou Ziping, for fear of tarnishing his reputation as a coward, had no choice but to steel himself and continue forward with the rest.
As they progressed, Fang Bai released his Divine Sense, monitoring movents within a kiloter radius.
“In my past expeditions,
the furthest I’ve reached is here.
Beyond this point, I’m not familiar with the terrain.
If we continue forward, we’ll have to play it by ear,”
As the five people arrived at a river that spanned across the pristine forest, Huang Miao looked at the slowly eastward flowing river, as smooth as a mirror, with a complex expression on her face.
The river was about a hundred ters wide, and the reflection of the blue sky, white clouds, and the dense, multicolored leaves from both banks made the water appear vibrant with colors, a sight too beautiful for words.
“What’s special about this river?”
Fang Bai, noticing a hint of fear in Huang Miao’s expression, as if the seemingly beautiful river frightened her, asked curiously.
Huang Miao pointed at the river in front of them and said solemnly, “This river is called the Nether River.
It’s known as ‘Nether’ because, since the establishnt of the Bitao Martial Academy nearly ten thousand years ago, hundreds upon hundreds of disciples who entered the mountain for cultivation have fallen to their deaths within it…”
Liu Qingqing and Liu Liehu had just admired the river’s beauty and were quite excited.
They even thought about going to the riverbank to kneel and touch the water, but upon hearing Huang Miao’s words, they couldn’t help but take a sharp intake of breath.
They never imagined that this smooth, picturesque river had swallowed the lives of so many Bitao Martial Academy disciples.
If what was said was true, then this river deserved to be called the River of Death.
However, how could so many disciples of the Bitao Martial Academy fall within this river?
“There are powerful Spirit Beasts lurking at the bottom of the Nether River.”
Fang Bai’s gaze rested on the calm surface of the river and continued Huang Miao’s words, “Disciples who go into the mountains for cultivation must cross the river to reach the other side.
During the crossing, those Spirit Beasts lurking at the bottom can launch a sudden attack, and the weaker disciples could end up as prey for the beasts.”
Earlier, Fang Bai had extended his Divine Sense into the riverbed and discovered that the river was several hundred ters deep, with various kinds of Spirit Beasts dwelling at the bottom.
Among them, a few of the stronger beasts were already very close to being high-level Spirit Beasts.
With these Spirit Beasts lurking at the bottom, even for Inner Court disciples, successfully crossing the river would not be easy.
No wonder so many Martial Academy disciples had perished in this river since the academy’s founding.
Liu Qingqing and Liu Liehu, who had been relatively close to the water, were startled when they heard that Spirit Beasts were hiding in the river.
It was highly probable that these beasts would attack crossing disciples, and with a shudder in their hearts, they imdiately moved further away from the water.
Huang Miao looked at Fang Bai with surprise and asked, “Junior Brother Fang, how did you know there are Spirit Beasts in the river?
Did you hear it from soone?”
Fang Bai smiled and said, “I was born with a special ability that allows to sense the presence of Spirit Beasts within a certain range.”
Huang Miao’s eyes lit up with joy, exclaiming, “If Junior Brother Fang has this skill, then we have a much better chance of crossing the river.”
Hou Ziping, Liu Qingqing, and Liu Liehu were also heartened, and the tension in their nerves suddenly eased.
If Fang Bai could sense the presence of Spirit Beasts, then he could lead the way across the river, avoiding the sections where Spirit Beasts lurk, thus preventing their attacks.
“Junior Brother Fang, you are our lucky charm!
Without you, we would have had to turn back upon reaching the bank of the Nether River during this mountain cultivation,”
Hou Ziping said with a smile.
Fang Bai smiled faintly, just about to speak, when he suddenly turned his head towards the left bank and whispered, “There are people over there!”
Huang Miao and the others were startled, then followed Fang Bai’s gaze, and saw ten shadows of Bitao Martial Academy disciples erging from the prival forest several hundred ters to the left of the riverbank.
Clearly, this was another cultivation team on a mountain expedition.
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