Chapter 81 Jinji Ridge
The Ten Thousand Beasts Mountains are located in Xinzhou, the western border of Shen State. Xinzhou is so large that it covers almost one-third of the territory of Shen State from the map of the entire Shen State. Such a large state is almost equivalent to a county in the Great Zhou, but no county was set up, which is also related to the mountainous Xinzhou.
The Ten Thousand Beasts Mountains extend from the southern border of Shen State to the northern border, and stretch for more than 2,000 miles to the west. It is simply the largest natural barrier in the west of Shen State. Whether it is the Scorpio State to the west of Shen State, the Bashu State to the south of Shen State, or the Yan State to the north, if you want to enter Shen State, you must face the steepness of the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountains and the countless poisonous insects and beasts in the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountains.
According to some cultivators in the world of immortal cultivation who have studied spiritual insects and strange beasts, even the cultivators of the Insect Beast House, who are best at driving insects and controlling beasts, can't tell how many unknown strange insects and beasts are hidden in the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountains. The name of the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountains is also derived from this.
Among the mountains of thousands of beasts, there are only two places that are rarely invaded by strange insects and beasts. It is said that this was a marching road and a garrison camp opened up with supreme magic power during the Conferred God War thousands of years ago when a powerful cultivator of the human race assisted the ancestors of the Great Zhou Dynasty of the human race in conquering the world.
This marching passage is the "Road to Heaven" that has been connecting the two countries of Shen and Scorpio. The other place is said to be the garrison camp of the Conferred God Army, named Jinji Ridge.
"When the golden rooster crows, the mountains shake, and from then on, all beasts dare not invade." These are two sentences in the poem of later generations praising the golden rooster, the god of dawn, who made great contributions to the Conferred God War that shook the ancient and modern times, but they also reveal the origin of Jinji Ridge.
According to legend, Jinji Ridge was named after the god of dawn, and because of the god of dawn, it became a paradise for cultivating immortals and seeking the way. This place is covered by an unknown fog all year round. Many Taoists come and go. All beasts are afraid of it and evil spirits are not invaded. It is indeed a sacred mountain treasure land that everyone in the world wants to see. Unfortunately, the unknown fog permeates the mountains all year round. Even the most experienced old forest hunters dare not venture into the danger here.
In the Tongtian Canyon, a caravan stretching for dozens of feet is moving slowly. The knights in the caravan are staring at the canyons on both sides with vigilant expressions, fearing that the beasts or poisonous insects that are not affected by the camphor smell of the red camphor forest on the hillsides at both ends of the canyon will rush down the canyon slope to attack the caravan.
At the front of the caravan is a scarred old man riding an old horse. The scarred old man holds an ancient bronze star plate in his hand, and his eyes look at the star plate and the canyon slope on the south side from time to time.
This scarred old man is the experienced guide trained by the Ma family caravan. In this mountain of beasts, the canyons and ravines are crisscrossed, making it extremely difficult to identify the direction. Without an experienced guide to lead the way, one would go in the wrong direction and accidentally enter some deep valleys where countless poisonous insects and beasts grow, and die there.
Moreover, the place where the Ma family caravan is going this time is not the Scorpio Kingdom, but the Jinji Ridge, which is known as the Eighteen Winds of Fog Mountain and Cloud Sea. The road leading to Jinji Ridge is more difficult to identify than the road leading to the Scorpio Kingdom. After all, the Tongtian Canyon Road leading to the Scorpio Kingdom has obvious signs such as red camphor forests on both sides of the canyon to help identify the direction, but the canyon mountain road leading to Jinji Ridge is covered by fog and cloud sea, making it difficult to identify the direction at all.
The two knights following the guide are a young scholar in white and a young Taoist priest in black clothes who are most valued by the caravan. The two are chatting enthusiastically at the moment.
"Brother Wu, you came at the perfect time. If you came at night for ten days or half a month, you might not be able to catch up with the cultivation sect's grand ceremony of opening the mountain gate and recruiting disciples. Moreover, your cultivation level, Brother Wu, just meets the realm for the cultivation sect to recruit casual disciples. I really envy you." The young man in white said to the Taoist priest in black clothes next to him with an envious expression on his handsome face.
The young Taoist priest in black clothes smiled and said, "It's all thanks to meeting Zhang Sheng. Otherwise, if I rashly asked around, I might not even be able to find the location of Jinji Ridge, and even miss the time of this cultivation ceremony. By the way, Zhang Sheng, with your current cultivation level of the eighth level of Qi Refining, can't you enter the eyes of the cultivation sect?"
"To be honest with Brother Wu, I have never been to a cultivation sect before, and I heard about their rules from my elders at home. Haha, by the way, Brother Wu, I wonder what kind of basic practice you practice? I heard that the cultivation sect is very strict in recruiting disciples. They first focus on spiritual root qualifications, and then the basic practice. If the casual cultivators who go to participate in the cultivation ceremony have ordinary spiritual root qualifications and the basic practice they practice is not a five-element attribute practice, they will not accept them. Just like I am practicing "Haoran Jue", it does not belong to the five-element practice. Fortunately, I have a different kind of wind spiritual root, so I dare to try it boldly." The white-clothed scholar smiled and said to the Taoist priest in black clothes.
"Five-element attributed exercises? I am practicing the "Qi Xing Xiu Zhen Jue". I heard that this is a basic exercise handed down by the Xiu Zhen sect. There should be no problem, right?" The Taoist priest in black clothes smiled calmly.
"Ah? Brother Wu is really practicing the "Qi Xing Xiu Zhen Jue"? This really opened my eyes! I heard that the "Qi Xing Xiu Zhen Jue" is one of the oldest basic exercises in the Xiu Zhen sect, and it is a rare basic exercise that cultivates the five elements at the same time. It is the most difficult to practice. I didn't expect that Brother Wu could practice to such a high level of the eleventh level by himself. I am really impressed!" The white-clothed scholar said with wide eyes and full of admiration. The young Taoist priest in black clothes smiled bitterly and rubbed his nose.
This young Taoist priest in black clothes was Wu Yan, who had escaped from Tianlang Country and went to Shen Country to find a sect of cultivation. After he settled down in Xintian City, he had asked around about the location of Jinji Ridge. Often, the people who were asked about it would either be shocked and say "Nerves" or take a detour as if they had seen a ghost. This puzzled Wu Yan.
Later, after learning about the origin of Jinji Ridge and the dangers of the road leading to Jinji Ridge, he understood why people had that expression.
Ordinary people, even princes, nobles, and martial arts masters, who would go to such a dangerous place for no reason? And Wu Yan couldn't find where the cultivators of Shen Country were gathering, so naturally he couldn't find out the whereabouts of Jinji Ridge.
Fortunately, at this time, Wu Yan met Zhang Feng, a young man who had sneaked out of his family to go out for training. This young man had studied Confucianism since he was a child. At a young age, he was already a candidate of Shen Country, and he practiced the very rare Confucian Qi-nourishing Technique. This Confucian Qi-cultivation technique is complicated and the progress is very slow. Even though Zhang Feng is very smart, has a profound family tradition, and has been practicing since he was eight years old, he is still a young man. After twelve years of practice, he has only reached the eighth level of Qi Refining. Therefore, Zhang Feng had an infinite yearning for the famous Da Zhou Xiuzhen Sect. He secretly ran away from his family and wanted to go to the Xiuzhen Sect to see if he could meet an opportunity and be accepted as a disciple by the Xiuzhen Sect. From then on, he changed to Taoism and quickly improved his realm and strength.
The Ma's Chamber of Commerce in Xintian City had made a big fortune five years ago. Five years ago, the caravan of the Ma's Chamber of Commerce carried a large number of goods and prepared to transport them to the Scorpio Kingdom for sale, but encountered bad weather on the way and accidentally broke into the Golden Rooster Ridge.
What they didn't expect was that in the rumored dangerous place, there was actually a mortal town, and it was an isolated town where immortal cultivators and mortals lived together. The goods of the caravan were sold surprisingly smoothly in the town called Jiguan Town, and the price was even higher than the price of shipping to Scorpio Country.
This made the head of the Ma's Chamber of Commerce very happy. However, he also found out that this Jiguan Town is different from ordinary towns. It is a town hidden in the mountains and has a great relationship with immortal cultivators. Moreover, the mountain pass road of the town is always protected by the immortal cultivator's immortal formation. It can only be opened once every five years. It is impossible to find the way into the mountain in ordinary seasons.
The Ma's Chamber of Commerce, which has learned the opening time of Jiguan Town, has done a lot of work this time. It has prepared a large number of goods needed by Jiguan Town in advance. In order to prevent changes, it also offers a high price in the hope of hiring immortal cultivators to follow and guard. Last time, when the Ma's caravan was returning, it suffered a great loss because there were no immortal cultivators accompanying and guarding.
On the canyon road leading from Jinji Mountain to Tongtian Canyon, they were attacked by several waves of poisonous insects and beasts in succession, and the escort team suffered heavy losses, which made them pay a lot of pensions and lose a lot of gold and silver.
However, ordinary immortal cultivators looked down on mortals like them. Even if they offered a very high price, no one was willing to be their escort. Even Zhang Feng was warmly received by the head of the Ma Chamber of Commerce when he came to Xintian City, and he could not find the way to Jinji Mountain alone, so he reluctantly agreed to go with them.
"Two immortal masters, the canyon ahead is the mountain road leading to Jinji Mountain. There are many poisonous insects and beasts hidden on both sides of the canyon. We mortals can hardly resist them. On the road below, I beg the two immortal masters to help protect the caravan."
While Wu Yan and Zhang Feng were chatting enthusiastically, the head of the caravan, Ma Yuan, and the guide, Lao Ma, came over and asked the two with a smile on their faces.
The two looked in the direction of Lao Ma's finger, and saw that a few dozen feet ahead, on the south side of the wide Tongtian Grand Canyon, there was a narrower canyon covered by clouds and mist, which appeared in front of everyone.
Everyone drove their horses forward, walked to the mouth of the canyon, and looked inside. As expected, the canyon was shrouded in clouds and mist, and it was difficult to see within a few feet. If you are attacked by poisonous insects and beasts in this canyon, it is really difficult to defend yourself.