Chapter 18 The Map of the Western Mountains

After the Yin Shang sacrificial ceremony ended, Wei Yuan did not immediately retrieve his true spirit.

Instead, he stood on the ancestral vein, overlooking the city of Chaoge. It was a long time before the crowd descended the mountain and returned to the city, returning from the sacrificial activities to normal life. The city of Chaoge, originally Wu Yi's dream, slowly shattered, and the real city of Chaoge was obviously not so beautiful, but it was more real and had more of the atmosphere of life.

The old Grand Tutor remained here.

He hesitated for a moment, then respectfully asked, "Mountain God, the Emperor God he..."

Wei Yuan glanced at him and sighed:

"Come with me."

Wei Yuan turned and, relying on the Mountain God's authority, led a wisp of the Grand Tutor of Chaoge's true spirit into the depths of the ancestral mountain.

The old man, who had lived in Chaoge for his entire life, was shocked by the magnificent stone carvings and altar-like steps in the mountain's belly. Wei Yuan pointed out the stone tablets carved by Wu Yi over three thousand years for him to see, without explaining anything. While the old man was staring at the stone carvings in a daze, he left alone.

The words on these stone tablets and murals were enough to represent everything.

Wei Yuan appeared on the mountain peak, where Wu Yu and Fei Yu were still present.

Wei Yuan was very interested in the Yin Shang remnants' cultivation methods and the huge bronze mechanical beasts. After all, that was a legacy of the God Era, and it had never been cut off. However, there were more important things to do now. He pondered for a moment and looked at Fei Yu beside him, asking:

"I remember that after you came here, you explored outwards."

Fei Yu respectfully replied, "Yes, Mountain God."

He thought for a moment and said, "According to the records left behind, our ancestors had already wandered for a long time when they arrived here. There wasn't much food and water left in Chaoge. Even if there was danger outside, the people at that time had no choice but to venture out to find water sources and land that could be cultivated to grow food."

"During that period, Chaoge paid a great price to open up land, digging a tributary from the river and guiding it outside the city. Then, they formed hunting teams to drive away the beast herds that were close to our water source. It took almost a hundred years to solve these two problems."

"After that, because we always wanted to find out exactly where we are now, and because of the need to hunt, our exploration of the outside world has never stopped."

Wei Yuan nodded and said, "Do you have a map?"

Fei Yu realized what the Mountain God meant and nodded, "Yes, we do."

"I will go down the mountain to retrieve it now."

...

The leather, tanned and sun-dried, was made into a map, which was gently unfurled into the air by a light breeze.

Roads were outlined on it with charcoal-like strokes, and patterns of mountains and rivers were marked. Some places were marked with large crosses, representing dead lands, places where many people had died while exploring. Later generations marked these dangerous places, and when exploring later, they would actively avoid them.

This was experience accumulated with lives.

It was proof of the struggle against this wild and desolate world.

Wei Yuan sighed and scanned the map, his expression gradually becoming serious. Finally, he didn't speak for a long time. He realized that if the map could be more precise, it could match up with some of his memories. This was a conclusion that wasn't good, but wasn't too bad either.

During this time, he had been thinking about what rules Yu had followed when he divided the worlds of the mountains and seas.

One possibility he had considered was that he had divided these areas according to the volumes of the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*.

He exiled areas such as the *Classic of the Western Mountains* and the *Classic of the Southern Mountains* separately.

The bo beast is recorded in the *Classic of Mountains and Seas: Classic of the Western Mountains*. This meant that the area that the city of Chaoge had spent hundreds of years reaching should be located in the Western Mountain region in ancient understanding.

*Classic of the Western Mountains*...

Wei Yuan closed his eyes and recalled, trying to remember the words he had written back then. Then, he slightly opened his five fingers, allowing the flowing wind to gather in the void. Wu Yu and Fei Yu still didn't understand, but suddenly, they noticed that the surrounding flowers and plants began to sway with the wind, slightly bowing.

Wu Yu was slightly stunned.

The wind was picking up?

The soft whistling sound quickly filled his eardrums.

Suddenly growing louder.

The two were swayed by the wind pressure and staggered, instinctively lowering their heads, almost thinking they would be blown away by the strong wind. They only felt the grassy, earthy, and moist smell of water in their noses and mouths. When they looked up, they were stunned to see the young Daoist's eyes calm, his sleeves billowing in the wind. He stretched out his right hand, his five fingers slightly open.

And so, a long wind came from between heaven and earth.

The wind gathered, turning into cyan threads that stretched outwards with the Chaoge city map as its core, completing the map of the Western Mountain area. From the original rolled-up map, it was woven into a vast cyan scroll several meters long and high, slowly unfolding on the peak of the ancestral mountain. The young Daoist stood before this huge map scroll, his eyes calmly watching it.

The mountains of the Western Mountains, all seventy-seven mountains, seventeen thousand five hundred and seventeen *li*.

This was a vast land.

Wei Yuan didn't notice the astonishment of the two behind him. His gaze slowly swept across the map. He was only one person, and traveling to and from Chaoge required divine power as the price, making it impossible to come and go frequently, at least not now. The tens of thousands of residents here still had to live, so they still had to go out hunting, which meant taking risks and making sacrifices. Wei Yuan felt that he should at least mark the safest places for them before he left.

It would be good to reduce the sacrifice of even one person.

However, as for the mountains of the Western Mountains, Wei Yuan swept over these familiar mountains and felt a bit of a headache. The ancestors of Chaoge had really chosen a royal flush level of mountain and sea fragments. If they had chosen other places, perhaps Chaoge wouldn't have been so difficult.

While Wu Yu and Fei Yu were in a daze, Wei Yuan stretched out his hand and pointed at the map, saying:

"You two must remember this map."

When Fei Yu and the other took out jade books for recording.

Wei Yuan began to explain again. He moved his finger and pointed to a place, saying, "First of all, this place is called Little Ci Mountain. Stay away from this area in the future. A monkey lives here, with white hair and red feet, called Zhuyan. It is extremely ferocious. Its appearance foreshadows great war. If Chaoge rashly approaches it now, I am afraid it will have to pay a great enough price for some people to come out alive."

He casually pointed to another mountain and said, "This mountain is called Lai Mountain."

"Sandalwood grows on it, and there is a bird called Duoluo, which likes to eat people."

"Stay away from it."

"This mountain is called Bird-Mouse-Same-Cave Mountain. There is white jade on the mountain, but white tigers live here, and the white tigers are in groups, in large numbers."

"Although there are enough prey on that mountain, it is the territory of the white tigers. If you don't want to be treated as prey by the white tigers, don't get close to that place."

"But this mountain is not bad." Seeing that Fei Yu and the other's expressions were solemn, Wei Yuan softened his tone slightly and pointed to a high mountain, saying, "This is the highest mountain nearby, called Chongwu Mountain. There are strange beasts called Jufu, and fierce beasts called Manman, with only one eye and one wing, that can cause floods, but they are not interested in people. You should be able to go up carefully."

"A tree grows on this mountain, with scarlet flowers and black patterns on the petals, and the fruits are a bit like oranges. If you eat them, you can refine your roots and bones before your child is born, forcibly improving your aptitude. I think it will be very helpful for Chaoge."

Fei Yu's eyes brightened as he listened, and Wu Yu couldn't help but whisper in admiration:

"Mountain God, you are truly erudite."

Fei Yu and Wu Yu couldn't help but be excited.

Now, the cultivation aptitude of each generation in Chaoge is declining, leading to an overall lack of successors.

The number of treasures that can improve aptitude known to Chaoge is not much, and they are not only particularly cumbersome but also have very subtle effects. If they can obtain this fruit, the biggest problem Chaoge is currently facing, even if it is not solved, can be greatly alleviated.

Erudite?

The corners of Wei Yuan's mouth twitched.

Although he tried his best to control himself and not recall the past, he couldn't help but think of what happened back then. Back then, Yuan was just a mortal, and his physical strength was far inferior to Yu and Nu Jiao. When he climbed Chongwu Mountain, he was tired and thirsty. Cao Cao had the story of quenching his thirst with plums, so Yuan naturally rejoiced when he saw the lush fruit tree, and he bit into seven oranges.

Then,

Then he was tricked...

In the end, Nu Jiao helped him resolve the medicinal power and laughed at him.

'It's a pity, if A-Yuan were a woman, the child born would definitely have amazing aptitude.'

'A-Yu, why don't we change our route to the overseas Husband Country or the Women's Country, where either all are men or all are women, but they can reproduce into a country. Let's go there to seek the Pregnancy Spring and let A-Yuan drink more of it, so that this child can be born.'

Wei Yuan didn't even know at the time if Nu Jiao's enthusiastic appearance was a joke.

Or if she really intended to do it.

And looking at Fei Yu and Wu Yu's admiring gazes, Wei Yuan was silent for a moment and replied:

"It's just, I've heard a little about it."

He emphasized the words 'heard a little'.

Then, he skipped over the matter and told Fei Yu and Wu Yu about the situation of this Western Mountain, speaking for a full hour before finally reaching the last part. He pointed to a more remote mountain in the picture and said:

"Also, this mountain must be approached with caution. It is called Zhang'e Mountain."

"There is a leopard called Zheng on the mountain, which is the natural enemy of the bo beast of Zhongqu Mountain; then there is a bird that looks like a crane, with only one foot, called Bifang, also called Biwen. This is a fierce beast, and its supernatural power to control flames is very strong. To put it this way, as long as more than five Bifang gather, they can easily burn Chaoge to ashes."

"And this bird only has one leg, it's dry and tough, it can't be roasted or boiled."

"Eating it raw is like swallowing flames, directly choking your throat. Other than feeding it to Huodou, it's useless."

Fei Yu, who was seriously recording, paused and looked up: "??!"

Wei Yu: "..."

Wei Yuan's voice paused slightly.

Realizing that he had blurted out something he shouldn't have.

He coughed lightly, his expression unchanged, his tone gentle and solemn, and he slowly said: "So, what is the value of hunting this kind of fierce beast that is both extremely dangerous and has no benefits? You must stay far away from it."

Wu Yu thought for a moment, seemingly enlightened, and then nodded in praise, "Attack that which is harmful and unprofitable, therefore we do not take it."

"Mountain God, you gave that example so that we could understand, right?"

"I understand."

The expression on Wei Yuan's face stiffened, then turned into gentle approval. He nodded slightly. Seeing the young Daoist's gentle expression and the smile on the corner of his mouth, Fei Yu felt that he was unfathomable and certainly not as shallow as he had thought. The doubts in his heart naturally dissipated.

It seemed that the Mountain God was really taking them into consideration, using such an example to explain it in a simple and easy-to-understand way.

Fei Yu was thoughtful.

Wei Yuan watched the two of them, maintaining the dignity of the Mountain God, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, while silently adding in his heart.

Understand?

No, you don't understand...

Bifang legs are really not delicious.

Even Yu, who didn't dislike any food, wouldn't eat that thing.

It's not even as good as an old hen.

At least, chicken legs come in pairs.

...

It wasn't until the two had recorded all of these things that Wei Yuan's expression slowly became serious. He said:

"Also, there are three more things you must remember. The dangerous places I mentioned before can be tried to pass through when there is no other choice, but the places I will talk about next must not be entered even when faced with a fierce beast attack. It can even be said that you would have a higher chance of survival if you rushed towards the beast tide than if you stepped into these three places."

Fei Yu and Wu Yu looked solemn.

Wei Yuan stretched out his hand and pointed to one of the mountains, saying, "The first place is here. This place is called Gui Mountain."

"Qiongqi lives on it."

Qiongqi, one of the Four Fiends.

Fei Yu and Wu Yu's expressions changed drastically. The thought that there was such a fierce beast in the environment they lived in made them feel a chill down their spines.

Wei Yuan's tone remained unchanged as he pointed to a place, saying:

"Also, this is the Hill of Xuanyuan. There is nothing good to gather on the Hill of Xuanyuan, only dan su, which is the best cinnabar raw material. Walk southeast from the Hill of Xuanyuan, about three thousand *li*, there is a mountain."

Wei Yuan's tone paused, and he said:

"That mountain is called Buzhou Mountain."

"No matter what, never, ever, approach that mountain."