Shennongjia.
Among all the forbidden lands, this is the only one explicitly known to harbor demonic beasts.
The families responsible for this region, in addition to those from Shenzhou, include clans from Beiyuan and Dongyi, totaling three from those areas. Together with the three from Shenzhou, six families jointly manage this place.
Compared to Black Mountain, Shennongjia is undoubtedly the most prolific forbidden land.
Shennongjia is practically teeming with treasures; priceless medicinal herbs are found in countless numbers.
Currently, almost ninety percent of the world's precious herbs originate from Shennongjia.
Of course, the abundance of resources in Shennongjia comes with a significant risk.
Precious herbs are desired by everyone, and the demonic beasts are no exception.
Conflicts between humans and beasts occur frequently.
Every day in Shennongjia, human-beast skirmishes erupt.
This place is a graveyard for mercenaries and a tomb for demonic beasts!
As soon as Lin Xiao Tian set foot here, he heard gunshots from within.
A group ahead had encountered a demonic beast attack. The beasts had surrounded them, and to break through, they unleashed their full firepower, with machine gun fire incessant.
"Brothers, let's fight these monsters! It's either them or us today!"
The machine gunner shouted ahead.
As an experienced hand who frequently traversed Shennongjia, he was keenly aware of the ferocity of the demonic beasts before them.
In their current disadvantaged state, these beasts would never let them go. The only path to survival was to break through.
However, hope was slim.
The demonic beasts before them were not weak; several of them were advancing relentlessly against his machine gun fire.
These monsters were insurmountable with their current weapons. Stronger firepower was needed, but they lacked it.
*Squelch!*
Several team members ahead were decapitated by the monsters once more.
The creature was a half-bird, half-human monstrosity. The machine gun fire hadn't even left a scratch on it.
It carried the heads of the team members in its beak, its eyes fixed intently on the machine gunner.
This was a provocation!
He knew how intelligent these monsters were.
"Damn beasts!"
The machine gunner concentrated his fire on the half-bird, half-human monster.
"Hahaha…"
The monster emitted a laugh that sounded eerily human.
The next moment, it pierced through several more human bodies, even deliberately tossing the corpses near the machine gunner.
These were companions he had spent his days with. Now, they were dead and their bodies incomplete!
But he had no time to mourn them.
All the surrounding team members had fallen.
Soon, he would join them.
The half-bird, half-human monster placed the head and torso of one victim separately, while other demonic beasts let out roars, as if in celebration.
The machine gun was out of ammunition. The machine gunner picked up his pistol, but he didn't aim it at the demonic beasts; instead, he pointed it at his own head.
There was only one bullet left in the pistol, something he had prepared for.
As if sensing the human's intention, the half-bird, half-human monster flapped its wings violently.
A gust of wind swept over, unbalancing the machine gunner. The pistol ultimately missed its mark.
"Damn you, I'll fight you to the death!"
The machine gunner was enraged.
Knowing full well he was being toyed with, he couldn't endure the humiliation and charged at the beast.
But a body that bullets couldn't penetrate, how could ordinary human fists hope to harm?
Even as the machine gunner's fists became bloody and mangled, the monster remained utterly unfazed.
"Hahaha…"
The monster laughed even louder.
But it had also grown bored.
A pair of sharp claws extended.
The machine gunner blankly watched the razor-sharp talons descending from above.
These were the claws that had crushed the heads of his countless teammates.
Now, it was his turn.
In the final moments of his life, he closed his eyes in resignation, silently counting down in his mind.
One.
Two.
Three.
…
This countdown continued for more than ten seconds.
But strangely, there was no pain.
Was death truly this effortless?
He opened his eyes in confusion, and the sight before him left him utterly stunned.
The body of the great bird was severed in half, a sharp, clean cut at the severed end. Most remarkably, no blood flowed from the wound; it was adorned with faint electrical sparks.
He had indeed witnessed demonic beasts being struck by lightning in Shennongjia. It seemed they were susceptible to lightning strikes.
On a few occasions, their escape had been thanks to this.
But he hadn't heard any thunder just now!
Moreover, the cut was too precise. Could lightning achieve such a feat?
Upon closer inspection, the other monsters that had surrounded them were in the same grim state.
It was as if someone had taken a blade and, with a single sweep, severed them all.
But who could have done such a thing?
No one knew the answer.
Except for Lin Xiao Tian, who was now venturing deep into Shennongjia.
He hadn't intended to meddle much. After all, so many battles occurred here; stopping them one by one would take an immeasurable amount of time.
Lin Xiao Tian was here solely to obtain the inheritance of the Shennong Medical Classic, not to play the hero.
As for whether these people lived or died, it had nothing to do with him. They were here for wealth, and most of them had blood on their hands; they were not worthy of pity.
That was the only time he had intervened.
Lin Xiao Tian didn't know what possessed him.
Perhaps it was seeing that they were also humans, and they happened to be on his path?
Lin Xiao Tian didn't linger. He continued straight ahead, following the marker in his consciousness.
He encountered quite a few demonic beasts along the way.
One had to admit, the strength of the demonic beasts in Shennongjia was no joke. Despite not having traveled very far, he had already encountered dozens of demonic beasts at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage.
In Black Mountain, this distance would only yield the occasional pack of wild dogs.
Lin Xiao Tian was thankful he hadn't been reckless back then.
Based on this estimation, it was possible to encounter demonic beasts in the Core Formation stage further in. If he had entered Shennongjia back then, he would have been a guaranteed meal.
Fortunately, there were no Nascent Soul stage demonic beasts.
Lin Xiao Tian pressed on, the most powerful creature he encountered being a single Core Formation stage demonic beast.
Upon reaching his destination, Lin Xiao Tian acquired the inheritance of the Shennong Medical Classic.
This inheritance of the Shennong Medical Classic primarily consisted of martial arts techniques, all of them Heaven-grade.
Concurrently, Lin Xiao Tian also inherited a portion of special memories.
In these memories, a familiar old man appeared, the very same one who had sealed the demonic beasts in the forbidden lands.
After sealing the beasts, the old man had also left behind formations in various forbidden lands. Lin Xiao Tian, having studied the Five Elements Mystical Gates, recognized these as teleportation arrays.
The old man left a teleportation array at the very center of the forbidden land, then pointed to the sky, and golden light flowed between heaven and earth.
The kneeling populace below looked up at him. The old man sighed and finally transformed into a stream of light, his form dissipating into the various forbidden lands.
"Now that I have opened up this wild land, for lasting peace, you need only guard the outer perimeter of the forbidden lands. If you do not wish to be confined to a corner, remember this: only when your strength is sufficient may you enter the forbidden lands!"
After listening to the old man's words, Lin Xiao Tian was taken aback.
In other words, the world he now lived in was merely one area opened up by the old man from the wilderness. Were there new worlds beyond this one?
Lin Xiao Tian thought of the teleportation arrays again, and of his parents.
He surmised that they too had not wished to be confined to a corner, so they had journeyed to the world beyond, leaving him the Great Teleportation Token in the hope that he too would see a new world.
Lin Xiao Tian sighed.
He had accomplished all that needed to be done in this world and had no lingering attachments. It was time to explore the world beyond!