463: Chapter 352 463: Chapter 352 “We must have Jiang Tang give us a clear explanation, no matter what,” they said, determined to understand exactly what was going on.
Dugu’s eyes betrayed his thoughts even though he didn’t speak; he craved an explanation even if he couldn’t possess such a Spirit Plant.
Jiang Tang’s head buzzed from the incessant chatter of the girls; the saying ‘three women make a market’ turned out to be true.
Too many women around was a source of annoyance; they wouldn’t be subdued easily, yet the desire for a harem brought its own set of troubles to a man.
It dawned on Jiang Tang that having a harem was self-inflicted trouble.
He now understood why Emperors, with their multitude of consorts, found themselves in a sea of troubles amidst pleasure.
Their own sons would kill for the throne, stopping at nothing to assassinate their father; women fought for favor, stirring up endless misfortunes.
He hasn’t even married these women yet, but their constant chattering already bothered him.
Some things just couldn’t be explained, and if he didn’t speak, they wouldn’t understand, truly a headache!
So, with a throbbing head, Jiang Tang could only resort to a well-intentioned lie, now understanding why some men found it necessary to lie to women.
“The occurrences on the mountain were just illusions, merely a trick left by a monkey for you all.
Don’t take it too seriously; I simply removed the monkey’s illusion,” he lied.
The girls half-believed and half-doubted Jiang Tang’s words.
They felt there was no need for Jiang Tang to lie to them; could it really just have been a mischievous monkey?
Staring at Jiang Tang with a mix of suspicion and belief, even the Dugu brothers thought that Jiang Tang might not be lying.
Everyone started to believe that it was just a too-playful monkey who had gone into a Magic Artifact and left them with an illusion.
In that moment, the monkey inside the Hell Palace had already entered the night.
It had been many years since it last slept; seeking solace, it crawled into an earthen cave to finally rest.
While souls floated to the sky at night to cultivate, the monkey, which hadn’t slept in years, felt that sleep itself was a form of cultivation.
Yet unexpectedly, it sneezed and rubbed its nose, thinking it unlikely that anyone would bother it now, and decided to continue its slumber.
Belief notwithstanding, Jiang Tang had already activated the Magic Artifact and was flying towards the distant horizon.
His chosen location was merely a few hundred miles from the previous one.
Both were in mountainous regions, overlooked by cultivators of the Cultivation World due to perceived scant resources and an absence of Spiritual Energy.
Even ordinary mortals seldom ventured into such mountains, and there was a special reason for that.
Voices of unrest at the previous site scared away hunters who ventured into the night and never returned.
So what was the reason for the complete lack of Spiritual Energy at the new site?
After all, even the mortal regions in mountainous areas had traces of Spiritual Energy, otherwise, Human Cultivators wouldn’t be able to pursue cultivation freely.
The notion that one can’t cultivate in the mountains was flawed, as many Great Immortal Sects and Noble Clans resided in such terrains.
Jiang Tang suspected that the other location, as mentioned by the monkey, might indeed be related to the monkey’s physical body.
A monkey that had achieved immortality should not have a physical body, as those who attained enlightenment in his previous life would have their souls ascend.
Physical bodies might not be able to ascend and dissolve into the heavens, which explained why in the Buddhist Sect, when reaching enlightenment, there were always the Shariputra.
Since arriving in the Cultivation World, Jiang Tang, who used to pay little attention to web novels, couldn’t grasp the authors’ concept where cultivators’ physical bodies ascended and became Immortals in heaven, yet retained connections with their mortal families.
However, he had seen in some dramas that Immortals could still interact with their mortal parents and clans after ascending.
For instance, in a series about Mazu, there was an episode where her father burned his own house to help Mazu.
A mere few hundred miles apart, it took but two breaths of time for the flying arrow to arrive while it was not yet dark.
Standing on the flying arrow, Jiang Tang and the others looked down and saw the surrounding mountains obscured by mist within a few dozen miles.
Nevertheless, their superb vision penetrated the thick fog, making it no obstruction to their sight.
Only the silhouette of a large mountain could be seen beneath dozens of miles of dense fog, where weeds and bushes grew wildly without any sign of spiritual energy emanating.
There were a few large reservoirs a few dozen miles away, with homes both in front of and inside the reservoir, but not many people living there.
Some families made their living by fishing, while others lived on the mountain sides bordering the reservoir and survived by hunting in the shallower parts of the mountains.
Just like the place where the monkey had been sealed before, despite the overgrown woodland and wild grass, the earth was primarily rocky, making it difficult to cultivate crops.
There was no sense of spiritual energy, and though there were some small animals, no large demonic beasts were to be seen.
This area was known as a mountain region in the mortal area, its most distinguishing feature being the lack of flat paddy fields.
Farmers who wanted to plant on the dry, mountainous lands found it difficult due to the preponderance of sand and stones.
Although there was an abundance of water sources, they could only grow sorghum or other miscellaneous grains.
This was why there were no homes in the mountains ahead, and why those living by the reservoir could only rely on fishing and hunting for their livelihoods.
Jiang Tang observed this area but didn’t descend to ask anyone.
For dozens, even hundreds of miles around, there was no spiritual energy.
This was a very strange phenomenon since both locations were not far apart and only about a thousand or so miles from Immortal Lord City.
Jiang Tang chose not to land the flying arrow.
They all observed the scene from high above.
On a mountain spanning ten miles, there were no demonic beasts, just some small animals, with monkeys being the most observed species.
It seemed like on some of the large trees and fruit trees within each mountain, monkeys could be seen.
The dozens of miles of mountains had streams flowing from their peaks to their bases, not all were without water sources.
Even one particular mountain had a small stream and a waterfall cascading down from its summit.
On this mountain, it wasn’t just wild grass, but predominantly peach trees.
After the summer days of July and August had passed and autumn was nearing, every peach tree was heavy with large peaches.
Even people with little knowledge of seasons knew that fruit trees have their specific seasons unless they are of the kind that bear fruit all year round.
Peaches, which should have ripened in April or May, were now covering the trees in July and August.
Apart from peaches, there were also apples and bananas on this mountain, which didn’t seem like a place where cultivation was unfeasible.
The other mountains did not possess the strangeness of this particular one, drawing everyone’s gaze to it.
“Looking at those monkeys eating the fruits, they seem quite delicious.
I really want to eat some,” said a woman from high above.
These women had been following Jiang Tang for days, only eating meals and drinking wine and tea without having any fruit.
The sight of fresh meat and delicious fruits sparked their appetite.
“Wait, let’s observe a little longer,” Jiang Tang said while still investigating, mindful of the saying “Hasty climbers have sudden falls.”
The crowd, seeing the abundance of fruit on the mountain, didn’t rush; the fruits didn’t appear to be illusions, so there must be a skilled individual capable of creating trees that bear fruit in all seasons.
Truth be told, even though their cultivation abilities were quite advanced, like Jiang Tang, they couldn’t instantly create trees laden with fruits for all seasons.
Even if they possessed wood-related spells, they could only make fruit trees emerge from the ground that might bear fruit immediately, but these would only be temporary.
Once the spells dissipated, the conjured fruit trees would wither away.
The fruit trees covering the mountain, not limited to just one kind, and the joyful expressions of the monkeys, didn’t seem like they were temporary.
The monkeys not only ate the fruits but also, like humans, would use baskets to pick the biggest and best fruits, while some of the naughtier ones played while they ate.