434: Chapter 338 434: Chapter 338 Jiang Tang led nine women and one man, originally surveying two locations that could potentially become their Sacred Gate Base.
From the start, he thought that if one of the two sites was suitable, that would suffice.
However, to his surprise, when surveying the sites, he found both locations to be very appropriate for his Sacred Gate Base.
These places were overlooked by others, but it wasn’t that they were truly desolate and useless, nor that others lacked the vision to discover the energy here.
The energy hidden here couldn’t be discovered by others because, during ancient times, someone had sealed it off.
Despite the picturesque mountains and rivers, the spiritual energy, spirit veins, and Fire Spirit Caves were all sealed.
Jiang Tang initially didn’t notice either, finding that the areas he looked upon appeared serene and beautiful, yet the mountain interiors were deserted.
Only hunters ventured into the mountains, with small villages at the foot of the outer perimeter accessible by the river.
Moving further inside, there were no more villages, no irrigated fields for farmers to cultivate, only tall mountains, mostly rocky, suitable only for growing some fruit trees.
Strangely, over the centuries, even the fruits of those trees would be eaten by wild beasts.
The farmers, feeling their efforts were in vain, successively moved away, leaving only those capable of hunting to hunt around the fringes.
They dared not venture deep into the old-growth forest, although there were some who, fearless of death, had entered and then never returned.
When their family members went in search of them, they too failed to return.
Eventually, hunters formed teams to hunt, but didn’t dare go deep into the mountains, sticking to the outer edges and avoiding staying on the mountains at night, for many had heard the shrill cries of formidable beasts at night.
Hearing the terrifying howls of these beasts, people in the villages at the periphery could vaguely hear the frightening sounds at night, enough to wake them from their dreams in fear.
Eventually, it became just a legend, though the terrifying cries continued, people refrained from staying in the mountains after dark and no one was harmed.
Over time, the people established a rule: no matter how urgent, all work must be completed between dawn and before dusk; if not, they had to immediately descend the mountain.
They even placed a sign at the foot of the mountain that read: “Do not ascend before daylight, do not ascend after dark, do not linger on the mountain at night, disregard these warnings at your own risk.”
When Jiang Tang first saw this sign, he didn’t inquire why it was forbidden to linger on the mountain after dark.
Having decided to survey this place, he knew the investigation had to be covert.
Jiang Tang took such actions because he wasn’t sure whether the sign was meant for ordinary people.
Could there be bandits hidden in the mountains?
Or was there a formidable person on the mountain keeping ordinary people out, fabricating ghost stories on purpose?
Jiang Tang speculated it could be formidable demonic beasts that people mistook for wild beasts.
Demonic beasts were not something ordinary people could handle.
No wonder they dared not enter deep into the mountains.
If there really were demonic beasts, it implied a massive secret concealed here.
Guided by Jiang Tang, the group of nine women and one man traveled on clouds before nightfall, and everyone was powerful enough to enjoy flying like arrows.
They flew over the mountains from high above, from the periphery to the deep interior, sensing no danger in the air by day.
Upon exploration, they found that the mountains housed demonic beasts.
However, they did not encounter any fearsome, powerful beasts that chilled them to the bone.
He thought they were ordinary demonic beasts, more than enough to deal with commoners.
For example, slightly larger wild boars, more ferocious lions or wolves, tigers or leopards.
These could also easily consume ordinary people, inducing terror at the mere whisper of their presence.
Jiang Tang gazed at the dense forests and uninhabited mountains below, thinking it was just an ordinary place.
Before he could speak, someone beside him couldn’t help but say:
“Jiang Tang, what’s good about this place!” Yuan Baozhu shook her head; she could sense with her consciousness that even spiritual energy was absent within the deep mountains.
“Jiang Tang, let alone spirit veins or Fire Acupoints, there isn’t even the most basic spiritual energy here,” said Zhang Nianjiao in agreement.
“Zhang Nianjiao is right.
This place doesn’t even compare to the ordinary Mortal Realm, so how could it be a location in the Cultivation World?” Su Feifei chimed in as well.
“Jiang Tang, surveying such a place seems like a waste of time, doesn’t it?” Yun Duoduo shook her head and sighed.
They would be better off going to spots not far from their clan where the spiritual energy wasn’t high, although she kept this to herself.
“Yeah, can you even establish a base in such a place?”
Dugu Yan’er felt this location was worse than the innermost part of her stockade, where a base would let her stay close to home.
“It really doesn’t look good on the surface, Jiang Tang.
Are we going to continue looking?” Xuanyuan Mengting actually hoped Jiang Tang would say no, so she could suggest establishing the Saint Sect in her own clan.
“Jiang Tang, this place is even worse than the farming lands of our clan.” Lin Dandan, like the other women, had felt the call of their clans, wishing for Jiang Tang to establish the sect in their territory.
“Indeed, it’s not very good!” Tang Yanhong said in her usual red attire, using few words to express that she didn’t wish to stay here any longer.
“Jiang Tang, it’s weird that in these dense woods, even decent ‘Fire Grass’ can’t be found,” Hua Xian’er remarked, a true disciple of the Immortal Physician Sect, not looking for spiritual energy but rather good Spiritual Medicine as her priority.