The Nine Cauldrons

Book 4: Vermillion Tiger Fist - Chapter 20: Silver Horn Mountain

Book 4 Chapter 20 Silver Horn Mountain

After entering the innate realm, during his journey to the Silver Horn Mountain, Teng Qingshan spent most of the night time refining his Innate True Origin.

However, Teng Qingshan’s speed was extremely rapid this time.

In the desolate land, he almost constantly maintained a speed of eight hundred li per day, and within two days, he arrived at Silver Horn Mountain. During this one thousand li trip, Teng Qingshan only encounter a demonic beast, while the number of ordinary wild animals and poisonous insects was so great that it seemed like an exaggeration. Almost every second, Teng Qingshan would have to kill one wild animal or insect. And so, he arrived on a bloody path.

“Silver Horn Mountain!”

Teng Qingshan stared at the steep, tall mountain before him. This tall mountain was extremely precipitous, almost shaped like the horn of a bull. Because the rocks on this mountain were slightly white, it was called Silver Horn Mountain!

Looking from afar, this Silver Horn Mountain was like a bull’s horn piercing towards the heavens.

“Phew. I have finally arrived. The wild animals and poisonous insects during this journey were really troublesome.” Teng Qingshan lowered his head and stared at himself. His clothes were broken and covered in dried bloodstains. “No wonder the Postliminary Realm experts didn’t dare to enter the desolate land! The wild animals, venomous snakes, and other creatures at the border of the desolate land are bearable as there are not a lot, but once you go deeper into the desolate land, you realize that this land is their home! Those wild animals and insects are seen everywhere. If a Postliminary Realm expert dared to enter the desolate land, he would most likely die. “

Now Teng Qingshan completely understood why the desolate land was called the forbidden region.

Postliminary Realm experts could still venture the border of the desolate land.

But entering the heart of the desolate land? That would be committing suicide!

“Wush~~~” Near Teng Qingshan, a stream flowed from top of the mountain.

Beside the stream, there were over a dozen purple snakes as thick as a human arm swimming around. In the forest behind him, a few figures would occasionally dash past. In the sky, some ferocious birds would descend and grab some big snakes with their sharp claws before throwing them down from high up, killing the snake.

This was the desolate land.

The home of the wild animals and poisonous insects! The place where the demonic beasts were kings! The forbidden region of human beings!

Teng Qingshan walked to the stream and drank some water.

“Chi——” About one Zhang away from Teng Qingshan, a dark, purple snake with a triangular head suddenly pounced, biting towards Teng Qingshan.

“Pa!” Teng Qingshan waved his right hand.

The dark purple snake was knocked back at an even faster speed than when it first bounced. Blood splattered as it fell on the ground, motionless.

“Ssss~~”

The other venomous snakes glanced at Teng Qingshan and immediately swarmed away. The smell of the bloodstains on Teng Qingshan’s clothes caused these venomous snakes to fear him. The wild animals and venomous snakes were very simple creatures. They killed and ate the weak and either avoided or submitted to the powerful ones! Of course, Teng Qingshan was a human being.

The possibility of these very savage wild animals submitting to humans was very low. It required skills, great patience, and time.

“It only took me two days to get to Silver Horn Mountain from Steel Arms Monkey Mountain. The Tie Yi Hall’s powerful fighters should not be that quick.” Teng Qingshan thought as he gazed at the crimson clouds of sunset in the west. “It is late now. I must find shelter while I await the men of Tie Yi Hall.”

With this, Teng Qingshan ignored the wild animals and easily leaped two to three times. Each leap was over ten Zhang high, and after the last leap, he was on Silver Horn Mountain.

......

Halfway up the mountain, on the precipitous mountain walls, there was a cave three to four Zhang deep. Teng Qingshan decided to temporarily stay here.

Teng Qingshan sat at the entrance, which was hidden by falling vines.

Through the vines, Teng Qingshan could see the forest below with one glance. If someone came up the mountain from the northern side, Teng Qingshan could see it. Teng Qingshan had stayed in this Silver Horn Mountain for two days, and during these two days, Teng Qingshan spent most of the time refining his Innate True Origin, but it was still not completely refined.

Ordinary Innate experts needed ten to fifteen days to succeed.

Converting the inner strength into the Innate True Origin is troublesome indeed. These days, Teng Qingshan had converted eighty percent of his inner strength into the Innate True Origin.

He leaned on the walls at the entrance, and grabbed a roasted meat in his hand.

“Chi.” Teng Qingshan grabbed wild wolf thigh and gobbled it up. He then held the stone jug he made himself and took a sip of water. “For the sake of the Scarlet Fruit Wine, the only thing I could use to store water, my gourd, was used to store the fruit wine. Thus, I could only use this thing to drink water...... I really don’t know when the men of the Tie Yi Hall will arrive. If they advanced in a speed of one to two hundred li per day, I estimate they would really arrive half a month from now”

The roasted wild wolf meat Teng Qingshan had been specially hunted and roasted in the desolate land under the mountain.

After all, it would be best to not leave any trace of living in Silver Horn Mountain.

“Chichi~~~” Sounds of something rubbing the rocks rang, and Teng Qingshan turned to look at the side.

A large azure snake was seen moving along the vine, slowing swimming down from the entrance. Seeing this scene, Teng Qingshan smiled and sighed emotionally as he spoke, “The heart of this desolate land is the home of the venomous snakes and wild animals.”

At this time——

“Eh!” Teng Qingshan’s eyes brightened as he saw five figures in the distance below. Because of the difference in altitude, they seemed as tiny as ants. “They are finally here! They came two to three times faster than what I expected.”

They were precisely the five people from the Tie Yi Hall. The innate expert, Deng Geng, looked healthy without much wounds. It was just his clothes that were ripped and stained with blood. However, the other four looked miserable. Each one of them was covered with dust, and almost every one of them was injured. A tall and lean middle-aged man even had a broken arm.

“Haha. Silver Horn Mountain. We finally arrived Silver Horn Mountain!”

“Phew. We’ve arrived at Silver Horn Mountain. After we find the treasure map, we don’t have to be in such a hurry when we go back, right?”

“I am never entering the desolate land again.”

......

The other four couldn’t help talking, and each one of them looked very excited. Deng Geng, who was at the side, also smiled, “Everyone has suffered these days! However, it couldn’t be helped....... Liu Jian went to kill Teng Qingshan, but he never returned. Although the possibility of him betraying us is very low, we can’t bear to lose! We had to take precautions in case Teng Qingshan obtained information from Liu Jian and summoned the Gui Yuan Sect’s elites here.....”

At the side, Wei Cang laughed and said, “Martial Brother, everyone understands! Martial Brother did it for the sake of our Tie Yi Hall. We got to Silver Horn Mountain within two days, so even if Teng Qingshan notified the Gui Yuan Sect, sending message needs time, and getting here from Jiangning County City needs even more time. The Gui Yuan Sect’s powerful figures wouldn’t be able to make it in time.”

Deng Geng nodded.

Originally, Tie Yi Hall planned to advance cautiously and slowly. If Liu Jian did return, they wouldn’t have sped up, but Liu Jian failed to do so.

They began to worry and naturally headed to Silver Horn Mountain with an even faster speed.

The deeper they entered the desolate land, the greater the number of wild animals and poisonous insects. Even the innate expert, Deng Geng, couldn’t take care of the other four perfectly well, causing one of them to break his arm. This happened under the care of Deng Geng. If Deng Geng hadn’t been there, the four people wouldn’t be able to arrive at Silver Horn Mountain alive.

The desolate land was very terrifying indeed.

“It’s still early. Let’s head up Silver Horn Mountain first and do a search. See if we can find the body of Senior Wei Dan!” Deng Geng ordered.

“Yes.”

The other four people answered.

The five immediately started climbing the mountain. With Deng Geng, the innate expert, opening the pathway and the other four assisting each other, the only thing that gave them a headache was the wild animals, snakes and insects that appeared frequently on the mountain. Although Silver Horn Mountain was considered a precipitous mountain, it couldn’t be compared to Steel Arms Monkey Mountain.

It actually would be very fascinating if the mountain had a extremely high altitude according to the shape of a silver horn.

“This Silver Horn Mountain is not too big. Everyone, pay attention to places suitable for quiet training.” Deng Geng went up the mountain as he gave his order.

The other four scattered and followed Deng Geng. Their eyes moved constantly, paying attention to every area. Once they saw caves or stone houses, they would go in and search carefully. If nothing could be found, they would continue advancing.

......

Teng Qingshan, more than ten Zhang away from Deng Geng and his companions, was following them carefully. His every step was silent, and even his breathing slowed down.

The current Teng Qingshan looked completely different from the past.

He became a middle-aged man with a knife-scarred face, and his body was a lot more muscular. His saber and Reincarnation Spear was packed in his bag. With the use of the human skin mask, and changing his height and weight, the Teng Qingshan had completely changed his identity.

“What are they looking for?” Teng Qingshan furrowed his brows, “They are mainly searching places like caves and stone house and it doesn’t seem like they are looking for the Grass of Immortality. Liu Jian said that Tie Yi Hall came to the desolate land to look for the Grass of Immortality, but now that doesn’t seem the case. Teng Qingshan began to doubt Liu Jian’s words.

At this moment, voices came from above.

“Martial Brother! The information we obtained was that Senior Wei Dan lived in seclusion at the Silver Horn Mountain, but.......he might have left the Silver Horn Mountain before he died.” Wei Canglong said. The volume of his voice was normal, but unfortunately for him, Teng Qingshan’s ears were so sensitive that he could clearly hear conversations that happened over ten Zhang away.

That Deng Geng shook his head and said, “Senior Wei Dan is a 600 year-old expert. The information we obtained is that after he reached the ‘Golden Dan of the Innate Realm’, he stayed at Silver Horn Mountain and trained in seclusion. Whether he left before he died.......nobody knows. We can only search this Silver Horn Mountain carefully.”

Another person spoke, “Martial Uncle! That Senior Wei Dan was the extremely powerful fellow ranked top ten of the Heavenly Ranking during his time. If he was training here alone, I think his residence wouldn’t be some inconspicuous places in the corner of the mountain, but rather a comfortable place with good scenery.”

“Yes.” Hearing this, Deng Geng nodded.

“This way, hurry up. Don’t check those small places at the corner. Just advance all the way up. Carefully search the places that Senior Wei Dan might’ve lived.” Deng Geng commanded.

“Yes.”

The five people people from the Tie Yi Hall immediately headed up the mountain with an even faster pace. They didn’t expect that someone would follow behind them.......Ever since they realized that Liu Jian would not catch up, they immediately rushed towards Silver Horn Mountain. To them, even if the Gui Yuan Sect knew of the secret, their innate expert wouldn’t get there in time.

“Eh. Wei Dan?” Teng Qingshan felt slightly dubious, “A powerful fellow ranked top ten of the Heavenly Ranking around six hundred ago must have died a few hundred years ago. Why are they trying to find Wei Dan’s body? Perhaps there is some relic? Ordinary secret techniques or godly weapon don’t usually draw the attention of innate experts.”

Teng Qingshan knew nothing of Wei Dan.

However, when he heard “Golden Dan of the Innate Realm and “Top ten of the Heavenly Ranking”, he knew that Wei Dan had been an awe-inspiring figure.

“He’s a famous figure from six hundred years ago, yet this Tie Yi Hall still came to find his body......” Teng Qingshan really didn’t know what treasure attracted the Tie Yi Hall. “Must be a big secret.”