Chapter 339: Modified: Chapter 339 Entering the Southern Border
Meeting Shen Ying secretly at Peach Blossom Plain.
Gifted alloy weapons to several Peach Blossom Celestial Maidens who cultivate Martial Dao.
Visited Daoist Mingzhang on the mountain.
Drank twice with Xin Zhanting at the City God Temple in the evening.
A few days later, seeing that everything was well and smooth at home, Lu Zheng spent several more days with Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan, informing them of his upcoming journey.
Then, off to the Southern Border!
Lu Zheng didn’t plan on staying long in the Southern Border; his intent was to blow up Peach Mother Divine Mountain and then leave. With his speed, the round trip should take about half a month... right?
Yizhou is in the eastern part of Lingbei Dao, separated from the Southern Border by Rongzhou in the southern part of Lingbei Dao, the sprawling Lingyun Mountain Range stretching thousands of miles, and the crisscrossing terrains of Lingnan Dao, interspersed with plains in several states.
Then again, nothing but towering mountains and endless ranges, which is the Hundred Thousand Mountains, a perilous area in the Southern Border.
There are branches of the Buddhist Sect, side branches of the Daoist Family, the Incense and Candle Divine Dao, Absorbing Yin and Yang, Refining Blood and Soul, Sword and Martial Cultivation, and the Witch God Sect, remnants of the previous dynasty, with numerous demons, devils, and monsters.
This is just considering the forces.
Considering that even the Great Jing Dynasty finds it difficult to pacify the Southern Border, and even the head of the Anomaly Suppression Bureau dares not venture deep into the Southern Border, there must be many formidable figures in the Southern Border.
Not to mention anything else, just the master of Dingfeng Mountain, Hu Yijun, whose strength is not inferior to the ancestors of the White Cloud Temple and the Jinhua Sect.
Furthermore, the Peach Tree Spirit of Peach Mother Divine Mountain, growing wildly, has a thousand years of Dao Practice, and its strength within the Earth Realm of Peach Mother Divine Mountain is even doubled.
Even so, Hu Yijun was once severely injured and ended up in Da Jing Mountain Village, and the Peach Tree Spirit’s range of influence barely extends beyond five hundred miles.
Ponder that carefully.
Thus, Lu Zheng, who knows the Earth Travel Technique, can travel through the modern world at will. This time, the destination is clear—Peach Mother Divine Mountain, not too deep, otherwise, Lu Zheng wouldn’t have come.
Of course, the main concern is still whether the Peach Tree Spirit will cause any trouble, and besides, there’s that half-gourd of high-explosives, giving Lu Zheng confidence to collapse Peach Mother Divine Mountain’s peak.
If it were a normal thousand-year-old Great Demon, Lu Zheng wouldn’t have come, but since your true form cannot move, aren’t you just a sitting duck?
Since your True Spirit is still dependent on your true form, I’ll just destroy your true form and see how long your True Spirit can last!
Even if the Peach Tree Spirit can seize another body and be reborn, it probably won’t be much of a concern.
...
Lu Zheng headed south, not pausing, quickly leaving Rongzhou.
The Lingyun Mountain Range is steep and stands as a barrier between two states, surely housing many demons and devils inside. To avoid unnecessary complications, Lu Zheng didn’t travel by ground at all and instead used the Earth Travel Technique to move underground, crossing several dozen yards below the surface.
There was an interesting event along the way. Lu Zheng accidentally found himself in an underground lair of a demon beast. Seeing the two large front teeth of his counterpart, Lu Zheng instantly knew what kind of demon it was.
In the slightly wary and irritated eyes of the other, Lu Zheng swiftly took out a bag of nuts from his gourd, smilingly offered it, and thus they turned from foes to friends.
...
After traveling underground for a long while, Lu Zheng surfaced and realized he had already crossed the Lingyun Mountain Range and arrived at Lingnan Dao.
He found a government road and sped along it, quickly arriving at a county town.
Lingnan Dao, Lingzhou, Yudu County.
"I veered off course a bit."
Lu Zheng clarified his location, confirmed his direction, and then immediately left the city, once again crossing mountains and forests heading south.
...
"Travel back!"
Already tired from the journey, Lu Zheng certainly planned to return to the modern world for meals.
Since the last case ended, Lin Wan hadn’t picked up a new case, so besides her regular nine-to-five office work, she was cultivating the "Taiyuan Mysterious Scripture" that Lu Zheng passed on to her.
"Lunch together?"
"Sure!"
For lunch, they found a Western Border restaurant and delighted in some lamb chops. Then Lin Wan returned to work, and Lu Zheng went home to continue his journey.
...
Traveling through Lingnan Dao, except for asking directions at county towns, Lu Zheng hardly stopped anywhere, trying to keep to government roads, and returning to the modern world to sleep at night.
So, he encountered no incidents on the road, arriving safely at the southern tip of Lingnan Dao.
Yongzhou, adjoining the Hundred Thousand Mountains of the Southern Border.
Although Yongzhou was still within the Great Jing realm, there were already many Southern Border people in the state capital and county towns.
Unlike the Central Plains people, the indigenes of the Southern Border, living mostly among the mountains, had less arable land and relied more on gathering and hunting. In terms of character and actions, they tended to have a bit more of a wild edge.
Of course, since the Central Plains and the Southern Border have been adjacent for thousands of years, with much exchange, and later with Central Plains Sects entering the area, many so-called "barbarians" near the Great Jing Dynasty started to resemble Central Plains people more and more.
Simultaneously, although the Southern Border is wild, Yongzhou, adjacent to the Southern Border, was not much better off; the northern part of Lingzhou was fine, but the southern part of Yongzhou already had quite the Southern Border flair.
Additionally, out of curiosity, Lu Zheng went around Yongzhou for a day, gathering various information, only to realize he had previously made an empiricist mistake.
Though many sects in the Southern Border are indeed arch-enemies with the Great Jing Dynasty and some have clearly taken a nefarious path, with cultivation values entirely different from Great Jing’s mainstream, there exist some moderate sects as well.
Not all sects and people in the Southern Border are opposed to the Great Jing Dynasty; many just don’t want Great Jing governance, but ordinary exchanges and cooperation pose no problems.
Moreover, although this world is a Xianxia World, most of the populace are ordinary people with similar appearances. Southern Border Abnormal People can freely mix into the Central Plains, and likewise, Central Plains Abnormal People can roam the Southern Border.
Actually, in most places, unless you show hostility or cause trouble, people won’t actively target you.
For instance, even if you are a disciple from Mist God Valley but never kill and refine souls in the Great Jing Dynasty, the Great Jing officials won’t bother you even if you enter their territory.
Cough, cough, of course, if you encounter an Abnormal Person with a strong sense of justice, that’s another story.
So, actually, the Southern Border wasn’t as dangerous as Lu Zheng initially thought.
For example, Lu Zheng saw several people who seemed to belong to Southern Border sects in Yongzhou. Although they had low cultivation, they roamed the realm of Great Jing openly.
Previously, Lu Zheng had only encountered Southern Border Abnormal People causing trouble in the Great Jing Dynasty, creating an illusion of irreconcilable animosity.
...
Having grasped the general situation, Lu Zheng once again headed south, entering the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
This segment of the journey, he didn’t resort to the Earth Travel Technique.
One reason was that he learned most of the Southern Border was not as perilous as he first imagined, especially near the Lingnan Dao area.
The second reason was that he didn’t want to accidentally enter another Great Demon’s lair again.
The encounter with a not-so-powerful Rat Demon in the Lingyun Mountain Range was sheer luck, but it’s not guaranteed he’ll always be so fortunate.
Even if he could detect the situation ahead, a powerful opponent could be equally aware of his presence. If he stumbled upon a temperamental thousand-year-old demon, what then—teleport to the modern world right in their lair?
How would he return? By preempting with a nuclear bomb?