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Qin Niu watched for a while, then decided to continue wandering deeper into the mountain.

Now that he had the Treasured Sword, and the probability of the Critical Chop skill had increased to 20%, his courage had greatly swelled.

The deeper he ventured into the mountain, the rarer the signs of human activity became.

The probability of discovering various natural treasures also increased significantly.

Of course, the chance of encountering ferocious beasts and poisonous snakes rose dramatically as well. The elders in the village always cautioned the young ones never to venture deep into the mountains, saying that beasts there devoured people.

The most widely told story was about Xu Zhenchang, who at thirty-one had made quite a sum by farming, purchased land, built an impressive brick and tile house, and had a matchmaker propose a marriage to a girl from another village. After providing the bride price, they set the date.

As the wedding day drew near, there had been nothing but continuous rain for days on end.

But finally, on the afternoon before the wedding, the rain stopped, and the skies cleared.

Xu Zhenchang had prepared everything else, with only a bundle of high-quality firewood still unsettled.

Thus, he publicly offered fifty Wen Money as a high price for a bundle of firewood for the wedding.

They generally used the wood of the phoenix tree.

Because this tree was considered to be the favored perch of phoenixes, representing festivity and nobility, auspiciousness.

But whenever villagers had a celebration, they would go up the mountain to chop down phoenix trees.

Naturally, they picked the ones closest to the village to cut.

Gradually, the phoenix trees near the village had all been chopped down, and no one dared to chop on the mountain belonging to the Yan Family, the landlords.

So they had to keep looking deeper into the mountains.

As a result, phoenix trees became harder and harder to find.

Some families were even driven to plant one or two phoenix trees in their courtyard the day their son was born. By the time the son reached sixteen, the age to take a wife, the trees were ready to be of use.

Xu Zhenchang’s family had been particularly poor in the past, naturally having made no such preparations.

Therefore, he offered the high price of fifty Wen Money to purchase a bundle of firewood made from the wood of the phoenix tree.

No one took up the job.

Because regular firewood could sell for seven Wen per bundle. Out of desperation to marry his wife, Xu Zhenchang gritted his teeth and raised the purchase price to 100 Wen.

It is said that substantial rewards would always find a brave taker.

100 Wen was about ten days’ income for an ordinary farmer.

Liu Dazhuang, the woodcutter from their village, took up the job.

Full of confidence, he headed into the mountain carrying his ax and carrying pole.

Seeing his assured manner, the villagers secretly guessed that Liu Dazhuang, who often went to the mountain to chop wood, must have already spotted some phoenix trees to cut.

Someone experienced like the woodcutter had accepted the job, and Xu Zhenchang felt as if a stone had finally dropped from his heart.

Tomorrow, carrying a bundle of phoenix tree wood to fetch his bride would surely go smoothly.

Because phoenix wood represented good fortune and celebration.

Until the sun set, they still had not seen woodcutter Liu Dazhuang return. Liu Dazhuang’s wife and son began to worry.

This had never happened before!

The Liu Family was numerous and influential within the village. Fearing that Liu Dazhuang was in danger, his wife asked the Liu Family in the village, as well as several close neighbors, to search for him in the mountains.

The search party ventured deep into the mountains and came upon traces of blood.

A sinking feeling in their hearts, they acknowledged that Liu Dazhuang might have met with calamity.

Following the bloodstains, they found a large pool of blood and excrement among some fallen brushwood, as well as two feet still wearing straw sandals.

Upon seeing those sandals, Liu Dazhuang’s wife immediately collapsed to the ground crying, “These are my man’s shoes, his feet… Woohoo, how tragically you died!” After several cries of sorrow, she held her breath and fainted away.

The villagers promptly carried Liu Dazhuang’s pair of feet and his wife out of the mountains.

Later, experienced hunters from the village examined the bite marks on the feet and confirmed that they were the work of a hanging-eyes tiger.

A hanging-eyes tiger is a euphemism for a tiger.

Its eyes in the night resemble two hanging green lanterns, with “big cat” meaning tiger.

Common people, out of fear of the tiger, would even avoid saying its name.

Fearing that if they did, they might actually encounter a tiger while chopping wood in the mountains.

As for how Xu Zhenchang went on to get married, no one knows, but even now the Liu Family won’t speak to him. If they come across each other on the road, Liu Family members turn their heads and walk past with cold faces.

Qin Niu ventured deeper into the mountains, and his main goal this time wasn’t actually hunting.

He wanted to find a quiet place to cultivate, preferably to build a cultivation spot high up in a tree.

Practicing the Everlasting Spring Technique required attuning with nature, and he believed that merging with nature would certainly yield twice the results with half the effort.

Furthermore, the weapon-nourishing method mentioned by Master Ou also piqued his interest.

If he could find a suitable place to nurture his blade, that would be perfect.

As he continued deeper, signs of human presence became increasingly rare.

Giant trees with trunks more than half a meter in diameter became more common. Without human felling, many trees could live for over five hundred years, some even for five thousand without trouble.

Apart from these ancient trees stretching to the clouds, ferns, low shrubs, tall trees, various weeds, and climbing plants were also essential components of the forest.

Like a harmonious family, they lived joyously in these mountains.

The deeper he went, the more lush the vegetation became. There was barely any path; thorns grew wildly, making his progress increasingly difficult.

Moreover, the deeper he went into the mountains, the stronger his feeling of unease became.

He was still very weak, and there were too many creatures in the deep mountains that could claim his life.

Looking around, his line of sight was limited, with the abundant brushwood and trees obstructing his view. Among them, he truly felt as insignificant as a speck of dust..