After driving for more than 100 meters, the Audi suddenly had a tire blowout with a loud bang on the road!
The car swayed and glided for a while before coming to a stop.
Zhang Wan got off the car cursing, then stepped on a round, slippery stone and fell flat on his face, covered in dirt and scraping his skin.
On the roof of the temple, a white-bearded mountain god floated in mid-air, with a cloud beneath his feet.
He chuckled as he looked at the car with the flat tire and Zhang Wan with his face bruised, then his pale golden body gradually disappeared into the air above the rooftop.
Standing in front of the temple, Zhang Yuan looked at Zhang Wan who had slipped and the tire that had burst, then at the mountain god who had disappeared from the roof, and couldn't help but laugh.
Before disappearing from the rooftop, the white-bearded mountain god suddenly looked at Zhang Yuan.
Their eyes met.
The young man gave a half-smile.
A thought popped into the mountain god's mind: "Could it be that he can see me?"
However, the mountain god muttered something and then disappeared completely from the rooftop.
Zhang Yuan returned to the mountain god temple. The white-bearded mountain god, who had disappeared from the roof of the temple, returned to the altar and was lying on his side in the void next to the altar, sleeping.
Zhang Yuan walked to the offering table where the offerings and candles were placed and put his hands together in prayer.
"Grandpa Mountain God, could you tell me the exact location of a 300-year-old ginseng near the Daxing Mountains?"
Zhang Yuan asked earnestly.
But the mountain god simply turned to his side and continued sleeping, ignoring Zhang Yuan.
The mountain god just turned his head and glanced at him from the rooftop. He should have realized that he could see spirits, so why is the mountain god ignoring me?
Zhang Yuan was puzzled. After thinking for a moment, he flicked his wrist and took out a Foundation Establishment Pill from his Qiankun Bag, placing it on the offering table in the Mountain God Temple.
Sure enough, the mountain god next to the statue moved.
His spirit sat up and sniffed.
"What is that? It smells so good!"
The white-bearded mountain god saw the Foundation Establishment Pill that Zhang Yuan had placed on the offering table, floated over, and inhaled through his nose and mouth. The Foundation Establishment Pill transformed into a wisp of energy and floated into the mountain god's body.
Then, the white-bearded mountain god comfortably patted his belly.
"Grandpa Mountain God, do you know if there is a 300-year-old ginseng in the mountains near Anping Village in the Daxing Mountains?"
Zhang Yuan looked at the mountain god and said.
After the mountain god ate Zhang Yuan's Foundation Establishment Pill, he stopped pretending not to see it and said: "Young man, there is indeed a ginseng that is over 300 years old in a valley more than 50 kilometers away from here in the Daxing Mountains. However, there are many monsters and dangers in the Daxing Mountains. Although your cultivation is good, I still advise you not to go deep into the mountains."
That ginseng is very important to me. Could you tell me its exact location?
"Never mind."
With a wave of his hand, the white-bearded mountain god created a map in the air in front of Zhang Yuan, showing the location of the Anping Village Mountain God Temple. Then, the mountain god touched the map with his cane, and a triangular mark appeared at the spot he touched!
"This is it!"
"Thank you for informing me, Grandpa Mountain God!"
Zhang Yuan bowed with his hands clasped in greeting.
Before leaving, the mountain god told Zhang Yuan that there was a powerful snake demon guarding the valley where the ginseng was located. The snake demon's strength had reached the early stage of the demon general realm, and Zhang Yuan should be careful.
After thanking the mountain god again, Zhang Yuan left the mountain god temple.
...
night.
Zhang Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed, holding an A4 sheet of paper in his hand.
The A4 sheet of paper lists the medicinal materials needed to refine elixirs such as the Meridian Opening Pill, along with the price and quantity of each ingredient. The other side of the paper records Zhang Yuan's various expenses related to refining the elixirs.
The last column of the table records Zhang Yuan's remaining assets, totaling over 32,100 yuan in cash.
During the winter break, Zhang Yuan spent his time at home refining basic True Qi Pills and learning to refine talismans. He spent nearly 20,000 yuan on various consumables, so his total assets were reduced to only 32,000 yuan.
Looking at the little money left, Zhang Yuan couldn't help but feel worried.
Cultivating immortality is too expensive. Refining a single batch of pills can cost anywhere from several thousand to tens of thousands of yuan, and even the Meridian Opening Pill can cost hundreds of thousands!
He was just a poor student!
College students his age only need to study, but he not only has to cultivate himself, but also find ways to make money.
This is too difficult!
Zhang Yuan's only way to make money right now is to sell Foundation Building Pills, but this method has some risks, and at least it cannot be sold on a large scale.
Because his Foundation Establishment Pills were of much higher quality than those on the market, but he did not have a powerful backing, and his cultivation time was still short, so he knew very little about the cultivation world.
Given his current strength at the initial stage of the Meridian Opening Realm, it's best to play it safe.
To avoid getting into trouble.
However, without taking elixirs, relying solely on daily cultivation to improve one's realm is too slow; one might be stuck at the Meridian Opening Realm for life.
Although senior student Li Hu helped him register for the Tongcheng City Kung Fu Competition, where the first prize is worth 200,000 yuan, Zhang Yuan was not sure if he could win the prize money.
Since I am able to cultivate myself, there must be others like me who are cultivating in seclusion in the mortal world.
Therefore, in a martial arts competition, it is possible to be eliminated by a cultivator who is stronger than oneself.
After much deliberation, Zhang Yuan decided to make a trip to the Daxing Mountains.
If he's lucky, he'll find the 300-year-old ginseng, which will be the main ingredient for refining the Meridian Opening Pill, saving him hundreds of thousands. If he unfortunately encounters a powerful monster, he'll have to turn back and give up the ginseng.
After making up his mind, Zhang Yuan practiced in bed for a while longer before finally falling asleep in the middle of the night.
Over the next few days, Zhang Yuan was very busy. In addition to preparing for the upcoming New Year's Eve dinner, he also secretly drew a batch of talismans and beginner-level True Qi Pills in his room.
Preparing to go into the mountains after the New Year.
During this time, Zhang Yuan unexpectedly discovered array patterns on the outer wall of the alchemy furnace. As long as the array patterns were pressed, the size of the alchemy furnace could be freely changed.
It can even be shrunk to the size of a teapot.
Therefore, he didn't have to worry about being discovered by his parents when he secretly practiced alchemy in his room at night.
After the New Year, on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Yuan's parents went to visit relatives.
Zhang Yuan lied and said he was going to a classmate reunion, and did not go to his relatives' house with his parents.
After his parents left, Zhang Yuan packed the things he had prepared in advance into a package.
There is mineral water, biscuits, etc.
Then he put the package into his Qiankun bag, went to the kitchen to find a rusty wood-chopping knife, put it into the Qiankun bag as well, and then quietly left home, heading towards the Daxing Mountains.
The 50-kilometer journey takes only 2 hours by car.
It takes a whole day to walk the mountain path, and that's only because Zhang Yuan is in good health.
There were no large wild animals on the outskirts of the Dahang Mountains; the only wild boar was scared away by Zhang Yuan with his machete.
Zhang Yuan mobilized his internal energy and moved quickly through the forest.
Before sunset, Zhang Yuan had already crossed a mountain and estimated that he should be close to the valley the mountain god had mentioned.
After the sun set, visibility in the forest became very poor, and Zhang Yuan, who had been walking non-stop all day, was also quite tired.
So he found an open, flat area, and using the faint light before sunset, Zhang Yuan used a woodcutter's knife to cut some dry firewood and lit it on the flat ground.
Soon the campfire was blazing, and the firelight dispelled the darkness.
Zhang Yuan drank some water and ate some dry food in front of the fire.
After adding some more firewood to the campfire, Zhang Yuan sat in front of the fire, closed his eyes to rest and practice his martial arts, and recovered from the exhaustion of climbing the mountain all day.
Nothing happened that night.
After getting up, Zhang Yuan washed himself briefly with mineral water and continued on his way.
After a night of cultivation, his true energy was restored to its full potential.
This is deep in the Dahang Mountains, where there are no traces of humans. Occasionally, one can find animal footprints on the mountain or hear strange cries, it is unknown whether they are made by animals or something else.
Therefore, Zhang Yuan became even more cautious.
Following the map shown to him by the mountain god, he walked for a while and came to a valley.
That ginseng should be somewhere near this valley.
The mountain god said there was a snake demon in the valley, so Zhang Yuan did not rush into the valley, but hid at a distance and carefully observed the scene inside.
In the center of this valley is a ginseng forest. In the middle of the ginseng forest, a ginseng with a stem about one meter long stands out like a crane among chickens, looking down on the other ginseng brothers.
The bright red berries and tender leaf stalks are surrounded by colorful rays of sunlight.
Zhang Yuan had never seen such miraculous ginseng before.
This must be the 300-year-old ginseng king that the mountain god spoke of.
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