Shen Mo left the martial arts arena, his mind filled with the life panel he had just seen.
[Name: Song Junjie]
[Realm: Entry-level Foundation Establishment]
[Fate: Astonishing luck, handsome appearance, dual sword and blade mastery, Wind and Thunder Sword and Blade Body]
[Destiny: Stops at the Great Achievement in the Core Formation Realm, serves as an inner elder at the Divine Sword Sect. Fifty-six years later, while seeking breakthroughs, he dies from an ambush by an elder from a rival sect.]
[Recent Opportunity 1: Attempted to recruit Shen Mo to his faction at the martial arts arena today but was rejected, leading to anger and an impulsive attack. Eventually stopped by an inner elder, he was punished to meditate on Sword Cliff, where he unexpectedly gained insights and advanced to the third level of the Gale Sword Technique.]
[Recent Opportunity 2: Three days after punishment, left the sect to vent his anger in the Qingcang Mountains. Accidentally discovered a corpse in the Tiger King's cave in the Fierce Tiger Forest. The corpse had a low-grade storage ring containing a superior-grade Profound-grade treasure, Tiger Gold, which can be used as the metal element in foundation.]
"Tiger Gold, a superior-grade Profound-grade treasure, clearly a precious metal attribute item."
Shen Mo smiled.
If he hadn't clashed with Song Junjie today, he would have missed this opportunity.
This item was perfect for crafting his ideal Dao Foundation with a metal element.
"However, judging by his destiny, he is also quite the traitor." Shen Mo sneered.
"I should first head to the Underground Ice Lake, then to the Fierce Tiger Forest, conveniently in a straight line."
"I truly am a genius at planning my time."
Shen Mo quickly left the sect, heading straight for the Underground Ice Lake.
The Underground Ice Lake was extremely secretive.
If it weren't for Liu Yuanfeng accidentally discovering it, no one would have found it.
When Shen Mo arrived, no one had been there yet.
The cold here repelled many beasts.
However, Shen Mo was well-prepared.
He had purchased some Warming Pills from the Treasure Pavilion of the Qingxuan Sect.
Warming Pills, like Breath-Holding Pills, were low-grade Yellow-level pills and easy to obtain.
Their effect was simple: just holding them under the tongue continuously provided warmth.
This way, he wouldn't be frozen by the cold of the Ice Lake.
Thus, he easily obtained the Profound Yin Ice Marrow at the bottom of the lake.
After placing the Profound Yin Ice Marrow into his storage ring, Shen Mo hurried towards the Fierce Tiger Forest.
The Fierce Tiger Forest was also located within the Qingcang Mountains, but this forest was not exclusively for Qingxuan Sect disciples; many itinerant cultivators were present as well.
This was understandable.
Although the Qingxuan Sect was nominally the master of the Qingcang Mountains, the range was too vast to be completely controlled by the sect.
There were always corners that the Qingxuan Sect could not reach.
These places became havens for itinerant cultivators.
Some Qingxuan Sect disciples were even robbed and killed by these cultivators.
Hence, the previous sect leader stepped forward.
He knew well that the Qingxuan Sect could not fully control the Qingcang Mountains nor expel all the itinerant cultivators.
So, he decided to open certain areas to them.
This maintained stability in the Qingcang Mountains.
Since then, the Qingxuan Sect has opened parts of the Qingcang Mountains to itinerant cultivators.
The condition was that they could not attack Qingxuan Sect disciples.
Thus, the cultivators had a way to make a living and wouldn't risk attacking the sect's disciples.
The Fierce Tiger Forest was one of these open areas.
This forest covered a large area, filled with fierce tigers, hence the name.
Tigers were valuable.
Tiger skin, bones, meat, blood, and even genitals could fetch a good price.
So, many itinerant cultivators came to the Fierce Tiger Forest to hunt tigers.
Additionally, the forest produced several precious herbs.
The Qingxuan Sect purchased these herbs at high prices.
These herbs were treasures sought after by itinerant cultivators.
When Shen Mo arrived at the entrance of the Fierce Tiger Forest, it was bustling, forming a small market.
It was filled with cultivators coming and going.
There were even outer and inner disciples of the Qingxuan Sect among them.
The market was noisy with shouts and sales pitches.
However, most of the goods were fake, meant to swindle money.
Shen Mo walked through the crowd with great interest, looking around.
To his left, a stall owner shouted, "Fellow Daoists, pay attention! Three Golden Python eggs! They will at least grow to the third rank! Don't miss this chance! Only one hundred medium-grade spirit stones for all three!"
On the ground in front of him were three large, yellowish eggs that looked quite impressive.
A cultivator passed by and asked, "Can you lower the price?"
"Of course."
"Hmm... One hundred low-grade spirit stones."
"Deal! Pay up quickly!"
The cultivator immediately showed a look of regret. "Seems like I still lost out."
Laughter erupted around them.
Shen Mo walked briskly through the small market and arrived at the entrance of the Fierce Tiger Forest.
This was the gathering spot for forming teams.
Some cultivators, feeling their strength was insufficient, would form teams.
Some would team up with acquaintances.
Some, being alone, would have to temporarily team up with strangers.
This was very risky.
If there were no gains, it would be fine.
But if the gains were significant, well, it might even include oneself as part of someone else's gains.
As soon as Shen Mo arrived, a beautiful woman's eyes lit up. She swayed her hips like a snake as she quickly walked towards him.
"Little brother, I am She Yan. Would you like to team up and do a task together?"
She then whispered softly in a voice only the two of them could hear, "I know a secret location with Tiger Gold. We can split the loot fifty-fifty!"
She deliberately moved very close, even pressing her soft chest against Shen Mo's arm.
Shen Mo frowned slightly. The pair of 'cushions' in front of her were indeed large.
But anyone who came on so strong definitely had bad intentions.
He instinctively glanced at her life panel.
[Name: Wu Lan]
[Realm: Perfection in Qi Condensation Realm]
[Fate: Astonishing luck, venomous woman, loves poison, naturally toxic body]
[Destiny: Stops at the Perfection in Foundation Establishment Realm. Sixteen years later, uses her old tricks to harm a disciple of the Thunderfire Sect, angering the Grand Elder. Several Core Formation Realm elders chase and finally kill her mercilessly.]
[Recent Opportunity 1: Today, deceives an ignorant cultivator into teaming up to explore the Fierce Tiger Forest, takes advantage of a moment of inattention to launch a sneak attack, kills him, and gains three medium-grade spirit stones and two high-grade Yellow-level weapons.]
[Recent Opportunity 2: One month later, tries to deceive Qingxuan Sect's true disciple Zhao Ting, gets chased by Zhao Ting, falls into an underground cave but luckily finds a superior-grade Profound-grade treasure, Earth Vein Marrow, and refines it to reach the peak of Qi Condensation Realm.]
Shen Mo's eyes flickered.
What a cunning woman.
She called herself She Yan, but her real name was Wu Lan.
Her usual work seemed to involve deceiving ignorant cultivators into teaming up and then killing them.
Her end was tragic though, angering the Thunderfire Sect and dying miserably.
However, the Earth Vein Marrow was a valuable item.
It would be perfect for his earth foundation.
"No team-ups."
Shen Mo flatly refused and walked past her straight into the Fierce Tiger Forest.
Wu Lan pouted. He seemed smart and not easily swayed by lust.
Smart men were hard to deceive, and those not easily swayed by lust were also hard to deceive.
She couldn't be bothered to waste any more time and turned to look for those easily controlled by their lower halves.
Soon, she found her target.
A young man who looked naïve and inexperienced, followed by three mature-looking middle-aged warriors.
One glance was enough to see that he was the type of family disciple nurtured from a young age and just recently started traveling.
"Young master, you look like a family disciple. I am Song Li. How may I address you, and what brings you to the Fierce Tiger Forest?" Wu Lan swayed her hips as she approached the young man.
The young man, never having seen such enthusiasm, was immediately captivated and confessed, "I am Luo Fei... from the Luo family of Ancient Wind City. I am here to hunt the Tiger King! These three are the warriors I hired!"
Wu Lan discreetly sized up the three men and chuckled, "The Tiger King? I know about it. Why don't we team up?"
"Great! Thank you so much!" Luo Fei responded with a joyful smile.