The day for entering the mountain had exceptionally fine weather.

Thirty disciples each received a white brocade pouch embroidered with phoenixes. Zi Luo smiled and said, “This is a Qiankun Bag, though it’s just a very ordinary Qiankun Bag that can only hold ten items total, and once something is placed inside, it cannot be taken out until you return. Therefore, unless you’ve gathered something precious, don’t put it in carelessly. Otherwise, if you waste your quota for nothing, you can’t blame anyone else.”

Zanxing held the Qiankun Bag and examined it from all angles. The bag was only palm-sized and soft to the touch. Zanxing tried sticking her finger inside – it felt cool inside with no sense of substance, so she withdrew her finger.

“Gufeng Mountain has many fierce beasts. These fierce beasts mostly sleep during the day, so remember to move gently and quietly. You must leave before the sun sets. Otherwise, when the moon rises and the fierce beasts awaken, the mountain will be very dangerous.” After Zi Luo finished speaking, she looked toward the dense forest entrance ahead and waved her long sleeve. Immediately, ripples appeared there, as if some kind of restriction had been lifted.

“Go. Remember, you must return before the sun sets,” she said.

Zanxing put away her Qiankun Bag and entered the dense forest with the others.

Gufeng Mountain was extremely perilous.

Perhaps because aside from sect disciples, ordinary people rarely came here, even the mountain paths were hastily cut out. A wooden rope bridge hung suspended between two cliffs. The disciples crossed one by one, the rope bridge swaying back and forth. Looking down, one could only see mountain light and cloud vapors swirling endlessly, with no bottom in sight.

Zanxing thought, fortunately, she wasn’t afraid of heights.

The seasons here were also very strange. Having just passed through a place where flowers bloomed brilliantly, the next moment they encountered stone steps covered entirely with snow, like scattered cold jade. Many strange trees and vines grew on the mountainside, along with jagged rocks, creating an interplay of trees and stones.

Suddenly, they heard a bird’s cry. Everyone looked up to see a long shadow sweep from far to near among the peaks, about the size of a gray crane, with black feathers and wings, and surprisingly bright red eyes. This large bird circled once in front of everyone, then suddenly flapped its wings and flew away.

“What was that?” Tian Fangfang wondered: “It didn’t look like an ordinary bird.”

One disciple said: “The ‘Thousand Things Illustrated Guide of Gufeng Mountain’ states: In places of extreme yin where corpse qi accumulates, it transforms over time into Rakshasa Birds, which can shapeshift and cause trouble, and love to eat human eyes. According to the illustration, that should have been a Rakshasa Bird.”

Upon hearing this, the other disciples all tightened their grip on their weapons, saying: “This mountain has many fierce beasts. We’d better not get separated. Staying together, we can at least look out for each other.”

In an unfamiliar environment, a group of people staying together was somewhat reassuring. Zanxing initially thought the same way, until she saw this group begin gathering herbs.

The “Thousand Things Illustrated Guide of Gufeng Mountain” recorded over a thousand types of flowers, birds, insects, and beasts. Memorizing all these things was impossible, but as modern people who had survived exam-oriented education, they were somewhat good at summarizing: the more brightly colored something was, the more poisonous it was, and the more peculiar its appearance, the more dangerous it was.

But this group of new disciples particularly liked picking things that looked eye-catching. Zanxing tried to dissuade them but failed. Everyone wanted to find that unique something to put in their Qiankun Bag, while they disdained ordinary-looking herbs that had good effects.

Sure enough, a newly enrolled youth had just picked a plant when he was bitten by a snake.

A group of people noisily surrounded the youth. The snake had been killed – it was colorfully patterned, clearly not any decent kind of snake.

“Don’t be afraid, junior brother,” said one enthusiastic senior: “I’ll help you suck out the snake venom.” With that, he rolled up the youth’s trouser leg and was about to lean down.

Zanxing: “…”

This was indeed a power fantasy novel, so lacking in logic and medical knowledge that even the worldbuilding was perfunctory. Unable to bear watching, Zanxing shouted: “Wait!”

Everyone looked at her in confusion.

“Snake venom can’t be sucked out.” Zanxing took a piece of rope from the helpful senior’s hands and passed it over: “Tie this near the wound and bind it tightly.”

Before they could gather any herbs, the whole sect would be having dinner at this rate.

“What nonsense are you spouting?” one disciple spoke up: “If we don’t suck out the snake venom, what if he dies?”

Seeing the situation, Hua Yue inserted a bland comment: “Yang Zanxing, I never expected that not only are you ugly, but your heart is so vicious too. This junior brother has no grudge against you, yet you want to harm him.”

“Truly, one’s appearance reflects one’s heart!”

Zanxing: “?”

How was she being vicious, and how did this get dragged into her appearance? This hatred was being pulled quite forcibly.

Just as she was thinking this, another voice came from behind: “No need to suck it. This is a Jade-spotted Brocade Snake – it’s in the guide, and it’s non-venomous.”

Zanxing turned around. Mu Cengxiao glanced at them and said, “The bleeding should have stopped by now.”

Hearing this, the youth looked down and indeed, the wound where the snake had bitten him had already formed a light-colored scab and looked ready to heal. He couldn’t help scratching his head embarrassedly: “Ah, I was making a fuss over nothing. Thank you, senior brother.”

Zanxing looked at Mu Cengxiao. She really hadn’t expected that Mu Cengxiao would step forward to speak at this moment, incidentally helping her out of an awkward situation.

Since transmigrating until now, she and the original story’s male protagonist had spoken fewer than ten sentences total, and every time it was she who initiated. This time, Mu Cengxiao had shown her a bit of goodwill – could it be that… the original story, unable to eliminate her, had simply upgraded her to be the female protagonist?

Zanxing shuddered. She didn’t want to become Mu Cengxiao’s ninth wife.

Seeing Zanxing staring straight at him, Mu Cengxiao frowned and walked away. From his appearance, he had no intention of developing a romantic storyline with her. Zanxing felt slightly relieved.

The group each picked some herbs, and their appetites grew ever larger. Some wanted to pick spiritual fruits that supplemented qi and blood, others wanted medicinal materials that aided breakthroughs, and still others heard that certain flowers here were equivalent to Third-grade spiritual medicines and were eager to try. Everyone sought different things, and fearing others would get there first, the fellow disciples who had just sworn to stick together immediately split up to act separately.

Zanxing had originally been with Tian Fangfang, but after walking a few steps, Tian Fangfang stopped and scratched her head, saying somewhat embarrassedly to Zanxing: “Junior sister, I’ve carefully studied the guide these past few days and circled the ten most valuable medicinal materials. I plan to gather them and sell them at Zhaijin Tower… These medicinal materials aren’t in the same direction as your Night Vine branch, so…”

Zanxing understood: “You go ahead.”

“Don’t worry, once I’ve gathered mine, I’ll immediately come find you,” Tian Fangfang assured her. “It won’t take too long!”

“It’s fine,” Zanxing said. “I can manage on my own.”

After explaining a few more things to Zanxing, Tian Fangfang left. Zanxing looked at the guide in her hands and sighed softly.

Night Vine branches grew by the edge of black swamps, where miasma was common in the forest and ordinary plants had difficulty growing. Other disciples seeking herbs wouldn’t go in that direction either. So she was destined to go alone.