Seeing the Youshui River, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Fanming smiled and said, "We are finally here. The Youshui River is the most dangerous, but the shore can be considered the safest, because of the strange grass in the river, other evil creatures dare not approach. As long as we are ten feet away from the river, the strange grass will not attack us. Fang Yun, you are also proficient in the way of the zither, but don't try to take the thunder stone."
"I understand this. If the Thunder Stone was so easy to obtain, it wouldn't take hundreds of years for only a few pieces to appear. This thing is much more precious than the dragon horn. It is said that if you apply a layer of Thunder Stone paint, the power will double when the battle song is played with thunder, and it may even attract thunder. I won't be greedy. Even if I use "Wind and Rain Dream Battle", I will only use the shallow water by the river. The weak water in the deep is extremely powerful, and my battle poem can't bear it."
"As a person who is devoted to the art of playing the zither, it is really painful to see so many thunder stones but not be able to take them." said the scholar who once played the zither to fight against monsters.
"Brother, you are right." Fang Yun also felt extremely regretful.
This person's name is Shi Tang. Shi was originally the title of a music official, and later it gradually evolved into a surname. The Shi family is neither a family of saints nor a wealthy family of virtual saints, but it has always been a family of zither that has never declined, because the ancestor of the Shi family, Shi Xiang, was Confucius' teacher of zither, and the Shi family has always been the holy place of zither in Shengyuan Continent. The head of the "Zinyuan" in the Holy Court is often held by the Shi family.
This Shi Tang is just a juren, but he has already achieved the second level of zither cultivation, with sword-heartedness and zither heart. Fang Yun was deeply impressed by him. Yesterday, he was as strong as three or four juren alone.
"Let's go. Let's get closer to the Youshui River first, and then see if there are any thunder stones washed ashore." Fang Yun said.
A group of candidates walked leisurely, chatting as they walked.
Fang Yun asked: "The landform of the Holy Ruins changes every few years, and even the monsters and barbarians living here complain bitterly, but this Youshui River has existed for thousands of years. Who knows the origin of the Youshui River?"
"I don't know about that. I guess only Brother Shitang knows the most. His family has put a lot of effort into the Thunder Stone." Li Fanming said.
Fang Yun looked at Shi Tang with a smile.
Shi Tang said, "Thunderstones are only produced in the Youshui River. But places similar to the Youshui River are not limited to the Holy Ruins. Back then, the Holy Ruins were shattered by the Semi-Saints, but the Youshui River and other places were only shifted in location, and the main body was never broken, which shows how terrifying it is. According to the elders' speculation, the water of the Youshui River came from a more powerful ancient land. The Youshui River leading to the Holy Ruins probably originated from a crack, which formed a wonderful change with the Holy Ruins, thus the Thunderstone was formed."
Fang Yun asked: "Are there other ancient places with dark water rivers? Are there treasures in those dark water rivers?"
"Of course there are. Every Youshui River has invaluable treasures. It is said that the Weak Water used in the Holy Ruins Road was brought from a Youshui River by the Kong family. It is said that the Kong family has their own Youshui River."
Fang Yun sighed that the Kong family was indeed wealthy and powerful. Then he looked at the endless Youshui River. The center of the river was covered with dense thunder stones, making the whole river glow with golden light. If a family got the thunder stones of the entire Youshui River, it would be able to stand for ten thousand years. Because the thunder stones were too rare, the human race did not know how to use them. If there were enough thunder stones, it would be very likely that new uses would be discovered.
When you get closer, you can see the Youshui River is crystal clear, there is a golden thunder stone in the middle of the river, and the river bottom is as smooth as a mirror. It is very strange.
There are also some seemingly ordinary green water plants in the river, which are very similar to kelp, but longer and stretch for miles.
The other side of Youshui River was shrouded in mist, and only the dark red river bank could be seen.
"What's on the other side of the Youshui River?" Fang Yun asked.
Everyone shook their heads.
Ma Xiong said, "There should be nothing there. No one who left the Holy Ruins alive has ever been to the other side. An elder in my family tried to control a mechanical bird to fly across the river, but the mechanical bird was killed by the strange grass that rushed out of the river. The strange grass also wanted to attack my elder, but fortunately the elder was prepared and escaped in advance. My elder said that to cross the Youshui River, you must have the strength of a half-saint at least."
"Then let's not think about it."
Fang Yun asked: "Brother Ma, which direction of the Youshui River did the spirit leopard that the evil king possessed run towards?"
Ma Xiong took out a map of the Holy Ruins and spread it out, pointing to a place and saying, "The Evil Lord was here at the time, with his back to the Dragon Cliff Forest, running towards this direction of the Youshui River."
"That Longya Forest is even more troublesome than Longya. Although Longya is dangerous, it has many treasures. However, Longya Forest next to Longya not only has no treasures, but is also a place where strange trees live. If you go in, you will die."
"I would rather encounter strange winds and weak waters than strange trees and strange grasses. These two kinds of strange creatures are both powerful and ferocious. The key is that they cannot communicate. If you offend them, you will be attacked madly until one of you dies or both of you perish. Compared with the strange trees in the Holy Ruins, the demon trees in the demon world are as obedient as chickens."
Fang Yun said: "The evil king has been planning for eight years. He will not be idle after attacking me. He must have a purpose for everything he does. Since he is going in that direction, there must be benefits. Let's go, we can't let the evil king succeed!"
Everyone smiled and quickened their pace to rush in the direction where the evil king was going.
The banks of the Youshui River were unusually quiet. After walking for half an hour, everyone saw a mountain standing by the Youshui River.
“Thirty-eight years ago there were no mountains here.”
"Neither did they eighteen years ago."
"Which senior came here eight years ago?" Li Fanming asked.
Everyone shook their heads. Eight years ago, less than ten people emerged alive from the Holy Ruins, and even fewer came here.
Fang Yong used demon language to ask: "Niushan, when did this mountain appear?"
Niu Shan looked at the mountain and recalled carefully, and finally said: "I don't know, I came here five years ago, and those demon commanders didn't mention this mountain."
As everyone was curious, the ground around them suddenly shook slightly. The mountain seemed to shake as well, and a large amount of rubble slid down from the mountain.
"There is a fighting! Be careful." All the candidates looked ahead vigilantly.
Ma Xiong said: "I suspect that the evil king's target is this mountain."
Everyone looked at each other, undecided.
Fang Yun said: "Since you have come to the Holy Ruins, even if it is not for the path to becoming a saint, it is for the path to growth. If you can become a saint just by sitting at home and reading and writing, why do you have to kill monsters and barbarians, and why do you have to come to this dangerous place? Even someone as talented as Tao Yuanming almost failed to become a saint, and Yi Zhishi walked hundreds of thousands of miles and killed all the monsters before he could become a saint. Both of them have entered the demon world. Where could be more dangerous than the demon world? If you are afraid of the Holy Ruins, what qualifications do you have to become a saint!"
Several people felt ashamed.
Fang Yun continued, "If the road ahead is a road of certain death, it would be wise for us to retreat. But if we retreat now without knowing the situation, how dare we be scholars!"
"Fang Zhenguo is right." Li Fanming said.
"But... a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. I'm afraid it would not be wise for us to go over directly." said one person.
Fang Yun smiled calmly, waved his hand, and the power of the art of war that could conceal the truth from the heavens and the seas enveloped everyone, saying: "Since I dare to move forward, I must have a way to protect myself. How can I, Fang Yun, be a reckless person?"
The power to conceal the truth enveloped everyone, leaving only the dog demon general exposed.
Everyone looked at each other in surprise, remembering how the Ruoshui Cavalry disappeared and reappeared yesterday.
Fang Yun said: "This military strategy can conceal our tracks. Now others can only see the dog demon general, but not us."
Everyone was very happy.
One person praised in a low voice: "This military strategy is similar to Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War is the Art of Deception' and Sun Bin's 'The Strategy of Reducing the Number of Stoves', but it is also unique and seems to be better at concealing and distorting the senses. I have never heard of it. It seems to be a new military book written by a master of military strategy. Brother Fang is lucky!"
"We will move forward slowly and try not to use our energy or talents to avoid being discovered." Fang Yong spoke in the demon language, and then told the demons how to deal with it.
With the power to conceal the truth, everyone felt more at ease and couldn't help but get closer to Fang Yun, even though he could only sit in a wheelchair now.
The crowd was getting closer and closer to the mountain, and the ground was shaking more and more violently.
"It seems like monsters are fighting."
"They are behind the mountain. Go around it. Don't get too close to the mountain."
The group walked around the mountain from a mile away and suddenly found more than 30 huge crabs fighting with a big tree.
The tree was so thick that it took ten people to hug it, and it was fifteen meters high. More than ten roots as thick as water jars kept breaking out of the ground, beating the big crabs with a sharp sound. Each root was more than thirty meters long.
Whenever a crab rushed nearby, the branches of the big tree would fall down quickly and blow the crab away.
Those crabs were also extremely huge. The smallest one was as tall as two people. The crab shell was large enough to accommodate more than a dozen people and was as big as a house. The largest crab was as tall as a two-story building and more than ten feet long. Its smallest crab leg was larger than that of an adult.
At this time, the largest crab was clamping two tree roots and was about to break them, but the big tree suddenly swung its roots and threw the crab onto the cliff.
"Boom..."
The mountain shook and rocks rolled down. This blow was enough to smash an elephant into pieces, but the crab seemed to be fine. It shook its body, crawled quickly with its legs, and continued to attack the tree.
Everyone was silent for a while. Li Fanming whispered, "The one that beat us and made us flee that day was the smallest crab. The tree must be a strange tree, at least as powerful as a great demon king. The largest crab also has the power of a great demon king. These evil creatures are somewhat different from demons. They are only born in ancient lands and gain terrible power after eating holy blood or holy jade. The three tribes of demons, barbarians and humans are all very troubled by them."
Fang Yun observed carefully and found that there was a long gully behind the strange tree, which seemed to be the trace of its roots.
Fang Yun immediately said, "Is the 'gully' that the snake demon king mentioned the one left by this evil tree? This evil tree is a strange tree. If it is not special, it is impossible for it to leave its habitat. What on earth can make a tree demon king kill these evil crabs? How did the evil king know yesterday?"
Everyone looked at each other and vaguely guessed a possibility.
"Could it be that the Evil King instigated a war between the two evil creatures? Could it be that he discovered something eight years ago, and then used a special method to instigate a fatal fight between the two demon kings, and he profited from it?" Li Fanming said.
One person asked, "Where is the evil king?"
Fang Yun immediately said, "If this matter is really related to the evil king, the evil king may be nearby or in the giant tree's lair. Let's search for him first. Dog Demon General, do you still remember the smell of that spirit leopard?"
The dog demon will nod immediately. (To be continued...)