Immortal Dao Fruits, Cards to Help Me

Chapter 7 The Cow Clan

In the game, there are all sorts of monsters, like tree spirits, goblins, and stone spirits. They're all said to be formed from various evil energies, which makes sense.

Just as Chen Xiuxian was on guard, two monsters emerged from the bushes not far away.

It looks like a short, stubby sapling that has grown arms and legs and become sentient!

Even the top of its tree-like trunk had wooden growths resembling facial features, which looked rather eerie.

It is a tree spirit, a monster born from the mixture of malevolent energy and spiritual energy in the deep mountains and forests.

They're supposed to be level 1 or 2, and they don't have much intelligence, relying purely on instinct—they're definitely beginner monsters.

However, my own attributes are a bit weak!

Or, how about we take a picture of a talisman?

Or should we test our skills first?

Chen Xiuxian decided to test the difficulty of this beginner monster, and at the same time, he made preparations, keeping the talismans and pills in his inventory ready to be used at any time.

The [Diamond Talisman (Green)] increases defense, equivalent to wearing two layers of hard leather armor, while the [Great Strength Talisman (Green)] increases arm strength by 10.

These two tree spirits were only 1.5 meters and 1.6 meters tall, truly beginner monsters.

It is said that there are even taller tree spirits, two or three meters tall, and those are much stronger.

Luckily, I didn't encounter any big ones!

Just as he was about to rush forward and strike first, a shout suddenly came from afar: "Brother, don't panic, Old Niu is here to help you!"

A tall figure rushed towards them on the path in the distance!
He was extremely robust, standing over 1.9 meters tall even with a slight hunchback, and his build seemed to be twice the size of Chen Xiuxian's.

Even more bizarrely, he had a very broad forehead, a pair of curved black bull horns on his head, and an unusually large nose that was shaped like a bull's nose!
This is actually a member of the Lao Niu tribe!
As mentioned before, this world has many different races. For example, the main enemy of Liaodong is the Jin Kingdom's Shidi tribe, commonly known as the Wild Boar People; the secondary enemy is the Xixia Quanrong people, commonly known as the Dogs.
There are also many other ethnic groups that are not entirely hostile, such as the Qiang people, also known as the sheep people.

For example, the bull-headed man is a bull-headed man.

Compared to humans, they are different in their noses and have a pair of horns on their heads. Of course, they are also very tall.

Oh, and there's a cow's tail too!

Other races like the Boar-men, the Quanrong, and the Centaur (Jida) are powerful, numerous, and well-organized, making them formidable enemies of the human race.

The Qiang people were numerous a thousand years ago, divided into many tribes, and could be considered enemies. However, they declined in the last thousand years and became vassals of other ethnic groups. Even during the Great Shun Dynasty, many Qiang people lived there.

The number of oxen is generally small, but they are tall and strong, have strong fighting ability, and are good at working. They are popular wherever they go.

Even in the newly established Kingdom of Jin by the Boar People, a Cowman could still rise to the rank of a low-ranking officer or even a vanguard.

Of course, the inmates are generally peaceful and dislike war. Most of them will avoid it if they can.

When Chen Xiuxian saw the old ox rush out, he was secretly delighted, thinking that he could save on the talismans and pills!

This thing is very helpful in the early stages, so save as much as possible on it.

The old ox, wielding an iron rod that reached his eyebrows, swung it up and with a "thud," nearly knocked a tree spirit to the ground.

This tree spirit is slow-moving, but it's definitely tough.

Chen Xiuxian dodged the tree spirit's claws and slashed twice with his short knife, feeling as if he were chopping at a wooden stake.

With its rough bark and trunk, a single cut would only break the bark a little!

He casually tucked the dagger into his waistband, then pretended to reach behind his waist and pulled out a wood-chopping axe from his inventory!

This is the only thing you need for chopping wood!
The bull was over 1.9 meters tall and extremely strong. He wielded an iron rod and beat the tree spirit so badly that it had no chance to fight back.

Although blunt weapons are not very effective at hitting wood, he was strong and had great endurance. After a series of powerful blows, twenty or thirty blows, the bark flew off the tree and he managed to kill the tree spirit!
When Chen Xiuxian saw that he was about to help, he quickly called out, "Brother, wait! I can handle it. Let me fight it one-on-one!"

Old Niu put away his iron rod and planted it on the ground, standing by to support Chen Xiuxian: "Young brother, you have great ambition!" He even praised him!
Chen Xiuxian: I'm mainly worried you'll steal my monsters!
Holding a wood-splitting axe, Chen Xiuxian kept slashing at the tree spirit's "face," even cutting off one of its withered claws. In just a few moments, he split the face open.

The tree spirit fell to the ground and turned into a wooden stake, even losing the green leaves that had once covered its head.

"Ding~ You have killed a level 2 Treant and gained 55 experience points."

You get more experience from fighting monsters!

"Thank you very much, brother. I am Chen Xiuxian. May I ask your name?" Chen Xiuxian quickly clasped his hands in thanks to the minotaur hero.

"Haha, no need to be so polite. I'm a guest of the Lao Niu clan, just call me Old Ox. We just happened to run into each other." Old Ox laughed heartily, showing his hearty and generous nature.

Chen Xiuxian's physique wasn't great to begin with, and when he fought, his mind was extremely focused, tense, and strained, which made his physical exertion even greater.

I was feeling a bit weak, so I pretended to take something out of my bundle, but actually I took out food and drinks from my inventory.

"If it weren't for Brother Lao Niu's timely help, I'm afraid I would have had to run away in a panic. If you don't mind, why don't we eat something together?" Chen Xiuxian invited him to have something to eat and chat.

Old Niu rubbed his belly, his old face slightly flushed. "I'm actually a little hungry. Then I won't be polite."

Chen Xiuxian took out a roast chicken, several portions of dry rations, and a pot of wine. The two sat down on the ground under the tree and shared the roast chicken and dry rations.

The old ox also took out some dried meat and fruit from his bundle.

While eating, Chen Xiuxian kept praising Lao Niu for his righteousness and for saving people from danger.

These words probably struck a chord with Lao Niu, who felt very comfortable being praised by Chen Xiuxian, and ended up drinking most of the wine.

Chen Xiuxian then tentatively asked, "Brother Niu, where have you come from? What are you going to do here?"

At this point, Old Niu put down his wine jug and sighed, “Hey~ don’t mention it! Didn’t King Hachi of the Shidi tribe unify the wild boar people? Last year he established the Jin Kingdom and proclaimed himself emperor, with the reign title Tianming, and started recruiting people to join the army… and then he started conscripting soldiers from all the foreign tribes outside Liaodong.”

"From east of Changbai Mountain to the Western Xia Kingdom, from the border of the Great Shun Dynasty in Liaodong to north of the Heilongjiang River, they are basically all under his control. Now they are intensifying their rule, and many people have been incorporated into their army. They are using both soft and hard tactics, all kinds of methods."

"Someone like me, Lao Niu, can't escape it. I really don't want to risk my life with them."

"Besides, to their north is now barren frozen wasteland, to their west are grasslands and western regions, and to their east they need to cross the Changbai Mountains to reach South Korea. I'm afraid their next target will be the fertile Liaodong region to the south, and they'll start a war with the Great Shun."

“Our tribe received favors from the Great Shun Dynasty in the past, why should I risk my life for the wild boar people and fight against the Great Shun?!”

"So, I packed up my belongings and ran away to Liaodong to make a living!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiuxian thought that the old ox was quite insightful. According to the game's progression, in less than two years, Nurhaci would announce the "Seven Grievances" and then launch a military campaign against the Shun Dynasty in Liaodong.

In fact, many people in Liaodong are also worried about this.

He said, "To be honest, I came from Wadang Fort not far away. It's a good place. Following this animal trail, it takes about two incense sticks' time to reach the main road, and then another half an hour to the southwest."

"That's great!" Old Niu exclaimed happily.

Chen Xiuxian asked, "Brother, is Emperor Hachi very ambitious?"

Old Niu slapped his thigh and said, "He was ridiculed as Nurhaci. He endured humiliation and hardship for thirty years before his rise to power. How could he possibly have almost swept away Liaobei in thirty years, gathered six or seven hundred thousand people of the Zhudi tribe, and then established a country and declared himself emperor?"

"Then he'll definitely attack Liaodong in the future?"

"That's for sure!"

"So, Liaodong isn't safe either."

"This..." Chen Xiuxian's words left the old ox speechless.

It seems so!

It's not just unsafe; if a major war breaks out, we'll be on the front lines of the battlefield! And we'll have to move south again?!
However, it would be far from easy for foreign tribes to enter the pass...

As the two were about to part ways, Old Niu learned that Chen Xiuxian was going to a small hill deep in the dense forest and told him about some of the dangers along the way.

"This desolate wilderness is dangerous enough, but at night, it's a completely different story, far more dangerous than during the day!"

After the old ox had gone far away, Chen Xiuxian put the two pieces of wooden stakes into his inventory.

Although my inventory isn't large, I don't have many items of my own, so it's just sitting idle anyway.

The tree spirit turned into a high-quality wooden stake after it died; it could be sold to a carpenter for a dozen or so copper coins.

……

As the sun was about to set, Chen Xiuxian finally arrived at the desolate hill he was looking for.

The Qianshan Mountains are an extension of the Changbai Mountains to the southwest, and are named after the legend that they have nearly a thousand peaks.

Its mountains are mainly composed of granite, and have been weathered and eroded over a long period of time, forming unique landforms such as strange peaks, strange rocks, and secluded valleys.

This area can be considered a remote, uninhabited area deep in the mountains!

This barren hill is already on the outer edge of the Thousand Mountains range.

It doesn't have a name in the game, but it's known as "Sword Hill" among players in Liaodong!
Because there's a repeatable adventure here, it's a good place for players below level 10 to try their luck and turn their luck around.

It's called Sword Hill by players, and as the name suggests, it has many swords!
Many players who pass a series of tests and overcome numerous difficulties here often reap considerable rewards.

Some acquired a famous sword, while others even obtained sword manuals and martial arts techniques!

However, this extraordinary encounter has a threshold; it requires a high level of both charm and good fortune as innate attributes.

This would undoubtedly limit the character's future development, so it is actually a relatively niche choice.

When Chen Xiuxian created his character, he was aiming for this extraordinary encounter.

However, after traveling through time, I was worried about safety and didn't dare to think about it anymore.

I never expected that "the weak would be taken advantage of," so I gritted my teeth and decided to fight back!
I did have the strategy guide with me, so I shouldn't die.

Besides, I'm so good-looking now, would that female ghost bear to kill me?

(End of this chapter)