High-Level Martial Era

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The Flying Serpents, beyond living within the core area of the Flying Serpent Valley,

also inhabited over ten kilometers on both sides of the canyon range, which are considered the peripheral zones of the valley. This is also why Li Yuan initially encountered a large number of Flying Serpents when he was more than ten kilometers away from the canyon.

This was also the reason why the Tianliang Clan settled over ten kilometers away from the canyon.

The key lies in the depth of the canyon!

Just considering the Seven Stars human civilization's exploration, the average depth reached over 1800 meters, and the canyon connected countless caves within the mountains on both sides, forming an immense three-dimensional space.

Just like some of the human supercities that cover tens of kilometers, they can accommodate millions or even tens of millions of people.

The living space of the entire Flying Serpent clan in the valley, if spread out on the plain, would be enough to match an area of thousands of kilometers.

Phew!

Li Yuan did his utmost to conceal his own aura, and with powerful spiritual induction, he easily traversed over ten kilometers of the peripheral area and once again arrived at the edge of the canyon.

"Mist." Li Yuan looked down and saw dense fog below; he couldn't even see the bottom of the canyon, in fact his vision didn't extend hundreds of meters.

Unfathomable.

"Following the instructions given by that squad leader."

"Xue Shu, for some reason, had early on determined that there were treasures in the canyon, and even personally ventured into the canyon for inquiry," Li Yuan thought to himself. "After returning from the bottom of the canyon, he refused to leave, constantly preparing and plotting something."

"And gathering more Tianliang Clan warriors."

"This point, on the other hand, is similar to the information provided by Wang Zhou. They too had reached the edge of the canyon and felt something special deep within it, but did not dare to venture further," Li Yuan pondered in silence.

"A large amount of data provided by the frontline base shows that the fog in this area during the regular exploration of Flying Serpent Valley ten years ago wasn't as thick, and there weren't as many Level 18 and Level 19 advanced Flying Serpents in the clan."

After a day of exploration.

Li Yuan had noticed the abnormalities of the Flying Serpent Valley.

Although most of the Flying Serpents were ordinary, there were far more advanced Flying Serpents than he had expected.

"Wang Zhou and his group are weak, only daring to risk reaching the edge of the canyon for reconnaissance," Li Yuan, lying on the cliff said, "But since Xue Shu was able to return safely... I should be able to do the same."

After several interrogations and comprehensive information, Li Yuan was able to confirm one thing—the Tianliang Clan's Xue Shu was not Second Rank.

As long as it's not a Second Rank strong being, within the First Rank, Li Yuan was confident there weren't many who could match him.

If Xue Shu's strength was truly unrivaled, he would have had no need to bring a large number of Tianliang Clan fighters with him.

Whirr~ Silently,

a thin black battle garment appeared on Li Yuan's body, he had fully activated the Origin Power Battle Suit, and the surface of the suit even changed color slightly to light green, blending better into the surrounding environment.

The battle garment worth five hundred million Blue Star Coins was extremely comprehensive in function.

In Li Yuan's hand appeared a combat saber, which he gripped in reverse without revealing its sharp edge.

As for the long spear and backpack? They were placed in a hidden spot not far away on the cliffside.

It was necessary.

This time, Li Yuan only intended to reconnoiter, so carrying a backpack and a long spear, which would make him a bigger target and more likely to be exposed, was not an option.

Phew!

Li Yuan moved, starting to descend deeper into the canyon along the cliff face, and with his physical quality and skill level, even the slightest protrusion on the canyon cliff allowed him to move as if on flat ground.

Moreover, the cliff was covered in countless moss and trees, providing natural cover.

Descending continuously.

Gradually, Li Yuan was enveloped by the mist in the canyon, and the visibility dropped sharply... Now he could only see a few tens of meters ahead.

"This fog, though it blocks my line of sight, can also provide me with concealment," Li Yuan observed the swirling mist around him.

Suddenly, Li Yuan stopped in his tracks, merging with the environment.

Hiss~ A Flying Serpent over ten meters long, with wings spread, swiftly passed over Li Yuan's head and disappeared into the fog.

Less than two hundred meters deep, this was already the sixth Flying Serpent Li Yuan had encountered.

However, none of the Flying Serpents encountered along the way had noticed him.

Li Yuan's perception of these Flying Serpents relied on his strong spiritual induction, rather than purely 'eyes,' hence he could sense the presence of Flying Serpents in advance.

He continued to descend.

"Hm? What's that?" Li Yuan suddenly paused, his gaze sharp. He spotted on the cliff tens of meters away, among the black-green vines, a massive Flying Serpent nearly twenty meters long resting with its head down, apparently asleep.

Without spiritual induction, Li Yuan's naked eye would have hardly noticed its presence.

"Level 18 Flying Serpent," Li Yuan gauged the strength of the creature through his Divine Palace.

But that wasn't the point.

The key was the blood-red plant growing on the cliff beside the Flying Serpent, about half a meter tall with blood-red branches and leaves, brimming with vitality and quite conspicuous.

"Blood Origin Spirit Ganoderma! Six-leaf! It's actually this kind of spiritual medicine," Li Yuan's eyes lit up.

In the general knowledge classes, teachers not only talked about history, astronomy, geography, Star Realm creatures, and Alien Civilization but also taught how to identify a plethora of 'Heavenly Materials Treasures.'

After all, one of the main objectives for Martial Artists venturing into the Star Realm was to seek treasures.

If one couldn't even recognize treasures right beside them,

That would be a joke.

And in the data library of Martial Hall, Li Yuan had also noted down a lot of information about common treasures.

"Origin Power, it's emitting an aura of Origin Power, no doubt about it," Li Yuan quickly confirmed.

Blood Origin Spirit Ganoderma is a generic name, found in many Star Realms, with everything from three leaves up to nine leaves—the more leaves, the higher the quality.

It is one of the main materials used in making a series of auxiliary cultivation medications.

For example, the First Rank Hematopoietic Medicament, Second Rank Hematopoietic Medicament, and even the High Origin Spirit Spring all require it.

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"Six leaves are enough to make a Second Rank qi and blood potion, a single plant is worth tens of thousands of Blue Star Coins," Li Yuan thought, "The key question is, are there only a few of these plants here, or are there many inside Flying Serpent Valley?"

This was very important.

If there were only a few, it wouldn't mean much, but if there were many inside Flying Serpent Valley, it would indicate that this place was very suitable for cultivating the Blood-Activating Origin Lingzhi mushrooms, and that would be completely different...

If the Seven Stars human civilization occupied this place and could use technological methods, they could completely cultivate and plant them in large quantities.

The conditions for the large-scale birth of Blood-Activating Origin Lingzhi are harsh, requiring a high concentration of Origin Power, ley lines, and many other factors.

"Continue." Li Yuan did not attack the Flying Serpent; he wasn't after a few tens or hundreds of thousands of Blue Star Coins.

He continued to dive deeper.

As he went further in, the fog became thicker, and Li Yuan also found that the width of the canyon was increasing, seemingly becoming more expansive the further back he went... This was a vast land canyon world, where the light was getting weaker and darker.

"Buzz!"

"Roar~"

"Hiss!" The number of Flying Serpents was also increasing, their massive bodies occasionally slicing through the mist, coming in and out of caves in the mountain walls... Li Yuan dared not approach those Flying Serpent Caves.

He continued to delve deeper, and as the fog began to disperse, his vision gradually became clearer.

At this moment, Li Yuan was truly deep inside the Flying Serpents' lair, and if he were exposed, he would likely attract an attack from hundreds, maybe thousands of Flying Serpents.

This was the world of the Flying Serpent clan.

It also made Li Yuan all the more cautious.

"Hmm? Blood-Activating Origin Lingzhi?" As his vision cleared, Li Yuan glanced around and noticed several Blood-Activating Origin Lingzhi not far away.

However, a massive Flying Serpent still guarded them.

No! There wasn't just one plant.

Li Yuan looked again and was shocked to find that within his line of sight alone, on the hundred-meter stretch of the mountain wall, several Blood-Activating Origin Lingzhi were growing.

Altogether, at least more than ten plants.

This was astonishing.

With a bit of extrapolation, Li Yuan could imagine how many Blood-Activating Origin Lingzhi must be growing on the mountain walls on both sides of the entire Flying Serpent Valley.

"Could it be that Flying Serpent Valley has become suitable for the growth of Blood-Activating Origin Lingzhi?" Li Yuan was shocked, "Why was there never any mention of this in the previous reports?"

But Li Yuan did not delve into it, the environment of Star Realm was unpredictable and hard to measure.

"If Flying Serpent Valley really is suited for large-scale planting."

"Just this place alone might be worth hundreds of billion or even thousands of billion Blue Star Coins, enough for human civilization to invest a large amount of resources," Li Yuan's heart heated up.

This place was only about 900 kilometers from Outpost Base Number Three.

If the Seven Stars human civilization was willing to pay the price, establishing a new war base to guard and develop a resource point here would not be difficult.

Starting wars and investing resources, the goal is always the same—to acquire greater resources.

In the past, the Seven Stars human civilization did not invest significant resources in the Mingxu Star Realm simply because the risk and the returns were not proportional.

But!

If Flying Serpent Valley really was suitable for cultivating Blood-Activating Origin Lingzhi, then getting the Seven Stars human civilization to invest a significant amount of effort was not a dream.

"Outpost bases have explored Flying Serpent Valley more than once, and there was no record of this information."

"It must be a change from the last ten years."

"No wonder the number of high-level Flying Serpents in the valley has increased, it's probably the result of them continuously consuming Blood-Activating Origin Lingzhi," Li Yuan concluded.

Humans use ancillary cultivation treasures to grow faster.

The beast Alien Race is no different.

"Such a big change in Flying Serpent Valley must have a reason," Li Yuan thought to himself, becoming even more cautious as he continued to dive deeper.

Time passed.

Li Yuan had delved more than 1500 meters into the canyon.

The bottom of the canyon was extremely dark, with light nearly unable to penetrate through the thick fog. Numerous vines intertwined on the mountain walls, where many Blood-Activating Origin Lingzhi grew.

Li Yuan dared not descend any further.

Because the number of Flying Serpent Caves on both sides of the mountain walls was increasing. Flying Serpents were passing by from time to time, and there were too many of them. Even with Li Yuan's stealth abilities, he could not guarantee his safety amid so many Flying Serpents.

Moreover.

There was no need for Li Yuan to explore further down, because with the fog dissipating for the most part, he could already see the bottom of the canyon.

At the bottom of the canyon, among the moss and vines, dense 'Blood-Activating Origin Lingzhi' were growing. Li Yuan could see hundreds of them within his line of sight.

And these Blood-Activating Origin Lingzhi, they extended along both sides of the canyon, only becoming more sparse towards the outer edges.

"So many Blood-Activating Origin Lingzhi?" Li Yuan was shocked in his heart, but then he stood thunderstruck, frozen in place.

In the midst of this sea of Blood-Activating Origin Lingzhi at the canyon bottom, there grew a strange tree about ten meters high.

Its trunk was thick, its branches lush and green, as if each leaf contained the force of life, emitting a rich Origin Power aroma.

But what really drew the eye were the three fruits at the top of the tree.

Each fruit was plump and round, its surface shimmering with mottled light, in deep blue colors with occasional flashes of silvery white, seeming to release a mysterious fluctuation, emitting a soft glow that tempted one's soul.

Just a fleeting glance and Li Yuan couldn't help but feel a desire to swallow them whole.

"What is this?"

"Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood? And the soon-to-be ripe Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Fruit?" Li Yuan's eyes shimmered with a glint.

It was the Third Rank soul-type Heavenly Materials Treasures mentioned in the database, ranked just below the Immortal Soul Nine-Revolution Fruit and alongside the Soul-Nurturing Nine-Leaf Grass and the Sweet Spirit Core Crystal.

They had astounding benefits for soul growth!!