Versatile Mage: I have a proficiency panel

Chapter 98 Qinling Burning Bird
The Qinling Mountains start from Yongliang in the west, run through the Three Qin Dynasties in the middle, and reach Zhongzhou in the east, dividing two major water systems. It is extremely complex, and the demon of the Qinling Mountains is even more notorious in the country.

The mountains here are not quite the same as those in the south. The mountains in the south are like cones of different sizes scattered on the ground, so when you look down from a high altitude, you can often see that the mountains below are one by one.

The Qinling Mountains are more continuous in comparison. If you look up, you will see a very obvious black mountain dividing line running high in front of you, completely blocking your vision. You need to raise your head significantly to see the sky.

Bai Jue and Apas brought Yu Shishi to an uninhabited town near the Qinling Mountains. The town seemed to be leaning against a wall of sky. The wind was constantly raging and the sound came from the sky. Even if people didn't experience it personally, they would be able to tell that the wind in the mountains was very unusual.

"Are you sure you want to let the Moon Moth Phoenix live near the Qinling Mountains?" Bai Jue confirmed with Yu Shishi. Under normal circumstances, he would try his best to meet the reasonable requests of his subordinates.

"This is Yue Moth Phoenix's idea, and I don't know why." Yu Shishi had of course heard of the Qinling Monster's vicious reputation. In fact, she wanted to go to the south more, but Yue Moth Phoenix must have chosen this place for a reason!

"...The Moon Moth Phoenix once lived in the Qinling Mountains and even served as a Feather King. It's not surprising that it chose this place." Bai Jue thought about it for a while and guessed part of the reason.

"Yu Huang?" Apas asked this question on behalf of Yu Shishi.

"The Feather Emperor is the one with the highest status in the Feather Demon clan. He can command all the winged creatures in the mountains in the north and south and has very strong authority." Bai Jue looked at the mountains in the distance and fell into thought.

Since we are already here, we might as well go up there and check on the status of the Burning Bird and leave a mark. Firstly, we can prepare for Apas, and secondly, we can wait for the Red Devil. The Alpine Academy also needs to take some time to go there...

"I'm going to Qinling now. Who of you wants to come with me?"

After hearing Bai Jue's words, Yu Shishi was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly reminded him: "The wind is blowing very hard now, it's very dangerous!"

Qinling Mountains will have a gust of evil wind blowing at irregular times every year. If you are walking in some densely forested mountains, it will be fine. If the mage passes through some bare long valleys without vegetation or some mountains that are mostly rocky, it will be fine. It will be continuously eroded by this evil wind. Unless a layer of defense is supported at all times, it will not be long before the wind picks away only the bones.

People living in this area call this evil wind Suofeng.

Following the Moon Moth Phoenix to live near the Qinling Mountains, Yu Shishi naturally learned about the local situation, which was also mentioned in the information.

"Sufeng is not a problem for me." Bai Jue certainly knew Sufeng, but he just had many ways to avoid him.

"I want to follow!" Apas raised his hand like a student answering a question and expressed his thoughts.

"...I won't go. I have to help Qing E settle down here as soon as possible." Yu Shishi hesitated for a moment and shook her head. Although she wanted to see the legendary Qinling Mountains, Yue Moth Phoenix and its clan were the most important.

……

The mountains in the Qinling Mountains are particularly steep. Before we go very deep, the mountain road in front of us turns into a hanging plank road.

On the inside are thick and majestic mountains, and on the outside are steep cliffs and deep valleys. The whistling wind is always blowing past your ears. If an ordinary person walks here, he will easily be blown away!

Of course, with the raging Su wind now, ordinary people are not able to walk on the Qinling Mountains.

"Brother, did you torture yourself like this during your training before?" Apas, who was protected by the mind shield, looked at Bai Jue with some worry. He was completely defenseless against Suo Feng and was scratched into a bloody mess!
"If I had practiced like this before, I would have died long ago. I dare to do this now that I have the means to recover." Bai Jue spat out a mouthful of blood foam, suppressing his own poison, his voice a little hoarse.

His physique has yet to reach the monarch level, which is really an eyesore. He decided to imitate the Gangfeng body training method he had seen in a novel... Oh, his method should be called Sufeng.

After practice, it is indeed somewhat useful. The healed flesh and blood will become more solid, and the physical strength will indeed slowly increase. But Bai Jue knows that this is the effect of the proficiency panel, which increases the efficiency. If it were someone else, even if their physique was reduced to a skeleton, it might not increase by even 1%!

"Don't you... feel any pain?" Apas asked.

"You'll get used to it." Bai Jue's tone was flat, as always.

"Violent!"

"Violent!"

Suddenly, a few cries were heard in the air. The sounds were high and far away, and after echoing through the mountains many times, it became even more difficult to find their original location. The next moment, several patrolling feathered monsters began to wander around the two people.

This kind of patrolling feather monster is very difficult to deal with. Once they know that someone has entered their territory, they will immediately gather a large number of patrolling feather monsters to come over.

They don't launch an attack directly, but linger on the left and right and in high places until they have gathered enough of them and are absolutely sure of their success, then they rush forward and eat the intruders directly!

Su Feng spread the smell of blood on Bai Jue's body to an unknown distance, and more kinds of demons were approaching this side.

"Aren't they affected by the Suofeng?" Apas glanced at the increasing number of feather monsters gathering around her, and felt that the Suofeng was being blocked less and less.

More sharp cries were heard from the steep cliffs on both sides. From time to time, one or two feathered monsters with gray feathers could be seen flying from one side of the cliff to the other, approaching tentatively.

The sounds became louder and louder, and the cries of these patrolling feathered monsters were not just ordinary cries, but had a disturbing and demonic quality.

"The impact is very small. Unless the Suo wind is very strong, it is just a protective umbrella for the feather demons. The feather demons have lived in Qinling for a long time. The feathers covering their bodies have a special protective arc. When the Suo wind blows on them, it will help them rub their feathers smoother and sharper. The local water and soil nurture the local demons. They have adapted to the existence of the Suo wind." Bai Jue explained. Under the Suo wind, they are not only unharmed, but can even use the Suo wind to perform some special skills. Here, even if they are the lowest-level feather demons, they are fearless!
Seeing that the feather monsters had almost gathered, a light flashed in Apas's eyes, and a large number of feather monsters fell directly. The rest were staggering and lost their direction, and were blown away by the wind!
Now they are only on the outskirts of Qinling Mountains. The feather monsters are relatively weak and naturally have no power to resist.

As the two of them went deeper and deeper into the heart of the Qinling Mountains, the wind that had been just biting a little while ago had now begun to undergo a qualitative change!

The dark and steep mountains were raging with winds. The strong wind erosion force could not even see blood when it blew on people's bodies. The dry and cracked bodies were extremely creepy...

[Physique: Commander level (99%)] → [Physique: Monarch level (0%)]

After enduring Suo Feng's torture for most of the day, the wounds on his body healed and cracked again, and he finally achieved his goal!
"Let's find a curtain tree to rest for a while. I'll adjust my condition." Bai Jue breathed a sigh of relief. A layer of beautiful luster covered him, and the remaining wounds on his body recovered. Only because he possessed the Parthenon soul, his original body dared to commit suicide like this.

As for the curtain tree, it is a large plant called the Guardian of Qinling Mountains. They are distributed irregularly in the mountains of Qinling Mountains. The branches and leaves of this tree are quite peculiar. The branches will droop down after growing to a certain height like willow trees, and the leaves will climb and entwine after multiple branches hang down, forming layers of leaf screen curtains under the tree.

The powerful wind erosion of the So wind does not have much effect on plants, so as long as the mages find a curtain tree when the So wind occurs and hide under its curtain branches, they can safely survive the So wind.

It was getting dark, Bai Jue and Apas quickened their pace, and soon they arrived at the foot of a large mountain wall in front of them.

The mountain wall is majestic, looking like a mountain split in the middle with a sword. The steep side is almost vertical. There are many large ancient pines growing on it. Their thick trunks can be said to form a frame in this area that is constantly touching the night. In this small world of leaves, many creatures live in it.

On the mountain wall near the ground, there is an ancient tree with a completely different appearance from other plants. Its trunk tilts towards the night, and it is divided into two large trends in the center...

The two main trunks are strong and straight, and have not been affected by the strong winds and erosion, nor have they swayed in any way. However, its branches are completely different. Those branches distributed on the main trunks will always naturally bend down, forming a chain. A beautiful curtain.

On the hanging curtain, leaves with special arc shapes grow very densely, perfectly covering all the areas under the tree. The wind blows on it, which can only make the leaf curtains swing gently. It's impossible to break them up and cripple them!

The area under the curtain tree looks very clean. As sunlight and wind have difficulty entering here, a patch of extremely soft light red moss has grown under the curtain tree. The moss is as comfortable as a mat and you can lie on it directly without getting stuck in the dust and sand underneath.

As for whether it is really clean...that is another matter.

The two of them tidied themselves up a bit and then rested under the curtain tree, staying there until dawn the next day. At this time, the wind was still blowing and even became stronger.

After crossing several mountain ranges, the mountains suddenly began to rise. Each one was so majestic and tall. They were connected together, obscuring everything on the vast earth. Being trapped in them gave people a feeling of insignificance and confusion.

When the weather is a little gloomy, you can feel that those gray clouds are right above your head, giving you a depressing feeling.

The view ahead is basically blocked by the high mountains, and what can be seen on the left and right sides are mostly narrow valleys sliding down along the steep ridges. The bottom of the valleys here are often not even visible. They are secluded, deep, winding and long. If you accidentally slip into them, it will be like entering a huge mountain tunnel maze, and it is difficult to find the correct direction of the mountain road!
And many times, people's field of vision is very narrow. If they fall into the abyss inadvertently, looking at those towering barriers rising from the ground, the feeling of being lost and insignificant will gradually make people fall into the fear of being wrapped in the mountains!
"Now that we have reached Baiba Mountain, we are almost finding our target." After passing Dahengling, Bai Jue took out a map and took a look. There were several sections of the road ahead where they almost went astray, but at least they found their way here.

Baiba Mountain is a group of peaks. The strange thing about these peaks is that they are all isolated mountains, and they all have the momentum of rising from the ground into the clouds!

Since many ancient vegetation grow on these peaks, when you walk into the Baiba Mountains, what you actually see is not the arrangement of these mountains at different heights like Tianyan Peak. You often see a large, almost high-rise area. A vine forest floating in the air!

The lush trees stretch out various thick branches, often from this mountain shelf to the cliff of another mountain. When hundreds of such domineering mountains are intertwined with the continuous green ancient plants, , forming a high-altitude peak forest!
Such a magnificent natural landscape is hidden deep in the Qinling Mountains. It would be hard to imagine it if you hadn’t seen it with your own eyes. The emerald green is level with the clouds, and the mountains are like huge beams of heaven and earth. Standing on the outside and looking up, you can see some different things in the sky. Small dots of color were flying on the edge of the cliff full of trees and flowers. They must be high-level monster sparrows, magic parrots, giant geese, and bee monsters...

"So what is our target? Big brother, you seem to have not told me yet." Apas asked curiously. She only heard Bai Jue say that there was something she needed here, but she didn't know what it was exactly.

"A burning bird. It has the qualifications to become one of the eight souls of the Evil Saint King." Bai Jue said.

"Burning Bird? Strong Soul?" Apas was a little surprised. The choice of the Eight Souls certainly had nothing to do with bloodline talent and cultivation, but she could hardly imagine what could have allowed the Burning Bird to have such qualifications...

Baiba Mountain is roughly divided into three levels. The lowest one is the Tengguan Mountain level that Bai Jue and the others can see now. Tengguan Mountain is higher than most of the tops of the Qinling Mountains. From the Tengguan Mountain level, you can basically see all the mountains of Qinling Mountains.

The higher place is called the Cangmu Wind Layer, which is a high-altitude area composed of dozens of Daba Mountains that are taller than other mountains and countless ancient trees. It is called the wind layer because at this altitude, the Su wind is endless. This Su wind is many times stronger than that in the Qinling Mountains. The small feathered monsters cannot withstand it. Only the big feathered monsters can fly in this wind layer.

Further up is the legendary cloud realm, the top of this feather demon paradise and also where the holy waterfall is located.

"How are we supposed to find the burning bird in such a large place?"

"Its feathers are black, which is unique among burning birds." Bai Jue said with some admiration in his tone.

The Burning Bird has a special property, that is, once their feathers shed, the color will become darker...

"It places itself in the wind and lets the wind blow away its feathers. The growth rate of the Fen Niao's feathers is the fastest among all feather monsters, so when its feathers are completely lost, it waits for them to grow back. After the feathers grow back, it continues to hone itself in the wind."

"Every time it molts its feathers, the color of the Burning Bird deepens ever so slightly. When its feathers turn completely black, it means that it has gone through hundreds or thousands of molting..."

"After listening to your description, I understand why it is qualified to be a hardened soul... But, what is it for?"

(End of this chapter)