Zhang Yuan's joy was evident.
This time he entered the mountain for hunting purely to make money.
Zhang Yuan had already planned to save enough silver taels to buy a house and settle down in the shortest time possible.
If he couldn't earn it in a day or two, then in three or four days. After all, coming to the deep mountain every day, he would certainly be able to gather enough.
Unexpectedly, he discovered a Rock Ginseng.
Just by looking at the quantity and size of the Immortal Fruit, Zhang Yuan judged that this Rock Ginseng was very old.
The older the Rock Ginseng, the more valuable it is.
Perhaps just one root could be enough to exchange for a house in the county!
But Zhang Yuan did not let this excitement go to his head, nor did he immediately start digging.
Dragging the carcass of the rock goat, Zhang Yuan first returned to the cliff bottom.
Brother Ya was waiting!
Using his dagger skillfully, Zhang Yuan cut open the rock goat's belly and dug out the internal organs for it to enjoy.
Then, he climbed back to where the Rock Ginseng was.
He carefully observed the crevice in which the Rock Ginseng was growing, then took a cloth bag from his waist and grabbed a handful of dried grass powder from it.
Suddenly, he hurled it into the crevice!
The dust spread, and a strong herbal smell followed.
The next moment, a black shadow shot out of the crevice at lightning speed, darting towards the nearby Zhang Yuan!
However, Zhang Yuan was prepared and had already opened the cloth bag ready to catch it.
The black shadow plunged headfirst into it!
It turned out to be a four or five foot long large snake with black scales and gray spots, its long body as thick as an infant's arm, and its scales glistened ominously in the sunlight.
Zhang Yuan tightly gripped the bag opening, his five fingers closing like pincers to clamp down hard on the venomous part of the large snake!
This wasn't the first time Zhang Yuan discovered a Rock Ginseng.
In fact, he had dug up several before, just that they were not aged much and so could not be sold at high prices.
But Zhang Yuan knew that Black-horned Vipers often lived near Rock Ginsengs.
Black-horned Vipers are venomous snakes that prefer living in shady cliff crevices and have a symbiotic relationship with Rock Ginsengs.
Thus, to dig a Rock Ginseng, you must deal with the Black-horned Viper first!
Zhang Yuan's treasure for catching snakes was precisely the cloth bag used to hold dried grass powder, which was quite sturdy.
The Black-horned Viper's vulnerable spot was captured, its head wrapped by the cloth bag, its mouth and nose covered by lots of dried grass powder, rendering its most lethal fangs useless.
It instinctively struggled and resisted, its thick body coiling around and wrapping tightly around Zhang Yuan's arm.
But this was completely useless.
Zhang Yuan pinched the Black-horned Viper's vulnerable spot, mercilessly strangling the large snake to death!
The Black-horned Viper is very poisonous, yet also very tasty, its soup is a delicacy.
Zhang Yuan gave it a thought but decided to forgo the tempting idea to bring it back and eat, instead, he sacrificed it on the spot to the Divine Nest.
The thing Zhang Yuan lacked most right now was Source Material; no matter for upgrading the Divine Nest itself or the Host, there was never enough!
This Black-horned Viper surprisingly offered him 0.5 points of Source Material.
Indeed, an anomaly.
Having dealt with the Black-horned Viper, Zhang Yuan then took out the herbal digging tools he carried with him and focused on tackling the Rock Ginseng growing in the crevice.
The growing environment of the Rock Ginseng is unique, making its digging quite difficult.
Anyone not knowing proper techniques and pulling hard on the ginseng stalk would almost certainly break it, causing the medicinal properties to quickly dissipate.
It would be worthless then.
He used a specially-made long-handled digging spoon and hook to slowly remove the soil and hook out the ginseng roots embedded deep in the crevice.
After half an hour's effort, Zhang Yuan finally dug out the entire Rock Ginseng.
Both ginseng roots and stalks, and Immortal Fruit were almost intact.
After removing the soil from the ginseng surface, its fresh weight was about five taels, and its age was estimated to be between sixty to seventy years.
This was already quite rare.
Zhang Yuan recalled that the most valuable Rock Ginseng he had previously found was less than ten years old.
He estimated that this Rock Ginseng could at least sell for one hundred taels of snowflake silver.
Indeed enough to exchange for a house in the county.
He carefully wrapped the Rock Ginseng in a cloth bag and tucked it into his chest, then Zhang Yuan returned to the ground above.
Brother Ya and the pile of internal organs had already disappeared, leaving only the rock goat's carcass behind.
And a black feather floating in the air.
Zhang Yuan didn't mind, he was already accustomed to Brother Ya's ways, hoisting the rock goat and headed out of the mountain.
Under the guidance of the black feather, Zhang Yuan returned smoothly to Chen Family Village.
Dusk was just setting in.
Zhang Yuan returned quite timely, avoiding placing himself into danger.
However, inevitably, his game on the shoulder once again sparked envy and jealousy among the villagers.
This was not Zhang Yuan's first big catch!
Last time it was a wild boar, this time it was a rock goat. How could he be so lucky?
Everyone began to regard Zhang Yuan with fresh eyes.
Many suddenly realized that this young outsider had truly matured, fully capable of taking on the responsibility of a household.
Some villagers had already started to secretly ponder whether to consider Zhang Yuan as a potential son-in-law.
If he had the ability to provide for a family, then it didn't matter if he was an outsider!
Suddenly, a figure blocked Zhang Yuan's way.
It was Zhang Xiong, who had just arrived at Chen Family Village today!
Zhang Yuan's heart tightened, and he immediately stopped: "Master Zhang, is there something you need?"
Zhang Xiong rubbed his chin, smiling mockingly as he asked, "The rock goat you caught is quite nice. Would you sell it?"
Zhang Yuan hesitated for a moment, revealing a troubled expression.
Then he gritted his teeth and said, "If Master likes it, then I'll offer it to you!"
He put the hundred-pound rock goat down in front of Zhang Xiong.
He had no choice; since he entered the mountain a bit late today and returned too late, otherwise, Zhang Yuan could have directly gone to the county to sell it.
A prey like the rock goat sells well in town.
Zhang Xiong chuckled, taking out pieces of silver to hand over to Zhang Yuan: "Would a distinguished Martial Artist like myself take advantage of you?"
Zhang Yuan accepted the pieces of silver with trepidation: "Thank you, Master!"
But while appearing respectful, in his mind, he wanted to send a herd of insults toward the man!
Such a gutted rock goat could easily sell for two or three taels of silver in the town.
Instead, despite Zhang Xiong's sweet-sounding words, the pieces of silver he gave amounted to at most half a tael.
Had he known, Zhang Yuan might as well have sacrificed it outright.
This Martial Artist's heart was as dark as a maggot, no better than Landlord Chen or Steward Zhang!
"You are not bad."
Zhang Xiong nodded, his query suddenly becoming meaningful: "I heard you followed Gao Ze for three years?"
Zhang Yuan hesitated before understanding—he meant Hunter Gao.
"Yes," he said with a bitter smile, "But recently, Master Gao no longer has me helping at his house."
Zhang Yuan's face was filled with helplessness and a sense of loss, as if he had really been hurt.
"Hmm."
Zhang Xiong didn't ask further, picked up the rock goat on the ground, and walked away.
Zhang Yuan watched the Martial Artist's figure gradually disappear, his gaze growing as dark and profound as the night sky.
His prey was not so easy to swallow!