Chapter 45: Peak Valley

Ji Xinghuo and two others reached the cliff’s edge and looked out at the vast steep peaks.

These mountains were not particularly tall, most under five hundred meters, with a few surpassing a thousand meters. The tallest peak visible was just over two thousand meters.

However, the mountain bodies exposed were all rock.

The terrain was extremely rugged with varying elevations, cliffs and sheer drops everywhere, stone plateaus covered in dense greenery and jungle, deep ravines abundant, and streams gurgling, swathes of mist shrouded the mountains and in the distance, floating peaks in the sky, like a scene from a fairyland.

Ji Xinghuo was reminded of the karst landscapes on Earth, most famously the Tianmen Mountain.

But this place was even more magnificent than Tianmen Mountain.

“Peak Valley!”

“I’ve heard about this place before; seeing it with my own eyes at last.”

Chi Zhonglin looked at the magnificent sight and suddenly rummaged through his backpack, taking out a camera to start photographing the landscape.

Ji Xinghuo was curious. “What kind of camera is that which works here?”

“An old-fashioned film camera. It’s mechanically operated with a manual shutter and uses disposable flashbulbs. It really tests your photography skills.” Chi Zhonglin clicked away and then turned to ask, “Xinghuo, want me to take a few shots of you? I’ll develop them when we return, as a keepsake.”

“Sure.”

Ji Xinghuo happily agreed. This was a new experience for him.

He stood as Chi Zhonglin directed, back against Peak Valley, facing the camera, right hand in a peace sign, a smile on his face.

“Come closer, lift your head, and don’t stiffen your smile; just be natural.”

“Right, right….”

“Hold that pose, don’t move.”

“Ready, 3, 2, 1!”

Click!

A flash of white and the moment’s image was captured on film. Chi Zhonglin changed positions for Ji Xinghuo and kept shooting until the roll of film was finished.

Ji Xinghuo, seeing his professional familiarity with the camera, asked curiously, “Zhonglin, are you a professional photographer?”

“It’s a hobby of mine, but I am indeed a veteran photographer. Film cameras represent a classical beauty. Someone who can take good photos with a film camera is a truly skilled photographer,” Chi Zhonglin proudly remarked, his face reflecting rare seriousness and passion.

Ji Xinghuo observed this rare serious expression on his face, solemn yet fervent.

He didn’t understand much but could appreciate it.

These days, most people have hobbies.

Even specialized hobbies form communities where like-minded friends gather to delve deep into their interests, forming circles that make up the society of the Asia-Pacific Community, breeding many “folk experts” usually called “masters of rare skills.”

Ren Mian and Jiangnan Caiyi had long known of Chi Zhonglin’s hobby, so they weren’t surprised.

“Want to take some photos too?” Chi Zhonglin asked.

Ren Mian shook her head.

“Chi Jin has already taken many photos for me before,” Jiangnan Caiyi also declined.

“You can take a group photo with Xinghuo.”

Chi Zhonglin’s suggestion immediately interested Jiangnan Caiyi. Seeing Ji Xinghuo didn’t object, she joyfully stood beside him, and they took several group snaps.

“I’ll take a photo with Xinghuo too,” Ren Mian suddenly stepped next to Ji Xinghuo.

Click!

The image froze on the film, seemingly eternal.

“Alright, time to get serious.”

Ren Mian told Chi Zhonglin to put the camera away and seriously said, “For the next half month, we will be in Peak Valley. Our sole objective is to find the giant stone sickle beast.”

“Is there really a giant stone sickle beast?” Chi Zhonglin looked doubtful.

“I have sources from three different channels saying someone saw a giant stone sickle beast in Peak Valley. It’s over ninety percent likely to be true. Anyway, we have to try,” Ren Mian pulled out a map showing Peak Valley’s geographic layout and pointed out their current location.

Looking at the vast stone peak valley, Chi Zhonglin sighed, “Finding a giant stone sickle beast in such a vast place is like finding a needle in a haystack. It’s all up to luck.”

“Yeah…”

Ji Xinghuo nodded in agreement.

He had heard from Ren Mian the day before that this hunting expedition’s specific target was the giant stone sickle beast.

It’s an omnivorous wild beast that looks like a baboon.

But much more terrifying than a baboon—bigger, stronger, and faster, with four arms excellent at climbing and aggressive yet social by nature. They possess a certain low intelligence, knowing how to set traps and ambush prey, stirring up the whole troop if one is provoked.

On awakening as a monster, the stone sickle beast acquires either the “Stone Sickle Claw” or the “Rock Skin.”

The former is a premium ability but holds little value.

It allows the hands to become a pair of tough, sharp stone claws, much like sickles, quite powerful, yet this ability isn’t included in any professional template, so it’s rarely integrated, thus doesn’t sell for much.

On the other hand, Rock Skin, though just a basic ability, might be tried by some extrahumans to boost their defense.

But it’s not very valuable, fetching about twenty to thirty thousand.

However, if a stone sickle beast continues to grow into an elite and then evolves again, it becomes the superior monster, the giant stone sickle beast, with a significant chance of awakening an over-limit ability—”Earth Pulse!”

Earth Pulse is a core ability of “Earth Walkers.”

It’s rare and powerful.

And of course, very valuable!

Peak Valley is vast, estimated to cover fifty thousand square kilometers, comparable to a small provincial area in terms of jurisdiction. It houses millions of stone sickle beasts, dominantly ruling this region, nearly forming its own kingdom, not to be trifled with.

The larger the monster’s population, the stronger the superior monsters that emerge from the group.

These superior monsters not only awaken abilities coded in their genes but also like sentient beings, can amalgamate different species, mastering multiple abilities.

The giant stone sickle beast is one such monster.

“We are here to try our luck,” Ren Mian smiled. “Peak Valley isn’t just home to stone sickle beasts; they are just the strongest group. There are hundreds to thousands of other monsters here, and perhaps there are other gains to be made.”

“Let’s go, into the valley.”

After a moment.

Ji Xinghuo and his group scaled the cliff and entered Peak Valley.

Named a “valley,” it is actually a continuous stretch of mountains. Walking among them, all you see overhead are spectacular cliffs, with towering dense forests by your side, also concealing many deep ravines and remote valleys, making the terrain complex and humid, shrouded in fog, easy to get lost in.

This place is a paradise for adventurers and hell for ordinary people.

“Circle around this tree.”

Ji Xinghuo pointed overhead at the treetop where a vibrant green large snake thicker than an arm twisted through the leaves, hard to spot.

“Iron Arrow Green,” Chi Zhonglin grimaced and steered clear.

This snake isn’t venomous but has tough skin and enjoys hiding in trees, striking at prey like an arrow. If it evolves into a monster, it awakens the “Iron Scales” ability, making it valuable.

He circled a few meters, and a thick millipede rushed from the underbrush, claws flailing, gnawing at shoes.

Thump!

With a stomp, Chi Zhonglin crushed the giant millipede, complaining, “Peak Valley looks nice from the outside, but it’s just torture inside.”

Ji Xinghuo strongly agreed, feeling it deeply.

His magnetic field sensed more. Surrounding life was everywhere.

Venomous snakes, insects, birds, and various small animals from the trees to the ground, also crisscrossing rock crevices and shadowy corners, teeming, countless magnetic fields overlapping into chaos.

Ren Mian was familiar with this and showed no change of expression.

However, Jiangnan Caiyi was a bit frightened. Women are innately scared of bugs and snakes, and even becoming an extrahuman doesn’t easily overcome this psychological shadow.

Suddenly, Ji Xinghuo paused in his step.

He looked toward the right, about a thousand meters away on the cliff, around a hundred meters from the peak top, several long strip platforms had several humanoid creatures either sitting or crawling, foraging amidst the trees on the platform.

They picked wild fruits and tender leaves, digging out plant roots and stuffing them into their mouths.

“Stone sickle beasts.”

Ji Xinghuo observed carefully.

The stone sickle beasts indeed resembled baboons, but their bodies were much larger, sitting there about one and a half meters tall, covered only in a layer of short light hair with a tough brown skin visible like stone.

They had humanoid facial features, long heads, protruding mouths, deep-set eyes housing a pair of blood-red eyes.

The most notable difference was their four thick arms.

Each hand was disproportionately large with four long, sharp fingers that could easily burrow into soil or slice through tree trunks.

When stone sickle beasts stood up, reaching nearly two meters tall, all four arms and legs powered them to climb rock faces rapidly, moving with ease. When running, their tails revealed, flexible and longer than their trunks, covered with large scales, ending in a spear-like tail blade.

Ren Mian also spotted this group of stone sickle beasts.

She glanced at them, but the distance was too far to see clearly, so she said, “Let’s get closer without alarming them.”

The team stealthily approached the cliff where the stone sickle beasts were, stopping about two hundred meters away.

“Xinghuo?” Ren Mian looked at him inquiringly.

Ji Xinghuo shook his head slightly.

Actually, he had already sensed clearly along the way that this group of stone sickle beasts was sizable, with more than forty, a medium-sized group, including six monsters, led by an elite stone sickle beast, but no signs of a giant stone sickle beast.

Chi Zhonglin was slightly disappointed, asking, “Should we take action?”

“Let’s not,” Ren Mian shook her head. “Both Stone Sickle Claw and Rock Skin have no market. Hunting them is pointless, and…”

She looked up at the cliff, “In this kind of place, it’s not easy to kill stone sickle beasts. A big disturbance might draw other troubles.”

“Indeed,” Chi Zhonglin wasn’t keen on engaging either.

Ji Xinghuo was actually quite interested. He didn’t need alien species, but killing monsters would yield spiritual energy!

However, with his teammates reluctant, he didn’t want to act rashly.

The team turned around on the spot, distancing themselves from the group of stone sickle beasts, then continued deeper into Peak Valley.