223: Heading to Shennongjia

Peach Mountain was already over two thousand meters high, and the strange phenomenon at its peak, as well as Heavenly Mansion Base at its foot, were naturally obscured by clouds and thus invisible.

Inside Heavenly Mansion Base, due to the peach tree, the clouds were not grey but white, though this only applied below three thousand meters.

Hanging on the peach tree was a golden sun, condensed by Zhang Xile's Talent, and its sunlight still illuminated Heavenly Mansion Base.

Now, above the sea of clouds, at the peak of Peach Mountain, a mirage appeared, featuring exotic flowers and plants, clear blue lakes, and even a few saplings of strange treasure within it.

The place where the fragmented small world connected with Blue Star automatically formed a very stable portal.

Tang Ping went inside to observe; this fragmented small world was not small, an irregular circle with a diameter of about twelve to thirteen kilometers. However, perhaps due to having been shattered and its origin depleted, the small world contained only some flowers and grass, and those few strange treasure saplings were listless and withered on the ground.

He walked over to examine them and knew that, under the current circumstances, these strange treasures would not survive.

Unless this fragmented small world could replenish some of its origin, Tang Ping's heart stirred. He did have a world fragment in his possession. This world fragment was different from a hidden treasure fragment; the world fragment he held was a product of the system, and ten of them could synthesize a genuine small world a hundred li in circumference.

However, before synthesis, there was no space inside, but since it could form a small world, and one that could independently resist contamination erosion, it must possess an origin, and a very high-grade one at that.

"I wonder if this world fragment can be directly used for this fragmented small world," Tang Ping thought as a fragment appeared in his hand. The moment it appeared, it began to tremble incessantly, seemingly wanting to break free from Tang Ping's grip.

Seeing this, Tang Ping decisively released his hand, and the fragment instantly shot into the sky. The sky of the fragmented small world changed color with the wind and clouds, as if something incomplete had been replenished. A feeling of greater completeness inexplicably arose in Tang Ping's heart.

Vaguely, Tang Ping even felt that he had established some kind of connection with this fragmented small world. At the very least, he felt he could return without going through the portal, and even open and close that portal at will.

"Does this system's world fragment also come with a recognition rule?" Tang Ping pondered.

The sky and earth began to slowly expand. Suddenly, Tang Ping's vision blurred, and he was expelled.

In the sea of clouds, the mirage of the fragmented small world offered a glimpse of a scene within, but as the fragmented small world was being perfected, the mirage quickly vanished.

"Brother Tang, what happened?" Zhang Xile flew up from the mountain on his Green Bird.

"This fragmented small world has formed, but now something has changed again," Tang Ping said.

Zhang Xile was a bit regretful: "It's a pity I didn't see how big this fragmented world was. All my fragments have been individually placed by my grandma and mom inside Peach Mountain, becoming breeding bases. Now Peach Mountain is like a sieve, full of holes everywhere."

Tang Ping had known about this for a long time. Peach Mountain was now almost entirely composed of small secret realms. Zhang Xile's family was enthusiastically planting trees and raising chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep inside.

"Now that the base is stable, in a few days, I plan to take He Zhixin to Shennongjia. Once Sister Xiao Cao arrives there, I will meet up with her, and after helping her settle down, I will go into Shennongjia," Tang Ping stated his plan.

As for He Zhixin, he was the Man in black who had been pestering him, wanting to learn Green Lotus Birth.

"Ah, leaving so soon? You're such a hands-off boss, doing nothing all day and always wanting to run off," Zhang Xile said with a bitter face. Tang Ping was the pillar of the base; although he wasn't needed everyday, if anything happened, he was always reliable. But now that he was leaving, all the troublesome matters would truly fall on his shoulders.

"You have your grandfather, Shang Wan, Wu Weiwei, and others helping you at the base, and Elder Hai is assisting with internal affairs. What are you afraid of?" Tang Ping said with a smile, patting Zhang Xile's shoulder. "Alright, it's best to do things sooner rather than later. I plan to leave tonight."

"Okay, I'll prepare a banquet. We'll have a good meal tonight!"

"Absolutely."

At ten o'clock at night, Tang Ping rode the Great Emperor Moth, leaving Heavenly Mansion Base and heading towards Shennongjia.

Shennongjia.

Xingan Base.

This was a base with over a thousand people, established in a rural village. Because there was no level five shelter to provide estates, they couldn't cultivate land. As a result, the people in this base looked numb, their bodies gaunt, yet their bellies were distended.

Many people's bodies had grown strange things, clearly indicating they were contaminated.

Such contaminated people were already a common phenomenon. Most small and medium-sized bases without estates had some contaminated individuals.

These people, unable to obtain clean food, could only forage for contaminated plants outside, which led to their bodies becoming contaminated.

Many died on the spot because contaminated plants often carried potent toxins.

Even if they miraculously survived, their bodies would mutate, and if the level of contamination became too high, they would become neither human nor ghost.

And in Xingan Base, there were many such ordinary people.

As for Talent Users, their situation was much better. At least they could hunt Pollution Beasts or search for treasure chests, and then trade for clean food and water in the trading zone.

These extremely valuable resources might not be much in the large bases, but in these small bases, they were life-saving necessities.

Furthermore, many large bases also acquired various strange Pollution Beast corpses or young ones.

Heavenly Mansion Base, Yunmeng Base, and Starlight Base all acquired different types of Pollution Beast corpses because the three had initially formed research teams, intending to obtain useful things from these Pollution Beasts.

A certain part of many Pollution Beasts' bodies often possessed various incredible properties, which was why large bases were obsessed with researching Pollution Beasts. Because once a discovery was made, it might unlock a wealth code.

And these teams were also the origin of mutation potions.

Many mutation potions were made by extracting a crucial part from a Pollution Beast's body and then undergoing complex processes.

Heavenly Mansion Base, Yunmeng Base, Starlight Base, and others were even more advanced than most large bases because they all shared the basic genetic potion from Tang Ping. Although it was only the basic version of the genetic potion, for these bases, it was extremely precious and enough for a long time of research.

Two or three kilometers outside Xingan Base, a team of seven was ambushing a large, three-eyed wolf.