Chapter 48: Harsh Environment
Green mist billowed, dreamlike and illusory.
Standing at the edge of the Green Mist Jungle, Zhou Ming gazed at the scene before him and finally understood why, despite knowing that treasures were hidden within, so few hunters ventured here.
The corpses rotting in the swamp, countless poisonous Ferocious Beasts and mutated animals, along with all kinds of toxic plants—each released its own deadly miasma, converging into a faint green fog that enveloped the entire forest.
The morning sun shone upon the mist, giving it an ethereal, dreamlike glow.
Having rested for an entire night, Zhou Ming felt refreshed, yet his expression grew solemn as he looked ahead.
He had thought the descriptions in the books were somewhat exaggerated, but reality proved they were genuine records.
Still, as the saying went—since he was already here, why not go in and have a look?
After three days of travel, Zhou Ming didn’t want to give up now, especially since he had come prepared.
He took a pill from a small vial and placed it in his mouth, then put on a filtered gas mask before plunging headfirst into the emerald forest before him.
Not long after entering the Green Mist Jungle, Zhou Ming began to feel a wave of dizziness.
Fortunately, the symptom wasn’t too severe.
Yet the fact that this happened even with the help of his mask and antidote pill made his brows furrow deeper.
Turning back to glance at the bright sunlight outside the jungle’s edge, Zhou Ming decided to wait a while longer to see if his body could adapt to the toxins.
If he could, he would continue deeper inside.
That would mean his resistance to poison was fairly decent, and he could even use this environment to train his body’s tolerance.
But if he couldn’t even withstand the surroundings, then Zhou Ming could only leave immediately—the Green Mist Jungle was not a place he could stay.
Ten minutes later, as he stood still, the dizziness in his mind faded away, and he finally felt the heavy weight in his heart lift.
No problem.
Zhou Ming pressed forward into the jungle’s depths.
As he went deeper, various venomous insects and poisonous Ferocious Beasts began to appear.
Green-furred Spiders, Azure-scaled Serpents, Starspotted Mushrooms—even the shadow of a Corrosive Giant Python caught Zhou Ming’s eye.
He immediately detoured, unwilling to cross paths with one of the deadliest hunters among the low-tier Ferocious Beasts.
The Corrosive Giant Python could grow up to fifteen meters long.
Besides possessing a terrifying body tough enough to withstand heavy machine gun fire, its most dangerous trait was its venom.
It attacked by spraying its venom, which could even melt metal.
The strangest part was that the venom was completely harmless to itself.
Imagine—a massive, powerful beast capable of bathing in its own corrosive toxins while fighting.
Who would dare not steer clear of such a creature?
Unless a high-tier Ferocious Beast appeared, the Corrosive Giant Python was the undisputed overlord of the Green Mist Jungle.
Zhou Ming’s first visit to the jungle had already given him a harsh welcome.
Luckily, the python wasn’t particularly fast, and its movement traces were obvious.
As long as Zhou Ming stayed cautious, he wouldn’t be too unlucky.
As he ventured further, various medicinal herbs began appearing in his sight.
Cat’s Eye Fruit, Golden Beard Flower, Bone-rotting Grass…
However, Zhou Ming didn’t stop to collect them one by one.
Although they were decent, their quality and age were mediocre.
Picking them would only add to his load without bringing much real gain.
If Zhou Ming had storage equipment, he would certainly not have passed them by. After all, with enough quantity, the harvest could still be considerable.
However, even Official Rank Beast Tamers might not own such storage gear—it required either strong background connections or exceptional strength.
Only once one reached the rank of a Transcendent Master did storage equipment become standard.
From what Zhou Ming had learned in the library, the materials required to make storage equipment were exceedingly rare, mostly found near Dimensional Rifts.
But near those rifts existed hordes of powerful Ferocious Beasts.
Moreover, once a Dimensional Rift appeared, the Blue Star Alliance would forcibly destroy it using energy disruption towers rather than leave it open for resource gathering.
For instance, the tallest building in Qinshan Base was one such tower.
According to records, it had been activated three times in history.
However, with the current technology and crystal energy systems of the Alliance, only small-scale Dimensional Rifts could be destroyed. If a large one appeared, the only outcomes were either the base’s fall or complete evacuation—both resulting in heavy casualties.
Therefore, given his limited carrying capacity, Zhou Ming could only forgo collecting the ordinary herbs he found along the way.
As for why all the herbs he encountered were so young, Zhou Ming could already guess the reason.
Few hunters came to the Green Mist Jungle—but few didn’t mean none. Some hunters’ beasts could help resist toxins, and others possessed special methods.
These hunters likely had the same idea as Zhou Ming—coming here specifically to collect resources, where the rewards were plentiful and competition minimal.
The only problem was…
Zhou Ming glanced around.
The environment here was brutally harsh.
Aside from venomous Ferocious Beasts and mutated animals, poisonous insects were everywhere.
Even with his own beast guarding him, he was still occasionally attacked by them as he moved forward.
Fortunately, this time Zhou Ming was not wearing a simple tactical jacket but a more durable combat suit; otherwise, the ever-present poisonous insects would have been a serious problem.
After several hours, Zhou Ming still hadn’t found anything truly worthwhile, but he wasn’t anxious.
The Green Mist Jungle indeed held abundant resources, but that didn’t mean treasures covered every inch of the ground. If that were the case, no amount of danger would stop greedy hunters.
Of course, Zhou Ming’s own pickiness was part of it too. He intended to make this trip worthwhile—gather as many valuable resources as possible, so he could later focus more fully on his path as a Beast Tamer.
Aside from herbs, Zhou Ming also avoided the Ferocious Beasts he encountered along the way.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t defeat them with his current strength, but there was simply no need.
The materials on a single beast could easily fill his backpack, and the commotion caused by hunting them might attract unwanted attention—not worth the risk.
However, if he ran into an exceptionally rare or high-priced beast, Zhou Ming would never let it go. So far, though, he hadn’t seen one.
“Splat.”
He crushed another poisonous insect underfoot—it was already countless times now. Thankfully, his boots were reinforced with steel plates and thick leather, so he didn’t have to worry about being bitten.
“Purpleblood Vine?”
Zhou Ming casually brushed aside some dead leaves with his right foot. His gaze instantly focused on a segment of purple vine not far away.
“Looks like my luck isn’t so bad after all.”
After entering the Green Mist Jungle, Zhou Ming had finally discovered a valuable medicinal herb.