On the other side of the ridge, a strange scene shone with a faint glow in the eyes of the two.

Looking straight along the line of sunlight, there seem to be tens of thousands of rock pillars, scattered all over the mountains and fields in the depths of the bare snow-capped mountain fault.

Underneath those rocky objects, all kinds of plants grow.

Pine, sorbet, alfalfa, alpine snow lotus, and some unnamed flowers.

No matter what kind of plant it is, they all have one characteristic, and that is "big"!

"Is this place a paradise for plants?" When Xiao Wu saw this scene, he let out such an emotion.

"Well, maybe it's because the natural ecology in this ridge has been restored very well, you see that there are mountains all around, and the cold air can't affect them."

"Well, it's possible. These plants may have been growing in such a place for many years, and they all look so big! Shall we take a look? ”

"No, let's go to the cave first! Hurry up and finish picking the spirit grass, and we can go back. That guy Long Ping, maybe he will be more interested in this valley, let him come by himself in the future......"

Joyna replied, the armbands on her arms already trembling slightly, and it was clear that the spirit grass was in the hole.

With that, she took another look at the huge plants and turned to leave.

The hole looked small, and it was hard for them to get into. It took a great deal of effort for the two of them to widen the hole to the point where they could easily enter one person.

"Bring all the equipment, let's go in!"

Joyna said, stepping cautiously into the cavern.

"Well, no problem! As on the previous occasions, the tools and containers were ready. Xiao Wu replied as he got in.

The dark cave was lit by lights, and although it was cold inside, it was much more comfortable than outside without the wind and blizzards.

The entrance to the cave is small, but that doesn't mean it's just as small inside.

It could even be said that it was getting wider and wider, and the temperature and humidity in the depths were getting higher as they went deeper.

On the ground at the bottom of the cave, you can often see crystal clear stalagmites, which are formed by water full of calcium carbonate, through the cracks in the roof of the cave or from the stalactites, dripping onto the floor of the cave.

The spiritual power on Joyna's armband was very strong, and it felt like she couldn't help it.

"Look, we've found it!" Joyna said with some excitement.

Underneath them, there was a larger hollow, and those spirit grasses glowed blue in the darkness, illuminating the surroundings!

It wasn't the first time they'd seen Spirit Grass, a plant that usually grew in places with very harsh temperatures and humidity, but only a few plants grew in a small area.

According to Ryuhei, these plants take at least a few decades to grow, and if no one bother, they can even grow for hundreds or more.

It robs it of living space and nutrients, crowding out other plants around it, and even moss on rocks.

So usually, only one or two spirit grasses will grow on the same piece of land.

The root system of spirit grass is very strong, they even grow on rock walls without a little soil, and those roots will continue to pierce into hard rocks for a long time, and even absorb nutrients directly from ores; They also don't need sunlight and moisture, but draw nutrients from the air around them.

In short, they are like strange creatures, slowly absorbing from all the elements around them.

In some ways, the state of existence of the spirit grass is more like an algae on the bottom of the sea.

They leaped along the steep slopes and rocks, and soon descended to the bottom of the cave.

The spirit grasses in front of the two of them were obviously plants that had grown for many years, and there were no other plants that could survive on the bare rocks and soil around them.

The appearance of the spirit grass is crystal clear, and the four-axis leaf petals are supported by strong stems.

The root structure is very simple, a total of 8 thick branches, each thick branch is divided into 3 thin branches, and each thin branch is divided into 4 or 5 thinner branches, so it is divided into 3 layers, the size is slightly larger than the palm of an adult's hand.

Looking down on the roots of those spiritual grasses, it is like the stems and veins of lotus leaves, which is very cute.

The two of them carefully plucked the spirit grass from the ground and the cave wall.

In fact, there is no problem if you don't touch it so carefully, and the vitality and toughness of the whole plant are as strong as seaweed, and even if you pinch the deformed part, it will recover quickly.

This harvest was good, a total of 6 spirit grasses were picked!

They followed Long Ping's suggestion and flattened the spirit grass in a special metal box, so that they could maintain their vitality for a long time without worrying about withering and dying.

According to Ryuhei, in isolation from all external nutrient absorption, they activate a conservation mechanism of their own.

Slowly depletes the nutrients stored in the decades of growth and shields the possibility of continuing to absorb nutrients from the outside world. This is the unique defense mechanism that Spirit Grass has developed over a long period of evolution.

After putting the spirit grass into the box, Joyna's armband still did not stop the spiritual power reaction, which means that there is still spirit grass in other locations in the cave.

"Huh? This feeling is here again! Xiao Wu whispered.

"What? What did you find? Joyna asked her puzzled.

When he was on the road, Xiao Wu felt something strange.

“…… I don't know, it's just like I'm being watched by something, but I've probed with my senses, and it's fine. Well, that feeling is gone again. ”

"You can't be too tired these days, right? Oh, by the way, it is said that seeing too much snow on this snow-capped mountain will affect the eyes and brain, and the spirit will also be affected, as if it is called 'snow blindness', and some hallucinations will occur. ”

"No, it's not 'snow blindness' and I don't have a problem with my spirit...... Forget it, let's go, keep looking for those spirit grasses, and then we'll get out of here. ”

She didn't notice anything at the time, such as anything noteworthy around her.

As Joyna said, there would be nothing else in this snow-covered place but them.

Thinking so, she thought she would be fine when she entered the cave. However, the feeling is still faint!

She couldn't help but be a little confused.

Confused, they continued on their way. The reaction of the spirit grass in front of him was very strong, and it should be not far away.

……

The wind and snow outside did not stop for a moment, but became more manic, like tens of thousands of wild beasts roaring.

Long Ping hid in the wooden house, still sorting out the bottles and cans and arranging their accommodation.

The plant specimens in these bottles made him feel that the trip was worthwhile and very satisfying.

The two of Joyna's men had gone out to get food and gather firewood - this time in the Guge Mountains, they didn't bring enough food.

Two days earlier, the food they had brought had run out and they had to rely on hunting to make ends meet.

Fortunately, with the skills of these people and the natural abundance of the valleys, they did not go hungry.

Water is not a problem, just grab a few handfuls of snow or crack icicles and put them in the pot.

But the deeper they went into the mountains, the harder it became for them to hunt animals.

The permafrost snow line is approaching, and at this latitude they are located, the snow line is about 4,900-5,100 meters.

But the weather has changed so much in recent days that they have not yet reached the permanent snow line before they feel the biting cold wind in advance.

The height of the snow line decreases from low to high latitudes, reflecting the influence of temperature.

In the western part of the Central Continent, the Guge Mountains and Kunlun Mountains go north to the Altai Mountains, and the snow line height drops from 6,000 meters to 5,500 meters, 4,100 meters, and 2,900 meters. Further north to the Arctic, the snow line drops to sea level.

Of course, the snow line is also affected by the amount of precipitation.

However, in this era, the Earth's axis of the planet is tilted by 14.3 degrees, the glacier area of the Antarctic has shrunk a lot, and the entire continental shelf has been raised. Melting glaciers have raised sea levels, and the Arctic ocean has become an ever-frozen land.

The snow line here has also apparently been affected and has been significantly reduced.

……