novelraw Chapter 601 - 600: This thing is a great tonic!
Chapter 601 - 600: This thing is a great tonic!
"Plop!"
The sound of dripping water echoed through the quiet mountain cave, with a humid snake odor lingering in the air.
Xie Chenyuan entered the cave only to discover that the giant serpent he had just slain lay coiled, seemingly intent on blocking the entrance with its massive form. Could it be guarding something?
He realized that the serpent had been easily taken down after an ambush from behind, and, upon recollection, it appeared unaffected by the external fight, simply coiled at the entrance dutifully.
Xie Chenyuan was somewhat excited; to control such a giant serpent as a guard, it was highly likely the auspicious sign pertained to something within the cave!
Perhaps a hidden treasure or the remains of an Immortal’s abode post-Ascension might be found; the Wilderness is vast and ancient, always rich with Secret Realms and treasures, which are crucial reasons why cultivators wander seeking opportunities.
Casually forming a hand seal, he used a small illumination spell, lighting up the dim cave with brightness.
The further he went, the more spacious the cave became, with smooth stone walls appearing meticulously polished, devoid of signs of a snake colony. Xie Chenyuan speculated the serpent outside served as a guard, preventing a snake swarm from gathering within, indicating something unusual inside!
Just as he excitedly mused, a sudden "crunch" echoed from beneath him. Looking down, he found—alarm bells ringing in his mind—he had stepped on and shattered a forearm-length, grayish-white snake bone seemingly merging with the rock!
It’s common knowledge that snakes possess a unique spine; this fragmented giant vertebrae belonged to a serpent that lived for at least centuries!
Imagining encountering such a vast serpent king, he, not adept at combat, would flee without hesitation.
Xie Chenyuan’s thoughts quickened, clutching a Teleportation Talisman. If anything unusual occurred, he’d immediately seek Jiang senior for support! If he couldn’t defeat it, surely Jiang senior could!
Progressing further, he abruptly turned—a rush of water and a bloody scent came simultaneously, and the spell illuminated a startling scene in the underground cave—he was at the "mid-mountain" point of the cave, looking down about ten meters deep into a giant nest, at its center soaked a girl in her teens within a blood pool!
Her eyes were tightly shut as if in deep slumber, while the blood-scented pool slightly rippled, lapping at her exposed delicate, snow-white arms.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss~"
The scene was so bizarre and shocking, Xie Chenyuan froze momentarily. Only when the giant snake’s sound reached his ears did he shift his gaze from the girl, discovering the pool encircled by an immense green-scaled snake.
A portion of its exposed body twisted and rolled slowly, as if in painful struggle yet powerless.
In the array of iridescent green light, he searched for a while before spotting the giant snake’s head near the blood pool girl.
The exposed snake eyes squinted slightly; being too distant with limited light, it was hard to discern, but it seemed the snake’s head was faintly entangled with something translucent, continuously bleeding into the blood pool!
"Turns out, not the sound of water but toxic snake blood flowing into the blood pool," Xie Chenyuan suddenly realized, a chill crawling up his scalp; despite his extensive knowledge, the eerie situation remained beyond understanding.
It seemed the girl was engaged in some malicious ritual, perhaps draining the giant snake’s life force?
Numerous techniques of Evil Cultivators flashed through his mind; he was immensely relieved for his caution in not alarming the girl and immediately retreated, using Sword Flight towards the northwest where constant thunderbolts struck.
[Green-Scaled Snake Demon Pill +1]
[Side Quest: Hu Zhile’s Obsession]
[Quest 2: Prepare sufficient materials (click to view list) to temporarily fend off the Blood Curse consuming Hu Zhile’s life, completed. Reward: Disposable Array Map +1; Acceleration Card +1 issued]
[Quest 3: Construct a Disposable Array as instructed to successfully shield Hu Zhile. Reward: Disposable Lucky Talisman +1 (fifteen minutes)]
[Disposable Lucky Talisman: Click to use to grant a time-limited luck buff, favorable for all events during wear time]
The Green-Scaled Snake intensified gathering, Jiang Yuan dared not even glance below the valley, randomly choosing and unleashing skills.
The valley, entwined with countless snakes, was unsettling enough visually, even without a fear of density.
Thankfully, diligence proved fruitful; relentless bombardment yielded twenty Demon Cores, unlocking a new system quest.
Meanwhile, the Storage Bag gained a new Disposable Array Map tool, evidently still designed for novice gameplay without actual array understanding.
"Senior! Jiang senior!" Xie Chenyuan, upon flying over, saw the moonlit valley swamped with snakes, feeling a chill run down his back, exclaimed from afar: "Please check over there; I found a cave where a girl in her teens is... performing some bizarre evil technique!"
He was unsure how to describe the scene; recalling after leaving the cave it seemed less terrifying but with midnight, blood pool, girl, giant snake... everything felt off, evoking fondness for the snake’s indescribable agony, the overall ambiance too sinister.
Jiang Yuan, upon hearing this, perked up immediately—before even obtaining the Lucky Talisman, good fortune had arrived!
"Quick, take me to see!"
"Senior, I followed your advice and didn’t dare get too close. I vaguely saw a young girl soaking in the blood pool, but... I didn’t actually see her face clearly..." As Xie Chenyuan came out, the night wind brushed against him, making him feel as if the scene he witnessed in the cave was a dream. This made him even less sure.
"Just take a look to know if it’s her. It’s wise not to approach recklessly; that girl has something peculiar about her." Jiang Yuanxin said that this desolate place couldn’t possibly have any other young girls, it must be Gongxi Jin, whom the side quest needs to find.
However, listening to Xie Chenyuan’s recount of the scene in the cave, he was even more bewildered about Gongxi Jin’s mysterious illness and why on a full moon night she would be soaking in a blood pool in Snake Valley?
Anyway, the Demon Cores have already been gathered, and Xie Chenyuan also helped find the person. He clicked on the Contract Pet interface to summon the pet.
The next second, Bai Yunqi, who was enthusiastically killing monsters, was bewilderedly teleported over. He immediately bowed and presented several Demon Cores, "Venerable Family, these Green-Scaled Snake Demon Pills weren’t easy to find. Currently, this is all I’ve obtained."
"It’s already quite a bit, this thing..." Seeing the harvest, Xie Chenyuan’s ears blushed slightly.
He was good at Divination Technique but not adept at fighting, so up to now, he had only acquired one Demon Core. Fortunately, he specialized in locating the girl, saving from disgrace.
Jiang Yuan strongly agreed, nodding as he said, "I killed an unknown number of Green-Scaled Snakes over there, only finding slightly more than you. We have enough now. We have more important matters to handle, later on, you both should keep a distance until I ascertain it’s safe before approaching."
Xie Chenyuan simply narrated his findings, Bai Yunqi listened and marveled, he had never heard of such an Evil Technique, certainly worth gaining knowledge!
[Sub-quest: Carefree City Lord’s Trouble]
[Task 3: During the full moon night, found Gongxi Jin in Empty Valley Stream, three hundred miles southeast of Carefree City. Reward: Acceleration Card +1 issued]
[Task 4: Please refine the Power of Flood Dragon Bloodline to devour and refine the remnant spirit of the Flood Dragon within Gongxi Jin. Reward: Spirit Stone*500000.
Note: The Flood Dragon remnant spirit is in a state without true intelligence, only survival instinct remains. It possesses the ability to hypnotize all creatures within a 5*5 range centered on itself. Subjected to attack, it will retaliate desperately. Extremely dangerous, please assess cautiously whether to continue completing the task]
[Gongxi Jin: The youngest daughter of the Carefree City Lord, gifted with an exceptionally high cultivation talent, hailed as the Gongxi Clan’s most hopeful candidate to ascend. Treasured by Gongxi Yanchang and his wife, Gongxi Jin received abundant resources from a young age, alongside absorbing and refining increasing amounts of Earth Treasure, awakening the survival instinct of the coexisting Flood Dragon remnant spirit within her body.
A dual-soul state should steadily cultivate, with the Divine Soul growing and suppressing, absorbing the coexisting remnant spirit as the realm progresses. However, Gongxi Jin’s cultivation accelerated too quickly relying on Earth Treasure, with her Spiritual Power being abundant while the Divine Soul Power didn’t grow in sync. This led the awakened Flood Dragon remnant spirit to attempt controlling the body, gradually consuming her soul, causing the body to transform into snake and flood dragon forms...]
[Flood Dragon Remnant Spirit: The soul remnant of a Flood Dragon whose reincarnation failed, seeking survival merged into the unborn Gongxi Jin, forming a dual-soul state. Coexisted with abundant Spiritual Power, awakening and attempting body possession, consuming Gongxi Jin’s soul to seize body dominance.
During full moon nights, leveraging the Power of the Moon, controlling the body to reach the cave, constructing a blood pool with bloodline suppressing power, attempting to transform Gongxi Jin’s body into Flood Dragon form, speeding possession...]
Just as Jiang Yuan saw the girl in the blood pool, a stream of information flashed through his vision.
In simple terms, it’s a remnant spirit of Flood Dragon with no possibility of possession and reincarnation, using its remaining survival desire to torment an innocent girl, immersing her body in snake blood to activate Magic for "snake transformation," "Flood Dragon transformation";
The translucent remnant spirit has a small part leaving the body, using its hypnotic ability to devour the giant snake’s Divine Soul to reinforce itself, also not wasting snake blood, filling it into the blood pool.
"No wonder Shen Laoliu lost control!" Bai Yunqi’s crimson snake eyes gleamed excitedly, his quiet voice couldn’t hide his battle spirit, "I guess lying in the blood pool is Carefree City Lord’s youngest daughter Gongxi Jin.
Shen Laoliu couldn’t successfully refine that trace of Flood Dragon Bloodline, and the translucent thing beside Gongxi Jin is the soul remnant of a Flood Dragon, the best supplement for Flood Dragon Bloodline power!
It can’t refine it naturally suppressing desire, hence it attacked Gongxi Jin disregarding all, causing discovery. Venerable Family, the remnant spirit is indeed a great supplement."
Jiang Yuan knew well its great supplement value, after all, the system has posted a new task.
The last task specifically sought successful refinement, precisely to deal with this being! The problem is the system indicated extreme danger, and for the first time in a task offered the option to abandon, signifying the degree of danger.
Even though the task completion reward is only fifty thousand spirit stones, despite Gongxi Jin being pitiable, risking a contract pet’s life to save her is not worthwhile.
"Flood Dragon Remnant Spirit?" Upon hearing, Xie Chenyuan couldn’t help but be astonished, softly asking, "Brother Bai, even a remnant spirit would have some effect on you, right?"
A Flood Dragon is essentially a dragon, naturally possessing bloodline power suppression on snakes.
He couldn’t understand how Bai Yunqi could be so bold, even after refining a trace of bloodline power, his essence was still a snake, yet he dared regard the remnant spirit of Flood Dragon as a great supplement?
Buddy, do you plan on consuming it or what?
"Boom..."
The cave lightly trembled, seemingly disturbed by Jiang Yuan, the snake swarm followed along.
But inside the cave, the pressure released by the remnant spirit made them dare not easily enter, tightly entangling outside the cave, sealing its entrance completely.