Returning Immortal

Chapter 23 : White Lotus Green Head Snake

Entering the formation, a small square appeared.

The square was all broken and collapsed, turned into ruins.

The dynamically sculpted busts were all broken or fallen, and the once beautiful garden was hideously dug up.

Even so, the group's gaze was fixed on the artificial mountain at the end of the square.

In the center of the artificial mountain was a red stone gate carved with the shape of a demon, and from within it, a blood mist, chilling just to look at, was billowing out.

Below the stone gate, dead Blood Flies were piled up...

Ne Jinja, who had crossed the square, stopped his steps for a moment in front of the stone gate.

Ne Jinja, who had glanced at the pattern engraved on the half-torn and broken stone gate, bent his waist and picked up a Blood Fly.

Then he made a strange expression.

He had known for a while that this was larger than the Blood Flies he knew.

But the fact that it had sharp teeth and hideous fangs was something he had only just realized.

Even the fact that it had two pairs of wings...

Although he felt a momentary chill, Ne Jinja silently threw away the Blood Fly he had picked up.

"Gekekeke. You brat! You, take this and go."

Before entering the stone gate, the Ghost Medicine Hall Master put his hand into his bosom and took out a box made of sapphire.

When he opened the lid, a bead the size of a baby's fist was visible, and the blue radiance was so bright it was dazzling.

The moment the box was opened, a surprising phenomenon occurred.

The red blood mist that had been flowing from the stone gate disappeared as if a fog was lifting.

However, it had not completely retreated, and was still billowing at a distance from the group.

"Is this a poison-repelling pearl?"

Gwi Seongjin asked as if it were strange.

"It's not just an ordinary poison-repelling pearl. If you carry it on your body, it even clears your head. It's truly a treasure of the medical family."

"Then why did you give it to me?"

"Gekekeke. You are a precious person who must dismantle the formation in the Heavenly Demon's Tomb, so it would be troublesome if you died here, wouldn't it? I'm just lending it to you for a while, so you must return it when you're done."

"Don't worry. But what about the others?"

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master was a person who handled poison, so he would not be easily poisoned even without a poison-repelling pearl.

But the others could not be at ease.

Just looking at the corpses of the Blood Flies in front of them, it was so.

Seeing the ferocious poisonous insects dead in such a pile, it was clear that the toxicity contained in the blood mist was extraordinary.

"Gekeke. How could such a precious treasure be common? And the others, besides you, have high martial arts, so they won't be harmed by a mere poison like this. As long as they don't foolishly gnaw on the stone gate, that is."

At the Ghost Medicine Hall Master's words, Gwi Seongjin's gaze moved to the stone gate.

And he soon realized why so many Blood Flies were dead in front of the stone gate.

The stone gate had clear signs of being gnawed on.

Moreover, considering the sharp fangs of the Blood Flies, it was not very difficult to identify the culprit.

"This stone gate is made of a stone called poison blood stone. The poison blood stone is something that has been submerged deep in a poisonous land for millions of years, so it's natural to melt into a pool of blood if you eat it. But for these things to maintain their form, that's even more strange."

As the Ghost Medicine Hall Master said, there was not a single melted Blood Fly.

It was proof that their bodies were that strong.

Stagger, stagger.

A few from the group of dead Blood Flies wriggled, then staggered and flew up into the sky.

Then they went inside the stone gate.

"Hoho. To survive even after gnawing on the poison blood stone... what a strange sight."

The startled Ghost Medicine Hall Master took two steps back, and the group also moved back.

Fortunately, not many Blood Flies had flown up.

There were only about a hundred.

When Ne Jinja carefully entered the stone gate, another ruin was waiting for the group there.

This place was a stone chamber that looked like the tomb of an ancient king.

But the tomb in the center was dug up, and the stone coffin inside was broken with its lid open.

The same went for the corpse.

The corpse, which had been embalmed and wrapped in a special cloth to prevent decay, was finely torn and scattered here and there in the stone chamber.

What was strange was the fact that Blood Flies were again dead in a pile around the stone coffin.

And as Gwi Seongjin approached the stone coffin, an invisible energy scattered in all directions and fled.

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who had approached next to the stone coffin following Gwi Seongjin, suddenly shouted in surprise.

"Everyone, don't touch anything and gather next to Gwi Seongjin."

"Hall Master! What kind of poison is it?"

"I don't know the name, but it seems to be a poison comparable to a peerless poison."

"A peerless poison!"

At the Ghost Medicine Hall Master's answer, Ne Jinja shouted in surprise.

A peerless poison was one of the ten famous poisons in the martial world, a deadly poison that was known to be impossible to detoxify even if an immortal came.

So there was no way even a supreme master would not be afraid.

As people gathered to the side, Gwi Seongjin raised the hand holding the poison-repelling pearl even higher.

In his other hand was the Thunder Cloud Sword.

"Why do you think so? Is it a poison you know, Hall Master?"

"No. But there is a way to find out. We should get out of this room as soon as possible."

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master answered, glancing at the ring on his hand.

A faint strange light also flickered in Gwi Seongjin's eyes as he quickly looked at the Ghost Medicine Hall Master's hand.

The color of the jewel set in the center of the Ghost Medicine Hall Master's ring had changed before he knew it.

It had clearly been blue, but now it was red.

"Let's do that. Gwi Seongjin, stick close to my side."

Ne Jinja, who had given a short instruction, carefully led the people to the most broken part of the stone chamber.

It was the room where the blood mist was the thickest.

As Gwi Seongjin approached, the blood mist parted like a wave and opened a path.

After walking a little further, they could finally see the source of the blood mist.

Ne Jinja, who had confirmed the source from which the blood mist was flowing, made an expression that said it was ridiculous.

What was billowing out the red blood mist was surprisingly a spider.

And a dead one at that.

The spider's body was split and burst, revealing its hideous internal organs, and the blood mist was flowing from the center of its organs.

"My goodness! It's a blood essence stone."

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who was rummaging through the belly with his dragon-headed staff, looked around in surprise.

But even though he had said it was a blood essence stone, not a single person was seen jumping around in surprise.

Only Ne Jinja's eyes had changed slightly.

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who was carefully observing the Grand Prince's expression, took out a small pouch from his bosom.

Then he took out a red stone from the spider's belly and transferred it to the pouch.

When the Ghost Medicine Hall Master had stored the blood essence stone, the group advanced forward again.

There was no need to worry much about finding the exit of the stone chamber.

Buzz! Buzz!

It was because the sound of the Blood Flies' wings was guiding the way.

* * *

As Ne Jinja had said, the formation they had encountered this time was a combination of poison and an illusion formation.

But it was easier than he had thought.

The Blood Flies opened the way, and Gwi Seongjin, holding the poison-repelling pearl, assisted with his spiritual sense, and the group was out before they knew it.

When they came out of the formation, a new world unfolded before their eyes.

A huge number of beast swarms.

Among them were even demonic beasts that Gwi Seongjin had never even heard of.

The person most excited to see the demonic beasts was the Ghost Medicine Hall Master.

Like spiritual herbs, demonic beasts were also indispensable medicinal ingredients for making precious pills.

However, he didn't even know how to distinguish between demonic beasts and spiritual beasts.

Unlike demonic beasts, which draw spirit energy into their lower dantian to form an inner core, spiritual beasts directly draw spirit energy into their upper dantian to cultivate.

Then, when they form a golden core and become a spiritual being, they go through the fire and lightning tribulation to transform into a human form and can even wield the harmony of heaven and earth.

But since ordinary people couldn't even see spirit energy, all demonic beasts that were beneficial to people were called spiritual beasts.

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master was also the same.

Most of the demonic beasts on the hill looked like spiritual beasts to him.

A pure white deer running like the wind before his eyes.

It was a spiritual beast called the Thousand Fragrance Snow Deer, and it was truly a treasure trove, with not a single part to be thrown away.

Its antlers were used in pills that increased internal energy, its blood was known to be good for enhancing vitality and skin beauty, and its liver and gallbladder were so famous as life-saving medicines that they were now impossible to obtain even if you wanted to.

That wasn't all.

Its hide, which was said to emit a white light when it received the moonlight, was more popular than white tiger skin, its meat was of the highest quality in taste and aroma, and even the golden fur on its neck was popular for making brushes.

So it was known that if you caught just one, three generations could enjoy wealth.

The problem was that the Thousand Fragrance Snow Deer was known to be so fast that it was said to play with the wind.

It was to the extent that even a master of lightness skill could not catch up.

Moreover, it was so rare that he hadn't even heard its name recently, but it was unexpectedly discovered here.

When the Thousand Fragrance Snow Deer disappeared, this time a horse appeared.

It was a small horse, about a chi in size, with its whole body shining gold.

Neigh!

The spiritual beast, which had raised its front legs up, neighed long towards the sky and then disappeared into the ground in an instant.

"Vice Director! Why are there so many spiritual beasts here? Is there really a Grotto-Heaven and Blessed-Land nearby?"

"I don't know about that either. What's certain is that there weren't this many spiritual beasts three years ago."

"Gekekeke. I can tell that even if you, Vice Director, don't say it. If there were this many back then, the rumor would have surely spread."

"Does that mean all these spiritual beasts have flowed in over the past three years, or were they hiding tightly at that time and just happened to come out now?"

"That's right. But since ordinary spiritual beasts can't freely come and go from this absolute forbidden zone, the second assumption seems to be the more reasonable judgment. Even so, I can't understand the reason why so many spiritual beasts are living in this small space. Do you have any guesses?"

"Hohoho! How would I know something that you, Hall Master, who are well-versed in the ecology of poisonous creatures and spiritual beasts, don't know? As you said, Hall Master, there might be a Grotto-Heaven and Blessed-Land somewhere here, or a treasure overflowing with spiritual energy."

"Perhaps so..."

Grotto-Heaven and Blessed-Land.

A treasure.

They were all things the Ghost Medicine Hall Master liked.

If he was lucky, he might discover them, so he couldn't help but have his two eyes glistening.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

Suddenly, the ground shook as if an earthquake had occurred, and the group stopped their movements and hid under a nearby tree.

After a while, what appeared was a giant of enormous size.

It was two heads taller than the green monster they had fought in the barrier before, and it even had a long horn in the middle of its forehead.

And not just one, but two.

But what was incomprehensible was the monsters' expressions.

They were running away in fear with terrified faces, as if being chased by something.

There was a very high possibility that a fearsome predator was following behind.

So even after the giants disappeared, the group could not rush out hastily.

In the end, after waiting for a long time, and after confirming that there was no monster chasing after the giants, the group carefully moved their bodies.

As a result, the sight of the Blood Flies had completely disappeared from the sky.

The guide had disappeared.

Still, it was fortunate that they knew the direction in which the Blood Flies had disappeared.

As they moved forward, the corpses of dead Blood Flies were discovered on the ground.

Swoosh!

At that moment, the ground next to the corpses stirred, and a green snake with a white lotus-shaped frill on its neck appeared and swallowed a dead Blood Fly.

White Lotus Green Head Snake.

Although it looked small and insignificant, Gwi Seongjin knew that the name of that poisonous creature was the White Lotus Green Head Snake.

He remembered reading in the 'General Essentials of Spiritual Beasts' that if one came into contact with the poisonous qi it spewed from its mouth, even a beast the size of an elephant would die.

This time, the Ghost Medicine Hall Master also recognized the poisonous creature.

Perhaps because of that, he desperately held onto the group's ankles, saying they shouldn't move carelessly.

It was with the words that if they were bitten by it, they couldn't be cured even with a poison-repelling pearl.

Just because the poisonous creature was hiding in the ground, it didn't mean there was no way to deal with it.

If one cultivated martial arts and reached the realm of Huajing, humans could use another sense called consciousness.

Although it was no match for spiritual sense, this too was a great divine ability.

As the realm increased, the divine ability also increased, and it was said that a master at the late stage of Talma could see up to ten zhang deep into the ground.

But there were no exceptions.

Some masters could use their consciousness even at the late stage of the supreme realm.

It was a master who had generated true qi in their middle dantian.

As the Raging Fire Divine Lord, who was in the lead, walked while examining the ground with his consciousness, the speed at which the group was moving slowed down again.

Still, after walking for a long time, when the ground changed to stone, the group was able to speed up again.

But this time, a swarm of mosquitoes caused trouble.

(End of Chapter)