Chapter 131: Retreat and Acquisition

After Qin Ming received Wu Jiang's message.

He immediately activated the Spirit Light Flying Shuttle, which shot off as a green streak and vanished into the horizon.

The Dragon Scale Island Wu Jiang mentioned was not particularly far from here.

Qin Ming flew for over an hour and arrived at the scene.

On an unnamed small island near Dragon Scale Island.

Four or five Qi Refining cultivators were surrounding Wu Jiang and two others, their faces filled with mockery.

The leader among them was a middle-aged Qi Refining late-stage cultivator from the Bicang Island Yu family.

His cheekbones jutted high, his frame was gaunt, and his eyes were sharp and sinister as he stared at Wu Jiang and said: "Aren't you the one who likes to show off?"

"Fine! You three go in first!"

Wu Jiang glanced at a cave entrance not far from the island, his expression tense, and swallowed hard: "Yu Pinghai, don't do anything reckless!"

"We've already sent out distress signals for help."

Yu Pinghai of Bicang Island sneered:

"What's the use of saying that now?"

"I've been lying in wait here for over ten days, finally found the right opportunity to set up a trap and lure that giant serpent out of its den."

"If it weren't for you brats meddling with your foolishness—"

"You startled the giant serpent and forced it back into its den prematurely."

"Would things have turned out like this?"

Wu Jiang's face was grim too—if he hadn't accidentally learned from a friend that this cave contained the spiritual herb "Stone Milk Spirit Lotus,"

he wouldn't have recklessly entered here.

The giant serpent's aura clearly marked it as late-stage first-rank; the three of them, all mid-stage Qi Refining, would die if they went in.

Moreover, the cave's interior was unknown—what if there were more than just this one beast? Wu Jiang was desperately anxious, surrounded by the Bicang Island group, trapped in an impossible situation.

"Hmph! Do you want me to throw you all in myself?" Yu Pinghai seemed to have lost patience.

He nodded to his Yu family companions to act.

Wu Jiang and the other two turned pale.

At that moment—

Whoosh! A green streak from afar shot down in an instant.

A plain-looking young cultivator appeared.

"Wu Daofriend, sorry I'm a bit late," Qin Ming landed beside Wu Jiang, speaking calmly.

He glanced at Yu Pinghai and his group, utterly unconcerned.

"Qin Daofriend! Not late at all! You arrived just in time!" Wu Jiang's face lit up with relief as his tension dissolved.

The situation had been truly dire.

The Bicang Island group all retracted their hands, their expressions filled with wariness.

When Yu Pinghai saw it was Qin Ming, his face turned even more grim.

"How could it be him?"

He had joined the scramble for Moonwatch Island's ownership before.

He had personally witnessed Qin Ming's strength.

Even Zhao Chanzhen, a Qi Refining peak cultivator, had chosen to surrender.

He had no confidence he could defeat such a man.

Yu Pinghai and his men stepped back a few paces; then Yu Pinghai hesitated and said: "Are you also going to interfere in this matter, Qin Daofriend?"

"You have five breaths to leave. If not, you go in and scout the path for me," Qin Ming said flatly, as if speaking of something trivial.

Upon hearing this, Yu Pinghai's face turned purple, like a spilled soy sauce jar.

He hesitated for two breaths.

Then he gritted his teeth and spat out one word: "Go!"

Without looking back, he led his clan members away in haste.

On the way—

The Yu clan members asked, unwilling: "Are we really just leaving like this?"

"We have five people, and that kid—"

"Shut up!"

"Where did you get that confidence?"

"Even Lord Zhao chose to avoid him—how could you or I possibly stand against him?"

"Or is your head made of iron?"

"Want to test the strength of the Yin Thunder Bomb?" Yu Pinghai scolded the clan member, then added: "Let him play for now."

"Once we get the Foundation Establishment Pill Zhao's family promised, and our clan master breaks through to Foundation Establishment, we'll reclaim today's humiliation!"

"I heard this kid's just a four-element pseudo-spiritual root—he'll never reach Foundation Establishment in his life."

"Even if he grows spiritual herbs well, what does it matter?"

"His current realm is surely from pills pushing him forward."

"His combat prowess may be sharp, but it's only temporary."

The Yu clan members fell silent and followed Yu Pinghai as they sped away.

…

On the other side, on the unnamed small island.

"Qin Daofriend, the 'Stone Milk Spirit Lotus' you're after is inside—but the beast has returned to its den."

"It's probably hard to retrieve now."

Wu Jiang told Qin Ming, then introduced his two friends.

They had seen Qin Ming scare off the five Bicang Island cultivators with a single sentence.

They respectfully greeted him.

"No problem. I'll go in and take a look. You wait outside," Qin Ming said, then flew toward the cave entrance.

Wu Jiang and the other two stared, dumbfounded.

"Will Qin Daofriend be alright?"

"There's a late-stage first-rank beast inside!"

"Um… with Qin Daofriend's strength, he probably won't be in danger."

…

After entering the cave, Qin Ming extended his spiritual sense, walking forward while observing the terrain.

He discovered it was a natural limestone cavern.

The deeper he went, the more spacious it became.

After advancing about several hundred zhang, he stopped.

Under his powerful spiritual sense, he detected a late-stage first-rank giant serpent coiled at the cavern's deepest point.

It was over ten zhang long.

Beside it lay the skeletal remains of a giant crocodile beast, and nearby was a nest of crocodile eggs—the giant serpent was consuming those eggs.

It seemed to have taken over the nest.

Qin Ming considered it, confirmed no other dangers lurked inside, then narrowed his eyes and leapt down.

The giant serpent clearly sensed someone's intrusion.

It flicked its long tongue and lunged toward Qin Ming.

It spat a stream of acidic fluid at him.

Qin Ming stepped aside effortlessly, avoiding the attack.

Then, seizing the moment, he flicked his finger—a needle-like formation of primordial qi pierced the serpent's vital seven-inch spot.

The giant serpent let out a mournful cry and collapsed.

To outside cultivators, this fearsome late-stage beast was dispatched in mere moments.

He barely exerted any effort.

He then peeled off the serpent's skin and stored it—it was excellent material for crafting magic treasures.

Qin Ming carefully examined the serpent's body and found no internal core; such a massive corpse was too heavy to carry, so he decided to leave it for Wu Jiang to handle later.

Then he turned his gaze to the pool at the cavern's center.

Inside floated four or five pure white, jade-like spirit lotuses.

The rare auxiliary ingredient for Foundation Establishment Pills: Stone Milk Spirit Lotus.

Qin Ming's face brightened; he uprooted them all and placed them into a specially prepared container he had prepared in advance, preserving them.

With the spiritual herb secured, Qin Ming was about to send a message to call the others in.

But when his gaze fell upon the nest of eggs the serpent had left behind—

He froze.

Among them lay one gray, massive egg, untouched, spared from destruction.

Qin Ming walked over and probed it with his spiritual sense.

What he saw made his face burst into ecstatic delight.

"Mutated Earth-grade bloodline!"

(End of chapter)