Chapter 479: Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake

Most sects of Dong Yu had heard of the Ancient Heavenly Snake Ruins; after major factions like the Ghost Snake Tribe and the Nine Underworld Earth Snake Clan entered, they all followed suit, plunging deeper through the bone-spikes-pierced holes.

Yet a small number of sects and lone cultivators abandoned the idea of going further—suddenly, massive bone spikes had erupted from the earth, staining the ground blood-red, with wisps of black mist curling around, sending chills down spines and stirring deep unease, so several sects chose to abandon further exploration and the search for spirit fruits and medicinal materials.

For instance, the Sound Valley, which sought no conflict, did exactly that.

But those who could overcome greed remained few.

Naturally, the first to burst forth from the serpent bones were the Ghost Snake Tribe, the local dominators; when they again saw light and beheld the scene before them, even though they had lived for centuries and were powerful Dou Zun, they were utterly stunned.

"Beneath the earth lies another world!"

Their leader, Snake Eight Heads, stared in shock at the boundless underground world before him—far off, the colossal serpent tail bone resembled a Heavenly Ladder, stretching from the depths all the way upward, as if piercing the sky.

Looking down from above, the massive serpent bones extended downward, while white patterns wound and spiraled across the ground—those white patterns were an entire complete skeleton! In the center of the white serpent bone lay dark, sludge-like substances.

Enormous! Unbelievably huge—as if this entire land were merely its bed!

Most bizarre of all, this serpent appeared to have nine heads—extending from its broad body were nine slender bone segments, like nine serpentine necks.

"Nine heads… Could it be that our Ghost Snake Tribe's ancestors were the legendary supreme Fierce Beast, the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake?!" A man beside Leader Snake Eight Heads exclaimed involuntarily!

No wonder our clan is so peculiar—our ancestors received bloodline essence from the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake, which is why our kind grow more heads the more they mature.

Shiiii! Not long after, the Nine Underworld Earth Snake Clan, Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion, Yellow Spring Pavilion, and others descended one by one from above.

"This is a Little World! More powerful than a Space Lock—only a Dou Sage can create such a thing!"

"Is that the skeleton of the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake?!"

The Nine Underworld Earth Snake Clan also had strong ones who recognized the serpent bones covering nearly the entire ground.

"Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake?!"

"Even in the most distant Primitive Era, the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake was the most ferocious among the Ancient Heavenly Snake Race! So that thing actually existed?!" A Nine Underworld Earth Snake Clan elder stared in disbelief—he had thought it merely legend, never imagining it was real!

After all, the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake technically belonged to the Ancient Heavenly Snake Race, but it was a mutated variant—or subspecies—each appearance bringing great calamity to the Ancient Heavenly Snake Race.

Because the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake, without exception, was extraordinarily cruel, insatiably greedy, with a stomach like an endless abyss, devouring living beings relentlessly—even its own kind—and wherever it passed, it left devastation like locusts sweeping through a field.

"Our clan's historical records mention that in ancient times, a powerful Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake was ultimately slain by a joint effort of the Ancient Heavenly Snake Race and the Tun Tian Mang Zong," said Jiu Xia, the leader of the Nine Underworld Earth Snake Clan, his expression grave.

Who could have imagined this was the place where the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake perished!

"Commander, regardless of what this is, if we can obtain a large amount of the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake's essence blood, perhaps we can revitalize our clan's Ancient Heavenly Snake Bloodline—or even advance it further!" Another Nine Underworld Earth Snake Clan member spoke in a low, serious tone.

The Nine Underworld Earth Snake Clan's Ancient Heavenly Snake Bloodline was already extremely diluted; let alone compared to the Grand Void Dragon, even Feng Qing'er and Xiong Zhan's ancient bloodlines were likely far stronger than theirs.

The Nine Underworld Earth Snake Clan had the greatest numbers but also the most diluted bloodline—if nothing changed, within a century they would become an ordinary race.

Quickly, these sects and factions exchanged covert glances and instantly reached consensus—they did not act immediately, but all descended toward the ground.

No treasures had been found yet; fighting now would only waste strength.

When they landed, the first thing to meet their eyes was a ground littered with white bones—everywhere they looked, countless white bones, mostly from gigantic demonic beasts.

Not only demonic beasts—human skeletons could also be seen, along with weapons; some piles of bones were heaped like mountains.

Undoubtedly, these bones were all remnants of food—leftovers consumed by the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake. This entire space may once have been its dwelling.

"Could the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake have died of old age?"

"Unknown. It might have died from a failed breakthrough, struck down by heavenly lightning—demonic beasts must endure a great tribulation to break through Nine Rank; perhaps this Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake perished attempting Nine Rank."

Seeing the ground littered with corpses, countless hearts shuddered, spines chilled, and nerves prickled.

"It seems no essence blood or Magic Core has been found…"

"After so long, could the essence blood have all leaked away? That would be too bad."

Instantly, even Dou Zun like the Yellow Spring Honored and Sword Honored began sensing and searching for essence blood and Magic Cores—if they could obtain even one Nine-Stage Demon Core, they'd strike it rich.

A Nine-Stage Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake Magic Core could fetch a sky-high price—exchanging it for a Dan Beast or a Heavenly Rank Dou Technique wouldn't be an issue.

"I found a Magic Core!"

Everyone snapped their heads toward the voice—then stared in disbelief, for the man had found the Magic Core among the demonic beast skeletons.

Though once the Magic Core of an Eight-Stage demonic beast, after centuries of erosion, its energy now equaled only that of a Seven-Stage—or even a Six-Stage—Magic Core.

Some thought it over and decided against searching for the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake's Magic Core or essence blood; instead, they began sifting through the piles of bones, hoping to unearth Magic Cores or exotic bones with unspent energy, to forge Magic Core weapons.

Alchemists require many Magic Cores for Spirit Refining, often sourced from such ancient demonic beast ruins—originally, the Magic Cores inside Qing Lin's serpent slaves had all been seized by Xiao Yan for pill alchemy.

"Tsk tsk tsk—Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake? No wonder Qing Lin said there were nine sounds." At this moment, high above in Space, three figures in black robes hid unseen, gazing down upon everything below.

These three were naturally Xiao Yan and the others who had entered first—but now they made no move to search for essence blood or Magic Cores.

"Young Master Yan, shouldn't we go search? If they find it first, it'll be troublesome," Qing Lin said, watching below as others frantically dug for treasures, occasionally finding precious medicinal materials or Magic Cores—she was displeased; those should all belong to her Young Master!

"No rush. Those below are more desperate than we are—and there are greater dangers here."

Xiao Yan and Cai Lin both stared gravely at the colossal skeleton below—this Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake, seemingly dead for countless years, Xiao Yan was one hundred percent certain had not died completely.

The chaotic sounds Qing Lin's Qi San Hua Tong perceived were likely the residual soul-voice of this Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake—Qing Lin had clearly said she heard nine discordant voices.

Cai Lin spoke solemnly: "This Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake has been dead for at least several thousand—or even ten thousand—years, yet its soul has not fully perished…"

Not even the subspecies Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake remains—much less the Ancient Heavenly Snake Race, long extinct; even their descendants, the Nine Underworld Earth Snake Clan, have the most diluted bloodline—likely, the Ancient Heavenly Snake and Tun Tian Mang Zong were among the first to vanish.

Yet fragments of this Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake's Spiritual Soul still linger—what terrifying life force!

"Nine Yin Blood Water!" In the pile of bones, a sect master discovered a pool of treasure-liquid, ecstatic: "Quick, quick—take all this Nine Yin Blood Water back! This is a precious treasure for cultivating demonic beasts! Our sect can finally raise a guardian beast!"

"A thousand-year Red He Shou?!" A lone cultivator stared at the massive medicinal material before him, unable to believe it—such an exceedingly rare pill alchemy ingredient lay right on the ground! As he spoke, he immediately began digging for this precious treasure.

"Hah! An Eight-Stage Magic Core—and its energy is still intact!" A sect disciple unearthed a Magic Core with preserved energy, bursting with excitement, unable to resist jumping up.

Xiao Yan and Cai Lin remained calm; only Qing Lin was resentful—after all, they had discovered this first!

Xiao Yan merely smiled, but his eyes subtly locked onto those who had found good items—his Soul Token was emitting a special Spiritual Soul vibration.

Space Shield!

Back in the Dan Realm, Mu Gu had used this exact technique to block the Space Jade Slips of the Alchemists, preventing their escape or summoning of reinforcements—Xiao Yan was now a Ten Heavenly Honored, far above Mu Gu in status.

Only the Soul Sect ever summoned reinforcements!

This Little World had existed for at least several thousand years—nourished not only by the SpiritFlesh of countless demonic beasts, but also by the corpse of a Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake.

Jiu She Ling produces abundant medicinal materials and spiritual fruits; how much more so this place—Ten Heavenly Elders naturally wanted to monopolize it all!

Beneath this ground lay countless rare treasures; in an instant, the wandering cultivators and sect disciples who had descended were ecstatic, eager to excavate every inch of soil, digging down three feet.

Yet, as all were lost in the joy of harvest, a silent danger was brewing.

"Here it comes!" Xiao Yan's gaze sharpened as he stared at the massive Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake skeleton—the black substances on its bones were writhing, awakening!

How could such a place have no life!

"Aaaah!!" Suddenly, a scream rang out—a black insect burst from the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake's bones and pierced a Dou Wang's chest.

"Zi Xuan!" The sudden ambush shocked his fellow sect members.

The black insect, the size of a human head, instantly burrowed into the Dou Wang's body; the man visibly withered, soon reduced to a shriveled corpse!

"Die!!" A Dou Huang wandering cultivator cried out in alarm, drawing a great blade from his storage ring and slashing at the black insect—Puh! The Dou Huang's power was terrifying; one strike cleaved the insect and the corpse in two!

"What kind of demon thing is this!" Seeing this, everyone's hair stood on end.

Instantly, someone snapped their head toward the distant, mountain-sized skeleton—were all those black patches insects?!

"Wummm!!" In the blink of an eye, the sound of countless insect wings flapping filled the air—swarms of black insects surged like tidal waves toward the crowd.

"Get out of my way!" A Dou Zong powerhouse struck—his Dou Technique summoned heaven-and-earth power; a colossal palm print crushed everything in its path.

Boom! In an instant, the palm print obliterated countless black insects—but these insects were even more terrifying than they'd imagined, as if they could never be wiped out!

"Aaaah!"

"Save me!"

In an instant, across this vast world, screams replaced the earlier cries of joy—wailing rose and fell as people fell, their SpiritFlesh drained away!

"Are these parasites?" Xiao Yan, watching the carnage below, was startled. He didn't recognize the black insects, but guessed they were parasites that had survived by feeding on the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake's flesh after its death.

Even the strongest Dou Zuns acted—Master of Swords unleashed torrents of sword qi, sweeping across his path; no black insect, no matter how powerful, dared approach.

Not just Master of Swords—Master of the Yellow Springs, Jiu You Di Ming Ying, and Dou Zun warriors of the Ghost Snake Tribe all struck—their Dou Zun power filled heaven and earth, shaking mountains and earth!

"Kill!" In an instant, across this vast land, screams turned to battle cries. Some wandering cultivators grabbed treasures and tried to flee—but the exit's serpent tail was still swarming with black insects; escape was impossible, and soon they were drained of SpiritFlesh.

"Damn it, these things are using us as food!"

"Filthy bugs! You want to die?!"

As more and more black insects crawled from the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake's bones, the skeleton revealed its original, bone-white structure.

As more black insects flew out, at the center of the Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake's skeleton, inside the bones, something the size of a lake suddenly appeared!

This lake-sized object, seen from afar, resembled a beautiful ruby, emitting a faint glow; threads of blood-red light seeped from within, stunningly beautiful.

"Magic Core! And it's Nine Rank!" Xiao Yan's heart jolted—the Magic Core was preserved perfectly, its energy nearly untouched.

This held infinite allure for Xiao Yan!

Xiao Yan had enough materials to refine a Nine-Treasure Pill—he'd obtained an Earth Heart Pearl in the Yang Huo Gu Tan of the Ye Family, and its power was sufficient for a Nine-Treasure Pill—but it was insufficient for a Nine Grade Profound Pill!

But this Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake's Magic Core was certainly enough!

Seeing Xiao Yan's gaze, Cai Lin knew he wanted the Magic Core; she said sternly, "You can't act yet—I'll go retrieve it for you."

Xiao Yan's heart tightened—he still couldn't act; the space barrier wasn't complete, for this little world was simply too vast.

"Your Majesty, I'll go with you!" Qing Lin said.

Cai Lin shook her head. "No. The Nine-Headed Heavenly Snake's residual soul hasn't emerged yet—and if Jiu You Di Ming Ying clan spot you, they might shift targets and swarm you. Immediately summon reinforcements—you can't act yet."

Xiao Yan pulled Cai Lin into his arms; the Three Infernal Flames slowly surged from his body, wrapping around her. He whispered, "Be careful. Even if you don't get the Magic Core, it's fine."

Cai Lin removed her Hood, her cold eyes fixed on Xiao Yan. "I am the Mei Du Sha Queen."

Then, with utter dominance, she seized his collar and leaned down to kiss him lightly.

Underestimating Your Majesty invites punishment!

Her tongue lightly licked her Red Lips—she remained as dangerous and domineering as ever, the unchanging Mei Du Sha Queen.

Cai Lin waved her Jade Hand, tearing open Space, carrying the Three Infernal Flames, charging toward the Magic Core with unrivaled dominance.

"That red glow!"

"Kuang?! Heavenly Snake Magic Core!! Nine Rank!"

The moment the Magic Core emerged, every eye turned crimson—the Nine Rank Ancient Heavenly Snake Magic Core, such an unparalleled treasure, could even serve as the finale at a Zhong Zhou space auction!

Boom! As everyone spotted the Nine Rank Magic Core, a figure as ethereal as a celestial maiden shot forward faster than lightning, reaching the Magic Core first!

"Who is that?!"

"The Mei Du Sha Queen!"

Instantly, Master of Swords, Master of the Yellow Springs, and Jiu You Di Ming Ying's warriors cried out in shock!

You might not know Xiao Yan, Champion of the Pill Gathering and leader of the Yan Alliance—but the Mei Du Sha Queen's name was infamous across Zhong Zhou!

Wummmmm!! As soon as Cai Lin charged toward the Magic Core, countless black insects swarmed her, intent on devouring her SpiritFlesh entirely!

"Hmph!" Cai Lin snorted; the three Infernal Flames spun around her like satellites, swelling wildly as her Dou Qi flooded into them.

In an instant, the Ten Thousand Beasts Spiritual Flame, the Blue Lotus Earth Core Fire, and the Falling Heart Flame revived as if awakened.

A blue lotus bloomed, its petals like shields guarding Cai Lin; a blood-red and translucent giant python flanked her left and right.

Qing! The Falling Heart Flame python snapped open its eyes; an invisible ripple spread—before the dense swarm of insects could reach Cai Lin, invisible Heart Fire ignited within each of them.

These insects, mere Dou Wang and Dou Huang level, couldn't resist Falling Heart Fire; in an instant, the invisible Heart Fire spread like wildfire—those terrifying black insects fell from the sky like moths, burning to ash.

Boom! Cai Lin stepped on Space, like a colorful blade, slicing through the dense tide of black insects, charging straight for the Magic Core.

"Your Majesty is so strong!" Qing Lin stared, stunned—this was more than Peak Two-Star Dou Zun; her destructive power surpassed even the combined strength of the Three-Star Peak Master of Swords and Master of the Yellow Springs!

Xiao Yan rubbed his chin, thinking: "Maybe Cai Lin could cultivate the Heavenly Flame Three Profound Transformations—it seems quite suited to her."

(End of Chapter)