Chapter 32: Shadow Demon Kingdom, Xiangliu Bloodline (Seeking Monthly Tickets

Pies do not fall from the sky for no reason.

Two monster corpses together are worth 1.2 million; getting them for 400,000 is practically a steal.

Looking at Ningning’s shocked, hesitant reaction on the side, she probably hasn’t seen this kind of situation before either.

When things are abnormal, there must be a demon!

"Don't be nervous."

Old Man Chu stroked his beard and said with a chuckle:

"My request is for you to lend me the bracelet you are wearing so I can examine it."

Jiang Yan glanced at the Brahma Sword Buddha Armor, frowned slightly, and said nothing.

"If I’m not mistaken, you must be the apprentice of some Alchemy Master, buying these cheap monster corpses just to practice your skills.

You are clever and your acting is good; you know that when you fancy something, you shouldn't rush to ask the price, so you circled around before choosing it. But you overlooked one point: you were clearly more inclined toward the Tripod of Struggle before, yet now you chose the Hook Snake. Doesn't that prove it has more value?"

"It’s a pity you can't fool my eyes. These tricks were things I played out when I was young. Don't worry, even if it were gold, if I don't know what use it has, then it is trash."

Looking at Old Man Chu, who was deducing with such confidence,

Jiang Yan was silent for a moment, then let out a long breath and exclaimed:

"Ginger... is indeed spicier when it's old!"

If you say so, then so be it!

Since you’ve already filled in the blanks so completely, it saves me the trouble of explaining!

Old Man Chu smiled triumphantly: "Don't worry about me pocketing your bracelet. It’s just a mere Transcendent-grade item; I can forge such things myself. It’s just that I’ve hit a bottleneck recently and wanted to observe the craftsmanship of other masters to give myself some inspiration. How about it?"

"Of course."

Since things had reached this point, Jiang Yan took off the bracelet formed by the Brahma Sword Buddha Armor and handed it over.

The other party’s strength far exceeded his own, and he was an Alchemy Master; he wouldn't covet a Transcendent-grade item.

Moreover, the important thing was never the item, but the offspring.

They are alive!

Jiang Yan could summon them back with a single thought. Without his permission, others could not use them and would suffer several times the backlash of the mutation.

"You don't dawdle when doing things. You’re a kid after my own heart."

Old Man Chu smiled, took the bracelet to examine it, and muttered:

"This is some kind of corpse-mutated deer antler, following the path of Tibetan Buddhism, soaked in the corpse oil of a thousand-man pit for forty-nine days. It also sacrificed quite a few battle puppets and living thralls; it should be related to the Corpse-Dissolution Royal Court. No wonder you wanted similar materials. Wait!"

"Why is there a forged sword hidden within it? The spirituality is perfectly integrated. I almost didn't notice. These two things weren't even forged as one. How is that possible?"

However, the more he looked, the more Old Man Chu shed his casual attitude. His expression grew increasingly solemn, the shock in his eyes nearly overflowing, and he said in disbelief:

"Why can't I see a single trace of smelting? It’s as if it were naturally formed. Strange, too strange. It’s clearly just a Transcendent-grade item, yet it has such rich spirituality, completely on par with the Old Record grade. It is truly... a work of divine craftsmanship."

Old Man Chu scratched his head and ears, suddenly finding that everything he had learned in his life seemed so ridiculous in front of this seemingly simple Transcendent-grade item.

From this small bracelet, one could tell that behind Jiang Yan was definitely a Forging Grandmaster, or even a Great Grandmaster, whose skills were close to the Dao.

After a long while, he reluctantly returned the bracelet, rubbed his hands together, and asked with an expectant expression:

"That... young man, could I have the honor of visiting your teacher?"

His gaze was devout, like an apprentice.

"It’s not convenient. It doesn't like to see people."

Jiang Yan politely declined, feeling surprised in his heart as well.

This old man was worthy of being an Alchemy Master; with just a few glances, he had deduced most of the origins of the Brahma Sword Buddha Armor.

However, he still hadn't discovered the true nature of the offspring, thinking only that the treasure was too excellent, which is why it birthed spirituality.

As for Old Man Chu’s request, Jiang Yan certainly couldn't agree.

After all, he didn't have any Alchemy Grandmaster behind him, only a Demon God Embryo.

The only things that could see it were dead materials.

However, Old Man Chu was wrong about one thing.

The Demon God Embryo’s ability to gestate offspring was a Creator-level method; compared to that, Alchemy Grandmasters were weak.

How could hard work compare to cheating?

"That’s true. The number of people who want to see a Grandmaster is countless; it certainly wouldn't like to be disturbed."

Old Man Chu was greatly regretful.

He kept his word and gave both the Hook Snake and the Tripod of Struggle fragments to Jiang Yan.

As for payment, one could go to the notary office to transfer money to a public account, and the funds would only be released to the shopkeeper once the customer confirmed the transaction.

But most people don't use this function, as it is easily traced.

Especially dark organizations, because they have been "freeloaded" by the History Correction Bureau too many times—every time they take the goods, the account gets frozen—they have developed psychological trauma.

Therefore, they generally use gold, a rare material that only comes into existence when a planet explodes, which can also be used for rituals, sacrifices, and alchemy in daily life.

It has a wide range of uses.

Jiang Yan also chose to pay with gold.

Once the transaction was over, Old Man Chu directly shooed them away:

"Only today did I realize there are heavens beyond heavens and people beyond people. Indeed, one cannot slack off. One hundred years old is the perfect age for striving. You two go, don't disturb my exploration of craftsmanship."

Having said that, he directly kicked Jiang Yan and Ningning out.

His actions were swift and decisive.

"Thanks to you this time."

Jiang Yan had previously said he would pay Ningning one thousand, but without her help, he really wouldn't have been able to pick up this bargain.

So he simply handed over the remaining cash, totaling 3,100.

However, Ningning only took out one thousand and accepted it, saying with a grin:

"Thank you, big brother, but I only need my own reward. If you need anything next time, you can look for me again!"

After saying this, Ningning picked up two cups of tea and walked away. Jiang Yan followed her out of the alley and saw her give the water to the inner market guards.

Sure enough,

everyone likes sensible children.

Jiang Yan didn't rush to leave; instead, he rented a separate cubicle in the inner market. After checking several times to ensure there were no surveillance methods, he ordered the Coffin Spirit to be alert to the surroundings.

Boom!

Then, with a thought, gray air currents permeated before his eyes, and his consciousness entered the boundless Chaos Sea, transforming into the Dark World Tree.

Boom!

It shook gently, vibrating the chaos, deriving earth, fire, wind, and water, opening up billions of worlds, only to destroy them in an instant.

Countless dark roots spread out, turning the [Tripod Ear of the Tripod of Struggle] and the [Hook Snake] into nutrients, quickly hatching two offspring.

The Dark World Mother Tree shook gently, and one of the black fruits fell off. A jet-black, double-tailed, double-headed Hook Snake, composed entirely of shadows, crawled out, supported by the chaotic air currents.

"Hiss hiss!"

Its two heads searched around, sensing the aura of the great Creator, flicking their snake tongues, conveying feelings of closeness.

Jiang Yan watched this scene quietly, and relevant information appeared in his eyes.

[Double-Headed Shadow Poison Hook Snake (Faint Xiangliu Bloodline)]

[Avatar-type Offspring]

[Quality: Excellent (Common, Excellent, Perfect, Epic, Legendary, Mythical)]

[Description: In ancient times, there was Xiangliu, a nine-headed snake, also known as Xiangyao. It ate countless people, and wherever it passed, it turned into a marshland.

One body with multiple souls, each of the nine heads had different abilities. Cutting off one head alone could not kill it; only by cutting off all heads simultaneously could it be strangled. It possessed immortality.

It was once decapitated by ■■■, who cut off the shadow-attribute snake head. Its blood polluted the earth, and its unwillingness and resentment spread through the long river of history, deriving a huge disease domain—the Demon Kingdom of Shadows.

As the long river of history washed over it, it differentiated into many small snake-disease domains, flowing into different depths.

The Hook Snake ancestor was born in one of them. Because they are all of the snake kind, it was born with a trace of faint bloodline, mastering the ability to animate shadows.

Its descendant, the Shadow Poison Hook Snake, inherited and successfully excavated the bloodline, growing the prototype of a second head. Because it required too much nutrition for full formation, its food intake could not keep up with its consumption, leading to a deficit, which caused it to be drained of its own flesh and blood, leading to a period of weakness, where it was killed by others.

Integrating it into one's own shadow births an avatar—the Double-Headed Shadow Poison Hook Snake. It can animate shadows, attaching toxins that corrode flesh and shadows to attack opponents. After death, it can be revived at a certain cost.

Continuously excavating the bloodline and collecting historical relics related to the Xiangliu path can improve its essence, promote it to a weak bloodline, and unlock the bloodline atavism mission.]

[Why! Why did you kill me?]

"It’s actually..."

"A rare external avatar-type skill!"

PS: I modified a small detail in the previous text, which is the quality of the offspring, divided into [Common, Excellent, Perfect, Epic, Legendary, Mythical], representing potential. Otherwise, it is difficult to distinguish the gap between different offspring, and it is hard for everyone to intuitively feel the growth.

Even Evil God dependents have gaps between lower-ranking, upper-ranking, and God-children, not to mention pets in games; you can tell at a glance whether they are strong or weak.

I just changed this; it has no impact on the plot, so you don't need to look back specifically. I'll just note it: the Coffin Spirit is Excellent, the Ash Lamp spell spirit is Perfect, the Brahma Sword Buddha Armor is Excellent, and the rest are Common.

The protagonist's offspring can fuse with each other to upgrade quality, but the attributes must meet the fusion conditions. If they conflict too much, there is a probability of producing a rare variant, but it is also easy to lower the quality.

Like the Coffin Spirit, it can bury enemies to improve quality; the Ash Lamp is a skill-type offspring, relying on increasing skill proficiency to improve quality, or collecting other remaining fragments of the Lamp-Lighting Scripture.

Even for common skills, practicing them to the level of transcendence is equivalent to touching the rules; it would be strange if they didn't improve.

I generally won't repeat long descriptions of skills I've already written, as that would be padding, but I will mention their effects when writing the plot to prevent everyone from getting tired of reading. Unless they fuse and upgrade, I won't write them in detail. Thank you all, two chapters totaling nearly 6,000 words, continuing to ask for monthly tickets.

Continuing to ask for monthly tickets! Ask for follow-up reading! Ask for recommendation tickets!



(End of chapter)