Chapter 183

"There's something under the black water!"

Seeing Li Yuanfan being directly pulled down, everyone couldn't help but go "gulp".

As it turned out, besides that giant tree demon, there were actually demonic creatures lurking in what seemed to be an ordinary river.

Splash—

Suddenly.

At a time when everyone was terrified, a hand with skin torn and flesh split actually clawed at the ground beside the cracked fissure and climbed up!

Li Yuanfan actually didn't die!

All that could be seen was that his originally white beard and hair were completely corroded, the skin on his hands, face, and feet also affected to some extent, but the Daoist robe on his body still glowed faintly, showing that his survival was entirely thanks to that robe.

However, the effect of his Daoist robe also ended here; after the last dim light faded, it was hardly different from an ordinary robe.

But when he climbed up, no one dared approach, for the black water in the fissure swelled up again, as if something wanted to burst out of the water and drag Li Yuanfan down once more.

But seeing his struggling figure, Light Bell Fairy lightly bit her teeth and still descended.

After all, Li Yuanfan was invited by her; it wouldn't do to just watch the old Daoist die.

"Hiss——!!"

That was exactly when Light Bell Fairy went down; a hiss came from the dense black water, and immediately a thick-bodied giant black snake covered in glossy black scales burst out of the water and lunged to bite the two.

"Hit!"

At that moment, Yunhe let out a low shout.

The flaming giant bird formed by the 'Vermilion Bird Ring' folded its wings and, without hesitation, slammed into the black snake.

Bang!!

For a moment, firelight scattered in all directions, and the black water sprayed.

It slightly hindered the snake's surprise attack, buying the two some time.

With Light Bell Fairy's support, the old Daoist Li Yuanfan, though in a sorry state, managed to escape the snake's jaws, and both simultaneously cast grateful glances at Yunhe.

Especially Li Yuanfan, who had just nearly walked through the gates of hell, his heart still pounding with fear.

He immediately took out many elixirs from his storage bag, stuffed them all into his mouth, and only then finally let out a long sigh.

"Corrosive Poison Scale Snake"

Fei Ling stared at the demon snake that had finally revealed its full form and said in a deep voice.

The most frightening thing was still the unknown enemy; now that they had identified this demon snake, even though it possessed mid-stage third-level Cultivation Base, in everyone's eyes it had already shed the terrifying guise that frightened them.

"Light Bell only needs two 'Wood Extension Elixir'! The extra 'Wood Extension Elixir' can be auctioned off, then exchanged for Spirit Stones, and fellow Daoists will split them equally!"

At this moment, Light Bell Fairy finally had time to answer the question previously raised by Yu Ying.

Upon hearing this, aside from the old Daoist Li Yuanfan giving a wry smile, the others all felt their spirits lift.

Originally they thought there might be some spiritual herbs or plants here, but as the illusion faded, only the tree demon, snake demon, and the 'Wood Extension Elixir' in the tree hollow remained; if Light Bell Fairy wanted them all, wouldn't they be working for nothing?

Now that they have a promise, given the preciousness of the 'Wood Extension Elixir' and how cultivators value longevity, they should be able to sell many Spirit Stones; even if split among five people, each should still get a decent amount.

"I'll hold off this demon snake; you go get the 'Wood Extension Elixir'!" Fei Ling's eyes flashed as he voluntarily took on the most important and troublesome task.

"Good!"

At this point, no one thought much more about it.

Yunhe, standing to the side, gave him a deep look.

Then they saw Fei Ling manipulating a large expanse of black sand, wrapping it around the Corrosive Poison Scale Snake.

A mid-stage Golden Core cultivator facing a mid-stage third-level demon beast would find it hard to decide victory quickly, but as a cultivator possessing treasures and many techniques, Fei Ling could firmly maintain a certain advantage; a short entanglement would not be easily broken.

"I will work with Yu Fairy to control the vines; Daoist Yun will use his treasure to open the way, so I'll trouble Daoist Fan to fetch the elixir. As for Daoist Li, act within your ability. Once we have the elixir, we'll leave immediately!" Light Bell Fairy arranged.

Among the many cultivators present, only Fan Sanjin, a body-refining cultivator, was most suitable.

To this, no one raised any objection.

"Move out!"

A soft shout.

The cultivators sprang into action.

At the same time, Yunhe, who stood in the corner controlling the 'Vermilion Bird Ring', saw the situation gradually stabilizing; he continued to control the 'Vermilion Bird Ring' to open the way while silently taking out a 'Gold Shadow Talisman'.

He slapped it onto his body.

Looking at the crowd's posture, it seemed their target was only the 'Wood Extension Elixir'.

Then he had nothing to hide.

Taking advantage of the wall's cover, he performed the 'Five Elements Escape Technique', swiftly sinking into the rock wall, leaving a golden shadow to disguise control of the 'Vermilion Bird Ring', while he himself hurried toward the dilapidated thatched hut.

The tree demon and snake demon also had their attention drawn; he carefully avoided the black water and entered the ruined thatched hut from underground.

It went surprisingly smoothly.

But upon reflection, it also made sense.

The external restrictions of this place, the tree demon and snake demon outside the hut—if they were all dealt with, whether there was any obstruction actually made little difference.

Just as Yunhe would set up a formation outside his cave dwelling but not in every room, for that would only cause himself trouble.

The thatched hut is not large.

Upon entering, one could almost at a glance take in everything inside.

There was a seemingly ordinary wooden bed, a table, and a chair; on the table lay piles of dust, clearly because time had passed, many things had turned directly into yellow earth.

On the other hand, these three pieces of furniture had been preserved; they must originally not have been mundane objects, but they too had lost their spirituality with time.

Of course, the table was not merely dust.

Yunhe lightly waved his palm, the thick dust scattered away, revealing several sheets of specially textured hide paper.

Seeing this, Yunhe immediately showed delight.

Prescription!

Ancient cultivators seemed not to like using Jade Slips much, especially for things like prescriptions; the ancient prescriptions Yunhe saw were mostly recorded on animal hide.

He didn't examine them further, storing the three pieces of hide in his storage ring.

The table was empty, so Yunhe then began searching on the bed.

At the spot where a pillow should have been, he felt a hard, odd token that seemed like jade yet metal, engraved with a coiled, peculiar pattern resembling a grapevine or some other vine.

Yunhe tried to pour his divine sense into it, but felt resistance; no matter how hard he tried, he could not enter.

But the fact that it blocked his divine sense indicated that the object was not something simple.

He stored it in his storage ring.

Immediately after, he found a metal fragment under the bed, about the size of three fingers, with a bronze hue, three edges serrated as if broken, and one edge like a blade.

Even without knowing how many years had passed, its edge remained razor‑sharp.

"'No, not just sharp.'"

Yunhe showed a hint of astonishment.

Because he merely made a light swipe in the air, and a desk at least two or three meters away was actually cut off a corner.

The cut was extremely smooth and flat.

You should know, he hadn't infused any mana nor used any technique.

Yunhe's eyes widened gradually as he muttered in disbelief:

"'Could it be that it cut space itself?'"

He smacked his lips.

Just as he was about to put it into his storage ring, he suddenly thought of something and first took out an empty storage bag.

"'Indeed, this thing is too sharp to be stored in any container.'"

That's a bit troublesome.

Then he seemed to think of something.

He took out a 'Cloud Escape Seal' drawn on the hide of a Thunder‑horn Mystic Crystal Crocodile, and tried to wrap it around.

"'It works!'"

Under the cover of the Cloud Escape Seal, its sharpness seemed to retract.

Only then did he successfully store the fragment.

"'Should be all gone now.'"

Yunhe glanced around, about to leave, but then suddenly froze.

Huh?

He looked at the desk corner he had previously scored with the blade, discovering that the tabletop appeared hollow, made of two wooden boards sandwiched together.

Curious,

He pried open the upper board and found that the table indeed contained a small hidden compartment.

But what was hidden inside it.

"'Alright, whether it's the token, the blade, or this little vine, I just can't make sense of any of them.'"

Nothing else was hidden; only this finger‑length withered vine was tucked away, and Yunhe refused to believe it held no secret or value.

After storing the dry vine, he again.

"'Indeed, I should just pack everything up, lest anything be missed.'"

With that thought, he waved his hand and swept all the items in the thatched hut into a single storage bag.

Having done that, he then performed the Five Elements Escape Technique again, returning to his previous location.

With powerful divine sense aiding him, the opportunity Yunhe sought was good, and he silently swapped out the Golden Shadow.

However.

"'Careful!'"

He had just finished the replacement when he heard a startled cry from Fei Ling.

And a corrosive‑toxic scaled snake lunged at him, jaws wide open.

Seeing this,

Yunhe glanced at Fei Ling, who was putting on an act of nervousness while shouting a warning.

He gave a cold snort.

Although he didn't know how Fei Ling had seen through his Golden Shadow disguise, the other's near‑deliberate act of 'letting water' for the toxic snake was clearly observed by his divine sense.

He formed a sword seal with both hands.

An apparently ordinary flying sword shot from his mouth.

Accompanied by a hum.

It actually split into three blades of light, true and false indistinguishable.

As the corrosive‑toxic scaled snake lunged at him, it seemed to sense the threat of the sword; its scales rattled and it spewed a thick black mist mixed with sticky black slurry.

But the flying sword, driven by Yunhe, plunged straight into the black mire without hesitation.

A faint golden arc suddenly sprang up from the black water.

That black water, capable of corroding magic treasures and flesh, was shaken clean.

Then a flash of five‑colored light shot in, unimpeded, from the snake's gaping maw into its belly.

The toxic snake's roar cut off abruptly.

It seemed unable to react, lowering its head to look at its belly, where another golden arc leapt; the snake's ventral scales exploded, emitting a foul stench mixed with a burnt odor.

Bang—

He heavily smashed onto the ground; the poisonous scale snake actually already lost its vitality!

Seeing this scene.

Fei Ling's pupils constricted slightly.

What magic treasure is that?

The flying sword shot out from the poisonous scale snake's abdomen; under Yunhe's control, it was about to fly toward Fei Ling, but then he heard:

"Got it!"

Fan Sanjin's excited voice came through.

According to the plan, he unhesitatingly fled outward from the restriction.

"Go!"

Seeing this, the Qingling Fairy exclaimed joyfully.

Both Yunhe's and Fei Ling's faces changed slightly; they coldly glanced at each other, then each stopped their actions.

And Yunhe, with a wave of his hand, unceremoniously collected the corpse of this poisonous scale snake.

"You!"

Fei Ling showed an angry expression.

But Yunhe paid no heed to him, merely recalling his flying sword, then turned and followed the Qingling Fairy and the others away.

Although he had murderous intent toward Fei Ling, this place was certainly not a good spot; who knew what other demonic beasts might appear?

However, having used the Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword for the first time, he was very satisfied with its power.

Fei Ling, who fell behind, glanced at the thatched cottage across the Blackwater River, and couldn't help but let out a cold snort.

He had failed to detect Yunhe's "Golden Shadow," but he too was skilled in Earth Escape Technique, which is how he noticed Yunhe's small movement.

As for letting the poisonous scale snake go, that was indeed intentional.

One fewer person means one less share of the broth.

If the remaining people could each have at least one Wood Extension Pill, there would be no need to auction off the precious elixir.

This is the reason for willingly taking on the task of blocking the poisonous scale snake.

He could let the situation spiral out of control at any time.

In his original plan, Yunhe, Li Yuanfan, and Fan Sanjin were all supposed to die.

But he hadn't expected.

The poisonous scale snake would actually be killed so easily.

Most importantly.

He had fought the poisonous scale snake for so long, draining so much of its strength and energy, yet in the end Yunhe ended up reaping the rewards.

This is something Fei Ling cannot accept.

But now that everyone has left, he also dare not linger here; he immediately turned into a stream of light and fled outward from the restriction.

(End of chapter)