Chapter 438

"The fastest way to enter the Ten Thousand Python Cave is naturally from the snow valley, but there are too many low-tier snow pythons coiled inside, which easily alerts the enemy."

"The reason I was able to discover that Nine-Pattern Snake Saliva Fruit back then was because I was tracking a small python that hadn't yet gained climate from the outside world and followed it all the way in from another place."

"That entrance is very hidden; when I came to see it last time, it hadn't been destroyed yet."

"Everyone, use the secret technique to conceal your aura, and try to push it to the limit; don't be discovered by the spirit beasts."

In the deep underground tunnel.

A group of five moved quietly forward.

Fu Fu Jiusheng was at the very front, occasionally explaining the doubts in everyone's hearts through spiritual sense transmission.

Luo Chen was still being protected in the very center.

Listening to Fu Fu Jiusheng's words, his spiritual eyes constantly scanned the situation nearby.

Rather than a tunnel, it was more like a snake path.

On the mountain walls nearby, there were slippery mucus, which showed that this small path was still being traversed by spirit beasts to this day.

"The Nine-Pattern Snake Saliva Fruit matures once every ninety years. The sign of maturity is the appearance of nine white patterns on the fruit."

"Alchemist Danchenzi, you must pay attention later!"

"Once the white patterns start to turn black, it means the spirit fruit is about to deteriorate, turning from a spirit medicine into a poison. Once it turns completely black, absolutely, absolutely do not touch it with your physical body."

Listening to Fu Fu Jiusheng's instructions.

Luo Chen transmitted his voice calmly, "Thank you for the guidance, Fellow Daoist; I will keep this common sense in mind."

After all, it was a spirit medicine cultivated from the poisonous saliva of the Seven-Ring Snow Python.

Besides the extraordinary medicinal properties, there was naturally also extreme poison.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came.

Accompanied by the sound of mountain rocks being crushed, falling from the wall.

Rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle...

Hearing this sound, the five people stopped their steps immediately.

Each of them concealed their aura to the limit, leaning against both sides of the mountain wall.

Then they looked at the front without daring to breathe.

After a while, they saw a snow python with three black rings on its body crawling over with a rustling sound.

As it crossed, it paused, spat out a huge snake tongue to smell the air, and finally crawled past with a puzzled look.

After it left, the five finally let out a sigh of relief.

Fu Fu Jiusheng looked at the long figure disappearing into the dark depths and sighed: "The last time I saw this small python, it was still at the two-ring level, but now it has already cultivated to three rings, I'm afraid it's not far from breaking through to Tier 2."

Seven-Ring Snow Python, this kind of spirit beast, according to the understanding and records of cultivators.

Each ring can correspond to a small cultivation realm of human cultivators.

According to the knowledge of cultivators, the strongest of this kind of spirit beast encountered so far only had seven black rings, comparable to a Tier 3 early-stage spirit beast, which is the Core Formation early-stage level of human cultivators.

It is said that their upper limit is only seven rings.

This has to do with bloodline.

Human cultivators talk about spiritual root aptitude, while spirit beasts talk about bloodline.

The stronger the inherited bloodline, the higher the upper limit.

This Seven-Ring Snow Python inherited a Tier 4 Spirit Emperor White Bone Mysterious Snake, and only shared a tiny bit of side-line bloodline.

So it could only stop at the seven-ring level, which is Tier 3 early-stage.

"This kind of spirit beast has been protected by that White Bone Mysterious Snake since birth, so its combat ability is not very strong."

"However, one still needs to be careful."

"They are most proficient in entanglement and strangulation, corrosive poison, and the instinct possessed by most python-like spirit beasts: identifying auras."

"Therefore, if a battle breaks out later, the best combat method is to control the distance and focus on long-range attacks. At the same time, it must be steady, accurate, and fast, and the news must not be passed to the outside world."

Fu Fu Jiusheng spoke again, informing everyone of some characteristics of the Seven-Ring Snow Python.

Although everyone listened very seriously, someone finally lost patience.

"We have been traveling underground for more than half a day. How much longer will it take to reach our destination?"

The one asking was Madam Madam Yousha.

Fu Fu Jiusheng stopped his steps and turned to look at her.

Madam Madam Yousha was stunned, then gave a forced smile: "Don't mind me, it's just that being delayed for so long in such a dangerous place makes me feel a bit oppressed. Fellow Daoist, don't take it to heart."

Fu Fu Jiusheng shook his head.

He pointed to the wall behind him and moved his lips.

"We've arrived!"

Looking at that wall, everyone was stunned.

But in the next moment, when their spiritual sense quietly penetrated the wall and felt the three surging auras, their spirits were instantly lifted.

"The Nine-Pattern Snake Saliva Fruit is the thing the Seven-Ring Snow Python King values most."

"It is said that this thing has the miraculous effect of helping python spirit beasts break through their cultivation realm!"

"Therefore, this place is a forbidden area for the snow python tribe, and three Tier 2 late-stage great spirit beasts are arranged to guard it all year round."

"This place, although in the depths of the Ten Thousand Python Cave, is also far away from the gathering place of ordinary tribesmen."

"This is also why I have the confidence that as long as we kill those three great spirit beasts, we can provide Fellow Daoist Alchemist Danchenzi with enough time and environment to refine pills."

"And what we need to do next is how to kill the three Tier 2 great spirits quietly without alerting any existence."

This last sentence made the few feel a bit troubled.

They were all outstanding figures among loose cultivators.

Even when facing strong cultivators of the same rank from large sects, they had the confidence not to be weaker than others.

Letting them kill Tier 2 spirit beasts, they wouldn't feel it was too difficult.

But if it came to being quiet and not alerting any existence...

The killing of the Drilling Mountain Earth Dragon earlier had caused quite a commotion!

Looking at the troubled few, Fu Fu Jiusheng didn't seem surprised at all.

With a flip of his hands, a compass with dozens of small formation flags appeared in his left hand, which he held in the air, while in his right hand, there was a pale white talisman.

"This is?" Luo Chen looked curiously at those two things.

"This is the God-Steel Firm Earth Array, mostly used by small sects when building their mountain gates to consolidate the foundation. And this talisman is a Tier 3 Sound-Isolation Talisman; once activated, sounds below Tier 3 will not be transmitted outside the range covered by this talisman."

Fu Fu Jiusheng explained simply, and then began to distribute tasks.

"I will first activate the Tier 3 Sound-Isolation Talisman to ensure that the sound will not be transmitted outside. Afterward, I will set up the formation to ensure that the cave terrain where the Nine-Pattern Snake Saliva Fruit grows will not be destroyed, so as not to accidentally hurt the spirit fruit."

"When I take action, Fellow Daoist Daoist Lianyun, Fellow Daoist Xiao, and Madam Madam Yousha, you three must also take action simultaneously, each choosing a snow python, and kill them with lightning speed!"

"Alchemist Danchenzi, don't just stand there either; personally take action to protect the Nine-Pattern Snake Saliva Fruit, in case the spirit beasts get desperate and destroy the spirit medicine."

"Everyone, any objections?"

The four looked at him in turn and nodded at the same time.

At this critical juncture, there was no room for delay.

"Prepare!"

At Fu Fu Jiusheng's command, he drove his spiritual power in front of the four.

The wall in front of him melted quietly, as if snow were melting, without any sound.

At this moment, the scene of the cave covered by the wall appeared in front of everyone.

Three giant pythons, coiled into a small mountain of black and white, surrounded a small tree about two feet tall in the center in a triangular shape.

When the wall melted, the three giant pythons opened their eyes at almost the same time.

As if awakened from hibernation, they looked up at the five figures above.

In the vertical pupils the size of fists, there was full of anger.

"Hiss..."

"Hiss..."

"Hiss..."

Three hissing sounds were emitted at the same time, as if they were about to notify the outside world.

However!

This sound was completely blocked by the hazy white light emitted from the pale white talisman above the cave.

Not only that.

One formation flag after another flew toward all directions, quickly inserting into the ground.

Fu Fu Jiusheng held the compass and sat cross-legged in the void.

Rays of mysterious yellow light spread toward the entire cave with him as the center.

"Don't move yet, when will you wait!"

A low shout came from his mouth.

Four figures leaped into the cave instantly.

One rushed straight to the center, and before landing, a ball of green spiritual light spewed out from his mouth.

Afterward, it turned into a large bowl, covering the small tree in the middle.

Not only that.

He pinched the spell with both hands, and layers of azure light curtains, like glaze, isolated the one-foot area in the middle of the cave.

This was Luo Chen's handiwork.

Seeing his actions, the three giant pythons were instantly enraged.

The small mountain-like coiled body collapsed, turning into a huge python body.

On each snow-white python body, there were six thick black rings.

Six-Ring Snow Python!

Just as Fu Fu Jiusheng said, these were indeed three Tier 2 late-stage great spirits.

And the aura of each one was not weaker than a great cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Level 9, and the surging aura was even more so.

"It's a pity, what you are facing are cultivators!"

And cultivators who had already made up their minds to kill and were well-prepared!

Luo Chen's gaze was cold as he scanned the three sides.

The three figures rushing over regardless of everything could not shake his mind in the slightest.

With his strength, he could handle these three spirit beasts by himself.

Not to mention, there were others.

In the next moment, a delicate shout rang out.

"Vile beast, die!"

It was still that vermilion silk, only this time, it didn't stretch for a hundred feet, but only turned into a size similar to the giant python.

The area had shrunk, but the power was even more condensed.

Slap!

With one lash in the air, it actually sent the giant python rushing toward Luo Chen flying several feet away, directly colliding with the cave wall.

Boom!

A rumbling sound came, but it was limited to the cave and could not be transmitted outside by even a fraction.

Madam Madam Yousha pinched a spiritual spell with both hands.

A shower of blood rained down from the amber vermilion silk.

The stench of that blood rain was even more unpleasant than the smell on the snow python.

When the blood rain landed, it turned into a blood dragon in the blink of an eye.

"Roar!"

Amidst the roar, the blood dragon bit toward the snow python.

Not only that, the main body of the amber vermilion silk also flew over, seeking an opportunity to bind the snow python.

For a time, the snow python not only had to wrestle with the blood dragon but also face the terrifying corrosive power of the Sha energy on the amber vermilion silk.

Luo Chen's brows furrowed.

Is this the killer move of this magic treasure?

The pre-prepared Water-Drawing Dragon Transformation Technique can summon a spiritual dragon with strength similar to the cultivator's own body.

But this woman's refining method clearly took a crooked path.

It wasn't refined with proper spiritual power and mind, but with external force, using the flesh and blood of living beings to refine it.

Only then did it reach this level of refining that is very difficult for Foundation Establishment True Persons to achieve.

It was almost nine-tenths!

Luo Chen had only seen this kind of high refining degree once before in Tao Wan's Flowing Cloud Flying Sleeve of the Green Pill Valley.

"The defeat of this python is already within expectations. It only takes dozens of breaths for Madam Madam Yousha to kill it."

In just a moment, Luo Chen judged the tendency of the balance of victory.

However, what Luo Chen paid attention to was not just her side.

After the "Soul-Breaking Technique" reached perfection, he could easily achieve three-fold focus.

Therefore, his spiritual sense was also paying attention to the other two battlefields at the same time.

"Eh!"

A sound of surprise revealed the unrest in Luo Chen's heart.

Because in the place where Helian Yun was fighting, the methods displayed by the other party made Luo Chen subconsciously guard against it.

Soul-Breaking Nail!

But it wasn't just the initial Soul-Breaking Nail!

At this moment, there were three in his hand!

Black light flickered, and three black nails flew out.

Black light flickered, one broke the armor and sank into the interior of the snow python's body.

One broke the Qi, and the huge demonic energy accumulated on the snow python seemed to have its tail pinched, unable to be mobilized at all.

And that last black nail pierced directly into the center of the snow python's eyebrows.

Pfft!

A light sound came, and the snow python hissed mournfully, then fell limply to the ground.

And inside its body, black light flickered one after another.

After only a few breaths, the black nails that had drilled into the body flew out from the tail.

Helian Yun reached out to summon.

The three black nails fell into his hand again.

That snow python was already dead beyond any doubt.

Seeing Luo Chen's gaze, he smiled slightly.

"A trivial skill, let the Fellow Daoist laugh."

Instant kill!

This was a true instant kill!

Compared to Madam Madam Yousha's entanglement, Helian Yun's set of combos destroyed a spirit beast of the same rank as them in one fell swoop.

This was no trivial skill.

Luo Chen nodded seriously, evaluating how to guard against this set of black nails if he were to fight Helian Yun.

Armor-breaking nail, Qi-breaking nail, Soul-breaking nail.

No wonder this person could survive the battlefield of the Thunder Mountain unscathed.

He actually had such methods!

Luo Chen temporarily suppressed his wariness of this great elder of the Daoist Lianyun Merchant Alliance and looked at Xiao Xiao Sanren's battlefield.

In fact, there was no need to look at all.

Since the beginning of the battle, that strange flute sound had been coming incessantly.

Outside the battle, the others couldn't feel the true power of the flute sound.

But for Xiao Xiao Sanren's enemy—that Tier 6 Snow Python—it was already standing still.

As the flute sound became more urgent.

Suddenly!

A hissing sound rang out, and a snow python with six rings drilled out from the ground.

He had deceived everyone.

That Six-Ring Snow Python he was controlling hadn't died at all and was still alive.

The snow python pulled itself out of the ground, blocking in front of him without fear of death.

The Xuanfire Sword pierced the python's body, making a harsh friction sound.

"Found you!"

Xiao Xiao Sanren gave a light shout; although spiritual sense could not transmit sound in the black mist, his flute sound expanded instantly to point out the direction.

Not only that, strands of sound wave attacks, like a gurgling stream, went toward Luo Chen.

The soul attacks contained within were insidious and vicious.

However, facing this attack, Luo Chen did not dodge at all and rushed straight over.

Almost in an instant, Luo Chen was within ten feet of Xiao Xiao Sanren.

Logically speaking, the closer the distance, the greater the influence on the soul.

However, looking at Luo Chen's clear eyes, there was no sign of being influenced at all.

Xiao Xiao Sanren was shocked, "How is this possible?"

At this moment, Luo Chen stared at him with deep eyes.

The two pairs of eyes met, and spiritual sense collided wildly in the invisible.

Boom!

Like a storm, it surged in the sea of consciousness of the two.

Xiao Xiao Sanren relied purely on his soul foundation to resist, but Luo Chen had the help of the Rotten Wood Black Chess.

A moment of confusion arose spontaneously.

When Xiao Xiao Sanren woke up in shock, he saw Luo Chen's hand reaching out from his chest.

On it, he was holding a beating bright red heart.

Pfft!

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Xiao Xiao Sanren retreated frantically; on his face, corners of his mouth, nostrils, eyes, and even his ears, blood was overflowing.

His mouth let out a miserable howl.

"It's you!!!"

That familiar feeling of soul collision, the same pain of backlash.

In Xiao Xiao Sanren's cultivation career, there was only one such time.

Thunder Mountain, Soul Transformation ruins, inside the semi-ruined palace.

That mysterious white figure!

At this moment, the white Qi armor covering Luo Chen's right hand, wasn't that the significant feature of that person back then?

Looking at his crazy appearance, Luo Chen waved his hand calmly.

The Xuanfire Sword, which was fighting the Six-Ring Snow Python, flew out instantly.

Straight for Xiao Xiao Sanren's head!

The higher the cultivation realm of a cultivator, the less they rely on their body.

Not to mention Nascent Soul and Core Formation, Foundation Establishment True Persons have already given birth to spiritual sense, and even if the heart is destroyed, they can still go for the act of possession.

To cut the weeds, one must remove the roots!

Seeing the Xuanfire Sword flying over, Xiao Xiao Sanren was terrified and was about to mobilize his spiritual power to launch a counterattack.

However, missing a heart and with several large meridians destroyed, his spiritual power was temporarily blocked.

It was just this moment of delay.

The Xuanfire Sword bypassed the obstruction of the jade flute and easily cut off his head.

Killing such a formidable enemy so easily, Luo Chen was not surprised.

Defeating the opponent head-on in the methods they were most proficient in and relied on most would cause a huge crack in the opponent's mind.

Next, there was still some aftermath to deal with.

Behind him, there was a sound of breaking air.

A vermilion silk straightened into a spear and smashed down with a boom.

Luo Chen snorted coldly and struck out with a palm.

Vaguely, claw shadows filled the air.

Under the heavy claw shadows, the vermilion silk was beaten away, turning into soft silk and flying back toward its owner.

It was also at this time.

"Disperse!"

A white light appeared suddenly.

Then a puff of white mist expanded, coming into contact with the ghost black mist stimulated by Bai Bai Meiling.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle sounds were emitted constantly.

After a while, a piece of clarity appeared in the cave.

Helian Yun looked up and saw Luo Chen holding a heart that was beating vigorously, staring at them coldly.

Behind him, a slender girl, holding a giant banner, stood there gracefully.

Sizzle!

A wisp of flame rose from Luo Chen's hand, instantly melting the heart into ashes.

"Eh?"

Luo Chen let out a light sound, seemingly feeling some discomfort in his body.

Soon, he knew where that discomfort came from.

A transparent shadow pierced through his body and was about to drill into his sea of consciousness.

At the same time, a wild sound was emitted.

"Such a physical body, such cultivation, it's just right for me to possess a new body! And your remaining forces, Daoist companion, I will also..."

However, this wild sound only said half, and then stopped abruptly.

What replaced it was a scream of panic.

"Ah!!!"

Luo Chen's expression changed, and the soul in his sea of consciousness turned into spiritual sense, surging out violently.

Like a giant wave, it instantly drowned the transparent soul.

When the spiritual sense swept back, Luo Chen's expression was gloomy to the extreme.

"Possession!"

"You guys really had a good plan!"

He finally understood why Madam Madam Yousha didn't feel sad for the death of her Daoist companion, Ghost Sha, at all before.

And he also knew why Madam Madam Yousha clearly didn't have a strong soul, yet could break free from his Soul-Bewildering Technique for the first time.

It turned out that Ghost Sha hadn't died at all.

Or rather, the body died, but the soul was not extinguished.

Instead, he used some method to reside in his Daoist companion, seeking an opportunity to possess someone.

And he, clearly, was the best target for possession!

However, they never expected that he had a soul-defense magic treasure—the Rotten Wood Black Chess.

The method of possession is strange and varied, and cannot be described.

But all roads lead to Rome; one must enter the opponent's sea of consciousness and devour the opponent's soul to occupy the opponent's body.

It's a pity.

Ghost Sha didn't even enter the sea of consciousness before being blocked outside by the defensive halo of the Rotten Wood Black Chess.

Plus, without his own sea of consciousness as support, in an away game, he was directly crushed by Luo Chen, who was already stronger than him, with fierce and violent soul power.

And this time!

Ghost Sha was truly dead and extinguished!

With the death of her Daoist companion, Madam Madam Yousha showed a look of extreme grief on her face.

No longer caring about anything, the amber vermilion silk wrapped around her waist suddenly bloomed with spots of red light, and countless blood rain sprayed out, with Sha energy permeating within.

Luo Chen snorted coldly, and red light also appeared on his body.

The Blazing Fire Miasma spewed out!

Over the past nine years, he had cultivated the Blazing Fire Miasma to the Grandmaster stage, which could be called a great success.

The effect was that he no longer stuck to the Sky-Peng True Body.

In his human form, he could also cast this demonic spell.

Surging Earth Fire Sha energy swept across all directions.

The Sha energy in the blood rain was of a higher grade, but the quality was too mixed because it was mixed with too much blood of living beings, especially a large part of which had been swallowed recently and not refined.

How could this kind of mixed thing suppress Luo Chen's Blazing Fire Miasma?

The two collided, and countless white smoke suddenly appeared.

Constantly consuming each other, they both perished.

Taking advantage of this gap, Luo Chen leaped out and broke free from the encirclement of the amber vermilion silk.

His whole body turned into a white light and rushed straight toward Madam Madam Yousha.

The high speed of escape made her soul fly away.

Especially when she saw Helian Yun had already escaped toward the exit of the cave from the corner of her eye.

Clearly, Helian Yun was already scared and had made up his mind not to interfere in this battle anymore.

"Then let's die together!"

Madam Madam Yousha showed a look of madness, and the amber vermilion silk she had refined to ninety percent expanded to the limit, a hundred feet long, covering the entire underground cave.

"Explode!"

When Luo Chen cut off the head with one sword and killed Madam Madam Yousha, what greeted him was a violent explosion.

It wasn't just the self-destruction of the magic treasure, but also the collapse of the underground cave.

Boom, boom, boom!

A deafening explosion came from behind, and rolling air waves surged from the tunnel.

It pressed against the old figure, making him tremble.

His heart was also trembling.

"The physical body is so strong that it is no less than a wild spirit beast."

"The spiritual power is so surging that it is even more than a great cultivator at the late stage of Foundation Establishment."

"The soul link, which I thought was the weakest, actually had a soul-defense magic treasure."

"How on earth did I get possessed and provoke such a great enemy!"

Helian Yun was terrified and uneasy in his heart.

When Luo Chen exposed the Rotten Wood Black Chess, he knew that there were almost no flaws in the Foundation Establishment stage!

Such a great enemy was not something they could deal with.

He finally understood why Luo Chen could come and go freely and move horizontally and vertically in battle after battle.

It's ridiculous that he was possessed by greed and took the initiative to provoke Luo Chen for that so-called extra chance of Core Formation.

If he had learned from Fu Fu Jiusheng and left calmly, not only could he have had a glimpse of the Core Formation Great Dao, but he could also have formed a good relationship with Luo Chen.

In the future, in this cultivation world, wouldn't he have gained a strong helper?

"Wrong!"

"This time, it was truly my mistake!"

Regretting endlessly, Helian Yun ran away quickly.

The journey that originally took two days to finish, under his frantic running, probably could be escaped in at most a stick of incense.

In his heart, besides the regret brought by greed, there was also a glimmer of hope.

"That Madam Yousha must have launched some great means before she died, otherwise there wouldn't be such a scene."

"The mountains are shaking and the earth is moving, and the shaking is endless."

"Maybe Luo Chen will also be seriously injured inside, I..."

Suddenly!

His body paused, and there was a hint of impulse again.

However, looking at the large pieces of mountain rocks falling from the tunnel, he finally cut off that impulse to turn back.