Chapter 231: A Bowl of Snake Soup

"Li Jushi!"

Seeing Li Heng.

Qingxu shouted out in pleasant surprise.

"Daoist Qingxu, what happened to you? Did you fall from the Third Heaven? Could it be that you were dueling with someone?"

Hearing this, Qingxu shook his head in frustration.

"This poor Daoist had just prepared everything, and in order to return as quickly as possible, I borrowed the sect's teleportation array. I didn't expect to encounter spatial turbulence, which blew me right out, and I happened to fall here."

He was actually a bit puzzled himself.

He had originally felt quite unlucky that even a foolproof teleportation array could be caught by spatial turbulence, causing him to fall halfway through. But after falling, he had encountered the person he wanted to find.

Should this be called lucky or unlucky?

Or was it truly as the sages of the Dao Sect said?

Good fortune relies on misfortune, and misfortune hides within good fortune?

Li Heng took a sip of snake soup, somewhat surprised.

He could encounter spatial turbulence even while teleporting back?

However, he could also guess the reason.

It was likely because of the spatial tremors in Beijun.

"Originally, this poor Daoist felt quite unlucky, but upon seeing Jushi, this has instead turned into a good thing?" Qingxu revealed a smile, and while patting the dust off his body, he slowly walked toward Li Heng.

Li Heng was lost in thought.

Although there were spatial tremors in Beijun, the fact that they could affect a teleportation array with a dedicated channel was enough to show that Qingxu was a bit unlucky. However, that Qingxu could stumble upon him by accident might have its reasons.

Had the word-buff of 【Person Favored by Heaven】 taken effect?

"Extreme Yang produces Yin, extreme Yin produces Yang; opposing things all contain mutual transformation, so this is not strange." Li Heng chuckled, casually condensed a bowl using Heaven and Earth Origin Qi, and ladled a bowl of snake soup for Qingxu. "Daoist, taste this bowl of snake soup and see how it is."

"Jushi's words are truly quite in line with the ultimate Reason of the Dao."

Hearing this, Qingxu raised his eyebrows in surprise and spoke, then took the bowl of snake soup from Li Heng. He scanned it casually and discovered it was just snake meat boiled in clear water, with no other ingredients, not even oil or salt.

Why was this?

He actually had an instinctive desire to drink it?

"Daoist Qingxu is too kind; it is just a matter of experience."

Li Heng shook his head, and Qingxu drank it all in one gulp.

"Daoist, how is the taste?"

Qingxu did not answer.

He had thought that this bowl of snake meat boiled in clear water would definitely taste bland, and he had only drunk it to give Li Heng face. He had always believed that even if the ingredients were good, it wouldn't be very delicious without other seasonings.

But he hadn't expected that he had been superficial.

This bowl of snake soup was not bland; it looked like clear water and could hardly be called soup, but after taking a sip, he felt it was incomparably fresh and sweet, with an endless aftertaste. He even felt a warm current surging within his body, moistening his entire frame, as if every tiny particle were cheering and leaping for joy.

Even.

The warm current traveled through his limbs and bones, and his cultivation bottleneck even loosened!

His spirit jolted, and he was horrified in his heart.

This was the bottleneck from the Innate Realm to the Dharma Aspect!

How could this be? What on earth was this snake meat?

After a long while, he spoke slowly.

"Its taste is fresh and sweet, the flavor is endless. In my life, I have eaten countless fine wines and delicacies, among which there was no lack of food and drink hailed as delicacies of the immortal realm, but none of them compare to this bowl of snake soup."

Li Heng chuckled.

"Daoist is too kind; it is ultimately because the ingredients are good."

As soon as these words were spoken, Qingxu's heart stirred.

"Jushi, what kind of snake meat is this exactly? If you could inform this poor Daoist, I would certainly have a great reward. Of course, if this involves any secrets, then please, Jushi, consider that I never said these words."

He hurriedly asked.

This was truly too important to him; if he could drink this kind of snake soup a few more times, he would definitely have the confidence to advance to the Dharma Aspect.

Hearing this, Li Heng's expression was strange.

"Daoist, actually I am not clear what kind of snake meat this is either, but I imagine you have already seen it; the raw material for this snake soup comes from this giant snake beside us. You can go and take a look."

"Then this poor Daoist will excuse himself for a moment."

Hearing this, Qingxu was delighted and hurriedly ran over to observe it carefully.

Just because Li Heng didn't know didn't mean he didn't know.

He had traveled the world his whole life, roaming north and south, and had seen no telling how many strange beasts. When he was young, he had even gone to the Hundred Saints Academy to study; one could say his knowledge was as vast as the sea.

But he could also be called knowledgeable.

Soon, he stared at the snake body broken into several sections and frowned. Such a huge snake body, and the fierce, baleful aura that had not yet completely dissipated—this was definitely a snake demon, at least at the Innate Realm!

After thinking for a moment.

He took out his Dharma Sword and hacked toward the snake body.

Crack! The Dharma Sword broke.

Qingxu:???

What the heck? It broke? What is going on?

He was completely stunned. Was this snake's defense this hard? This was at least an Innate Level Dharma Sword; could this be an Innate snake demon that specialized in cultivating its physical body?

He continued to ponder for a while.

He took out another Dharma Sword.

The Yin-Yang Seal is inlaid on the hilt of the Dharma Sword, looking incomparably profound.

However, this Dharma Sword is his Life-bound Treasure; having been tempered by water and fire, it is bound to his very life. Back when he was in a hidden Secret Realm, it even helped him hack a Second Heaven Peak stone demon to death.

He refuses to believe this snake is tougher than a stone demon!

Raising the Dharma Sword, the Yin and Yang fish upon it flow ceaselessly. Qingxu secretly circulates his cultivation, employs the Suppression Demon Secret Technique, and hacks forcefully at the snake's body. He feels smug in his heart; surely he won't flip the cart again this time.

Clang!

The sound of iron weaponry colliding rings out abruptly.

The Dharma Sword hacks heavily onto the snake's body, then bounces off violently. The terrifying recoil force directly numbs Qingxu's web between thumb and forefinger; with a clatter, the Dharma Sword slips from his hand and falls to the ground.

Qingxu stumbles back a few steps before he can dissipate the force of the recoil.

He is completely stunned; what is going on?

He hurriedly picks up the Dharma Sword.

A notch has actually appeared in the middle of the Dharma Sword, and from this notch as a starting point, several cracks spread to the surroundings. It is clearly heavily damaged, and he fears it will take a month or so of re-refining to repair it.

He looks again at the snake body he had hacked.

There is not a single scar; it remains completely intact.

He strokes his precious Dharma Sword with immense heartache, then looks at this section of snake body in shock. What on earth is this thing? Fortunately, he didn't use too much force, otherwise, if his precious Dharma Sword had completely shattered, he would absolutely have suffered heavy injuries!

"Pfft, why are you humans so stupid."

Suddenly, a mocking voice rings out behind him.

Qingxu is startled, turns around to look behind him, and sees a green ox that is eating grass, chewing continuously in its mouth.

This green ox actually continues to speak in human language.

"Just a mere Innate Realm, yet you dare to use your own Life-bound Treasure to hack at the corpse of a Dharma Aspect Realm great demon?"

The green ox mocks Qingxu continuously, feeling a sense of relief in its heart.

Just a moment ago, in order to adapt to the role of a mount more quickly, it went to eat some wild grass in the mountains. But it didn't expect these grasses to be disgustingly unpalatable, both withered and astringent, leaving it feeling stifled.

The grass in the Present World is not as delicious as the seaweed in the Abyss Sea! To think that dead snake boasted to it about how great the Present World is, flowing with milk and honey?

Now another Innate Level human has popped up, just in time for it to mock him for a while.

After hearing this, Qingxu is completely dumbfounded.

It is strange for a green ox to be able to talk, but not too strange; it could be some kind of spirit beast, exotic beast, or perhaps a demon.

But this green ox actually said this snake is a Dharma Aspect Realm great demon? How is that possible? Dharma Aspect Realm experts are as elusive as dragons; how could it die so easily?

"What, you don't believe it, do you?"

The green ox grins and walks slowly toward Qingxu. With every step it takes, its figure changes slightly; by the time it reaches Qingxu, it has already turned into a bull-headed man with two horns on his head.

Seeing this, Qingxu is even more surprised.

This green ox can actually shapeshift?

"Look at what is over there."

The green ox points its finger toward an open space not far away.

Qingxu instinctively follows the green ox's finger to look there, and his expression freezes once more. It is actually nine massive heads—snake heads!

The cross-sections of the snake heads are incomparably smooth and are dripping blood incessantly; it is clear they were just cut off not long ago. It is just that the eyes of the snake heads have not closed; they are all wide open, giving a feeling of dying with a grievance.

The eyes of one snake head happen to be looking toward their side.

Qingxu observes carefully and even experiences a hallucination, as if a giant snake is truly staring fixedly at him, making the hair all over his body stand on end. He trembles slightly and hurriedly shifts his gaze away.

He hurriedly looks at the green ox again.

"These are..."

He swallows his saliva, pointing at these massive snake heads.

"What else could they be? Of course, they are the heads of this snake. This snake has nine heads; you've been looking for so long, don't tell me you still haven't noticed?" The green ox shakes its head speechlessly.

It seems not every human is as terrifying as its master.

Take this human, for example; he is very weak.

He was directly pinched to death by a light squeeze from him.

"You say, these are the nine heads of this snake?"

Qingxu says in shock.

The green ox frowns; why does this human only speak nonsense? Isn't the fact right here? That human is not only less powerful than its master, but also less decisive than its master.

"If you don't believe it, you can go over and touch them."

"But be careful, this snake is poisonous; even if it is dead, the fangs still exist. Once your body is pierced by the fangs, a small frame like yours will surely die."

Qingxu nods upon hearing this.

"You are a good ox, I will go over and take a look."

He runs over hurriedly, leaving the green ox stunned on the spot.

The green ox frowns, thinking to itself that this human is strange enough; how did it become a "good ox"?

Qingxu observes these massive snake heads at close range.

The more he looks, the more he feels his body trembling, as if he feels this snake is about to come back to life the next moment, or even feels that it isn't dead.

Qingxu knows.

This is because the lingering spiritual might of this snake demon has not yet dissipated, but as long as one is on guard in advance, it poses no threat. Thus, he continues to observe while enduring his fear.

Observing these snake heads.

Observing the cross-sections of these snake heads, and the cross-sections of the snake heads. Qingxu finally concludes that these nine heads really do belong to this snake; this snake has nine heads.

This also means this snake is a Nine-Headed Snake!

It is an exotic species from the ancient primordial era!

He was completely stunned, seeing a legendary primordial exotic beast for the first time, even though it was already dead. However, this only made him more curious: who exactly killed this primordial exotic beast?

He hurriedly ran back to the side of the green ox.

"This Ox Lay Practitioner, who killed this nine-headed snake?"

In truth, he did not suspect Li Heng very much.

Because he was not blind; he could clearly perceive the ferocity of this nine-headed snake, which was definitely not at the Innate Realm, but most likely at the legendary Dharma Aspect Realm.

But Li Jushi was only at the Innate Realm.

As for why Li Jushi could sit there drinking snake soup, perhaps he had coincidentally encountered a powerful figure of the Dharma Aspect Realm. Or perhaps, the one who killed this nine-headed snake was an elder of Li Jushi.

Qingxu had long felt that Li Heng was not simple.

The green ox was somewhat surprised upon hearing this.

"I have already met my master."

"This snake was killed by my master, who is sitting right over there drinking snake soup. Tell me, you human, not sleeping in the middle of the night and running to this desolate mountain wilderness, do you have a request for my master?"

Although the green ox felt this human was jumpy.

Since he had become the mount of a great human demon, he had to be kind to humans as well. If he made his master unhappy, it would definitely not just be iron-plate beef steak on the menu, but also braised beef...

"What did you say? The one sitting over there drinking snake soup?"

Qingxu was stunned again.

It really was Li Jushi?!