Chapter 199

Bringing everyone back to the resource point, Fang Xu gave Chu Mu three and a half Law Phase Realm Monster Pills.

At this time, Chu Mu and Gu Qiu had already begun researching a new medicinal pill.

Meanwhile, Sha Tianrui had also reached a simple agreement with the old ape regarding handling of the resource point.

This is a top-grade resource point; although Qi Shaoyu didn't explicitly state the rules, it's obvious that top-grade resource points will not only be eyed by other candidates, but when the beast tide arrives, they will certainly also attract extra attention from those ferocious beasts.

Standing inside the resource point, Fang Xu looked around and began to think about how he should respond when the beast tide arrives.

The surroundings of this resource point lacked any usable terrain, so Sha Tianrui ordered all Ghost Face Army troops to start cutting down the surrounding trees, preparing to build some simple defensive works.

Although this thing isn't very effective, at least it's a method, letting the Ghost Face Army soldiers know how to defend.

"Kill General!"

After looking things over, Fang Xu called Sha Tianrui over.

"Young master." Sha Tianrui clasped his hands: "Time is tight, the task is heavy, we find it hard to hold this resource point."

As a battle-hardened general who had commanded troops of martial artists, Sha Tianrui clearly understood that makeshift defenses could only provide psychological comfort.

Facing martial artists above the Martial Master level, these wooden defenses are basically useless.

Fang Xu nodded.

He also knew in his heart that while taking this top-grade resource point was easy, holding onto it would likely be difficult.

"General, have the men stop cutting down the surrounding trees for now."

"Have them transplant the surrounding large trees over to cover the entire resource point."

"The more trees transplanted, the better."

"And the shrubbery—basically, make this resource point as concealed as possible."

His words made Sha Tianrui furrow his brow.

"Young master, this…"

Pointing at the huge pillar of light above the resource point, Sha Tianrui gave a wry smile: "This light pillar is like a bright lamp; no matter how well we hide, it's useless."

After the resource point was seized, besides forming a protective shield, a soaring golden pillar of light appeared.

This light pillar constantly guides other candidates, telling them that someone has occupied a top-grade resource point here.

"No problem, just do as I say."

Fang Xu smiled and spoke.

Sha Tianrui clasped his fists; although he didn't know what Fang Xu intended, as a soldier obeying orders was his duty.

He immediately followed Fang Xu's instructions, having the Ghost-Faced militia around stop cutting trees and start transplanting instead.

After giving his orders to Sha Tianrui, Fang Xu then sought out Gu Qiu.

"Come on, I'll take you out for a trip."

As soon as the two met, Fang Xu directly spoke.

Gu Qiu stood beside him; Chu Mu, seeing his mysterious look, asked curiously: "Brother Fang Xu, what are you going to do?"

Seeing her curiosity, Fang Xu gave a mysterious smile: "Adult matters, children shouldn't chime in."

Chu Mu puffed her nose in anger and raised her little fist.

Ignoring her, Fang Xu took Gu Qiu to the outside of the resource point's shield.

"What are we going to do?" Gu Qiu asked curiously.

"You'll know when we get there." Fang Xu didn't answer, directly leading her to a place he had confirmed with his spiritual sense.

"There is a pack of ferocious beasts here, the Golden Scale Fire Line Snakes; can you tame them?"

Pointing at the marshland ahead, Fang Xu spoke.

"Tame?" Gu Qiu gave the marsh a curious glance and asked: "What would we tame them for?"

"Naturally to help guard the resource point." Fang Xu said.

He had already realized this when he slaughtered the Nether Wolf Beast.

In this assessment, relying solely on himself and the Ghost-Faced militia to hold this top-grade resource point would be somewhat unrealistic.

Fortunately, Gu Qiu practices the Poison Insect Path and has some understanding of beast taming.

If we could fully utilize this, perhaps it could bring unexpected benefits.

"I'll give it a try." Gu Qiu suppressed her doubts and slowly stepped to the edge of the marsh.

Not far ahead in a puddle, a Golden Scale Fire Line Snake as thick as a baby's arm lay contentedly in the water.

"Little guy."

Gu Qiu approached and gave a gentle greeting.

Whoosh!

That Golden Scale Fire Line Snake suddenly sprang upright, the fleshy wings on either side of its neck spreading, and it ferociously stared at Gu Qiu.

"Don't be nervous." Gu Qiu reassured, then took out a dark pill from her Cosmos Bag and extended it toward the snake.

The Golden Scale Fire Line Snake instinctively jerked its head back, then, apparently catching the scent of the pill in Gu Qiu's hand, cautiously inched forward again.

Upon confirming that the tempting scent was indeed from the pill in Gu Qiu's hand, the Golden Scale Fire Line Snake could no longer resist.

Whoosh!

A golden flash streaked past, and the black pill in Gu Qiu's hand vanished instantly.

Such speed even left Fang Xu feeling somewhat surprised.

In the real world of the Tianxuan Realm, the Golden Scale Fire Line Snake is an ancient ferocious beast that has already gone extinct.

The reason we know about them is that we once saw records of the Golden Scale Fire Line Snake in the Stone Coffin World.

Moreover, through the bloodline inheritance of the Azure Dragon, we saw that the Golden Scale Fire Line Snake is closely related to the Divine Dragon clan.

According to ancient texts, the Golden Scale Fire Line Snake possesses deadly poison!

Adult Golden Scale Fire Thread Snakes can easily poison all ferocious beasts and cultivators below the Dharma Aspect realm.

Moreover, Golden Scale Fire Thread Snakes possess extreme speed, and adult Golden Scale Fire Thread Snakes automatically grasp the speed law.

This is also why they went extinct.

For cultivators, all ferocious beasts innately capable of wielding law power are rare treasures.

Because their flesh and blood contain a certain amount of law power.

Whether used for alchemy or consumption, they help somewhat in comprehending law power.

From ancient times to now, many divine beasts and ferocious beasts have gone extinct largely for this reason.

After taking Gu Qiu's pill, this Golden Scale Fire Thread Snake's guard seemed to weaken a bit, and it began to nod and sway while discussing with Gu Qiu.

Fang Xu also couldn't understand, so he could only stand silently aside, afraid to disturb them.

Gu Qiu discussed with it for a while, and eventually, under the guidance of this little Golden Scale Fire Thread Snake, they arrived at the center of the swamp.

Many adult Golden Scale Fire Thread Snakes live here.

This group has a strange trait: whether adult or juvenile, the Golden Scale Fire Thread Snakes are roughly the same size.

The key to judging adulthood is the golden line on their abdomen.

Golden Scale Fire Thread Snakes with golden lines appearing on their abdomen are adults; those without are juveniles.

Looking at the number of Golden Scale Fire Thread Snakes around, Fang Xu felt his scalp tingle.

He didn't know what agreement Gu Qiu had reached with these Golden Scale Fire Thread Snakes.

But one thing is certain: if the talks break down, it won't be easy for the two of them to retreat unharmed.

Under the little snake's lead, the two walked through the dense snake swarm and soon arrived before a ruined shrine.

On the collapsed stone statue of the shrine, a Golden Scale Fire Thread Snake resembling the little snake in size was coiled atop the statue's head.

Suddenly sensing human scent, this Golden Scale Fire Thread Snake slowly raised its body.

Its lustrous, splendid scales looked extremely exquisite.

On its small triangular head, two scarlet eyes like gemstones emitted a faint glow.

Its abdominal golden line extended from the throat down to the abdomen.

As its forked tongue flicked, Fang Xu sensed a hint of danger.

No need to think; this is surely the king of the Golden Scale Fire Thread Snake clan.

Whoosh!

The little snake darted at extreme speed to the statue, flicking its tongue at the Snake King, seemingly communicating.

After a long while—

The Snake King slowly descended from the statue and flicked its tongue toward Gu Qiu.

Gu Qiu furrowed his brow, turned to Fang Xu, and said: 'He says he can help us, but there's a condition.'

Fang Xu nodded: 'Ask him what the condition is.'

Gu Qiu relayed Fang Xu's words.

The Snake King flicked its tongue again, then raised its head to look at Fang Xu.

It knew that among the two, the man was the one in charge.

Gu Qiu spoke with a strange expression: 'It says we should help it find soul crystals inside the resource point.'

Soul crystals?

Fang Xu was somewhat doubtful.

When occupying the resource point, he had already sent people to search.

The entire resource point seemed to have nothing.

What are soul crystals?

Through Gu Qiu's relay, Fang Xu only learned after asking the Snake King.

Soul crystals are a special substance in this world, very important to the ferocious beasts living here.

But normally, all resource points in the world are sealed, and the ferocious beasts cannot infiltrate them at all.

Only after these candidates descend does this world's resource point get opened.

"Ask him again: if we give the soul crystals to him, what effect will it have?"

Fang Xu thought for a moment and then spoke.

This world is constructed from the lingering will of the Three Gods.

Since the Three Gods' will does not want the ferocious beasts living here to obtain soul crystals, there must be a reason.

The Snake King also had no secrets, directly saying: 'Soul crystals are the fundamental basis for them to earn points.'

"If a resource point loses its soul crystals, even if it is breached, they cannot continue to acquire resources."

Hearing this, Fang Xu narrowed his eyes slightly.

In that case, this top-tier resource point would be ruined.

No!

He suddenly thought of a loophole.

The Snake King's demand for soul crystals didn't specify a time.

He could completely wait until the trial is about to end, then hand over the resource point's soul crystals to the other party.

That way, he would earn points, the Snake King would obtain soul crystals—a win‑win.

The Snake King seemed to see through his thought, directly saying: 'After the resource point opens, the soul crystals' energy is constantly consumed.'

"By the time it ends, the soul crystals' energy will be almost gone; even if it obtains them, they'll be useless."

Fang Xu furrowed his brow upon hearing that.

This seems to be getting a bit troublesome.

Give the resource point's soul crystals to the Snake King, and the high-grade resource point will be ruined.

If we don't give it, it seems hard to defend the high-grade resource point they occupy.

"Test taker, you have fallen into a misconception." The Snake King spoke calmly: "Points are not only obtained by occupying resource points that have soul crystals."

"You can steal others'."

"I can also help you steal soul crystals from other resource points to constantly replenish this one's consumption."

"In short, I want soul crystals, you want points—there's no conflict."

It seems the Snake King understands the rules of this world very well.

Hearing its words, Fang Xu's eyes lit up instantly.

That's actually not a bad plan.

Before, he only thought about how to defend this resource point, never intending to steal from others.

Because they occupy a high-grade resource point, they will surely be the ones robbed in the future.

They won't have the energy to think about stealing from others.

"Sure."

After a moment's thought, he agreed to the Snake King's request.

"However, our combined strength probably isn't enough to do this." Fang Xu said.

The Golden Scale Fireline Snake King nodded: "This naturally still requires finding some helpers."

Saying that, it twisted its body and walked toward the outside of the swamp.

"Follow me; I'll take you to find other helpers."

Fang Xu and Gu Qiu exchanged a glance, then followed the Snake King into the depths of the jungle.

This is a desolate graveyard; on the gray-brown earth, numerous mounds of various sizes stand, looking gloomy.

After the Golden Scale Fireline Snake King brought Fang Xu and Gu Qiu here, it went straight up to a large mound and crawled into its cave.

Not long after——

Boom—

The mound exploded directly, and a zombie wearing tattered clothes, with disheveled hair and a dirty face, flew out.

"His name is Guyuxi, the ruler of this graveyard."

The Snake King introduced him.

The three parties immediately discussed some details and profit distribution.

According to Guyuxi's demand, Fang Xu realized they still needed to seize a high-grade resource point.

The specific implementation method is also quite simple.

In the resource point that Fang Xu and they occupy, the soul crystals belong to the Snake King.

As repayment, the Snake King will join forces with Guyuxi to help Fang Xu resist the beast tide, then go seize other resource points.

Before that, they need to first seize a high-grade resource point.

And the soul crystals of that high-grade resource point belong to Guyuxi.

That way, both of them can obtain high-grade soul crystals, while Fang Xu can gain a large number of points by looting.

According to Guyuxi's saying, he and the Golden Scale Fireline Snake will join forces.

Fang Xu can completely occupy several medium-grade resource points at once, with the Golden Scale Fireline Snake clan and his zombie subordinates helping defend; he only needs to consume a small amount of soul crystal energy from the medium-grade resource points to gain a large number of points.

By then, those medium-grade soul crystals can also be given to them.

Fang Xu found their proposal quite interesting.

This is just like drawing water.

A 100‑catty water barrel—if you want to take 100 catties of water, you will inevitably empty the whole barrel.

The remaining barrel is useless to Guyuxi and the Golden Scale Fireline Snake King.

But if they could find a hundred barrels full of water, taking one catty from each barrel would likewise give them a hundred catties of water.

Guyuxi and the Golden Scale Fireline Snake King could also obtain the barrels containing the remaining ninety‑nine catties of water.

Seen this way, it looks like the other side got a big bargain.

But soul crystals are useless to him; he wants points.

It's a case of each taking what they need.

"What's the beast tide about?"

After reaching the agreement, Fang Xu asked the key question.

"It is driven by the will of this heaven and earth; with the beast tide, all ferocious beasts in this world can attack the resource points."

"As long as they can break through, they can obtain the resource point's soul crystals."

Guyuxi replied.

That makes sense.

It seems the will of this heaven and earth is attracting all ferocious beasts in this way, making them attack the resource points occupied by the candidates, thereby achieving the purpose of the test.

"When does the first beast tide begin?" Fang Xu asked again.

"In three hours, we need to start preparing." The Snake King replied.

Three hours……

"Alright, then we'll meet at the resource point later." Fang Xu said directly.

Returning from the graveyard to the stronghold, Fang Xu immediately summoned everyone, preparing outside to welcome the arrival of the Golden Scale Fireline Snake and Guyuxi. (End of chapter)