Chapter 212

Pa, pa, pa!

Wu Tie and Sa Da Ren slapped palms three times; Sa Da Ren solemnly took out a black gemstone token, held it with both hands, and respectfully handed it to Wu Tie.

Palm-sized, the black token was translucent throughout; on its face was a patch of black cloud within which the sun, moon, and stars could faintly be seen.

These patterns were indistinct, like sheets of light and shadow continually flipping out from deep within the token, rolling for a moment before sinking back inside; thus this tiny token gave the strange illusion of encompassing the whole world.

The reverse of the token was much simpler: within a patch of black cloud flickered a thumb‑sized speck of starlight.

Dark One‑Star Token

The dark token is the highest‑rank guest token of the Dark Guild; whoever holds it is a top‑ranked important guest of the Dark Guild and enjoys various privileges.

The one‑star token is merely the lowest grade among dark tokens, yet it also possesses all the privileges Wu Tie sought—at least from today onward, Wu Tie and his companions' information will not be sold by the Dark Guild to others.

Given Sa Da Ren's authority in the Dark Guild, the highest he can bestow is a dark one‑star token, and only one such quota exists every thirty years.

"Lord Wu Tie, thank you for your trouble." Sa Da Ren looked solemnly at Wu Tie, his snake tongue constantly flicking in and out, a faint fishy odor continually emanating: "For anyone seeking to strike at the Serpent Clan and the Bodhi Clan, we will provide all information free of charge."

Wu Tie narrowed his eyes, and smiled: "Then, thank you for your trouble—please keep a close watch on Wa Wa and her new Taotie ally."

Taotie Luo and his minions surely also possess divine weapons forged from Taotie bones.

When Taotie Luo pursued and killed Dashe Yi, fleeing the Serpent's Lair, Wu Tie, in his haste, saw that he now had an additional Taotie divine spear in his hand.

These Taotie bones are a great tonic for Wu Tie.

Even now, Wu Tie's bones continue to be strengthened; amid rising heat, the essence of copious Taotie bones continually merges into his skeleton, so that his physical strength and bone durability have more than doubled compared to before.

If he could capture Taotie Luo alive…

Wu Tie looked seriously at Sa Da Ren and said solemnly: "The Taotie Clan is a great help for us in dealing with the Serpent Clan, so… thank you for your trouble, and please, Sa Da Ren, keep a firm watch on them—do not let them easily leave the Serpent Domain."

Sa Da Ren broke into an especially bright smile, nodded firmly: "Taotie Clan people? I understand—they won't leave so easily."

Sa Da Ren licked his snake tongue over his nostrils, his tone turning strange: "After all, they reached the Serpent Domain so easily only through us… hehe, the Taotie Clan's territory is not exactly nearby."

Wu Tie narrowed his eyes, his tone likewise turning strange.

"So that's how Wa Wa and her crew could find us so easily… earlier, did you sell us out?"

Sa Da Ren gave a hissing laugh, bright and hearty, slapped Wu Tie's shoulder hard, and laughed loudly: "It won't happen again, it won't happen again… the chief of the Taotie Clan is a Dark Two‑Star guest; their little ones will never get your information from now on."

Wu Tie and Sa Da Ren stared at each other, eyes wide, for a moment, then both burst out laughing.

Old Tie sat beside Wu Tie, his big teeth lightly grating, emitting a harsh "ga‑ga" sound. His deep black eyes fixed on Sa Da Ren's calf, head cocked, as if calculating how to bite for maximum damage.

Sa Da Ren instinctively shuddered and hastily retreated several steps.

The Witch Maiden was already giggling "hee‑hee", waving her wind‑cloud banner as she flew over. She had intended to land on Wu Tie's shoulder, but after a brief hesitation and a circle, she plopped down onto Old Tie's back.

Old Tie stared blankly, and his sharp teeth simultaneously sprayed fine black lightning.

Wu Tie grabbed Old Tie's mouth with a slap, then smacked his forehead: "Old Tie, this is the Witch Maiden… she, is she my daughter?"

Wu Tie's tone was a bit vague.

Old Tie's gaze also became vague.

He raised his head to look at Wu Tie, Wu Tie lowered his head to look at Old Tie, and he sighed softly: "It's a long story; let's take our time… um, Sa Da Ren, where have Dashe Yi and his lot gotten to?"

Three hundred li away, on the bank of a yin river, Dashe Yi sat on a black boulder, fuming and shouting curses.

Dozens of youths with yin‑like faces, pallid complexions, and a wisp of black qi constantly rising from their foreheads—like black snakes swaying above their heads—stood silently before Dashe Yi, heads drooping, submitting to his wild curses.

"Trash!"

"Idiot!"

"Bastard!"

Dashe Yi ran through his repertoire, but he didn't have many fresh insults for these youths.

Occasionally he would scold them a bit, saying how much energy he'd expended, what great cost he'd incurred, to raise these youths.

Yet these youths were utterly useless and inept—so much so that four of their companions had been easily killed.

"I'm blind… I chose this bunch of useless trash… what can you do? What can you do? Just a measly Serpent's Lair, and you… you…"

Thinking of the black serpent slain by Taotie Luo, and the three black serpents subdued by the Vajra Sumeru Seat, Dashe Yi felt waves of heartache.

These youths are those black serpents.

Even while still in swaddling clothes, Dashe Yi infused them with a portion of his own essence‑blood; over the years, his serpent essence‑blood subtly transformed their lineages, and from childhood they practiced the Serpent Clan's secret art, granting them the ability to metamorphose into Black Water Mysterious Serpents.

Once they assumed the form of black serpents, their skin grew thick and their strength became boundless; they could also command the power of Profound Yin True Water, making their combat prowess astonishing.

Although their cultivation is only at the Chonglou Realm, when they exert their full strength they can at least contend on equal footing with ordinary practitioners of the Life Pond Realm.

Nor mention the amount of heavenly treasures and rare resources expended to grant them such cultivation at such a young age.

Even if the Bodhi Clan backed them, this expense would be an astronomical sum of resources, and Dashe Yi aches just thinking about it.

What pains him even more is the essence‑blood he drew from himself and infused into their veins.

It's literally bleeding them alive, as if using a water tub!

"What use are you? What use are you?"

"I'm blind… I actually chose you…"

"Ask yourselves… you're merely slaves, of lowly birth; if not for my Dashe Yi's kindness… what would you have become?"

"You don't even have a shred of gratitude?"

Dashe Yi spoke with increasing resentment, his voice gradually taking on a sobbing tone.

He stroked the awful wound on his right shoulder; his right arm had been blown to smithereens by Wu Tie's six consecutive Thunder‑God Exorcism bolts, and even now he keeps replaying the scene of his arm exploding amidst countless lightning flashes.

Dashe Yi feels wronged.

Moreover, he feels a bit lost, and even more afraid.

He had thought this time would surely go smoothly, that he could easily conquer the Serpent's Lair and easily unify the Serpent Domain.

But…

These useless good‑for‑nothings!

Da She Yi watched the dozens of boys standing before him, not daring to move, his eyes bloodshot, his heart dripping blood.

Heavy footsteps sounded, and over two hundred Bodhi clan warriors clad in heavy armor, masters of the Life Pond realm, stumbled forward. Many of them were seriously wounded, and fresh blood kept dripping from their armor as they walked.

"Great Serpent Yi!" a burly man with a bristling beard, his appearance and aura mighty as a lion, roared loudly, strode forward, and threw a punch at Great Serpent Yi's handsome face.

Great Serpent Yi's body swayed, writhing strangely, like a giant snake walking upright, and he evaded the burly man's heavy punch in an elusive manner.

"Mu Cang, are you crazy?" Great Serpent Yi bellowed, flushed with anger and shame.

Mu Cang's punch missed; his body swayed, and the long sword at his waist burst out of its scabbard with a "whoosh," bringing a dozen-zhang-long pale golden sword light slashing at Great Serpent Yi's waist.

Great Serpent Yi's expression changed instantly.

Using fists, they claimed it was a brawl to vent anger, but once weapons were drawn, it was truly intent to kill.

Mu Cang was the vice-commander of the Bodhi clan's army this time; within the clan he was also a high-ranking, influential powerholder, and his personal genuine ancestral divine weapons, passed down from antiquity, were lethal heavy arms.

Great Serpent Yi dared not directly block Mu Cang's sword light; his legs suddenly fused into a thick, long black snake tail, several dozen meters long, which swayed wildly, carrying him away with a series of "swish" sounds in the snap of a finger, retreating seven or eight li.

The long snake tail swept up large and small stones from the banks of the Yin River, like a rainstorm pounding down on Mu Cang from above.

Mu Cang glared angrily; the dozen-zhang-long golden sword light suddenly split, accompanied by a faint "huala" sound, like wind stirring leaves, the sword light exploded into thousands of fragments, the golden light turning into countless lifelike golden Bodhi leaves, scattering like a rainstorm.

Countless stones were pulverized on contact with the sword light.

In an instant the sword light traversed seven or eight li, descending to envelop Great Serpent Yi from above.

Great Serpent Yi's face turned grim; he shouted angrily, "Do you really think I'm afraid of you? Mu Cang, what do you think you are?"

A low, whistle-like roar, like a steam whistle blaring, came from Great Serpent Yi's belly; his clothing exploded, his body writhed violently, and in a moment the valley carved out by the Yin River was occupied by a massive serpent body.

Pitch-black all over, hundreds of zhang thick, with an unknown length from head to tail, Great Serpent Yi suddenly lifted his head, opened his maw and sucked hard at the nearby rock wall; with a tremendous roar the wall shattered, countless boulders flew into his mouth, turning into streams of yellow earth qi that he swallowed.

"You, do you want to witness the true power of the Great Serpent clan?"

Great Serpent Yi wriggled slightly; as his body moved, the surrounding earth veins trembled, rock layers within a radius of nearly a hundred li shook violently, and stone pillars and stalactites continually fell from the vault above, striking the ground like a rainstorm.

Those youths had long since flung themselves to the ground in terror, each struck bloody-headed by falling stalactites and pillars, yet dared not move a muscle.

Mu Cang and the Bodhi clan masters emanated a faint green light all over; gales and lightning swirled rapidly around them, and the falling stone pillars and stalactites shattered into vast clouds of stone dust before even touching their bodies.

"Great Serpent Yi, you have this ability; why did you flee the battlefield when you were in the Great Serpent's Lair?"

Seeing Great Serpent Yi's enormous body, his snake form stretching thirty-odd li, Mu Cang seethed, his eyes turning green with rage.

The poisonous mist exhaled by the Demon Chapter King, even with all his might, covered only a dozen-odd li.

Had Great Serpent Yi revealed his true form then, with his massive body he could easily have led twenty thousand Bodhi clan warriors to break through the mist's coverage.

Even if Great Serpent Yi had led the charge then, given his huge stature and his innate ability to effortlessly raise a violent quake, a single assault might have annihilated all resistance within the Great Serpent's Lair.

Great Serpent Yi opened his mouth; a flicker of embarrassment crossed his eyes, and a long serpent tongue nervously flicked left and right.

Mu Cang's question left Great Serpent Yi speechless.

What could he say?

Must he speak the truth?

The truth is, he previously did not charge because he felt the lowly cultivators in the Great Serpent's Lair were utterly unworthy of his attention.

Even leaders like Old Blade Wind, in Great Serpent Yi's view, were nothing but vermin and ants, mere fodder for his table.

And when Wu Tie provoked him, his right arm was blown off...

Could Great Serpent Yi say he was afraid?

How could one admit such a thing?

Besides, Great Serpent Yi didn't think he was at fault... whoever it was, suddenly losing an arm for no reason would shock and frighten anyone, wouldn't it?

At bottom, Great Serpent Yi was also experiencing his first battlefield.

However ferociously he acted... that was merely ferocity toward others.

Relying on his talent to bully others, Great Serpent Yi could be extremely ferocious, utterly ferocious.

But once he himself was injured, Great Serpent Yi cherished his life greatly, for he was the last surviving member of the Great Serpent clan; this bloodline must not be cut off here.

If he didn't flee, did he have to wait for Wu Tie to come kill him?

Great Serpent Yi closed his mouth, remained silent for a while, feeling somewhat guilty, not knowing what to say.

Countless golden Bodhi-leaf-shaped sword lights rained down on his pitch-black, rough scales; Great Serpent Yi's scale defense was astonishing, the sword light striking his armor produced sparks and tore fissures about a chi deep, but his scales were ten meters thick—what was such damage?

"Mu Cang... let's, let's settle this properly."

Great Serpent Yi finally spoke, his voice low and somewhat guilty.

Reluctantly, to conquer the Black Serpent Domain, one still had to rely on the Bodhi clan.

If merely destroying the Black Serpent Domain, Great Serpent Yi felt he and those youths could manage it; but to conquer the Black Serpent Domain, one must depend on the Bodhi clan's strength.

"Settle accounts?" Mu Cang burst into hysterical laughter: "Our Bodhi clan's tens of thousands of youths' lives—how do you propose to settle accounts with us?"

Further away, on a steep cliff face.

Taotie Ying and the others hid secretly in a rock crevice, squinting as they peered over here.

"This is a... Ba serpent... Great Serpent Yi's true form—is it a Ba serpent? Then what about those youths' Black Water Mystic Serpent bloodline?"

Taotie Ying chuckled: "This Great Serpent Yi is still quite strange."