Chapter 255 : Harvest
Chapter 255: Harvest
The appearance of the small yellow-brown snake was so abrupt that by the time it opened its mouth to bite, Chen Ming only just noticed it.
Crack!
That bite landed only on an afterimage.
The Phoenix Dances Through Nine Heavens at the ninth major completion had already become an instinct of his body—when danger arose, his reaction was faster than his mind.
That was close!
Chen Ming silently sighed in relief. Seeing that small snake lunging at him again, moving as fast as lightning, he mobilized his body technique and once more dodged its snapping jaws.
At the same time, he flicked his finger, sending out a sword energy that struck the snake away.
The yellow snake hit the ground a few meters away, but it bounced up again and swiftly slithered across the ground.
“It’s still not dead?”
He couldn’t help but feel surprised. That sword energy could slice through reinforced steel, yet this snake, no thicker than his thumb, had such tough flesh—it took the hit without a single visible injury.
What kind of species is this?
Not only could it evade his senses, but it was extremely fast, and its body was unbelievably resilient.
If it had been someone else, they would likely have fallen for it the moment they lost focus.
This thing was most likely highly venomous.
As the yellow snake lunged again, Chen Ming let out a cold snort and drew the Taiyue Sword.
“I’d like to see just how tough your body really is!”
Whoosh!
That streak of yellow lightning let out a strange hiss, twisting mid-air before landing several meters away. In those dimly glowing eyes flickered an almost human-like expression of fear and pleading.
“So now you know fear?”
Chen Ming was about to step forward and cut the snake into pieces to eliminate future trouble, when he suddenly sensed an emotion transmitted through the Taiyue Sword in his hand.
He halted and looked down at the sword, astonished.
“You mean… don’t kill it?”
Buzz buzz.
That seemed like a nod.
The Taiyue Sword’s spirit was indeed far more intelligent than the Phoenix Cry Sword’s; it could express such complete thoughts clearly.
Chen Ming grew intrigued and asked, “Do you know it?”
The sword vibrated twice in response.
He looked toward the small yellow snake lying submissively on the ground and said,
“Since Brother Taiyue has pleaded for you, I’ll spare your life today. Go.”
Then he returned to the stone platform.
Suddenly, he turned back to find the little snake following behind him.
“Why haven’t you left?” he asked expressionlessly.
The small snake lowered its head; its pale-red vertical pupils looked up at him pitifully.
At that moment, the Taiyue Sword began to hum again.
Chen Ming received clearer thoughts this time.
“You’re saying… it must guard whatever is beneath this stone?” He shook his head.
“But I’m taking it. There’s no room for negotiation.”
“What? You want it to follow me? That’s impossible. What if it bites me while I’m asleep?”
“What’s under there anyway?”
He gave the small yellow snake another glance—it was still lying obediently on the ground. With one slash, he split the stone platform apart, revealing a square hole beneath it containing two items.
One was a clump of yellow soil, constantly emanating an astonishing amount of earth-elemental energy.
The other was a book.
He converted the Qi within his body into earth attribute and reached for the yellow soil. A miraculous scene unfolded—the soil dissolved into energy upon contact with his hand and merged into his body.
With a mere thought, the yellow soil reappeared in his palm.
“This thing is truly strange—both tangible and intangible, as if it can shift between forms at will. Truly a remarkable treasure.”
After storing the yellow soil, Chen Ming picked up the other item—a book titled Demonic Transformation Grand Art (化妖大法).
You’ve got to be kidding me…
Seeing the title, a strange thought surfaced in his mind.
Was his fate with the Cult of Eternal Life really this strong?
This Demonic Transformation Grand Art was precisely the cultivation art of the Demonic Transformation Branch within the Cult of Eternal Life.
It was said that over five thousand years ago, demons and humans coexisted in this world—until the Cult of Eternal Life produced a Demon Venerable who could command all beasts and take on countless forms.
During that era, the Demon Venerable of the Demonic Transformation Branch was filled with grand ambition, seeking to overthrow human rule and establish a demon-led dynasty.
What followed was a world-shaking war that lasted over a hundred years. In the end, nearly all demonkind was exterminated, and that Demon Venerable was suppressed.
Thus, demons in the mortal realm were nearly extinct. Chen Ming himself had only seen one in the Fire Element Secret Realm—the legendary Fire Jiao. Despite only being at the First Grade, it had lived for nearly ten thousand years, truly favored by heaven.
According to legend, the Demonic Transformation Grand Art was a demonic cultivation that allowed coexistence with demons. By forming a life-and-death contract with a companion beast, one could share its longevity.
If the human host were to die, their consciousness could even transfer into the companion beast’s body, continuing to live on as that creature.
Hence, the name “Demonic Transformation Branch.”
However, since demons had nearly vanished from the world, any rare successor of the branch was no longer significant.
While higher-level demons did indeed possess long lifespans, their growth was extremely slow.
And yet—here was a copy of the Demonic Transformation Grand Art, along with a living demon beast.
Judging from the supernatural traits this small snake displayed, it was clearly no ordinary creature.
But then came the question—
“Why would Jin Tai rather die in meditation than cultivate this Demonic Transformation Grand Art?”
Surely, he couldn’t have been that obsessed with remaining human?
Chen Ming felt there must be a massive pitfall hidden behind this art.
Still, perhaps it contained some useful techniques.
Thinking so, he put the manual away, then looked down at the small yellow snake.
“Do you want to follow me?”
The snake made no response. Its vertical pupils held a trace of confusion—it didn’t seem to understand his words.
Judging by the look of it, it had some intelligence, but not much.
Chen Ming sheathed the Taiyue Sword, then extended the scabbard toward the small snake, saying,
“I’m leaving now. If you want to follow me, climb on.”
Perhaps understanding his gesture, the snake timidly slithered up and coiled itself around the scabbard. At a glance, one might even mistake it for part of the sword’s design.
Chen Ming cast one last look at the luminous pearls embedded in the stone wall, then left the place without a trace of reluctance.
——
Half an hour later, Chen Ming returned to Yu Haitang’s place. Handing over the yellow soil sealed inside a wooden box, he said,
“Mission accomplished. I’ve retrieved the item.”
Yu Haitang’s eyes lit up with delight when she saw the soil. However, she quickly noticed that a small piece was missing and said,
“This item can be used to nourish the Taiyue Sword. In the future, find a place rich in earth-elemental energy and bury it there—it will continuously absorb the power of the earth veins.”
“Thank you for your guidance, Miss.”
Indeed, Chen Ming had kept a small portion for himself—not for nourishing the Taiyue Sword, but to store within his Qi Sea, to enhance the quality of his Mysterious Earth True Art’s Gang Yuan.
The trace of golden flame he had previously absorbed into his Qi Sea had greatly enhanced the power of his fire-elemental Gang Yuan. Given time, perhaps his fire-elemental Gang Yuan could even attain the same might as that golden flame!
As for the treasure of the wood attribute, it was most likely in Yu Haitang’s possession—he could ask her for some later.
Unfortunately, he still had no clue about the treasure of the water attribute.
Perhaps that “Aunt Hong” had some leads—but she was currently trapped on Elysium Island.
Chen Ming thought again of that mysterious woman who loved wearing red. He had also promised Du Caiyue that if he could break through to the Second Grade within half a year, he would go to the island to rescue her.
It seemed he truly would have to make that trip.
Calculating with his fingers, he realized that there were still three months left before the half-year promise. He made a silent decision in his heart—
“If I can reach the First Grade by then, I’ll go.”
As for the final Mysterious Metal True Art and the corresponding metal-attribute treasure, he still had no clue where to find them.
Chen Ming knew that it would be best to complete the entire Five Elements True Arts before breaking through to the Divine Repository Realm. That way, upon reaching that level, he could establish an invincible foundation.
Yu Haitang put away the yellow soil, her expression softening considerably.
“Master Yuan truly keeps his word. In that case, I’ll lend you my hand once. When do you plan to act?”
Chen Ming replied, “Whenever Miss Yu has time.”
“Give me three days. Once I’ve settled my affairs, I’ll accompany Master Yuan.”
“Alright, I’ll wait for you.”
——
After that, Chen Ming stayed there, along with Huo Qianqian.
During the day, he guided Huo Qianqian’s martial cultivation.
Her cultivation art was the true legacy of the Xiaoshui Sect, but in his eyes, it was rather mediocre—at best, it could lead her to the Second Grade; reaching the First Grade would be nearly impossible.
In fact, ever since the founding patriarch, no one from the Xiaoshui Sect had managed to reach the First Grade using the sect’s own techniques.
Clearly, this art required a special constitution to cultivate to such a level.
Chen Ming had no shortage of peerless divine arts in his mind. Every scroll of the Five Elements Divine Arts led straight to the Divine Repository Realm.
However, the karmic burden of that art was too great—unsuitable for passing on to Huo Qianqian.
Aside from that, he also knew the cultivation techniques of the Gu Family—but those were absolutely not for outsiders.
Counting through the techniques he knew, he realized he had even more from the demonic path—Blood Demon Grand Art, Nine Nether Grand Art, Undying True Scripture, Demonic Transformation Grand Art.
Of the six branches of the Cult of Eternal Life, he already possessed four of their demonic arts.
He also remembered the Way of All Beings from the Xingyue Sect, which contained several techniques suited for women—all of them peerless divine arts capable of reaching the Divine Repository Realm.
Chen Ming chose one of those and passed it on to Huo Qianqian.
“This is a cultivation art from my sect, called Moon-Grasping True Art. Memorize it well…”
Huo Qianqian had thought the senior was merely offering some guidance, and was already nervous. When she heard he was going to teach her a divine art, she was startled.
“Senior, that’s improper! I’m unworthy—how could I learn such a divine art from you?”
Chen Ming said flatly, “I’m telling you to learn it, so stop talking nonsense. Listen carefully…”
Seeing his expression, Huo Qianqian suddenly knelt down and kowtowed three times with audible thuds.
This time, he did not stop her. The grace of imparting an art was deserving of such respect.
——
Huo Qianqian had only just reached the Sixth Grade, so she didn’t need to start over. The art Chen Ming selected was similar in principle to the Xiaoshui Sect’s method, only vastly superior.
She had an excellent memory and spent a single day memorizing the entire art.
From that point on, how far she could progress depended on her own effort.
Over the next two days, Chen Ming focused on studying the Demonic Transformation Grand Art.
He finally understood why Jin Tai hadn’t chosen to cultivate this demonic art from the Cult of Eternal Life. The text clearly stated that it could not be practiced alongside other arts, and any cultivator above the Sixth Grade who wished to switch to it would need to disperse their internal power and start anew.
Jin Tai, being a transcendent Divine Repository Realm expert, could not even disperse his cultivation. If he did, he’d die instantly—so all he could do was stare at the art helplessly.
Naturally, Chen Ming had no intention of dispersing his cultivation to start over. He believed that if he could complete the Five Elements True Arts, it would be the finest cultivation art under heaven.
His future was bright; only a fool would choose to practice the Cult of Eternal Life’s demonic arts.
If his guess was right, every one of those demonic arts contained immense hidden pitfalls.
Take the Blood Demon Sect, for example—the “Blood God Bead” that held their inheritance was most certainly condensed from the blood of the Devouring Heaven Demon Venerable himself.
Eventually, all disciples of the Blood Demon Grand Art would merely become batteries for that Demon Venerable.
The same likely applied to the Undying Sect and the Demonic Transformation Sect.
Only the Nine Nether Sect fared slightly better—at least they had produced a new Demon Venerable.
But in the end, he had turned himself into a spirit bound within a Demonic Artifact.
What meaning could such immortality hold?
What truly interested Chen Ming were the secret techniques recorded within.
Both the Nurturing Artifact Art and the Controlling Artifact Art had brought him tremendous benefits.
Within the Demonic Transformation Grand Art was a similar secret—Beast Controlling Art.
While his comprehension in martial cultivation was average, he learned secret arts quickly.
Within two days, the Beast Controlling Art appeared on his skill panel.
【Beast Controlling Art (Level 1 — 1/100000)】
Chen Ming glanced at his remaining points—over six million—and directly upgraded the secret art to the ninth and perfected level, consuming four and a half million points.
Ascending so many levels in one go, merely absorbing the knowledge took him quite some time—his mind felt like it was about to explode.
After a while, he finally recovered from the strain.
“I can’t be that reckless again. Next time, I’ll level up one stage at a time.”
Rubbing his aching temples, he felt a lingering sense of fear.
“Now, let’s test its power.”
He beckoned the small yellow snake over, bit his finger, and let a drop of blood fall on its head. Then, he activated the secret art, branding his divine sense into the snake’s spiritual awareness.
This type of technique was easy to perform on weak demon beasts, but the stronger they were, the lower the success rate.
“Failed?”
Moments later, Chen Ming sensed his divine imprint dissolve before fusing with the snake’s spirit—it had failed.
“Again.”
——
After more than ten attempts—
Chen Ming finally succeeded in imprinting his divine sense onto the snake’s spirit. Instantly, he felt an intimate bond between them, as though they shared the same bloodline.
“How truly wondrous.”
He gently stroked the snake’s head—its scales were cold and slick—and in his mind, he clearly sensed its affection and dependence toward him.
“From now on, your name will be Little Tu.”
An earth-attribute snake—a proper “Little Earth Snake.”