Chapter 165 : Another Unexpected Change
The spiritual energy at the lake bottom was rich and pure—perhaps too overwhelming for human cultivators, but for divine beasts, it was the finest nourishment possible. Thus, once the little white tiger lay down, she didn't want to move anymore, even yawning and feeling somewhat sleepy.
Seeing this scene, Yun Qingyue's expression momentarily became peculiar, but she still transmitted a message to Tan Xin.
Tan Xin was even more cautious than Yun Qingyue; he hadn't yet touched the ground. Hearing her warning, he tentatively touched the glowing white surface at the lake bottom, and indeed felt a surge of extremely concentrated spiritual energy rushing toward him. Fortunately, he was prepared and immediately withdrew, suffering no major harm, though his meridians felt slightly swollen and painful from the impact... Needless to say, there was indeed a powerful treasure at this lake bottom!
Setting aside the peculiarity rising in their hearts, Yun Qingyue and Tan Xin immediately split up to search for treasure. They swam a circuit around the lake bottom and discovered that not only were there no fish in this lake, but not even a strand of water grass grew there. Their search yielded nothing.
After reconvening, Tan Xin also noticed the little white tiger's condition and asked: "What's happening with Jianbing?"
Yun Qingyue showed some helplessness: "Perhaps the spiritual energy at the lake bottom benefits her. We needn't worry about her."
Tan Xin nodded, shifting his gaze to the glowing white surface of the lake bottom, with some hesitation: "We've searched the entire perimeter of the lake bottom and found nothing. Senior Sister Yun, could the treasure be beneath this surface?"
His speculation was reasonable, as the only truly anomalous feature of the lake bottom was that glowing white substance of unknown origin. Though knowing it was valuable, neither dared to disturb it. After all, the spiritual energy it contained was too concentrated; merely touching it already caused spiritual energy to flood their bodies. If they accidentally triggered an eruption of spiritual energy, not even Jianbing could withstand it, let alone themselves.
After hesitating for some time, they finally decided to cautiously attempt an attack.
Yun Qingyue flicked her finger, sending a spiritual energy bead toward the glowing white lake bottom.
This attack wasn't very powerful, nor was it particularly fast—merely a probe. Unexpectedly, before the spiritual energy bead even touched the white surface, it was instantly rebounded, accompanied by a terrifying pressure bearing down on them.
Despite Yun Qingyue's preparation, this caught her off guard—the rebounded spiritual energy bead's force and speed had increased more than tenfold. Facing the pressure directly affected her, and she couldn't dodge in time. She only managed to slightly tilt her head as the spiritual energy bead she had created grazed her cheek.
Shortly after, a splash of bright red bloomed in the deep blue lake water, quickly diluted and washed away by the currents.
The little white tiger, who had been lying motionless on the lake bottom as if asleep—not even responding to the pressure generated when Yun Qingyue attacked the lake bottom—suddenly twitched her nose, then abruptly opened her golden tiger eyes.
She immediately noticed the conspicuous graze on Yun Qingyue's cheek, jumped up in shock, and rushed over: "Senior Sister, what happened? How did you suddenly get injured?!" As she spoke, she looked around, baring her teeth with a milk-fierce expression, as if searching for the culprit who had injured her Senior Sister, ready to pounce and bite them.
Yun Qingyue's fingertips lightly brushed over the wound on her cheek, and the shallow graze immediately disappeared. She clearly didn't mind this minor injury, shaking her head: "I'm fine. This wound was just from a rebound from the lake bottom."
Hearing this, the little white tiger looked down at the lake bottom, then back at Yun Qingyue, blinking in confusion.
Yun Qingyue briefly explained the situation to her, and the little white tiger finally understood: "I find absorbing the spiritual energy from the lake bottom comfortable and smooth. So Senior Sister and the young monk can't absorb it?" She didn't dwell on this point, continuing immediately: "If that's the case, let me search around. You two wait here for me."
After saying this, the little white tiger returned to the lake bottom. As her four paws touched the ground, she felt a surge of powerful spiritual energy washing through her body. With each wash, she felt her meridians widening and becoming more resilient—the benefits were unmistakable.
Unfortunately, her Senior Sister couldn't enjoy this opportunity. After landing, the little white tiger tried to dig up a piece of the ground for her Senior Sister to try, but her claws weren't hard enough compared to the surface. Even using spiritual energy to scratch several times, she couldn't dig out a piece of stone or even leave a scratch mark on the surface. Instead, she nearly broke her claws!
The little white tiger reluctantly abandoned this plan and dutifully began searching for the treasure.
The lake was vast, and naturally the bottom wasn't entirely flat—there were depressions and elevations. Yun Qingyue and Tan Xin dared not approach too closely, and their divine sense was blocked, leaving some areas unexplored.
This didn't hinder the little white tiger, however. She searched methodically on all fours, leaving no corner or crevice unchecked. Before long, she discovered something in a deep crevice at the lake bottom and excitedly called to Yun Qingyue: "Senior Sister, I found it! There's a spirit herb here. It's red, has seven leaves, and has even bloomed..."
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While Yun Qingyue and her companions searched for treasure at the lake bottom, Su Hao and the others who had lured away the Silver-scaled Black Python were having a miserable time evading pursuit.
After leaving the lake water, the Silver-scaled Black Python was indeed less agile than in water, but this didn't mean its speed had diminished. On the contrary, it flew very quickly, keeping close behind everyone while occasionally spewing venom, causing utter chaos.
Bei Luo, who had first provoked the Silver-scaled Black Python, had maintained aggro steadily. After several rounds of pursuit and evasion, even this Nascent Soul cultivator began to feel a hint of fatigue. Whether this fatigue originated from his body or his mind, it inevitably gave rise to some irritation. He was the first to speak up: "What location has Junior Brother Wen Jin found? Why is it so far away?!"
Su Hao was flying nearby and replied helplessly: "We've been evading all the way, but we're not that far from the lake. Flying another hundred or so li forward should be about right." Only upon reaching their destination, with the aid of formations, could they properly engage.
As they spoke, both suddenly dipped, narrowly avoiding a spray of venom.
Though they dodged the venom itself, the residual toxic vapor from the passing venom was still overwhelming.
Bei Luo and Su Hao hurriedly took more antidote pills. Bei Luo glanced at his remaining supply with a bitter expression: "Senior Brother Su, I don't have many antidote pills left..."
Bai Xu appeared timely, pulling out a medicine bottle and tossing it to him: "No problem, I have more here."
Bei Luo's eyes brightened as he reached to catch it, but somehow—perhaps the Silver-scaled Black Python behind them had overheard their conversation—it suddenly accelerated forward. The previously steadily flying cultivators scattered like startled birds. As for the bottle of antidote pills thrown into the air, it was carelessly swallowed by the Silver-scaled Black Python, which would likely digest both the jade bottle and the pills within.
Seeing this, everyone had the same thought. Su Hao immediately transmitted to Bai Xu: "Junior Brother Bai, do you have any highly toxic pills, or even intoxicating or hallucinogenic ones that could incapacitate this Silver-scaled Black Python?"
Bai Xu looked back at the enormous Silver-scaled Black Python and transmitted with a wry smile: "I do have poison, but this Silver-scaled Black Python is too large, and it's naturally poison-resistant. My pills probably wouldn't even fill the gaps between its teeth." The poison might even strengthen the venom it spewed!
Such a counterproductive outcome made Su Hao abandon the idea.
However, Bai Xu thought for a moment, then suddenly retrieved another jade bottle from his storage ring. After opening and checking it, he tossed it toward Bei Luo again: "Senior Brother Bei Luo, I have more antidote pills here. Catch quickly!"
Bei Luo didn't suspect anything and flew over to catch the medicine, but was again intercepted by the pursuing Silver-scaled Black Python. He felt somewhat annoyed, but when he turned to look at Bai Xu, he saw a mischievous smile in his eyes and a raised eyebrow. With the tacit understanding of brotherhood, Bei Luo increased his flying speed without a second thought, and the others hastily followed suit.
Sure enough, in the next moment after the Silver-scaled Black Python swallowed the medicine bottle, its rapidly flying body suddenly paused. Then everyone heard earth-shaking coughing, and looking back, they saw the water-attributed Silver-scaled Black Python actually breathing fire, with streams of black smoke pouring from its mouth.
Seeing this, Bei Luo burst into laughter and gave Bai Xu a thumbs up: "Junior Brother Bai, impressive!"
Bai Xu smiled modestly: "Keep it down, it was just a bottle of Fire Flame Pills."
Su Hao, with his extensive knowledge, observed for a moment and shook his head: "Not just that, right?"
Bai Xu blinked and added: "When I opened the bottle to check, I mixed in a bit of strange fire."
Hearing this, Su Hao and Bei Luo both sucked in a breath. Strange fire was at least a hundred times more powerful than an ordinary pill refiner's flame. The Silver-scaled Black Python's external skin had amazing defense, and the strange fire might not burn through it, but the inner mouth tissues and internal organs were certainly soft. What it had swallowed wasn't just a Fire Flame Pill—it was no different from swallowing a small bomb.
The brothers all felt their throats burning at the thought, but before they could express more amazement, Tan Ming urgently said: "Quickly, the Silver-scaled Black Python is going berserk!"
Su Hao and the others hadn't relaxed their vigilance. As soon as Tan Ming spoke, they transformed into several streaks of light shooting far away.
The Silver-scaled Black Python was indeed going berserk. Being a water-attributed beast, although water overcomes fire, it particularly despised fire, let alone having its mouth set ablaze. Though Bai Xu had only used a wisp of strange fire, it was still formidable, nearly burning its mouth to shreds. The venom evaporating and sticking to the wounds made it even more unbearable... In all its years, the Silver-scaled Black Python had never suffered such a humiliation!
The excruciating pain in its mouth made the Silver-scaled Black Python increasingly violent. If it had previously used only seventy percent of its power chasing those ignorant youngsters, still playing with them, now it used 120 percent of its speed to pursue them.
As the Silver-scaled Black Python drew closer, Su Hao, flying at the front, suddenly brightened and shouted: "We're here, go down!"
As his words fell, four streaks of light immediately descended, charging toward the ground. The Silver-scaled Black Python behind them, its rationality clouded by anger, didn't think twice despite hearing Su Hao's words and followed them down in a black streak.
The next moment, countless golden light pillars suddenly rose from the valley where everyone had landed. These pillars, though only arm-thick, were densely interwoven, quickly forming an enormous net that dropped over the Silver-scaled Black Python. Caught off guard, the Silver-scaled Black Python was thoroughly ensnared, yet it remained calm, as the "net ropes" appeared so thin that it could break free with a casual struggle.
With a swing of its tail, the Silver-scaled Black Python created howling winds and flying sand and stones, even breaking in half a giant tree that must have grown for thousands or tens of thousands of years when struck by its tail. Seeing this, everyone's hearts jumped, and they instinctively retreated.
Only Wen Jin, who had arrived early to set up the formation, remained composed. With rapid hand seals, the golden net ensnaring the Silver-scaled Black Python suddenly contracted. The python's struggles not only failed to free it but bound it even tighter, with the golden "net ropes" almost cutting into its hard scales... though unfortunately, only almost.
The Silver-scaled Black Python struggled even more violently, occasionally spewing venom. When the venom landed on the golden "net ropes," they seemed to be corrupted and corroded, immediately dulling in color.
Wen Jin's face paled slightly as he warned everyone: "Hurry and attack, it won't be trapped for long!"
The others had also observed this and simultaneously brought out their magical treasures to attack, but the Silver-scaled Black Python's defense far exceeded their expectations. Even Su Hao and Tan Ming, with the highest cultivation, could only break one or two scales with their full-force attacks—the Silver-scaled Black Python was tens of zhang long, with countless thousands of scales. What difference did one or two broken scales make?
The Silver-scaled Black Python was trapped in the formation, but its cold snake eyes seemed to flash with mockery as it spewed another mouthful of venom, corroding the formation's energy. If not for its current mouth pain, it could probably break free from the formation using its venom in minutes.
Su Hao's expression darkened slightly. At this point, reconciliation with the Silver-scaled Black Python was impossible, and they certainly couldn't allow it to break free and counterattack. So he quickly surveyed everyone and instructed: "Junior Brother Bai, keep a close eye on the Silver-scaled Black Python. Whenever it opens its mouth to spew venom, burn it with strange fire. Senior Brother Tan Ming and Junior Brother Bei Luo, join me in attacking these broken scale areas! Junior Brother Wen Jin, just focus on maintaining the formation."
With these assignments, everyone immediately carried out their tasks, and the attack became methodical.
The Silver-scaled Black Python, having reached the Void Crossing realm, naturally possessed intelligence comparable to human cultivators. Su Hao's instructions were given in its presence, and it certainly heard them. With its mouth still burning painfully, it dared not open it again. However, with its thick skin and tough hide, it didn't fear Su Hao and the others' attacks and struggled even more violently.
Suddenly, the Silver-scaled Black Python's struggling movements paused as it turned its head toward the direction they had come from. It seemed to have sensed something, its cold vertical pupils rapidly contracting, followed by great anger. The entire snake went berserk, desperately trying to break free.
Seeing this, Su Hao and the others immediately guessed that Yun Qingyue and Tan Xin must have found and obtained the treasure, causing the Silver-scaled Black Python's anxiety. Their hearts lifted, and they certainly couldn't allow it to leave. So instead of attacking, everyone channeled their spiritual energy into the formation, making it even more stable.
Just as everyone was at an impasse with the Silver-scaled Black Python, a tremendous, earth-shaking boom suddenly came from the distant lake.