Chapter 308 - 306: Golden Core Advancement, Raiding the Lair

Chapter 308: Chapter 306: Golden Core Advancement, Raiding the Lair

A Soul Search like this would cause a fatal backlash, giving it a chance to escape.

"No!"

But in the next moment, the Demon Soul let out a silent, bloodcurdling scream.

It had sensed a Power of the Divine Soul so immense that it was completely irresistible.

After that, Zhang Chi successfully completed the Soul Search.

After all, Zhang Chi’s Divine Soul was comparable to the Nascent Soul Peak Level, so searching this Demon Soul was naturally an easy task.

Moreover, he was protected by the Jade Pendant and would be completely unaffected by any negative repercussions.

’So that’s how it is!’

As he processed the information he’d obtained, realization dawned on Zhang Chi.

He finally learned the origin of this Black Sand Profound Snake. As he’d suspected, it came from the Black Desert, one of the desolate lands on the edge of the Great Abyss.

Many years ago, however, it had been caught in a black sandstorm along with another Black Sand Profound Snake, which was how they had inexplicably ended up here.

Of course, they were also lucky. Many other Exotic Beasts had been swept up in the storm, but the vast majority had perished.

Among them were even several Tier Four existences.

And that was only because the black sandstorm hadn’t been a particularly large one. Otherwise, even with their luck, they wouldn’t have survived.

At the same time, Zhang Chi discovered that this was actually the female snake, and there was another, more powerful male.

The one that had appeared earlier was undoubtedly the male.

This information was of little use to Zhang Chi, but another piece of information made his heart race.

The Black Sand Profound Snakes had a nest nearby. Inside the nest were numerous Spirit Medicines, as well as Black Sand Profound Snake Eggs.

Among the Spirit Medicines were two types of Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects, treasures the Black Sand Profound Snakes had left for their offspring to use when they tried to break through to Tier Four in the future.

’Perfect! The male snake went after the Hundred Flowers Palace Saintess, so it’s likely doomed. This is my chance to go plunder the Profound Snakes’ lair. After this, I’ll almost have all the extra Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects I need!’

’As for the Snake Eggs, I’ll use the Spirit-Seizing Technique to extract their Spiritual Veins and use them to cultivate my Flying Dragon No. 1!’

Overjoyed, Zhang Chi made his decision in an instant.

He could try to hatch the Snake Eggs, but according to the Rare Treasures Record, a creature like the Black Sand Profound Snake was no ordinary Demon Beast. It was an Exotic Beast, inherently vicious and incapable of acknowledging a master.

Otherwise, a major power on the Level of the Hundred Flowers Palace would have likely raised such Exotic Beasts long ago, and the three from the palace wouldn’t have had to go to the trouble of hunting one.

Knowing this, Zhang Chi naturally wouldn’t waste his effort.

Zhang Chi’s belief that the male snake was likely doomed wasn’t just baseless speculation.

First, the three cultivators from the Hundred Flowers Palace surely had powerful trump cards, especially the Hundred Flowers Palace Saintess.

When Zhang Chi had been near her earlier, his powerful Divine Soul had clearly sensed an incredibly terrifying aura hidden on her person.

Second, she wasn’t just accompanied by two Nascent Soul Early Stage cultivators. A Nascent Soul Middle Stage expert was also secretly following and protecting them.

However, that expert had not revealed themself. It seemed that even the three from the Hundred Flowers Palace were unaware of their existence.

During the earlier ambush of the Black Sand Profound Snake, this expert hadn’t been nearby, likely out of fear that the snake’s unique senses would detect them and cause the hunt to fail.

But Zhang Chi’s Divine Thought was powerful, and he had discovered this person’s presence back in Huixing City.

This time, as long as the Black Sand Profound Snake posed a lethal threat to the Hundred Flowers Saintess and her companions, that expert would definitely intervene.

Whether the Black Sand Profound Snake could survive would depend entirely on whether it could escape before its opponent closed in.

But in its rage, the Black Sand Profound Snake would very likely lose its usual caution and end up being killed.

’I have to move fast. Otherwise, whether the Black Sand Profound Snake returns unharmed or is killed, I’ll lose the chance to plunder its nest!’ Zhang Chi thought.

Immediately after, he performed a Magic, extracting the Black Sand Profound Snake’s Demon Soul from the Demon Pill and sending it into his Beast Soul Banner.

This Demon Soul was quite powerful, so even after being subjected to the Soul Search, it hadn’t shattered or lost consciousness.

This was a good thing for Zhang Chi, however, as it could now serve as the new Main Soul for his Beast Soul Banner.

Furthermore, once inside the Beast Soul Banner, a Demon Soul would lose its original consciousness and know only to obey the commands of its master, Zhang Chi.

Given enough time, Zhang Chi could even remove it and seal it into an Upper Grade Magical Treasure to serve as its Artifact Spirit.

As for the remaining Demon Pill, Zhang Chi found a special Jade Box and sealed it away.

This item was extremely precious, comparable to a cultivator’s Nascent Soul.

Moreover, Demon Beasts generally didn’t undergo Transformation until they were breaking through to Tier Five. If they transformed earlier, a Tier Four Demon Beast wouldn’t be limited to having just a Demon Pill.

SWISH...

After that, Zhang Chi immediately dismantled the Array, got his bearings, and used his full-speed Flying Escape toward the Black Sand Profound Snake nest.

To increase his speed, Zhang Chi even used the Golden Light Shuttle.

He discovered that after the quality of his Golden Core had improved, even activating the Golden Light Shuttle was easier and faster.

"Hahaha, excellent!"

Feeling his marked improvement, Zhang Chi laughed heartily as a streak of golden light instantly vanished over the horizon.

In just four hours, he had successfully arrived near the Black Sand Profound Snake’s nest.

It was an Oasis only about a dozen *li* across, located in a remote area with no human presence.

Although the Oasis was small, a Tier Three Low Grade Spiritual Vein was hidden beneath it.

This was because Spiritual Veins existed within the desert itself.

Furthermore, some oases that appeared small on the surface were actually much larger, with most of their area buried underground.

This isolated, island-like Oasis was just such a place.

However, a Spiritual Vein of this grade was obviously of no use to Zhang Chi.

The Black Sand Profound Snakes, not being creatures that heavily relied on Spiritual Qi, had chosen this location.

That’s right, the Black Sand Profound Snake nest was built beneath this Oasis.

While there was no Array outside the nest, the entrance was quite hidden and contained a powerful Demon Fiend aura.

Fortunately, since Zhang Chi had performed a Soul Search on the Black Sand Profound Snake, he easily found the entrance to the nest.

As for the Demon Fiend aura, he could simply ignore it, or even collect and use it.

Before entering the nest, however, Zhang Chi first used his powerful Divine Thought to scan the area.

He found that, as expected, the other Black Sand Profound Snake was not in the nest.

Only then did Zhang Chi land on the Oasis and lift a large, peculiar, cyan stone slab that was buried in the ground.

The reason the slab was peculiar was that it perfectly concealed the Demonic Qi and the Spiritual Vein in this place.

In a way, it was no worse than some Arrays, though it lacked any offensive power.

Moreover, the slab was extremely sturdy and could block Divine Thought.

Even when Zhang Chi had scanned the nest with his Divine Thought, he’d had to circumvent the slab by probing through the surrounding soil.

If not for the strength of his Divine Thought and the fact that he had performed a Soul Search on the Profound Snake Demon Soul, he would never have been able to discover the nest because of this slab.

’I’ll check the Rare Treasures Record later to see what kind of Spiritual Material this is!’ Zhang Chi thought as he put the stone slab away.

The moment he did, a blast of Demon Fiend aura and Spiritual Qi rushed toward him.

Fortunately, as High Tier Demon Beasts, the Profound Snakes possessed high intelligence, so the place didn’t stink.

Next, Zhang Chi took out a bottle to collect the Demon Fiend aura and then truly entered the nest.

It began with a huge tunnel that extended deep underground, and finally, Zhang Chi arrived in a massive cavern.

There were many Demon Beast skeletons here, and even some human skeletons.

In addition, as he expected, there were some Spirit Medicines, most of which were of a high grade.

For instance, there were Demon Companion Flowers and Dragon’s Blood Ginseng, all of top-tier quality and age.

However, what most attracted Zhang Chi’s attention was a half-foot-tall, silvery-white Spirit Grass that was a vibrant, lush green, along with two longan-sized cyan berries whose surfaces seemed to be covered in scales.

The Spirit Grass was called Void Absorption Grass, and the berries were Cyan Scale Fruits. Both were extra Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects.

He had a double portion of the Cyan Scale Fruit, which meant he could exchange the extra one for other Spiritual Objects when he returned to Beichen Oasis.

Even though he had anticipated this, Zhang Chi was still quite excited to see these Spirit Medicines in person, and he quickly harvested all of them.

After that, Zhang Chi continued searching and easily found three Black Sand Profound Snake Eggs.

They were only the size of a fist, but their surfaces were covered in a black shell as hard as iron, and they radiated an astonishing Demonic Qi and life force.

After collecting the Snake Eggs, Zhang Chi also gathered some of the valuable Demon Beast skeletons.

Then, he found a shed Snake Hide from one of the Black Sand Profound Snakes.

Although this Snake Hide wasn’t as good as the one on a living Black Sand Profound Snake, it was still a decent Artifact Refining Material.

’Hm? So soon?’

Just after that, Zhang Chi flew out of the nest. But as soon as he emerged, he detected a powerful presence entering the range of his Divine Thought.