Chapter 59: The Thorn-Scaled Snake

Chapter 59: Chapter 59: The Thorn-Scaled Snake

The two of them walked out of the clan compound and made their way along the city’s streets.

Along the way, they encountered several other clan members, whose attitudes toward them had become noticeably friendlier.

"Good morning, Fellow Daoist!"

Ye Xuan turned and returned the greeting by cupping his hands in the traditional Taoist gesture.

"Good morning, Fellow Daoist."

[Why are they being so friendly toward you?]

I don’t know. It must have something to do with me killing Elder Ying or the Honored Human title Yan Jin gave me.

News spreads like an epidemic. The war also seems to have ended. They’re probably starting to discuss my contributions during the battle.

Ye Xuan accepted their friendliness, something he rarely received given his current circumstances.

Because of that, he might consider making the Blazing Fire Serpent Clan’s city his place of refuge.

Aside from being located within Scarlet Moon Forest, a place renowned for its dangers and mysteries, the city’s underground location also made it difficult for other cultivators to detect.

From a distance, his eyes caught sight of a formation altar situated in one corner of the city.

Several people were using it to travel between the city and the surface.

When the two of them arrived, one of the men approached and offered to help Ye Xuan reach the surface.

Ye Xuan did not refuse his assistance.

In an instant, he was transported from the formation altar inside the city to another formation altar in Scarlet Moon Forest.

After bidding farewell to the man, Ye Xuan flew toward another part of the forest.

Qingyu’s tail remained coiled around his neck as her head constantly turned from side to side, observing their surroundings.

We should be able to defeat Spirit-Beast and Profound-Beast monsters. It’s best to avoid anything at the Earth-Beast stage.

[Earth-Beast monsters rarely roam around. They usually spend their time cultivating and absorbing qi essence.]

Absorbing qi essence? Could those rocky hills with trees growing on top of them actually be Earth-Beast monsters resting?

[I don’t know. However, the rocky hill you’re talking about is indeed suspicious. We’d better not approach it.]

Ye Xuan heeded Qingyu’s advice and continued flying on his sword, passing through the forest’s mist toward another area, quite far from the formation altar.

The reason Ye Xuan had chosen to move away from that location was to encounter different monsters he had never fought before.

Perhaps he would get lucky and come across a Spirit-Beast or even a Profound-Beast monster.

He landed on the ground and observed the trees in this part of the forest. They remained intact, lush, and dense, with no signs of damage whatsoever.

Ideally, he should have used monster cores to lure the monsters toward him.

However, his supply had run out when his bag was destroyed to hold off the cultivators back then.

His only option was to search for them and fight them directly.

Ye Xuan walked forward, manifesting a lightning sword in his hand and gripping it tightly.

His eyes swept across the surroundings until he spotted a snake monster covered in sharp, thorn-like scales.

He activated his Myriad Eye Technique and examined the creature ahead.

The qi aura radiating from the Thorn-Scaled Snake was at least equivalent to that of a Spirit-Beast, making it an ideal opponent for the two of them to practice against.

Would you like to fight it first?

[Of course.]

Qingyu leaped from Ye Xuan’s neck and used her power to transform.

The qi aura released by her transformation immediately caught the Thorn-Scaled Snake’s attention.

The monster let out a loud roar toward Qingyu, and she responded in kind.

The two serpents began fighting. Ye Xuan watched as Qingyu swung her tail to the side, releasing a qi attack toward the Thorn-Scaled Snake.

So, this is the ability she acquired by devouring Elder Ying’s power?

Since his primary element was wind, it seems Qingyu can only acquire the non-elemental abilities he had mastered.

The qi attack struck the Thorn-Scaled Snake’s body, sending it flying into the nearby trees.

Rather than surrendering or showing fear, the snake monster became even more aggressive, using its surroundings to its advantage.

Ye Xuan noticed something happening to the trees and soil around them.

Sharp thorns emerged from the ground and trees, attacking both him and Qingyu. It was an ability to control the wood element in the surrounding area.

The young man swung his sword and unleashed a fiery slash, destroying the thorns that threatened him.

When he was about to help Qingyu, he noticed that she was having no trouble dealing with the Thorn-Scaled Snake’s wooden thorn attacks.

A spherical qi barrier appeared around Qingyu, causing the wooden thorns to shatter whenever they struck its surface.

Ye Xuan was impressed. Qingyu had not only acquired the qi tail attack but had also absorbed Elder Ying’s qi barrier defensive ability.

This gave Qingyu a defensive technique of her own in battle.

The wooden thorn attacks finally ceased. Qingyu then moved, manifesting a magical rune in front of her body, distinct from the red rune on her forehead.

From that magical rune, thousands of crimson lightning swords shot toward the Thorn-Scaled Snake.

Ye Xuan could only stare in shock at the unexpected sight.

She’s manipulating sword qi and infusing it with crimson lightning. That’s clever.

A barrage of crimson lightning swords struck the Thorn-Scaled Snake, accompanied by explosions and lightning bolts that caught the monster off guard.

Within seconds, the Thorn-Scaled Snake collapsed to the ground, its body covered in wounds, with several holes left by the sword strikes.

Seeing that the battle was over, Qingyu ended her transformation and leaped toward Ye Xuan, immediately coiling her tail around his neck.

"How was it?"

[I’m quite satisfied. I don’t want to train too much, though. I’m worried that my seal’s restriction might increase.]

Ye Xuan nodded before reaching out and extracting the monster core from the snake’s body.

It was considerably larger than the monster cores obtained from Mortal-Beasts.

He had no intention of keeping it as a collection. Instead, he planned to destroy it.

Perhaps the scent released by a Spirit-Beast monster core would attract other monsters, especially those at a similar stage.

"I’ll detonate this monster core to—"

"Fellow Daoist! Please help me!"