Second New Life

Deep Night, heaven and earth were like ink, all things lost their color, and the entire village was left with only a very vague outline.

Qin Ming was processing the Blood Snake. The skin of this spiritual creature was too difficult to peel. Its scales were harder than refined iron, and the sound of a hatchet hitting it was like metal clanging.

If he wasn't careful, the bright red scales could cut his fingers, like pieces of refined gold. If this were made into armor, the defense would definitely be amazing.

Qin Ming threw the hatchet aside, preparing to change to a sharp weapon. Two days ago, Mu Qing not only sent him the Long-handled Black Gold Hammer, but also a short sword.

He tried it. Although it wasn't as sharp as the cyan-faced man's long sword, he could barely use it to peel snake skin by gripping the short sword and increasing the force.

Qin Ming was exceptionally focused. After peeling open one end of the large snake's skin with the short sword, he pulled downwards with force, which was much easier than cutting directly.

Several Sun Stones flowed with soft light, illuminating the Blood Snake's body with a red glow, as if it were carved from a piece of jade.

After the scarlet snake skin was gradually peeled off, the exposed flesh was snow-white and delicate. The color of the snake gall was not as dull as that of ordinary snakes. It was blue and translucent, like a gemstone.

Qin Ming had already realized that both the snake meat and the snake gall contained a rich and vigorous spirituality, and were even glowing faintly, which should be a top-grade tonic.

"No wonder the people from Red Haze City immediately tore off their hypocritical masks after seeing it, and didn't hesitate to kill and plunder."

He cut the snake meat with a short sword, divided it into sections, washed it carefully, and immediately started a fire to boil water. He would never wait overnight to achieve his Second New Life sooner.

In this environment, he felt a sense of crisis. All kinds of monsters and demons had come. The great clans and organizations of Red Haze City had appeared one after another. He didn't know what would happen in the mountains next.

These people were all looking for the "Nodes" in the mountains. Special areas were accompanied by abnormal phenomena, especially the Smoky Haze Illuminated Land, which made them extremely eager, willing to use extremely rare advanced scriptures to reward clues.

Since the magnetic field in the mountains was disturbed, the Fire Spring had been extinguished and reborn, and all kinds of strange things had happened.

"There is also a group of high-level creatures migrating from afar, bringing their families and occupying the resources in the mountains." Qin Ming pondered, could the so-called migration just be a guise? Could it be that the newly arrived top-level aliens were also looking for something?

The snake meat was already in the pot. As time passed, a rich aroma gradually emerged, causing Qin Ming to quickly withdraw his thoughts, and his appetite was instantly whetted.

Deep Night, the wind and snow were fierce, and the snake meat pot in the house was fragrant. Qin Ming indeed had a strong appetite, patiently waiting for it to be completely cooked through.

"It's really fragrant, and very fresh." After tasting the first bite, his eyes lit up. This spiritual creature was much more delicious than ordinary snakes, like two different species.

Originally, he was somewhat disgusted by snakes, but now he didn't care at all. In his eyes, this was "dragon meat" on earth.

Qin Ming only ate a few mouthfuls, and felt a warmth rising in his body. The effect was immediate. The spiritual substances were taking effect so quickly.

"The snake gall can be steamed, or soaked in spicy old wine to eat. Alas, there's no wine at home, so there's no choice."

While eating snake meat, he put the blue snake gall into the steamer. This contained mysterious spiritual essence, and he needed to watch it carefully.

After a while, the snake gall, which looked like a large blue diamond, was cooked through. Qin Ming couldn't care less about the snake meat and began to enjoy the real "main course."

"My... Mountain God, heavens, my heart is so bitter!" Qin Ming only tasted one bite, and felt his tongue go numb with bitterness. He looked at himself in the mirror and found that his mouth was also blue.

He knew that snake gall was bitter, and had been mentally prepared, but the bitterness of the Blood Snake's essence-condensed gall far exceeded his expectations.

At this moment, he felt that the snake meat didn't smell fragrant anymore, and he was numbed by the bitterness.

He quickly drank a mouthful of fresh and fragrant snake soup to wash the bitterness into his stomach, but the effect was not great, and a strong bitterness still permeated his mouth.

This thing, in terms of taste alone, wouldn't be eaten even by a dog, and even a New Life who had built a foundation beyond the Golden Foundation couldn't stand it.

Qin Ming didn't swallow it in one gulp, mainly because the snake gall was large, and he felt that chewing it would make it easier to absorb the spiritual essence, and he could quickly achieve Second New Life.

His good mood for enjoying delicacies all night was almost ruined by the bitterness. Looking at the remaining half, he gritted his teeth, thinking that since it had come to this, he might as well continue to chew it slowly.

After Qin Ming ate the entire snake gall, he looked at himself in the mirror and noticed that his lips seemed to be painted with a bewitching blue, giving him an indescribable, strange aura.

"Luckily, I ate it in the Deep Night; if it were Shallow Night, I wouldn't be able to face anyone!"

However, the effects of the snake gall were truly intense and extremely potent. Not long after swallowing it, his whole body became hot, as if he had a high fever.

Qin Ming remained calm and continued to eat the snake meat, not only to suppress the bitter taste but also to add another spark of spiritual fire to his body.

Eventually, his body began to burn, like a vigorous furnace of life, pushing back the severe cold of the winter season, and his whole being seemed to glow.

"Dietary supplements, medicinal cuisine, the effects are kicking in!" Qin Ming stood up, grabbed the Long-handled Black Gold Hammer, and went to the courtyard to practice the killing moves from that sword manual.

In an instant, all the snow on the ground rushed into the night sky. White mist swirled around him, a faint light flowed over his skin, and the vitality in his flesh and blood surged, bringing forth bursts of wind and thunder as he swung the hammer.

Qin Ming's overall spirit, energy, and essence were constantly rising. He knew that the Second New Life had already begun; it was a process, not something that could be achieved overnight.

But he could clearly feel this change. His strength was increasing, his tendons seemed to be stretching, his senses were becoming more acute, and his vision was also improving.

"Each New Life process is so intoxicating, feeling myself getting stronger, even the thick, impenetrable darkness seems to have faded a little."

A large amount of active power surged within Qin Ming's body. His entire being felt as if it were being purified and baptized, his bones seemed to be resonating and rumbling in unison.

Under the night sky, his body was like a furnace, visibly glowing.

It was as if a secret flame was burning in his flesh and blood, cutting away the old and turbid, promoting New Life, tempering his spirit, energy, and essence, and accelerating the thriving changes within him.

Qin Ming swung the Long-handled Black Gold Hammer in the courtyard, constantly exhausting himself. Only after his hair was wet and he was covered in sweat did he enter the room.

He sat quietly in the room, silently feeling the changes within his body.

Afterward, he pondered whether his body would grow again after the Second New Life. According to Old Man Liu, the changes in the body would vary greatly depending on the Willpower Skill and Meditation Technique chosen.

Next, he would verify the quality of his self-taught methods and see what kind of changes they would bring about in his body.

Qin Ming was originally half a head taller than ordinary people, and after the First New Life, he had grown nearly two inches taller.

In the evening, when he talked about New Life with Old Man Liu and Xu Yueping, they both felt that his height had not changed much, because some people could shoot up a whole head.

Old Man Liu had a wealth of life experience. In his youth, he had been very close to the older generation of Mountain Patrol, and had heard many anecdotes about New Life.

"Some Willpower Skills, when practiced, cause the body to expand like a bubble with each New Life, becoming taller and taller, but only some of it is a solid Golden Foundation, and more of it is just clay. Therefore, many New Life methods require suppressing the body from continuing to grow taller after reaching a certain stage." This was one of the situations Old Man Liu mentioned.

He emphasized that some secret Willpower Skills were extremely precious. After practicing them, some extremely mysterious changes would occur, such as the birth of a third eye. Some sacred legends came from this.

Such secret books were too rare, and even many large clans could not access them.

While drinking, Old Man Liu fell into reminiscence, recounting the anecdotes that the older generation of Mountain Patrol had told him in his early years. He also talked about some special New Life methods and the corresponding various strange changes and influences.

Finally, he mentioned that one type of New Life method required maintaining the Golden Foundation height ratio of the body from the very beginning, and not allowing the body to grow wildly.

While drinking, Old Man Liu looked at Qin Ming and said drunkenly, "I think your height change is not that obvious."

Qin Ming's mentality was very peaceful. He only needed to wait two days to know which type his New Life method leaned towards.

For the first time, he felt that the news here was indeed somewhat limited. He guessed that the New Life individuals in Red Haze City were very clear about these things, while he had only pieced them together from various sources.

What's more, some people did not rely on New Life to move forward at all, and there were other paths to take. These were too far away for him and he had no way of understanding them.

After sitting quietly for a long time, Qin Ming felt hungry. The changes from the Second New Life were very obvious. He immediately began to eat snake soup to replenish his body with food containing rich spirituality.

Finally, he rinsed his body with cold water and drifted into dreamland in the silent Deep Night.

Before falling asleep, he vaguely saw the "Jade Suit Sewn with Gold Threads" appearing on his body surface again, silver light covering his body, golden threads interwoven, looking quite miraculous.

Qin Ming went from light sleep to deep sleep, and finally to a state between dreaming and waking.

He felt himself sinking into slumber, his body and mind completely relaxed, getting a good rest, but part of his consciousness was active.

Between wakefulness and sleep, he seemed to see a dusty black cloth, covering his subconscious, blocking his vision, unable to see what was behind it.

But in the process of the Second New Life, the dust was gradually blown away, and a corner of the black cloth was lifted, and then he saw himself in his ignorant childhood.

Although in a state between dreaming and waking, Qin Ming realized that the Second New Life led to a comprehensive improvement of his body, and even his spiritual consciousness was becoming stronger, which caused the childhood memories that had become blurred to reappear.

In a trance, it was as if someone was whispering in his ear: "This kind of routine... although it has a great origin, it cannot be practiced."

Then, Qin Ming saw through the lifted corner of the black cloth, a rough hand holding a very thin ancient book, flipping it open to the first page in front of the young him