The Snake Who Collects Scrap

After wandering through the countless palaces and pavilions of Mount Hua for several days, I finally understood the general situation.

Chunyang Palace, said to have been founded by a powerful being from the immortal realm, is the guardian sect of the Great Tang Empire. With profound heritage, countless experts, and many who have achieved immortality, it is undoubtedly the foremost sect in the world.

It is roughly divided into five lineages: the Jade Void Lineage of Sect Leader Li Xiangyan, and the four senior brothers and sisters of the Sect Leader's generation: Gu Cangyu's Golden Void, Jiang Li's Spirit Void, Qi Yun's Purple Void, and finally Yu Rong's Qingxu lineage. They each guard a peak, and the White Snake is located at Qingxu Palace.

Almost everyone in the world wishes to join Chunyang to cultivate, seek the Dao, and achieve immortality when they are young. However, due to limited aptitude, only one in ten thousand can enter the mountain. Those who can enter the sect are all paragons of the world, the kind whose spiritual energy bursts from their heavenly crowns and whose coffin lids cannot suppress them.

Chunyang Palace, as the head of the righteous sects, is the most respected by the world. It embodies vast righteousness, virtue, and integrity. Whether it be evil cultivators or demons wreaking havoc, Chunyang disciples who descend the mountain to travel will surely draw their swords to eliminate evil. Most importantly, the people of Chunyang Palace are devoted to cultivation and have little interest in the mortal world. This is why the emperors of the human world regard Chunyang as their guardian sect.

Devoted to transcending the mundane and achieving immortality, and enthusiastic about eliminating evil, such a good sect is simply a blessing for those in power.

The White Snake felt that it had latched onto a powerful patron, and not just any patron, but a sturdy one covered in thick leg hair. This was the guardian sect; who would dare cause trouble on the mountain? It was the perfect place to live a life of ease and idleness. Yes, it had to flatter them well, lest it be kicked off the mountain.

Thus, Yang Mu and Xu Ling noticed that the lazy white snake had become much more diligent recently...

There wasn't even a single mouse or bug in the mountain forests surrounding the palaces. Wherever the White Snake slithered past, its serpentine aura would scare away any rodents, causing them to flee their homes. The White Snake, which was only supposed to guard the main hall, was actually putting in the effort to tidy up the surrounding environment.

Within the palace dedicated to Yu Rong's Qingxu lineage, there were only three people, including Yu Rong, and a snake.

It was said to have been brought back to guard the gate, but it was merely a pet kept for aesthetic purposes. It didn't need to guard the gate every day, so the idle White Snake began to ponder how to speed up its cultivation.

Immortal mountains and blessed lands are full of opportunities, such as the strong scent of elixirs and potent medicines drifting from Lingxu Palace.

The Spirit Void lineage specializes in making medicines, refining pills, and drawing talismans. Their medical skills are superb, and they are Chunyang's peak dedicated to medicine and alchemy. It would be a mistake to think that the disciples of the Spirit Void lineage only know how to refine pills and not fight. Refining pills requires a solid foundation, and coupled with their daily practice of medicine, alchemy, and healing people, they have many friends. They can obtain any sword techniques or treasures, making them wealthy and powerful.

The White Snake had its sights set on the wealthy disciples of the Spirit Void lineage. These guys were very rich. As long as it came here to pick up some trash, there would definitely be benefits. It was like playing a game; high-level players don't care about trash, but that trash is a treasure to low-level players.

In front of the Lingxu Palace's main hall, a giant gourd-shaped alchemy furnace was placed on a lotus stone seat. The furnace was engraved with formations and had copper bells hanging from its eight corners. The White Snake didn't know why there were copper bells hanging on the furnace. It stared at the furnace for a long time without understanding anything. It then casually walked through the main hall to the backyard.

The two disciples guarding the main hall seemed to turn a blind eye.

The news that Senior Aunt Yu had brought back a white snake quickly spread throughout Mount Hua. At the time, they thought it was some rare exotic beast, but it turned out to be an ordinary white snake, so everyone lost interest.

There was no need to stop it, as it was just a pet snake. At most, it would eat some medicinal dregs within Lingxu Palace.

That's right, the White Snake had come to eat medicinal dregs and failed pills. Speaking of which, it had to thank the snake's powerful swallowing and terrifying digestive abilities. Anyone who knows snakes knows that they can swallow prey much larger than their mouths. Moreover, the White Snake itself is the type that can digest its scales, bones, and skin. The digestion process can last for days or even more than ten days, demonstrating its strong digestive and decomposition capabilities.

It slithered to the outside of the alchemy room, ignoring the Lingxu disciples who had come to watch out of curiosity. It coiled up in its designated spot and waited quietly.

Both alchemy and medicine refinement are prone to failure, and the resulting dregs are not edible. Failed pills, in particular, are poisonous and can cause poisoning reactions. The usual disposal method is to collect them, register them, and then discard them. Now, they had a new use: feeding the snake.

The older disciple responsible for managing the dregs looked at the newly delivered failed pills and registered them with a brush before placing them aside.

The White Snake opened its mouth and forcefully sucked the dozen or so failed pills from the porcelain plate. The failed pills were sucked into its mouth, and then it coiled up and continued to wait leisurely.

The snake's ability to ingest was taken to the extreme by the White Snake.

The cultivator smiled in satisfaction. This White Snake was actually a bit useful, saving him the trouble of disposing of the failed pills. He really didn't understand what the use of eating these things was, as they had no function.

Failed pills and medicinal dregs are useless and contain toxins for humans, but they are great tonics for the White Snake. The toxicity is relative to humans. Besides, it could distinguish which were edible and which were poisonous by its sense of smell.

It had been nearly a month since it started coming to Lingxu Palace to scavenge for failed pills and medicinal dregs, and the White Snake's cultivation had been rapidly increasing.

Two female cultivators walked into the hall and took out two pills of mediocre quality to tease the snake.

"Big White, this is for you~"

It secretly curled its lips in its heart but still obediently stepped forward and ate the pills. Mediocre quality meant insufficient medicinal effects, but for it, they were already top-grade tonics. After all, if there were pills, who would eat dregs?

"Your scales are so beautiful~"

The two female cultivators were chattering and their eyes shone as they stared at the snake's scales. The White Snake ignored them, not giving them any face just because two beauties offered it pills. After all, they wouldn't bother a wild beast.

It waited for two more batches of failed pills and a box of medicinal dregs. After eating everything, it slithered away.

Its cultivation had increased rapidly recently. The failed pills, medicinal dregs, and the semi-finished pills from the female cultivators were very effective. After absorbing them, the entire snake felt refreshed.

If it encountered the Grey Wolf demon now, it wouldn't need snake venom or to dive into the water; the White Snake dared to guarantee it could strangle it on the spot.

It slithered back to Qingxu Palace.

Without even looking at the two children who were still diligently practicing, it coiled up on the ancient pine tree by the cliff and remained motionless, digesting the medicinal supplements in its belly. Traces of medicinal power seeped into the White Snake's entire body through its blood vessels...

It didn't expect this digestion to take a full day.

The next day.

After waking up, the White Snake felt a tightness all over its body; it was about to shed its skin.

Xu Ling, who was practicing her sword, caught a glimpse of the large snake coiled around the ancient pine tree and found it strange. She stopped practicing her sword and went to check. Seeing this, Xu Ling was startled.

"Master... Master, something's happened..."

The girl ran to the backyard shouting. Yang Mu looked at the White Snake inexplicably and also felt that something was wrong.

Yu Rong was meditating on a futon when she heard the shouts and had to open her eyes.

"Master, something's happened! Big White is going to die!"

"Hmm?"

Xu Ling's vision blurred, and her master instantly brought her to the ancient pine tree by the cliff.

"Master, look, Big White is dull and lifeless, even its eyes have turned white..." Xu Ling pointed at the White Snake, her voice trembling with tears.

Yu Rong raised her hand to signal Xu Ling to calm down, then carefully scanned and observed. Based on her years of knowledge, she made a judgment about the current situation. After scanning, she found that the White Snake's vitality was still present. Strangely, its vitality was even more vigorous compared to when it was first brought to the mountain. Had something happened during the few days she had been cultivating peacefully?