Nine-Headed Sky Serpent: Stop Hitting Me, I'll Behave

Back Mountain the Starfall Pavilion, in a secluded and cool Mountain Cave, there is a small pool carved from rocks in Mountain Cave center. At this moment, the clear water in the pool is bubbling and looks like boiling water.

Beside the pool, Xiao Yuan would occasionally take out some medicinal powder or liquid from his Storage Ring and sprinkle it into the pool. Only after the clear pool water gradually turned light red did he stop. With a flick of his hand, a small jade bottle appeared, emanating a rich and pure energy that seemed almost tangible.

"Woo"

Upon seeing the small jade bottle, the snow-white beast in Xiao Yuan let out a soft whimper. The beast looked unusually listless, and even its fur had become somewhat dull, which was heartbreaking to see.

"Stop whining! You're not satisfied after taking one of my Rank 8 Pill!"

Xiao Yuan wasn't buying it and glared at the Pill Beast.

"Sizzle!"

The jade bottle tilted, and the silver liquid slowly dripped down, finally landing in the pool. It immediately produced a sizzling sound, and as the liquid dripped in, an extremely pure energy fluctuation immediately filled the pool.

"Qing Lian, take off your clothes and enter the pool. If you can absorb all this energy, you should be able to advance to the Two Star Dou Zun."

Xiao Yuan put away the jade bottle and turned to Qing Lian beside her with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Qing Lian was taken aback at first, and then a blush appeared on her cheeks.

"I understand." Seeing her like this, Xiao Yuan smiled, turned around, and said, "Because I need to add various medicinal powders at any time, I won't leave."

"Um"

Qing Lian blushed and responded in a soft whisper, then quickly took off her clothes and leaped lightly into the small pond with a splash.

Hearing the sound of water entering the pool, Xiao Yuan turned his head and looked into the pond. He saw that Qing Lian had only her head above water, her long hair wet with water vapor and clinging to her cheeks, which only added to her charming beauty.

"Enter a meditative state and absorb the medicinal power of the pool water."

Xiao Yuan said softly.

Hearing Xiao Yuan's gentle voice, Qing Lian's shyness and nervousness gradually subsided. She calmed her mind, closed her eyes slightly, and slowly entered a meditative state.

Seeing that Qing Lian had successfully entered a meditative state, Xiao Yuan smiled slightly. Just as he was about to get up, his gaze suddenly stopped on Qing Lian's smooth back that was above the water. Amidst the rising mist in the pool, a mysterious tattoo was faintly visible on her back. Upon closer inspection, the tattoo seemed to resemble a coiled giant python, but this python appeared to have nine heads.

As Xiao Yuan stared in astonishment at the mysterious tattoo, one of the nine heads of the hydra, whose eyes had been closed, suddenly opened its eyes, and a fierce aura surged out of Xiao Yuan's heart without warning.

Hmph! Then, after a cold snort, Xiao Yuan 'Heavenly State level soul power emerged, immediately protecting himself and launching a counterattack. His soul power transformed into a large hand and slapped out.

"Smack!"

A crisp sound rang out, and a look of astonishment, remarkably human-like, appeared in the snake's open eyes.

Not a buddy?

Qing Lian didn't perceive this strongly, so she didn't say anything.

With his powerful soul force, Xiao Yuan was not afraid to confront the hydra at all, and immediately his pair of dark eyes locked onto the hydra.

As a light mist rose from the pool, the mysterious tattoo on Qing Lian's smooth back became faintly visible. The hydra's eyes closed again, and the previous commotion did not recur. Clearly, this creature knew that Xiao Yuan was not someone to be trifled with!

Xiao Yuan frowned slightly, staring intently at the mysterious tattoo. The tattoo must have been quite large, because what was visible above the water was only a part of the hydra's body; clearly, its body lay coiled beneath it.

"A nine-headed Ancient Sky Serpent?"

Xiao Yuan remained quite calm. With a tremor of his body, a phantom figure appeared and stood to the side; it was his Soul Clone.

"Go find Xiao Yan and borrow that Fallen Heart Flame. I want to see what this thing that dares to bare its teeth at me is capable of!"

Xiao Yuan said in a deep voice.

"Okay, just a moment."

The Soul Clone nodded, and then dashed out of the Mountain Cave.

Soul Clone, Xiao Yuan glanced at the color of the pool water, then took out a small jade bottle from his Storage Ring and poured out a little pale red liquid.

Completely removing the Emperor Python Heart-Corroding Poison from Qing Lian's body is a rather complicated process, but with the help of two top alchemists, Yao Lao and Xuan Yi, it is not difficult to cure the Emperor Python Heart-Corroding Poison; it just takes some time.

Although Xiao Yuan was aware that completely resolving the Emperor Python Heart-Corroding Poison would be quite troublesome and time-consuming, he did not expect that it would take nearly four days.

For the past four days, Xiao Yuan has remained in the Mountain Cave without leaving. He has added nearly a hundred kinds of Medicinal Herbs to the pool, and terrifyingly pure energy permeates the pool. In the end, even the energy mist has become somewhat viscous.

Although time and Medicinal Herbs were being consumed in large quantities, Qing Lian's complexion became increasingly vibrant under the steaming energy mist. The faint black aura that had remained between her brows was also gradually dissipating. All of this indicated that the Emperor Python Heart-Corroding Poison in her body was being rapidly neutralized.

During the days he cared for Qing Lian while she was being detoxified, Xiao Yuan also paid close attention to the mysterious tattoo on her back. After observing her for several days, he discovered that as more and more energy was poured into Qing Lian's body, the mysterious nine-headed serpent tattoo became clearer and clearer. In fact, the snake eyes on the nine heads even opened slightly. It was just a tiny opening of the snake eyes, but when they saw Xiao Yuan's gaze, they would close tightly again.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yuan has also been familiarizing himself with the Fallen Heart Flame these past few days.

Since it's not one's own Heavenly Flames, some skill is still required to perform precise control.

Moreover, the most important thing right now is to resolve the toxins in Qing Lian's body before considering the Nine-Headed Sky Serpent. Therefore, Xiao Yuan calmed down and continued to wait. After nearly three days of this tedious care and waiting, Qing Lian, whose eyes had been closed for seven days, finally showed signs of life.

"Gurgle"

In the pool, the pale red water bubbled continuously, and amidst the rising steam, a delicate and graceful figure could be faintly seen. Several years had passed, and the little girl from back then had blossomed into a beautiful and charming young woman.

Xiao Yuan sat cross-legged on a stone seat beside the pool, his slightly closed eyes slowly opening. He sensed a subtle change in the energy within the pool.

Is it almost finished?

Softly muttering to himself, Xiao Yuan suddenly heard a splashing sound from the pool. He was immediately startled and was about to get up when the entire Mountain Cave suddenly began to tremble violently.

"What happened?"

Xiao Yuan's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly stood up, his gaze immediately fixed on the misty pool.

The noise was coming from there.

He narrowed his eyes, staring intently into the pool. Faintly, a huge outline seemed to appear and disappear in the mist. Sensing this strange change, Xiao Yuan frowned slightly, and his internal Dou Qi quickly circulated.

Just as Xiao Yuan's internal Dou Qi began to circulate, the pervasive energy mist suddenly began to wriggle, and then a strange eye the size of a head appeared out of thin air. In that emerald green eye, three small dots rapidly enlarged, eventually transforming into three eerie emerald green flowers that spun rapidly around the pupil.

"Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils!"

Upon seeing the demonic eyes appear, Xiao Yuan's heart tightened immediately, and almost reflexively, golden flames enveloped his entire body.

"Puff!"

The golden flames had just risen when the demonic eye suddenly exploded, and a massive figure burst out of the pool, rushing towards Xiao Yuan like lightning.

As Xiao Yuan watched the enormous figure rushing towards him, his pupils shrank. It was a giant snake with nine ferocious heads. The snake's body was dark red, as if it had been stained with blood for countless years. At first glance, an indescribable aura of fierceness and malevolence spread out.

The giant serpent shook its nine ferocious heads, and the eighteen demonic eyes on those heads had all turned blood red. What was most strange was that the color within these blood red eyes was exactly the same as when Qing Lian used the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.

Staring intently at the Nine-Headed Sky Serpent charging towards him, Xiao Yuan's lips curled into a cold smile. He then hurled the Fallen Heart Flame, which he had become quite familiar with.

The next moment, the Fallen Heart Flame transformed into a giant serpent, its appearance exactly identical to the Fallen Heart Flame sealed in the Heavenly Flame Training Pagoda of the Jia Nan Academy! Although this fire serpent only had one head, the Fallen Heart Flame's unique effect of targeting the soul was something the Nine-Headed Sky Serpent could not withstand! Thus, under Xiao Yuan's control, the giant serpent spewed invisible flames, almost instantly surrounding the Nine-Headed Sky Serpent. The next moment, a hissing sound rang out, like roasting meat, and puffs of white smoke rose from the Nine-Headed Sky Serpent's body.

"Try kissing me again?"

Xiao Yuan flew to the Nine-Headed Sky Serpent with a hostile expression, his soul power transforming into arms, and with a series of slaps, he created two large fists.

Nine-Headed Sky Serpent: "???"

"What, you're not convinced?"

Seeing this, Xiao Yuan narrowed his eyes, then his soul arm slapped each of the remaining eight heads twice. He then summoned the Fallen Heart Flame, condensed it into flames, and sent them into the nine heads of the Nine-Headed Sky Serpent.

"Go ahead and continue if you miss."

Xiao Yuan raised his chin.

Nine-Headed Sky Serpent: "I've behaved myself."

Xiao Yuan nodded in satisfaction upon seeing this.

The next moment, the Nine-Headed Sky Serpent, with its clear eyes, paused. A look of relief appeared in its blood-red eyes. After a moment, the blood-red color quickly faded, and the emerald green color slowly returned.

"Laugh!"

As the emerald green color appeared, the hydra's enormous body suddenly burst forth with a powerful light, and its body rapidly shrank, transforming into a petite figure that fell from mid-air.

Seeing Qing Lian fall, Xiao Yuan flashed forward and caught her slender waist. The soft, boneless touch made his heart flutter. He quickly calmed himself down and looked at Qing Lian, who was slowly waking up in his arms, and asked, "Are you alright?"

As Qing Lian slowly opened her eyes, she was startled when she saw Xiao Yuan standing so close to her. The touch from his soft body made her cheeks flush and she quickly buried her face in Xiao Yuan's arms.

Huh? Xiao Yuan was taken aback, then casually patted her shapely buttocks and asked, "What do you mean? I'm going to dress you?"

"If it's the young master, that's not out of the question either."

A shy whisper, barely audible, came from within her arms.

"Tsk, after all these years, it's become me serving you?"

With a muttered complaint, Xiao Yuan skillfully dressed Qing Lian in a blue dress.

Finally relieved that she no longer had to face Xiao Yuan naked, Qing Lian breathed a sigh of relief, but still lingered in Xiao Yuan and refused to come out.

"Tell me, where did you get the soul of the Nine-Headed Sky Serpent? And why are you so unruly?"

Xiao Yuan lowered his head and asked.

"When I first came to Central State, I accidentally wandered into an Gu Shan and encountered the skeleton of an Ancient Sky Serpent. Out of curiosity, I used the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, but unexpectedly, it summoned a soul from the skeleton," Qing Lian said with a bitter face. "This thing is very difficult to tame. Even when I use the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, it doesn't listen to me and sometimes it even causes trouble. But thankfully, as my strength increases, its resistance is getting weaker and weaker. I suppose I'll be able to control it easily in the future."

"I remember your Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils couldn't control this kind of serpentine magical beast with ancient blood, right?"

Xiao Yuan pondered for a moment, then asked.

"If this Tian She had a body, I would indeed be unable to control it. But this guy is just a soul, and it's not that I actively want to control it; it's that it's clinging to me on its own," Qing Lian said helplessly. "In ancient times, there were only two kinds of top-tier magical beasts among snakes that truly possessed royal bloodlines: one was the Ancient Sky Serpent, and the other was the Heaven Swallowing Python. These Nine Nether Earth Python now are just their descendants."

"Yes, I just gave it a good scolding. As long as you're still by my side, it won't dare to cause trouble, don't worry."

Xiao Yuan nodded and said with a smile.

"Young Master is truly amazing!"

Upon hearing this, Qing Lian smiled and praised her.

"Shouldn't all the toxins in your body be gone by now?"

As Xiao Yuan spoke, he took Qing Lian's wrist and began to examine her with his soul power.

Qing Lian nodded and chuckled, "Now that my strength has reached the Two Star Dou Zun, if I use the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, I should be able to control a serpentine magical beast with the strength of Five Star Dou Zun."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan nodded and released Qing Lian's wrist.

"Now that the poison has been neutralized, let's go."

After saying that, Xiao Yuan picked up Qing Lian and turned to walk out of the Mountain Cave. Now that Qing Lian's problem was solved, it was time to start refining a body for Yao Lao. Xiao Yan's condition had already been adjusted and he was just waiting for him!