Yellow Springs Saber

Qin Shuang wrapped his hand in cloth and picked up the pitch-black sheathed saber.

"Why is it so heavy?"

When Qin Shuang lifted the saber, he found it was unlike an ordinary long saber. It weighed at least fifty pounds!

Still,

with his current strength, it was just right for him—almost as if it had been made to measure.

"Shing!"

Qin Shuang drew the saber, and a bone-chilling cold spread from its blade!

It was as though the saber were a block of ice that had been frozen for ten thousand years!

Only after Qin Shuang stirred the Qi and Blood in his body did the chill dissipate. He picked up the saber to examine it closely and couldn't help but praise it. "A fine saber!"

The entire weapon was pitch-black and about 1.2 meters long. Its blade was covered in layers of fish-scale-like ripples, with the words "Yellow Springs" engraved down the middle. It radiated a chilling killing intent and a razor-sharp edge.

"This junior came here by chance, but it seems fate brought us together. I'll seal this cave shortly and let you rest in peace. As for this saber, I'll make sure it once again shakes the Jianghu!"

Qin Shuang searched the stone walls but found no last words or anything of the sort. He clasped his fists toward the skeleton on the ground and spoke.

After speaking, Qin Shuang took out the Black Saber, intending to dig up some rocks to bury the skeleton. But he discovered that the Yellow Springs Saber could slice through iron as easily as mud. It pierced the stone wall as effortlessly as tofu!

Qin Shuang quickly dug out a pile of rocks and sealed the cave tightly. Only then did he sling the Yellow Springs Saber over his back and turn to make his way down through the snake's tunnel.

Once outside the tunnel, Qin Shuang examined the White Jade Golden Pattern Python. It weighed around seven or eight hundred pounds, but with his current strength, carrying it was no trouble at all.

Qin Shuang draped the White Jade Golden Pattern Python around himself and used Grass on Flying to head back the way he had come.

The giant python was so long that its tail dragged along the ground.

Half an hour later,

Qin Shuang reached a mountain peak. Suddenly, he spotted two figures approaching from about a mile away. They were Liu Hao and Jin Yang, the very men the White Jade Golden Pattern Python had chased earlier that day!

At that moment, Jin Yang and Liu Hao seemed extremely wary. They kept stopping as they walked, and hadn't noticed Qin Shuang yet.

Qin Shuang's thoughts stirred. Now he had someone to help him carry the White Jade Golden Pattern Python.

He immediately hoisted the white python onto his shoulder and headed toward them.

Jin Yang and Liu Hao cautiously followed the trail of destruction left by the white python.

"Q-Qin Shuang?"

"Qin Shuang... He... killed the white python?"

Suddenly, the two spotted a young man coming down the distant slope with a white python slung over his shoulder. Their eyes widened in shock.

The young man carrying the white python was none other than Qin Shuang, the man it had chased earlier!

"Why haven't you two left yet?"

Qin Shuang carried the White Jade Golden Pattern Python over his shoulder, its enormous body dragging behind him. He looked at Liu Hao and Jin Yang and asked.

"Young Master Qin, you saved us, then got chased by the white python. We couldn't rest easy, so we followed to see if we could help... We never imagined you'd actually kill it..."

Jin Yang was reeling with shock.

He and his nephew Liu Hao had nearly died in the white python's jaws, yet Qin Shuang had simply beaten it to death. How could he be so powerful?

After all,

he had been the one who recruited Qin Shuang into the Martial Arts School to learn Fierce Tiger Fist. Back then, Qin Shuang had looked like a spoiled young master, and Jin Yang had assumed he'd struggle even to master the basics. He'd never imagined Qin Shuang's true strength would be so terrifying.

"I came into the mountains looking for it."

Qin Shuang smiled faintly, then asked, "Why were you two being chased by it?"

"After something happened to our Martial Arts School, we came into the mountains to hide from our enemies. We also wanted to look for some medicinal herbs to help with our cultivation... We got too close to the white python's territory and it chased us..."

When Jin Yang spoke of the disaster that had befallen Golden Tiger Martial Arts School that day, he sighed again and again.

From the two men, Qin Shuang learned that Ding Dian had come to Golden Tiger Martial Arts School seeking revenge. The master's entire family had been killed, and the school's disciples had scattered. Jin Yang and Liu Hao had been detained by people from Golden Whip Martial Arts School. Later, when they learned that the culprit was Ding Dian, Jin Yihang's former junior fellow apprentice, they hadn't made trouble for the two and had let them go.

With their Martial Arts School gone, the two had feared their enemies would come after them, so they had hidden in the Xuan Yin Mountain Range. They had never expected to nearly become food for the white python.

"Are you the only disciples of the Martial Arts School left?"

Qin Shuang looked at Jin Yang and Liu Hao and asked.

"That culprit, Ding Dian, is still in Qingzhou City, searching for the school's disciples. We only managed to bring thirteen disciples out. They're hiding in a village outside the mountains. We don't know what happened to the others."

Jin Yang sighed.

"How about this? Follow me from now on. If Ding Dian comes, I'll deal with him."

At that, Qin Shuang's thoughts stirred, and he said,

With Liu Hao, Jin Yang, and the thirteen disciples, he could have them run errands and handle tasks for him, leaving him free to focus on simplifying his martial arts.

"Very well. Then we're much obliged, Young Master Qin!"

Jin Yang and Liu Hao exchanged a glance and nodded.

With Qin Shuang's strength, he could surely stand up to Ding Dian.

Qin Shuang carried the White Jade Golden Pattern Python, while Jin Yang and Liu Hao found a tiger and carried it down the mountain.

Outside Qingzhou City,

ten miles away, in Hualing Village.

Hualing Village had no flowers. Instead, low-tree-covered slopes stretched all around, with forty or fifty tiled and thatched houses scattered across them.

Behind the village stood a three-bay house of gray brick and tile.

Qin Shuang stood inside. The White Jade Golden Pattern Python lay coiled on the ground beside a dead tiger, while Liu Hao and Jin Yang stood nearby.

The thirteen disciples of the Martial Arts School stared at the giant python on the ground. They touched its hard scales, their faces filled with shock and disbelief.

"Young Master, there are ten more tigers on the mountain. I'll take them to bring them back!"

Jin Yang glanced at the thirteen disciples beside him, considered it briefly, then clasped his fists toward Qin Shuang and spoke respectfully.

He knew perfectly well:

the Martial Arts School had lost everything.

These men still needed food and resources to cultivate and practice martial arts. Since Young Master Qin had left ten tigers on the mountain, they couldn't let them go to waste. Bringing them back would earn a handsome sum.

After all, tiger bones, paws, gallbladders, hides, and meat were all valuable!

Qin Shuang nodded. "That would be good. If someone has already picked them up, don't get into a dispute. Just find out who took them, and we can collect them later. Safety comes first! Also, you won't be able to carry them with just the ten of you. Go find more people to help."

After speaking, Qin Shuang took out fifty taels of silver and handed them to Jin Yang.

Those ten tigers were worth a fortune. It would be a shame to leave them in the mountains.

"Yes, Young Master!"

Jin Yang nodded and left with ten of the Martial Arts School's disciples.

"I should head into the city first."

Qin Shuang looked at the White Jade Golden Pattern Python on the ground and thought to himself.

The flesh and blood of the White Jade Golden Pattern Python were the main ingredients for refining the Dragon Blood Pill. Refining them into pills to consume—or using the Medicine Refining Art to extract their essence and take that—would bring out their greatest effects!

Still,

he didn't have an alchemy furnace. For now, his best option was to go to the county seat, buy one, and use the Medicine Refining Art to extract the essence from the White Jade Golden Pattern Python's flesh and blood.

Qin Shuang asked the three remaining Golden Tiger Martial Arts School disciples to watch over the White Jade Golden Pattern Python and skin the tiger. Then he slung the Yellow Springs Saber over his back and headed toward Qingzhou City.