When the Time Comes, Heaven and Earth Will Lend Their Strength

Magic City, Zhou Family Old Residence.

Su Yuan sat there; although he had never personally been to the Southern Frontier, he had a clear grasp of the situation on Zhou Yu's end.

This was also a part of the plan formulated by the Grey Mirror, and so far, everything was under Su Yuan's control.

"Ten Thousand Ravine Snake Valley..."

Su Yuan's thoughts turned.

Ten Thousand Ravine Snake Valley was filled with giant snakes that blotted out the sky. Let alone humans, even other animals would be torn to shreds by the countless serpents if they dared to enter.

Yet, Su Yuan had allowed Zhou Yu to enter the Ten Thousand Ravine Snake Valley alone, naturally having a way to ensure his safety.

He had instructed Zhou Yu to create a Transparent Viscous Substance to smear over his body, which could completely mask his own scent.

Furthermore, it would emit a scent belonging to the snake species, leading the snakes within the Ten Thousand Ravine Snake Valley to believe that Zhou Yu was "one of their own."

The Transparent Viscous Substance was a recipe provided by the Grey Mirror, crafted from various medicinal herbs and specific snake eggs, designed specifically to deceive the sense of smell of the countless snake monsters within the Ten Thousand Ravine Snake Valley.

Of course, the Transparent Viscous Substance was only useful against ordinary large snakes; if one truly encountered the giant, ferocious snakes within the Ten Thousand Ravine Snake Valley, or those two Snake Mothers, it would be of little use.

Giant snakes that had evolved to that degree no longer relied solely on their sense of smell.

However, Su Yuan had countermeasures for this as well; as long as Zhou Yu was obedient, it would suffice.

Southern Frontier, outside the Ten Thousand Ravine Snake Valley.

After threatening and warning the eight herb gatherers, Zhou Yu followed Su Yuan's instructions and headed along the side of the snake valley.

Thirteen minutes after Zhou Yu had circled the snake valley, Su Yuan's voice sounded in his ear once again.

"Enter the snake valley from this position."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu immediately stopped and cautiously entered the snake valley.

Rustle, rustle~ As soon as Zhou Yu entered the snake valley and looked at everything before him, his breathing nearly stopped.

As far as the eye could see, the rocks and the ground were covered in dense masses of snakes. These snakes were large and small, thick and thin, covering nearly the entire valley.

"This..."

Zhou Yu's heart was beating faster than ever before. Facing so many snakes, let alone an expert of the Dark Jin, even a Grandmaster of the Hua Jin would feel their scalp go numb.

However, since Su Yuan had not told him to flee, Zhou Yu could only bite the bullet and stand his ground.

A moment later, Zhou Yu noticed something strange: the dense masses of snakes seemed to have no hostility toward him at all.

"Is it the Transparent Viscous Substance I smeared on?"

Zhou Yu immediately thought of the reason.

"Now, walk slowly forward."

At this moment, Su Yuan's voice came through the miniature earpiece again.

Having received Su Yuan's order, no matter how apprehensive Zhou Yu felt, he walked slowly toward the front.

As he ventured deeper into the Ten Thousand Ravine Snake Valley, Zhou Yu did not know how many large snakes he had brushed past, yet these large snakes had no interest in him, as if they could not see him at all.

At this moment, Zhou Yu had long forgotten how Su Yuan could know everything he was facing; right now, there was only one thought in Zhou Yu's mind.

He must follow the "Sir's" orders.

"Stop."

Su Yuan's voice rang in Zhou Yu's ear through the miniature earpiece.

Zhou Yu immediately halted his steps.

There were far fewer snakes here, but Zhou Yu still dared not be careless.

He had already penetrated deep into the Ten Thousand Ravine Snake Valley; one slight mistake would lead to his doom.

"There is a hole in front, jump down."

Su Yuan said.

"A hole?" Zhou Yu looked ahead and indeed discovered several pitch-black openings.

Walking to the edge of the hole, Zhou Yu did not ask what was inside; he jumped straight down.

Clack~ As an expert of the Dark Jin, Zhou Yu adjusted his posture upon landing and immediately surveyed his surroundings.

The hole was not deep, and faint light from the outside shone in.

"This place..."

A guess immediately formed in Zhou Yu's mind.

Beneath this hole should be the lair of the countless snakes of the Ten Thousand Ravine Snake Valley.

"In thirteen seconds, the signal will be interrupted for two minutes. Just stand there and don't move."

Zhou Yu heard Su Yuan's voice once again.

Sure enough, ten seconds later, the signal from the Miniature Earpiece Zhou Yu was wearing cut out abruptly.

Had it not been for Su Yuan's warning, Zhou Yu would likely have panicked; after all, strictly speaking, he wasn't just deep in Snake Valley anymore, but had come directly into the lair of the underground Snake Den.

Two minutes later.

Su Yuan's voice came through once again.

"Continue moving forward."

Zhou Yu steadied his nerves and advanced in the direction Su Yuan had indicated.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but Zhou Yu only felt the light growing dimmer and the air becoming increasingly pungent and fishy.

Suddenly, Su Yuan's voice reached his ears.

"Stop, hide behind that rock on the left!"

Zhou Yu obeyed without a moment's hesitation.

Twenty seconds later, a rustling sound emerged. Zhou Yu couldn't help but peek, only to see a giant snake, two meters thick, slithering in the opposite direction from which he had come.

If he hadn't hidden here, he would almost certainly have collided head-on with this giant snake.

In that event, even with the transparent, viscous liquid smeared on his body, Zhou Yu felt he would still have been discovered by that giant snake.

Fifty seconds later.

"Get up and continue moving forward."

Only when Su Yuan's voice came again did Zhou Yu dare to stand up and continue his advance.

From then on.

Inside this bottomless Snake Den, Zhou Yu moved in fits and starts.

Every time he stopped, he managed to avoid one or several giant, ferocious snakes.

Or rather, it was as if those giant, ferocious snakes were avoiding Zhou Yu, missing him by a hair's breadth every single time.

Zhou Yu's heart was like a rollercoaster, never once settling down.

Finally.

Two hours later.

Zhou Yu arrived at the bottom of the Snake Den.

There were no other snakes here; not even those large, ferocious snakes were to be seen.

Zhou Yu took a look, and his breath suddenly hitched.

Because right at the very bottom lay a behemoth that was almost perfectly camouflaged with its surroundings.

Is this even a snake?

Zhou Yu's mind was a blur; that behemoth was a full seven or eight meters thick, its size several or even dozens of times greater than the giant, ferocious beasts he had encountered earlier. Even more incredibly, there were two faint, menacing bulges on the creature's head, as if something were about to sprout from them.

"Do not be afraid. The Snake Mother is currently in a deep slumber and cannot detect you."

Su Yuan's voice came through.

"The Snake Mother? Is this the legendary Snake Mother?"

Zhou Yu snapped to his senses.

Before Zhou Yu could think any further.

Su Yuan's voice came again.

"Do you see that Blood Lingzhi to the front right?"

"Front right?" Zhou Yu looked in that direction and indeed saw a lingzhi, only the size of a palm, looking as if it had been drenched in fresh blood.

"Walk over there," Su Yuan's voice commanded.

Zhou Yu walked over immediately, even though the legendary Snake Mother lay right in front of him.

Standing before the Blood Lingzhi, Zhou Yu did not act rashly.

Instead, he waited quietly for Su Yuan's next order.

Time slipped away.

At the bottom of the Snake Den, Zhou Yu faintly perceived a sound of breathing that was impossibly long.

Is that the Snake Mother breathing?

Zhou Yu swallowed hard.

The breathing was so drawn out that a single inhalation and exhalation took ten minutes.

One exhalation, one inhalation.

One inhalation, one exhalation.

He waited for a full seventy minutes.

Finally, just as the Snake Mother reached the end of her last breath.

Far away in Magic City, Su Yuan issued a command: "Pick the Blood Lingzhi now and place it inside the jade box."

The reason he chose to pick the Blood Lingzhi at this specific moment was that doing so at any other time would awaken the slumbering Snake Mother.

Simply put, this Blood Lingzhi originally belonged to the Snake Mother; it had chosen to sleep here precisely for the sake of the herb.

Under these circumstances, anyone who plucked the Blood Lingzhi would inevitably alert the Snake Mother.

Only at the tail end of the Snake Mother's seventh breath, when the new breath had yet to enter and the old had yet to leave, combined with the critical stage of its deep slumber, would the creature fall into a ten-minute state of total sensory deprivation regarding the outside world.

Only at this exact moment could the Blood Lingzhi be plucked without drawing the Snake Mother's attention.

Swish. The moment he received Su Yuan's order, Zhou Yu reached toward the Blood Lingzhi, plucked it directly, and placed it into the jade box he had brought along.

"Should I return now?"

Zhou Yu looked toward the direction from which he had come.

"Continue toward the front-left. There is a passage thirteen meters away; crawl inside and keep climbing upward."

Su Yuan's voice came through.

Zhou Yu did not hesitate for a second, immediately following Su Yuan's instructions.

Whoosh. Arriving before the narrow passage, Zhou Yu squeezed inside without hesitation and began to climb toward the exit.

Compared to the stop-and-go pace of his descent, the ascent was much faster, as there were no giant or vicious snakes in the vicinity of this narrow passage.

Thirty minutes later.

Zhou Yu finally reached the surface and beheld the sight of Ten Thousand Ravine Snake Valley.

"I'm out?"

Zhou Yu was somewhat dazed.

Along this journey, he had lost count of how many giant and vicious snakes he had brushed past, and he had even come into close contact with the legendary Snake Mother herself.

Yet, despite the seemingly certain death he had faced time and again, he had miraculously survived.

The giant snakes had turned a blind eye to him.

The vicious snakes had ignored him entirely.

That Snake Mother had never once awakened, allowing him to walk away with the Blood Lingzhi.

Everything that had transpired made Zhou Yu inexplicably think of a single phrase—

When the time is right, "Heaven and Earth" exert their strength in unison.

But who was "Heaven and Earth"?