Ironback Black Python!

Shanhaiyuan.

The steamed meiyu fish really tasted good.

Ye Xuan wiped the oil from his mouth and walked out of Heyang City with satisfaction.

Time to get down to business.

Destination: Tianyuan Mountain.

He didn't immediately soar into the sky on his sword.

That would be too flashy.

And it would be easy to miss treasures on the ground.

Ye Xuan summoned the standard-issue flying sword named Fine Iron Flying Sword.

Although the System had rated it as trash, it could at least fly.

As Ye Xuan flew, he spread his spiritual sense like radar.

He hadn't even flown fifty miles.

"Beep beep beep—"

The radar in his mind pinged.

Ye Xuan's flight faltered, and he immediately brought his sword light down.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, he darted into a patch of bushes.

He pushed aside the weeds.

Several blades of grass emitting a faint blue light swayed in the wind.

"Blue Star Grass?"

In the Qingyun Sect.

This herb wasn't considered particularly precious.

This was because the people of Qingyun Sect didn't know the true use of Blue Star Grass.

Most of them treated Blue Star Grass as an herb for healing bruises and sprains.

But Ye Xuan was different.

When he acquired Low-tier Alchemy Mastery.

Ye Xuan also obtained many pill recipes.

And Blue Star Grass was one of the ingredients needed to refine several types of pills.

Afterward.

Ye Xuan directly took out a small herbal shovel.

He dug up the entire plant, roots and soil included.

After completing this.

Ye Xuan clapped his hands and stepped back onto his flying sword.

The rest of the journey took on an extremely bizarre tone.

If someone had been watching Ye Xuan from the sky, they would have noticed that his flight path was far from a straight line.

Instead, it was like a headless fly or an old ox plowing a field.

He'd fly for a bit, then stop.

He'd dive into the forest and only emerge after half a day.

Sometimes it was for a few pieces of ore with a slightly higher iron content.

Sometimes it was for a few pieces of wood containing Spiritual Energy.

Anything with even a little value was basically plundered by him.

This wasn't how a cultivator traveled.

It was more like a swarm of locusts passing through.

What should have been a journey of a few days was dragged out by Ye Xuan for a full month.

During this month.

Ye Xuan endured hardship and slept in the open, yet he was utterly delighted.

His storage bag, which had been empty, was now bulging like an inflated pufferfish.

It was stuffed with all sorts of miscellaneous materials.

Although most of them were low-tier goods.

The sheer quantity made up for it.

This day.

The sun was setting in the west.

The residual sunlight was like blood, dyeing the continuous mountain range below into a dark red.

This was already a primeval forest, rarely visited by humans.

Ancient trees towered into the sky, and vines coiled like pythons.

The air was filled with the damp smell of decaying leaves.

Ye Xuan was preparing to find a tree hollow to spend the night.

Suddenly.

A rich medicinal fragrance drifted into his nostrils with the evening breeze.

This scent...

was extraordinary!

More pure than all the junk he had collected over the past month!

Ye Xuan's spirits lifted.

The fatigue vanished completely.

He quickly lowered his sword light and concealed his aura.

He moved like a ghost, silently slipping into the depths of the dense forest.

The deeper he went, the darker it became.

It was eerily quiet all around.

Even the sounds of insects and birds had disappeared.

This situation usually had only one explanation.

There was a big guy here.

And it was a big guy with a strong sense of territory.

Ye Xuan held his breath and hid behind a giant tree, three people wide.

He poked out half his head.

Ahead was an open space.

In the center of the clearing stood a large bluestone.

In the cracks of the bluestone, a small, entirely red tree stubbornly grew.

The tree was only palm-high.

At its top hung a thumb-sized fruit.

It was bright red, crystal clear, as if flowing with fresh blood inside.

That alluring, exotic fragrance was emanating from this fruit.

"Vermillion Fruit?"

Ye Xuan's pupils constricted slightly.

A good thing!

This was a spiritual fruit that could directly increase cultivation!

Although it looked only a hundred years old, it was enough to make disciples at the lower levels of the Yuqing Realm fight over it.

If it were refined into a Pill, its medicinal effect would increase by at least thirty percent!

He was rich!

Just as Ye Xuan was about to step forward.

"Hiss—"

A chilling hiss sounded.

Immediately after.

A foul wind swept over him.

From behind the large bluestone, a massive snake head slowly emerged.

Its triangular head was dark purple.

It was covered in hard scales, each one like an inverted iron bowl.

Its vertical pupils emitted a cold, eerie glow, staring intently in the direction Ye Xuan was hiding.

It had already discovered this intruder.

"Ironback Black Python."

The information on this demonic beast instantly appeared in Ye Xuan's mind.

Thick-skinned and thick-fleshed, immensely strong.

Its scales are as hard as refined iron.

An adult's strength is equivalent to the fourth to fifth layer of the Yuqing Realm.

Judging by the size of this python, it's as thick as a bucket and at least thirty feet long.

This oppressive aura is definitely peak fourth layer, even approaching the fifth.

"No wonder no one picked this Vermillion Fruit,"

Ye Xuan licked his lips.

If an ordinary disciple who had just descended the mountain saw this thing, they'd probably wet their pants.

Even a master like Qi Hao would have to put in some effort to kill this beast without damaging the Vermillion Fruit.

But Ye Xuan was different.

He wasn't just after the Vermillion Fruit.

He was also after this snake.

Its skin could be used to forge soft armor...

Its bones could be used to craft whip-like Magic Treasures...

Its gall is a sacred antidote...

Its meat is incredibly nourishing...

This wasn't a demonic beast.

It was clearly a mobile treasure trove!

"Hiss!"

The Ironback Black Python clearly didn't have the patience to stare at Ye Xuan.

In its eyes, this tender, pale human cub was the perfect appetizer for its dinner.

Its massive tail slammed the ground.

BOOM!

Dirt flew everywhere.

Its enormous body shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, carrying a nauseating stench as it opened its cavernous maw to bite Ye Xuan!

Its speed was astonishing!

Ye Xuan stood his ground, unmoving.

He didn't even draw his battered flying sword.

Just as the snake's fangs were less than three feet away, and its foul stench was almost enough to make him faint.

Ye Xuan moved.

But he didn't dodge.

He spread his right hand, fingers splayed, palm facing outward.

His lips moved slightly.

"Fireball Technique, go."

There were no flashy incantations.

No earth-shattering aura.

Just the most basic Fireball Technique.

If Tian Buyi were here, his eyes would probably pop out of his head.

Because what shot out from Ye Xuan's palm was a fireball compressed to its absolute limit, almost white in color!

The basic spell had reached perfection!

A qualitative change brought about by quantitative change!

POW!

The fireball accurately slammed into the Ironback Black Python's gaping mouth.

It didn't explode immediately.

Instead, it rolled down its throat.

The Ironback Black Python's forward momentum came to an abrupt halt.

Its massive eyes bulged, bloodshot.

It thrashed its body in agony, slamming wildly into the surrounding trees.

Though its outer hide was as hard as iron, capable of withstanding sword strikes.

Its internal organs, however, hadn't practiced the Golden Bell Shield or Iron Shirt techniques.

"Roar--Hiss--"

Piercing screams echoed through the forest.

A smell of burning mixed with roasted meat wafted out.

Ye Xuan didn't let his guard down.

Strike while the iron is hot.

He quickly formed hand seals.

The surrounding air instantly turned sharp.

"Wind Blade."

More than a dozen cyan Wind Blades materialized out of thin air.

Each was only palm-sized, yet incredibly condensed, its edges shimmering with a chilling luster.

"Descend."

Ye Xuan flicked his finger.

The Wind Blades, like a school of piranhas that had caught the scent of blood, whistled as they lunged toward the Ironback Black Python writhing on the ground.