Clever Uses of Snake Scale

After finishing all this, Yan Chihuo gathered some more firewood and walked into the cave. By then, Tong Huaibing's face was still ashen, but no longer carried that deathly pallor from before—clearly, his life had been pulled back from the gates of hell.

Yan Chihuo asked, "How is it?"

Tong Huaibing said with a mournful face, "The snake venom is neutralized, but it was too late; the toxins have already invaded my muscles and internal organs. I'm a cripple now."

Yan Chihuo said flatly, "You scraped by with your life—that's already lucky."

At that moment, Qu Wuxing opened his eyes and said, "Boss, my internal injuries are severe, but I can still walk slowly. But Manor Lord Yun can't even move."

Yan Chihuo said, "Let's rest here for a day. Tomorrow we'll go down the mountain, hire a cart, and head back slowly." With that, he started a fire, roasted the snake meat, and handed portions to Qu Wuxing and Tong Huaibing. Yun Zaitian couldn't feed himself, so Tong Huaibing had to do it for him.

He ate a large piece of snake meat and found it quite delicious. After finishing, a surge of warmth rose in his abdomen, making him feel somewhat comfortable. He looked at the other three, who had all fallen into a drowsy sleep after eating the snake meat.

He took out the wooden sword, examined the patterns closely by the firelight, and tried channeling a stream of true qi into it, but found it completely useless. He shook his head—this kind of immortal artifact likely had its own method of use, beyond his control.

He then took out the snake scale and studied it carefully, noticing that the patterns seemed to divide into three sections. He channeled true qi into it and found that, unlike the wooden sword, this scale didn't resist his qi—it could enter. Delighted, he started with the simplest pattern.

After a moment, a black light slowly rose from the scale in his hand, gradually spreading across his entire body. It took nearly half an hour for the black light to cover him completely, forming a layer of scale armor similar to that of the great snake.

He was overjoyed, never expecting the snake scale to have such an effect. But in an instant, he sensed something wrong—his true qi had been depleted by about fifty percent in that short time.

He quickly withdrew his qi and sat in meditation for a long while to recover it. Then he tried channeling qi into the second pattern. At first, nothing unusual happened, but after about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a millstone-sized stone suddenly fell from the air, hurtling toward him. Terrified, he quickly leaped aside.

With a loud crash, the stone hit the ground. Startled, he glanced at Qu Wuxing and the other two, only to find them sleeping soundly, completely unresponsive.

He was shocked. Qu Wuxing and the others were all martial arts experts with extraordinary alertness—even with their injuries, such a loud noise should have woken them. Yet they remained oblivious.

He walked over and found the three breathing heavily, deeply asleep. He checked their pulses and found nothing unusual; their injuries seemed to have improved. It suddenly struck him—all three had eaten the snake meat. Could the snake meat have healing properties, causing them to sleep so deeply? But why hadn't he experienced the same effect?

He was utterly baffled. He also noticed that he had just consumed over seventy percent of his true qi again, so he had to sit and meditate to recover. Once his qi was fully replenished, he channeled it into the third pattern.

This time, he was extremely cautious, afraid of another mishap. If he hadn't been alert earlier, that falling stone would have crushed his skull and splattered his brains.

But this time, the black light on the scale lit up, and nothing happened. Finding it strange, he stood up and took a casual step—whoosh—and he moved over three meters in an instant.

Yan Chihuo then understood: the third pattern greatly increased his speed. But he calculated that his true qi was insufficient to sustain it for more than half an incense stick's time. Still, against an enemy, that burst of speed would be enough to kill them within that window.

Knowing how miraculous the snake scale was, he tucked it close to his body. After all this commotion, he was also injured and feeling drowsy, so he lay down and fell asleep.

When he woke up, he found Qu Wuxing and the other two just waking as well. Qu Wuxing said, "Boss, that snake meat wasn't just tasty—it seemed to help my injuries. I feel a bit better."

Yan Chihuo also noticed his own injuries had improved somewhat and said, "Let's get moving. We'll go down, find a doctor for a checkup, then hire a cart to recuperate."

Qu Wuxing could manage to ride a horse on his own, Tong Huaibing needed help, and Yun Zaitian was a real problem. With over a dozen broken ribs, even if someone helped him onto a horse, he couldn't withstand the jostling. Yan Chihuo had no choice but to carry him onto a horse and ride slowly over the mountain.

After descending the mountain, they traveled another dozen or so miles before reaching a small town. Yan Chihuo found an inn, handed over ten taels of silver, and said they were traveling merchants who had encountered wild beasts, leaving them all injured.

Seeing his generosity, the innkeeper found a doctor who prescribed some medicine. They also bought a few sets of clothes to change into. After resting for a night, they hired a cart in town and set off toward Tiger Roar Manor.

In Cloud Sun City, at the headquarters of the Golden Sword Gang, a group of burly men stood respectfully around two men in yellow robes. The younger of the two yellow-robed men asked, "Where is your young gang leader's corpse?"

One of the burly men said, "Not buried yet. Please, Immortal Master, take a look." With that, he waved his hand, and two men carried Gao Kun's corpse over.

The younger yellow-robed man walked over, pressed a few spots on Gao Kun's body, and frowned. The older yellow-robed man asked, "Junior Disciple Yan, what's wrong?"

The yellow-robed man named Yan said, "It doesn't look like spell damage. More like a martial artist's Great Vajra Palm or similar technique, shattering all the bones in his body."

The older yellow-robed man was also taken aback. He walked over, picked up the golden belt from Gao Kun's waist, examined it, and then raised a golden light. He said, "The Golden Silk Belt that Master bestowed on Junior Disciple Gao isn't damaged. How is that possible?"

The yellow-robed man named Yan said, "That's what puzzles me too. If the Golden Silk Belt isn't damaged, even a palm strike with a thousand jin of force couldn't have injured Gao Kun to this extent. Unless the opponent is also a cultivator."

The older yellow-robed man said, "A cultivator? Could the Cloud Soaring Sect have sent someone? But if it were a cultivator, they should have used spells. If it's a martial artist's technique, then there's only one possibility: Junior Disciple Gao fell for their trick and didn't have time to activate the Golden Silk Belt's protective spell."

The yellow-robed man named Yan said, "Junior Disciple Gao was also a cautious man. How could he enter the enemy's lair without precautions? It seems the enemy is extremely cunning. Either that, or the opponent is an earth-attributed Body Tempering Middle Stage expert who can achieve this effect with martial arts alone."

The older yellow-robed man said, "How is that possible? Which Body Tempering Middle Stage expert would use martial arts instead of spells? Unless they don't know any spells at all—but what Body Tempering Middle Stage cultivator doesn't know spells?"