Inheritance Within the Tin Box

After a long while, the white smoke dispersed. The Black-Armored Anaconda's body gradually relaxed, as though it had fallen peacefully asleep, completely devoid of life.

"Little Black..."

Though their time together had been short, a bond had formed between human and beast. The Black-Armored Anaconda's intense emotions before death battered Qing Lin's heart. Her body trembled uncontrollably as Su Heng gently pulled her into his arms and comforted her again and again.

After an unknown amount of time, Qing Lin finally calmed down. Su Heng gently wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and spoke softly.

"Let's bury Little Black. It definitely wouldn't want to see you this sad."

Qing Lin nodded with reddened eyes. Just as she was about to stand, Su Heng stopped her again.

"Little Gold, this is a Second Grade Poison-Repelling Pill. Take it first, then go over and check things out. If anything feels wrong, run immediately!"

After swallowing the Poison-Repelling Pill, the Rock-Scaled Rattlesnake crept cautiously toward the tin box like an inchworm. Though it was only a dozen meters away, it took more than half an hour to crawl there. It seemed that no matter the creature, fear of death was instinctive.

By then, the white smoke drifting from the tin box had completely vanished. The Rock-Scaled Rattlesnake circled the box once and found nothing unusual. Reassured, it lightly tapped the box with its tail. Aside from the icy chill on the surface, it felt nothing else.

After confirming it was safe, Little Gold happily shook its rattle, signaling to Su Heng and Qing Lin.

Only after Su Heng and Qing Lin each swallowed a Poison-Repelling Pill did they dare approach the box. When they were about three meters away, Su Heng took Qing Lin's small hand and motioned for her not to come closer. He then tried using his soul power to check whether the box still contained anything abnormal.

After all, Little Gold was a Da Dou Shi, while he and Qing Lin were merely Dou Zhes. Something ineffective against Little Gold might not necessarily be ineffective against them.

After investigating for a while, Su Heng sensed an icy aura surrounding the outer layer of the box, one cold enough to nearly freeze his blood. Although that aura had become extremely faint, if he touched the box recklessly, he would still suffer severe injuries at his current level.

"Don't get close to the box yet. Little Gold, fall back!"

Su Heng circulated his Dou Qi. Scorching crimson Dou Qi gradually enveloped the tin box, and flames clashed fiercely against the frost, sending up waves of white mist.

Two hours later, the icy aura on the box had completely disappeared. It was finally nothing more than an ordinary tin box, with no threat remaining.

After dealing with the tin box, Su Heng took a folding shovel from his Storage Ring. He had commissioned it from a blacksmith in Black Rock City, a must-have divine tool for wilderness survival. He just had not expected its first use to be digging a grave for a Magical Beast.

The Black-Armored Anaconda was several meters long. Even coiled up, its corpse was more than a meter tall and over two meters wide. Su Heng did not feel much attachment to the beast, but seeing Qing Lin bow her head and weep with tears in her eyes, he could not bear to let her suffer.

A Fourth-Order Magical Beast already possessed a Magic Core, and its corpse was a treasure fought over by countless Da Dou Shis and Dou Lings. In the Magic Beast Mountains, almost no Fourth-Order or higher Magical Beast could live peacefully until old age or be laid to rest after death.

"Little Black, may you be reborn as a human in your next life and advance to become a Dou God. Go in peace..."

Su Heng buried the Black-Armored Anaconda, offered it a blessing, and set up a simple gravestone.

After settling the Black-Armored Anaconda's affairs, Su Heng turned his attention to the battered tin box.

Before dying, the owner of this box had deliberately set up a killing trap. Clearly, he had wanted to protect something important, or perhaps he simply wanted to drag a few passersby down with him.

Su Heng had no interest in knowing what the box's owner had been thinking. He only wanted to see whether there were any valuable treasures inside.

When he opened the tin box, it was filled with clothes and medicinal ingredients that had long since decayed into dust. Judging from the extent of the decay, the box was at least a hundred years old, perhaps even older.

Seeing how filthy it would be to sort through it like this, Su Heng simply dragged the box farther away and dumped everything inside onto the ground.

The decayed scraps of clothing and medicinal dregs kicked up a thick cloud of dust. Su Heng stepped aside and waited for it to settle, and the few treasures that had survived in the box finally revealed themselves.

Su Heng tried to sort the usable items into categories. As time passed, the more he organized, the more shocked he became!

Inside the tin box was a High-Profound Tier water-attributed cultivation method, along with a High-Profound Tier water-attributed Dou Technique: Frost Erosion Palm.

Besides that, Su Heng found over a dozen perfectly preserved jade bottles, containing large quantities of Third-grade and Fourth-grade Pills.

Aside from Qi-Replenishing Pills, Wound-Recovery Pills, and Windstride Pills, there were also many Ice Condensation Pills. These were consumable Fourth-grade Pills that aided water-attributed Dou Qi, allowing those who cultivated water-attributed methods to increase the power of their Dou Qi by fifty percent for a short time.

Yet the treasure that shocked Su Heng the most was the final item in the tin box.

The Frostbone Blood-Coagulation Pill Formula!

The Frostbone Blood-Coagulation Pill was a peak Fifth-grade Pill. It could eliminate fire-attributed energy that had invaded the body. If both sides were at the same level, even if Heavenly Flames entered the body, this pill could clear away more than half of it.

Besides countering fire-attributed Dou Qi, this pill could also improve the physical talent of water-attributed cultivators, allowing their bodies to better merge with water-attributed Dou Qi and speeding up their cultivation.

For water-attributed cultivators, this pill was indeed a priceless treasure. But for cultivators of any other attribute, it would become a fatal poison.

If extremely cold water-attributed Dou Qi was injected into the pill and the pill was then shattered into vapor, that vapor would turn into a deadly poison capable of freezing bones and coagulating blood. Anyone who inhaled it would have all the blood in their body frozen solid, dying in an extremely miserable manner.

Fortunately, this pill only worked on people below the Dou Emperor level. It had little effect on those above Dou Emperor.

"It seems the owner of this box was most likely a Dou Wang expert. He probably obtained this Fifth-grade Pill formula by chance."

"Unfortunately, after finally finding someone to refine a Fifth-grade Pill for him, he was hunted down by people coveting it. At death's door, he destroyed the pill and poisoned those trying to take it. Ruthless!"

"Someone with such a sneaky nature actually left behind an inheritance? Could it be that a dying man speaks kindly?"

Su Heng pondered carefully. If he himself were being hunted down and faced an unnatural death, what would he choose?

Setting up a killing trap and taking out as many greedy people as possible would be a certainty!

As for leaving behind an inheritance? With the temperament of such a schemer, there was only one possibility: he had contacted his closest relatives and intended to leave his inheritance to them.

If they were close relatives, they certainly would not fall into such a trap. If unforeseen circumstances prevented the inheritance from reaching his friends and family, then any junior capable of avoiding the Frostbone trap would surely be another schemer. If that person obtained the inheritance, it could only be called fate.

"Qing Lin, there's a water-attributed cultivation method and Dou Technique in this box. They should suit you very well. Little Black exchanged its life for them, so you must cherish them."

Su Heng handed the cultivation method and Dou Technique to Qing Lin. The little girl instinctively wanted to refuse, but when Su Heng mentioned that Little Black had exchanged its life for them, Qing Lin gently nodded. Hugging the scrolls, she began crying before Little Black's grave.

Qing Lin had now advanced to a Dou Zhe and happened to need a cultivation method. Moreover, both the cultivation method and Dou Technique were High-Profound Tier. Even in the entire Jia Ma Empire, they stood at the very peak.

As for the pills left behind by that "sneaky senior," Su Heng did not dare eat even one.

These pills had been sitting around for who knew how many centuries. Their medicinal potency was probably less than a tenth of what it once was. Even if some potency remained, would anyone dare eat a Third-grade Pill refined over a hundred years ago?

Although Su Heng did not dare eat them himself, he still had the nerve to sell them for money. The auction house would inspect the pills' quality themselves anyway. One was willing to sell, the other willing to buy; profits and losses were their own responsibility.

After placing the pills and pill formula into his Storage Ring, Su Heng left Little Gold behind to protect Qing Lin. He then got up and searched the surrounding area for dry grass and firewood. He could sleep in a cold cave himself, but he had no intention of letting Qing Lin sleep on the bluestone floor.

Someone once said that perfect darkness made people sleep longer and lose all sense of time outside.

Now Su Heng had personally verified that saying. He and Qing Lin slept until noon the next day. If the Rock-Scaled Rattlesnake, Little Gold, had not awakened early, the two of them might have slept until afternoon.

The pitch-black cave had almost no light. Only when the sun was high in the sky did a faint sliver of brightness reach the cave entrance.

After eating and drinking their fill, Su Heng and Qing Lin began surveying the terrain. To seize the Xuanjia Snake Emperor's Beast Flame, Su Heng followed the route the Black-Armored Anaconda had given him before its death and headed toward the Xuanjia Snake Emperor's cave.

After traveling several li, they heard the sound of rushing water from nearby. A broad river with a swift current appeared before them.

Su Heng stared at the river. After thinking for a moment, he felled a large tree nearby and threw its trunk straight into the river. Then he sprinted after the trunk as it drifted downstream.

Without taking a Windstride Pill, the trunk moved downstream far faster than Three-Star Dou Zhe Su Heng could run at full speed.

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Su Heng nodded in satisfaction and continued upstream.

According to the route given by the Black-Armored Anaconda, the Xuanjia Snake Emperor's nest should be upstream, but he still needed to accurately determine how far it was from the river.

As they traveled along the river, Su Heng would occasionally chop down a random tree on either bank, strip away its branches, and throw the trunk into the river. Qing Lin was utterly confused, but Su Heng merely smiled without explaining.

After walking for several more hours, Qing Lin's perception of snake-type Magical Beasts began to strengthen. The other party's powerful and savage aura frightened her somewhat.

"Brother Su Heng, the Xuanjia Snake Emperor should not be far from us. I can sense its presence."

"Qing Lin, can you roughly estimate how far away it is from us?"

Su Heng stared in the direction Qing Lin indicated. The Xuanjia Snake Emperor's nest was not by the river, but inside a mountain far from the riverbank. Mountains might look close while actually being far away. Su Heng estimated the distance to be at least over ten kilometers.

"Maybe several dozen li. I can't say exactly how far."

Qing Lin shook her head helplessly. Her perception was not precise yet, and she could only roughly determine the locations of snake-type Magical Beasts.

"That's about what I guessed. Little Gold, return to your original size, then swallow this Windstride Pill. Run back in the direction we came from until you reach the stump of the third tree I cut down. Leave a mark there, then come back."

Little Gold wore a puzzled expression, completely unable to understand what Su Heng was doing. Qing Lin was equally confused, but since Su Heng had asked, she would definitely do it.

The Rock-Scaled Rattlesnake returned to its original size, like a rocky hill several meters tall. After swallowing the Windstride Pill, such an enormous Magical Beast shot off like an arrow, vanishing from Su Heng's sight in the blink of an eye.

In only five minutes, the Rock-Scaled Rattlesnake had completed the round trip and returned before Su Heng.

The Dou Qi Continent's timekeeping devices were somewhat like mechanical watches, and their accuracy was reasonably reliable.

"Mm, even faster than expected. It seems there won't be any problems."

After making a rough calculation, Su Heng began wandering through the dense forest by the river. The trees here were old enough that, in theory, finding one thick enough should not have been difficult.

But within the Magic Beast Mountains, Magical Beasts constantly fought each other, and wars never ceased. Their destructive power was immense. Many trees looked intact on the outside, but their wood within had already become rotten and damaged.

After repeatedly probing with his soul power, Su Heng finally found a large tree that was still relatively intact.

After cutting it down, Su Heng worked together with Little Gold for an entire afternoon and made a canoe.

It had to be said that Magical Beasts were indeed far more capable workers than humans. Even if a Da Dou Shi powerhouse went to carry bricks, he would be the emperor of brick carriers.

"Qing Lin, big brother will take you to do something fun!"

Su Heng pushed the finished canoe into the river and held Qing Lin as they sat in its center. As the canoe entered the middle of the river, the violent current made the small boat drift like a dead leaf in a gale. In the blink of an eye, it had rushed dozens of meters away.

"Wow!!!"

The intense thrill brought by the incredible speed made Qing Lin cry out loudly. Wild winds howled past her ears, the scenery on both banks flashed backward like a painting, and cool river water collided with the canoe, splashing waves several feet high and soaking them both.

Since birth, Qing Lin had never been so close to flowing water. This feeling of joy mixed with a hint of nervousness gave her an enjoyment unlike anything she had felt before. Perhaps she was meant to roam among mountains and rivers, rather than remain trapped in the desert.

The canoe drifted downstream all the way, taking only a dozen or so minutes to cover the distance they had spent several hours walking.

When he saw the familiar cave and the newly erected gravestone, Su Heng did not stop. Instead, he continued downstream until a fork appeared ahead.

The wide river was split in two by the mountain wall, with two tributaries opening before them. At this point, the formerly rushing river gradually became gentler as the terrain flattened. Whichever branch they chose, their sailing speed could not be fast.

"A fork in the river? What an unexpected bonus."

Su Heng casually chose one tributary and continued downstream. Without the strong push of the current, their speed became much slower. At this point, taking a Windstride Pill and traveling on foot would be far faster than riding in the canoe.

However, it was rare for him to enjoy the pleasure of boating with Qing Lin, and Su Heng did not want to ruin the atmosphere. Qing Lin was in high spirits now and was gradually emerging from the grief of losing the Black-Armored Anaconda.

Qing Lin leaned contentedly against Su Heng's chest, quietly admiring the river and mountain scenery on both banks. Su Heng slowly paddled the canoe. Whenever he was in a good mood, he would sing his favorite pop songs from his previous life, his voice echoing through the valley with a unique charm.

As the sun set in the west and the dying sunlight resembled blood, orange-red rays illuminated the Magic Beast Mountains. Su Heng gradually reached the end of the journey, and the sight before him brought both joy and worry.

The good news was that this tributary, following the current downstream, passed through one of the exits of the Magic Beast Mountains.

The bad news was that this exit was called First-Line Heaven!

A narrow stone crevice, only wide enough for two people to pass through, split the entire mountain in half. The crevice had formed naturally and stretched for roughly a hundred meters. Beyond it lay an endless plain. Following the plain would lead to a town somewhere within the Jia Ma Empire.