Rat Snake LV3

Xu Qing had already returned home when a rustling sound reached his ears. The Rat Snake was slithering over.

"Little Cauliflower."

Xu Qing smiled and looked down. The Rat Snake circled his feet ingratiatingly. "Eh? You seem to have grown thicker and longer. Before, you were at most two and a half meters long. Now, you look like you're nearly three meters."

With a thought.

Xu Qing's consciousness connected with the Omni-Codex, and information about the Rat Snake flooded into his mind.

Rat Snake LV1: 10/10 (Upgradeable!)

"The experience points are actually full."

Delight appeared on Xu Qing's face. He quickly walked to one of the rooms and opened the door. The hundred jin of pork piled inside had all been eaten by the Rat Snake.

"This..."

Surprised.

Truly surprised.

Based on the Rat Snake's normal appetite, it absolutely should not have been able to finish a hundred jin of pork in just these few days. Yet Little Cauliflower had actually done it.

Which meant.

This Rat Snake itself might possess the potential to break through its own limits.

"Good, good, good."

The smile on Xu Qing's face widened. He nodded in great satisfaction, looked at the Rat Snake slithering across the ground, and said, "Little Cauliflower, you've truly exceeded my expectations."

"Upgrade."

Buzz!

Without hesitation.

With a thought, Xu Qing upgraded the Rat Snake. Fluorescence flickered from the Omni-Codex, while a flash of white light swept over the Rat Snake's body.

"Hiss, hiss..."

The next moment.

The Rat Snake let out a somewhat piercing sound. Its winding body swelled at a rate visible to the naked eye, continuously growing thicker and larger.

Vaguely.

Xu Qing seemed to see a scene.

Within that scene, the Rat Snake slithered through rural fields and forests.

It hunted day and night, drawing in the essence of heaven and earth. It climbed to the crown of a towering tree, bathed in moonlight pouring down from the sky, and absorbed the essence of sun and moon...

At last.

Until one day.

The Rat Snake underwent a transformation. It shed its body as an ordinary beast, broke through its limits, and its body continuously grew thicker and longer. It was no longer merely an ordinary beast.

Upgrade successful!

Buzz!

Xu Qing looked down. The Rat Snake had undergone tremendous changes. Its body had originally been only three meters long, yet after rising one level, it had actually reached six meters.

It had doubled in size.

And.

The fangs in the Rat Snake's mouth had become increasingly sharp and hard.

After that.

The Rat Snake shed another layer of skin.

"Hiss, hiss..."

After completing its evolution, the six-meter Rat Snake coiled at Xu Qing's feet, becoming even more eager to please him. Its eyes had also become more spirited.

"Not bad, not bad."

Xu Qing laughed heartily.

Then.

He put away the snakeskin shed by the Rat Snake. This discarded snakeskin was quite valuable. If sold, it should fetch several hundred taels of silver.

"Perfect."

The corners of Xu Qing's lips rose slightly. "I'll sell the skin you shed, and use the silver to buy you Tai Sui Spirit Meat."

"Ha ha..."

Xu Qing chuckled. "It'll be enough to let you level up."

"Hiss, hiss..."

The Rat Snake flicked its tongue.

That day.

Xu Qing sold the snakeskin to Chaoyang Shop, the largest shop in the outer city. Because the shed skin was intact and had been shed during the Rat Snake's transformation, it was quite valuable. It was even an ingredient needed to refine a Secret Medicine. The complete skin sold for four hundred and eighty taels.

Thus.

Xu Qing took the four hundred and eighty taels of silver to Azure Hawk Martial Arts School and spent five hundred taels to buy fifty jin of Tai Sui Spirit Meat.

That afternoon.

Xu Qing returned home once more.

"Little Cauliflower."

Xu Qing called out.

Rustle...

Immediately.

The Rat Snake swiftly slithered before Xu Qing.

"This will be your staple food from now on."

Xu Qing said, "Level 1 Spirit Food, Tai Sui Spirit Meat. You are no longer an ordinary wild beast. You have already transformed once, so you should be able to eat Tai Sui Spirit Meat."

"Hiss, hiss..."

The Rat Snake flicked its tongue, intensely craving the Tai Sui Spirit Meat in Xu Qing's hand.

Then.

Xu Qing let the Rat Snake eat one jin of Tai Sui Spirit Meat.

Buzz! Buzz!

The Rat Snake's blood and qi faintly stirred throughout its body.

"Mm."

Xu Qing observed from the side.

Very soon.

He was able to confirm it.

After reaching LV2, the Rat Snake had transformed and truly could eat Tai Sui Spirit Meat. Moreover, it could only eat one jin a day. It could not eat more, or its body would be unable to bear it.

Experience +1

Rat Snake LV2: 1/20 (Originally just an utterly ordinary Rat Snake, it had already undergone one transformation and was no longer an ordinary wild beast.)

"Looks like eating one jin of Tai Sui Spirit Meat is equivalent to eating ten jin of ordinary meat. It can gain one experience point a day."

Xu Qing murmured, "With twenty experience points, the Rat Snake can level up again in only twenty days."

Besides.

The Omni-Codex also sent him some information, allowing Xu Qing to understand the true reason why "spirit food consumables" could not be recorded: "spirit food consumables" were used to increase "experience points."

Anything, whether an act or an object, that could increase "experience points" could not be recorded.

For instance.

Martial arts relied on practice to increase experience points. The act of "practice" could not possibly be recorded. Iron swords and masks relied on use to increase experience points, and the act of "use" likewise could not be recorded.

The Rat Snake relied on eating various kinds of meat to gain experience points, so all sorts of meat, including "spirit food," could not be recorded either.

That was the true reason.

Although the Omni-Codex had not truly recorded living creatures at that time, this was the rule of the Omni-Codex. It could not be changed.

Time flew.

In the blink of an eye.

Twenty days later.

"Phew..."

In the courtyard.

Xu Qing exhaled a breath of turbid air and stopped practicing. "It has been more than a month since I bought over ten thousand taels' worth of Black Mountain Tiger Meat at the black market. The Black Mountain Tiger Meat in my hands ran out long ago. These days, I've been relying on Tai Sui Spirit Meat bought from Azure Hawk Martial Arts School to hold on."

"But this can't continue. I still need to eat Black Mountain Tiger Meat."

"Besides..."

Eight Extremities Fist LV11: 5100/10240.

Thirteen Sword Strikes of Life-Taking LV7: 1000/1920.

Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique LV8: 1440/1440 (Upgradeable!)

Serpent Evasion Technique (Incomplete) LV7: 0/320.

Azure Hawk Claw Force LV3: 0/80.

After so many days.

Of the several main martial arts Xu Qing had mastered, Eight Extremities Fist and Thirteen Sword Strikes of Life-Taking were still far from leveling up. There was still a long way to go.

The Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique could already be upgraded.

Besides.

The Serpent Evasion Technique had risen from LV5 to LV7, while the Azure Hawk Claw Force had risen from LV1 to LV3. In this way, the Azure Hawk Claw Force had reached peak Bright Force.

"Upgrade the Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique."

Xu Qing said.

Buzz!

The next moment.

Xu Qing's consciousness blurred for an instant as a great flood of information poured into his mind, as though he had received enlightenment pouring into his head. He directly mastered the LV9 Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique.

"Phew..."

Xu Qing took a deep breath.

The effects of the LV9 Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique were naturally stronger than those of LV8. Moreover, the number of beasts it could tame had doubled again.

Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique LV9: 0/2880.

"Mm."

Xu Qing nodded. He turned back and looked into his room. There were nine LV4 iron swords in total. These LV4 iron swords were two levels higher than the LV2 iron swords he had sold last time, so their quality and workmanship were naturally much better—more than doubled, in fact.

"The Black Mountain Tiger Meat in my hands is almost gone. I'll go to the black market again tonight."

Xu Qing pondered inwardly. "This time, aside from selling these nine LV4 iron swords, I also want to find a martial art that can conceal my strength."

After all.

Du Cangying had said last time that if Xu Qing could not enter peak Bright Force within a month, he would expel Xu Qing from his school.

Therefore.

Xu Qing naturally could not keep hiding it, but neither did he want to expose himself. With his current cultivation and strength at the Dan Force realm, if Du Cangying inspected him, he definitely would not be able to conceal it.

Thus.

Xu Qing needed a martial art that could conceal his strength. And he could not look for it within Azure Hawk Martial Arts School, so he set his sights on the black market.

"Little Cauliflower."

Xu Qing called out.

Rustle...

The Rat Snake immediately crawled out from the corner. With its six-meter-long body, it could no longer be called Little Cauliflower; it was a genuine python.

Rat Snake LV2: 20/20 (Upgradeable!)

"Mm."

Xu Qing nodded. "Twenty days have passed. You've eaten twenty jin of Tai Sui Spirit Meat and can level up again. Then let's upgrade."

Buzz!

Fluorescence flickered from the Omni-Codex.

At the same time.

White light also flickered across the Rat Snake's body.

Hiss, hiss...

The Rat Snake let out painful hisses.

Sure enough.

Its enormous body continuously grew thicker and longer.

Buzz! Buzz!

At the same time.

Xu Qing also seemed to see a scene. In it, the six-meter Rat Snake coiled atop a mountain peak, drawing in moonlight as it transformed and grew.

Upgrade successful!

Sure enough.

The Rat Snake had become thicker and longer, growing from six meters to seven. This time was not as exaggerated as before. Its level had risen, but it had not evolved.

Rat Snake LV3: 0/40 (...)

"Yes."

Xu Qing nodded.

Late at night.

Whoosh!

Xu Qing put on the Ghost Mask.

Besides.

Seven or eight months had passed. Every night, Xu Qing wore the Ghost Mask on his face to sleep, gaining roughly 480 experience points each day.

By now.

The Ghost Mask had accumulated a great deal of experience, but Xu Qing had never dared to let it level up.

Also.

The iron sword in Xu Qing's hand had unknowingly accumulated a great deal of experience as well.

However.

Xu Qing had not leveled either of them up.

In the blink of an eye.

Inside the black market.

Weapon shop.

Xu Qing had arrived. He found the owner of this weapon shop, Guo Qianming. The last time he came here to sell three LV3 iron swords, Xu Qing had already discussed their future dealings with Guo Qianming.

"It's you."

Guo Qianming looked up. He recognized Xu Qing at a glance, his expression startled. Then he saw the sword case on Xu Qing's back, and his excitement grew even greater.

"Mm."

Xu Qing nodded. He placed the wooden sword case on the table. After opening it, nine LV5 iron swords lay quietly inside, their cold gleam spilling in every direction.

"Take a look."

Xu Qing's expression remained calm.