Evil Scale, the Giant Serpent

Long Ye strode across the water, crossed Mirrorwater Lake, and arrived at the entrance of Snake Cypress Valley, where he was greeted by a colossal creature crawling out of the Snake Cypress Valley.

It turned out to be a huge snake.

The snake was entirely black, and unlike ordinary snakes whose scales were tightly attached to their bodies, its scales were all spread out, making it look like a hedgehog from a distance.

However, it was in a sorry state, with its scales broken in large areas and its flesh and blood exposed in some places, clearly indicating that it had escaped death and just fled from the Snake Cypress Valley.

"Such a large snake, it seems to come from Ryūchi Cave. If I'm not mistaken, it's probably after the Snake Cypress Seed..." he muttered to himself.

He had no liking for Ryūchi Cave.

According to his understanding, although Ryūchi Cave is known as one of the three great inheritance sites, its methods for ninjas undergoing inheritance trials are extremely brutal.

If they pass, all will be fine; if they fail, without exception, they will all be swallowed up.

Even though snakes possess intelligence comparable to humans, their cold-blooded nature is not easily changed; killing is almost an innate instinct for them.

Long Ye didn't intend to greet them, pretending not to see them, and leisurely headed towards Snake Cypress Valley.

A man and a snake passed each other by.

He pretended not to see the snake, but the snake's eyes were fixed on him, especially when it got closer and saw his face clearly; its eyes gleamed with a strange light.

"Human friend from the Shinobi World, please wait..."

The giant snake hurriedly opened its mouth and cried out.

Long Ye hadn't intended to pay it any attention, but hearing its polite tone, she subconsciously slowed her pace.

"I come from Ryūchi Cave, and my name is Evil Scale. Judging from the direction my friend went, could he be heading into Snake Cypress Valley?"

Long Ye stopped and glanced back at it.

This snake is huge, even larger than the "Toad Copper Hammer." When it raises its head, it is three times the height of the "Toad Copper Hammer," and its length can reach more than ten meters.

That spiked head, the size of a millstone, could easily swallow a living person.

Seeing its imposing appearance, Long Ye frowned. She didn't answer the snake's question, but simply nodded, giving it a "get to the point" look.

"Hahaha, great, absolutely fantastic!!"

The snake was laughing wildly.

Long Ye could tell from its voice that it seemed genuinely happy.

"Friend from the Shinobi World! I won't ask what you're doing in Snake Cypress Valley, but I have some information that I think you'll find very interesting!"

"Explain!!"

Long Ye spoke concisely, and secretly intended to see what this guy was up to.

"Friend, since you've come to my secret realm, do you know the secrets of the Snake Cypress Seed?"

The giant serpent's two eyes, each the size of a bowl, stared intently at Long Ye.

"Snake Cypress Seed?"

Long Ye's heart skipped a beat.

This was his second purpose in coming to Snake Cypress Valley.

"What, do you know where it is?"

The giant snake nodded its enormous head. "You guessed right, I do know where this thing is."

"You can see my injuries. I was injured by Snake Vines when I went to retrieve the Snake Cypress Seed. It took me a lot of effort to escape."

Long Ye looked it up and down. Based on the information she had so far, the snake didn't seem to be lying.

"I stopped my friend because I planned to join forces with you to fight back and seize the Snake Cypress Seed in one fell swoop."

"The Snake Cypress Seed originate from a flower called the Nine-leaf Demon Orchid. Each orchid will contain at least two Snake Cypress Seed. Once we obtain them, we will divide them fairly!"

Long Ye remained silent.

According to the information he heard from "Copper Hammer," the Snake Cypress Seed do indeed exist, as the snake had said, among the strange flowers blooming on the Snake Vines.

Finding the Nine-leaf Demon Orchid largely depends on luck, because there are countless Snake Vines in the entire Snake Cypress Valley, and the blooming Nine-leaf Demon Orchid can be found anywhere.

He didn't agree immediately, mainly because snakes are not easy to gain his trust.

"Friend from the Shinobi World! Judging from your expression, you must know the value of the Snake Cypress Seed. I don't need to elaborate on its specific benefits. What do you think?"

The giant snake looked hopeful.

Long Ye glanced at it and thought to herself:

"This snake keeps calling me 'friend,' there's no doubt about it. But now that I have the Lightning Branch, I have nothing to fear. I'll go with it and see what it's up to..."

"If the Nine-leaf Demon Orchid really exists, it won't be so easy for this guy to use me as cannon fodder. Besides, this is indeed a rare opportunity for me."

After much deliberation, Long Ye finally nodded in agreement.

In his view, the matter of the Nine-leaf Demon Orchid was very likely true, but he needed to be wary of what kind of trouble the giant snake might cause to harm him during the process of obtaining it.

"Ha ha ha ha..."

The giant snake opened its blood-red maw and laughed incessantly.

"Alright, with my friend's help, I'm determined to win this time. Please follow me."

With a whoosh, the giant snake turned and darted into the Snake Cypress Valley, completely ignoring its injuries.

Long Ye followed closely behind.

As soon as they rushed into the Snake Cypress Valley, unsurprisingly, they were startled by a series of Snake Vines, which began a frenzied chase after the man and the snake.

Neither of them attacked; they simply ran for their lives, one in front of the other.

The giant serpent was incredibly fast, faster than Long Ye had anticipated.

But he thought about it and felt relieved. The snake's crawling and the Toad's leaping are both natural talents, and their speed is naturally incomparable to that of ordinary ninjas.

Of course, compared to someone like Long Ye whose speed is beyond reason, there is still a certain gap, but it is more than enough to shake off the Snake Vines behind.

Just like what Long Ye experienced three days ago, shaking off the pursuers did not mean everything was fine, because Snake Vines were everywhere in the entire Snake Cypress Valley, and wherever they passed, they would inevitably be hunted down.

During their frantic escape, a large snake kept turning back to look at them from time to time.

Seeing that Long Ye was always following behind at a distance, his excitement grew even stronger.

It never expected that the human boy behind it would be so fast; even when it increased its speed to the maximum, the other party could still easily keep up.

"No wonder I was able to escape from Snake Cypress Valley, and no wonder I had the courage to come back here a second time," the giant serpent thought to itself.

"We're almost there! The Nine-leaf Demon Orchid is just ahead!"

Orochi's words made Long Ye's heart leap into her throat.

Because if this giant serpent has some kind of conspiracy, then it will soon unfold.

As he ran, his right hand gripped a strip of cloth behind his waist.

The strip of cloth, wrapped in bandages, was indistinguishable to the naked eye, but since it could be held in the hand, it was clearly an offensive ninja tool.

That's naturally the Thunder Branch Sword!

The more deeply hidden a trump card is, the more unexpected the results it can achieve.

At least for now, if he were to make a move, the giant snake ten steps ahead would have absolutely no chance of survival.