As he made his way onward, he used Divine Hand to snatch something from every Poison Spirit Plant he saw, and his poison resistance kept rising, quickly yet gradually.
"I remember the snake fruit was in a snake den deep inside the Poison Miasma Snake Forest. That old deadbeat really doesn't want to give me anything worthwhile!"
"Too bad you've run into someone with a built-in bug. You're destined to pay through the nose."
Yun Che picked up his pace, using Divine Hand on the Poison Spirit Plants he encountered while cutting down the venomous snakes that lunged at him. They came in all sizes, thick and thin, and some of the little snakes that looked harmless were often the most venomous.
If one of those little snakes bit you, there was no point running around looking for a physician. You might as well find a cool, shady spot and lie down in peace.
Just then, a group dressed in dark teal came running over, with a red giant python covered in sharp scales hot on their heels.
Yun Che's expression tightened slightly. Rather than step forward to rescue them, he chose to hide for the moment.
First, that red giant python was in the middle stage of the grandmaster realm and would be troublesome to deal with.
Second, he recognized their clothing. Dark teal was a color reserved for the inner disciples of the Sacred Profound Sect.
He also recognized the man running at the front. It was Qiu Chuji, one of the Sacred Profound Sect's ten greatest inner-sect prodigies. He was at the peak of the innate realm and was extremely cunning.
During the closed beta, Yun Che had even done a quest with him. Although they had completed it in the end, Qiu Chuji had nearly screwed him over and gotten him killed.
Before they ran too far away, he hurriedly used Divine Hand. "They're all innate realm experts. Can't let this chance go to waste. Let me grab something first."
"Ding! Grab successful. Congratulations, you obtained 120 experience points." "Ding! Grab successful. Congratulations, you obtained the high-grade combat technique, Supreme Sword Art." "Ding! Grab successful. Congratulations, you obtained the Middle-Grade armor, Azure Sky Garment." "Ding! Grab successful. Congratulations, you obtained 10 strength points." "Ding! Grab successful. Congratulations, you obtained one Middle-Grade spirit fruit." "Ding! Grab successful. Congratulations, you obtained one Fifth-Grade Emperor Heart Pill Formula." "Ding! Grab successful. Congratulations, you obtained one Fire-Poison Giant Python Demon Core."
Yun Che froze in surprise, his eyes widening. His Divine Hand had actually snatched the giant python's Demon Core straight out of its body!
"That actually works?"
"Without its Demon Core, won't it be completely useless?"
Just as Yun Che had imagined, the Fire-Poison Giant Python pursuing Qiu Chuji and the others suddenly shuddered all over. To its horror, it discovered that its source of power had vanished. Its grandmaster realm power rapidly dissipated as well, leaving it with nothing but brute strength.
It was utterly bewildered. The Fire-Poison Giant Python's already dim-witted brain instantly turned to mush.
But it could still work out one thing: if it did not leave immediately, those humans would notice, turn back, and kill it.
The Fire-Poison Giant Python made a snap decision, abandoned its pursuit, and swiftly slithered back the way it had come.
Qiu Chuji was the first to notice something was wrong. He shouted, "Everyone, stop! That beast isn't chasing us anymore."
One disciple panted heavily, relief written all over his face. "Didn't they say Fire-Poison Giant Pythons really hold grudges?"
Another disciple rolled his eyes at him. "What? You want it to keep chasing us? If we keep running, I'm going to run out of spiritual energy."
Just then, a male disciple spoke with an ugly expression. "Senior Brother Qiu, I think I dropped the Middle-Grade spirit fruit we picked earlier."
Another disciple said nervously, "Senior Brother Qiu, I think I dropped the fifth-grade Alchemy Formulas I found on that corpse, too."
Before Qiu Chuji could lose his temper, a female disciple said rather awkwardly, "I think something strange is going on. My Middle-Grade armor, the Azure... Azure Sky Garment, is missing too."
At that, all the male disciples turned to look at her, a gleam flashing in their eyes. Did that mean Junior Sister Huang had nothing on underneath now?
Slurp!
One of the male disciples apparently had an overactive imagination. As drool escaped his mouth, he hurriedly bent over and excused himself, saying he needed to relieve himself.
Huang Yao'er flushed crimson. She regretted it a little. Why had she blurted that out without thinking?
She quickly asked another female disciple to keep watch, then darted behind a large tree to put on a spare undergarment.
Qiu Chuji gave a light cough. "Forget the spirit fruit. The Alchemy Formulas are what matters. Let's retrace our steps and look for them. If they really fell out while we were running, we should be able to find them."
The others nodded. Once Huang Yao'er finished changing and came out, they each took out another Poison-Repelling Pill, held it in their mouths, and ran back into the Poison Miasma Snake Forest.
Yun Che took out the fifth-grade Alchemy Formulas and examined them. The more he read, the more surprised he became. They were actually a formula for a pill that increased the chances of breaking through to the emperor realm. They were exceedingly rare.
"This pill is pretty incredible! Even if it only increases the chance of breaking through to the emperor realm by thirty percent, that's still outrageous."
Putting the Alchemy Formulas away, Yun Che immediately used Thunder Shadow Divine Movement and raced deeper into the Poison Miasma Snake Forest.
Twenty minutes later, he found a snake den. Even around its entrance, venomous snakes lay coiled in such numbers that the sight made his scalp crawl.
Fortunately, Yun Che was neither afraid of snakes nor trypophobic. Otherwise, those two things alone would have made countless experts turn back.
Hiss!
The hissing unique to snake demon beasts rang out incessantly, sending chills down his spine. Yun Che slowly drew the Radiant Annihilation Sword and unleashed his ultimate move straight away.
"Supreme Sword Art, Emotionless Sword!"
He slashed, sending an emotionless sword beam skimming rapidly over the ground. In an instant, it shredded scores of venomous snakes, carving a path into the depths of the snake den.
Moving like a shadow, Yun Che followed close behind the sword beam and charged into the den. It was dark inside, but the flames emitted by the Radiant Annihilation Sword still allowed him to see his surroundings clearly.
"Ding! Demon snake slain. Experience +9, death qi +1." "Ding! Demon snake slain. Experience +6, death qi +1." "Ding! Demon snake slain. Experience +18, death qi +2."
Although most were only little snakes in the body tempering realm and acquired realm, their sheer numbers made up for it. Slaughtering them along the way still earned him plenty of Experience Points.
"Huh! Another combat technique dropped?"
Among the snake corpses, Yun Che spotted a book shimmering with green light. He walked over, picked it up, and found that it was a cultivation art called Snake King's Eye.
[Snake King's Eye (high-grade): A special cultivation art. Learning it grants the snake king spirit eye, allowing night vision, poison identification, and the ability to see through invisibility talents.]
"Holy shit! A high-grade cultivation art dropped from a trash mob? The odds are even lower than winning the lottery!"
"Too bad comprehending it would be far too much trouble with my current middling martial root aptitude. I'll give it to little Feng Chu to cultivate instead. It'll be easier to reap the benefits afterward."
Before long, Yun Che reached the innermost part of the snake den and saw an unusual snake king. Its entire body was snow-white, its eyes were silver, and a single silver horn the length of a palm grew from its head.
At the sight of this snake king, his heart gave a sudden thump.
Rumor had it that there was an infinitesimally small chance for a Variant Snake with the potential to transform into a dragon to be born among snake populations.
"This looks a lot like the description of a Variant Snake!"
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