Hunting Until Their Hands Went Soft

The Ni Marsh Pythons could rely on the swamp's peculiarities to evade cultivators' Divine Sense.

But they couldn't hide from an old fisherman like Zhou Ning.

On Cuiwei Lake, many cultivators at the second or third layer of Qi Refining, before developing Divine Sense, could use the Spirit Eye Technique alone, along with the water's surface and their experience, to deduce the movements of Fuluo Eels and even many spirit fish.

"Speaking of which, what is this Ni Marsh Python?" Zhou Ning asked curiously.

The beast struck its prey with astonishing speed. Even with his Spirit Eye Technique, he could only make out a blurry shape, catching a glimpse of a python's body as thick as a bucket.

He Zhuoran said, "It is a beast of Hai Water and Chen Earth, a Qi Refining monster. Its scales are flexible and soft all over. When ordinary Law Artifacts strike them, the force is dispelled outright. Ordinary Qi Refining cultivators can't deal with it."

Little Sister Li's eyes were filled with anticipation as well. If the scales were made into a robe, they could ward off Gang winds, raging fire and golden blades. They were a rare, fine material.

And the finished robe would look wonderful!

A moment later, her dark brows remained unfurrowed. With her abilities, it would be exceedingly difficult to hunt one.

After hearing He Zhuoran's words, Zhou Ning's eyes lit up.

He Zhuoran also came to a realization. In his delight, the black smoke he had transformed into practically danced with joy.

He Zhuoran took out a jade box, picked up an ugly Fire Furuncle Fruit, and cast two Method Formulas in succession.

Zhou Ning took out a salted spirit fish, slit open its belly, and stuffed the Fire Furuncle Fruit inside.

"Go!"

The dead fish wagged its tail and flew toward the marsh.

The instant it landed, mud exploded upward, a python's silhouette appeared, and the spirit fish vanished in the blink of an eye.

He Zhuoran uttered a single word: "Explode!"

Zhou Ning heard a muffled bang, like a firecracker going off inside an iron pipe. Sound waves rippled outward, sweeping across the swamp and stirring up tiny waves.

Two breaths later, a stout python floated motionless atop the swamp. Black mud slowly slid off its body, revealing dark blue scales.

Zhou Ning laughed. "Hahaha, stupid snake!"

He Zhuoran sneered, "It's probably been in this grotto-heaven so long that its brain has degenerated!"

Little Sister Li directed her Divine Sense, enduring the scorching heat of the marsh as she forced it with difficulty into the Ni Marsh Python's body.

She found that the python's internal organs had been blown to mush by the force of the fire, and its life had been extinguished.

She was dumbfounded. "Wasn't that a little too easy...?"

Seeing this, He Zhuoran cast out a black rope Law Artifact. It plunged into the swamp, wound several times around the Ni Marsh Python, and pulled upward!

He had only lifted it halfway when, slip, it slid back down.

Brother Zhuoran was instantly embarrassed, and his entire cloud of smoke shrank inward.

Beside him, Little Sister Li let out a snicker. It was like having a young maiden laid out before him, only for him to lose his nerve first!

"Let me," Zhou Ning said.

He flicked a finger, and a small shield Law Artifact flew out and expanded enormously.

He controlled the great shield and scooped at the python's body as if ladling water, lifting it up!

But the python's body was like a noodle, and slip, it slid back down again!

Zhou Ning was astonished. What kind of Demon Beast was this?

Without the Fire Furuncle Fruit, even if the Ni Marsh Python stood still and let them hit it, they probably wouldn't be able to do a thing to it!

"Useless! You can only rub against the outside a couple of times." Little Sister Li folded her arms across her chest, contempt in her eyes.

Zhou Ning had had enough. He said coldly, "Do you think that if you goad us a little, we'll ask you for help, and then you can take the opportunity to demand a share of the spoils?"

With her thoughts exposed, Little Sister Li puffed out her cheeks. "You!"

"What about me? So young, yet so vicious!" Zhou Ning wasn't about to indulge her. "Brother Zhuoran has mastered a Secret Method. If you dare harbor ill intentions, he'll dare to hit you!"

He Zhuoran: "?"

Zhou Ning suggested, "Brother Zhuoran, how about this? We kill all the Ni Marsh Pythons in this area, then I'll go down myself and collect them directly with a Storage Bag."

He had the tortoise-shell Divine Ability that True Person Lu had bestowed on him. If anything happened, he could withstand a few blows.

Little Sister Li looked around at the open surroundings and couldn't help swearing. "You're dawdling like this, pants off but still not getting on with it. What if cultivators from another household see and snatch it from you?"

"When it's time to get down to business, get down to it. Otherwise, even the daylilies will have gone cold."

Zhou Ning looked at her a little strangely. She looked young-could it be that she cultivated the Dao of Hehuan?

He Zhuoran gave an awkward laugh. "Let her try getting it out."

But because Little Sister Li had hurt his feelings just now, he didn't promise her any reward.

Little Sister Li's lips curled up slightly when she heard that. She stretched out her pale, slender fingers and gently grasped the air, forming a great black net of spiritual power.

Zhou Ning looked closely. The mesh was exceedingly fine, and light seemed to flow like water along the edges of its strands.

Little Sister Li swept her ten fingers downward, and the black net plunged straight into the swamp, wrapping tightly around the python's body. She drew it back up and lifted the python onto the bank.

The black mist He Zhuoran had transformed into circled the Ni Marsh Python, occasionally extending an arm of smoke to touch its scales.

Zhou Ning really doubted it. His body wasn't even solid-could he actually feel what they were like?

Zhou Ning touched them himself. The python's scales weren't hard, but rather soft and very cool, like soft jade soaked in water.

"Little Sister, could you help us skin it?" He Zhuoran asked.

Little Sister Li agreed, took out a pestle-shaped Law Artifact, and set to work.

He Zhuoran and Zhou Ning continued blowing up snakes.

An hour later.

The two of them had hunted five Ni Marsh Pythons in all. After that, no matter how many explosions they set off, none appeared.

He Zhuoran thought they had killed them all, but Zhou Ning noticed something amiss. The Demon Beasts must have gotten smarter.

He and Brother Zhuoran each received two complete sets of python hide and scales. As for the remaining set-

Little Sister Li's eyes gleamed, and she looked quite unwilling to part with it.

She was the one who had netted the pythons, the one who had skinned them, and the one who had kept watch!

He Zhuoran said, "Little Sister, Ni Marsh Python scales are treasures coveted even by Foundation Establishment cultivators. Give Brother Zhou three Jade Graceful Branch blossoms."

Little Sister Li reacted as if someone had stepped on her tail, her voice growing shriller:

"In the entire Land of Wei, only my household has Jade Graceful Branches. Two blossoms at most!"

He Zhuoran said, "All right, then-"

Zhou Ning interrupted, "Two blossoms, then, and teach me that net-forming secret technique of yours as well."

Thus, Zhou Ning obtained a Jade Slip called [Profound Water Spirit-Binding Net]. It looked quite extraordinary.

He then opened the jade box. Inside were two graceful, pure-white flowering branches bearing paper-thin pink blossoms with a pearly sheen.

He Zhuoran explained, "Jade Graceful Branch is an immortal herb for treating injuries. There is currently no corresponding Pill Formula. Swallow it directly, and it can heal wounds and grow flesh, regenerate broken bones to a certain extent, and even repair injuries to the soul. It is exceedingly rare."

Zhou Ning was startled. "Regenerate broken bones?"

That was impressive, though from what He Zhuoran said, it could only regrow bone to a certain extent.

He gave Little Sister Li a couple more looks, his heart burning. These Aristocratic Clan disciples were truly treasure troves!

Unlike him, who could only work diligently and struggle on his own.

Little Sister Li felt a chill under his gaze and turned her face away. "I heard Shen Huaizhen of Divine Craft Peak entered the grotto-heaven. I plan to find him to craft an artifact. Until we meet again!"

Little Sister Li said no more. She cast a Method Formula, and her figure gradually receded into the distance.

"Shen Huaizhen..." Zhou Ning turned the name over.

His Flowing Plainness Boat bore an inscription; it had been crafted by this man. It traveled incredibly fast and was indeed extraordinary.

"Brother Zhuoran, how much farther is it to where the Calamity-Severing Grass grows?" he asked.

The black smoke held the compass and swayed back and forth, in high spirits after obtaining the rare python hide. "About three thousand li."

"The Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven is that big?"

As the two traveled, He Zhuoran said, "Heh, what we're in isn't the complete Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven. When the Withering and Flourishing Dao Sect fell apart all those years ago, even the Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven broke into several pieces and vanished into the world. This is just one of them."

Zhou Ning found it hard to believe. Just how powerful had the Withered Wood True Lord's Law Power been?

He couldn't help thinking back to the scene when he had first entered the grotto-heaven.

"By the way, I saw two people outside the grotto-heaven. Do you know who they were?" he asked.

"Outside?" He Zhuoran was bewildered.

"The two people on the north and south sides of Withered Wood," Zhou Ning said.

"Cultivators were flying toward the grotto-heaven from every direction. Which ones do you mean?" He Zhuoran didn't understand.

Zhou Ning froze. He watched the black smoke drift aimlessly along, looking utterly bewildered.

A scene flashed through Zhou Ning's mind:

That's right. When I flew into the Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven, most of the cultivators I saw had indifferent expressions...

If they had seen those two godlike figures, they certainly wouldn't have reacted that way.

Everything that had happened before surfaced in his mind: the entire city of Gazing Immortal Port driven mad, cultivators slaughtering one another...

True Person Lu searching his soul, only to suffer a backlash and mistake him for Ji Wumian instead...

A thought involuntarily sprang to mind: Could it be that my fate, or rather the workings of heaven, aren't affected by this world?

Did the jade hide me?

That must be it. Otherwise, Zhou Ning believed that the last time he was in Gazing Immortal Port, he would probably have been trapped in a nightmare and drawn into the slaughter over the Immortal Foundation.

Recalling everything he had seen and heard on his journey through the Land of Wei, Zhou Ning was filled with emotion.

The high-level cultivators of this Land of Wei are truly terrifying. Once they reach a certain level of power, they actually can't be seen.

And the constitutions, Cultivation Methods, and even the fates of lower cultivators are entirely under their control.

The gap in status is so great that it drives one to despair. I really don't know how to turn things around.

Fortunately, he was a false body!