Chapter 398 “Meeting in the Narrow Path”
Snorting at the futile attempt by these black swirls, Ling Yue gave no mercy here today and attacked with swift decision. In the end, the dark matters were not able to withstand the offensive and soon succumbed to the onslaught.
But more than how easy it was for her come out as the victor, Ling Yue was rather shocked by the by-product created from the dark matters. These were droplets of black liquid, the very same kind of dark Yin essences she used to break into the Dan realm!
Can it be, the true face of these dark matters are in fact dark Yin energies of this world?
Very much intrigued by what she’s seeing, the girl didn’t want to wait at all. With a flick of her finger, the droplets instantly flew out of her cauldron and entered her body by her will.
Oddly enough, there were no resistance whatsoever here. When the foreign essence drew near her core, the stuff was practically screaming to join together as if something was beckoning them. But before she realizes this, it was already too late…..
In that very instant, a gush of frosty energy explodes out of her Dantian and spreads across her every fiber. From what used to be a rosy red lip of a healthy young girl, has faded into a purplish blue due to this sudden intrusion.
Compared to the natural dark Yin energy extracted by her cauldron, these essences on the other hand were drastically more pure. Because of this, her Chaotic Core was strung into a forceful transformation that’s both unnatural and dangerous to the owner – even her pupils were no longer just black and was now marred with a tinge of purple!
As the hours wore on through the night, it didn’t take long before the sun begins to rise in the outside world.
“A breakthrough?” Alarmed by the revelation, she can feel her powers growing. From a lowly six cauldron alchemist, her spirit force was now comparable to a seven cauldron of the highest standard.
Excited by the new achievement, she immediately transported herself back to the outside to have a test run.
While it came as no surprise to Ling Yue that she would be able perceive the walking footsteps of the patrolling guards outside her tent, what did astound the girl was the cricketing sound of the bugs inhabiting the grasses. She can hear it all, the chirp and the rustling, everything!
As they all know, training with the spirit force tends to be easier in the lower level only to be faced with barrier after barrier at the later stages. As result of this, it becomes much harder to produce a high level alchemist than a martialist of the same level, especially for a senior alchemist.
It’s not like the world lacked the resources to help an individual become fluent in the use of the spirit force, but rather it’s a biological one that cannot be overcome with mere outside forces.
As a martialist, one must constantly train in perfecting their bodies to the point where they become unnaturally strong and long lasting. This meant it’s not uncommon to find a reincarnation master to live up to a hundred years or more.
However, that’s not the case with an alchemist. They are users of the spirit force, an intangible power that relies on ones mind and soul. Even for an eight cauldron or nine cauldron alchemist, there bodies will eventually wither away like commoners.
That’s why the ratio of high level martialists outweighed the number of high level alchemists, the life span between both professions simply didn’t add up. One can live for decades longer and the other might not even outlive a normal person, it’s not hard to do the comparison.
While breaking into a new level definitely excited Ling Yue in a lot of ways, but it also beckons a question: where did her little black cauldron come from to have such amazing abilities?
Staring at the shiny black marking on her right hand, her mind starts wandering off into the wild at the marvels in her grasp.
Continuing like this, it was a random soldier coming to report that finally knocked the girl back to her senses: “Chief Yue, according to the village chief’s message, Grandpa Wang seems to have remembered something about the twin headed python. According to the elder’s memory, he had lost consciousness soon after eating the wild greens so he’s not very clear on what happened afterwards. But from his sporadic memories, he claims he can somehow remember hearing an eerie sound coming from the northwest after a kind-hearted soldier pulled him from his home.”
Due to the weakened state of the old grandpa after being cured, Ling Yue had no choice but to push the questioning off to another day. But anyone with a pair of working eyes can see the urgency plaguing the girl’s face. For that reason, the village chief had specifically took it upon himself to tend to the elder throughout the night, which was rewarded with this wonderful piece of information this very morning.
At the same time, the village chief also mentioned the spirit beasts living in the prairie generally follows a set of rules in their activities.
In the earlier years of the village there were also other cases of spirit snakes attacking the settlement, however the targets usually only involved some livestock’s before the predator retreats from where they came. Therefore, it’s bewildering to the folks here why the spirit beasts would vandalize the village and harm the residence this time instead of doing their usual thing.
Regardless of what others thought though, Ling Yue on the other hand could no longer hold back her anxiousness. Shuffling her sister awake, she practically kidnapped Lan Caier right out of the bed to run for the northwestern part of the landscape.
Sure enough, it didn’t take long for everyone to locate a crushed trail of branches and leaves nearby in this direction.
“This is definitely a snake type animal that crawled through here. Most likely poisonous too with a set of feet.” After taking a look for herself, A’bone soon made an assessment based on her experience and judgement from living inside the ancient forest.
“A python that’s grown a set of feet?” Going green in his face, the old monster was unsettled by the news.
There’s a common saying about snake type spirit beasts: a hundred years means a python, five hundred means a serpent dragon, and a thousand years for a true dragon!
Since this one had a set of feet, it can only mean it has surpassed the stage of being a mere python, most likely a serpent dragon at the five hundred years stage.
“Everyone be on your guard. The grass in front is quite thick and is about six to five feet tall. It should be the python’s main activity area. In order to avoid falling into any avoidable danger, everyone is to keep close while we pass through this stretch of land.”
Afraid there might be a trap ahead of them, Ling Yue decides to call out her alchemic puppet given to her by the old dwarf. Stuffing some pills into the mechanical horned serpent, they used it to clear the way and to test the road ahead.
Using the entire morning to transverse the thick shrubbery, it didn’t take long for their group to advance into a muddy wet region and away from the grassy forest.
“Wait, there is movement ahead.” After breaking into the seven cauldron level, her senses has greatly improved to the point where she can perceive the slightest change in her environment.
“It looks like there are others up ahead based on those footprints. Likely about an hour before we came.” Noticing the tracks, A’bone also chimes in to give her findings.
But who would come here of all places? Ling Yue wonders.
“Your Highness, the scent of that twin-headed python should be up ahead. If I’m correct, its den should be somewhere in this area.” It was then Prince Hou Hong and several of his fellow soldiers appeared from another spot, followed by two eccentric looking men from behind.
“What! How did they get here?” Ye Ling Yue’s sense of alarm was ringing off the chart after discovering the other party.