Chapter 48: Den of the Great Snake
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
“Where is that cave?” Ling Han asked.
“Wait, you want to go to that demonic place?!” Liu Dong immediately shouted.
Ling Han smiled softly and said, “Aren’t you guys here to search for a fateful encounter? There could be one at that place. Oh, that’s right, you guys probably didn’t venture too deeply into that cave, right?”
“Of course not. There were bones all over the place. It looked like a mass grave. Once we saw it, we fled,” as a girl, Zhu Xue Yi naturally need not fear that saying such words would make Ling Han laugh at them.
“You guys are really fortunate,” Ling Han nodded. Had these guys been even slightly more curious and ventured deeper into the cave to see what kind of creature had devoured these people and animals, they would’ve very likely never come out.
“Is there really a great opportunity there?” Cheng Peng Ju asked a bit expectantly. Currently, only he and Zhou Chang had not yet broken through to Element Gathering Tier.
“Possibly,” Ling Han nodded. That cave could be the lair of the Red Scaled Dragon Snake, or possibly some other kind of savage demonic beast. As he had not yet seen it with his own eyes, it was difficult to make an accurate guess.
When he saw the eagerness displayed on the faces of the five of them, he said, “However, great opportunities usually go hand in hand with great danger. You guys need to think it over carefully.”
The four of them exchanged looks and, after a while, they finally said, “We’ll at least take you to that cave for now.”
The group set off on their path, and Ling Han said to Li Hao, “Congratulations, now that you’ve formed Saber Qi, you can be considered to have finally stepped onto the first step of the path of a saber wielder.”
Saber Qi!
When Ling Han said this, Liu Dong and the others were reminded that Li Hao’s last attack had actually managed to form a flash of Saber Qi. Liu Dong, Chen Peng Ju and Zhou Chang were uncontrollably envious, while Zhu Xue Yi’s face was filled with joy.
Li Hao laughed in a simple manner. Before he had even begun his path of cultivation, he had already been practicing saber skills. He had immersed himself in the path of the saber for thirteen years, and his deepest desire was to be able to form Saber Qi. Unfortunately, he had never managed to do so.
He had never thought that this would have been a blessing in disguise, allowing him to form Saber Qi in such dangerous circumstances. From now onwards, his path of martial arts would definitely be bright beyond imagination!
It could even be said that even if he went to Hu Yang Academy and showed off his Saber Qi there, he’d definitely be gladly welcomed as a disciple.
“Big Brother Ling, let’s have a spar!” Li Hao could not help feeling his fighting spirit rise, “However, you’re not allowed to use your full abilities. Otherwise, your power would be much too strong.”
Ling Han neither agreed nor rejected. He simply drew his sword and gave it a light wave.
“Shua,” two flashes of Sword Qi appeared in a dance.
Li Hao instantly opened his mouth in a daze. After a while, he finally shook his head and said, “I’ll never compare myself with a freak like you again!”
“That’s right, this guy is a true freak!”
“To compare yourself with him is practically looking for trouble!”
Liu Dong and the other three said respectively, all of them completely convinced by Ling Han’s absolute prowess.
Yet Ling Han was not so easily satisfied. Sword Qi was only the first step on the path of the sword; there was still Sword Ray and Sword Heart after that! In his last life, out of the seven ultimate warriors of Heaven Tier, one of them had been the most esteemed existence of sword arts. He began practicing with the sword at seven years old, forming Sword Qi at ten, forming Sword Heart when he was seventeen, and finally forming Sword Heart at the age of thirty-three. He was truly a grandmaster of sword arts.
His first life was done and over with. He had placed all his attention on the path of alchemy, and became an Alchemy Emperor, someone who had never appeared in the books of history and likely never would again. He was a competitive man. Since he had already decided to concentrate on the path of martial arts in this life, then he wanted to also become a true emperor of martial arts.
Da Yuan City was too small, and Rain Country itself was also too small, thus even those who had only managed to form Sword or Saber Qi would be praised as exceptional geniuses.
They were not too far away from that cave. Thus, after half an hour, they arrived at the face of a cliff, which was covered with damp moss. Because the cliff was facing away from light, they appeared to look dark-green in color.
“It’s there!” Zhu Xue Yi said, pointing at one corner of the cliff.
Ling Han glanced over and saw that there was a very inconspicuous cave entrance there. If Zhu Xue Yi had not deliberately pointed it out to him, he would have definitely missed it.
“You guys wait here, I’ll go take a look.” He took a great leap and entered into the cave.
The environment here was extremely damp, and the ground slippery. If he wasn’t careful, he might slip and slide all the way to the bottom of the cave. He cautiously advanced, observing his surroundings carefully and paying attention to any traces or clues.
Soon he arrived at the bottom of the cave and discovered a gigantic cavern. There were bones everywhere, and just as Zhu Xue Yi had described, they were bones of both humans and demonic beasts. They were giving out a rotting stench.
If anyone else had seen such a scene, he’d probably turn right around and flee back to wherever he came from.
Ling Han searched carefully and soon, among the pile of bones, discovered a crimson scale.
“It’s indeed the Red Scaled Dragon Snake!” He could finally confirm it. He began searching again and eventually discovered a passage at one of the corners of the cavern. The passage’s ceiling was only as tall as a normal man’s height and it was also only wide enough to permit one person to enter at a time. A more powerful rotting stench was continuously wafting from within it.
“That big guy should be sleeping inside,” Ling Han took a look at the scale in his hand; judging from its size, it definitely came from a mature Red Scaled Dragon Snake. He bent it, but the scale did not split in half.
“Indeed, Red Scaled Dragon Snake has a thread of dragon blood in their line. That’s why their scales would be so tough. Otherwise, demonic beasts in Element Gathering Tier definitely could not possess such a powerful defense.”
He retreated out of the cave, brought Liu Dong and the others to a place farther away and said, “That cave is the lair of the Red Scaled Dragon Snake.”
“Red Scaled Dragon Snake!” Liu Dong and his group were shocked. The Red Scaled Dragon Snake was a demonic beast in the ninth layer of Element Gathering Tier. Furthermore, it was much stronger than any ordinary demonic beast in the ninth layer of Element Gathering Tier. It definitely deserved the name of the Beast King amongst demonic beasts of Element Gathering Tier.
“The inner core of the Dragon Snake can be used to concoct Transcending Origin Pill–one pill will allow the user to increase his own cultivation level by one layer. However, it is only effective for martial artists whose cultivation levels is below the fourth layer of Element Gathering Tier,” Ling Han revealed the benefits first, then he said, “How about it, do you guys still want to continue?”
Liu Dong and his group all looked hesitant. On one hand, they all craved for greater power, but on the other hand, the Red Scaled Dragon Snake was not an easy opponent. If they weren’t careful, they not only wouldn’t be able to obtain the beast’s inner core, but also become the prey of the great snake, and their bones would join the ever increasing pile in the cave.
Ling Han only looked at them with a soft smile. In truth, since he dared to venture here, then of course he was certain of his ability to handle the Red Scaled Dragon Snake. This was his test for the five of them.
…Because these five people had led him to the lair of the Red Scaled Dragon Snake, he wanted to reward them with a big gift. However, this would depend on whether or not they had the courage to obtain this opportunity.
The expressions on the five of them very quickly turned into determined looks, and they said, “Let’s do it!”
“If we can manage to reach the fourth layer of Element Gathering Tier, then we would have a chance of squeezing into the top ten participants of the tournament at the end of the year! We’d be able to enter Hu Yang Academy then!”
“We have to take the risk!”
Ling Han nodded, and said, “No regrets?”
“We definitely will not regret it!” The five of them said loudly in unison.
“All right, then here’s a mission for you, go catch a Bright Wool Sheep and bring it here,” Ling Han said.
“Bright Wool Sheep?” Liu Dong and the rest stared blankly. Bright Wool Sheep was only a demonic beast of Body Refining Tier and there was nothing special about it. What did Ling Han want such a creature for?
Ling Han smiled and said, “Bright Wool Sheep is the favorite food of the Red Scaled Dragon Snake.”
Chen Peng Ju had not yet reached the conclusion. He dimly asked, “Why do we have to feed that great snake?”
“Stupid!” Zhu Xue Yi immediately knocked him on the head, “If we place some kind of drug in the body of the Bright Wool Sheep, then wouldn’t it end up in the stomach of that great snake?”
“Oh, that’s right!” Chen Peng Ju scratched his head. His suddenly enlightened expression caused everyone else to laugh loudly.