73: Chapter 73 Rock Ridge Fire Scale Python

The deeper they went, the more scorching the air became.

The fire malignant qi was as thick as a pot of boiling dark red thick soup, and every breath felt like swallowing a ball of fire.

The rocks underfoot gradually changed from dark gray to dark red, and then from dark red to scarlet. The soles of the shoes hissed when stepped on, emitting wisps of blue smoke.

After walking for about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the view ahead suddenly opened up, and a huge natural karst cave appeared before his eyes. At the bottom of the cave was actually a churning magma lake.

The magma bubbled gurglingly, and every time a bubble burst, a wisp of thick, unerasable fire qi soared into the sky.

The heat wave distorted the air, making even the line of sight blurry.

"I didn't expect there to be magma at the bottom of this mountain." Standing by the magma lake, Wang Shouren felt his skin burning all over in less than half a cup of tea's time.

The physical reaction was very real. Feeling those waves of stinging pain, Wang Shouren was extremely surprised.

Even with the Fierce Thunder True Body cultivated through heavenly thunder Body Tempering, he could actually be injured. If an ordinary Cultivator were here, let alone staying for long, standing for even a moment would allow this fire poison to invade their Meridians, resulting in minor burns to the Meridians at best, or the fire poison attacking the heart at worst.

"No wonder the Blood Demon Immortal guarded this place for decades and still didn't dare to venture deep. Blood malignant qi belongs to yin, while fire belongs to yang; the two naturally restrain each other. As a remnant soul, he couldn't even get close."

Wang Shouren thought of a possibility, and joy was written all over his face.

"This place is definitely not simple underground magma; it is very likely an undiscovered earthly fire branch vein. If a Formation can be set up to guide the earthly fire for Artifact Refining, it will definitely be an excellent place for Artifact Refining."

Earthly fire naturally cannot be used directly; it requires building guiding Formations and pipelines to weaken the power of the earthly fire layer by layer, so that it can serve as a stable and suitable fire source.

"Today was truly not a wasted trip; not only did I obtain a High Grade Magical Artifact, but I also discovered this earthly fire branch vein!"

Wang Shouren already intended not to venture deeper. After all, further in was a huge magma lake, and there was nothing else to explore.

Right at this moment, a cluster of scorching magma blossoms suddenly burst in the exact center of the magma lake.

A giant python, scarlet all over, rushed out from the magma. Its body was a full two zhang long, as thick as a water bucket, and its scales flickered with a dark golden light in the high temperature.

"Awoo~~~"

It raised its head, its triangular vertical pupils locked tightly onto Wang Shouren on the bank.

When the giant python opened its bloody maw, two rows of sawtooth-like fangs were revealed.

What kind of decent python would grow fangs, and in rows at that.

"This giant python is a Yao Beast. Looking at these features, could it be a Tier 2 Yao Beast — the Ridge-backed Fire-scaled Python?"

Wang Shouren's heart tightened, his gaze sweeping rapidly across the giant python's entire body.

Ordinary pythons had slippery, soft skin all over, but the one before his eyes had its back covered with a layer of heavy scales. The surface of the scales was as rough as volcanic rock, overlapping layer upon layer, as if carrying a natural rock armor on its back.

There were not many Yao Beasts in the Immortal Realm that could grow to look like this, and coupled with its ability to live in magma, this Yao Beast was undoubtedly the Ridge-backed Fire-scaled Python.

An adult could reach Tier 2, equivalent to a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator. Its temperament was violent, and its territorial awareness was extremely strong.

He estimated that he had entered its territory, which was why it came out to attack him.

Moreover, looking at the giant python's massive body, it was eighty percent likely an adult.

"Glulp!" He swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"This is an adult Yao Beast, a Tier 2 Yao Beast that even Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators would have to consider a retreat route upon seeing."

Wang Shouren regretted, deeply regretting why he had come in.

His thoughts spun rapidly, and all this happened in the flash of lightning and flint. Soon, his gaze turned fierce, advancing instead of retreating: "You beast courting death!"

The qingfeng sword in his hand transformed into a streak of lightning, piercing toward the left eye of the Ridge-backed Fire-scaled Python.

The giant python raised its head, its vertical pupils actually revealing an extremely humanized disdain.

It neither dodged nor avoided; instead, it opened its bloody maw and swallowed the qingfeng sword in one gulp.

This tiny human was waving a shiny object in front of it, no different from those ignorant bugs that broke into its nest seeking death.

It was going to swallow this bug along with the sword and the person.

But the next second, at the exact moment it opened its mouth, Wang Shouren didn't hesitate at all, directly turning around and sprinting wildly.

The Fierce Thunder True Body was urged to the limit, and crimson-gold lightning burst beneath his soles, transforming his entire figure into an afterimage as he sprinted rapidly toward the cave entrance.

In merely half a breath, he had already run half the distance, less than two hundred zhang from the cave entrance.

A heaven-shaking roar came from behind.

The Ridge-backed Fire-scaled Python never expected that this human would run the exact moment it opened its mouth, before it had even closed its jaws.

In its anger, it bit the qingfeng sword to pieces, twisted its serpentine body, and chased after him at top speed through the cave tunnel like a scarlet lightning bolt.

The qingfeng sword was destroyed, and the Divine Sense attached to the Artifact Refining weapon collapsed along with it.

Wang Shouren let out a muffled groan, a trace of blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth, but his footsteps did not pause in the slightest, instead becoming three parts faster.

"Fortunately, my Divine Sense is strong enough, otherwise this blow wouldn't just be a muffled groan. It's just a pity for the qingfeng sword; it has stayed with me for so long after all."

He gritted his teeth, pushing the Fierce Thunder True Body to its limit speed and making it a fraction faster. The cave walls retreated rapidly on both sides, so fast that even afterimages were indistinguishable.

Although the Ridge-backed Fire-scaled Python was fast, after all, he had a head start of over a hundred zhang. Coupled with the narrow and confined cave tunnel, the giant python's massive body inevitably slowed down at the curves. The distance between the man and the python not only did not shorten, but instead grew wider and wider.

The light of the cave entrance was already right before his eyes.

Wang Shouren could already smell the enchanting smell of blood at the cave entrance. He suddenly leaped forward, his entire body flying out from the cave entrance covered by vines, and immediately performed a soaring and leaping technique in mid-air—with no Flying Sword to borrow force from, he could only do this.

His figure shot straight up, flying out of the mountain ravine.

The Ridge-backed Fire-scaled Python closely followed, rushing out of the cave entrance. Its snake tail whipped against the gravel at the bottom of the ravine, kicking up a cloud of dust and mud, and its snake neck raised high, letting out an unwilling and frantic roar toward the figure flying further and further away in the sky.

It had no wings and could not fly, so it could only watch helplessly as the human who had toyed with it flew higher and higher, finally turning into a tiny black dot on the horizon.

"Bah, to actually think this laozi has no brain. A Tier 2 Yao Beast, and in its own territory at that—of course I'll run as fast as I can."

Wang Shouren stood on the Flying Sword, wiping the foam of blood from the corner of his mouth.

The mountain ravine below had been battered and mangled beyond recognition by the furious strikes of the Ridge-backed Fire-scaled Python. A patch of gravel had collapsed, the vines were torn to pieces, and that secret cave entrance was also tightly blocked by rolling rocks.

As a result, after the giant python's tossing and turning, ninety-nine percent of the traces inside the cave were probably gone.

He breathed a sigh of relief, but then frowned again.

Tier 2 Yao Beasts were not rare within the borders of Yue State, but most of them entrenched themselves deep within the Monster Mountain Range, and ordinarily would not appear in such desolate mountains and wild ridges with mediocre Spiritual Qi.

This Ridge-backed Fire-scaled Python had reached adult size, and its scale armor had a faint dark golden luster. Obviously, it had entrenched itself in this place for quite some time, and was definitely not passing by by chance.

But how did it usually feed?

Wild beasts in the mountains lacked spiritual power; to a Yao Beast, not only could they not fill its stomach, but long-term consumption would instead weaken its cultivation.

A Tier 2 Yao Beast had a huge appetite, especially a python-type Yao Beast of this size. It must have flesh and blood rich in spiritual power or spiritual objects to sustain itself.

"When that Yao Beast chased after me just now, I vaguely seemed to see something glowing in the magma, and the quantity was also very large."

Wang Shouren hovered in mid-air, his gaze landing on the thoroughly devastated mountain ravine below.

Going down to investigate now would be no different from courting death; that Ridge-backed Fire-scaled Python was currently at its most alert and irritable.

But he did not leave immediately; instead, he pondered for a moment, flipped his palm, and a fist-sized fiery red crystal appeared in his palm—it was precisely the kind of crystal he had scraped off the cave wall just now.

He raised the crystal to his eyes and scrutinized it against the sunlight. Flowing light drifted within the crystal, and pure Spiritual Qi mixed with heat Qi slowly rotated, looking like a ball of fire sealed in amber.

"Could it be that beneath that magma, it's this thing?"

Silence—