12: Chapter 12 Green Snake Becomes King of the Mountain
He placed the Patterned Python's skull deep within the cave.
Xu Qing crawled out of the cave, took a look at it, and with a swing of his large tail, the cave collapsed, burying it completely.
He turned and dove into the grass, returning a moment later with a large Frog in his mouth.
"Go in peace, this Frog is for you."
Xu Qing knocked the Frog unconscious and placed it in front of the collapsed cave.
Then.
Without looking back, he dove into the grass.
The surroundings of the cave were silent, as if time had completely frozen there.
A moment later.
A green snake slithered back and bit the Frog.
"If you don't eat it, it'll run away in a bit. If you won't eat it, I will."
Swallowing the Frog, the green snake left once again without looking back.
The surroundings of the cave were silent, as if time had completely frozen there.
...
The cave that originally belonged to the mountain king, the Bear Spirit, was now naturally claimed by Xu Qing as his own.
He naturally became the new king of the mountain.
Sometimes, goals are achieved so suddenly.
The hero who slays the dragon eventually becomes the dragon himself.
That said, being the 'evil dragon' is actually quite fun.
The joy of being the evil dragon slightly dispelled his gloomy mood.
The Natal Scale on his forehead was covered in cracks, slightly affecting the green snake's looks.
Without Madam Bai's help this time, he didn't know how long it would take for the Natal Scale to recover.
However, the harvest this time was quite satisfying for a snake.
His Dao Cultivation broke through seventy years, reaching the seventh layer of Qi Refining.
He unlocked a new evolution path and obtained a rare skill belonging to the Resurrection Green Snake: Resurrection Lv1.
He also obtained a weapon, a black flood dragon horn.
At the same time, Xu Qing also had some guesses about how to unlock evolution paths.
First, obtain the Bloodline of a high-ranking Yao Beast, or have the Bloodline in one's body tainted by the aura of a high-ranking Yao Beast; then, one will evolve towards that high-ranking Yao Beast species.
Second, obtain rare skills.
He would work hard towards these two directions in the future.
Regarding the aura and Bloodline of high-ranking Yao Beasts, he would have to find a way to hone his 'bootlicking' skills in the future.
The next time he met Madam Bai, no matter what, he had to 'lick' his way into a new evolution path.
As for obtaining rare skills...
By killing a Yao Beast possessor of a rare skill, the System has a chance to reward the rare skill to him.
Alternatively, he could comprehend it himself.
For example, with this experience of returning from the dead, only a true Resurrection Green Snake should be able to feel this near-death experience and obtain the Resurrection skill.
And through his Natal Scale, he had truly died once, successfully comprehending the Resurrection skill.
However, if possible, he still didn't want to choose this method.
The taste of death was not pleasant.
"Also, the black flood dragon horn."
Xu Qing opened the System's inventory.
The pitch-black horn was covered in branches, shimmering with flowing light, looking ferocious and terrifying.
It wasn't soft like coral, but rather a horn that bared its fangs and brandished its claws like tree branches.
He took the horn out of the inventory.
The entire cave was instantly filled to capacity.
The rock at the top was poked through, creating a large hole.
Xu Qing climbed up the horn and hung himself on one of its branches.
Flood Dragon Qi, several times denser than that from the scales, enveloped him, purifying the Flood Dragon Bloodline in his body bit by bit.
His Cultivation speed increased several times over once again.
He had finally obtained a new bed.
Unlike a crib, this was an adult bed.
He estimated that even if he grew several times larger, he wouldn't be able to fill this horn.
[Ding, new evolution path unlocked]
[Calamity Black Snake] A spirit snake, extremely rare, water-attribute. Generally considered extinct. Possesses a faint Bloodline of the Black Flood Dragon. Inedible. An excellent Material for refining offensive magical artifacts. A symbol of calamity; wherever it appears, life is often devastated. Must be killed upon sight—this is common knowledge for both Cultivators and Yao Beasts.
"Fuck, what kind of evolution path is this!"
Xu Qing was so startled he almost fell off the black flood dragon horn.
He originally thought he was miserable enough, being a living treasure chest.
It turned out this "Calamity Black Snake" was even more miserable.
"Must be killed upon sight—this is common knowledge for both Cultivators and Yao Beasts."
Look at that, is that even human language?
Miserable, miserable, miserable.
Xu Qing obediently hung on the branch and Cultivated seriously.
He was already the mountain king; how could he lay a hand on the Yao Beasts of his own mountain?
He had to set his sights on the surrounding mountains and couldn't harm his own Yao.
However, the tree wants to be still but the wind won't stop.
On the very afternoon Xu Qing occupied the mountain, a tiger came knocking on his door.
It looked like it wanted to challenge his position as the mountain king.
This made Xu Qing extremely happy.
He was just worrying about having no excuse to make a move on his own Yao.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!!!"
The Tiger Yao looked excitedly at the green snake before him, whose Dao Cultivation wasn't even as high as his own, and let out an ear-splitting roar.
It was truly a tiger's roar shaking the forest.
His muscles were almost bursting through his tiger skin, and every strand of fur stood up like steel needles.
His dagger-like fangs seemed capable of piercing through steel plates.
His dagger-like claws seemed capable of breaking gold and splitting stone.
Crimson flames rose from his four paws, scorching the air into a distorted haze.
He came charging, bringing gusts of foul wind and rolling heat waves.
Like a meteorite, like flowing fire.
Enveloped in flames, wherever his four paws stepped, rocks shattered and soil cracked, leaving behind deep pits burning with fire.
Roaring in rage, ferociously trampling.
[Ding, Dao Cultivation +5, Evolution Points +10]
[Obtained Scarlet Tiger Fire x1]
[Scarlet Tiger Fire] The natal Yao flame condensed by a Scarlet Tiger with over eighty years of Dao Cultivation. Can melt gold and dissolve stone. Can be fused.
"Quite polite, even brought a gift when coming out."
Xu Qing used his tail to coil around the Tiger Yao's corpse and dove back into the cave.
He was afraid that if the Tiger Yao's corpse was discovered, no other Yao Beasts would come to challenge him.
Then how would he 'exchange feelings' with these lovely Yao Beasts?
However, Xu Qing had clearly underestimated the wisdom of those Yao Beasts.
Seeing that the foolish tiger never returned, the group of Yao all wised up.
On the entire mountain, only the tiger was an honest Yao who acted as the spearhead, not even knowing he had been sold out.
After waiting all afternoon and seeing that no more Yao came, Xu Qing, with little interest left, hung himself back on the black flood dragon horn and began Fusion with the Scarlet Tiger Fire.
It was similar to when he fused with the Monkey Fire before; a ball of crimson flame floated in front of him, and strands of fire were drawn out to merge into his Green Flame.
After the entire ball of flame was fused, Xu Qing's natal Green Flame also grew a size larger.
It didn't unlock a new evolution path; it just made the Green Flame slightly larger.
But that was also within expectations.
Then...
Xu Qing looked far towards the west.
The Spider Spirit and Toad Spirit who had chased him so far back then—if he didn't take this revenge, his mind wouldn't be at peace.
Moreover, he was also a bit greedy for the bodies of these two mountain kings.
They were both living Dao Cultivation and Evolution Points.
After taking revenge, he would be able to evolve once again.
He decided.
Go back for revenge.
First find the Toad Spirit, then find the Spider Spirit.
Then go to the human village, drag out that ungrateful scholar, and throw him into a fox den.
Then give every villager in that village a slap across the face.
Let them taste the humiliation he had once suffered.
Just thinking about it made his mind feel at peace.