156: Chapter 156 The Secret Realm Near the Green Snake's Home Has Opened
Xu Qing became anxious.
He thought back carefully.
Back then, he had been inexplicably plotted against by the Demon Lord and spat blood before fainting.
Pushing the timeline back further...
At that time, he seemed to have poured everyone out of the gourd.
As for Hong Ruo...
Probably, possibly, maybe she was still inside the heaven-accepting gourd.
Xu Qing hurriedly took the heaven-accepting gourd from his waist, turned the mouth downward, and shook it vigorously up and down.
As he shook it, he muttered, "Come out! Come out!"
Soon, a young girl was shaken out.
Her clothes were tattered, and she was wrapped in a grass skirt.
It had been a long time; she had even grown a bit taller.
Xu Qing couldn't help but sigh; children really do grow fast.
Alright, that wasn't the point.
He had actually forgotten a child in the gourd for so long.
Fortunately, vegetation and fruit trees grew inside the heaven-accepting gourd, along with small animals Xu Qing had caught and put in when he was bored.
Xu Qing had even caught many Frogs and put them in, hoping they would breed more Frogs.
Unfortunately, they didn't last until the second generation of Frogs was born before being eaten clean by a snake demon inside the gourd that Xu Qing couldn't see.
How hateful.
"Lord Green Snake! Waaaah!"
"After four months, I finally see Lord Green Snake again. I thought something had happened to you!"
"Everyone disappeared four months ago, leaving only Hong Ruo alone!"
Hong Ruo hugged Xu Qing and began to cry.
Xu Qing felt a bit embarrassed.
He couldn't exactly say that he had forgotten her for four months while he was busy with secluded Cultivation.
"This Snake consumed a vast amount of magic power to send you all to another world."
"My Dao Cultivation was greatly damaged because of it, so I could only leave you inside."
"During these days, I have been unable to eat or sleep, desperately trying to recover my cultivation, only then was I able to bring you out."
Was Xu Qing lying?
Don't be ridiculous; what Xu Qing said was the truth. During his seclusion, he indeed hadn't eaten or drunk anything!
Could that not be called being unable to eat or sleep?
"Lord Green Snake!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"It's Hong Ruo who caused you trouble. Please punish me!"
Hearing this, Hong Ruo quickly let go of Xu Qing and apologized with her head bowed.
Even though four months of wilderness survival had made her quite thin and her clothes barely covered her body, she didn't dare look up, suppressing her tears.
Even Xu Qing now felt a deep sense of guilt.
"Damn, this heavy sense of guilt."
Xu Qing felt that he really did have a conscience after all.
If he didn't have a conscience, he wouldn't feel so guilty.
If anyone still said the Green Snake had no conscience, he would go to their house in the middle of the night and give them a 'one-snake service'.
"Hong Ruo, I don't blame you."
"Come here. After so long, you haven't harmed your body, have you?"
Xu Qing patted Hong Ruo's head.
Then, holding the heaven-accepting gourd in his hand, he let a drop of creation fluid fall.
With a flick of his finger, the creation fluid merged into Hong Ruo's forehead.
The wounds on her body healed rapidly, and her weakened aura returned to normal.
"Come, I'll give you a change of clothes."
"These are my clothes; they might be a bit large for you."
Xu Qing took out a set of clothes and waved his sleeve toward Hong Ruo.
The dust and old clothes on Hong Ruo's body disappeared.
Then, she put on his spare clothes.
"They aren't big; the size is just right."
Hong Ruo said in a small voice.
Xu Qing's body stiffened upon hearing this, and he turned his back, no longer speaking.
"Lord Green Snake?"
"Don't talk, I want some peace and quiet."
It wasn't Xu Qing's fault; it was just that this child was developing too fast.
And so, Hong Ruo became a member of the River God Temple.
As a Temple Acolyte.
Although she possessed a dao root, it was very average—just a low-grade dao root.
However, having a dao root was already one in a hundred.
It was impossible to be so lucky as to have some rare Aptitude.
"Four months have passed."
"The fluctuations of the Secret Realm have been getting more obvious lately; perhaps it's about to open."
Xu Qing looked at Xu Linger and sighed.
The latter didn't say a word.
Xu Qing felt a bit awkward; this Junior Sister really had no sense of social cues.
This made it look like he was talking to himself, which was very embarrassing.
He would have to see whether she stepped into the River God Temple with her left foot or her right foot tomorrow morning.
"When the Secret Realm opens, is it true that Cultivators at the Nascent Soul Stage cannot enter, and only those below the Nascent Soul Stage can?"
Xu Qing asked his question.
"...Why?"
"Everyone can enter. Why would you be able to enter while those with higher cultivation cannot?"
"If anything, it should be those with low cultivation who can't enter."
Xu Linger thought she had gotten used to her Senior Brother's train of thought.
Looking at it now, she still wasn't crazy enough.
"Oh, oh, is that so?"
Xu Qing nodded.
It seemed it didn't completely follow the rules of dungeons in old novels.
In that case, don't blame Xu Qing for being a 'thigh-clinging' accessory.
"However, upon entering the Secret Realm, one will be randomly teleported to a location within it."
The joy in Xu Qing's heart came to an abrupt halt.
He couldn't be an accessory anymore.
Xu Qing lacked nothing.
And because of the Green Treasure Pavilion and his previous ice-gambling industry, he now had so many Spirit Stones that he was as rich as a Sect.
Logically speaking, he should just let those Loose Cultivators and Sect workers risk their lives to grind the dungeon.
It would be best for him to wait for them to come out and then purchase the Materials.
He wouldn't even have to take any risks.
But the White Flood Dragon's words had made him change his mind.
He wasn't very satisfied with his current evolution paths; he had to get that Snake Scale the White Flood Dragon mentioned to see if he could unlock a powerful evolution path.
The Demon Lord.
The apocalypse.
Beneath the calm waters of the Cultivation World, a man-eating crocodile was already lurking.
He had to do his best to become stronger.
Then preserve himself during this catastrophe of the Cultivation World.
Being a savior was too ridiculous.
Xu Qing didn't have such high awareness.
Besides.
A little green snake being a savior? Don't be joking.
Isn't that making things difficult for the Green Snake?
Xu Qing flicked his tail, took out a book with a flip of his hand, and began to read carefully.
The Fox Demon Fell in Love with Me III
"What kind of protagonist is this? With so many fox demons around him, he hasn't touched a single one. What kind of (beep—) impotence is this!"
"How is this series getting worse and worse!"
"...Let me read it again."
The sun set.
The moon rose.
Moonlight poured down, turning into a lunar river that connected to the Secret Realm.
The earth shook incessantly.
The full moon appeared.
The Secret Realm opened.
Various Escape Lights flew toward the Secret Realm like meteors.
The Green Snake looked up.
He closed the book.
And soared into the sky.