172: Chapter 172 The Green Snake Returns to the Minjiang River
"Going to the East Sea Dragon Palace to attend the Dragon King's birthday banquet!"
"I want to go, I want to go!"
Xu Linger was extremely excited.
Xu Qing's vanity was also greatly satisfied.
The high-society life of the Cultivation World was just so dull and monotonous.
It was full of social obligations.
"Rest assured, all employees of this River God Temple will go together."
"Consider it an employee benefit of the River God Temple."
The so-called employee benefit referred to...
A black-hearted enterprise with no salary and no social security benefits.
Honestly, this is already the Cultivation World; one should be bolder. What's with the social security?
The ultimate form of society is paying to work.
"Prepare whatever you need. We'll set off from the West River in a few days."
"First, we'll head to the Min River to rendezvous with the Min River God."
Speaking of which, Xu Qing still had things to ask the Min River God.
Namely, what kind of snake the World Serpent actually was.
If it were his past life, the World Serpent would likely refer to Jörmungandr.
But that's a Western legend.
What does that have to do with the East?
"That scale..."
Xu Qing touched his left eye, thinking of the World Serpent scale stored within his Spatial Pupil.
Over the past year, he had also tried to use that scale.
However, even with level 7 Demonic Fire and Artifact Refining, there was no way to refine it.
"Forget it."
"I won't consider such complex matters for now."
Xu Qing shook his head and entered the West River with the others, following the current toward the Min River.
...
The Min River.
At the bottom of the river, Jiang Mo seemed to sense something. He opened his eyes and leaned out of his Water Palace.
At this moment, Xu Qing and his group were standing before the Water Palace.
Jiang Mo transformed into human form and bowed to Xu Qing, who returned the gesture.
Then, Jiang Mo fixed his gaze on Silly Snake, his eyes lighting up.
"Is this Three-Colored Venomous Snake Young Miss married?"
Damn, how badly does this half-flood dragon want to find a wife!
He wouldn't even pass over a Three-Colored Venomous Snake; isn't he afraid of being poisoned to death?
Also, could it be that Silly Snake is actually very cute now?
Xu Qing, who suffered from face blindness and was only obsessed with his own divine looks, found it difficult to distinguish the appearances of others.
Silly Snake hid behind Xu Qing, seemingly very repulsed by the Min River God.
After all, she was a shut-in snake.
In this day and age, even civil servants have a hard time finding a wife, especially a shut-in snake.
"River God, when shall we set off?"
"If it is convenient for Her Ladyship, we can depart at any time."
Jiang Mo appeared almost excessively respectful.
After all, back then he had offended Daya, nearly causing her to perish.
Now, he was naturally cautious and prudent, fearing he might make Daya unhappy.
"I see. By the way."
"River God, have you ever heard of the World Serpent?"
Xu Qing asked, watching the expression on Jiang Mo's face closely.
"World Serpent?"
Jiang Mo lowered his head and frowned, contemplating for a moment.
"I have never heard of such a snake."
"However, I have heard of the Realm Snake."
Jiang Mo replied.
Xu Qing was startled; the Realm Snake should be the Boundary Green Snake on his evolution path.
"The existence of the Realm Snake is only recorded in legends."
"According to legend, only one such snake can exist in a single world."
"It is known as the world's only child."
"It can traverse space, ignoring the obstacles of distance, and can reach any point in the world in an instant. It cannot be caught, nor can it be seen."
Jiang Mo recounted the legend of the Realm Snake.
However, his tone suggested he didn't believe it at all.
What a joke; even the most advanced teleportation arrays in the Cultivation World today couldn't achieve that.
Furthermore, teleportation arrays required a massive amount of resources.
How could such a Realm Snake traverse space so easily? It was impossible.
"In the legends..."
Xu Qing felt excited just hearing about it.
The prestige of it sounded extraordinary.
Moreover, once he evolved...
With the ability to traverse space, his survival capabilities would be invincible.
If he couldn't win a fight, he could simply run away.
"Her Ladyship?"
Seeing Xu Qing lost in thought with a strange smile on his face, Jiang Mo couldn't help but call out.
"Ahem, it's nothing."
"This Snake was just pondering a few things."
Xu Qing snapped back to reality.
"There is still some time before the birthday banquet. If Her Ladyship is free, you may sit for a while in my humble Water Palace."
"There are many books in my humble Water Palace; perhaps there will be some records there."
When Jiang Mo mentioned his collection of books, he couldn't help but straighten his back.
His Family had been at the bottom of the Min River for generations, collecting countless books.
Even though he had stayed in the Water Palace reading for hundreds of years, he was still far from finishing them.
"I would be honored to accept."
Xu Qing had always believed in the principle that knowledge is power.
For the next five days...
Xu Qing remained immersed in the Water Palace, reading the collection of books.
Unfortunately, he didn't find any legends about the World Serpent.
However, he did find a large number of Snake Race Cultivation Techniques and unceremoniously read through them all.
Then, without hesitation, he transcribed some of the essence into his own Green Snake Heart Method.
He didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt.
Those who said he, the Green Snake, was plagiarizing were just ignorant fools.
You see, how could this be plagiarism?
This was called gathering the strengths of a hundred schools.
"Her Ladyship, if we don't leave now, it will be too late!"
"We really won't make it to the Dragon King's birthday banquet."
Jiang Mo came over to urge him again.
Honestly, what's the rush? Why be a River God if you're in such a hurry?
"I know you're anxious, but don't be anxious yet."
"..."
"Fine, fine, This Snake is coming."
Following that, Xu Qing stopped reading and left the library.
His gaze swept around casually and landed on a map hanging in the corner of the library.
After a single glance, he couldn't tear his eyes away.
"What is this map?"
Xu Qing stopped in his tracks and beckoned with his hand. The map detached itself and floated toward him.
"This is a map of the Cultivation World."
"It's an antique, said to be a million years old."
Xu Qing looked at the map, lost in thought.
"Are there any even older maps?"
He turned his head to look at Jiang Mo.
"No more."
"I believe there isn't an older map in the entire Cultivation World."
"A million years ago, neither humans nor the Yao Race held their current status."
"At their lowest point, humans were reduced to a single tribe, with only a few hundred people left in the entire race."
Jiang Mo was indeed very knowledgeable.
He was quite proficient in history, whether it was the history of the Human Race or the Yao Race.
As it turns out, a shut-in snake is still somewhat useful.
"...Is that so?"
Xu Qing didn't say anything.
"Not necessarily. A million years ago, the ones with the highest status and strength were the Ancient Barbarian Race."
"The Ancient Barbarian Race later split and became extinct."
"Their tiny remnants scattered to the extreme north and extreme south, evolving into the current Ice Spirit Clan and Merfolk Clan."
"Perhaps these two clans have even older maps of the Cultivation World in their collections."
Jiang Mo added.
However, even as he said this, his tone carried a hint of a sneer.
After all, the current Ice Spirit Clan and Merfolk Clan had evolved to the point where they had absolutely nothing to do with the original Ancient Barbarian Race.
Even the current humans couldn't really be considered the same race as the ancient humans.
You see, because of their bizarre 'preferences,' humans had interbred with all sorts of strange races as they multiplied.
The descendants of truly pure-blooded ancient humans likely no longer existed.