22: Chapter 22 The Green Snake's Lament
In the cold, damp cave, a large green snake coiled in a bunch, carefully flipping through human books with its large tail, reading seriously.
Skimming through ten lines at a glance, the reading speed was incredibly fast.
After finishing all the books, Xu Qing took a deep breath and organized the information in his mind.
According to one of them titled "History of the Yao and Human Races," he learned the general map of this world.
His current location was the Monster Beast Mountain Range in the south, specifically the Swamp of Death at the border with the human kingdom, the Xia Dynasty.
GreenSnakeHoldingBackLaughter.jpg
The entire south was occupied by the Monster Beast Mountain Range.
Since his reincarnation until now, he had always been at the outermost edge of the Monster Beast Mountain Range.
His previous location was Hundred Yao Ridge, which was also at the border of the Monster Beast Mountain Range and the Xia Dynasty.
The Xia Dynasty, a powerful nation with a long history.
Its most flourishing cultivation Sect was the Xuanji Sect, located in the northeast of the Xia Dynasty.
Of course, the Xuanji Sect was still very far from him; there was no need to worry about the Cultivators there coveting his body.
As for those Medicinal Pills in the Storage Pouch.
Most were dao condensation pills, used to assist cultivation in the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment.
There were also some Blood-Muscle Pills used for healing.
The rest were miscellaneous pills for various purposes.
Xu Qing also put the Medicinal Pills into his Spatial Pupil; he felt more at ease hiding them in his eyes.
He took out a dao condensation pill for cultivation.
Beneath his seven-meter-long snake body, a single pill appeared like a piece of rat droppings.
Xu Qing tossed the rat-dropping-like dao condensation pill into his mouth and began circulating his Cultivation Technique.
He only hoped that Yao Beasts could also use human Medicinal Pills.
[Ding! Dao Cultivation +0.2, evolution points +2]
It was equivalent to the effect of cultivating for a full day without rest.
Altogether, the three Foundation Establishment Cultivators had twenty bottles of dao condensation pills, with ten pills per bottle.
Consuming them all would yield 40 Dao Cultivation and 400 evolution points.
Holy crap, why kill Yao? What proper green snake kills Yao? Killing Cultivators is the fastest way to make money.
Xu Qing's eyes lit up; he couldn't wait to rush into the north and go on a killing spree.
[Ding! pill toxin accumulation: 1%]
[Cultivation Tip: The more pill toxin accumulates, the harder it is to break through Bottlenecks, and the more stagnant Demonic Power becomes. Careless pill consumption leads to tears during Breakthrough.]
[pill toxin will dissipate over time]
How could a green snake of love and justice kill the innocent indiscriminately?
No wonder these pills were so powerful yet humans hadn't unified the Cultivation World; it turned out they were toxic.
"Damn, I got excited for nothing."
Xu Qing tried eating another one to see if the pill toxin would increase.
[Ding! Dao Cultivation +0.2, evolution points +2]
[pill toxin accumulation: 2%]
[Cultivation Tip: The more pill toxin accumulates, the harder it is to remove!]
"What garbage pills!"
Xu Qing threw all the pills away.
...A moment later, he crawled back and silently took the pills back.
From now on, he would take a pill as soon as the pill toxin dissipated.
Unlike other humans or Yao, he could clearly determine the level of pill toxin accumulation in his body.
There was no risk of pill toxin building up without him knowing.
Since that was the case, he had to make good use of it.
"The human Cultivation World..."
"I must go there once after I Transformation."
Xu Qing looked toward the north.
He originally didn't have a great need for shapeshifting, but the human Cultivation World described in the books was truly alluring.
In the Monster Beast Mountain Range, most beasts were ordinary animals; Spirit-Awakened Yao Beasts were quite rare.
It was the same among humans; most were Mortals, and those with a dao root were extremely few.
But as a former human, the green snake had no doubt about human creativity.
Cultivation Markets.
Cultivation Gatherings.
Cultivation Tournaments.
And the once-in-a-millennium Ascension Banquet—they were all too enticing for a snake.
Then looking at the Yao Race's side.
Xu Qing swept his Divine Sense; the Three-Colored Venomous Snake was still lying by the lake sunbathing. Oh, it just rolled over.
Xu Qing officially declared: the Yao Race has no future!
Each and every one of them just guards their mountain or lake, waiting to die.
Wait a minute...
Xu Qing looked at the lake beneath him and fell into deep thought.
He couldn't go on like this; he had to change!
Xu Qing closed the book and neatly arranged them on a bookshelf carved into the cave's stone wall.
After a moment's hesitation, he pulled out "The Fox Yao Who Loved Me, Volume 1" to read again.
After finishing it, he closed the book.
"I want to Transformation!"
"Lazy Snake, let's go hunting!"
Xu Qing flew out of the cave and called out to the Three-Colored Venomous Snake, which was still sunbathing.
The Three-Colored Venomous Snake wiggled its body but gave no reaction.
It seemed it absolutely did not want to move.
Xu Qing didn't dare pull this Lazy Snake because it was poisonous.
Otherwise, he would have dragged this Lazy Snake by its tail and flown off to hunt long ago.
Sighing, he took out a dao condensation pill.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"
"Hiss, hiss~"
He tossed the dao condensation pill into the Lazy Snake's mouth, and the Lazy Snake finally wagged its tail and flew into the air.
[Ding! Learned skill: Beast Taming Lv1]
"Is this where I'm supposed to roast it?!"
Xu Qing was already too tired to complain.
To emphasize once more: the Yao Race has no future!
One large and one small snake began exploring their surroundings.
If it were just Xu Qing alone, he wouldn't dare hunt in such a dangerous place.
But with the Three-Colored Venomous Snake, he could be a bit bolder.
Lv5 Snake Venom! He didn't even have such a high-level skill yet.
It was a bit embarrassing for a snake; his highest-level skill was still Lv4 Constrict.
As for Lv4 Wind Blade...
In every fight, Constrict was used the most.
Having accompanied him since he was small, Constrict had contributed greatly.
It was his reliable fallback.
Soon, Xu Qing found a suitable target.
A large, pure blue crocodile, nearly seven meters long, with a thick layer of hard armor.
[Yao Beast] Blue Ice Crocodile
[Dao Cultivation] 144 years
[Skills] Ice Magic Lv3, Death Roll Lv4, Agility Lv2, Crocodile Venom Lv2, Hard Scales Lv2, Flight Lv2, Divine Sense Lv1, Water Control Lv2, Bite Lv3, Poison Fangs Lv1
[Divine Ability] Great Strength Lv3
Xu Qing didn't count on this Silly Snake to fight head-on.
He had seen this Silly Snake's status panel; except for its Snake Venom skills, everything else was simply pathetic.
They were all Level 1 across the board, with only Constrict being Level 2.
Just how much slacking off does it take to become this useless?
It was thanks to the Three-Colored Venomous Snake's potential and Bloodline foundation that it could advance to Foundation Establishment and have a decent amount of Dao Cultivation.
Seeing Xu Qing staring at it, the Three-Colored Venomous Snake tilted its head foolishly and flicked its tongue.
"..."
Xu Qing withdrew his gaze and scouted around the crocodile's territory, confirming there were no other Foundation Establishment Yao Beasts nearby.
"Alright, let's start the operation."
"Remember, don't face the enemy head-on; just support me from the side with poisonous gas."
"If there's an opening, go in for a Bite and inject venom."
"Hiss, hiss, hiss~"
The two snakes finished their communication.
After all, the intelligence of a Foundation Establishment Yao Beast was no lower than a human's; they could perform shallow communication between their own kind.
Xu Qing charged ahead, rushing straight at the crocodile beast. Several Wind Blades condensed in an instant, raining down from above to cover the crocodile beast's body.
The Three-Colored Venomous Snake followed closely behind, covering the crocodile in a thick cloud of poisonous mist.
That's some serious bad breath.
The Blue Ice Crocodile slapped its tail, and its entire crocodile armor glowed with blue light. When the Wind Blades struck it, they only left shallow marks and cracks.
Xu Qing wasn't surprised at all.
Wind Blades could be condensed instantly, making them perfect for stalling.
A ball of green flames had already condensed at his snake mouth, shooting straight at the crocodile beast like a pillar of fire.
The crocodile beast slapped its tail, and countless streams of water from the surrounding puddles converged around it, meeting the Green Fire.
Water overcomes fire; the usually invincible Green Fire seemed somewhat weak against a water-attribute Yao Beast.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the crocodile beast rushed out of the poisonous mist.
This poisonous mist truly made it uncomfortable.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss~"
The hidden Three-Colored Venomous Snake let out a contemptuous cry and activated its toxins.
The crocodile beast felt a wave of paralysis throughout its body, and it involuntarily froze in place.
In that moment of paralysis, it desperately wrapped its body in water, which turned into a thick layer of ice.
The Three-Colored Venomous Snake, which had rushed over for a finishing Bite, slammed into the ice layer and was bounced away.
Aside from poison...
It couldn't even break through the ice.
His moment of glory lasted less than a second.
A disgrace to the Three-Colored Venomous Snakes.