3: Chapter 3 The Green Snake Escapes into the Deep Forest (Green Snake: I'm not escaping!)
"Lay low."
"Stay low."
"Can't be careless."
Xu Qing gave up on moving closer to the depths of the southern forest.
He was just a little snake born two days ago; if he approached a local Great Yao, he might just become some Great Yao's spicy snack.
He turned around and returned to the cave.
Looking at the bare cave, Xu Qing decided to improve his quality of life first.
He took out the Red Fox pelt to spread on the ground, and then took out the millstone-sized flood dragon scale.
The scale instantly crowded more than half of the cave.
Flood Dragon Qi filled the entire cave.
He patted the large scale with his tail and happily swayed his head as he coiled up on top of it.
"This is so comfortable."
Raising his upper body, he began to operate the Respiration Method.
[Ding! Dao Cultivation +0.05, evolution points +0.1]
The Cultivation effect was greatly enhanced.
If the System had an evaluation System, Xu Qing would not hesitate to give this scale a five-star review.
Late at night, movement in the forest interrupted Xu Qing's Cultivation.
"What's going on?"
He poked his head out of the cave, flicking his tongue.
In the dark night, a large number of humanoid heat sources gave Xu Qing a fright.
A succession of pungent odors almost made Xu Qing vomit from the stench.
"Scatter the realgar!"
"Force that snake yao out!"
"Watch me peel its skin off!"
"If it's a male snake yao, its snake whip must be given to me to soak in wine!"
Bright wood-cutting sabers gleamed with a faint light under the moonlight, making Xu Qing shiver in fear.
The scholar he had let go during the day was now leading a group of villagers to catch the monster.
"This Snake's liver hurts from anger, you ungrateful wolf!"
"To think I even saved you from that slutty fox!"
Xu Qing flicked his tongue in rage, his round, large eyes glinting with a fierce light.
At this moment, animal instinct triumphed over humanity.
Although he wanted to be a low-key little snake, now that others were stepping on his head, how could he as a Green Snake endure it?
Storing the Red Fox pelt and flood dragon scale into the System space, he pressed himself against the ground and slithered out of the cave.
Enduring the disgusting smell of realgar, he approached bit by bit.
First, he approached the burly man who wanted to take his snake whip for wine.
It wasn't that the Green Snake held a grudge; he just simply found the man unpleasant to look at.
"Wind Blade."
Instantly erupting from the ground, his tail made a whistling sound as it threw out a half-moon-shaped Wind Blade.
The Wind Blade shot straight toward the burly man's neck.
Blood sprayed as the man clutched his neck tightly, screaming and wildly waving his wood-cutting saber before collapsing to the ground.
[Ding! Dao Cultivation +0.1, evolution points +0.5]
[Obtained item: Three taels of silver]
[Ding! Achievement unlocked: First Kill]
[Obtained reward: Natal Snake Scale]
[Natal Snake Scale: 1. The snake scale can act as a substitute for death once; it takes a certain amount of time to reform after being consumed.
2. While the Natal Snake Scale exists, self-healing ability and physical fitness are both improved.]
Xu Qing felt an itch on his head, and a jade-green scale grew right between his eyes.
Unlike the other scales, this one was slightly darker in color and had diamond-shaped patterns.
"What happened over there with Old Li?"
"He probably ran into the snake yao, hurry over!"
Hearing the commotion, the other villagers quickly closed in on Xu Qing's position.
"A Green Snake doesn't let a grudge last overnight!"
Having killed one person, Xu Qing was exceptionally confident. Flicking his tongue, he charged at the nearest villager again.
"Wind Blade!"
The Wind Blade whistled through the air, sweeping toward the villager.
This villager was agile and reacted quickly, bending down and crossing his machete to block the Wind Blade.
With a flick of his wrist, he used the momentum to twist his waist; a tangible Saber Qi surged on the blade as he slashed toward Xu Qing's seven-inch mark.
More than half of the scales shattered, and blood seeped from the wound.
"It hurts so much, this person knows martial arts!"
Xu Qing didn't know that when this villager was young, he was also a martial artist who roamed the Jianghu and possessed a bit of Dao Cultivation.
With a twist of his tail, he threw out another Wind Blade.
The villager tilted his head nonchalantly to dodge it and raised his saber to strike again.
The cold glint of the blade made Xu Qing shiver; if he took another hit, he'd probably end up as snake soup!
"A Green Snake takes its revenge, even if it takes ten years!"
Realizing he couldn't win, Xu Qing no longer hesitated. He turned into a green shadow, darted into the grass, and slithered toward the south where there were no villagers.
The group of villagers and the martial artist followed closely behind.
Blood continued to seep from the wound, the pain stimulating Xu Qing's nerves.
The further south he went, the more intense the Demonic Qi became.
At the place where Xu Qing had stopped during the day, dense Demonic Qi radiated from the depths of the mountain range.
The villagers were closing in, clutching their sabers.
The situation no longer allowed Xu Qing to make a choice.
Without further hesitation, Xu Qing plunged into the heart of the dense forest, slithering deeper with all his might.
The villagers also stopped outside the dense forest, halting their steps.
Xu Qing wasn't careless and continued to advance toward the depths.
Finding a cave without Demonic Qi, he didn't hesitate to crawl into its depths, take out the flood dragon scale, and coil himself into a snake pancake on top of it.
A flood dragon scale was, after all, just a single scale; the aura it emitted was limited to a small area, so there was no need to worry about other Great Yao discovering and stealing it.
After all, for a Great Yao with that kind of power, who would be bored enough to keep an eye on a tiny snake?
"I was careless and didn't dodge."
Xu Qing began to reflect and learn his lesson.
He might have indeed become a bit overconfident.
Mortals without Dao Cultivation didn't necessarily mean they were weak.
In the dark cave, the Natal Scale on Xu Qing's head began to emit a faint light.
The wound on his neck began to slowly recover.
Xu Qing did not slack off and continued to raise his head to Cultivate.
Although the improvement was slow, it was steady, long-lasting, and safe.
In the dark cave, time slowly passed.
...
After one night.
The wound had completely recovered.
"Green Snake emerges from the cave!"
"Tail, perform well; whether we can grow up depends on you!"
Xu Qing crawled out of the cave, flicking his tongue as he carefully slithered through the forest.
[Host's Tongue-Flicking proficiency is full]
[Ability 'Tongue-Flicking' upgraded to Detection LV1]
"Oh?"
"Flicking my tongue actually unlocked a new skill!"
Xu Qing excitedly stuck out his tongue.
A 3D map appeared in Xu Qing's mind.
When he retracted his tongue, the map became blurred.
When he stuck out his tongue, the map became clear again.
After Xu Qing's testing, Detection LV1 could detect terrain and creatures within a hundred-meter radius.
And it could combine with his Insight LV2 talent to determine the Dao Cultivation of creatures within a hundred meters.
Quite practical.
As the skill level increased, this range should also improve.
Through the Detection skill, Xu Qing quickly locked onto a Yao Beast.
"It really is convenient."
"Now that I've learned Detection, Mom never has to worry about me going hungry again!"
Xu Qing approached the target bit by bit.
It was a gray-skinned rat the size of a dog.
Xu Qing just took one look, and saliva uncontrollably leaked from the corner of his mouth.
[Name] Rat Yao
[Rank] Spirit Opening Demon Beast (Five years of Dao Cultivation)
The Divine Ability Insight LV2 automatically activated, transmitting the Rat Yao's Rank into his mind.
It was a yao Xu Qing could defeat.
No longer hesitating, he threw out a Wind Blade.
The Wind Blade sliced through the fur, blood staining the coat red.
Seeing the Wind Blade hit its mark, he closed in, coiling around the Rat Yao layer by layer and slowly tightening.
The Rat Yao struggled constantly, but only left white marks on the scales.
As the constricting force slowly increased, the Rat Yao's bones began to emit cracking sounds.
[Ding! Killed Rat Yao]
[Dao Cultivation +1, evolution points +4]