40: Chapter 40 The Mysterious Division of the Green Snake
Five days later.
Green light and the crackling of flames filled the cave continuously.
Xu Qing didn't stop the flames until he had consumed all the Materials and Ores from the wolf yao.
[Ding! Proficiency requirements met.]
[Artifact Refining Lv.2 upgraded to Artifact Refining Lv.3.]
"Haha, This Snake is indeed an Artifact Refining Genius."
"The future of the Yao Race truly depends on me!"
Xu Qing looked smugly at the finished products piled in the corner, unable to hide his pride.
Including the White Sword he had refined previously, he had crafted a total of five Magical Artifacts.
Three of them were average quality Magical Artifacts with only one skill, but for one of them, Xu Qing's snake-Luck exploded, and it came with three skills.
Although the skills on two of the Magical Artifacts were only at the Lv.1 level.
The proficiency feedback from this three-skill Magical Artifact directly boosted his Artifact Refining skill to the level of Artifact Refining Lv.3.
"Xu 'Artifact Refining Master' Qing!"
Xu Qing was now extremely confident.
A complete wolf corpse at the peak of the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, supplemented with so many Materials, and even the scales of the legendary Resurrection Spirit Snake...
Plus the System's proficiency assistance.
It still took this long for his Artifact Refining Rank to increase...
Perhaps the Yao Race's talent for Artifact Refining and Alchemy is truly worrisome; it's not just Xu Qing's problem.
"Hmph, there's no longer any doubt that This Snake is a Genius."
Let Xu Qing immerse himself in this happiness; no one was going to snap him out of it.
Xu Qing's Divine Sense swept over the hilltop.
He discovered a newly carved cave halfway up the mountain; it was quite exquisite, completely different from the Snake Cave shared by Xu Qing and Silly Snake.
Xu Linger was inside Cultivating.
"What a loss."
"I got so absorbed in Artifact Refining that I forgot about hunting."
Xu Qing didn't want to see the hired muscle he brought in slacking off.
This was a fighter he'd "sold himself" to get; how could he let her idle?
"Junior Sister Sword, time to hunt!"
Xu Qing arrived at Xu Linger's residence and, ignoring the cave's size, forced his way in, turning the interior into a mess.
Seeing her meticulously decorated cave trashed by Xu Qing's massive body, Xu Linger was fuming.
"Let's go, accompany me on a hunt!"
"Get out! You've wrecked my home by squeezing in!"
"Hunting!"
Xu Qing's large tail scooped up Xu Linger and slithered outside.
Silly Snake was already waiting outside the cave.
Let's go to the Monster Beast Mountain Range.
Xu Qing couldn't wait to use new Yao Beast Materials for Artifact Refining.
Once he realized he was an Artifact Refining Genius, Xu Qing was eager to nurture his talent.
Thinking about how famous he'd be, with crowds of people coming to beg him for Artifact Refining, Xu Qing trembled with excitement.
In the future, he would engrave his name on everything he refined to build his reputation.
What is brand effect? This is brand effect.
The two snakes and one person flew back toward the Monster Beast Mountain Range.
...
[Ding! Proficiency requirements met.]
[Swiftness Lv.3 upgraded to Swiftness Lv.4.]
Training skills with Silly Snake, Xu Qing finally managed to increase a skill level again.
However, Poison Reduction Lv.2 showed no signs of leveling up.
This was his only reduction-type skill; Xu Qing hadn't obtained any other types of reduction skills.
The reduction skills held by the Crimson-Tailed Burning Flame Crane back then weren't high-Rank either.
Xu Qing guessed that among skills, reduction-type ones were particularly difficult to acquire and level up.
Divine Abilities are unique to Yao Beasts, with the Divine Ability 'Great Strength' being the most common.
Basically every Yao Beast Xu Qing had encountered possessed the Great Strength Divine Ability.
"Met humans again."
Xu Qing and Silly Snake stopped their skill training and looked toward the north.
Two days had passed since they entered the Monster Beast Mountain Range.
Over these two days, there were surprisingly many humans in the Monster Beast Mountain Range.
The Monster Beast Mountain Range is a Forbidden Ground for humans; normally, human presence is very rare.
"Could a Secret Realm be opening?"
Xu Qing couldn't help but start thinking.
"What are you thinking? If a Secret Realm were really opening, there wouldn't be so few people."
Xu Linger shattered Xu Qing's fantasy.
"In my opinion, some great treasure must have appeared."
"Or perhaps a Spiritual Root has emerged."
Xu Linger stroked her smooth chin; her speculation seemed much more reliable than Xu Qing's.
As everyone knows, Spiritual Roots are born of heaven and earth, also called heaven and earth spiritual roots, referring to plants that can grow Advanced Spirit Medicines.
Well, apparently it wasn't as well-known as she thought.
In the Cultivation World, most Spirit Medicines wither once their main body is picked, allowing for only a single harvest.
However, a Spiritual Root doesn't wither after its spiritual fruit is picked; it will bear fruit again over time.
Thus, rare and precious Spiritual Roots incite conflict between large Sects, as they bolster a School's foundation and Luck.
This is what the System meant in its description when it said the Resurrection Spirit Snake could even alter a Sect's Luck.
Because a Resurrection Spirit Snake is essentially a living, mobile heaven and earth spiritual root.
"Oh, it must be worth a lot of money."
"The Yao Beasts probably won't let such a great treasure flow into the human world either."
Xu Qing flicked his tail; the green flood dragon ring on it shimmered with a green light under the sun, looking very beautiful.
"Perhaps this small corner of the Monster Beast Mountain Range is about to experience a major upheaval."
"Perfect, just watch me, the Green Snake, fish in troubled waters!"
Xu Qing was the type who loved chaos.
The messier it got, the better, as it would allow Xu Qing to develop.
When the time came, he could harvest both human and yao heads while boosting his skill proficiency.
"However, if a heaven and earth spiritual root really emerges, both the Human Race and the Yao Race will definitely send Golden Core experts."
Xu Linger's words instantly deflated Xu Qing's excitement.
The memory of being conscripted by the Crimson-Tailed Burning Flame Crane was still fresh in his mind.
Damn it, thinking about it made him tremble with rage.
Once he was strong enough to win, he would definitely pluck the feathers from that Crane Loli's backside and refine them into a fan.
That Crane Loli wouldn't actually show up here, would she? He had run so far away.
"Ptooey, ptooey! I should slap my own mouth!"
Xu Qing gave himself a slap with his tail.
You can eat any frog you want, but you can't just say anything you want.
If the Yao Race really sent the Crane Loli to seize the Spiritual Root, things would get very interesting.
If the Green Snake slithered past the Crane Loli's eyes, he'd lose at least a layer of skin.
Xu Qing was willing to call her 'Crane the Skinner'.
"According to the original plan, we'll kill any isolated Foundation Establishment beings."
"Of course, that includes human Cultivators. We'll split the spoils 70-30."
Xu Qing looked at Xu Linger; at this point, he didn't want his cheap Junior Sister fighter to have any womanly softness.
But the Central Region was so chaotic that the Cultivators there all had somewhat dirty hands.
The Xuanji Sect viewed Central Region Cultivators as no different from evil Cultivators, so she shouldn't have any psychological burden.
"You get 70%, and I get 30%?"
Xu Linger's heart skipped a beat; she hadn't expected to get paid for being a fighter.
"No, you get seven..."
Hearing this, Xu Linger began to pant with excitement.
Her Senior Brother Qing wasn't cold-hearted after all; she had misjudged him all along.
Oh, my Lady White Flood Dragon, look at this generous and handsome Green Snake; his scales are as beautiful as gemstones.
"I get ninety-three percent."
"..."