224: Chapter 224 Swarm of Fire Serpents

"Lower-grade Strange Fire Snake swarms will gather there, hoping to absorb some of the fire energy to temper themselves. Higher-grade swarms flee because they can't withstand it. The overall contraction of the snake swarms in Ten Thousand Snakes Valley indicates that the thing underneath,"

"Is at least not weak," Su Chengyuan finished the sentence.

The two of them exchanged a glance.

"We set out the morning after tomorrow; you come with me," Su Chengyuan said. "The others will stay behind to guard the house. Brothers Liu and Wang will be responsible for looking after the shop."

"Should we bring a few more people?"

Su Chengyuan shook his head. "We aren't the only ones scouting for information near Xuanhuo Ridge. Bringing too many people would only draw unwanted attention."

Two days later, just as dawn was breaking.

Su Chengyuan and Li Shi changed into the grey robes of ordinary Loose Cultivators, stowed the tokens and insignia of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce into their Storage Pouches, and each performed a final check of their equipment.

Su Chengyuan brought all three of his supreme grade Magical Artifacts: the cangwu sword, Golden Toad Armor, and Wind-Chasing Plume. One hundred and sixty Second-tier High Grade offensive and defensive Talismans were packed into three Talisman bags hanging from his waist, along with a full assortment of various Medicinal Pills.

Li Shi: Several Magical Artifacts, plus a number of Talismans and Medicinal Pills specially issued by Fang Zhenhai.

The two of them exited through the South Gate of Luoxia City, choosing not to use their Flying Swords to fly.

Su Chengyuan didn't want to draw attention by leaving a trail of spiritual light in the sky, preferring to travel quickly on foot.

With the pace of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator using the Light Body Technique, covering a hundred miles in two hours is plenty.

Xuanhuo Ridge was a range of low mountains stretching seven to eight hundred miles; though not high in altitude, its terrain was extremely complex.

The ridge was covered in volcanic rock and black iron ore veins. The surface temperature was significantly higher than the surrounding area, and the heat beneath their feet became more pronounced the deeper they went.

Ordinary Spiritual Plants couldn't grow at all in such an environment. Instead, there were vast expanses of Red Iron Shrubs and Firethorn Vines. The former had roots reaching hundreds of feet underground to absorb geothermal Spiritual Qi, while the latter were covered in thorns that would leave a thumb-sized Fire Poison Particle in any wound they caused.

After walking for about four hours and following the map across two mountain ridges on the outskirts of Xuanhuo Ridge, they entered the outer reaches of Ten Thousand Snakes Valley.

Ten Thousand Snakes Valley earned its name from the massive number of Fire Snakes that had occupied the valley for years.

Fire Snakes were rank-one fire-attribute Yao Beasts. Individually, they were negligible, but in large numbers, they became quite troublesome.

What was even more deadly was that with so many Fire Snakes entrenched for so long, their numbers were vast, and at least a dozen of them had achieved a Breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment Stage. Coupled with the Toxic Miasma that perennially filled the valley, ordinary Cultivators would find no advantage in entering.

Golden Core Cultivators did not fear these things, but the resources in Ten Thousand Snakes Valley were useless to them, so it wasn't worth the trip.

Therefore, those who usually dared to come here were mostly Loose Cultivators in the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Stage, and even they had to be extremely cautious.

However, the area around the valley entrance was currently unnervingly quiet.

In previous years during this season, it was said that scattered Fire Snakes could be seen near the valley entrance.

But after Su Chengyuan and Li Shi scouted at the entrance for nearly an hour, they didn't see a single snake.

"Those Loose Cultivators were right," Li Shi said, scanning the surroundings. "The snake swarms have indeed retreated."

Su Chengyuan crouched down and flipped over a stone slab. Beneath it were fragments of dried snake skin that had already become brittle and turned to powder, likely dating back five or six months.

"Let's go deeper."

Su Chengyuan raised his hand and activated his spiritual power, creating a thin protective shield around his body to keep out the Toxic Miasma filling the valley.

Li Shi also circulated his spiritual power to block the erosion of the valley's toxic gas.

The two of them advanced deeper along the dried-up creek bed at the bottom of the valley. The volcanic rock beneath their feet was warmed by the geothermal heat, and rank-one medicinal Firethorn Vines climbed and spread across the rock walls, dotted with bright red fruit.

After walking about five or six miles, the terrain began to narrow.

The rock walls on both sides rose abruptly, leaving only a narrow crack of sky overhead. Sunlight filtered through the gap, casting mottled bands of light on the valley floor.

Li Shi suddenly stopped and pressed a hand against the Magical Artifact at his waist.

"What is it?" Su Chengyuan turned to look at him.

"There's movement ahead."

Su Chengyuan felt it too. Rustling sounds came from behind the rock wall, mixed with low hissing, and there were quite a few of them.

Just as he spoke, a mass of crimson figures darted out from the pile of rubble ahead on the valley floor.

Fire Snakes—about a dozen of them, each as thick as an adult's arm, entirely crimson, with faint glimmers of fire flowing between their scales.

The three leading the pack were noticeably larger, their spiritual fluctuations approaching the Peak of Qi Refining, and their eyes held a fierce, predatory glint.

As soon as they appeared, the Fire Snakes lunged at the two men. They were incredibly fast, almost gliding along the ground and kicking up a trail of tiny sparks against the volcanic rock.

Su Chengyuan flipped his right hand, and his Flying Sword unsheathed itself.

The sword light transformed into a green glow that swept out, accurately cutting into the middle of the snake swarm. Three Fire Snakes were sliced in half by a single strike, and the blood at the severed ends was vaporized by the fire spiritual energy in their bodies before it even hit the ground.

Li Shi struck at the same time. The spiritual power in his palm condensed into a golden shield that blocked two snakes lunging from the left. Then, his right hand summoned a short blade; with a flash of light from the blade, the heads of the two Fire Snakes fell simultaneously.

The remaining Fire Snakes were stunned by this round of attacks and instinctively recoiled.

Su Chengyuan's Flying Sword pursued and cut down four more, while Li Shi took care of two on his side.

Within just a few breaths, eleven Fire Snake corpses lay on the ground.

Only three or four remained. One of them, the largest Yao Snake, let out a sharp hiss and turned to flee.

But instead of fleeing back along the valley floor, it plunged into a crevice in the rubble beneath its feet and quickly vanished.

The other Fire Snakes followed close behind, and in the blink of an eye, they all disappeared into the rock crevices, vanishing completely.

"They burrowed underground?" Li Shi frowned.

Su Chengyuan walked over to where the Fire Snakes had entered and crouched down to look. The crevice was very narrow—impossible for a person to enter—but the Fire Snakes' bodies were flexible enough to squeeze through without effort.

"Let's see where they went."

Su Chengyuan extended his Divine Sense underground.

An Early Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator's Divine Sense range was about a hundred zhang, but with the layered rock strata, various ore veins, and volcanic lava creating obstacles, Su Chengyuan's Divine Sense could only penetrate about twenty zhang downward before becoming blurred.

His Divine Sense passed through the rock layers beneath his feet, extending downward in the direction the Fire Snakes had burrowed. It began to dissipate around twenty zhang, and he could no longer sense the Fire Snakes' presence.

"I can't probe any further," Su Chengyuan said, withdrawing his Divine Sense.

Li Shi closed his eyes. He was at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, with a Divine Sense range of three hundred zhang. Even with the numerous underground obstacles, he could penetrate about fifty zhang.

After a long moment, Li Shi opened his eyes, his expression solemn.

"Mr. Su, there's something forty zhang deep. It's a network of spiritual power similar to Array Inscriptionss. The structure is regular and doesn't seem naturally formed. My spiritual power was swallowed up as soon as it touched it."

Su Chengyuan frowned at this. "Array Inscriptionss?"

Naturally occurring Array Inscriptionss did exist; simple spiritual patterns would occasionally form spontaneously near Spiritual Vein nodes, but those were scattered and lacked any coherent structure.

What Li Shi described had a regular structure and a clear scope, making it seem more like an artificial arrangement.

Had someone set up a Formation beneath Ten Thousand Snakes Valley?

The Fire Snakes had vanished after burrowing in. It was unclear whether they were blocked by the Formation or had passed through it.

In either case, the thing beneath the ground was likely far from simple.