273: Chapter 273 Let's Go Immediately

Liu Ce noticed the change in the environment and slowed his pace, but the bloodstains continued to extend; the Snake Demon was not far ahead.

The bloodstains finally vanished completely when they reached a stream ravine.

"Spread out and search!" Liu Ce crouched by the stream ravine and rummaged through the loose rocks, trying to find the hole the Snake Demon had crawled into.

The nine people searched both sides of the stream ravine thoroughly. There were rock crevices everywhere beneath the loose stones, with no fewer than a dozen holes of various sizes, making it impossible to tell which one the Snake Demon had entered.

While searching, Liu Ce suddenly stopped.

"Listen."

Everyone fell silent instantly.

A sound came from the rock layers beneath the stream ravine, followed by the dense rustling of countless snakes emerging from underground, rising and falling in an endless stream.

Hundreds and thousands of snakes moved in the shadows, the sound of scales rubbing against the rock walls converging and amplifying several times within the narrow space of the stream ravine.

Zhou Hong crouched down and pressed his ear to the rock surface, circulating his spiritual power to amplify his hearing, after which his expression changed.

"It's full of snakes down there. Many, very many."

Chen Rui, who was at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, peered into a large rock crevice. Deep inside, he could vaguely see dense shadows of snakes writhing. There were grayish-green ones, dark brown ones, and several thick, short pythons that were entirely grayish-green with mucus seeping from their scales, their bodies a size larger than ordinary snakes.

"What kind of snakes are those grayish-green ones?" Chen Rui withdrew his head from the crevice, his voice trembling.

He didn't recognize them, but Su Yunling in the sky did.

High in the air, Su Yunling's Divine Sense probed into the rock crevice. Those few thick, short grayish-green pythons had a layer of greasy mucus secreting from their scales, exactly like the Nether-molt Python recorded in the Sect's Yao Beast Manual she had seen before leaving.

Su Yunling's heart sank. The Nether-molt Python was a species of Yao Beast unique to the Soul-Severing Ravine. In the countless years the Monster Beast Mountain Range had existed, they had never been found in any area outside the Soul-Severing Ravine.

They fed on the high concentration of toxic miasma at the bottom of the valley and almost never migrated.

But this location was at least forty or fifty li away from the Soul-Severing Ravine.

Why would these Nether-molt Pythons come here? Their gathering and nesting outside the Soul-Severing Ravine indicated that some change had occurred at the bottom of the valley, forcing them to leave their home.

What could force out the Nether-molt Python that had lived at the bottom of the valley for hundreds of years?

Wenren Zimo also saw the snake shadows in the crevice. Although he couldn't recognize the Nether-molt Python, the expression on Su Yunling's face explained everything.

"Senior Sister..."

Su Yunling didn't say much. She simply descended rapidly from the sky on her sword, the several-zhang-long blade coming to a steady halt three feet above the ground.

The nine Disciples were all startled by this.

"Martial Aunt Su? Why are you..."

"Get on, we're leaving immediately."

Although the nine Disciples didn't know what had happened, Su Yunling's tone and the way Wenren Zimo landed right behind her explained everything.

No one asked a single question. Liu Ce was the first to jump onto the sword, reaching back to pull Zhou Hong up. The others climbed on in turn, and in just three or four breaths, everyone was standing steadily.

Wenren Zimo was the last to get on, taking the rear of the sword.

The rustling sound in the rock crevice suddenly grew louder; snakes were crawling up.

Su Yunling slapped a Second-grade Escape Speed Talisman from her Storage Pouch onto the spine of the crimson cloud sword. A crimson spiritual light, wrapped in the white glow of the Escape Speed Talisman, soared into the sky, speeding toward Heming City to the north at a pace far exceeding their usual rate.

The Disciples huddled on the sword, and no one spoke.

Liu Ce's hand, gripping the edge of the sword's spine, kept trembling. Thinking back to the scene just now, he felt a lingering fear.

Judging by Martial Aunt Su's reaction, the things down there were likely not something they could handle.

After flying over a hundred li, Su Yunling's Divine Sense captured four moving spots of spiritual light on the ground ahead—feedback from the Tracking Talisman.

It was Sun Mao and the others heading toward Heming City. The four of them weren't moving fast, as they were all significantly injured. Fortunately, no blind Cultivators had blocked their way.

The crimson cloud sword lowered its altitude to skim over the treetops, and Su Yunling slowed down three zhang above the four people's heads.

Zhao Ning looked up and saw the giant sword crowded with people, dazed for a moment in confusion.

"Get on."

The four were pulled onto the sword, and the crimson cloud sword rose again, continuing its full-speed flight toward Heming City.

Squeezed into the crowd, Sun Mao tugged at Liu Ce's sleeve and asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

Liu Ce shook his head and said nothing.

After flying for over an hour, the team returned to Heming City at dusk.

Su Yunling first sent the Disciples back to the station, letting Wenren Zimo take them back to rest and heal.

Then she left the station courtyard alone and walked toward the Discussion Hall.

The ten Foundation Establishment Elders of the Tiangang Sect stationed in Heming City were in the Discussion Hall, including all three in the Late Foundation Establishment Stage.

Elder Kong saw Su Yunling enter and put down the things in his hand.

"What happened?"

Su Yunling recounted the entire process of chasing the Snake Demon today from beginning to end: the Snake Demon's injury and escape, the Disciples' pursuit for over forty li, the discovery of a large gathering of snakes beneath the stream ravine, and the most crucial point.

"I saw Nether-molt Pythons in a rock crevice fifty li outside the Soul-Severing Ravine."

The expressions of the Elders present all changed. They naturally knew about the Soul-Severing Ravine and the Nether-molt Python.

"Are you sure?" one of the Elders pressed.

"I'm sure. But they were all in the Qi Refinement Stage, at least six or seven of them. There were even more ordinary Snake Demons, too many to count."

Elder Kong fell silent for a while.

The Nether-molt Python is a species unique to the Soul-Severing Ravine; this point was clearly written in the exploration records of the Monster Beast Mountain Range.

They lived on the toxic miasma at the bottom of the valley and could not advance their rank at all if they left that environment. For hundreds of years, there had been no records of Nether-molt Pythons being discovered outside the Soul-Severing Ravine.

Now, several or perhaps even more Nether-molt Pythons had appeared forty or fifty li away from the Soul-Severing Ravine?

"There is only one possibility for the Nether-molt Pythons to leave their nest: something has changed within the Soul-Severing Ravine." Elder Kong lowered his voice at this point. "Either those two Golden Core Nether-molt Pythons did something that caused a drastic change in the valley's environment, or some external force intervened and stirred up the Soul-Severing Ravine."

What could the situation be? No one knew for sure. No Disciples had been sent to patrol or investigate outside the Soul-Severing Ravine because even they didn't dare to get too close.

Even our own Golden Core Ancestors wouldn't dare claim they could win against those two Nether-molt Pythons in the Late Golden Core Stage. It was fortunate that those Snake Demons hadn't left the valley for hundreds of years, which was why the place was marked as a Forbidden Ground by the four Sects.

From the looks of it now, something major had likely happened in this Forbidden Ground.

After discussing for a while, the Elders made a decision.

"We will investigate tomorrow." Elder Kong stood up. "Junior Brother Jiang, you take Yun Ling for a trip. Don't enter the Soul-Severing Ravine; just look around the perimeter. Find a way to figure out what's going on with those Nether-molt Pythons and if there are any other abnormalities within the Soul-Severing Ravine.

Or... if there are signs of Cultivators from the Pingling Prefecture active there, withdraw immediately and report to the Sect."

After all, the Soul-Severing Ravine, which had been peaceful for hundreds of years, suddenly had problems just after the Qinghe Prefecture and Pingling Prefecture began joint development of the Monster Beast Mountain Range after which it appeared. It was hard to guarantee it wasn't the work of the Sects from the Pingling Prefecture.

Elder Jiang nodded, and Su Yunling also accepted the order.

At dawn the next day, Elder Jiang and Su Yunling set out from the south gate of Heming City, flying low on their artifacts and heading southeast along the route the Disciples had taken while chasing the Snake Demon yesterday.

(Everyone, the pace is a bit slow; consider this a setup. The plot is progressing normally, all for the protagonist's plans, because the protagonist will take off for a while later. He must be given every advantage to minimize obstacles.)

(The following parts will be even more exciting. Please watch patiently, thank you!)