Chapter 57

(Here comes the fourth update, brothers, let's put all our efforts to make TATY the top of the monthly ticket list! If we don't step on TATY this month, we'll step on the monthly ticket list!)

Liyulin, Chen Qing, Yue Yi, and others happened to be searching for wild medicinal herbs in the eastern hills near Huanglong Abyss today. Hearing the intense commotion, they ran over to see what was happening, only to find that a fierce battle was taking place.

The battle was almost over, and Wu Meng, Zhou Jun, Ge Tong, Shen Kun, and others were about to win. They didn't want to interfere and take credit, but seeing the valley completely devastated, with hundreds of towering trees broken and crushed, Liyulin and Chen Qing were secretly shocked. They never expected to encounter such a powerful beast so close to Huanglong Abyss.

Everyone was a colleague under Li Xianghai's command. As a member of the Li family, Liyulin had to help Li Xianghai maintain relationships with the lower-ranking military officers. He couldn't interfere and take credit, nor could he turn and leave when he encountered them in the mountains. So, he and Yue Yi flew down to Chen Hai's side to watch the final moments of the battle.

Chen Qing watched Wu Meng, Zhou Jun, and the others fighting the python to the death, while Chen Hai sat aside and watched the battle. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly. Chen Qing was already extremely dissatisfied with her father adopting Chen Hai as a legitimate son. Now, seeing this playboy actually putting on the airs of a legitimate son, making Wu Meng and the others fight to the death while he sat back and enjoyed the fruits of their labor, she felt even more disdain. She stood far away, just coldly watching.

Chen Hai glanced at Chen Qing's expression and easily guessed what she was thinking. He thought, "This woman's mind is really simple."

However, since he had been adopted by his uncle Chen Lie as a "legitimate son," he and Chen Qing were no longer cousins but "legitimate siblings." He didn't want to deliberately pick on her in front of others, and he was happy for them to misunderstand. He also didn't want to reveal his true intentions to Su Ziling.

Su Ziling had previously entered the Huanglong Abyss Dao Academy with Chen Qing and had already reached the Spirit Opening Realm. Given her background, for a servant to obtain the cultivation resources to reach the Spirit Opening Realm at such a young age was already quite astonishing.

Chen Hai secretly felt that this girl must be hiding secrets that even his uncle Chen Lie couldn't see through.

The death of Yao Xing contained unsolvable mysteries. Chen Hai had previously suspected that Chen Zhang and Su Ziling had colluded to harm him. But upon closer consideration, although Chen Zhang hated and guarded against him, the likelihood of him taking action was low.

The previous Yao Xing was self-destructive and had a bad reputation, even Chen Lie, who doted on him, was somewhat disappointed. Under those circumstances, Yao Xing posed no significant threat to Chen Zhang's position. Why would the cunning Chen Zhang risk teaming up with a servant who wasn't close to him to harm him, and then not kill the servant to cover up the deed?

If everything was done by Su Ziling alone, what was her purpose?

Chen Hai couldn't figure it out for now and didn't want to reveal his true intentions to this girl, making her more wary.

***************************

Zhou Jun's spear pierced the python's vital point, finally ending the battle.

They hadn't expected the python to struggle for so long after being severely injured. Wu Meng was still in better shape, but Zhou Jun, Ge Tong, and Shen Kun were almost collapsing. However, such a fierce and intense battle made them feel extremely satisfied, feeling that their martial cultivation had improved. With the world not yet in chaos, such intense practical combat opportunities were not easy to come by. They all happily walked over to greet Liyulin and Yue Yi, then sat beside Chen Hai to meditate and recover.

Several of the lower-ranking soldiers were caught off guard by the python's struggles, resulting in broken bones and severe injuries. They were taken to the side for bandaging and treatment. However, they had managed to kill the python and prevent it from escaping into the deep mountains.

The remaining tasks, such as collecting cold iron nails, extracting the python's blood, and other tasks, were left to the lower-ranking soldiers to complete.

"Wu brother's cultivation is indeed profound. He could kill this python without a scratch. I admire you, Liyulin," Liyulin mistakenly thought that the python was mainly killed by the Chen family's guard, Wu Meng. Seeing Wu Meng sheathing his sword and retreating, he stepped forward to greet him with a bow.

Although Liyulin was a disciple of a noble family, he still respected the strong. He and Wu Meng were both at the mid-stage of the Spirit Opening Realm. Seeing Wu Meng lead the group to successfully kill the python, he secretly felt that his own strength was slightly weaker than Wu Meng's.

Wu Meng smiled awkwardly. No matter how proud he was, he couldn't claim the credit at this moment. He was about to explain, but Chen Hai didn't want him to clarify and said, "That's also due to my excellent strategy!"

Wu Meng thought about it and realized that without Chen Hai's excellent strategy today, even if he had used his full strength, he couldn't have captured the python. He just smiled and didn't explain further.

Liyulin found Chen Hai's words irritating. He thought, "What do you mean by 'excellent strategy'? Isn't this clearly trying to take credit from Wu Meng?"

But Wu Meng was designated by Chen Lie to protect Chen Hai, and they had a master-servant relationship. If Chen Hai insisted that Wu Meng's credit belonged to him, Liyulin couldn't contradict him on Wu Meng's behalf. He thought, "Such eagerness to claim credit from subordinates, this guy is not much. I don't understand why my uncle values him so much. Is it just to curry favor with Deputy Protector Chen Lie?"

Thinking about this, Liyulin felt some disdain and didn't want to have any relationship with Chen Hai. He politely said a few words and then proposed to leave.

Chen Qing also silently summoned her black-feathered spirit eagle from the sky and was about to leave with Su Ziling.

"Chen Qing, please help us inform the Dao Academy. We will be offering this python to the Dao Academy after killing it..." Chen Hai said.

"Hmph!" Chen Qing lightly snorted, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and then stepped onto the spirit eagle's back with Su Ziling, flying towards Huanglong Abyss.

The python had some cultivation and its entire body was valuable.

The snake meat, blood, gallbladder, and other internal organs could be used to refine different types of spiritual medicines. The scales and bones could be used to refine mystical weapons and armor. The single horn on its forehead, which looked like it was about to fully grow, could be refined into a powerful magical artifact...

However, Chen Hai and the others didn't have the ability to use these directly. They could only collect the snake's blood and cut off a few large pieces of meat to bring back to Nantian Gate Village to replenish everyone's qi and blood. The rest would be directly offered to the Dao Academy to exchange for sect credits, which would be more convenient.

As a legitimate son of the Chen family, the Dao Academy wouldn't dare to take advantage of him. Besides, dragging a nearly thirty-meter-long, several-thousand-pound python back to Nantian Gate Village would be no easy task. The last time they dragged a two-thousand-pound wild boar from a hundred miles away, it was more exhausting than a fierce battle.

At this moment, dismembering the python on the spot would also be difficult. The best way was to have Chen Qing go back and send a message, and have the Dao Academy send people to collect it, which would be the most convenient for them.

"The Black-Horned Python is a rare species. If it reaches the Spirit Aperture Realm, this single horn can be refined into a physical magical artifact. At this stage, it is a rare material for refining high-grade yellow-level magical artifacts and spirit swords. The young master should keep this horn..." Wu Meng, seeing that Chen Hai didn't fully recognize the value of the python, suggested.

Zhou Jingyuan, Shen Kun, Ge Tong, and Zhou Jun, seeing the cold and proud Wu Meng actually offering advice, knew that this battle had greatly influenced him.

During this time, Zhou Jun had been with Chen Hai and the others, and he also had many reflections. Some things couldn't be accomplished just by having high cultivation. Especially in the battle to break through the Jade Dragon Mountain encirclement, the final victory relied on the unity and cooperation of the lowest-ranking Dao soldiers.

"Oh!" Chen Hai listened to Wu Meng's suggestion and asked, "How does it compare to the spirit-patterned sword you use?"

"My sword is just a low-grade yellow-level artifact, far inferior to the spirit sword that could be refined from this python's horn!" Wu Meng smiled bitterly. "I can use the spirit-patterned sword to help the young master cut this python's horn from the snake's vertebrae."

Chen Hai nodded, thinking that instead of giving the Dao Academy an advantage, he might as well give it to his uncle Chen Lie. The Golden Peak Spirit Ring could store three golden sword beams in advance, and a high-grade yellow-level spirit sword was something he couldn't use for a while.

Chen Hai and the others wanted to explore the snake's cave, but the stone cave had already collapsed due to the fierce battle. With their current manpower, they couldn't clear the fallen rocks in a short time.

***************************

Although Chen Qing's attitude was cold and proud, she still promptly informed the Dao Academy about the python's death. Soon, the Dao Academy sent a yellow-robed official and a dozen disciples, riding a dozen black-feathered giant eagles, to the scene.

Seeing the python in the valley, the yellow-robed official and the dozen disciples were shocked again.

Although the python had been killed, except for the vital areas being bloodied, its scales were undamaged, even Wu Meng's spirit-patterned sword couldn't cut through the snake's scales. The python's physical strength was easily imagined.

Without much ado, the disciples used ropes to securely bind the python's corpse, which weighed over ten thousand pounds, and the dozen black-feathered giant eagles lifted it into the air, flying directly back to Huanglong Abyss, which was much more convenient than what Chen Hai and the others could do.

These black-feathered giant eagles were temporarily assigned to the Dao Academy by the Grand Protector General. Each eagle, when standing with its wings folded, was as tall as an adult green-coated horse, and when its wings were spread, they were about fourteen to fifteen meters wide.

The giant eagles were not only fierce in the air but could also carry one to two thousand pounds of weight over mountains and valleys.

Before the road was built, the giant eagles were indispensable for transporting large amounts of supplies to Huanglong Abyss.

Each giant eagle, although not comparable to a spirit bird like the Green-Scaled Thunder Eagle, was as valuable as a high-grade green-coated horse. The spirit eagle in front of Li Xianghai was also a well-bred and trained variety selected from black-feathered giant eagles.

Although most Spirit Opening Realm cultivators could ride the wind, how many of them had enough true essence to expend? Even Spirit Aperture Realm experts couldn't match the speed and distance of ordinary birds. For long-distance travel, they often used spirit birds as mounts.

Chen Hai looked at the black-feathered giant eagles with great envy, but the entire Hexi region could only produce thirty to fifty young eagles each year. Only those with special war achievements or top-ranking inner disciples of the seven peaks could possibly receive such a reward.

Liyulin and Chen Qing could have black-feathered giant eagles as mounts because the Li and Li families had accumulated such resources over many years.

Chen Hai and his group met up with the subordinates guarding the mounts and then directly returned to the Dao Academy to rest and recuperate.

(PS: Recommend Shabao's new work "Tian Gong": Top-notch cultural relic restorer Su Jin is reborn in a new world. The Forbidden City has turned into an antique street, the Leshan Giant Buddha has collapsed halfway, the Dunhuang murals have been eroded by wind and sand, and the Mogao Caves have become headless caves. Cultural relics are damaged, restoration techniques are lost. People need history, but they have no history. …………)

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends