Chapter 81

Yang Li, after years of cultivation, did not panic despite the unfavorable situation. He quickly took out the innate Five Elements Divine Thunder he had collected three years ago. These thunder beads had been carefully refined by him, and with a thought, three beads of Bing Fire Divine Thunder flew out. He casually threw them into the cave. The thunder beads, no larger than soybeans, responded to his mental command. Once inside the cave, they exploded simultaneously with a deafening roar, causing the earth to shake. A large amount of Bing Fire essence overflowed, burning the mountain to pieces, turning it into ashes and causing the cave entrance to collapse by half.

Yang Li then combined his twin hooks and flew upward, relying on the ancient immortal's legacy to repel all evil, he forcefully penetrated the cloud layer and ascended to the sky.

The clouds and mist rapidly contracted, as if being drawn back into the cave. Yue Qing pointed his finger and released the Taiyi Five Smokes Net, which instantly spread over a hundred miles, larger than the cloud and mist, and enveloped the snake demon's colorful clouds, swiftly flying up to the ninth heaven.

Seeing his long-cultivated treasure about to be lost, the snake demon could no longer hold back. With a deafening roar, it burst out from the valley bottom. It was a giant snake over ten zhang long and as thick as a water vat, with a body covered in white scales that shimmered like flowing gold. It rose from the ground, opened its massive mouth, and fiercely bit at Yang Li.

Yang Li pointed his finger in the sky, and the twin hooks descended. As the giant snake turned, it was already cut in half at the waist.

The two segments of the snake fell from the sky, rolled on the mountain, and transformed into two young women in white, each wearing a golden hairpin and holding a sword. They attacked Yang Li again. Although Yang Li was surprised, he remained calm and composed, using the twin hooks to fight the two young women. The hooks and swords clashed, and while the young women's sword techniques were decent, their four flying swords were far inferior to the twin hooks. After a short battle, the flying swords were shredded, and the young women gritted their teeth, each spitting out an inner pearl.

It turned out that the snake demon had cultivated two inner pearls. One was water-based, capable of gathering clouds and mist, and the clouds and mist in the sky were controlled by this pearl. The other was fire-based, and the snake demon had drilled through the lower layers, entering the earth's core to absorb the Yin Earth Fire, condensing it into a kind of Tai Xu Poison Flame. When spewed out, it transformed into a large mass of fiercely burning poison fire, with fire dragons flying out from the flames, rushing toward Yang Li.

Yang Li's twin hooks were being drawn by the two inner pearls, making them difficult to control. Seeing the fire dragons approaching, he knew it was bad and quickly fired two Kui Water Divine Thunder beads, intending to use water to counter fire. The Kui Water was Yin Water, and the snake demon's poison fire was also Yin Fire. When they met, they silently canceled each other out. However, the Yin poison in the fire became even more concentrated, and Yang Li, caught off guard by the poison, shivered and became dizzy, falling from the sky. Fortunately, his foundation was deep, and in the critical moment, he silently used the Taiyi Mystic Art to forcefully summon the twin hooks back, combining them and flying unsteadily toward Yue Qing. Before he could land, he fell straight down. Tao Jun, who had been practicing the Five Elements True Qi that day, moved swiftly, leaping several zhang to catch him.

Yue Qing calmly examined Yang Li's condition. He had been poisoned by Yin poison, his body was hot, his skin was red, and his internal organs were cold, causing him to shiver. He took out two Yin-Yang pills and handed them to Tao Jun, saying, "Don't worry, give them to your senior brother, and he will be fine in a moment."

As he spoke, countless fire dragons flew from the mountain toward them. Yue Qing raised the Xuan Guang Ruler and released five shimmering light rings, which danced in the air. The fire dragons were all drawn into the light rings, and as the rings rotated, the fire dragons were destroyed. He then drove the light rings to capture the snake demon's two inner pearls, forcefully pulling them over. The snake demon screamed, unwilling to give up its life-sustaining pearls, and desperately spewed out demonic qi, causing the pearls to emit colorful mist and fierce fire, trying to break the light rings. However, Yue Qing's cultivation was deep, and the Xuan Guang Ruler was extraordinary. The light rings tightly held the inner pearls and quickly fell into Yue Qing's hands.

The snake demon, enraged, let out a fierce roar. The two young women joined hands, merged into one, and used their magic to lift half of Yun Ling Mountain, raising it several zhang high, intending to crush Yue Qing. Yue Qing shot out the Hunyuan True Qi, which merged with the mountain and soil, making it instantly much heavier. In a short half-hour, it became a hundred times heavier than before. The snake demon's magic was insufficient, and the mountain fell back to the ground. During this stalemate, its two inner pearls and the Tai Xu Poison Flame in the sky were all taken by Yue Qing using the Xuan Guang Ruler and the Five Smokes Net.

Without its inner pearls, the snake demon lost much of its power. It finally realized that the seemingly gentle young man before it was not to be provoked. With a fierce howl, it turned to re-enter the cave. It was a cunning creature, knowing that its opponent's cultivation far exceeded its own, and that trying to escape by flying would result in being caught. Therefore, it wanted to return to its cave, transform into its original form, and burrow into the earth.

However, Yue Qing had Yang Li lure it out to prevent it from escaping into the earth. Therefore, when he moved the mountain, the Hunyuan True Qi remained in the rocks and was not withdrawn. When the snake demon tried to burrow down, the rocks, which were originally as soft as tofu to it, became as hard as diamond, and the cave entrance was sealed. When it tried to fly away, the five-colored smoke and mist fell from all directions, trapping it inside.

Seeing no way to escape, the snake demon hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy: "Immortal, please forgive me! Since I gained intelligence and began cultivation, I have never harmed humans. I beg you to have mercy on my thousand years of hard work and spare my life! I am willing to offer my inner pearls and poison fire clouds as a ransom."

Yue Qing smiled and said, "I would like to spare you, but my disciple says that once you achieve your cultivation, you will harm people, so he asked me to take preemptive action and eliminate you!"

Tao Jun, hearing his master's words, turned bright red with embarrassment. The snake demon then bowed to him, begging for mercy. Tao Jun said, "Master, what are you talking about? I was just young and ignorant before..."

Yue Qing said, "So, what do you think? Should we kill her or not?"

Tao Jun was unsure. Seeing the snake demon's pitiful state and its claim of never harming humans, he felt compassion: "I want to ask Master to spare her, but I am afraid that she will harm people in the future."

The snake demon cried and pleaded, "I am willing to follow the Immortal back to the mountain, clean the holy land daily, and guard the mountain gate. I beg you to spare my life. It is not easy for us to cultivate, and a thousand years of hard work should not be destroyed in an instant. I beg you to show mercy, and I will be eternally grateful!"

Tao Jun said to Yue Qing, "Since she has said this, Master, please spare her."

Yue Qing smiled and said, "You have done both the good and the bad!" He asked the snake demon, "What is your name?"

The snake demon said, "I have no name."

Yue Qing said, "I cultivate at the Taiyi Palace on Wutai Mountain. These two are my disciples. You have cultivated for a thousand years and can control yourself. If I harm you, it would go against the principles of heaven. You don't need to be a slave or a servant. In the future, you can join my Wutai Sect. The Wutai Sect teaches male and female disciples separately. When we return to the mountain, I will introduce you to my junior sister. As long as you are loyal to the sect, respect your seniors, and diligently practice, you can achieve immortality and ascend to heaven. Are you willing?"

The snake demon, never expecting such a favorable outcome, was overjoyed. With tears still on her face, she smiled and bowed in gratitude.

Yue Qing returned her two inner pearls and the poison fire clouds to her. "Since you have no name, I will give you one. Your original form is a white snake, so your surname will be Bai. You have cultivated on Yun Ling Mountain and will join the immortal sect, so your name will be Bai Ling Xian. What do you think?"

The snake demon was delighted. "From now on, I will be called Bai Ling Xian!"

Yue Qing called Yang Li over and had them meet again. Bai Ling Xian bowed to Yang Li and apologized. Yang Li, seeing that she had become his junior sister, naturally did not hold a grudge. Following Yue Qing's instructions, he took out two Tian Gang swords and gave them to Bai Ling Xian. Bai Ling Xian returned to her cave and brought out all the ginseng, lingzhi, and various immortal medicines she had collected over the years to offer to Yue Qing. Yue Qing said, "The sect will not take your things lightly. You have accumulated them for a thousand years, and it was not easy. Keep them for yourself."

Bai Ling Xian was even more grateful and took out one-third of her medicines and spirit stones, insisting on giving them to Yang Li and Tao Jun. Tao Jun had just joined the immortal sect and had nothing valuable, while Yang Li was quite wealthy. He poured a small cup of the Six Yang Bone-Replacement Elixir given to him by Lingxu Zi Cui Haike for Bai Ling Xian. This medicine was most effective in changing one's constitution and was even more beneficial for non-human beings. Bai Ling Xian was extremely grateful and accepted it.

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