16: Chapter 16 The Green Snake Arrives at the Wetland
In the Monster Beast Mountain Range, Xu Qing followed the river downstream and returned to his own hilltop.
The little demons at home were all very stable and obedient.
Returning to the cave, he took out the black flood dragon horn and hung it up, his tail swaying leisurely in mid-air.
With five hundred evolution points, it would likely be difficult to evolve again in the short term.
Now he should find a way to break through to a hundred years of Dao Cultivation and reach Foundation Establishment.
His current Dao Cultivation had reached ninety-nine years; the remaining one year could not be increased through killing and could only be cultivated slowly.
Even with the System, there was no way to ignore the Bottleneck to increase Dao Cultivation.
"I'll go into Secluded Meditation to break through to Foundation Establishment, and then I'll go wild."
[Dao Cultivation +0.01, evolution points +0.01]
Xu Qing operated his Cultivation Technique, and the massive amount of Spiritual Qi gathered by the black flood dragon horn was absorbed by him and converted into Dao Cultivation.
This final year of Dao Cultivation was much harder to increase than before; he estimated it would take at least a month to reach Perfection.
As expected, every world is the same; the last 1% of the progress bar is always a lie.
His slender body hung casually and messily on the black flood dragon horn, absorbing the Flood Dragon Qi and Spiritual Qi as comprehensively as possible.
...
A month passed like this, and the weather became increasingly hot.
The Cultivation World also welcomed the midsummer season, with lush vegetation.
Snakes can often go for a long time without eating after a single meal, let alone a Snake Spirit like Xu Qing.
For a month, he had been cultivating continuously, and gradually, even the concept of time became blurred.
Inside the pitch-black cave, the air was cold and damp.
The big green snake, over six meters long, hung on the black flood dragon horn, with the dense Spiritual Qi almost condensing into a spiritual mist.
The White Flood Dragon Heart Art was already a top-tier Yao Race Cultivation Technique, and when combined with a real flood dragon horn for cultivation, the results were unexpectedly amazing.
Droplets of Spiritual Qi dew condensed on the green snake's scales, looking like leaves and dew.
Xu Qing opened his mouth, and the majestic Spiritual Qi converged toward the snake's mouth, forming a vortex.
The Spiritual Qi dew on the scales also evaporated rapidly, merging into the scales.
The green snake's aura rose rapidly, and the aura belonging to a Great Yao enveloped the entire hilltop.
All the Yao Beasts and Ordinary Beasts couldn't help but tremble.
The Rank Pressure of the Yao Race is much stronger than that of the Human Race; it is the absolute suppressive power belonging to the Bloodline.
"I've finally broken through to Foundation Establishment!"
"Hmph, a Foundation Establishment Great Yao with a hundred years of Dao Cultivation—I've become quite extraordinary myself."
Xu Qing happily tried to crawl down from the black flood dragon horn, but found he couldn't move his body.
He looked and saw that he had actually tied himself into a knot on the black flood dragon horn.
"During deep cultivation, the body always moves involuntarily."
The green snake didn't want to admit that he sleepwalked and had poor sleeping posture.
He stretched his body and straightened himself out before detaching from the black flood dragon horn.
"This adult bed, while comfortable, is inevitably a bit prone to tangling."
The green snake blamed his poor sleeping posture on the mute flood dragon horn.
After reaching Foundation Establishment, his Demonic Power increased greatly.
His body also grew a bit longer, reaching nearly seven meters.
Besides that, after Foundation Establishment, he gained two more skills.
Flight Lv1.
Divine Sense Lv1.
Detection Lv2 and Divine Sense Lv1 merged into Divine Sense Lv2.
The Detection range increased to a radius of one thousand meters.
A skill unique to Foundation Establishment!
Xu Qing couldn't wait to go outside and try out the Flight skill.
That's Flight! Is there any land creature in the world that doesn't want to learn how to fly?
Xu Qing slithered out of the cave and tried to activate the Flight skill.
His body wobbled as it flew into the air, looking like a green banner caught in the wind.
Even so, a certain green snake surnamed Xu, who wished to remain anonymous, was still flying very happily.
After flying for a long time, Xu Qing was finally able to fly steadily with the elegant feel of a swimming dragon.
He tried to land but slammed hard into the ground, plowing a fresh furrow in the earth and getting a mouthful of dirt.
It seemed that the green snake still needed to work harder to achieve elegant Flight.
"Pah, pah, pah!"
"I actually flew, pah!"
Xu Qing shook his large head, spat out the dirt in his mouth, and stared excitedly at the sky.
After flying all day, Xu Qing washed the mud off in the river.
You ask why wash off the mud?
Because the wind and sand were quite heavy today.
After cleaning up and returning to the cave, amidst the excitement, he also began to consider his future development.
After breaking through to Foundation Establishment with a hundred years of Dao Cultivation, the nearby Qi Refining little demons could no longer provide him with enough Dao Cultivation or evolution points.
He now had to find a way to hunt Foundation Establishment Yao Beasts.
Continue south, toward the depths of the Monster Beast Mountain Range?
It was a bit dangerous; the Yao Beasts inside didn't feel like ordinary Foundation Establishment ones.
One hundred and one years of Dao Cultivation is Foundation Establishment, and two hundred and ninety-nine years is also Foundation Establishment.
The difference in Dao Cultivation was a full three times.
The latter fighting the former is like a grandfather beating a grandson—he can toy with him however he wants.
As for the north, the human world.
Are you joking? Go there to be served as a dish?
The west—never been there, don't know.
As for the east...
The great river he relied on for survival flowed toward the east.
There was a feeling that there was a lot of water that way.
Xu Qing liked places with lots of water.
Only with plenty of water could he fight better.
Besides, he had to find a way to unlock new Evolution Paths; the environment there might offer suitable Bloodlines or rare skills.
It's decided.
Go east.
"I haven't been a Mountain King long enough."
"Sigh, I finally established a home, only to have to leave my homeland."
Xu Qing looked at the territory he had conquered (the 'river' being a section of the water, the 'mountain' being his little hilltop) and couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.
Because his own body was too tempting, he had to find a way to become stronger to protect it.
This reason for becoming stronger was a bit embarrassing to say out loud.
Perhaps in the future, finding a good family and becoming a Spiritual Pet wouldn't be bad either.
No, the green snake will never be a slave.
Xu Qing shook his snake head and abandoned that embarrassing thought.
No time like the present.
Xu Qing dove into the river and drifted downstream toward the east.
The river wound through the mountains, carrying Xu Qing along and allowing him to see many high mountains and steep ridges.
Xu Qing quite enjoyed this drifting process, occasionally catching a Frog in the mountains to satisfy his cravings.
Encountering several waterfalls plunging down from high mountains, the green snake couldn't help but want to fly up against the current.
Sometimes, on a whim, he would fly high into the sky and save a small snake that had been snatched by an eagle.
Or he would snatch away the Frog the eagle was carrying; as a snake, bullying an eagle gave him a strange sense of satisfaction.
Having advanced to Foundation Establishment, eating was no longer that important to him.
He ate when he thought of it and didn't when he didn't.
After drifting for about a week, with many tributaries splitting off and many waters joining in, Xu Qing finally reached the end of the river.
An endless expanse of Wetlands, Marshes, and lakes.
In the air, Water-attribute Spiritual Qi was exceptionally active.
It was simply a paradise for Water-attribute Yao Beasts.
Xu Qing flew as high as he could into the sky, but he couldn't find the end of these Wetlands at all.
He flew deep into the Marshes for a long time and found that there weren't many Yao Beasts.
Most were Yao Beasts like crocodiles, snakes, and pythons.
Some Yao Beasts with significant Dao Cultivation occupied the lakes and Marshes.
Xu Qing found a nice lake and slowly descended.
The lake was several kilometers in size, with a small island in the center.
The master of the lake was a Crocodile Spirit; it looked very tough and didn't seem very tasty.
[Yao Beast] Venom-Kissed Crocodile
[Dao Cultivation] Ninety-four years
[Skills] Poison Fangs Lv3, Self-Healing Lv1, Water Control Lv2, Tail Whip Lv3, Crocodile Venom Lv2, Death Roll Lv3, Bite Lv3, Detection Lv1, Hard Armor Lv3
[Divine Ability] Great Strength Lv2
He slithered into the cave on the Lake Island, dragged the Crocodile Spirit out, gave it a slap with his tail, and went inside.
The Crocodile Spirit, seeing the green snake's practiced manner and feeling the aura of a hundred-year Great Yao, left without daring to show anger or speak a word.