22: Divine strength exceeded 80,000 jin

He turned his gaze toward the Snake Valley; the originally dense swarm of snakes was now sparse.

Only a handful of giant snakes, Level Three or above, remained—or rather, they should be called pythons.

Each python was over a meter thick at the waist, its body coiled and winding, emitting a chilling Aura.

Ji Mo looked down at the half-meter longsword hanging at his waist, pondered for a moment, and decided to play it safe.

He once again summoned the heaven and earth creation bell. Accompanied by the resonant chime that shook his Soul, the great bell, carrying immense force, smashed straight down onto the pythons.

After several muffled crashes, the pythons' heads burst open, splattering crimson blood and milky-white brain matter.

Instantly, the dense scent of blood permeated the entire Snake Valley, causing nausea.

Ji Mo didn't hesitate, quickly collecting all the Yao Beast corpses.

He decided to refine the corpses of these giant pythons, keeping only the two enormous fangs and the complete snakeskins.

He calculated that these Materials were of excellent quality and would likely fetch a good number of Contribution Points in the Sect.

Just as Ji Mo paused to catch his breath, a snake-type Yao Beast of unimaginable size, like a moving hillock, slithered out from the depths of the valley.

This snake was several times larger than the ones before.

Its scales were like refined iron, gleaming with a cold metallic luster, reflecting dazzling rays of light under the sun.

Its triangular head was held high, and its two blood-red eyes revealed endless, icy killing intent, as if they could instantly freeze any creature daring to trespass on its territory.

What was particularly striking was a slightly raised bump on its head, where light faintly circulated. Clearly, this snake was approaching the crucial moment of Transforming into a Flood Dragon.

It opened its massive, bloody maw, large enough to swallow a person whole, and let out a roar that made the entire valley tremble.

The sound seemed to pierce the heavens, declaring its supreme territorial sovereignty to Ji Mo.

Ji Mo's heart tightened instantly, realizing that this massive snake must be the undisputed Snake King of Snake Valley.

Facing such a behemoth, Ji Mo knew that entanglement was useless. The only method he was confident in using to contend with it was the heaven and earth creation bell.

Ji Mo dared not hesitate, his hands rapidly forming seals like phantoms, muttering incantations.

The body of the heaven and earth creation bell erupted with ten thousand streaks of golden light, so dazzling it was like a small sun had appeared out of thin air in the mountain range.

This small sun, carrying a magnificent Aura capable of suppressing everything, smashed fiercely toward the Snake King like a falling meteor.

Seeing this, the Snake King naturally refused to show weakness. The light on top of its head fluctuated violently.

Inside that enormous fleshy bump, it seemed as if some powerful existence was about to break free, faintly emitting a mysterious and potent Aura.

"Boom!"

A massive sound, like thunder exploding, distorted the surrounding air.

"What?"

Ji Mo's eyes widened in shock at the sight before him, watching in disbelief as the heaven and earth creation bell was actually blasted away.

Although the giant snake was also sent flying a great distance like a ragdoll by the powerful impact, this was the ultimate move executed by the heaven and earth creation bell with full power!

Yet, in a head-on confrontation, it was forcefully blocked by the Snake King.

With a thought, the heaven and earth creation bell instantly floated above Ji Mo's head.

He looked closely at the giant snake again, seeing it shaking its huge head, staggering and unstable as if it were drunk.

The fleshy bump on its head was already a bloody mess, clearly having sustained a serious injury in the collision just now.

If once wasn't enough, he would do it a few more times! A trace of determination flashed in Ji Mo's eyes.

His hands quickly formed seals again. The heaven and earth creation bell shone brightly, floating up once more, suppressing the Snake King with the momentum of overturning mountains and seas.

A rare hint of fear flashed in the Snake King's normally cold, triangular eyes.

This time, the Snake King chose not to fight head-on but decisively opted to sacrifice its tail to escape.

Its massive body coiled once, and its several-meter-long tail, like a thick steel whip, whistled with terrifying fierce winds as it lashed violently toward the heaven and earth creation bell.

"Bang!" Accompanied by a deep crash, flesh and blood flew everywhere. The huge snake tail instantly exploded, turning into a cloud of blood mist scattered in the air.

However, the Snake King used this brief window to shoot toward the depths of the Snake Valley like a bolt of black lightning.

Ji Mo naturally wouldn't watch the Snake King escape just like that. He immediately activated his Movement Technique and followed closely, like a shadow.

Despite the Snake King's huge size, its speed was astonishing, and Ji Mo found it difficult to catch up immediately.

In the blink of an eye, the Snake King vanished into a massive cave entrance before him.

Gazing at the deep, dark great cave, Ji Mo thought for a moment and ultimately chose not to continue the pursuit.

The interior of this snake cave was narrow and winding, and no one knew what unknown dangers lurked inside.

It was just a Snake King; there was no need to rashly risk danger for a Level Three monster beast pill.

Furthermore, by leaving the Snake King alive, the Snake Valley might quickly reproduce and develop under its leadership. Next time he came back, he could treat it as a Dungeon to farm again.

Thinking this way, Ji Mo couldn't help but feel delighted.

Looking at the now empty Snake Valley, Ji Mo had a thought and decided to digest and absorb all his gains right there.

He scanned the surroundings and finally focused on a mountain wall inside the valley.

Drawing the longsword from his waist, the sword light flared. He swung several strikes at the mountain, quickly digging out a cave large enough for a person.

Ji Mo slowly stepped into the cave. Then, with a thought, the heaven and earth creation bell instantly appeared at the entrance, barring the way.

The bell body emitted a powerful Aura capable of suppressing everything, as if announcing to the world that any Yao Beast attempting to approach would be ruthlessly suppressed. He figured no ignorant Yao Beast would dare to come close.

Ji Mo sat cross-legged in the cave, his expression calm and focused. He reached into his Storage Space and took out monster beast pills, placing them into his mouth one by one.

As the monster beast pills entered his mouth, streams of warm Qi instantly flowed down his throat and throughout his body, like nimble streams carrying magical and powerful energy, slowly nourishing his Physical Body.

Wherever the warm currents reached, his muscles, bones, and Meridians seemed to undergo a baptism, becoming increasingly tough and strong.

"Eighty thousand Jin of Divine Power!"

Ji Mo couldn't help but exclaim, deeply shocked by the sudden increase in strength within his body.

Not only that, but he could clearly feel that his Physical Body had been strengthened in all aspects.

His skin became as hard as steel, his muscles contained explosive power, and his bones were forged like refined steel, faintly emitting a mysterious glow.

He mused internally that in his current state, if he were to fight the Great Strength Stone Ape he encountered earlier.

Even without relying on the heaven and earth creation bell, he would have complete confidence in competing against the Stone Ape in both strength and defense, and even arm wrestle it.

Ji Mo was very satisfied with this increase in power.

In this way, if he encountered Song Dong again, he should be able to take him down easily with his current strength.

This undoubtedly gave him another highly deterrent trump card when facing potential enemies, making him even more confident.

Ji Mo happily put away the heaven and earth creation bell and walked out of the cave with light steps.

He looked up at the sky before him, feeling that the azure was clear and pure, like a dreamlike Realm. Every white cloud was like a carefully carved piece of art, breathtakingly beautiful.

"Hahaha!"

A hearty burst of laughter echoed leisurely throughout the empty Snake Valley, as if trying to transmit his inner joy to every corner of the valley.

"Oh, right! I still haven't picked the dragon's breath fruit. I almost forgot the mission."

Ji Mo slapped his head and couldn't help but laugh sheepishly.

Afterward, he began wandering around the Snake Valley with great interest.

Finally, near a small lake deep within the Snake Valley, Ji Mo discovered two stalks of medicinal grass.

Several fist-sized, fiery red fruits grew on the medicinal grass. Their vibrant color seemed to proclaim their extraordinary nature—they were exactly the dragon's breath fruit he had been searching for.

Ji Mo cautiously stepped forward, took out the special tools he had prepared beforehand, and picked and collected the dragon's breath fruit one by one.

However, after collecting the fruits, Ji Mo pondered for a moment and decided not to take all the dragon's breath fruit.

He deliberately left one behind: first, hoping to leave it for the Snake King to help its evolution;

Second, he thought this dragon's breath fruit might attract more Yao Beasts or even stimulate their evolution, thus creating better conditions for him to come back and "farm the Dungeon" next time.

"Next time I come, the Snake King will probably have Broken Through to Level Four, and I should have reached the Innate Realm at the very least."

The corner of Ji Mo's mouth curved slightly upward, and his eyes shimmered with confidence.

As if sensing Ji Mo's profound "malice," the Snake King deep inside the cave suddenly shivered.

A rare moment of blankness appeared in its triangular eyes, which were filled with hatred and coldness, seemingly foreseeing a future crisis through some unseen intuition.

Looking at the few spirit fruit in his hand, Ji Mo had an idea and decided to refine one to see what miraculous effects it would have.

After all, since the name of this spirit fruit contained the word "Dragon," it must be extraordinary.

Ji Mo consumed a "Dragon's Breath Pill," refined from the dragon's breath fruit. Instantly, he felt an extremely pure surge of energy well up in his Dantian.

This energy was like a rushing river, instantly flowing into the Meridians throughout his body and slowly permeating them.

Ji Mo clearly felt a mysterious and powerful force quietly widening his Meridians while simultaneously changing his Aptitude.

Although the increase in strength was relatively limited and could be ignored, the ability to change Aptitude was truly significant.

Because Ji Mo Cultivated the Hegemonic Heaven Refining Art, his Aptitude was enhanced in sync with his continuous increase in strength.

However, for others, Aptitude was usually Innate and predetermined, extremely difficult to change unless they encountered a Heaven-Defying Opportunity.

Now, just a small Medicinal Pill could produce such miraculous effects.

If this were known by those who were restricted by their Aptitude and unable to Break Through the Realm for a long time, Ji Mo would probably instantly fall into the danger of being besieged by everyone.

Thinking of this, Ji Mo carefully put away the remaining Medicinal Pills, secretly planning to give one to Sister Xi when he returned, keeping the rest for future needs.