51: The joy of getting something for free

In less than half a quarter of an hour, a rich aroma wafted out from the cave, but it was blocked by an invisible barrier, causing the scent to linger inside the cave for a long time.

"Slurp~"

After taking a bite of the tender snake meat, Ye Ming's eyes immediately lit up. The Blood Python Snake tasted quite good. Although it lacked the meaty fragrance of the Earth Armored Dragon, its soft, tender texture made it impossible to stop eating after just one bite!

The bear paw was also decent, having a springy texture, though it carried a faint fishy smell that was stronger than the Blood Python Snake's. Fortunately, it was still edible.

Cold Beauty and the others were also pressed by Ye Ming to eat together.

A quarter of an hour later, the large pot was completely empty. Since the pot was only two meters tall, it certainly couldn't fit the entire Blood Python Snake, so Cold Beauty had to cook over a dozen more pots just to finish preparing it.

Most of the snake meat ended up in Ye Ming's stomach. An ordinary person couldn't eat this much, but he could quickly digest it by slightly circulating his Cultivation Technique and absorbing the essence within the snake meat. In short, he could eat his fill.

But one snake was already more than enough; if he ate any more, the Spiritual Qi within his body would start overflowing.

After finishing the snake meat, Ye Ming sat down cross-legged right there, circulated his Cultivation Technique, and slowly converted the Spiritual Qi accumulated in his body into his strength.

Cold Beauty guarded him nearby, while Leng Mo stood guard outside.

Three days passed.

Only then did Ye Ming open his eyes. After exhaling a mouthful of turbid Qi, his lips curled into a slight smile. The meat of one Blood Python Snake had allowed him to advance another step in the Golden Core Late Stage. He calculated that if he ate about twenty more snakes like this, he would be able to Breakthrough to the Peak!

If he could advance stages just by eating, what else could this be but a treasure land? Furthermore, the Spiritual Qi in this outer area was three times denser than that of Taixuan Prefecture, making Breakthrough merely a matter of time.

Next, Ye Ming led Cold Beauty and the others out of the cave to hunt more Blood Python Snakes. However, this time he wasn't in a hurry to eat; he wanted to stock up on snake meat, Demon Cores, and the like—these were all Spirit Stones!

Two more days passed. Ye Ming and his companions had already killed fifty Third Rank Blood Python Snakes and twenty-one Second Rank ones. These snakes were too scattered, forcing them to search area by area.

Actually, there was a place where thousands of Blood Python Snakes could be found at once: the lake in the middle of Blood Jiao Lake. That hundred-zhang-wide lake was once the habitat of the Blood Jiao, but it had since been occupied by the Blood Python Snakes.

“Master, should we go there?”

Cold Beauty saw that the hunting results over the past two days were not great, so she asked her master.

Upon hearing this, Ye Ming pondered for a moment. Going there would be somewhat dangerous, as the Blood Python Snakes gathered together, and killing one might incite a riot among them.

Just as Ye Ming was considering whether or not to take the risk, Leng Mo came in from outside the cave. Ye Ming had sent it out to search the surroundings for traces of Blood Python Snakes.

“Master, I know how to lure out large numbers of Blood Python Snakes!”

As soon as Leng Mo returned, it told Ye Ming about its discovery.

“Oh? Tell me about it!” Ye Ming raised an eyebrow. He was currently worried about how to obtain a large amount of snake meat.

“Yes, Master. I just saw a group of people about five Li away. They used only one Medicinal Pill to lure out thirteen Blood Python Snakes. Master, it looks like they have a lot of this type of Medicinal Pill, should we...”

As Leng Mo spoke, a red light flashed in its eyes, implying whether they should kill people and steal their belongings.

Ye Ming, however, shook his head at it and said, “No need to rob them. Since they have this kind of Medicinal Pill, we can just exchange some items with them for a few pills!”

After speaking, Ye Ming paused, then looked at Cold Beauty and addressed them both again:

“You two shouldn't always think about killing people and stealing things. If they haven't provoked us, we shouldn't provoke them. The Cultivation World isn't just about fighting and killing; there are also human relationships and etiquette, understood?”

“Understood, Master!”

Cold Beauty and Leng Mo answered simultaneously. They understood: if they met people, they should talk about human relationships; if that person didn't appreciate it, then they would talk with their fists!

Seeing that Cold Beauty and the others indicated they understood, Ye Ming nodded in satisfaction and said, “Good, you still have much to learn!”

As he spoke, Ye Ming suddenly thought of something. If others had Medicinal Pills to attract Blood Python Snakes, surely the people from the Starfall Sect had them too? After all, it was a major Sect.

Ye Ming then took out thirty blue-silver rings from the System space and placed them all on the ground, examining them one by one.

Before long, Ye Ming took out a bottle of Medicinal Pills from the last high-grade space ring. The name of the Medicinal Pill on the bottle was blood luring pill.

He found six pills inside the bottle, so he poured out a bright red Medicinal Pill. As soon as it was out, he smelled a peculiar pill fragrance—the metallic smell of blood was heavy, yet it was mixed with a sparse, refreshing scent.

When Ye Ming took out the Medicinal Pill, Leng Mo, who was nearby, recognized it and confirmed to Ye Ming, “Master, this is that Medicinal Pill!”

“Haha, sure enough! This way, we won't need to exchange with others!” Ye Ming smiled broadly as he put away the Medicinal Pills, feeling comfortable with the free haul!

There were still a hundred bottles in that space ring, totaling six hundred blood luring pills. According to Leng Mo, one pill could lure out over ten Blood Python Snakes. Since he had six hundred pills, wouldn't he be able to lure over all the Blood Python Snakes?

Of course, he only needed to place them one by one. A dozen or so Blood Python Snakes were enough to keep them busy.

With that thought, Ye Ming took Cold Beauty and the others out to find a spot to set up a trap. He would place the blood luring pill in the trap and then wait for the Blood Python Snakes to take the bait.

This trap was composed of two Third Rank Formations. One was called the Soul Shaking Formation, a Formation specifically targeting the Divine Soul. Since Blood Python Snakes are living creatures, they naturally possess a Soul.

The other was called the Sword Qi Formation, a Formation specifically using Sword Qi for attack. Upon entering this Formation, one would be met with dozens of streams of Sword Qi. Anyone below the Peak Golden Core stage would be unable to withstand the Sword Qi and would be killed by the chaotic swords.

With these two Formations combined, even if a dozen or so Third Rank Blood Python Snakes showed up, they would surely die.

Shortly after placing the blood luring pill, a Second Rank Blood Python Snake was lured over. A moment later, several Third Rank snakes also crawled into the Formation.

Although they sensed the danger in this area, they still couldn't resist the temptation of the blood luring pill and crawled toward the blood-red Medicinal Pill in the center of the Formation.

Seeing that fourteen Blood Python Snakes had already crawled into the Formation, Ye Ming no longer hesitated. He formed hand seals, activating the Formations.

The Blood Python Snakes were still fighting over the blood luring pill when suddenly, an invisible force descended from the heavens. The powerful mental impact caused their eyes to roll back, and their entire bodies fell limp on the ground, motionless.

Among them, one Peak Third Rank Blood Python Snake was still struggling, but the stinging pain in its Soul caused it to fall into a brief state of confusion.

Ye Ming wouldn't allow it to wake up. He formed hand seals again, commanding the Sword Qi Formation to attack all the Blood Python Snakes.

Fifty streams of white Sword Qi appeared from all directions, piercing through and killing all the Blood Python Snakes with irresistible force. The Peak Third Rank one was no exception; its head was penetrated by ten streams of Sword Qi, and it lost all life force instantly.