Book 8: Chapter 23: Hell, But Also Heaven

Lin Xi was Green Luan Academy’s heaven’s choice.

Moreover, unlike all of the previous heaven’s choices, he was classified as Heaven’s Core level of confidentiality. Together with the fact that he was recommended to attend Green Luan Academy by the imperial princess, as well as the brilliance he displayed during the clash with Thunder Academy, he long had interactions with the imperial princess, Yunqin Emperor and Vice Principal Xia, these types of existences who were too high to reach for ordinary cultivators.

That was why there were many things not even Xu Zhenyan understood, but he himself already long understood clearly.

Where couldn’t one cultivate?

For Lin Xi, since he arrived in this type of majestic world, then his entire life was going to be an instance of cultivation.

…

Lin Xi was standing in front of an earth cave that was a larger half of a person tall, one needing to crouch down in order to enter.

He continuously chewed on a sugar cane-like straw, sucking out all of the juices inside, and then spat out the remnants into the black muddy pool to the side.

Around him were exceptionally dense sisal-shaped weeds, as well as strange large trees with faint golden leaves.

Great Desolate Swamp was a savage land filled with death, hard to even find a source of drinkable water here.

If an ordinary person was thrown here, even if there were no cave barbarians, even if there were puddles everywhere, they would still find that there were no drinkable sources of water. However, for cultivators, this place was similarly also heaven.

There were many plants like Traveler’s Root that could provide enough clear drinking water and also many medicinal herbs that could only be found in Great Desolate Swamp’s sludge that were extremely beneficial for cultivators.

The slightly purple-black straw Lin Xi was currently chewing on was Black Garlic Cane, the juices inside a strange flavor like that of garlic and dark brown sugar. Even though it tasted terrible, in Green Luan Academy’s recordings, they were great mending foods similar to Old River Lumps. He entered with the goal of getting some Golden Wind Grass and Lightning Python Eggs, but not long after entering the valley, he already found six stalks of Black Garlic Cane that was extremely rare in other parts of Yunqin.

He was already within the depths of Golden Maple Valley, a true desolate and uninhabited land. The numerous and densely packed Golden Maple Trees were five or six meters tall, coincidentally level with the land around the valley.

This round and flat earthen cave he discovered had extremely sturdy cave walls, there were many copper coin-sized traces that carried a bit of golden color. This was precisely formed when Lightning Pythons came and went from the caves, when their scales moved against the earth, some golden bodily fluids leaking out into the earth. This was the representative trait recorded of Lightning Python caves.

Lightning Pythons were the research targets of many cultivation lands to begin with. Quite a few of the runes of this world were produced through the study of fiend beasts’ way of gathering soul force and vital energy. The terror of Lightning Pythons lied in the electricity they could release through their scales just like soul weapons, enough to blast one into charred coal. However, Lightning Pythons also had times when they were extremely weak, which was when they were shedding their skin or producing eggs.

According to Green Luan Academy’s Spiritual Studies course, Lin Xi already remembered extremely clearly that Lightning Pythons’ lifespans were around forty years, but they had to shed skin thirteen times, each shedding lasting a month. Meanwhile, mature Lightning Pythons were hermaphrodites, able to produce just a single Lightning Python egg each year. Meanwhile, the incubation of this egg required two months, and it might not even necessarily be successfully bred. A Lightning Python being able to successfully breed three or more Lightning Pythons was already high yielding.

That was why each year, a Lightning Python had one or two months when it was weak. For ordinary cultivators, there was no way of determining if Lightning Pythons in their cave were extremely weak or if they were at their strongest, so they wouldn’t dare enter to investigate.

The dwellings of Lightning Pythons, for cultivators, had three things that were extremely precious.

The first was the Lightning Python itself. The scales of Lightning Pythons could be refined into soul weapon armor, extremely sturdy and they already carried runes, able to release electrical radiance that already wasn’t weak.

The second was precisely the Golden Wind Grass. In reality, this herb that Lin Xi mentioned to Xin Weigai and Kang Qianjue was a type of fern plant that would only grow in places with Lightning Pythons. The growth of this type of plant needed large amounts of nutrients which were found precisely in the mucus the Lightning Pythons secreted from their bodies.

The third item was precisely the egg of a Lightning Python. When a cultivator reached State Knight level, they could use a soul merging cultivation method, having a chance to extract a young fiend beast’s power into their own soul force. If the merging of the soul was successful, when one attacked with all of their strength, it would be equivalent to being supported by a soul merged fiend beast’s power.

Right now, Lin Xi’s cultivation was still quite far from State Knight level, he didn’t even know any soul merging cultivation methods, but he already learned about this matter from some manuals related to cultivation. If he could obtain a Lightning Python Egg, not only could he use it to merge a soul, he also had another choice… He could be just like Spiritual Sacrifice Priests, try and see if he could subdue it, make it a cultivator’s pet.

Fiend beasts were extremely rare to begin with, also only found in extremely dangerous places like the Great Desolate Swamp, Jadefall City, and Thousand Sunset Mountain. They were difficult to hunt to begin with, so obtaining young fiend beasts was even more difficult.

Since they couldn’t be sure if there were Lightning Pythons inside, unable to ascertain if they were at their strongest or weakest, other cultivators definitely wouldn’t dare enter a Lightning Python’s cave,

However, Lin Xi had an ability other cultivators didn’t have.

In this narrow snake cave, it was also hard for cultivators to move freely, unable to exert their normal strength. However, Lin Xi was different, he had the chance to give it a try.

…

Lin Xi didn’t wait for too long. After chewing through the last disgusting but extremely useful Black Garlic Cane, he began to calculate the time. Then, he stooped down, entering this flat and round cave before him.

This snake den didn’t have any forks, but it was extremely deep. Even after three halts of time passed, he still didn’t see the end at all, as if it extended forward endlessly.

Lin Xi’s speed of advance became much faster than in the beginning. Suddenly, his steps instead slowed.

The flat and round cave became a bit wider, the ground producing many scattered white bones.

Lin Xi’s expression became a bit more serious, quietly drawing his Daybreak Longsword. However, his speed of advance didn’t slow at all.

After continuing another few dozen steps, everything before his eyes suddenly opened wide, an oval ‘room’ appearing in his line of sight.

A small mountain formed from white bones occupied a small half of this ‘room’.

Between the gaps of the white bones grew a clump of random grass, among this grass were several clusters of golden fern leafed plants that immediately drew his attention.

This was precisely the Lightning Python’s snake nest, those clusters the Golden Wind Grass that were extremely beneficial for Lin Xi.

The amount of time these clusters of Golden Wind Grass grew for already wasn’t short, there were thirty something of them in total, enough for Lin Xi to feel really excited. However, right now, Lin Xi’s brows instead furrowed slightly.

It was because according to the recordings, Lightning Pythons always came and left along the same path, yet to his right, there was another oblate-shaped cave.

Lin Xi was a Windstalker, so his perception regarding windflow exceeded ordinary cultivators. Right now, he could sense that this spherical cave had some slight wind streams entering, proving that there was indeed another opening.

However, this was clearly something that completely went against normal Lightning Python behavior.

While in a bewildered state, he heard a light noise sound from that round and flat cave.

This sound was just like that of someone peeling chicken eggs in the distance.

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