Chapter 34: Emerging from the Cave

“Mm～ After a good sleep, it feels as if I had just eaten a full meal. Is this the effect of the Earth Vein Dragon Cave? Not bad at all.”

Mo Lin, who had been slumbering in the Dragon Cave for two long years, slowly opened his eyes.

“After devouring the Western Hair Jiangshi, my strength advanced by leaps and bounds at first, but later my cultivation slowed down, and by now, it has stopped completely. It has already been more than two years.”

There was a trace of wistfulness in Mo Lin’s eyes.

Before he fell into slumber, it had been less than a year since his transmigration.

Yet he had remained in the Dragon Cave for more than two years, more than double his active time before that.

Mo Lin checked his body’s stats:

【Mo Lin】

【Strength: 5160】

【Speed: 5097】

【Agility: 5091】

【Defense: 5203】

【Demonic Power: 5048】

【Abilities: Devour, Shedding, Poison Resistance, Serpent Venom, Demon Transformation, Corpse Poison】

Back then, when he had just transmigrated, he was merely a little Grass Snake who even struggled to catch a Field Frog.

It had taken him nearly a year, enduring countless brushes with death, to finally raise his physical stats to 1000.

But after refining the Western Hair Jiangshi and slumbering in the Dragon Cave for two years, his strength had soared to more than five times what it had been, and he had also completed his fifth and sixth Shedding.

If he were to fight Gong Yang again now, even without the sneak attack from the mouth-coin, the scales of victory would undoubtedly tip in his favor.

Although his progress had been slower compared to the first year, these two years had been incomparably safe and comfortable.

No snake catchers, no Bureau of Heaven Monitoring, no messy troubles—only the occasional small beast wandering into the Dragon Cave, which he easily drove away with a flick of his tail.

The difference in difficulty was like night and day.

“Unfortunately, such days of food arriving at my mouth have come to an end.”

Mo Lin stretched lazily.

His body had now grown to nearly twenty meters in length, and his black-blue scales alone were enough to frighten a man to death at first sight.

“According to The Classic of Stirring the Dragon, all Earth Vein changes leave traces. If one extracts too much Earth Vein fortune at once, it will be noticed by those with intent.”

“In Gong Yang’s cultivation notes, it was also written that decades ago, a Bear Demon recklessly absorbed the Earth Vein on a mountain, drawing the attention of the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring, and was captured and taken away.”

“To avoid the notice of the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring, I have been extremely cautious these two years, never daring to absorb the Earth Vein recklessly, pausing my cultivation now and then to let the vein recover.”

“After two years, I feel I have reached a bottleneck.”

“This bottleneck is not something the Earth Vein of Hong Mountain can help me break through.”

As Mo Lin slithered around the Dragon Cave, stretching his body, he calculated in his heart:

“Gong Yang’s words were indeed true. The longer time passed, the more I could feel that the Hong Mountain Earth Vein was useless to me.”

“After all, Hong Mountain is but a small mountain. On top of that, Gong Yang consumed quite a portion of it to transform his Jiangshi. The help it can provide me has already reached its limit.”

“It seems I must either seek another mountain range, or think of another way.”

“But unless I can find a Dragon Vein source like Kunlun, other small Earth Veins might not provide me much aid either.”

As Mo Lin swam in the Dragon Cave, he sank into thought:

“If even the Earth Vein cannot help me break through, what should I do?”

At that moment, he suddenly recalled the Great Yin Indestructible Bone he had scavenged from Gong Yang’s collection two years ago.

Its opening words were: “Bury the Nine Abysses Yin Fiend, seize the authority of the Netherworld; refine a hundred bones into a seal, forge the Indestructible Bone Body.”

“Forge the Indestructible Bone Body...”

“Devour is indeed an excellent talent, but it is like a treasure vault missing its key. I can sense the energy within me, yet it needs a trigger to unlock it. The Great Yin Indestructible Bone is a human method for cultivating the Dharma Body, and I do not need to copy it fully, for Devour is already the best cultivation method for me.”

“But could the materials required for cultivating that method become the key to breaking my bottleneck?”

Mo Lin’s gaze fell upon “Gong Yang,” who was lying steadily beside him in the Dragon Cave.

Two years ago, Mo Lin had risked his life to eliminate Gong Yang, the Taoist who betrayed the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring, and in return, reaped gains equal to the danger.

He had acquired the Western Hair Jiangshi, the Soul-Respecting Banner, the Great Yin Indestructible Bone, Gong Yang’s cultivation notes, and more.

After using “Gong Yang” to fake his death, Mo Lin had considered for a while, and in the end, instead of devouring Gong Yang’s corpse, he used his Corpse Poison to transform him into a Jiangshi—

After all, while wandering outside, his Serpent-Demon identity could sometimes be inconvenient.

If Gong Yang could be used for disguise, it was quite handy.

Moreover, as a Jiangshi, Gong Yang no longer carried the aura of a living man, and could often serve as Mo Lin’s scout, spy, or even a tool for eavesdropping and risky observations.

Now, two years later, as Mo Lin found himself stuck at a bottleneck, he immediately thought of the Great Yin Indestructible Bone materials Gong Yang had prepared.

Those were materials Gong Yang had spent ten years preparing for his Dharma Body.

If Mo Lin could gather them all and devour them, relying on his Devour evolution talent, it might trigger a powerful reaction and help him break through.

It was like Devour was a reservoir constantly expanding and deepening, but when silt—representing the bottleneck—clogged it, he would need a high-pressure water jet to flush it clean.

The Great Yin Indestructible Bone materials might well be that water jet.

Two years ago, Mo Lin had judged his strength too weak.

If he tried to gather materials like Gong Yang, he risked dying prematurely.

Thus, he had decisively devoured the Western Hair Jiangshi, which he could reproduce with his “Corpse Poison” ability.

But now, with five times the strength he once had, and faced with a bottleneck, perhaps it was time to pick up this method again.

This method required many materials, including eight Hair Jiangshi, one jin of Earth Vein Yin Marrow, and three drops of Yin Flood Dragon Heart’s Blood.

“The main ingredient, Hair Jiangshi, was meant to strengthen the body, while the auxiliary ingredients were to ease the process, for humans could not withstand sudden changes. But with my Devour talent, perhaps I do not need to consume them all at once.”

“As long as I pace myself, even if I devour the materials in batches, the effect should still be achieved.”

“The Yin Flood Dragon is powerful and mysterious, essentially my higher counterpart. Obtaining its three drops of heart’s blood will be extremely difficult.”

“Though Earth Vein Yin Marrow is rare, The Classic of the Green Satchel records that some Earth Veins may produce it. I can try searching mountains for it.”

“As for the Thousand-Soul Resentment Fire, that should be relatively easy to gather. While collecting the other materials, I just need to devour some humans and extract their souls.”

Thinking this, Mo Lin left the Dragon Cave with his scout—Jiangshi Gong Yang.

“Hoho...”

The Jiangshi Gong Yang, with a hole in his throat, let out a raspy “hoho” sound as he walked ahead of Mo Lin, watching for any potential threats in Western Zhou.

Two years had passed.

No one knew whether anything had changed, either on the mountain or in the world below.

If he wished to find new things, he could not stay in place.

Thus, Mo Lin decided to head toward the mountain range opposite Hongjia Village.

On the way, he encountered some crocodiles and honey badgers.

In the past, such creatures would have required all his cunning and his life on the line to kill, but now, he had no interest even in tasting them.

They did not taste good anyway.

He even came across a Yellow Immortal Weasel who had cultivated form.

But perhaps out of timidity, the Yellow Immortal fled immediately upon seeing the Jiangshi.

Mo Lin did not bother with it.

Two days later, after leaving Hong Mountain, Mo Lin’s senses suddenly stirred.

Gong Yang seemed to have spotted something.

It was a group of humans walking along a mountain path.

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