Chapter 46: Slaying the Demon Snake, Guarding the Grotto-Heaven

A roar erupted.

The coiled, twenty-zhang-long body of the Black Fire Snake suddenly uncoiled.

Its massive frame, carrying an incomparable momentum, lunged toward Jiang Sheng, opening its hideous, bloody maw to unleash a barrage of fireballs.

The dense cluster of fireballs fell like a rain of fire; in the blink of an eye, a deafening boom resonated through the air.

Sparks splattered and smoke billowed.

Under this continuous bombardment of fireballs, the once luxurious and elegant cave dwelling was devastated; buildings were destroyed, and the meticulously arranged plants were reduced to ash.

The dwelling, which had stood intact for hundreds of years, was instantly rendered a ruin.

Under the onslaught of the fireballs, Jiang Sheng continuously maneuvered his body, his Qingping Sword occasionally slashing out streaks of sword qi to shatter the incoming fireballs.

Watching Jiang Sheng’s effortless and relaxed demeanor, the irritation in Hei Huan's heart intensified.

Throughout its journey, everything had gone smoothly. Not only had it found spiritual treasures like the Fire Spirit Fruit to strengthen its bloodline and physique, but it had also found heavenly treasures like the Jade Green Lotus before even opening its Purple Mansion.

No matter how things went, it should have successfully opened its Purple Mansion, subsequently transforming from a serpent into a dragon, shedding its snake skin to become a Black Fire Flood Dragon.

Hei Huan had even chosen its future training grounds; wasn't the eight thousand miles of Taiping River outside Qingping Mountain perfect for it to manipulate water and transform into a dragon?

But who could have imagined that just as it was preparing for its breakthrough, a tribulation in the form of Jiang Sheng would appear to block its path?

How could Hei Huan not be enraged?

Fire-tainted saliva dripped continuously from the corners of its mouth, corroding deep tracks into the high-quality jade flooring.

To the twenty-zhang-long Hei Huan, Jiang Sheng was undoubtedly nothing more than a tiny mosquito.

And right now, this tiny mosquito was buzzing incessantly around its body, which was incredibly annoying!

Seeing Jiang Sheng maneuver again, Hei Huan suddenly lashed its tail.

The snake tail, as hard as steel, whistled through the air as it swept across, turning the already damaged buildings along its path into complete rubble with a single strike.

Gazing at this tail sweep carrying terrifying power, the spiritual light on Jiang Sheng's Qingping Sword grew even more intense.

A streak of green sword qi slashed out diagonally, colliding with the snake tail that was as thick as a millstone.

The sword qi was scattered by the impact, but the snake tail was left bloodied and mangled; large patches of scales vanished, and even the tailbone was faintly exposed.

The pain from the injury continuously stimulated Hei Huan, making it increasingly violent.

The bloodline of the Black Fire Snake began to boil, and Hei Huan's strength grew several notches without it even realizing.

At this moment, Hei Huan had no time to ponder why its strength was increasing; it only wanted to kill this annoying fly, Jiang Sheng.

"Die!"

Hei Huan opened its maw wide, and surging flames erupted, covering nearly half of the front courtyard in an instant.

Jiang Sheng gave a light snort. His left hand formed a seal to draw upon spiritual energy, causing water vapor to rise and transform into a continuous rain of needles.

As if encountering a torrential downpour, the surging flames spat out by Hei Huan were gradually extinguished by the relentless needles of rain, leaving a fine spray of blood droplets across Hei Huan's own head.

Why?

Why could it not defeat this human?

Why, just as it was about to open its Purple Mansion, did it encounter someone to obstruct it?

Damn it!

Foxes deserve to die!

Humans deserve to die!

Everyone deserves to die!

Under the stimulation of having hope right before its eyes yet being unable to touch it, Hei Huan felt its heart filled with unvented rage, and violent emotions surged uncontrollably.

Another barrage of rain fell upon its body; the fine rain needles pierced Hei Huan, leaving dense, overlapping wounds. Even those steel-hard scales seemed unable to block such an attack, being struck until they resembled a honeycomb.

Shaking its massive head, Hei Huan's eyes were now entirely filled with madness.

The blood within its body continued to heat up, surging wildly through its veins. Hei Huan's massive heart continuously pumped out bursts of scalding demonic blood, which circulated around its body mixed with demonic power.

Jiang Sheng keenly sensed Hei Huan's abnormality.

"Is this... an excess of bloodline strength without the power to control it? It has unconsciously begun to open its Purple Mansion?"

At this moment, Hei Huan felt the demonic power within its body surging wildly, constantly battering its spine.

As waves of demonic power, bolstered by the bloodline, surged upward from the tailbone against the natural flow, the surging, scorching energy cleared through Hei Huan's vertebrae one by one, rushing straight toward the crown of its head.

The pain of its spine being forcibly pried open, its flesh tearing, and its meridians snapping caused Hei Huan to roar incessantly.

As each vertebra was cleared, Hei Huan's already massive body surged toward thirty zhang.

Once Hei Huan truly cleared its entire spine and its demonic body reached over thirty zhang, it would truly become a creature of the Purple Mansion Realm!

Agony was omnipresent throughout its demonic body; scales fell, the spine cracked, and flesh melted. Hei Huan was in so much pain it was nearly driven mad.

It needed a target to vent its pain and hatred.

"Human, die! Die for me!"

Hei Huan roared, completely disregarding its own ascension, and directly spat out a pillar of black-red fire.

The black-red flames surged forward with a terrifying fluctuation capable of incinerating everything, as if even a single touch would leave nothing but ashes.

A flash of surprise crossed Jiang Sheng's eyes as he stepped aside to dodge the surging pillar of fire.

He saw that Hei Huan had now completely lost its mind, continuously spitting black-red flames to burn everything in its surroundings.

Massive patches of black-red fire fell, turning the remaining structures in the cave dwelling into ash.

It even scorched deep pits into the walls on both sides of the dwelling.

Jiang Sheng could even see molten lava bubbling and churning within those pits.

Bai Shang, Qing Yun, and Qing Man had sensed the terrifying fluctuations coming from the cave dwelling and had taken cover early.

Immediately after, they saw a pillar of fire erupt violently from the dwelling, the black-red flames spreading dozens of zhang!

Clearly, that was the demonic fire spat out by Hei Huan; Hei Huan had gone mad!

Inside the cave dwelling at this moment, the demonic fire spat out by Hei Huan had covered the entire front courtyard; as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but raging black-red demonic fire.

The crazed Hei Huan no longer cared about its ascension at all; it only wanted to kill Jiang Sheng.

"Sigh, the shackles of bloodline."

As Jiang Sheng spoke, his left hand performed a sword seal, and he ran his fingers inch by inch along the blade.

As spiritual energy was continuously injected into the sword, the green lotus wrapped around the Qingping Sword showed a tendency to bloom.

A staggering aura surged upon the Qingping Sword, and a sharp sword intent firmly locked onto Hei Huan's head.

"Very well, this poor Daoist shall send you on your way."

Hei Huan, as if its five senses had been greatly enhanced during its ascension, sensed the lethal crisis approaching. It gathered all its demonic power and spat out a massive pillar of black-red fire.

In the next instant, the black-red pillar of fire met a streak of green sword light.

The green sword light pierced directly through the surging black-red demonic fire, and with a terrifying, chilling brilliance, it swept across Hei Huan's body in an instant.

Invisible sword qi rippled outward, and the surging demonic fire in the courtyard was extinguished one after another under the pressure of the sword light.

Hei Huan stood agape, unable to spit out any more demonic fire.

"Who... exactly... are you?"

Regaining a sliver of clarity, Hei Huan turned its head to look at the Daoist appearing behind it.

The Daoist, dressed in green robes and a jade crown, walked with a leisurely stride: "This poor Daoist is Jiang Sheng, a Qi Refiner of Qingping Mountain."

"So it was you..."

A fine bloody line on Hei Huan's head gradually expanded and extended until it covered its entire three-zhang-wide head, before the bloody crack finally split wide open.

Scalding demonic blood fell like rain, only to be blocked by the spiritual energy barrier Jiang Sheng had erected.

Jiang Sheng walked calmly up to Hei Huan's massive serpentine body, taking the nearly thirty-zhang-long demonic corpse and its blood into his storage pouch.

"Hei Huan is dead. Come in."

Hearing Jiang Sheng's voice transmission, Bai Shang and the others hurried inside.

Passing through the cave, which had been smoothed out by the demonic fire and seemed to have expanded by a circle, the three foxes—Bai Shang, Qing Yun, and Qing Man—could hardly believe their eyes.

The legacy dwelling was covered in ash; the walls on both sides were riddled with pits scorched by fireballs, and traces of flame were visible everywhere.

The once grand and magnificent dwelling, filled with pavilions, towers, and winding corridors, had been half-destroyed.

Only now did Bai Shang have a rough estimate of how terrifying Hei Huan's strength truly was.

Looking at the unscathed Jiang Sheng, Bai Shang felt even deeper awe: Hei Huan was so terrifying, yet Daoist Jiang had slain it so easily. Just how staggering was Daoist Jiang's strength?

"Let us go and see that Jade Green Lotus."

Bai Shang hurriedly led Jiang Sheng to the backyard of the legacy dwelling.

Seeing the Jade Green Lotus, which remained perfectly preserved in the lotus pond, Jiang Sheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

During the battle just now, both Jiang Sheng and Hei Huan had subconsciously avoided the backyard.

Even the bloodline-driven, crazed Hei Huan had ultimately shielded the backyard, which was enough to show its obsession and regard for the Jade Green Lotus.

Now that the Jade Green Lotus was intact, and they had also harvested the corpse of a Black Fire Snake demon that could be considered a half-step Purple Mansion creature, Jiang Sheng's gains from this trip were nothing short of perfect.

"There is still the matter of setting things up. This Jade Green Lotus needs to absorb all the nutrients in this lotus pond before it can fully grow."

"There is half a year left; this place must not be compromised."

Bai Shang said quickly, "I am willing to stay here and guard it for the Daoist."

Jiang Sheng smiled and said, "I think it is best if I guard it personally."

"After all, this is within the territory of the Sea County. The battle just now likely alerted many people. If I do not guard it, there will inevitably be audacious fools looking for trouble."

Hearing Jiang Sheng's words, Bai Shang nodded repeatedly.

"Then, Daoist Jiang, shall all four of us guard this place?" Bai Shang asked again.

Jiang Sheng replied, "I am sufficient to guard this place alone. My three fellow Daoists may make whatever arrangements you wish."

Bai Shang said, "The Daoist has just undergone a great battle; why not let me stay to guard the exterior while you continue your cultivation here?"

"As for my wife and younger sister, they can either return to the Daoist's temple or go to support the Green Fox Ancestral Land."

Qing Man nodded: "Currently, only the Ancestor is guarding the clan; it is indeed unsafe."

After the three foxes discussed it, Qing Yun and Qing Man immediately departed.

Bai Shang also helped Jiang Sheng set up the exterior of the cave dwelling, cleaning up the areas affected by the battle and erasing all traces.

Subsequently, Bai Shang began his cultivation in the outer cave dwelling, leaving Jiang Sheng alone in the vast inner legacy dwelling.

By the side of the lotus pond, Jiang Sheng took out a prayer mat, sat down cross-legged, and swallowed a Yuan-Gathering Pill to quietly regulate his breath and nourish his qi.

"The Jade Green Lotus will not mature for another half year. I hope no more accidents occur during this time."

With that, Jiang Sheng lightly closed his eyes, and the legacy dwelling fell into silence.