Chapter 44: The Former Master's Estate, Fire Snake Black Glow

Bai Ying returned to the territory of the Green Fox clan to fetch her parents, while Qing Man volunteered to stay behind to show her sincerity.

However, Qing Man did not expect that Jiang Sheng would have no interest in her at all.

Instead, the awakened Tian Ming'an was greatly surprised to see such a large fox and cast glances at it from time to time.

After standing in meditation for a full three hours, Bai Ying finally arrived at dawn, accompanied by one green fox and one white fox.

The green fox was Qing Man's elder sister, Qing Yun.

The white fox was Qing Man's brother-in-law, Bai Shang.

"Bai Shang and Qing Yun greet the Daoist."

The two foxes, one white and one green, were as tall as a person and appeared somewhat constrained.

Clearly, they also knew that the Daoist before them, despite his handsome and gentle appearance, possessed incredibly ruthless methods.

"Greetings, fellow Daoists. I presume that little one has already told you everything."

"I shall not hide it from you both; that Jade Green Lotus is indeed useful to me, and I certainly intend to obtain it."

Seeing Jiang Sheng's candor, Bai Shang and Qing Yun exchanged glances. Bai Shang took a step forward and said, "That Black Fire Snake has occupied our couple's cave dwelling; we must avenge this grievance."

"If the Daoist is willing to help us reclaim our dwelling, Bai Shang is willing to gift the Jade Green Lotus to you."

"We only hope the Daoist can leave us two lotus seeds."

The lotus platform and the lotus seeds of the Jade Green Lotus each had their own unique uses.

The lotus platform contained a vast amount of pure spiritual energy from heaven and earth, which could assist living beings in increasing their cultivation and extinguishing tribulation fires.

The lotus seeds, on the other hand, could be used to refine the Grade Two precious Green Lotus Pill. A single pill was enough to grant a Foundation Establishment early-stage being an additional layer of cultivation or more.

Three Green Lotus Pills would be enough to allow an early-stage Foundation Establishment being to cultivate to the middle stage.

Two lotus seeds would be more than enough to refine five or six Green Lotus Pills.

Jiang Sheng studied Bai Shang. "Fellow Daoist Bai, are you an alchemist?"

Bai Shang did not hide it. "I learned some alchemy techniques in the remains of a certain senior; it is enough to refine some Grade Two pills."

Jiang Sheng nodded slowly. "I also have a rudimentary understanding of alchemy. If the seeds are sufficient, I can refine them together with you, and we shall simply split the Green Lotus Pills equally."

Bai Shang's eyes were filled with pleasant surprise. "The Daoist is willing to split them with us?"

It was no wonder Bai Shang was surprised; in the cultivation world, the strong always took everything.

Jiang Sheng was the strongest, capable of slaying Purple Mansion experts with his sword. For such a ruthless person to be willing to split pills with a few fox demons was like a dream!

"This opportunity arose because of you, fellow Daoist. Why should I not split the pills with you?"

Overjoyed, Bai Shang hurriedly expressed his gratitude to Jiang Sheng.

Subsequently, from the accounts of Bai Shang and Qing Yun, Jiang Sheng learned that the Black Fire Snake had not yet entered the ruins, but it was inevitable that it would seek help.

After all, the Jade Green Lotus matured every five hundred years, and there were less than six months left until its maturity.

Bai Shang also indicated that the Black Fire Snake likely feared them seeking help and might have been trying every possible way to open the ruins during this time.

If the Black Fire Snake truly found help or if news reached others, things might change.

After listening, Jiang Sheng pondered for a moment and said, "It is better to act early than late. Since I am now aware of the situation..."

"Then I naturally will not allow any accidents to occur."

"Fellow Daoists, are you willing to accompany me on a journey right now?"

Bai Shang and Qing Yun had no objection, but they were clearly worried about their daughter.

Jiang Sheng stated that Bai Ying could stay temporarily at the Daoist temple with his disciple; with a Grade Three formation in place, her safety would be well-protected.

Bai Shang did not refuse, which was clearly a sign of his sincerity toward Jiang Sheng.

Thus, Bai Ying finally entered the Qingxuan Temple, a place she had always been curious about.

As the flowing light water curtain closed, Jiang Sheng and the three human-sized foxes soared into the air, flying toward the eastern side of Qingping Mountain.

Qingping Mountain stretched for twelve hundred miles, covering Dong County, Hai County, and Chang County.

According to Qing Man's description, her Green Fox clan lived on the northern side of Qingping Mountain, while her sister Qing Yun, after achieving Foundation Establishment, had settled on the eastern side with her husband, Bai Shang.

Listening to Qing Man's narration, Jiang Sheng realized that the number of living beings in Qingping Mountain was truly immense.

Previously, during Jiang Sheng's daily morning chanting, many creatures had developed intelligence simply by listening to him recite the Daoist scriptures.

Later, many creatures sought to come and listen to his chanting, but unfortunately, Jiang Sheng had already entered secluded cultivation.

A smile played on Jiang Sheng's face, yet his eyes remained calm and undisturbed.

In reality, he had not let down his guard even now.

Until he saw the Black Fire Snake, saw the Jade Green Lotus, and had the Jade Green Lotus in his stomach, he would never abandon his vigilance.

Meanwhile, in the mountain range on the eastern side of Qingping Mountain, a Black Fire Snake over twenty zhang long was coiled in front of a cave dwelling.

The snake's body was covered in hard, black-red scales, and wisps of fiery saliva occasionally leaked from its maw.

When the fiery saliva dripped onto the slippery stone surface, plumes of heat rose, indicating an extremely high temperature.

The Black Fire Snake was named Hei Huan. It had cultivated on the eastern side of Qingping Mountain for over a hundred years and had ascended to Foundation Establishment after accidentally consuming a red fruit.

Later, Hei Huan found the small tree that bore the red fruits and made it its lair.

As Hei Huan consumed red fruits whenever it hit a bottleneck, it had unknowingly reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment, faintly touching the barrier of the Purple Mansion stage.

But it was this very barrier that Hei Huan did not dare to touch lightly.

Memories in its bloodline told Hei Huan that a Black Fire Snake of the Purple Mansion stage would undergo a transformation, during which black tribulation fire would descend upon it. If it could not control that black fire, it would be burned alive while opening its Purple Mansion.

Conversely, as long as Hei Huan could control that black fire, it would surely ascend to the Purple Mansion, and subsequently, its body could transform into a human.

The memories in its bloodline taught Hei Huan that to ascend to the Purple Mansion and control the black fire, it must either endure the hardship or seek heavenly and earthly spiritual treasures.

The red fruits Hei Huan had eaten previously were a type of heavenly and earthly spiritual treasure called Fire Spirit Fruit.

Fire-attribute creatures could greatly stimulate their bloodlines and increase their cultivation by consuming Fire Spirit Fruits over a long period.

However, similarly, the Fire Spirit Fruit heavily stimulated the bloodline, meaning that when Hei Huan opened its Purple Mansion, that black fire would be exceptionally violent!

One could not help but say it was a double-edged sword.

But once Hei Huan mastered that stronger black fire, it would have the hope of stepping into the Golden Core stage, growing a single horn, and leaping from a Black Fire Snake to a Black Fire Flood Dragon!

Originally, Hei Huan often worried about how to break through to the Purple Mansion and control the black fire, but it had accidentally discovered that the fox couple living in this same mountain range actually knew of a heavenly treasure like the Jade Green Lotus!

The memories in its bloodline told Hei Huan that if it could obtain the Jade Green Lotus, it would certainly be able to open its Purple Mansion, and perhaps even have hope for the Golden Core stage!

With a windfall of opportunity laid before it, how could Hei Huan miss it!

It had gone directly to the foxes' lair and used its powerful cultivation to drive them away.

However, Hei Huan had not expected that while the Jade Green Lotus was said to be in the foxes' lair, it was not actually *in* the lair itself.

Because within the foxes' lair, there was actually another cave dwelling!

The Jade Green Lotus was inside there!

During these past days, Hei Huan had been trying to find a way to break through the cave dwelling's formation to rush in.

But as the days passed in vain, Hei Huan's temperament grew increasingly violent.

It had a vague premonition that if it could not break the cave dwelling to obtain the Jade Green Lotus within six months, it might not be able to suppress its impending advancement!

The ferocity in its bloodline and the imminent crisis made Hei Huan increasingly irritable. It constantly tried various methods to break the formation, even going so far as to kidnap human cultivators who came into the mountains to force them to help open the cave dwelling.

Currently, inside this cave dwelling, seven or eight Qi Refinement cultivators were looking at the magic formation with bitter faces, filled with anxiety.

They wanted to run, but behind them was that terrifying late-stage Foundation Establishment Black Fire Snake; they had no way out.

And looking at the torn clothing inside the cave dwelling, they knew they were not the first batch of unlucky souls captured by the Black Fire Snake.

"You lot, hurry up!"

"If you cannot open the cave dwelling, I will eat you!"

Hei Huan's raspy voice carried an overwhelming sense of pressure within the cave dwelling. Combined with its massive body, these Qi Refinement cultivators had no desire to resist at all.

These Qi Refinement cultivators spent a long time studying the formation and tried various methods, finally reaching a conclusion: this was not a Grade Two formation at all, but a much stronger Grade Three formation.

One Qi Refinement cultivator spoke up boldly, "Great King, this is a Grade Three formation. We Qi Refinement cultivators cannot break it."

Upon hearing this, Hei Huan was about to fly into a rage, so the cultivator hurriedly said, "Please calm your anger, Great King. Although we cannot break it, we have other ways!"

"What ways?" Hei Huan asked.

The cultivator asked tentatively, "Does the Great King know of the Zhao family from Hai County?"

Seeing that Hei Huan had not become enraged, the cultivator shared his idea: "The Zhao family is a Purple Mansion clan, and they have many formation masters. We can go and trick a few people from the Zhao family to come here; they will surely have a way to open this cave dwelling."

"How do I know you aren't going to join forces with the Zhao family to kill me?" Hei Huan countered.

The cultivator was speechless; he actually did have that thought.

Hei Huan's vertical pupils were filled with cruelty as it suddenly opened its mouth and swallowed the cultivator.

As Hei Huan chewed, large pieces of limbs and flesh fell to the ground, scaring the remaining Qi Refinement cultivators so much that they slumped to the ground, their bodies turning limp.

With the flesh entering its stomach, blood and fiery saliva were still dripping from the corners of Hei Huan's mouth.

Those vertical pupils stared coldly and cruelly at the remaining cultivators: "If you cannot open this formation, you die!"

The remaining cultivators looked at one another, terrified, and hurriedly stood up to continue searching for flaws in the formation.

Finally, one sharp-eyed cultivator discovered something unusual and shouted in joy, "Great King, Great King! There is a flaw! There is a flaw!"

Hei Huan's massive, heavy serpentine body slid over. "What flaw?"

The cultivator pointed to a spot where the formation's flow seemed somewhat sluggish and said, "Great King, I do not know how long this formation has been maintained, but it must be nearly exhausted of spiritual energy."

"The formation here has begun to show sluggishness in its spiritual energy flow. If the Great King attacks this spot fiercely, you will surely be able to break the formation!"

Hei Huan studied the spot the cultivator pointed to and tentatively spat out a breath of flame.

The area of the formation touched by the flame indeed showed a sluggishness in the transport of spiritual energy.

Hei Huan became excited. It seemed its continuous attacks over the past few months had been effective; the formation was about to fail!

Scorching flames continuously erupted from Hei Huan's mouth, burning that section of the formation until it became even more fragile.

Finally, the formation dissolved into fragments of flowing light.

The cave dwelling was no longer obstructed and stood exposed before Hei Huan.

Hei Huan's eyes were filled with fervor: "Jade Green Lotus, I, Hei Huan, have arrived!"