Chapter 269: The Little Snake’s Master
Even the little snake’s eyeballs were red.
Coiled around a red tree, it blended in so perfectly with the petals it was nearly invisible.
Shuitan didn’t possess Song Jiulai’s Divine Sense, but he too had the keen sense that something was there.
He spoke softly, "Sect Master—"
Song Jiulai nodded. As she raised her hand, the little snake hissed, spitting a cloud of smoke right at her.
It was like Miasma, but even denser.
Song Jiulai executed Lotus Birth Kill to evade, simultaneously unleashing a bolt of Palm Thunder as thick as a fist that struck straight down.
Because lightning naturally suppresses demonic energy, even the Miasma from the red-flowered tree seemed to dissipate a little.
"HISS—"
The little snake dodged with incredible speed, moving like a phantom.
It seemed enraged. Coiling its body, it flicked its tongue at Song Jiulai.
Behind her, Shuitan’s brow twitched when he saw the Palm Thunder Song Jiulai had summoned.
Palm Thunder was a staple technique for many players, but this was the first time Shuitan had ever seen a bolt so thick.
He couldn’t do that yet.
Furthermore, because of the Sea View Sect’s techniques, he could only focus on cultivating its primary mental method. The Sea Viewing Sect Heart Method didn’t favor lightning, so his proficiency with Palm Thunder was nowhere near this high.
Song Jiulai didn’t mind displaying her strength in front of the players. After all, she had told them she was very weak at the start.
It wasn’t realistic to put on a show of being overwhelmingly powerful, but there was no need to deliberately conceal her skills either.
’It seems the Sect Master is just as everyone suspected—she’s been secretly grinding on the side.’
The little snake let out another angry hiss, spraying a cloud of red smoke.
Then, a series of faint illusions flickered before Song Jiulai’s eyes.
She could even faintly hear the sound of a girl’s playful laughter.
’Early-stage Foundation Establishment.’
Song Jiulai’s Divine Sense pierced through the Miasma to gauge the little snake’s cultivation.
With that, she stopped holding back. Done wasting time with the little snake, she raised her hand, and the Prosperous Scenery Tower appeared.
The little snake glanced up. Seeing a pavilion materialize out of thin air in the sky, it instinctively sensed danger.
It tried to flee before the pavilion could come down to suppress it.
It was fast, but Song Jiulai, anticipating its escape, unleashed two more bolts of Palm Thunder to cut off its retreat.
Before it could get away, the tower descended from above, trapping it.
Most people would save such a Magic Treasure as a trump card.
But Song Jiulai was different—if a tool needed to be used, she used it.
If she could end the fight in an instant, she wouldn’t hesitate for a second!
"HISSSSSSS—"
Once inside the Prosperous Scenery Tower, the little red snake was utterly dumbfounded.
Its speed was impressive, enough to rival even Song Jiulai, but once trapped in this place, its speed was useless.
As it darted around anxiously, Song Jiulai noticed that the bodies of the three people from before were still in the same spot.
She hadn’t touched them because she was worried they might have something on them to contact others.
’Looks like I’ll have to find a chance to deal with them later.’
’It’s too unsettling to leave them lying around here forever.’
When the little snake saw the three corpses on the ground, it was as if its scales stood on end, and it began to dart around even more frantically.
Song Jiulai narrowed her eyes. Just as she was about to make her move, she suddenly heard a voice in her mind.
It was a gentle female voice. "Please don’t be offended, Friend. It is merely too mischievous by nature. I offer this item to you as a small apology. I hope you will spare this little spiritual beast’s life and release it."
Song Jiulai’s brow twitched.
’Voice transmission... this is a Secret Technique of the Cultivator Association. I have no idea how far away that message came from, and their cultivation level is completely indiscernible.’
’But to be able to send a message directly into my mind, and through the barrier of a Magic Treasure, no less...’
After weighing her options, Song Jiulai recalled the Prosperous Scenery Tower.
Outside, Shuitan had already been surprised when Song Jiulai summoned the Prosperous Scenery Tower.
Though he hadn’t been trapped inside, he could clearly sense the aura of an Earth Grade Magic Treasure.
’Looks like the Sect Master has been doing well for herself on the outside.’
As Song Jiulai recalled her Magic Treasure, the little snake dropped out of thin air. The moment it hit the ground, it immediately turned and scrambled away in a panic.
Meanwhile, a Fourth Rank Ice Soul Flower drifted down slowly before Song Jiulai.
Its snow-white petals resembled a lily, and it emanated a frosty aura.
Song Jiulai was stunned. She said to the system, "Holy crap, that’s generous, isn’t it?"
The Ice Soul Flower is the primary ingredient for refining the Fourth Rank Solid Essence Pill, a concoction used by those in the Golden Core Early Stage to expand their Sea of Consciousness.
As a result, it sells for an extremely high price.
A single Ice Soul Flower can sell for fifty Mid-grade Spirit Stones.
It was said that the higher the grade of the Solid Essence Pill one used, the faster one could expand their Sea of Consciousness. This, in turn, indicated a higher ceiling for growth, as it was directly related to how far one’s Divine Sense could reach in the future.
Take Song Jiulai, for example. Her Divine Sense could only reach a maximum distance of a thousand meters; any farther was impossible.
Since her own Sea of Consciousness had been opened with the help of one of Liu Yao’s treasures from the very beginning, she had no need for such an item.
Although she had no idea who this person was, she tentatively sent out her Divine Sense, but she couldn’t detect any aura at all.
A chill went down her spine. This was proof that the other party’s cultivation far surpassed her own.
To be able to send a message so accurately from such a distance proved, at the very least, that this person had been observing them all along.
She had no choice but to accept the flower.
Unable to send a message in return, Song Jiulai accepted the Ice Soul Flower and cupped her fists in the direction the snake had fled. "Many thanks, Senior."
After all, they had given her something incredibly valuable.
Given the other party’s strength, if they had chosen to come out and fight her head-on, Song Jiulai knew things wouldn’t have ended well for her today.
’This Senior must have a good temperament.’
No voice replied. The person might have vanished, or they might still be there.
Shuitan had been watching from the side the entire time.
He couldn’t hear the mental message, but he could infer a few things from Song Jiulai’s actions.
Song Jiulai had acted so quickly that he hadn’t even seen a trace of the little snake until it reappeared just now.
Shuitan mused, "That little snake has an owner?"
Song Jiulai nodded. "It’s a spiritual beast."
A red snake. It was a pity she hadn’t come across it in any of the information she had on spiritual beasts.
She had initially thought it was a demon beast.
But this snake was far too beautiful to be a demon beast.
The fact that someone was raising it now proved it was a spiritual beast.
Shuitan said nothing, while Song Jiulai muttered to her system, "Could that have been the master of Tang Valley?"
’This place is huge. For them to be able to observe us, it’s highly likely they’re the master of Tang Valley.’
System: "I think you could discuss this with Shuitan."
Song Jiulai sighed. "Saying too much would ruin my mystique. I have to maintain an air of mystery. If I ask him, wouldn’t that just prove that I’m an incompetent Sect Master who doesn’t know anything?"
System: "..."
’The players call you ’Mom’ behind your back, and they also call you a cheapskate. What mystique do you think you have left!?’
Far away, after the little snake had left, it rushed into a place full of blooming flowers, free of Miasma.
The little red snake darted into a mountain cave. Inside was a clear spring, and beside the spring, a woman was reclining.
The little snake rushed into her arms. The woman sat up, and a red snake’s tail, hidden beneath her skirt, swayed gently.
The little snake thrashed about in her arms like it was throwing a tantrum. She stroked its head and said softly, "I told you not to go out and provoke people randomly. That Magic Treasure... it carries the aura of the Emperor Sect... He... what a strange person..."