Chapter 6: Fighting the Snake

  In the cold winter season, heavy snow falls.

  The Suolong Mountain has been hit by several heavy snowfalls, and the accumulated snow on the ground is over a foot thick. The trees are also covered with icicles. Some pine and cypress trees have been bent down by the weight of the snow. What a beautiful winter landscape in silver and white! On this day, the snow stopped falling, the clouds dispersed, and the sky cleared up. When the sun shone through, it looked even more magnificent.

  Yuan Futong was preparing the tools for this hunt in his temporary treehouse, one of several outposts he had.

  After completing the map of the village, Yuan Futong rarely stayed in the village. Firstly, he missed his grandmother whenever he saw something that reminded him of her. Secondly, it was more convenient for him to collect medicine. After all, the village was too far from Nei Shan. So, Yuan Futong built treehouses in several suitable places near Nei Shan as a place to rest. He transported some supplies from the village and stored them in the treehouse, making life much easier. However, this also delayed him for quite some time. Sometimes, Yuan Futong would think: "If only I had a Qiankun bag." The Qiankun bag was something that often appeared in his past life and was also recorded in his notes. Generally, cultivators would have such an item to store their personal belongings. A typical Qiankun bag was the size of a palm and had a space of about five cubic meters inside. Such items were very common among cultivators, almost everyone had one. The major sects would produce these bags, they weren't rare at all. But for those who hadn't entered the ranks of cultivators, such items were rarely seen. Therefore, Yuan Futong had to work hard to carry various miscellaneous items from the village, making multiple trips back and forth, exhausting himself in the process.

  He carefully put down the Lunar Bow in his hand and began to inspect the arrows. The Lunar Bow that Yuan Futong had was one he had carefully selected and purchased in Nanhuacity. In this world, martial arts were extremely popular, and civilians were not prohibited from owning strong bows and crossbows, which was different from ancient times. Most people would know some boxing and kicking skills, and those who dared to go out and travel around would all have some skills on their body. Carrying a bow and holding a sword were common sights. Therefore, the military equipment business in Nanhuacity was very prosperous. The forging craftsmanship here was also very advanced, and the materials used for ordinary weapons were not bad at all. The short knife that Yuan Futong was currently using was made of fine steel, extremely sharp, and not inferior to those military equipment made with modern craftsmanship. This bow was even more so, costing five hundred taels of silver, a masterpiece from Nanhuacity's famous archery shop "Sheliu Number". The bow body was made of high-quality wood, and the bowstring was made of python tendon. When fully drawn, it required six-stone strength. With Yuan Futong's current strength, it was slightly light, but better bows were hard to come by, so he had been using it all along.

  Yuan Futong had been lurking in the mountains for over a year, and during this time, he had made some small gains, but he still hadn't obtained any high-level spiritual medicine. It wasn't that he couldn't find it; there were several places where he found it but couldn't take it away. Generally, these types of spiritual medicines were guarded by strange insects and beasts, and Yuan Futong couldn't defeat them, so he didn't make much progress. However, after fighting with these strange insects and beasts multiple times, Yuan Futong's martial arts skills improved rapidly. The current Yuan Futong was no longer a small-town citizen who mixed in the city; he had become an excellent hunter. However, his internal energy cultivation still hadn't broken through. His internal energy had deepened significantly, but it still hadn't broken through the legendary First Heaven Realm. For this reason, Yuan Futong thought of many methods. The first thing that came to mind was the underwater suffocation method, which often appeared in novels where the main characters were forced to hide underwater from strong enemies, struggled to breathe, and then realized the fetal breathing method, making great progress. Yuan Futong also tried it several times, but every time he couldn't breathe underwater, his internal energy would automatically accelerate and circulate throughout his body, and he wouldn't feel suffocated. His cultivation speed was faster than before, but there was no sign of breaking through. After trying a few times, Yuan Futong gave up. Next was fighting; many main characters leveled up during battles, so Yuan Futong went to learn from others who fought tigers bare-handed. He killed the tiger and his martial arts skills became more refined, but he still didn't make any breakthroughs. Thinking about it, jumping off a cliff wasn't safe, and enlightenment methods were too vague. Yuan Futong extinguished his thoughts of breaking through the First Heaven Realm. Let things happen naturally; when he had a higher-level mental method, everything would fall into place.

  Yuan Futong's goal this time was a 500-year-old Lingzhi mushroom. He had discovered it six months ago, and it grew on a cliff near the summit. As long as he fixed a rope at the top of the cliff and lowered it two zhangs, he could pick it up. However, there was a giant python lurking in the mountain crevice next to him. Last time Yuan Futong went down, he almost got ambushed by that giant python. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and used his medicine shovel to defend himself, then borrowed the power of the rope to jump onto the cliff. He estimated that if he hadn't done so, he would have become the python's food. After that frightening experience, Yuan Futong went several times to provoke the python, set up various traps, and looked for ways to get rid of it, but none succeeded. The python also had some skills: not only was it long and powerful, agile in movement, with hard scales that ordinary weapons couldn't hurt. Moreover, it had a poisonous trick: it could spit out a mouthful of poisonous arrows from its mouth, which were difficult to defend against. Yuan Futong was hit by one the first time, his clothes were corroded into a big hole, and his skin was also rotten. He took several days to recover. From then on, he became even more cautious.

  The snake venom was much stronger than Yuan Futong had imagined, and for ordinary martial artists, it would have been a fatal blow. But due to Yuan Futong's extraordinary internal energy, the wound only festered on the surface of his skin and healed quickly. From then on, Yuan Futong began to think of ways to deal with this giant python, and today was one of his new attempts. After all, it was winter now, and snakes' reflexes should be slower due to their racial characteristics. Although the giant python didn't hibernate, it was much weaker than in summer.

  He gathered his belongings, Yuan Fu Tong set off, walking while thinking of ways to kill the giant python. Last time he didn't shoot the python dead was because the bow's power was too small, now that he has changed to a good bow and is familiar with it, plus these high-priced precision steel arrows, he should be able to break through its scaly defense. If not, then he'll have to wait until his martial arts skills surpass the Heavenly Stage before coming back to try again.

  After running in the snow for a whole morning, Yuan Futong arrived at the top of the mountain where Lingzhi was. Looking around, whether near or far, the white snow was everywhere, and the sky and earth were all one color, it was really magnificent. Yuan Futong looked up at the sun, it had already passed noon, he was still very satisfied with his speed, having run over 200 miles in just a morning. He sat down to eat some dry rations, rest for a bit, and prepare to start hunting.

  He first sprinkled sulfur snake medicine on his body, and then Yuan Futong threw out a large piece of meat with a big bone that he had prepared beforehand. This was carefully prepared by Yuan Futong. In the past few times when he fed the giant python poisonous food, the result was that the python didn't care at all. After eating, nothing happened. This time, Yuan Futong specially put some soft-boned soul-stunning medicine in the meat, hoping it would have some effect. Moreover, after snakes and pythons swallow something, they cannot digest it immediately, and their reaction is much slower after eating. Therefore, he specially prepared a large bone that was difficult to digest, hoping it would have some effect.

  Yuan Futong's tactics were simple, because more complex tactics had failed. Today, Yuan Futong pinned his hopes on the Falling Moon Bow. If he could break through its defenses, there would be a chance; if not, he would have to think of another plan. He drew several lines with sulfur on the snowy ground at the top of the cliff and stood about ten meters away from the mountain precipice. Then, using a rope to suspend the bone, he threw it down the cliff. The giant python had been starving for days, and the cold weather made it use its venom to break the rope and swallow the bone. Yuan Futong felt his hand lighten and immediately exerted force, pulling the rope back. After waiting for a while, he estimated that the bone had already entered the python's belly and tied another piece of bone before throwing it down again. After repeating this process six times with six pieces of bone, Yuan Futong estimated that the python had begun to digest its food and the medicine should be taking effect. Because snakes do not have incisors, they cannot bite through ropes; each time, they must use their venom to corrode them. The rope was broken six times, and the python's venom should have been depleted significantly. It was time to take action.

  Yuan Futong tied another piece of bone and threw it down, guessing that the giant python had just seen it, shook its arm, exerted force to pull the bone up, and then immediately threw open the rope to grab the bow and arrow beside him. Yuan Futong had just picked up the bow and arrow when he saw the giant python chasing after the bone and climbing up from the cliff. It landed on the top of the cliff. The python saw Yuan Futong and immediately abandoned the bone, pouncing towards Yuan Futong.

  Yuan Futong had already drawn his bow and aimed at the giant python, shooting an arrow.

  Hiss...

  Yuan Futong's arrow hit the python's body with a dull thud, but it didn't penetrate its flesh. The python was enraged after being shot and quickly swam towards Yuan Futong. The sulfur on the snow had no effect at all. The distance of over ten meters was almost instantly closed. Yuan Futong saw that he had no chance to shoot another arrow, so he used his Lingyun Step to turn around and run down the mountain. Fortunately, the python had to guard the lingzhi and didn't dare to chase far. Yuan Futong managed to escape again. Seeing the python stop, Yuan Futong turned around and shot another arrow, which was dodged by the python. It seemed that there was no opportunity today, so Yuan Futong could only prepare to leave.

  If I could shoot it when it's jumping over the cliff and still in mid-air, even if I couldn't penetrate it, I should be able to push this giant python down the mountain. Even if it doesn't die from the fall, there's a chance I can pick the lingzhi mushroom. But my current archery skills are really at the level of Bu Dao. It seems like I'll have to think of another way when I get back, this lingzhi is definitely going into my hands. Yuan Futong thought to himself.

  After walking for a few miles, Yuan Futong felt somewhat tired. The confrontation with the giant python was brief, but it had consumed a lot of mental energy. He decided to rest in the snow and recharge his spirit. So, he shook off the sulfur snake medicine from his outer garment and sat down on the snowy ground. As Yuan Futong rested, he looked up and saw two streaks of light chasing each other in the distance, before falling down a few miles away. Yuan Futong was amazed. In the year or so that he had been wandering in the mountains, he had seen this kind of light a few times. This was the scene when cultivators were traveling. According to his notes, ordinary Qi-refining level cultivators could already control flying artifacts, and higher-level cultivators flew faster and higher, making it harder to detect them. Only Qi-refining level cultivators who wanted to show off would not conceal their aura, allowing people on the ground to see it.

  In the mountains, there were many cultivators who lingered here for various heavenly treasures. However, most of the cultivators here were low-ranking and rarely flew over from high altitudes to collect medicine. This time, two rays of light chased each other down to the ground; could it be that there was some kind of treasure? Thinking of this, Yuan Futong's heart burned with excitement. He immediately slung his bow and arrows over his shoulder and ran towards where the two rays of light had landed. In his mind, he thought that even if he couldn't find any treasures, being able to meet someone who could point him in the right direction would be good too. They wouldn't bother a mortal like him, after all. The last few times he saw them, they were just fleeting glimpses, and no one paid attention to him; this time, he might as well try his luck.