Chapter Twenty-Two: Returning to the Mountain * Undercurrents

  "What is that?"

  Kong Zhan followed the direction of her finger and was also stunned. The snake had been hit by his three Cong Yue pearls, causing its skull to burst open, brain matter splashing everywhere, and its primordial spirit losing its attachment, which is why it flew away. And at the broken skull, a faint red light flickered, like a pulse, appearing and disappearing.

  The two of them looked at each other, and without noticing the foul smell from the python's abdomen, they walked closer. Kong Zhuo stretched out his sword and gently pried open a piece of shattered bone on its forehead, revealing something inside that shone with a red light. It was a pearl the size of a duck egg, its color a bright red, with a pulsing red glow emanating from within, emitting an unusual radiance.

  "This must be the inner elixir of this giant python!" Kong Zhuo took a deep breath and said, "But I don't know what its function is!"

  "Generally speaking, a demon's cultivation of a thousand years can only barely condense an inner elixir. Looking at the size of this inner elixir, this strange python's cultivation time is probably no less than several thousand years!" Fang Yue'er said from the side, "If this inner elixir can be obtained for one's own use, its uses would be endless!"

  "Endless uses!?" Kong Zhan smiled, thinking of his own three Cong Yuezhu, and had no interest in such ordinary things anymore. "In that case, take it away, junior sister!"

  "How can that be!" Fang Yue'er hastily said, "If it weren't for Brother Shifu's help today, I'm afraid I would have died here. And then he gave me half of the python skin, which is already a great favor. If we take this pearl too, even if we go back, it won't be good to report to Master!"

  Kong Zhan smiled, thinking that he had already obtained the greatest benefit, and wondered if this broken bead would be worth more than the original spirit of the strange python. "Sister, don't decline, I've heard people say that a demon beast that has been cultivated for thousands of years is all treasure, let's take another look, maybe there's something on its body that we haven't found yet, and after finding it, we can divide it up."

  As she spoke, without waiting for her response, the short sword in her hand shot out in all directions, and in the flash of the sword light, the python's body was chopped into several pieces. However, apart from the bloody smell and stains on the ground, there were no other discoveries.

  Kong Zhan couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, and Fang Yue also showed a look of loss. Looking at the red bead still quietly left on the ground, a bitter smile spread across her face. If she couldn't get anything else, then this bead was something she absolutely couldn't have.

  Kong Zhuang looked somewhat disheartened, "Damn it, the rumors of Jianghu are indeed unreliable, they're all deceiving!" He said, stamping his foot in frustration.

  It turned out that his words like "all things are mutually restrictive, the whole body is precious" were all heard from those Jianghu rumors. His voice was not loud and could almost be counted as muttering, but Fang Yue'er's cultivation was deep and naturally clear of his words, couldn't help but laugh, and had long put down the matter of the red bead.

  "With a sword, she picked out the red bead and handed it to Kong Zhuo's hand. 'Brother Kong, today little sister has accepted too much kindness, dare not accept other treasures, you take this python bead!'"

  Kong Zhan glanced at her, put away the python bead in his hand, and stopped being polite to Fang Yue'er. Anyway, he didn't know what its use was, so he just put it away for now.

  After receiving the red bead, the two of them didn't have much to say to each other, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

  "Brother Kong, since the demon python has been subdued, I should also take my leave. Before descending the mountain, Master still entrusted me with a task at hand, and I dare not tarry. Brother's life-saving kindness, Moon will definitely repay!"

  "So, that's settled then!" Kong Zhuo smiled and nodded his head, "As for all that stuff about gratitude or not, just forget it, thinking too much is tiring!"

  Fang Yue'er listened and shook her head with a hint of helplessness, a bitter smile spreading across her face. She bowed again, said no more, and mounted the green light, shooting off like an arrow.

  "Hmm, the speed of Jian Guang is indeed fast! It seems that this junior sister's cultivation is above mine!"

  But today's experience has exceeded Kong Yan's expectations.

  Luofu and Qingling are both pillars of the right path for cultivation. I think there will be many opportunities for us to meet and cooperate in the future. Fang Yue'er is a good person, and today can be considered as having formed a good relationship. As for the future dealings with Qingling Gate, it's all beneficial and no harm.

  ……………

  …………

  Lu Fu is still Lu Fu.

  Kong Zuo arrived at the foot of Luo Fu Mountain when it was midnight, just after a rain shower. The wind had stopped, the clouds had dispersed, and the thick fog had cleared. A half-moon hung high in the blue sky, shining brightly and illuminating the entire mountain forest with a refreshing glow. After the rain, the empty mountains were filled with the sound of flowing streams, and the water sounds from the rocks and crevices blended with the chirping of insects in the dense grass, making the night even more serene and peaceful.

  "Taking advantage of the moonlight on Luofu is indeed a beautiful thing!" With a great mood, Kong Zhuo suddenly became interested and his footsteps were light, he actually wanted to hike up the mountain.

  As he walked along the way, the surrounding mountains and waters made Kong Zhan's already good mood even more joyful, almost unable to hold back, wanting to burst into song.

  He suddenly stopped in his tracks, a look of puzzlement on his face.

  There is someone in front of you.

  It's not unusual for someone to be here, apart from cultivators, Luofu is also a popular spot for ordinary people to come and enjoy the scenery, but it's so late now, and deep in Luofu, how can there still be human voices?

  The wolves and tigers in this mountain are not vegetarians, and this place is close to the mountain gate of Luofu. It's usually within the patrol range of those inner door disciples of Luofu. Moreover, there are many forbidden arrays set up around here. If you're not a disciple of our sect, rushing in recklessly will generally end badly.

  It's obvious that the other party has also discovered him. Think about it, his extremely fat body, his unrestrained footsteps, and his occasional humming of mountain songs - it would be strange if others hadn't noticed him.

  "Who dares to sneak into Luofu at night!"

  "Night raid on Luofu?!" Kong Zhuo's face broke into a smile. This person was absolutely not one of Luofu's mountain patrol disciples, even though he had appeared right in front of him and was wearing the uniform of a mountain patrol disciple.

  "You're even more daring, actually daring to impersonate me, Luo Fu's disciple!"

  That man's face changed color, his hand unconsciously touched the hilt of the sword at his waist, but before he could draw it out, he felt a heavy blow and fell to the ground with a thud.

  Kong Yan simultaneously increased the gravity of the place where this person was standing by twenty times, and the guy fell down without warning.

  "It's really interesting, with such a weak strength, what can you do even if you enter Luofu?"

  He took a step forward, Kong Zhuo's hand swooped up, a purple star flashed by, and he subdued the man, carrying him on his shoulder.

  Having encountered such a strange thing, he naturally didn't have the mood to tour the mountain anymore. Besides, now that he had arrived at the gate of Luofu Sect, he couldn't delay any further. He unfolded his body technique and arrived at the gate of Luofu Mountain.

  Hand this person over to the disciples on night watch and go directly to the inner hall of Luo Fu to find Ling Jia.

  Like Ling Jia Shangren, a sword immortal, day and night are not much different, nor do they need to sleep. They just need to adjust their breath and cultivate for a while. Kong Zhuo knew that at this time every day, it was probably when Ling Jia Shangren finished his cultivation and had tea in the inner hall.

  Arriving at the inner hall entrance, as expected, Lingga Shangren's personal attendant was standing outside the door. Seeing Kong Zhuo arrive, he was slightly surprised at first, then smiled and went in to report without needing to be instructed by Kong Zhuo.

  After a while, he came out again and smiled at Kong Zhuo, "Master Kong, the Patriarch asks you to go in!"

  Kong Zhan nodded and his expression turned solemn as he followed the little boy into the inner hall.

  Ling Ga Shang Ren was drinking tea when he saw Kong Zhuo come in. He first smiled slightly, then his face froze, and the teacup in his hand fell to the ground. He looked deeply at Kong Zhuo for a moment, and then the smile on his face grew even stronger.

  "Disciple Kong Zong, has seen the teacher's uncle!"

  Kong Zuo bowed down.

  "Get up, get up!" Lingga Shangren smiled and that little boy retreated very consciously.

  "Thank you, Master!" Kong Zan stood up and said.

  "It seems that this time you've gained a lot from your trip!" Ling Jia Shangren said with a smile, waving his hand and pointing to a stool in front of him. "Sit down and talk about it!"

  "Yes!" Kong Zhuo nodded and sat down, not waiting for Ling Jia to ask questions. He roughly told the story of what happened after he came down from the mountain. Of course, he didn't mention the things that happened in the remote tea house, nor did he mention the Dajue Lirui Jinshen Jue. He only said that he accidentally discovered three mysterious pearls in the belly of the mountain, which were all pure earth attributes and brought many benefits to his cultivation. As for the strange python on Wuling Mountain, Kong Zhuo didn't hide it and told everything from start to finish. After finishing, he took out the python horn, half of the python skin, the red pearl, and the three Congyue pearls that he had obtained.

  "Good fortune, good fortune, this is indeed good fortune!" Ling Jia Shang Ren only took a glance at the thing Kong Zhuo got from that white python's body, but picked up three Cong Yue pearls and examined them carefully.

  "These three pearls, although I've never heard of them before, can be written as the best treasures, compared to those few mountain-settling treasures in my Luofu, they are not inferior at all!"

  "Really?!" Kong Zhuang knew that this was a good treasure, but he didn't expect Ling Jia Shangren to value these three pearls so highly. For a moment, he was also at a loss for what to do.

  Lingga nodded, "Your power is not yet fully developed, so you can't exert its full force. However, in this short time, it will clear the impurities in your body and turn you into a pure earth attribute body. You should have some perception of this, shouldn't you?"

  (Looking at the situation, it's almost a thousand, I'll finish updating today's second chapter first. After exceeding a thousand, I'll add two more chapters in the afternoon. Today is Wednesday, oh haha, by the weekend, if the weekly update exceeds 2,000 words, I'll add four more chapters, Xiaojing said so and will do so)