As Zhao Yuan walked toward the Qi, he surveyed his surroundings.
Although the Earth God Temple had been demolished, he could still make out its former layout from the remaining traces. The cluster of Qi was located where the temple's main hall must have been. But now, there were no divine statues or incense tables, only a pile of broken wood and rubble.
As he drew closer, Zhao Yuan saw clearly that the Qi wasn't emanating from the broken wood and rubble, but was instead coming from underground.
This made him breathe a long sigh of relief.
Zhao Yuan had just been worried. What if the object that had nurtured Qi from Incense Fire Wish Power was one of the Earth God Temple's bricks, tiles, pillars, or beams? If it had been destroyed during the demolition by someone who didn't recognize its worth, it would have been a terrible shame!
Judging by the scene, although the Earth God Temple's walls and tiles had been completely demolished, the ground itself hadn't been touched. 'That makes sense,' he thought. 'They were just tearing down a building. Who would bother digging up the ground? Unless they knew there was a treasure buried underneath!'
Zhao Yuan picked up a wooden stick, snapped it, and began to dig with the sharp, broken end at the spot where the Qi was concentrated.
Fortunately, the stone bricks that had once paved the floor of the Earth God Temple had already been pried away, leaving only bare earth. Otherwise, no matter how strong Zhao Yuan was, it would have been difficult to break ground with just a wooden stick.
Zhao Yuan moved quickly. In no time at all, he had dug a pit over a foot deep at the source of the Qi.
Suddenly, on his next thrust, the tip of the stick met no resistance. The dirt at the bottom of the pit collapsed, revealing a hole.
Just as Zhao Yuan was about to widen the hole to see what was inside, a black shadow shot out with lightning speed, lunging straight for his face.
"What the hell?"
Zhao Yuan instinctively recoiled, swatting at the black shadow with the stick in his hand.
With a dull THWACK, the forceful strike knocked the black shadow out of the air and onto the ground.
Only then did Zhao Yuan get a clear look. What had shot out of the hole was a snake, about ten feet long, brown with many square white spots!
After hitting the ground, the snake immediately raised its triangular head. Its eyes stared intently at Zhao Yuan as its forked tongue flicked in and out, making a hair-raising HISS.
"A Five-step Snake?"
Having grown up in the mountains, Zhao Yuan recognized the species at a glance.
The Five-step Snake is a highly venomous species that usually lives among fallen leaves or in grassy areas. Zhao Yuan was shocked to find such a venomous snake hiding in the earth beneath the Earth God Temple. And judging by its behavior, it wasn't hibernating. It showed none of the lethargy typical of snakes in winter; on the contrary, it was incredibly aggressive.
'I've never seen a Five-step Snake this long before,' Zhao Yuan mused. 'I wonder if it's related to the treasure underground?'
Zhao Yuan tightened his grip on the stick, remaining cautious and on high alert.
Although he had the power of the Early Stage of Marrow Cleansing, he wasn't immune to all poisons. If this snake bit him and he didn't receive treatment in time, it would still be fatal.
After gathering its strength, the Five-step Snake attacked again, its body coiling before it shot toward Zhao Yuan.
Zhao Yuan was ready for it. His stick flashed like lightning, striking the Five-step Snake's triangular head. The powerful blow cracked the Snake Scales on its head, sending it tumbling to the ground once more.
At the same time, the White Cat, which had been waiting nearby, pounced with ghostly speed. Before the heavily injured Five-step Snake could recover, one of the cat's paws pinned it by the neck, preventing it from turning its head to bite.
Its other paw slashed viciously at the Five-step Snake's vital spot. The cat's sharp claws, like razor blades, instantly pierced the snake's tough scales and disemboweled it.
Then, with a soft MEOW, the White Cat leaned into the gash and, with a few powerful bites, tore the Five-step Snake in two.
Severed in two, the Five-step Snake's body thrashed violently a few times before falling still.
"Phew..."
Confirming the Five-step Snake was dead, Zhao Yuan let out a long sigh of relief.
'Dealing with this kind of creature is much harder than dealing with a person,' he thought. 'One moment of carelessness and you're done for.'
"Nice work," Zhao Yuan said, praising the White Cat as he rubbed its head.
The White Cat squinted, relishing Zhao Yuan's touch. After a couple of soft meows, it raised a sharp claw and sliced open the Five-step Snake's belly. It precisely located the Snake Gallbladder, extracted it, then gently picked it up in its mouth and placed it in front of Zhao Yuan, indicating that he should eat it.
The White Cat had brought Zhao Yuan plenty of "food" in the past, but it was usually things like rats and sparrows, which he could never bring himself to eat. This Snake Gallbladder, however, was something Zhao Yuan didn't want to miss.
'A Snake Gallbladder is a valuable item,' he thought. 'It can cleanse the liver, improve vision, and act as an antidote. And this one came from a ten-foot-long Five-step Snake! A normal one is only about four to five feet long. This snake was a behemoth of its species! Its Snake Gallbladder must be far more potent than an ordinary one.'
Picking up the Snake Gallbladder, Zhao Yuan was about to swallow it whole. But when he activated his Qi Observation Technique, he was surprised to see a trace of Qi within it!
The Qi wasn't abundant or strong, but it was exceptionally pure.
After his initial surprise, Zhao Yuan quickly figured it out. "I know why this snake was hiding underground! It really is related to that treasure!"
'Animals have a stronger sixth sense than humans,' he reasoned. 'This snake must have detected the Qi emanating from the treasure beneath the Earth God Temple. That's why it abandoned its usual habitat of grass and fallen leaves to live underground.'
By living near the treasure for years, this Five-step Snake had not only absorbed the Qi it emitted, but had also soaked up a great deal of the Incense Fire Wish Power from the worshippers at the Earth God Temple. That's how it ended up cultivating Qi within its Snake Gallbladder.
If the Earth God Temple hadn't been demolished, and if it hadn't encountered Zhao Yuan, perhaps in another few years, or a decade, this Five-step Snake could have opened its Spiritual Aperture. It might have become a Spirit Monster, much like a Yellow-skinned, and eventually usurped the temple for itself, devouring all the Incense Fire Wish Power and becoming a scourge to the people and livestock in the surrounding area!
"I didn't expect to perform a public service today," Zhao Yuan said with a smile.
Since the Snake Gallbladder contained Qi, Zhao Yuan wasn't in a hurry to eat it. He planned to go back and figure out how to best utilize the Qi within it. He activated his Storage Ring and placed the special Snake Gallbladder inside.
Seeing the Snake Gallbladder suddenly vanish from Zhao Yuan's hand, a keen light flashed in the White Cat's eyes, but it didn't seem surprised. After a couple of meows, it ignored Zhao Yuan, turned to the Five-step Snake's corpse, and began to feast.
Zhao Yuan, meanwhile, returned to the hole. He carefully began to widen it with his stick, wary that another venomous snake or some other Wild Beast might emerge from within.
Fortunately, nothing else appeared.
A few minutes later, the hole was as wide as a washbasin, and Zhao Yuan could finally see clearly what lay inside.