Chapter 265: Mystic Snake

At first glance, it was easy to assume the exit would be at the bottom of the lake, but Lu Xingzhou initially thought this was unlikely. Because if it were at the bottom of the lake, wouldn't the beasts below have already escaped? This secret realm is vast, stretching as far as the eye can see, so it wouldn't be strange for a rift to appear anywhere. Yet, it turned out to be right at the bottom of the lake.

"First, teach me a spell," Lu Xingzhou said after a moment's thought, taking out the dragon bone he had retrieved from his own Danxia Secret Realm. "You said this could inflict some voodoo curses on its own kind. Do you know how?"

Ye Tinglan wasn't proficient in voodoo arts, but she knew enough of the basics to share. She extended a finger to Lu Xingzhou's glabella and imparted a section of a magical incantation. She found it a bit amusing. If it were anyone else facing an enemy with her, they would never have this "I need to find a way to help" mentality. Don't they realize how vast the gap between them is? If even she, Ye Tinglan, couldn't handle it, what could a mere fourth-grade junior do by learning some voodoo on the spot? Yet, he was actually learning it so seriously.

Of course, it was good that he had this intention, and Ye Tinglan wouldn't deliberately refuse to teach him. However, after teaching him, she added, for reasons unknown to herself, "What are you going to call me?"

"Sir... no, Madam," Lu Xingzhou replied. "You said to call you Madam Ye."

Ye Tinglan's face turned as cold as frost, and she clenched her fist.

Lu Xingzhou jumped back a step. "Wait a minute," he said, "don't rush into the water. I need to make some more preparations."

Ye Tinglan watched him with a stern expression as he took out an alchemy furnace, started a fire, and threw all the poisons he had collected earlier into it. He began refining them into pills. Among them was a highly toxic herb, whose potency even surprised Ye Tinglan. "Even without refining it into a pill, directly consuming this could at least poison a third-grade cultivator to death," she remarked. "Once refined, it would be no problem to deal with a first-grade. Where did you get this?"

"From the Incense Tower's collection," he replied. "They didn't have many other good things, but this toxic herb was of the highest grade. I kept it without knowing where it would be useful, but now it's perfect."

Ye Tinglan watched him refine the pills with keen interest. Given the level of these pills, they would be at least second-grade. She wondered if he could successfully refine them. It was clear that Lu Xingzhou was trying his best to effectively merge the flames from his own Spirit of Fiery Essence with the Destructive Golden Flames he had obtained from the Demon Subjugation Domain. He aimed to combine the stability of his own flames with the fierce intensity of the Destructive Golden Flames. However, the effect was still not ideal, as these two characteristics were very difficult to merge.

Seeing sweat appear on Lu Xingzhou's forehead, Ye Tinglan couldn't help but say, "Your fusion is a bit forced. Mainly because your own cultivation hasn't caught up. If you could break through the major third-grade threshold, this fusion would be more stable. It's a bit strained right now. With such a forced fusion of flames, you won't be able to refine pills of this grade."

Lu Xingzhou sighed. "It's one thing after another," he said. "I haven't had time for stable cultivation." He said, feeling a little wronged, "Originally, I could have cultivated properly at the Alchemy Academy; you were the one who brought me out."

Ye Tinglan scoffed, "My bringing you out just happened to resolve the upheaval in your Skyfaring Sword Sect. Are you blaming me for that, then?"

"No, no," Lu Xingzhou said with an appeasing smile. "Sir, could you help with the fusion?"

When he needed something, it was "Sir"; when he didn't, it was "Madam."

Ye Tinglan was both exasperated and amused. "Your abacus beads are practically bouncing off my face," she said.

Lu Xingzhou glanced at her face, thinking that her expression was becoming more lively by the day. "Um... this is about alchemy," he said, "which falls within your guidance, Sir. You can't shirk responsibility."

Ye Tinglan slapped him on the back. Just as Lu Xingzhou was about to speak, he felt a surge of warmth flow into his meridians. Ye Tinglan's voice came, "I'll help you with the fusion, but it's only a temporary melding. You'll need to master it yourself in the future; don't take shortcuts."

Lu Xingzhou clearly felt his two types of flames being temporarily forced together by an extremely domineering force, so overwhelming that it defied all logic. Reflected in his alchemy flames, this truly achieved the stability and control of his original flames, combined with the searing heat of the Destructive Golden Flames. The uncontrollable ferocity was completely suppressed, resulting in the alchemical fire form he had always dreamed of. Thus, the pills, which had been very difficult to refine, gradually began to rotate and merge, and the herbal fragrance slowly diffused.

"Your control also has some issues," Ye Tinglan's voice continued. "At your current level, you should start paying attention to the influence of the environment on alchemy. When I had you come to the Frozen Moon Cold River before, it was precisely for this kind of trial, but you didn't complete it. It's the same now. This is an enclosed realm lacking air, without wind or moon. Your alchemy methods can no longer be based on daily norms. How exactly you should adjust them requires you to feel and adapt with your heart."

Lu Xingzhou felt his spiritual consciousness become much clearer. Originally, he used his physical eyes to observe the changes of the medicinal ingredients inside the furnace through its small window. But now, he seemed to be able to "sense" them. Subtle particle changes and collisions directly entered his sea of consciousness, becoming clear in his mind, as if he were truly seeing them. In a sense, this was "hands-on teaching," though no romantic feelings arose, as all his focus was entirely on the alchemy furnace.

Three pills gradually took shape under precise control. Lu Xingzhou had effectively witnessed the methods of an alchemist above the third-grade, and had also experienced firsthand the perspective of a third-grade Daoist cultivator after opening their spiritual soul. In their eyes, the world could be deconstructed anew. The world seemed quite different from what others perceived. Even the light of the sun and moon, which seemed powerless to ordinary people, were different forms of energy in their eyes, even capable of affecting the formation of pills. No wonder the previous teachings mentioned that the time of day for alchemy and the duration of refinement had different effects at higher levels. He hadn't been able to grasp it before, but now he had thoroughly experienced it.

With the pills successfully refined, Lu Xingzhou stood up and sincerely bowed. "Many thanks, Sir," he said.

Ye Tinglan cast a sidelong glance at him. This kid's filial and respectful demeanor no longer fooled her; she knew perfectly well that if given an inch, he'd take a mile, and soon enough he'd be trying to hold her hand.

Lu Xingzhou took the pills and extended his hand, offering them. "Sir—" he began.

Ye Tinglan instinctively hid her hand behind her back.

Lu Xingzhou was speechless. He huffily turned his head and tossed the refined pills into the lake. After a moment's thought, he kept one and only threw two. The pills dissolved upon entering the water, and soon the lake water was infused with potent poison.

"Even if this lake isn't too large," she remarked, "its water volume is enough to dilute the poison to almost nothing. Is there any point in doing this?"

"If someone farted in my house," he replied, "I would definitely be very displeased..."

Before his words had faded, the lake water suddenly churned into a whirlpool. A dragon-like, snake-like roar echoed, and a hornless dragon head suddenly emerged from the lake. Its emerald vertical pupils stared at the two people by the shore, glowing with cruel greed. "Fresh... humans..." it hissed. The sound seemed to penetrate directly into their minds, making their heads throb, and felt utterly uncomfortable.

Boom!

The dragon head lunged straight for them, bringing with it the gigantic serpent body beneath. Just as Ye Tinglan had predicted, it was a half-snake, half-dragon subspecies, perhaps best called a Black Serpent. The lake water it brought out splashed onto the shore, hissing as it landed. All the lakeside flowers and plants vanished, and the ground was corroded with small pits. In just an instant, the dragon head moved from the center of the lake to stand before them. Its massive maw opened wide, as if to swallow both of them whole.

Ye Tinglan waved her hand, sending Lu Xingzhou a hundred zhang away. She formed a spell with her hand, and a dazzling beam of light shot directly into the depths of the dragon's mouth. Unexpectedly, the dazzling beam, powerful enough to shatter a small mountain, entered the dragon's mouth. It was absorbed and vanished by something unknown, without having any effect whatsoever.

Cruel light flashed in the Black Serpent's vertical pupils. Its maw snapped shut, about to swallow Ye Tinglan. Ye Tinglan dodged aside. The dragon's maw bit down heavily, creating a grating sound. Ye Tinglan waved her hand again, and two streaks of sword light precisely appeared before its vertical pupils, stabbing directly at them. The dragon's eyes instantly snapped shut. The sword lights struck its eyelids, producing a sharp clang like metal on metal, but failed to penetrate its defense!

Ye Tinglan frowned slightly. The flood dragon seemed to sense that this woman was not to be trifled with. Its body shot forward abruptly, its tens of zhang-long body lunging straight toward Lu Xingzhou. Ye Tinglan swiftly flashed to block its path. Her slender hand gently pressed on the dragon's head, and the massive dragon body was held in place by her single hand, unable to move an inch. The dragon's vertical pupils finally flickered with surprise, as if unable to comprehend how such a delicate body could possess such immense power.

With one hand stopping the flood dragon, Ye Tinglan finally used a magic treasure with her other hand. A divine sword appeared in the sky, transforming into ten thousand streaks of light, and pierced all suspected weak points on the flood dragon's serpent body. At the same time, fierce flames erupted beneath its belly, engulfing its tens of zhang-long body in a sea of fire. She was also a typical dual cultivator of Dao and martial arts.

However, this comprehensive and powerful attack still proved ineffective. All the sword lights that struck its serpent body simply slid off its naturally slick skin, causing almost no damage. The flames beneath, however, did inflict pain, and it angrily thrashed its body, attempting to crush Ye Tinglan into a pulp. Ye Tinglan frowned and dodged away. The serpent's body slammed into the ground, creating a massive, deep pit. At this moment, Ye Tinglan rather admired Lu Xingzhou's foresight in luring this creature out to fight.

According to records, Black Serpents didn't possess such strong defensive capabilities. She wondered how this monster had mutated. If it was this troublesome to fight on land, rashly going into the water meant its movements would undoubtedly be stronger underwater than on land, making it even harder to deal with. If she were also to bring Lu Xingzhou into the water, she might truly not be able to protect him. His cautious approach had not been in vain.

The Black Serpent itself wasn't overwhelmingly powerful; it was roughly considered a transcendent-grade beast, but there was a small difference in its minor cultivation realm. The fact that she could hold it back with one hand meant its strength, at the very least, couldn't harm her, Ye Tinglan. The current issue was that its defensive capabilities were somewhat excessive, and she couldn't find any weak points. This excessive defense wasn't without flaws. The attack that went into the dragon's mouth earlier was definitely not nullified by the monster itself; there was a high probability it had swallowed some treasure. If she were fighting alone, Ye Tinglan would most likely choose to dive into its belly and wreak havoc. But now that she had Lu Xingzhou with her, this decision was difficult to make.

If she took him inside, it would ultimately be an extremely dangerous choice. What if something went wrong? If she left him outside, she wouldn't be able to look after him from inside the belly. What if he ended up being crushed to death?

As she pondered, the serpent's tail whipped out, lashing again toward Lu Xingzhou in the distance. Ye Tinglan instantly flickered and shifted, grabbing Lu Xingzhou and flashing far away. Once again embraced by warm jade and gentle fragrance, Lu Xingzhou felt like the moment could be accompanied by slow-motion and background music... But how could a grown man tolerate being protected like a delicate wife in battle?

"Sir..." Lu Xingzhou suddenly spoke amidst the flashing movements.

"What is it?"

"Go into its belly," he said. "I'll go too."

Ye Tinglan looked down at him. Having just avoided the serpent's tail, the dragon's head bit precisely at them. Ye Tinglan no longer hesitated. She embraced Lu Xingzhou and plunged directly into the dragon's maw.