Chapter 344 The Shadow Orochi Clan

Zhong Cai looked at the glittering black stone that had just been spat out of its mouth. Although she had already counted out the pills and handed them to the giant snake, she still fell silent.

The Shadow Serpent should have a natural pouch inside its belly that can hold things, so when it spits out the Mystic Stone, it won't get its saliva on it. But seeing this scene with his own eyes, he still couldn't help but feel a little... strange.

Zhong Cai quickly adjusted her mindset, waved her hand at the Xuan Shi, and put them all into a mustard seed bag.

The Shadow Serpent shook its head and swayed its body slightly, as if musical notes were playing in its ears, or as if it was simply scanning the numerous goods to see if there was anything it wanted.

Such a massive creature's movements created several gusts of wind throughout the hall, ruffling Zhong Cai's hair.

Zhong Cai remained quite calm, simply standing there while the giant snake occasionally glanced at him.

As far as he knew, the Shadow Serpent wasn't the kind of rare beast that preferred to eat humans—of course, that didn't mean it would treat humans differently. It probably treated humans the same as other rare beast races, and if it happened to encounter them while hungry, it would just eat them.

As long as they don't see humans as delicacies, Zhong Cai is willing to interact with them and build goodwill. In this way, out of respect for him, these rare beasts might have a better impression of humans. Then, when humans and other prey are presented to them, the rare beasts will most likely choose the other prey, thus reducing human losses.

Zhong Cai's mind was racing with many thoughts, but she remained unmoved, seemingly without the slightest hint of tension.

·

Besides buying all the pills that were good for the scales, the Shadow Serpent also bought some other resources.

As Zhong Cai observed this, she sensed that it didn't discriminate based on rank, always selecting resources that could beautify its scales... It didn't seem to be purchasing these resources for proper cultivation, but rather for... beauty?

He recalled the situation of the Shadow Serpent in the Land of All Beings.

These giant snakes are also a group; it seems there are seven or eight of them.

Within the Land of All Beings, the Shadow Serpent clan's serpent mouths are similar to those of the Moon-Gazing Wolves, but their clan's size is certainly not as great as the Moon-Gazing Wolves'.

The eggs of the Shadow Serpent are extremely difficult to hatch. Sometimes a litter can contain thirty or forty eggs, but only one or two will eventually hatch, and most of the time, there will only be one.

If that were the case, it wouldn't be so bad. The Shadow Serpent is also extremely difficult to lay eggs, often only producing one clutch every few hundred years. The hatchlings are very fragile, especially in the first ten years. They need to be fed a large amount of resources that are very suitable for their constitution, otherwise they will often die. In many cases, it takes four or five clutches of eggs for one of the hatchlings to survive.

It was extremely difficult.

But I've never heard of these large snakes being particularly vain, have I? Or perhaps, because these baby snakes are prone to dying after birth, people buy pills that are beneficial to their scales to strengthen these newborn snakes and help them resist external damage?

Snake scales do indeed provide excellent protection for small snakes.

Zhong Cai continued to rack her brains, pondering whether there were other elixirs suitable for this type of snake, such as those that could directly provide nutrition to the small snakes, strengthening them from the inside out, allowing the Shadow Serpent clan to expand its population more quickly...

At that moment, the Shadow Serpent spoke again politely, asking, "Do you have any Serpent Heart Pills here?"

Zhong Cai was pulled back to her senses by its words, and said with a strange expression, "You mean the Snake Heart Pill, which is made by using snake heart as the main ingredient and various snake flesh and blood as auxiliary ingredients?"

The Shadow Serpent nodded its head slightly and said, "May I ask if the alchemist behind you knows how to refine pills?" Its tongue flickered. "Or rather, are you that alchemist? Do you know how to refine pills?"

Zhong Cai remained calm and said, "I don't know how to refine it yet, but I have the formula for this pill. If you want to order it, that's fine too."

The Snake Heart Pill is indeed a pill made from snake hearts that is very beneficial for cultivating snake-related techniques and secret skills. It is also a pill used by humans. But since the Shadow Serpent mentioned wanting this pill, could it be that it can also give it to the Shadow Serpent?

Zhong Cai recalled the contents of the prescription, but it did not mention any effects in this regard.

So he asked again, "May I ask, what use do you have for this elixir, sir?"

The Shadow Serpent showed delight when it heard Zhong Cai mention the pill formula—although the delight on the giant serpent's head was rather strange, the aura of joy surrounding the serpent was still quite comforting.

At this moment, the Shadow Serpent frankly said, "We only discovered this a while ago. This kind of pill is very beneficial to young snakes."

Zhong Cai understood; indeed, it could help them reproduce.

The Shadow Serpent added, "If you would be willing to let us reserve it, that would be wonderful."

Zhong Cai smiled and said, "I am willing, but I don't have that many snake-derived medicinal materials on hand right now." He paused and then spoke frankly, "In addition, I need to spend some time researching, and the quality of the finished product is uncertain. Furthermore, I only accept snake hearts and flesh of level five."

·

Another ingenious aspect of this snake heart pill is that the grade of snake heart used as the main ingredient determines the grade of the resulting snake heart pill. The auxiliary ingredients are relatively less important, but the dosage of the auxiliary ingredients must be carefully considered in order to ensure a smooth combination with the main ingredient.

Actually, it's not an easy pill to refine.

For Zhong Cai, these pills were quite interesting, but he hadn't thought of them before, so he focused on researching pills that were easier to sell.

If the Shadow Serpent clan is satisfied with the reservation, it will naturally give Zhong Cai another "connection," adding another channel for selling pills and acquiring resources.

·

The Shadow Serpent immediately said, "You are a fifth-level alchemist, so it is only natural that you want to master fifth-level alchemy. As long as you are willing to take the order, all the materials for refining these snakes will be provided by our clan."

Zhong Cai pondered for a moment: "Then how do we calculate the price?"

The Shadow Serpent replied, "The materials you used in your research were all donated by our clan. We only hope that you can provide our clan with at least twenty pills as soon as possible when you refine them. For any number more than twenty, our clan will still provide the materials and cover the price of the pills."

Zhong Cai said sincerely, "Then you're at a huge loss."

The Shadow Serpent didn't care at all: "Our clan has unearthed a mine of mystic stones. If we can use that to buy more pills, that will be enough."

Zhong Cai's lips twitched slightly.

So, this is someone who's got a mine.

As if nobody has one!

However, Zhong Cai clearly understood that if it weren't a high-level Xuan Stone mine, the Shadow Serpent wouldn't have specifically brought it up, so it was still quite enviable and something to be jealous of.

Zhong Cai said, "Okay, you can send the medicinal herbs over, and I will start refining them."

Who wouldn't do a business like this that requires no cost and only alchemy skills?

It also gave him the opportunity to further study the characteristics of the Shadow Serpent clan!

The Shadow Serpent was overjoyed, and its massive body couldn't help but dance.

As Zhong Cai watched, a strange idea suddenly popped into her head—she wanted to give it some lively music.

But he quickly dismissed the idea, letting the giant snake do its thing for a while before politely sending it away.

Of course, I watched them leave.

·

Two groups of beasts arrived in succession and had already taken away 90% of Zhong Cai's pills, leaving only a few scattered pills.

For a moment, Zhong Cai felt a little empty inside.

That makes sense. When alchemists run out of pills, they're always empty-handed.

So Zhong Cai put his hands behind his back, leisurely slipped away, and returned to the second hall.

Let's continue refining the elixir.

For now, let's refine other pills. Once the Shadow Serpent clan has acquired enough resources, we'll study this one.

·

The Shadow Serpent moves extremely fast.

After a few hours, they came over in groups.

Each of the giant snakes was enormous; the first one, a sixth-tier snake, was actually considered small.

Other large snakes must be at least as tall as mountains.

If a human were to look up from below, they probably wouldn't be able to see the snake's head at a glance.

There are now seven large snakes moving forward at the same time, with the leader being the tallest. When they crawl together, it looks like a mountain range.

Such a spectacle naturally attracted the attention of some other rare animals.

After all, unless someone is blind, it's impossible for them not to notice!

As a result, many different races of beast heads emerged from the other majestic nests or buildings on both sides of the street, some with fluttering wings and swaying dragon tails.

These shadowy serpents ignored everything and continued to swim forward in an orderly fashion.

Unbeknownst to them, some curious rare animals simply followed behind them, openly watching their actions.

The shadowy serpents arrived in front of a huge palace and went inside together.

The one in the lead naturally took the lead and entered with unparalleled ease.

But among the giant snakes behind it, several that were originally crawling side by side subconsciously joined in... They were so in sync that they all got stuck there.

"Hiss hiss hiss—"

In an instant, several cries of pain rang out from the giant snakes.

The rare beasts that followed: "..."

Several large snakes were blocking the doorway, their massive bodies jostling each other like many tails stuffed into an open bottle, the tips of their tails swaying and slapping the ground with a loud cracking sound.

The heads of these shadowy serpents were all inside the main hall, and it was impossible to tell what their expressions were at that moment.

but……

The rare beasts that followed couldn't help but roar and laugh.

"Hahaha! I've never seen anything like this before in all my years! It really cracked me up!"

"Six snakes are stuck in the door! And their tails are getting tangled up!"

"I see there are beings of level five to seven here. I wonder how many years they've lived, yet they still manage to make such a fool of themselves!"

"I could use this joke for ten thousand years!"

"Hey, if I'm not mistaken, this is the Shadow Serpent clan?"

"As far as I know, these snake-like creatures are so... funny?"

"This is so much fun!"

"Speaking of which, what are they doing here? Whose shop is this again?"

"I know, I know! It's a shop run by two new people! They don't seem to have been here long, but they already have a lot of good stuff!"

"He must be a top genius of the human race..."

"Let's wait and see what these shadow serpents can do!"

·

Inside the main hall, Zhong Cai was refining elixirs in the rear hall.

However, since I just wanted to warm up, I casually refined the Beast Cleansing Pill, which is the most familiar to me at the moment, and has the highest success rate and quality.

After he finished refining them, he naturally saved them.

Just as he was cleaning the alchemy furnace, a loud commotion suddenly came from outside.

Zhong Cai was a little curious, so she prepared to go out and take a look.

However, as soon as he entered the first hall, he was shocked to see an enormous, dark green snake lying on the ground in front of him, observing the goods in the general store.

This is actually quite normal; it's just that snakes are a bit scary in appearance, nothing strange about it.

but……

Zhong Cai's gaze shifted to the main hall's entrance.

He never closed the door, letting guests come and go as they pleased, but he never imagined that one day he would see several snake heads stuck in the door frame, waving at him and displaying a ferocious appearance.

Zhong Cai: "..."

9. The Hydra?

No, no, no, there are only six snake heads here.

Upon closer inspection, Zhong Cai realized that each snake head was connected to a body, and all the snake bodies were interlocked, thus getting stuck and unable to move.

Moreover, the intensity of the aura emanating from each snake head is different.

So here's the question.

Why can a fifth-tier giant snake and a seventh-tier giant snake get stuck together?

Couldn't any of the giant snakes just muster up some strength and charge out directly?

The veins on Zhong Cai's forehead throbbed.

He tried hard to recall if it was because the seventh-tier snake was worried that it would hurt the fifth-tier snake when it struggled.

Thinking about it, it seems quite likely. After all, because the cubs of this Shadow Serpent are prone to death, it is indeed more tolerant of its weaker kin. It is only natural that it would worry that the great force it exerts in breaking free would result in the lower-level serpent's body being cut off.

Zhong Cai pondered whether she should go and lend a hand.

But in the end, nothing was done.

Anyway, the eighth-tier serpents in the human clan group are all in good spirits, so why should he meddle in their business?

Zhong Cai then spoke amiably to the eighth-tier serpent, "Senior, is there anything you need?"

The eighth-tier Shadow Serpent was also very amiable, its politeness being exactly the same as the sixth-tier serpent that had come before, even the way it shook its head had a very similar rhythm.

...and probably also love music.

Zhong Cai even felt that if the giant snake shook him again, he could compose a piece of music for them.

The eighth-tier serpent said, "Shopkeeper, you're too kind. I'll look around by myself for a while."

They didn't even mention those big snakes that were stuck.

Even though Zhong Cai glanced in that direction several times while seemingly casually talking to the eighth-tier serpent, the eighth-tier serpent still showed no intention of dealing with the situation there.

Okay.

Zhong Cai simply stood aside and let the eighth-level serpent continue selecting goods.

Before long, the eighth-tier serpent took a fancy to a set of eighth-tier treasure robes.

The treasure robe is worn by humans; I wonder what this snake intends to do with it?

But no one would turn down a business deal, so Zhong Cai readily quoted a price.

The eighth-tier serpent readily... also spat out a large pile of mystic stones.

The quality is very good.

If it also comes from that mysterious stone mine, then without a doubt it means that the mysterious stone mine is very rich and of a very high grade.

·

The eighth-tier serpent continues its selection.

It selects mostly resources related to humans, perhaps to trade with the humans on its continent?

Zhong Cai pondered for a while, then lost interest.

The eighth-tier serpent continued its busy work.

Zhong Cai welcomes anyone who pays.

So the Shadow Serpent bought a total of seven or eight Tier 8 resources, and with its excellent eye, it chose those of relatively higher quality.

Zhong Cai continued to collect money, filling the mustard bag to the brim.

At this moment, those several shadowy serpents were still unable to break free...

Only after buying enough eighth-tier serpents did he leisurely turn around.

It seemed that only at this moment did it notice the great quantum descendant stuck there, and then it let out a hissing laugh.

The snake heads, facing their ancestor, all hung their heads in utter dejection.

At that moment, the giant snake's head below rested on the ground, while the snake's head above rested on the bodies of its brothers and sisters.

Looking at them, they really do look rather pitiful.

The eighth-tier serpent still didn't go to help, but instead started discussing business with Zhong Cai.

Zhong Cai smiled and asked, "What does Senior mean?"

The eighth-tier serpent hissed, "Pre-order 10,000 first."

Zhong Cai: "..."

Ten thousand! Ten thousand! Still ten thousand!

It's one thing to be from the Moon Gazing Wolf Clan, but now that they've encountered the Shadow Serpent Clan, they're actually asking for ten thousand?

You're really obsessed with ten thousand, aren't you!

Zhong Cai was deeply moved, but she didn't show it. She simply said gently, "Ten thousand won't do."

Next, as expected, the shadowy serpent began counting to one thousand, then to one hundred.

Zhong Cai agreed to the order for "one hundred".

However, more consideration is needed regarding the details of the cooperation.

For example, the first twenty pieces are for material costs, which Zhong Cai gives away for free, while the rest are based on market prices.

For example, the materials for refining cannot be provided in an endless stream. The Shadow Serpent has decided to provide enough flesh and blood and snake hearts to refine a thousand portions, as long as Zhong Cai submits one-tenth of the final result.

This amount of medicinal herbs is more than enough.

These medicinal herbs could yield one hundred pills, which would be a good deal for the Shadow Serpent clan.

Therefore, both parties were very satisfied with the cooperation.

Zhong Cai readily agreed.

The eighth-order serpent also spat out a mustard seed ring, which was filled to the brim with all kinds of snake hearts and flesh, all of which were separately placed in different mustard seed bags, for Zhong to use as he pleased.

Zhong Cai took it, checked it briefly, and was very satisfied.

At this time...

Both sides' gazes fell on the heads of the large snakes at the entrance.

What should we do now that it's blocked?

The eighth-tier serpent was too large to move at the moment, as it was pondering how to control its power so as not to harm the younger ones.

The giant snakes slightly raised their eyes, looking at their ancestor who was dejected.

The eighth-tier serpent said, "I have already pre-ordered the pills."

The snakes immediately raised their heads, their expressions becoming quite excited.

At the same time, their tails slapped the ground vigorously, making a very rhythmic thud, and they also swung and twisted against each other... As a result, the tails of several giant snakes became entangled together, and they accidentally tied a knot.

Zhong Cai didn't know at first, but the giant snakes started making noises after a short while, and he learned about the situation outside from the hissing sounds.

He was speechless.

Now it's not even convenient to push these snakes out.

We need to untie that knot first.

But the question is, who will solve it?

The claws of the rare beasts are probably ineffective, and the eighth-tier serpent is already somewhat stiff, making it impossible to "attack".

It seems that only humans or agile, finger-like humanoid races can do it.

Zhong Cai took a deep breath.

He had a feeling that these giant snakes might be stuck here forever!

It's seriously affecting his business!

However, the eighth-tier serpent, as the ancestor, was the most polite one in the serpent group. At this moment, it seemed to have noticed Zhong Cai's slight irritability and quickly looked over, showing Zhong Cai an apologetic expression.

Yes, a giant snake head looked over apologetically.

Zhong Cai: "..."

He was not even as big as one of the other's scales, so of course he could only forgive them.

·

Outside the two halls, the rare beasts watched in disbelief as the snake's tail became tangled, laughing uncontrollably.

And it seems they can't solve this problem either.

So, of course, we'll just keep watching the show!

At that moment, a giant ape emerged from a nearby mansion, causing the ground to tremble and rumble.

It strode over in a few steps and asked in a loud voice, "What happened?"

In an instant, many other rare beasts began to shout and clamor, spreading the story of the joke that had just happened.

The rare beasts clamored as they looked at the giant ape, only to then notice that a human cultivator was sitting cross-legged on the giant ape's shoulder.

It's just that it's so small. If the rare beasts weren't also huge and had such good eyesight, they probably wouldn't have been able to spot it.

However, even though they saw it, the rare beasts didn't have time to look at it for long; they just continued to mock the Shadow Serpent.

As the giant ape listened, it scratched its head and exclaimed, "We can't stay stuck like this forever, can we?"

One of the rare beasts laughed and roared, "We can't do it, why don't you go?"

The giant ape looked at its hands, then at its human friend perched on its shoulder, and asked a question.

The human stood up, looked at the main hall, and said, "Since there's a small problem with my human descendant's shop, let me go and resolve it."

The giant ape laughed and said, "Just say the word if you need help!"

The human cultivator laughed and said, "Of course."

After speaking, the cultivator floated out and landed on the ground in front of him.

Then it seemed as if a strong wind blew in, instantly enveloping the cultivator, and an incredibly terrifying power erupted from his body. As if driven by an invisible force, the cultivator's figure grew larger and larger at a visible speed, gradually becoming taller...

Before long, the cultivator had grown to the size of a mountain.

Its hands were also enormous, like small hills.

The human walked to the front of the hall, reached out, pinched several snake tails, and began to untie the snake knots.