Chapter 96 The Origin of the Snake-Head Vine
Leng Qiuchan was quite lucky; when the Earth Escape Talisman lost its effect, she arrived at a crescent-shaped spring.
The surrounding area was still desert, with a small oasis next to Crescent Lake, which looked very peaceful.
There were neither terrifying sand scorpions nor any other demonic beasts, nor even a single ordinary beast.
Leng Qiuchan took out a communication talisman, activated it, and sent her location to Zuo Chen. However, she did not receive a reply for a long time.
There is only one possibility: the two of them are more than 500 miles apart.
The distance teleported by the Earth Escape Talisman is at most five hundred miles. In other words, the direction that Junior Brother Zuo Chen teleported in was exactly opposite to the direction she teleported in, which is why their current distance exceeds the range that the Transmission Talisman can reach.
Leng Qiuchan couldn't help but panic. In this vast desert, she was all alone. Wouldn't she be killed by the monsters hidden in the desert sooner or later?
"Calm down! Calm down! I need to settle down first, then contact them slowly." She muttered to herself, then took out the sleeping bag that her junior brother Zuo Chen had given her, along with a small camping tent.
After setting up camp, she stepped out of the tent and began to look around.
Suddenly, she saw a dark shadow drifting across the desert not far away. Leng Qiuchan was startled and quickly hid in the small tent, also attaching a concealment talisman.
As the dark figure drew closer, she realized it was Ni Zhiyong!
"Senior Brother Ni, what are you doing here?" Leng Qiuchan asked.
However, she forgot to remove the concealment talisman, which scared Ni Zhiyong half to death as he had just stepped onto the oasis.
"Ahhh! A ghost!" he screamed, summoning a snake-headed vine to protect himself.
"Are you sick? What are you yelling about? Aren't you afraid of attracting deadly monsters?" Leng Qiuchan crawled out of the tent and said irritably.
"So it was Junior Sister Leng. You concealed your presence and then suddenly spoke. How could that not be frightening?" Ni Zhiyong said aggrievedly.
"Okay, I forgot about that, sorry!" Leng Qiuchan apologized casually.
She is straightforward but reasonable, and she admits her mistakes.
"It's nothing, it's nothing. Meeting someone from the same community is a great blessing!" Ni Zhiyong waved his hand with a smile.
He is actually a mild-mannered person to the point of being timid. It's just that he managed to stay until the end this time, so he thought he would give it his all and earn some honor for himself.
Leng Qiuchan invited him into the small tent and listened to his explanation of why he had come here.
It turned out that after he used the only Earth Escape Talisman, he originally thought he would be teleported to the direction of Zuo Chen, but unexpectedly he was teleported to this desert.
When he emerged from underground, he opened his eyes and saw that he was surrounded by desert. He thought he was going to die.
Unexpectedly, there were no sand scorpions here, so he put a speed talisman on himself and traveled for about several dozen miles. When he saw this small oasis in the distance, he rushed over.
"What do we do now?" Leng Qiuchan asked.
Ni Zhiyong has never been one to have strong opinions, but right now he only has a junior sister from the talisman-making department in front of him. He feels that he is a man after all, and he must be brave in this situation.
“According to you, Captain Zuo and his group are going in the opposite direction from us, so we need to determine our direction first, and then walk in their direction for a while. That might allow us to contact them,” Ni Zhiyong said.
“But they won’t stay in one place forever, will they? What if we head in their direction, but they head in another direction? Wouldn’t we still be unable to contact them?” Leng Qiuchan said.
“Then we’ll just have to stop looking for them and find our own way out of this floor. After all, their ultimate goal is also to leave this floor. Maybe we can reunite with them at the exit,” Ni Zhiyong said.
"Do you think the two of us can make it to the exit?" Leng Qiuchan said.
"The worst outcome is just crushing the teleportation jade talisman and being eliminated. There's nothing to be afraid of," Ni Zhiyong said.
Actually, he was still heartbroken at the thought of the Earth Escape Talisman being wasted, but he couldn't show it in front of a girl, otherwise he would seem too stingy.
The sun was directly overhead, making it the hottest time of day in the desert, not a good time to travel. After discussing it, the two decided to rest in the tent for a while.
Leng Qiuchan had never really looked at Ni Zhiyong closely. In her impression, he was almost invisible, especially when Meng Hanhai, Jin Liu, and Ge Hui were around.
At this moment, in this vast desert, there were only the two of them in the small tent.
She looked at him closely and found that he actually looked quite refined, somewhat like a scholar from the mortal world.
"Um, Senior Brother Ni, I've always been quite curious about how you managed to contract this snake-head vine?" Ni Zhiyong was very shy, so Leng Qiuchan casually brought up a topic.
"This was quite an accident. My father was a rogue cultivator. Back then, he was severely injured by someone, and his family didn't have the money to buy a fourth-tier Nine-Return Pill to heal him."
I went to ask the shopkeeper of the alchemy shop for help. He asked me to collect a fifth-grade sparrow feather grass from Snake Fairy Mountain, which would be equivalent to a Nine-Return Pill.
He gave me a map, and I inquired about it privately. Everyone said that there was a powerful leopard demon guarding the fifth-tier Sparrow Feather Grass in Snake Fairy Mountain, and nine out of ten people who went there to collect it would die.
But I thought my father's injury couldn't be delayed, so I secretly went to Shexian Mountain without telling my family.
Following the directions indicated on the map, I found the location of the fifth-tier Sparrow Feather Grass.
It was a precipice with a sheltered valley next to it, where the fifth-tier peacock feather grass grew.
According to the shopkeeper, this bird feather grass will ripen when the full moon is high in the sky this Mid-Autumn Festival.
I arrived a day early, so I quietly waited to the side, hoping to find a suitable opportunity to secretly pick the fruit while avoiding the leopard demon.
When I arrived, I carried a breath-gathering herb with me and lay down in the bushes not far away, waiting quietly.
As night fell and the full moon slowly rose into the sky, the leopard demon indeed appeared.
It seemed a little restless, pacing back and forth around the bird-feather grass.
When the full moon was high in the sky, the sparrow feather grass shone brightly, a sign of ripeness, but I dared not rush to pick it, for the leopard demon was guarding nearby.
Seeing that it was about to rush over and devour the fifth-tier Sparrow Feather Grass, I was extremely anxious. I threw a second-tier rock sheep that I had previously knocked unconscious nearby in an attempt to distract it.
The leopard demon was indeed attracted by the commotion made by the argali, but unexpectedly, when it rushed to the dazed argali, the argali was entangled by several snakes.
It was dark then, and I didn't know that what was entangled in the ibex was actually vines; I only saw the swaying snake head.
The leopard demon, seeing several snake heads swaying, assumed they were there to steal the Sparrow Feather Grass from it.
The leopard demon was enraged and breathed fire to burn the snake heads.
The snake heads seemed to be enraged as well, and in an instant, they lashed out dozens of vines, which entangled the leopard demon.
The most amazing thing is that there is a snake head on each vine.
I had never heard of such a strange sight before, and for a moment I almost forgot that I was going to pick bird feather grass.
Soon, the leopard demon and the snake heads were locked in a fierce battle. I took the opportunity to slip over, pluck the sparrow feather grass, put it into the jade box, and quickly affixed three layers of concealment talismans.
The leopard demon sensed the disappearance of the bird feather grass's aura and grew even angrier, fighting the snake heads to the death.
Later, it was poisoned by snake venom, but before it died, it detonated its demon core, blasting the snake heads to pieces, leaving only three snake heads that barely remained intact.
I cautiously approached, only to discover that the three snake heads were not connected to real snake bodies below their necks, but rather to some strange vines.
At this moment, the vines were also blown apart and were on the verge of death.
I have dual wood and earth spiritual roots, and my spiritual value is not high, so no major power has taken notice of me.
However, I am also skilled in using the Spring Breeze and Rain Technique. Although this spell cannot completely repair the injured vine, it can help it recover from its injuries.
Realizing that I would never have been able to steal the Sparrow Feather Grass right under the leopard demon's nose without its help, I decided to risk helping it.
When the three snake heads saw me approaching, they began to flick their tongues in a threatening manner. However, when I used the Spring Breeze and Rain Technique to condense a shower of spiritual rain, they understood my good intentions.
That night, I repeatedly used the Spring Breeze and Rain Technique until dawn the next day, finally managing to preserve the vine's vitality.
As I decided to take my leave, the three snake heads simultaneously squeezed out a drop of blood, which shot into my forehead.
It actually took the initiative to recognize me as its owner!
Then I learned that its name is Snake-Head Vine, the oldest spiritual plant on Snake-Head Mountain. By chance, three small snakes merged with it, becoming the Snake-Head Vine we know today.
Leng Qiuchan had only casually started a conversation, but Ni Zhiyong recounted the entire process in detail without any concealment, which made her a little embarrassed.
Having learned of the other person's secret, Leng Qiuchan decided to exchange one of her own secrets for it, otherwise she would feel very guilty.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
