As the violent rage within his heart gradually dissipated, Xiao Yan finally let out a breath of relief. Hesitating for a moment, his gaze cautiously turned back to Qing Lin’s bare back. This time, however, he was much more careful, keeping his mind tightly closed while the purple-brown flames slowly spread from his body. In the pool, as the faint mist rose, the mysterious tattoo on Qing Lin’s smooth back began to faintly appear and disappear. The eyes of the nine-headed serpent were also tightly shut, so the peculiar incident that had occurred before did not happen again.
Xiao Yan frowned slightly, closely observing the mysterious tattoo. It must be quite large, as only part of the serpent’s body emerged from the water. Clearly, there was still more of its coiled body beneath the surface. Although he was gazing at this highly mysterious nine-headed serpent, he felt somewhat lost. He had never heard of such a type of magical beast on the current continent. Moreover, judging by the murderous aura it emitted, even Xiao Yan, who was usually prepared, could barely resist it. This was clearly no ordinary magical beast.
“Exactly what is this thing?” Xiao Yan knitted his brows tightly, but after a long while, he still remained clueless. Even if it was a Nine Hell Serpent, shouldn’t it look different? After thinking for a long time without result, Xiao Yan could only shake his head and push his doubts deep into his heart. Once Qing Lin woke up, he could ask her for more details.
With this thought in mind, Xiao Yan stopped his futile contemplation. Glancing at the color of the water in the pool, he took another small jade bottle from his ring and poured out some light red liquid. To completely remove the Imperial Serpent Heart Eroding Poison from Qing Lin’s body involved a rather complicated process. Fortunately, Xiao Yan was now a true alchemical master. Otherwise, anyone else would hardly have the ability to help her detoxify.
Although Xiao Yan knew that thoroughly solving the Imperial Serpent Heart Eroding Poison was troublesome and time-consuming, he hadn’t expected it to take nearly four days. During these four days, Xiao Yan never left the cave, and the variety of herbs thrown into the pool almost reached a hundred types. The terrifying pure energy permeated the pool, and even the energy mist became somewhat viscous.
Despite the vast consumption of time and herbs, Qing Lin’s complexion, under the steaming energy mist, became increasingly lively. The thin black aura that once remained between her eyebrows gradually faded, indicating that the Imperial Serpent Heart Eroding Poison in her body was being rapidly neutralized.
While taking care of Qing Lin over these few days, Xiao Yan also paid attention to the mysterious tattoo on her back. After several days of observation, he noticed that as more and more energy was injected into Qing Lin’s body, the mysterious nine-headed serpent tattoo became increasingly clear. Even the snake’s eyes on those nine heads seemed to open slightly. Whenever Xiao Yan caught a glimpse, he would sometimes feel a hint of ferocity in his heart, but with his unwavering will, he managed to avoid being influenced by the strange nine-headed serpent.
Having experienced these changes, Xiao Yan became even more curious about the mysterious tattoo. This thing should be from ancient times, but perhaps such a magical beast no longer existed on the current Dou Qi Continent; otherwise, Xiao Yan wouldn’t have been oblivious to it.
However, curiosity aside, Xiao Yan knew that the most important task was to first solve the toxin in Qing Lin’s body. Therefore, he calmed his mind and continued to wait. After three more days of waiting, the tightly closed eyes of Qing Lin, who had been in the pool for seven days, finally showed signs of movement.
“Glub, glub…”
In the pool, the light red water kept bubbling, and amidst the steam, a delicate, graceful figure could be vaguely seen. Over the past decade, the little girl who had once been so innocent had blossomed into a charming, alluring beauty.
Xiao Yan sat cross-legged on a stone seat beside the pool, his slightly closed eyes slowly opening. He sensed a slight disturbance in the pool’s energy.
“Is it almost done…?”
Muttering softly, Xiao Yan suddenly heard a splashing sound from the pool. As he started to stand up, the entire cave suddenly began to tremble violently.
“What’s going on?”
Xiao Yan’s face changed slightly, and he hastily got up, his gaze fixed on the swirling mist in the pool where the commotion originated.
Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes, intently watching the pool. Vaguely, he could see a large silhouette emerging and disappearing in the mist.
Sensing this strange change, Xiao Yan’s brow furrowed, and his Dou Qi rapidly circulated within his body. At that moment, the energy mist in the pool suddenly churned, and a peculiar eye appeared, floating in the air. In the green-filled eye, three small dots rapidly expanded and transformed into three strange green flowers that rotated around the pupil at high speed.
“The Three Green Snake Flower Pupils!”
Seeing the demonic eyes, Xiao Yan’s heart tightened, and he instinctively retreated quickly.
“Puh!”
The moment Xiao Yan retreated, the demonic eye exploded, and a massive figure shot out of the pool, rushing towards Xiao Yan with lightning speed.
Seeing the massive figure rushing toward him, Xiao Yan gasped. It was a gigantic snake with nine ferocious heads, its body dark red, as if stained by countless years of blood. A sense of indescribable malevolence filled the air.
The giant snake shook its nine menacing heads, and the eighteen pairs of demonic eyes turned blood-red. Strangely, the blood-red eyes were identical to the Three Green Snake Flower Pupils when Qing Lin used them.
Staring at the nine-headed serpent rushing towards him, Xiao Yan’s eyes flashed rapidly. Just as it was about to pounce, he shouted, “Qing Lin!”
His shout, carried by Dou Qi, reverberated through the cave like a thunderclap, causing the entire cave to shake violently.
At the sound of his shout, the nine-headed serpent paused, and a struggle appeared in its blood-red eyes. Soon, the blood-red gradually faded, and the green color returned.
“Chih!”
As the green color reappeared, the nine-headed serpent’s massive body erupted with a brilliant light, and it shrank rapidly, transforming into a small figure that fell heavily from mid-air.
Seeing Qing Lin fall, Xiao Yan swiftly moved and caught her slim waist. The soft touch sent a ripple through his heart, and he hurriedly steadied himself, looking at the drowsy Qing Lin in his arms. “Are you okay?”
As Qing Lin slowly opened her eyes, she blushed when she saw Xiao Yan’s close proximity. She quickly freed herself from his arms and hid behind a pillar.
Hearing the sound of clothes rustling from behind the pillar, Xiao Yan rubbed his nose, feeling a bit embarrassed.
After getting dressed, Qing Lin emerged from behind the pillar, her cheeks flushed. Xiao Yan cleared his throat and said, “What just happened? What was that…?”
Qing Lin, still flustered, twirled her hands together and mumbled, “It’s the soul of an Ancient Sky Serpent.”
“An Ancient Sky Serpent?” Xiao Yan was stunned. He had heard of the Ancient Sky Serpent, one of the ancestors of the snake-like magical beasts with the power to destroy heavens and earth. In terms of rank, it was comparable to the Ancient Sky Phoenix, but the Ancient Sky Serpents were even rarer and had already become extinct in ancient times. “No, I remember the old books didn’t mention that the Ancient Sky Serpent had nine heads…”
“That’s a mutated Ancient Sky Serpent. I don’t know why, but when I first came to the Central Plain, I mistakenly entered an ancient mountain range and encountered the skeleton of an Ancient Sky Serpent. I was curious and used the Three Green Snake Flower Pupils, and somehow summoned its soul,” Qing Lin sighed, “It’s very hard to tame. Even when I use the Three Green Snake Flower Pupils, it doesn’t listen to me and sometimes causes trouble. But as my strength increases, its resistance weakens, and I believe I can control it easily in the future…”
Xiao Yan was astounded. Controlling a mutated Ancient Sky Serpent? It was a creature that could rival the Ancient Sky Phoenix. If it grew strong enough, even a Dou Sage might find it a formidable opponent.
“Didn’t you say the Three Green Snake Flower Pupils couldn’t control creatures with ancient bloodlines?”
“If the Sky Serpent had a body, I couldn’t control it. But it’s just a soul, and it chose to stay with me…”
Qing Lin explained, “In ancient times, the only two top-tier snake-like magical beasts with genuine royal bloodlines were the Ancient Sky Serpent and the Heavenly Devouring Serpent. The current Nine Hell Subterranean Serpents are just their descendants.”
“Heavenly Devouring Serpent?” Hearing this name, Xiao Yan’s brows shot up. He seemed to remember that after Cai Lin’s evolution, she had become a multicolored Heavenly Devouring Serpent. “Is the poison in your body fully resolved?”
Qing Lin nodded and giggled, “My strength has now reached the level of a one-star Dou Zun. If I use the Three Green Snake Flower Pupils, I should be able to control snake-like magical beasts up to the four-star Dou Zun level.”
Xiao Yan couldn’t help but shake his head in exasperation. This girl’s Three Green Snake Flower Pupils were indeed terrifying. Not only could they control snake-like magical beasts, but the soul of the Ancient Sky Serpent would undoubtedly provide incredible combat power if tamed successfully.
“Since the poison is resolved, let’s go…” Xiao Yan waved his hand and turned to leave the cave. With Qing Lin’s problem solved, it was time to start forging a body for Pharmacist Elder.
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