The Wandering Immortal

Chapter 17 The Giant Serpent of the Five Ridges
After drinking a bowl of the Rejuvenating Pill soup, Madam Guan felt much better in just two days.

Although Qinghe had refined the elixir herself, she still found it incredible, which greatly increased her confidence in opening a clinic and pharmacy in the future.

The mountains ahead were getting higher and higher. Jiang Yuan had asked the hunters and they said that if they went any further, they would reach the Wuling Mountains.

The hunter kindly warned that the Five Ridges Mountains were teeming with poisonous insects and ferocious beasts, and were also inhabited by bandits. There were even rumors of monsters devouring living people, so he was very careful and it was best to wait for official caravans to accompany him.

Jiang Yuan deliberately avoided official caravans to avoid attracting attention, but he knew that caution was always the best policy.

After entering the Five Ridges, everyone in the family was filled with fear, but Qinghe was in high spirits and didn't even want to ride in the carriage, preferring to get off and walk.

Jiang Yuan knew the reason: the Five Ridges Mountains are rich in wood spiritual energy, which cultivators with wood spiritual roots can naturally sense, and it is very beneficial to Qinghe's cultivation. Therefore, he wanted to stay in the mountains for a few days and also collect more medicinal herbs.

Jiang Yuan examined the terrain and deduced that the valley ahead must be rich in spiritual energy, making it a good place for cultivation.

Under the guise of collecting medicinal herbs, I verified it with Qinghe, and it turned out to be true.

To our surprise, we discovered that someone had lived here before, leaving behind two dilapidated thatched huts. With a little tidying up, we should be able to stay here for a few days.

Qinghe hasn't been able to practice swordsmanship during the day for the past few months, but her nighttime cultivation has never stopped, and she's showing faint signs of a breakthrough. If she can open her second acupoint here, she might be able to advance to the second level of Qi Refining.

This is the terrifying aspect of the Spirit Gathering Vein; it seems to come with its own Spirit Gathering Array.

When Grandpa Guan heard that he would be staying in the mountains for a few days, he was terrified and cried out, "No, no, how can we linger in such a dangerous place?"

Jiang Yuan then whispered to his father, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Master Bai gave his son some talismans before. Not to mention ordinary bandits, even demons and monsters wouldn't dare to approach."

Fearing his father wouldn't believe him, Jiang Yuan deliberately opened the talisman bag and showed it to Grandpa Guan. Grandpa Guan was deeply impressed by Bai Xiazi's supernatural abilities, and only then did he agree.

Jiang Yuan handled almost everything along the way, big and small. In particular, his act of going into the mountains to collect herbs to treat his elderly mother deeply moved Grandpa Guan, who felt that his son had truly made something of himself and gradually began to listen to him.

Jiang Yuan was naturally very careful. At night, while his family was asleep, he and Qinghe set up an array around the thatched hut, using more than twenty of Bai Xiazi's talismans.

As long as Qinghe can advance to the second level of Qi Refining, her cultivation level will be almost the same as Bai Xiazi's. With an encyclopedia of cultivation by her side, she can draw talismans herself, so keeping those talismans won't be of much use.

At first, the Guan family members did not dare to unload their luggage and slept in the carriage, ready to flee at any time.

Two days later, nothing changed, so they took down the pots and pans, set up a stove, and started cooking.

Several young servants also hunted some wild game, such as rabbits and pheasants, to have a treat.

It's always more comfortable to sleep in a thatched hut at night than in a carriage.

On the third night, while Qinghe was cultivating, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and alerted Jiang Yuan, as if something was approaching.

Jiang Yuan touched the peach wood hairpin, but there was no reaction. It shouldn't be a ghost or anything like that. If it were just an ordinary bandit, it certainly wouldn't affect the cultivator's divine sense.

Then it can only be a monster. Could it be that what the hunter said about monsters devouring living people is true?

Qinghe had never learned any magic and had no experience in fighting, so her hands trembled as she held the talisman.

Jiang Yuan wasn't entirely confident either; monsters and the like were indeed difficult to deal with at the moment. He could only encourage Qinghe, telling her to go all out, and that with the peach wood hairpin as a safety net, nothing would go wrong.

Little did Qinghe know that the peach wood hairpin was of little use to the monster. Holding the talisman, she went out with Jiang Yuan to investigate.

The presence of talisman arrays outside, without any warning, indicates that the monster has not yet breached the defenses.

Qinghe felt increasingly terrified, staring intently in one direction. Clearly sensing something, she said in a trembling voice, "It looks like a giant snake, several meters long and as thick as a water bucket."

Poor Jiang Yuan couldn't see anything, only smell a foul, fishy stench, clearly the manifestation of demonic energy. For demons, size is not a reliable indicator of their cultivation level.

If it were a snake demon of level four or above, close to the Foundation Establishment stage, such a defensive array could be wiped out with a single tail strike. However, the snake demon was circling around the outside, indicating that its cultivation level was not high.

It must have sensed the formation, but didn't want to give up.

Jiang Yuan roughly understood that this snake demon's cultivation had also encountered a bottleneck, and it must have sensed Qinghe's spiritual vein and wanted to devour her.

Human cultivators often hunt demon cores to improve their cultivation, and so do demons. If they can devour a cultivator, their cultivation will also greatly increase.

Jiang Yuan thought to himself, "Those who covet my wife are courting death. I must destroy them!"
The peach wood hairpin couldn't control living things, but the red thread still had some supernatural power. As a last resort, I would have to use my soul power again.

Jiang Yuan whispered to Qinghe, "Do not leave the formation, and do not take the initiative to attack. It is looking for weaknesses in the formation. When it breaks the formation, use the fireball talisman to attack its head."

Qinghe stared intently at the snake demon. The creature had already circled the area three and a half times, but hadn't made a move or shown any sign of retreating.

"In the upcoming battle, you just focus on dealing with the situation and don't worry about me. Use the movement technique of the Returning Wind and Dancing Willow Sword, and that snake demon won't be able to do anything to you."

"Just be careful of the snake's venomous spray from its head and its lashing tail."

Before the words were finished, the giant snake suddenly raised its head, which was more than ten feet taller than the thatched hut, and opened its blood-red mouth, its forked tongue three feet long.

Qinghe turned pale with fright, but she did not back down and remained motionless, still holding the talisman.

The giant serpent spewed out a mouthful of poisonous mist, and the array automatically sensed it, generating a thin layer of yellow light that blocked the poisonous mist.

Jiang Yuan sighed inwardly. The blind man's talismans only had this much power. Without array flags and array plates, this kind of talisman array couldn't last long at all.

As expected, the giant snake discovered the flaw in the formation. Its massive tail lashed out, smashing a wooden stake in the northwest corner and creating a breach in the formation.

The snake lowered its head, preparing to spew out poisonous mist again.

Jiang Yuan shouted, "Now!"

Qinghe threw out the talisman in response. The fireball collided with the poisonous gas spewed by the giant snake, sparks flying everywhere, and it was a draw.

Jiang Yuan was relieved; this snake demon was only at the second level of Qi Refining, so it wasn't a big problem.

Hearing the commotion, the servants in the thatched hut ran out and saw the snake demon. They screamed in terror, and chaos ensued.

Jiang Yuan shouted, "Go back! Don't cause any chaos!"

Qinghe took out another talisman, stared intently at the snake demon, and after exchanging blows, realized that the talisman could indeed ward off enemies, so she was no longer afraid.

At that moment, the servants looked at Qinghe, whose back view was incredibly tall!
The snake demon stopped spewing poisonous mist and instead lashed the wooden stakes with its tail, destroying two more key points of the formation. Most of the thatched hut was now exposed to the snake demon's attack range.

Jiang Yuan held the peach wood hairpin, ready to step in at any moment.

There is only one chance to activate the peach wood hairpin with soul power; if it fails to hit, the consequences will be dire.

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(End of this chapter)