Traveling through time to cultivate immortality: a life and death test

After collecting the precious materials from the Ice Poison Toad, Liu Xing turned and gazed greedily at the patch of Lanling Grass, his mouth watering, as if he couldn't wait to claim it. He couldn't wait to collect his magical tools—the Diamond Brick had fallen into the grass, the Jade Wave Sword had been carelessly discarded while dissecting the Ice Toad, and the Nine Emperors Bell still resting on his head—and rushed towards the Lanling Grass, his eyes fixed on the elixirs, and he began to eagerly gather them.

Two emerald green snakes on the other side of the lake exchanged a glance, revealing an anthropomorphic sneer, and crept over silently. Liu Xing seemed oblivious to this, still absorbed in collecting herbs, his expression ecstatic, shouting "I've made a fortune! I've made a fortune!" while running around in a state of elation.

"What a fragrant blood slave! I can't help but swallow him." A spirit snake transmitted the message.

"Yeah, I can't wait either." Another snake responded, seemingly still smacking its lips.

"It's rare to see human monks. Human mortals are not fragrant or tasty at all."

"Yes, it's the incense of human monks. I've never tasted it before."

"If it weren't for the blood slaves in the secret realm, I really wouldn't want to come in. It's too dangerous here."

"It's better to use the Concentricity Technique that our ancestor passed down to us. If we perform it simultaneously when entering, there's a high chance we'll be transported to the same place. This way, we, the two heroes of the Spirit Snake, can work together to break into the secret realm, and our strength will naturally increase greatly."

"Yes, that's true. However, this person's magic weapon is very sharp, and his fighting strength just now is not to be underestimated. We have to be careful."

"Humph, if the two of us join forces, it won't be easy to deal with a human cultivator in the Qi Refining Stage, right?"

"A surprise attack is better; it saves time and energy. We just reached the other side and didn't act rashly. We waited for him to fight the ancient beast until both sides were injured. Now, although he has won, at least half of his magic power has been consumed."

"He's so engrossed in the joy of collecting herbs that he hasn't even noticed us."

"Yes, he didn't even pick up the magic weapon. He doesn't look very smart."

"That's right, they say humans are clever and cunning, but I think they're just that."

"While he hasn't noticed us yet, let's get closer and launch a surprise attack at the same time, trying to take him down in an instant."

"This plan is feasible. We must race against time to grab more blood slaves and precious materials, and try not to waste too much time here."

After the two spirit snakes finished their discussion, they separated and swam silently, one in front and one behind to surround Liu Xing.

The snakes moved with incredible speed. In a matter of seconds, they were three feet away from Liu Xing, within striking distance. The snake crouched, its eyes narrowed, its scarlet tongue flickering, ready to spring up and bite Liu Xing. Suddenly, a massive bell descended from the sky, enveloping the snake. Startled, the snake slammed into the bell, but its weight prevented it from escaping immediately. The Nine Emperor Bell, which had hovered over Liu Xing's head a moment before, had somehow preemptively attacked him.

"So he'd already spotted us, but was just pretending not to, luring us in. Humans are truly incredibly cunning." The shrouded snake instantly understood, but it was too late to regret. Furthermore, there was no such thing as a pill to cure regret; even the slightest mistake could cost him his life.

Seeing that he had covered the snake in front, Liu Xing temporarily ignored it. Instead, he instantly turned and rushed towards the snake behind him, simultaneously bombarding it with over a hundred ice cone talismans. The snake behind had no idea it had been discovered, and before it could react, it was overwhelmed by the basic talismans. A single talisman was certainly no use, but with so many talismans attacking at once, if it didn't defend with all its might, it would be instantly riddled with shreds. The snake hurriedly responded, resisting with all its might. At this moment, Liu Xing produced a top-grade flying sword and, using the mortal Plum Blossom Footwork, instantly closed in on the snake. Unleashing the Plum Blossom Sword Technique with lightning speed, he targeted its weakest spot, severing its head before the snake could react. The poor snake, with its vast cultivation and magical powers, died before it could even display even a fraction of them.

After killing one, Liu Xing did not stop, turning back and rushing towards the snake under the Nine Emperor Bell. Just a little delay, the snake had already knocked the Nine Emperor Bell into the air, and was about to break free.

Liu Xing hurriedly made hand gestures and chanted a spell, then struck the Nine Emperor Bell from a distance with his palm.

"Dong~" The powerful sound of the bell enveloped the spirit snake, and the spirit snake suddenly stopped for a moment, its eyes brightening. In this moment of delay, the Nine Emperor Bell slammed down again. When it woke up from the bell ringing, it was about to fight back.

"Dong~" Another bell sound came, making it feel a splitting headache and its body was shaking.

The spirit snake could only coil up its body, wrap its head around the center of its body, close its eyes and concentrate, using its internal energy to resist the attack of the sound waves.

Monster beasts possess enormous bodies and abundant Qi and blood, thus possessing formidable combat power. However, their weakness lies in their relatively weak spirits. This is why monster beasts are often kept as pets by humans, or their herds are easily controlled by human magic sounds, all due to their weak spirits.

The spirit snake had clearly underestimated the Nine Emperors Bell's power. It could shield itself from attack, trap enemies, and launch sonic attacks from its ringing. It served three purposes in one. This was Liu Xing's favorite magical weapon, more than enough to deal with the two little snakes.

The bell continued to toll, draining the snake's mana. It spat blood, groggily groggy, and struggled to hold on. Liu Xing struck the bell, but it wasn't easy either, draining a huge amount of his mana as well. Seeing that time was almost up, he summoned his flying sword and, while the snake was dazed, decapitated it with a single blow.

In a short period of time, he battled three peak-level monsters, depleting most of his mana and leaving him sweating profusely. Finally, he had eliminated the enemy, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He slumped to the ground, panting. After a short rest, he began to clean up the mess. The commotion here was too loud, and he had to leave as soon as possible and find a place to recover his mana.

He gathered up the Nine Emperor Bell, Diamond Brick, Jade Wave Sword, and other magical instruments. He removed the two pairs of fangs from the spirit snake's head and carefully placed them in a jade box. Without having time to skin or devein the snakes, he simply tossed the two bodies whole into his storage bracelet. He turned again and quickly plucked the remaining half of the Lanling grass. He had deliberately slowed down his movements earlier for the sake of acting, but now, to leave quickly, he sped them up many times over.

After collecting the spoils, he threw out a few more fire talismans, burning all traces of the battle to ashes. He then immediately launched the assault boat and shot towards the nearby mountains.