Super System in the Early Tang Dynasty

Chapter 196 Desire for Immortality and Death

I feel so embarrassed about deciding to release chapter 200. I've become a night owl lately, constantly dozing off in class, I'm so upset~

—The following is the main text—

As dawn broke, the area below the cliff was bathed in bright light.

Li Xingzhi opened his eyes, moved his body, and felt completely comfortable. The feeling was no less than that of someone who had practiced the 'gymnastics' at Shaolin Temple.

On the cliff, the morning dew was gradually drying. Li Linzhi woke up from her meditation and, seeing that there was still no movement below the cliff, became anxious again.

Just then, several clear cries of cranes came from below the cliff, and soon three crane silhouettes appeared in the clouds. The two leading cranes were full of vigor, their feathers becoming much darker and shinier; while the white crane behind them, which had originally been small, had grown much larger, its wings appearing even whiter.

Seeing that the already small flock of cranes had dwindled to only three, Daoist Ruyi sighed softly, his voice hoarse and weary, "It's good that you're back." His face was kind and gentle, as if he were welcoming a returning junior disciple.

The three cranes seemed to sense the sorrow of the Taoist priest, rubbing their heads against his robe and emitting low, mournful cries, as if lamenting or comforting, instantly calming the restless hearts of everyone present.

Standing to the side, Li Linzhi watched as the three cranes remained unharmed, and with no further movement from the bottom of the cliff, her initial relief turned to anxiety.

"Where is Brother Li? Why hasn't he come up yet?" In recent days, Li Linzhi had learned that these cranes were quite intelligent and could understand human speech to some extent, so she asked directly.

Hearing Li Linzhi's anxious voice, the three cranes paused for a moment, then cried out towards the bottom of the cliff. The white crane even flew into the clouds above the ravine.

Before Li Linzhi could say anything, a long, huge black shadow suddenly leaped out from below the cliff, rushing towards her with a stench of blood.

She was startled, and when she saw what was in front of her clearly, her hand, which was about to draw the curved knife at her waist, stopped. "Brother Li, what is this?"

When Li Linzhi saw that it was Li Xingzhi who came up, and smelled the pungent, fishy stench, she quickly took a few steps back.

Li Xingzhi was in a sorry state, dragging a long, cone-shaped, black, scaled object in his hand. A long section of the object hung down to the bottom of the cliff, obscuring its entirety.

He didn't answer, but let out a soft chuckle, and forcefully threw the object forward. A huge, long, rectangular thing, as thick as a water bucket, flew from the bottom of the cliff to above everyone's heads and crashed to the ground!

Everyone gasped as they looked at what was in the room—it was a monstrous python, as thick as a bucket and over ten zhang long! The python was entirely black, and its armor gleamed coldly in the sunlight without any damage. Only upon closer inspection did they notice some minor damage to its eyes.

Although the giant snake was dead, its residual power remained. The three cranes standing on the blue stone tensed their wings and looked wary and fearful the moment the python appeared. The people around, though they knew the giant python was dead, still held their breath and dared not approach.

"I wonder what kind of strange creature this python is. With such a body, it must weigh several thousand pounds..." Yuan Yi, who had much better composure than the other young Taoists, looked at the giant python with curiosity and asked. As he spoke, his voice gradually softened, and his eyes widened, as if he had thought of something unbelievable.

While Li Xingzhi's previous actions were somewhat understandable and within the realm of human capability, dragging a giant python weighing several thousand kilograms up from the bottom of a thousand-foot cliff today was beyond human ability. If those scholars in blue robes had witnessed this, they would have stared wide-eyed and exclaimed in astonishment: "This is surely beyond human power!"

In reality, Li Xingzhi's ability to pull the giant python up so easily was mainly due to the strength attribute points he had consistently invested in, in addition to the longevity and earth energy that increased his strength. Now at level 35, Li Xingzhi appears slender, but with his physical strength alone, he can withstand a cauldron weighing thousands of kilograms; calling him a humanoid tyrannosaurus wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Li Xingzhi looked at the giant black python, pulled out a dark dagger from his waist, and inserted it into the giant snake's head.

"laugh!"

A crisp metallic clang rang out. With a slight exertion, Li Xingzhi's dagger easily pierced the snakeskin. With a swift slash, the entire skin split in two. With a flick of his wrist and a shake, he moved swiftly, and in no time, the snakeskin was removed, revealing a completely devoid of flesh. Even more worrying was that the flesh on the skinned python was translucent, revealing the congealed blood and stark white bones beneath.

"It seems my 'Butcher's Skill' hasn't faded yet." Li Xingzhi looked at the snake's flesh, which was smooth and glossy with no blood flowing out, and nodded in satisfaction.

He laid out a huge snakeskin beside him, and inserted a dark, gleaming dagger into the smooth, bloodless flesh-colored bone. Before long, only the huge, elongated, gleaming snake bones remained on the ground.

The snake bones were like jade, without any gray color. Judging from their appearance, they would be a rare and valuable item in the hands of a skilled person. However, Li Xingzhi did not think much of them.

Just as Li Xingzhi was about to take out the snake meat and gallbladder that had been peeled off, a strange and alluring fragrance wafted out, making everyone feel light and refreshed. The few who had already cultivated internal energy felt their true energy boiling and restless throughout their bodies.

Li Xingzhi twitched his nose a few times and looked straight at the giant snake's head that hadn't been knocked open—there was a small hole cut open by a dagger, and the fragrance was wafting out from that hole.

He took the black dagger and cut open the snake's skull—it was white inside, full of fluid, crystal clear like jade, and a strange fragrance wafted through the forest.

Even the three cranes nearby were lured to turn their heads and look over.

While Taoist priests may observe periods of fasting, they generally do not abstain from either meat or vegetables. The reason why Taiqing Palace frequently serves vegetarian meals is entirely due to the fact that they cannot afford to eat meat. After all, Taoist temples are not as grand and imposing as Buddhist monasteries, which require gilding.

As the sun reached its zenith, wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys on the back cliff.

Li Xingzhi looked calm and composed, while steam rose continuously from two large pots in front of him, filling the air with a fragrant aroma. The few young Taoist priests who had initially doubted Li Xingzhi's culinary skills all turned into hungry wolves. If Li Xingzhi hadn't been protecting the two large pots, they would have already pounced on him without a care for appearances.

On the boulder, the white-haired and bearded Taoist Ruyi sat cross-legged like an enlightened master, with his eyebrows lowered and eyes lowered, but a sliver of light peeked out from his eyes, and his throat bobbed.

Li Xingzhi extinguished the fire and lifted the lid of the pot. The young Taoist priests, who had been eager to get started, could no longer resist. Ignoring the two "tigresses" beside Li Xingzhi, they each grabbed a bowl and crowded towards the pot. Meanwhile, the old Taoist priest on the boulder, still pretending to be a Taoist, coughed loudly from time to time, but this did not attract the attention of the other Taoist priests.

Li Xingzhi looked at the surging young Taoist priests, a slight smile playing on his lips, and very attentively served each of them a bowl of crystal-clear, whitish liquid with a strange fragrance.

The two women who were about to rush forward stopped when they saw the strange smile on Li Xingzhi's lips. Both women thought: Brother Li is probably up to something bad again.

In their minds, Li Xingzhi was always lazy, but once he became diligent, he must have ulterior motives.

Sure enough, the Taoist priests had barely drunk a bowl of the liquid, and before they could even savor the wonderful taste, they felt their bodies burning hot, turning completely red, and hunching over like boiled shrimp. They were tearing at their clothes, looking utterly disheveled.

As Ruyi Zhenren sat on the bluestone, his throat moved slightly, and he secretly felt fortunate—he had almost ruined his reputation in his later years.

Seeing his disciples in this state, fearing they might make another embarrassing scene, he shouted, "Quickly sit cross-legged, gather your energy, and calm your mind!"

It turns out that snake brains are inherently yang in nature, and even more so the yin nature of snake fetuses. Although Li Xingzhi brought them out, whether intentionally or unintentionally, they were not completely cleaned up. If one has profound internal strength and a calm mind, there will naturally be no problem; but these young Taoist priests will probably have to suffer quite a bit.

Letting these young Taoist priests experience the wonderful taste of 'desire-immortality-desire-death' would be a way to complete their missing parts of life. Thinking this, Li Xingzhi felt he was a great sage.

----

Thanks to "k33102219" for the donation and to the leader for the update vote. But seriously, could we possibly vote in two or three installments? It was nerve-wracking watching!