"Sect Leader Zhou, please find a place to sit..."
As night fell, the flickering bonfire illuminated the faces of the gathered crowd. Zhou Ruoxi came over and sat beside Elder Zuoqi and Master Lin...
He observed Sect Leader Yuan of the Kunlun Sect, Sect Leader Lu, Sect Leader Zhang, and the Gate Master Yan Changjian of the Divine Sword Sect. Yan Changjian, clad in black martial attire, stood expressionlessly beside a young girl sword attendant, a broadsword on his back.
Elder Feng Yimin of the Qingcheng Sect looked at Yuan Gaowu and asked, "Sect Leader Yuan, tell us the truth, are there really demonic creatures in the depths of Kunlun Mountain?"
"Yes, we've been here for two days and haven't sensed any demonic aura. Sect Leader Yuan, what are you hiding?" Elder Liao of the Huashan Sect also chimed in.
Zhou Ruoxi, Elder Zuoqi, and others focused their gazes on Yuan Gaowu. Disciples from various sects, including Zhang Xingyue and Zhao Xuyan, Qi Xiu and Chong Ling'er from Wudang, and Jin Xuan and Xu Hai from Shaolin, also gathered around, eager to hear the explanation.
Yuan Gaowu scanned the assembled crowd and said with a solemn expression, "Everyone, do you remember the Divine Serpent Clan?"
"The Divine Serpent Clan?"
Lu Chenzi, Zhang Boyun, and others exchanged bewildered glances. In the distance, by the bonfire, Zhang Xian'er was roasting a wild chicken on a stick. Upon hearing the words "Divine Serpent Clan," she even turned her head to look...
Only Ziqing, sitting on the other side in a coarse grey Taoist robe, with slightly messy long hair tied back with a twig, and a few strands of hair fluttering in the wind, stared blankly at the ground. An insect was crawling towards the bonfire, and she was lost in her own world...
"Didn't Wan Yunting say before that the Divine Serpent Clan in Thailand had already been wiped out by the Heavenly Eye Divine Cult?" Lu Chenzi said.
Others nodded in agreement. Wan Yunting had spoken about this matter at the martial arts gathering held at the Huashan Sect.
Yuan Gaowu said, "The Divine Serpent Clan was originally an evil sect from our China, and their founding location was precisely somewhere in the depths of Kunlun Mountain!"
"Due to the long passage of time, and because the Divine Serpent Clan had moved several times within China back then, people did not know that their place of origin was within Kunlun Mountain."
Zhang Boyun said, "If you hadn't said so, Sect Leader Yuan, we wouldn't have known that the Divine Serpent Clan originated in Kunlun Mountain."
"Yes..."
Lu Chenzi, Elder Liao, and others nodded.
Yan Changjian, sitting nearby, nodded and said, "Sect Leader Yuan, please explain clearly, what is the connection between the Divine Serpent Clan and our search for demonic creatures in the mountains?"
"Right...?"
Elder Zuoqi and Lin Yiping and the others looked at Yuan Gaowu. He raised his hands to calm them and said sternly, "The demonic disturbances we are talking about are not fake, but real. The key is that they are related to the Divine Serpent Clan!"
"They are related?"
This made Zhou Ruoxi, Master Lin, and others even more curious and puzzled.
Yuan Gaowu nodded and said, "The Divine Serpent Clan worships snakes. Legend has it that hundreds of years ago, a snake in Kunlun Mountain cultivated into a spirit, transformed into human form, and established a sect, worshipping it as a deity. This is the origin of the Divine Serpent Clan!"
Elder Zuoqi frowned and said, "Sect Leader Yuan, are you implying that the snake deity that founded the Divine Serpent Clan still exists?"
"That's right, it's in the depths of Kunlun Mountain!" Yuan Gaowu said with a solemn expression.
"Impossible, right?"
Lu Chenzi, Zhang Boyun, Liao Haikuo, and Feng Yimin looked at Yuan Gaowu with astonishment, disbelieving.
"My father saw it once!"
Yuan Gaowu said, "Back then, my father went alone into the deep mountains to collect herbs and accidentally entered Death Valley. He witnessed a phenomenon of wind and thunder. He said he saw a giant dragon in the clouds, but he later recalled that the dragon had no limbs, and it might have evolved to the stage of a flood dragon!"
This time, Elder Zuoqi, Lin Yiping, Zhou Ruoxi, Jin Xuan, and others wore stunned expressions. Yan Changjian narrowed his eyes and nodded, "The Liu family in Shandong has legends of cultivating into flood dragons dating back over a thousand years. Moreover, Kunlun Mountain is a divine mountain, the place with the most abundant heavenly and earthly energy. It wouldn't be surprising if there were a few demonic creatures that had cultivated into spirits hidden within."
"Yes, what Sect Master Yan said is correct. It seems that after the founding of the country, they were prohibited from cultivating into spirits to harm humanity, but this was only a restriction and could not stop those things from becoming spirits." Zhang Boyun nodded.
Elder Zuoqi raised an eyebrow and said, "Sect Leader Yuan, are you certain that the demonic creature your father saw, which evolved into a flood dragon, is the snake deity that founded the Divine Serpent Clan?"
Yuan Gaowu nodded, "Our Kunlun Sect's previous generations of ancestors recorded that the Divine Serpent Clan originated in the depths of Kunlun Mountain, in the area around Death Valley. The exact location is unknown."
Lu Chenzi narrowed his eyes and smiled, "So, Sect Leader Yuan gathered us to form this team to hunt that demonic creature that transformed into a flood dragon in Kunlun Mountain?"
Yuan Gaowu nodded, "According to my father's deduction, it hasn't fully transformed into a flood dragon yet!"
Master Lin Yiping said, "Legend has it that for a snake that has cultivated into a spirit to evolve into a flood dragon, it takes at least five hundred years, and then another thousand years to cultivate into a true dragon!"
"So, according to what Sect Leader Yuan said, when your father saw it, it had no limbs, which means it hadn't completely evolved into a flood dragon!"
Elder Zuoqi said, "It's good that it hasn't cultivated into a flood dragon yet. If it truly became a flood dragon, we might not be a match for it even if we joined forces!"
"If we could slay such a demonic creature that had cultivated for hundreds of years, and use its flesh and blood to make medicine and refine pills, imagine the efficacy!" Lu Chenzi's eyes widened with greedy desire at the thought.
Zhang Boyun, Liao Haikuo, and Feng Yimin were similarly excited. Yuan Gaowu nodded, "The reason I've gathered everyone to enter the mountains this time is to slay that snake demon and eliminate harm for the people. Otherwise, if we truly let it cultivate and evolve into a flood dragon, who knows how many innocent people it will harm then."
"Sect Leader Yuan is right. It is the duty of the major martial arts sects to protect the common people. We absolutely cannot let those demonic creatures that have cultivated into spirits harm innocent people in the human world," Lu Chenzi declared loudly, putting on an air of acting on behalf of heaven.
However, Elder Zuoqi and Lin Yiping exchanged glances, observing Lu Chenzi, Zhang Boyun, Yan Changjian, and Liao Haikuo, each with their own expressions, realizing that everyone had ulterior motives and were thinking of their own interests.
In the evening, people from various sects returned to their respective tents. The Wudang Sect and Longhushan were close to each other. Elder Zuoqi, Lin Yiping, Qi Xiu, Chong Ling'er, Zhang Xingyue, and Zhao Xuyan gathered around a bonfire. Zhang Xian'er, holding the roasted wild chicken, had already gnawed it down to the bone...
"Elder Zuoqi, what do you think of what Sect Leader Yuan proposed?"
Lin Yiping raised an eyebrow, leaning close to Elder Zuoqi, and asked in a low voice, as if not wanting anyone else to hear.
Chong Ling'er, with her spirit-filled eyes, also asked in a whisper, "Is there really a snake demon?"
Elder Zuoqi raised an eyebrow and nodded, "Actually, regarding the legend of the Divine Serpent Clan originating in Kunlun Mountain, our Wudang Sect also has records. However, the time is too distant to confirm."
"But hearing Sect Leader Yuan speak so vividly, it should be true."
Lin Yiping showed a look of confusion and said in a low voice, "If that snake demon truly exists, the Kunlun Sect shouldn't have to gather all the major sects to join forces to slay it."
"After all, for a demonic creature that is about to cultivate and evolve into a flood dragon, if it were slain, obtaining its inner core to refine into medicine could allow a martial artist at the Inner Gang realm to instantly reach the legendary realm of 'seeing the gods without being harmed'!"
Elder Zuoqi, with a frown, also felt concerned and understood the immense value a demonic creature that had cultivated for hundreds of years and was close to evolving into a flood dragon held for martial artists.
Qi Xiu said, "With the strength of the Kunlun Sect, they probably can't slay it, right?"
Elder Zuoqi and Lin Yiping exchanged glances. Let's hope so...
On the other side, Wan Yunting and the flood dragon Liu Xiaohei, one person and one snake, unafraid of the dark night, tirelessly traveled northwest at full speed...
The next morning, Zhou Ruoxi's group also got up early. Everyone packed their tents as usual and started making breakfast. They set off precisely at seven o'clock...
The leader, Sect Leader Yuan of the Kunlun Sect, and his personal disciple Geng Hong, holding a map of Kunlun Mountain, pointed to a location and said, "We should reach Death Valley today. Everyone, let's set off..."
Behind them, Zhou Ruoxi, Lu Shuang, and He Shanyue, carrying their belongings, followed Elder Zuoqi of the Wudang Sect, Master Lin of Longhushan, and the two disciples Jin Xuan and Xu Hai from the Shaolin Sect. They walked at the end of the procession...
Lu Chenzi of the Kongtong Sect, Zhang Boyun of the Diancang Sect, and Yan Changjian of the Divine Sword Sect, along with those from the Eagle Claw Gate and Great Saber Gate, walked in the middle of the procession...
Elder Liao of the Huashan Sect, Elder Feng of the Qingcheng Sect, and Sect Master Li Feiyu of the Xingyimen led the vanguard with Sect Leader Yuan of the Kunlun Sect. Five or six young disciples from the Kunlun Sect, armed with long swords, chopped through the obstructing grass and vines to clear the path. The group moved through the dense mountain forest, heading towards Death Valley, known as the Gate of Hell...
At this moment, Wan Yunting was riding on Liu Xiaohei's back, speeding towards Death Valley in the northwest. However, he was unaware that on the northern side, Zhou Ruoxi and the hunting party formed by various sects led by Yuan Gaowu would arrive at Death Valley a step ahead of them...
Wan Yunting had previously called Jiang Tingxia and learned that Zhou Ruoxi and the others had entered the deep mountains in search of the disturbing demonic creature. Worried, he hoped that the disturbing demonic creature Zhou Ruoxi and the others were looking for was not the old snake that Jiaoshe was looking for!