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The mutagen continued its assault, and the zombie poison spread more and more. The surviving Merfolk cultivators had vicious expressions as they fought with even more ferocity than before. It almost seemed like they hoped to take all the Seven Blood Eyes disciples with them into death.

However... those surviving Merfolk cultivators soon realized that something unusual was going on.

The eight nine-headed serpents looming above the four islands were getting stronger and stronger. The mutagen and zombie poison was impressive. And more and more resurrected corpses became zombies.

However, the Seventh Peak disciples all seemed prepared for such things.

In fact, they were all popping white boluses like they were candy. Many had talisman treasures designed to provide temporary protection from mutagen, and they didn’t hesitate to use them. Some dug into their surroundings, hoping to simply stay out of sight of the zombies, and power through the mutagen and zombie poison. Most such individuals had extraordinary cultivation bases. Some of the disciples produced their dharmaboats, and stayed inside while watching what was happening outside.

A few disciples took out prebuilt defensive spell formations, and called out to other nearby disciples that they could join them inside for a fee. Most outrageous of all was a group of disciples on Emiche Island who had somehow taken control of a group of several dozen zombies, and had stationed them in a perimeter to absorb the mutagen and zombie poison. They didn’t look like they were worried about the situation at all, and were even inviting other disciples to join them in safety.

Just about everything imaginable could be seen.

There were some disciples who actually slipped into the sea of zombies to pickpocket their bags of holding, or to set up ways to lure the zombies away and ambush them. All in all, it didn’t seem like any of the disciples were worried about the nine-headed snakes. More precisely, they weren’t going to let the terrifying snakes impede their efforts to make money.

What seemed to worry them most was the possibility of not making a profit. Their attitude seemed to be: either kill me, or get out of my way while I make money.

Seeing this caused waves of shock and helplessness to rock the Merfolk cultivators. However, it didn’t take long for them to realize what was happening. High in the sky, Master Seventh on his dreadnaught, had initially seemed excited about the competition becoming more difficult.

However, when he saw the eight nine-headed dragons, his eyes glittered, and he shoved his hand down toward them. Instantly, three of the dragons let out howls of grief as they collapsed, turning into masses of black clouds that flew toward Master Seventh.

As they gathered into his hand, his expression became one of delight. “Well, isn’t this interesting.”

The thirteen Gold Core cultivators were also surprised, and tried to collect their own samples. The spell formation made that difficult, but all of them managed to get bits of the black mist.

As for the hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators, they joined in the effort, with some of them even flying right up to the spell formation in the hopes of acquiring some of the mist.

Because of that, the five remaining snakes all seemed to weaken. One of them even withered so badly that it screamed in anguish and then vanished from existence. As for the other four, they were drained so badly that they fell from the Gold Core level to early Foundation Establishment. However, the process didn’t stop at that point, it just slowed down.

When the Merfolk patriarch saw what was happening, and how the Seven Blood Eyes cultivators were so excited, he fell into despair.

“Oh how mighty Seven Blood Eyes is,” he muttered. “The sect changed after Zheng Kaiyi became peaklord of the Seventh Peak. It changed. Everything changed....”

When the Seven Blood Eyes disciples saw what was happening, many of them joined forces to attack the huge snakes.

On Joine Island, Ding Xiaohai’s clothes were tattered, but he looked as energetic and imposing as ever. He was the first one to charge toward the snake outside the fish skeleton city. Three other disciples joined him. That said, the other three just seemed to want riches, while Ding Xiaohai wanted the kill.

Booms rang out, and as Xu Qing watched, he noticed that among the three disciples, all of whom had extraordinary cultivation bases, there was one young woman in a gray daoist robe who was particularly eye-catching.

She was petite but bewitchingly charming. Her face was as beautiful as a lotus flower, her eyebrows were like willow leaves, and she had eyes more seductive than peach blossoms. Her long, beautiful hair flowed around her, and her red lips were slightly parted, making her seem extraordinarily attractive. Though her daoist robe was voluminous, as she moved, it was possible to see her slender waist and dramatic curves. Her looks made her exactly the kind of person who attracted a lot of attention.

Upon seeing her, Zhang San gulped. However, the pressure from the huge snake left him feeling shaken, and he had the feeling that if he got hit by that snake, he would be crushed to death.

Xu Qing did not have any such reaction. He was more interested in the nine-headed snake, which looked exactly like the one he remembered from the mural. Not only was he shocked, but also felt the need to be very careful. If this snake was here, then what if the giant with the two worlds on his shoulders also showed up?

As for the Captain, he finally stopped asking Xu Qing about the feather. As he perched on Zhang San’s back, he stared at the huge snake, his eyes shining. “That thing’s amazing! Look at how strong that living mutagen is. It would be the perfect weapon for treacherous people!

“It’s being suppressed by the spell formation, which makes it much easier to deal with. Anybody who manages to take it down and sell it would get rich overnight. The Onpeak bigwigs would trip over themselves to buy it. I honestly can’t believe that Ding Xiaohai, who normally acts so honest and upright, would actually try to fight over something like that! No way. I have to get this thing. Come on, Zhang San! Let’s go!”

Zhang San’s face twitched, and then he started walking in the exact opposite direction.

“Don’t be scared, Zhang San. Come on, let’s go. That thing is pure money!”

“How about I put you down and you can crawl over there yourself!” Zhang San shot back.

The Captain sighed and looked at Xu Qing. “Xu Qing, you go over there. That thing is totally worth it.”

Xu Qing ignored him. The treasure he had hidden on him was so dangerous that, as soon as the competition was over, he planned to leave this place and try to reach Foundation Establishment as soon as possible.

Seeing that Xu Qing wasn’t doing anything, the Captain sighed heavily several times in a row. Taking a bite of his half-eaten apple, he looked longingly at the huge snake. From the look of sorrow on his face, one might think he was watching someone steal something that belonged to him.

Meanwhile, the bewitchingly charming young woman who was fighting the snake alongside Ding Xiaohai seemed to realize people were looking in her direction. As she danced nimbly around the snake, she looked over to see Xu Qing and the others standing off in the distance. When she saw Xu Qing, her face lit up, and she gave him a nod as if in greeting. When he didn’t seem to notice, her flight talisman glittered as she abandoned the fight with the snake and flew over to him. Xu Qing instantly went on guard, pulling out his iron skewer and preparing some poison powder.

Considering they were strangers coming together by chance, the fact that she was rushing toward him seemed suspicious.

When Zhang San saw what was happening, and realized Xu Qing might release some poisons, he quickly put some distance between the two of them, while simultaneously keeping his eye on the girl. The Captain’s eyes narrowed, and he smiled enigmatically.

“Hello, Elder Brother,” the young woman said, apparently not even noticing that Xu Qing seemed ready to take action. Running up to him, she extended her right hand, within which was a small bottle with some black mist in it.

It was none other than some of the huge snake’s flesh. “Elder Brother, I’m Ling’er from the Intelligence Division. I have a question I’d like to ask you. If you answer it, I’ll give you this chunk of flesh. Sound good?” [1]

Her voice sounded like the singing of birds. However, she didn’t seem adept at reading facial expressions, as, before Xu Qing could respond to her request, she immediately asked her question. “Elder Brother, do you A) like snakes in general, or B) like eating snake gallbladders?”

Then she stood there looking at him with keen expectation, and completely ignoring the Captain and Zhang San. It was as if this was a question she had been pondering for a very long time.

Zhang San looked at this petite young woman who was almost ridiculously attractive, and then he looked at Xu Qing. In his heart, he sighed.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing frowned and instinctively took a few steps away from Ling’er. It seemed like a very unusual question, so he kept his guard up and cautiously replied, “Snake gall bladders are too bitter.”

“So that means you like snakes in general!” Her eyes lit up even more. Apparently, she also wasn’t adept at hiding her feelings, as a look of joy appeared on her face, and she twirled excitedly in a circle. Tossing the bottle to Xu Qing, she turned and raced back to rejoin the fight with the nine-headed snake.

The Captain, still perched on Zhang San’s back, looked at the little bottle that was now in Xu Qing’s hands, and then at the young woman running back toward the snake. “Junior Sister Ling’er, you can ask me a question too! Hey, three questions is fine. Even ten!”

Ling’er looked over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him, then kept running toward the huge snake. Looking angry, the Captain slapped the top of Zhang San’s head. “What gives? I’m just as good-looking! Ten questions isn’t much of a difference from the one question she asked Xu Qing!”

“You want to know what gives?” Zhang San said. “You’re missing your lower half. That’s what gives.”

The Captain seemed inclined to argue back, but then Zhang San moved his hands up as if to throw the Captain on the ground, so he didn’t say anything. And thus, time slipped by slowly but surely.

The Onpeak cultivators continued to extract bits of the four snakes through the spell formation, and the snakes grew weaker. Coupled with the fact that the disciples on the island could tell how valuable the snakes were, they swarmed like wolf cubs to join in destroying them. When the last of the snakes was destroyed, the competition was over.

The spell formation up above was opened, and sunlight once again spilled onto the battle-damaged surfaces of the islands, and the disciples with their bulging bags of loot.

More than half of the disciples who had participated lost their lives. But the survivors’ eyes shone brightly in the light of the sun. Xu Qing was among them, looking up at the cultivators in the sky, and the figure atop the head of the dreadnaught.

“You did well,” Master Seventh said proudly. “I imagine the Seventh Peak will have some new Foundation Establishment cultivators soon. Congratulations in advance!”

1. Ling’er: This girl’s name is tricky, as it could be a given name sans surname, a family nickname, or something akin to a daoist/jianghu nickname. Based on later information, I’m interpreting it as a nickname. There’s some wordplay involved with the name that initially prompted me to create a translation for it, but I ended up deciding to treat it more like a name. Ling means “spirit” (and that is relevant later, so don’t forget that part). Er doesn’t mean anything in this context, and just makes the name sound cute. ☜