章 22: Chapter 20: Spiritual Instrument Fragment
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After the battle at the shores of Mirror Lake on the Silent Ridge in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, calmness had once again descended all around.
Approaching the corpse of the Snake Demon, Ye Chen's gaze shifted slightly as he looked at the colossal serpent body that had been cut in half with a single sword-strike.
Within the flesh parted by Sword Qi, at the belly and head of the snake, lay two clusters of objects emanating a faint light.
In the snake's belly was a silver mass the size of a fist, marked all over with silvery patterns like those on the body of the Snake Demon. This was undoubtedly the innate snake gall Lin Jing and the others had described, capable of greatly increasing a cultivator's True Qi Cultivation speed!
However, at the head of the snake, Ye Chen's heart began to race upon a mere glance at the other object, his attention completely captivated. Even the innate snake gall no longer warranted a second look from him.
It was a palm-sized fragment.
This piece seemed to be broken off from the blade of a sword, its color ancient, with sword patterns carved onto its surface.
Just by looking at this fragment, Ye Chen's mind was bombarded with countless insights into swordsmanship which began to rapidly advance.
The aura emanating from this fragment was strikingly similar to that of the Sword Qi released by the silver-patterned Snake Demon, and to the bizarre power of the sword Ye Chen had sensed!
"Could it be that the sudden increase in the Snake Demon's strength was related to this tiny fragment?"
"Could it be that my sudden contact with the feeling of Sword Intents was also related to this tiny fragment?"
"What kind of divine marvel is this, possessing such astonishing functions?"
Looking at the palm-sized fragment, Ye Chen was profoundly shaken.
"Ye Chen."
Just as he was about to pick up the fragment to examine it further, Lin Jing's voice came from behind him.
"Ye Chen, are you alright?"
"You... you killed the Snake Demon?"
Turning his head, Ye Chen saw Lin Jing running over in a flustered manner with Zhou Mo, Hong Man, and Fang Shan, limping along behind her.
After running over, Lin Jing's beautiful eyes looked Ye Chen up and down, then shifted to the snake carcass on the ground, her face filled with astonishment and shock.
"I'm fine."
Ye Chen replied with a smile.
"The innate snake gall, that's the innate snake gall!"
Zhou Mo, who had walked over, spotted the silver-patterned snake gall radiating a faint glow at the belly of the snake and exclaimed with joy.
Hong Man and Fang Shan also followed Zhou Mo's gaze, and upon seeing that the snake gall was exactly like the one depicted in the Sect's archives, belonging to the silver-patterned Snake Demon, they couldn't help but swallow hard, their eyes burning with desire.
Now that the silver-patterned Snake Demon was slain, what remained was the distribution of the spoil, and with the innate snake gall right in front of them, they couldn't suppress their greed.
"The silver-patterned Snake Demon was defeated solely by Ye Chen; if there's an innate snake gall, it should belong to Ye Chen," Lin Jing suddenly said, her voice rising as she walked to the side of the snake corpse with her graceful legs, speaking slowly to Zhou Mo and the others.
Lin Jing's words brought a silence to the group, and after a while, Hong Man finally nodded and said, "That's right, we have rules for distributing the spoils from hunting down demon beasts according to each person's contribution. In this hunt of the silver-patterned Snake Demon, if anyone deserves the most credit, it's Ye Chen, followed by Sister Lin Jing. We three didn't contribute much, so we have no right to the innate snake gall."
Fang Shan hesitated, staring intensely at the innate snake gall, and after swallowing his saliva, he said, "If not for Ye Chen, we might all have died at the hands of the silver-patterned Snake Demon. The snake gall should go to Ye Chen; I have no objections."
Zhou Mo appeared hesitant, but seeing the firm expressions of the other three, he ultimately added, "Then the innate snake gall should go to Ye Chen. However, we could still share the snake skin fairly."
"Ye Chen, what do you think of this distribution?" Lin Jing asked, nodding her head only after seeing the three men's agreement. She gave Ye Chen a radiant smile.
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"The innate snake gallbladder... Sister Lin Jing, you can have it. I'll just take this fragment," Ye Chen shook his head, walked to the serpent's head, picked up the broken sword fragment, and spoke.
"Fragment?"
Hearing Ye Chen's words, the others finally noticed the peculiar fragment in the serpent's corpse. Their attention had been completely captivated by the innate snake gallbladder before, and they hadn't noticed the fragment at all.
"How can this fragment compare to the innate snake gall, Ye Chen? The innate snake gall can smoothly bring you to the ninth level of True Qi cultivation!" Lin Jing looked at Ye Chen with puzzled eyes.
She had not cultivated the 'Meridian Refining Art' like Ye Chen and lacked the peculiar sense for the fragment, failing to discern anything special about it.
Ye Chen smiled and shook his head, "Although I don't know what this fragment is, its value to me is much greater than the innate snake gallbladder. It might also be a rare treasure. I'll take this fragment."
While Lin Jing and the others could not sense it, Ye Chen, who had cultivated the 'Meridian Refining Art' from the Primordial Star Scripture, could feel the extraordinary aura within the broken sword fragment.
Could something that allowed him to touch upon the threshold of sword intents in such a short time be a mere trifle?
Compared to the innate snake gallbladder which could only aid one in reaching the ninth level of True Qi cultivation, for Ye Chen, it was far less appealing.
With the aid of 'Meridian Refining Art', and the rotation of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and the thirty-three Meridian Wheels, his absorption rate of True Qi was already much faster than others. Taking an item that would only speed up True Qi cultivation wasn't of much use; it was better to give it to Lin Jing.
After all, Lin Jing had taught him the 'Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills,' which had been a great help to him, enabling him to achieve Minor Accomplishment in the third stance of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills with ease.
In the recent battle against the Silver Patterned Snake Demon, Lin Jing had also exerted a lot of effort.
Ye Chen wasn't the type to be greedy or consume all the benefits alone; he had no hesitation in offering the innate snake gallbladder to Lin Jing.
"I don't want it."
Lin Jing shook her exquisite head, with the mind of a young girl wishing only for Ye Chen to receive more.
She looked at Ye Chen with a sweet smile, "Ye Chen, don't worry about me. I have my own methods for enhancing the speed of True Qi cultivation."
"As for you, even though you're so powerful, you're still in the registered disciple area. With the innate snake gallbladder, maybe you can even take first place in the entrance examination for the Outer Sect!"
The innate snake gallbladder, an item coveted by numerous cultivators in the True Qi Realm, was being modestly passed back and forth between Ye Chen and Lin Jing. This caused Zhou Mo, Hong Man, and Fang Shan standing by to feel somewhat amused and bemused.
For a moment, the atmosphere at the scene became unusually relaxed, dissipating the oppression from the previous fight with the Silver Patterned Snake Demon.
Just as the three were about to chime in with some teasing remarks, Ye Chen, who had been smiling a moment ago, suddenly furrowed his brows tightly.
He abruptly turned his head towards the woods, clenched the fine steel sword in his hand, and shouted coldly, "Who's lurking around sneakily? Come out!"
Someone?
Ye Chen's sudden action startled Lin Jing, Zhou Mo, and the others, who then turned their gaze to follow Ye Chen's line of sight into the forest.
"Heh heh, quite capable indeed, to discover someone even with a 'Concealing Qi Formation' set up. No wonder you could see the value in the 'spiritual instrument fragment.' However, stop pushing it back and forth — I'll take the innate snake gallbladder, and I want the spiritual instrument fragment in your hand as well!"
With a "whoosh," a burst of Qi energy flew up, breaking the stillness of the woods.
A group of people emerged from the forest. The one speaking at the forefront, dressed in splendid clothes with a handsome appearance and a red mole between his eyebrows, mounted a divine marvel lion beast over four meters in length, with fiery fur. Behind him followed seven or eight youths, each riding their own Exotic Beasts.
"You are... Zhou Hai?!"
"Zhou Hai!"
On seeing this lead figure, the expressions of Ye Chen, Lin Jing, and the others all changed.
This man, Zhou Hai, was none other than the one Ye Chen had encountered before in Woniu Town, a seventh-level True Qi cultivator from the Heavenly Net Sect, a Seventh Rank Sect!
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