The Spoils

Qin Ming moved onto higher sloped ground near where he had buried his weapons and armor, concealing himself behind a massive tree so thick it would take several people linking arms to encircle it. The group had indeed come for the Blood Bamboo Forest. There were eleven of them in all, agile and moving swift as the wind; in the blink of an eye, they reached the mouth of the valley. Under the surging earthlight, Qin Ming could clearly make out their features. All of them were men in the prime of youth, clad in gleaming armor and wielding long sabers that glinted with cold menace. Their coordination was remarkably seamless. Even when moving at high speed, they advanced in unison, and upon reaching the valley entrance, their defensive postures as they gripped their sabers were nearly identical. "Mountain patrollers!" Qin Ming recognized their origins. They wore standard-issue armor identical to what Feng Yi'an, Shao Chengfeng, and the others had worn; the only difference was that each of them carried a saber. This was likely a deliberate choice. Long sabers were better suited for dealing with serpents—far superior, at least, to the standard iron spears commonly used by mountain patrol teams. The earthlight had already faded. In the dim light at the valley mouth, the group took down the bundles from their backs, revealing various jars and bottles, and began mixing something together. *As expected, they're seasoned veterans,* Qin Ming thought to himself. *Maybe they really can wipe out this nest of blood snakes.* Before long, another figure came sprinting through the dense forest, quickly appearing before the valley entrance. Everyone turned to look at him. Panting heavily, the newcomer said, "Fu Entao, Feng Yi'an, and their lot aren't at the outpost. And what's really bizarre is that the wooden cabins on the mountain have all vanished." Hearing this, the men present showed strange expressions. "Weren't they about to move against the Blood Bamboo Forest? Where did they run off to fool around? Don't tell me a mountain monster wiped them all out." "Lately, nobles and well-known organizations from Chixia City have arrived, and some have already entered the mountains. Did Fu Entao and his men kick an iron plate?" The team leader wielded great authority; as soon as he spoke, the others fell silent. "Don't worry about all that right now," he said. "Originally, sneaking into Fu Entao's territory to kill the blood snakes had me somewhat worried they'd catch us and fight to the death. Having one less hidden hazard is all the better." "Even the heavens are helping us!" one mountain patroller remarked. The team leader, Liu Huaishan, was exceptionally burly, built like a brown bear. He said in a deep voice, "Let me stress this again: if anything feels off, pull back immediately and run for your lives. Don't hesitate for a second." The others were here for their own second Newborn breakthroughs, while Liu Huaishan had come for his eldest son's breakthrough. Otherwise, none of them would risk their lives on such a gamble. The group entered the valley soundlessly and halted. According to their prior plan, Liu Huaishan, their strongest member, walked forward alone. As a second Newborn, he carried great responsibility. Laden with bottles and jars, he advanced alone. From a good distance away, he ignited the substances inside several jars, producing thick yellow smoke, and hurled them all toward the Fire Spring. Other bottles and jars contained medicinal powders and liquids, which he tossed with pinpoint accuracy, dropping them into the dim "red glow." The moment he finished, he swiftly retreated, putting plenty of distance behind him. Seeing this, the other members of the mountain patrol team grew nervous nonetheless, falling back as well until they were nearly at the mouth of the valley. Thick smoke billowed around the Fire Spring amid great commotion. First, over a dozen small snakes several feet long rushed out, slithering rapidly around the vicinity as though scouting ahead. Then two massive serpents over four meters long leaped out, their entire bodies glowing scarlet. Whenever the two great snakes brushed against each other, a metallic clang rang out like clashing blades. Their scales gleamed brilliantly, as if cast from red gold. They darted toward the valley mouth at breakneck speed, at times even lifting clean off the ground like two crimson spears tearing through the air. Emitting terrifying hisses, both great serpents were thoroughly enraged. The mountain patrollers wanted to curse their mothers. Why were there two great serpents? This had completely defied their expectations. Liu Huaishan barked, "Run! The snakebane and irritating smoke don't work on these blood snakes at all!" In truth, there was no need for his warning. Seasoned by years of roaming the great mountains, the mountain patrollers knew the task was hopeless and fled decisively. As a second Newborn, Liu Huaishan was the fastest. Though starting from the very rear, his powerful legs pumped in long strides, quickly overtaking several men. One of the great serpents pursued them close behind. Pausing briefly on a large bluestone outside the valley mouth, its body abruptly sprang into the air, transforming into a startling streak of scarlet aurora as it flew forward. Its momentum was terrifying, seemingly carrying the faint roar of wind and thunder. *Crack!* The mountain patroller lagging at the rear was hit as if struck by a four-meter-long crimson spear. Both layers of armor he wore shattered, pierced clean through by the snake's head—which was as hard as refined iron—and the armor plates blew apart. This patroller was a veteran who had prepared thoroughly; he had actually placed a thick iron plate over the back of his heart, which blocked the blood snake at the critical moment. Otherwise, his body surely would have been skewered. Yet this did nothing to alter his fate. The iron plate buckled slightly under the impact, and the sheer force knocked him off his feet, sending him sprawling into the snow. The four-meter-long blood snake moved like lightning, instantly coiling around his body. Against any ordinary serpent, let alone one four meters long, even a far thicker and longer beast could never hold down a Newborn. Yet this mountain patroller was screaming in agony. Once the blood snake coiled around him, it constricted violently, its red-gold scales clattering like metal. The patroller's armor shattered instantly, followed by bones snapping all across his body. The serpent bit him once on the face, and the flesh there melted away directly. The mountain patroller was killed in an instant! In that brief exchange, every terrifying trait of the blood snake was on full display: a body hard as iron, astonishing strength, the ability to launch itself through the air like an iron arrow, and deadly, incurable venom. Each trait was lethal. The other great serpent had also bounded out of the valley and plunged into the dense forest. It overtook a second patroller, eliciting a shrill, agonizing scream. Abandoning the corpse, the great snake at the valley mouth slithered into the mountain woods to continue the hunt! When a fourth mountain patroller was caught in a blood snake's coils, team leader Liu Huaishan suddenly appeared, gripping his sharp saber in both hands to slash savagely into the serpent's body. This was the full-power strike of a second Newborn. A bright, snow-white flash of the blade swept across, shattering part of the red-gold serpent's scales. The terrible strike sliced open a wound that wasn't very deep, and dark red blood welled out. This was truly frightening. Against such a ferocious slash, any other second-stage mutated creature—or even a second Newborn human—would surely have been cleaved in two. Gripping the hilt with both hands, Liu Huaishan struck repeatedly, but unfortunately failed to land his blows in the exact same spot. The blood snake dodged, and he merely opened more wounds on other parts of its body. Stung by the pain, the blood snake immediately released the half-dead patroller and lunged wildly at Liu Huaishan. At the same time, its hissing summoned the other great serpent nearby, whose scarlet form came hurtling over at extreme speed. Liu Huaishan sighed inwardly. Abandoning the wounded serpent, he plunged into the dense woods without looking back. Having seized the best possible opportunity yet failing to slay even one blood snake, he had no choice but to give up decisively. The two great snakes pursued relentlessly together, but the injured one grew progressively slower. Once wounded, its body struggled to adapt to the freezing, snow-covered environment. It halted, hissed a few times, and finally slithered back along its original path toward the valley. Qin Ming wore four layers of armor, with a black cloth covering his face this time, revealing only his eyes. Standing on the slope beside the valley mouth, he waited in silence. Planted in the snow before him were several iron spears and a long saber, while the long-handled dark-gold hammer was strapped across his back. Moments later, he heard movement and saw the four-meter-long serpent returning. It was already injured, missing scales in three spots along its body. Though still lustrously scarlet and faintly luminous, it was visibly listless, nowhere near as fast as before. As it neared the valley, Qin Ming drew an iron spear from the ground, took a deep breath, and hurled it with explosive force toward the blood snake. Next, he quickly pulled a second iron spear from the snow... The blood snake was thoroughly enraged. Several iron spears flew at it with terrifying velocity; two of them shattered its scales anew, tearing open wounds far worse than the earlier saber gashes. It surged up a twenty-odd-meter tree and sprang down at breakneck speed like a brilliant flash of scarlet aurora, piercing the night as it dove straight toward him, seeking to impale the target's flesh. Qin Ming had initially intended to draw his saber, but changed his mind in an instant. Instead, he gripped his long-handled dark-gold hammer tight and swung it violently forward to meet the serpent's head. The blood snake shot down like a rainbow piercing the sun, but instead of striking flesh, it collided head-on with the heavy dark-gold hammer. *Clang!* A piercing metallic screech rang out midair as sparks flew. The four-meter-long blood snake plummeted to the ground, its taut, arrow-straight body curling in convulsive thrashing against the snow. Had it been the smaller snakes, Qin Ming would not have used the long-handled dark-gold hammer—they were too slippery to hammer properly. But with the great serpent rocketing down voluntarily with such immense force, it was precisely what he had hoped for. The crimson serpent was severely wounded. Its head was caved in and fractured, yet it had not perished immediately. Qin Ming snatched the long saber planted in the snow, blasted the drifts beneath his feet, and closed the distance in a flash, pouring every ounce of his strength into consecutive slashing blows. Amid metallic clangs, red scales shed away, and the serpent's head was severed! "This is the nourishment that can let me rapidly reach my second Newborn stage." Qin Ming felt a surge of excitement in his heart; just like that, he had harvested a spiritual creature. *Hiss!* Near the valley entrance, several smaller blood snakes ranging from three to seven feet long began slithering toward him. Some even sprang into the air, darting forth like iron arrows. Qin Ming swung his sharp saber in rapid succession. Striking with all his might, he severed them one after another with single blows, leaving six more dead snakes strewn across the ground. Taking out an animal hide bag, he began gathering his spoils. Suddenly, a warning flared in Qin Ming's mind. He shifted laterally at high speed just as an iron arrow flew past with horrific velocity, burying itself out of sight right where he had stood. Two more iron arrows grazed his armor with a shower of sparks before slamming into a nearby tree, penetrating deep into the trunk. Standing with his saber in hand, Qin Ming looked toward the figures not far off and said, "People truly are different from one another. Waiting in this same spot, I was only here to ambush snakes, but you came to ambush a man."