Chapter 12 - Encounter a snake that is on the verge of transforming into a flood dragon

Early the next morning, Liu Heping went to the city to seek professionals to build a house. Since there was no one in the countryside who knew how to construct the villas typical of Guangdong, he had no choice but to look for construction companies within the city. Xiaojiu also woke up early and went to the mountaintop to practice. On his way back after the practice, he passed by a wild pond on the mountaintop. He saw something bathing in it. At first, he thought it was a water buffalo. But when he looked closer, the head of the creature was submerged in the water, with only two big eyes and two small bumps on the top of its head exposed. The creature was also startled when it saw Xiaojiu and quickly raised its head. Xiaojiu saw that it was a huge snake. It seemed that this snake was on the verge of transforming into a flood dragon, for there were already two bumps on its head, which meant it was about to grow horns. Xiaojiu recognized that this snake was likely a local black oil snake, which was non-venomous and had a gentle temperament. However, the black oil snake usually lived for a maximum of 20 years, while this one had apparently lived for at least several hundred years. This snake must have had some extraordinary encounters; otherwise, it couldn't have lived so long. Xiaojiu was the kind of person who would pluck a blade of grass if he came across it. Seeing that this snake might have access to precious medicinal herbs, he was determined to get a share. Immediately, his Yang God left his body, and he said to the big snake, "Daoist friend, don't be alarmed. I am also a cultivator and have no intention of harming you. If you've discovered any precious medicinal herbs, we can cooperate to refine pills together, which will help you transform into a flood dragon sooner. The way you gobble up the herbs will only waste them, and you can only absorb less than three-tenths of their efficacy." The spirit snake considered his words for a moment and then nodded, communicating with Xiaojiu's Yang God using its consciousness. It said that it was only 400 years old and still young, and it hoped that Xiaojiu wouldn't deceive it. It had always been hiding in a cave to practice and had never harmed anyone. If Xiaojiu dared to deceive it, it would destroy the village at the foot of the mountain. Xiaojiu said, "I swear by the Heavenly Dao that I won't deceive you. You know that for a cultivator, once they make a vow and fail to keep it, they will fall into a state of spiritual deviation." The spirit snake nodded and waited for Xiaojiu to swear. Xiaojiu swore with his Yang God, "If I deceive this Daoist friend in the future, I will fall into a state of spiritual deviation and die a horrible death." After Xiaojiu finished his oath, a dry thunderclap sounded in the sky. The spirit snake was startled, for it was most afraid of the Heavenly Thunder. The spirit snake also knew that when a cultivator made a vow, the Heavenly Dao would respond with thunder. It understood that Xiaojiu wasn't up to any tricks and wouldn't deceive it. Although the spirit snake was innocent, it wasn't stupid. After all, having lived for 400 years, its spiritual intelligence was comparable to that of a teenager. If Xiaojiu hadn't sworn, it definitely wouldn't have taken him to its cave. Four hundred years ago, when it was still a small snake, it accidentally fell into a crevice in the rock cave. It turned out that there was an empty space below, and it thought it was surely going to die from such a great height. But in the end, it landed in a small pit. Although it was severely injured, the white milky liquid in the pit healed it. Later, it learned that the white liquid was the juice of the stalactite that had formed over ten thousand years. It had shed its skin countless times since then. From an ordinary snake, it had cultivated to the stage of a spirit snake and naturally awakened some of its memories. It also knew how to continue its cultivation and was aware that the white liquid in that small puddle was the juice of the ten-thousand-year-old stalactite, which had dripped down over hundreds of millions of years. It was a miraculous medicine for treating injuries and refining pills, something that many cultivators had searched for in vain. Unexpectedly, this small snake had such great good fortune, so it had been guarding the ten-thousand-year-old stalactite in this small pit and practicing here. But after drinking it for so many years, the liquid was almost gone, and yet it still hadn't broken through to transform into a flood dragon. Without a breakthrough, it was still just a snake. Every few decades, it would come out to get some fresh air. It had been wondering what to do when the precious medicinal liquid was all used up, for it was not easy to find such medicine nowadays, and it didn't know how to refine pills either. Unexpectedly, today it was so lucky that just when it needed something, it came along. Looking at Xiaojiu, who was only a few years old, it believed that he wouldn't deceive it. After all, he had sworn by the Heavenly Dao, and the Heavenly Dao had responded. The spirit snake could also sense a threat from Xiaojiu's Yang God and knew that it was no match for this child if he decided to attack. So, it could only cooperate honestly with this young cultivator. When Xiaojiu heard the spirit snake tell him about the ten-thousand-year-old stalactite juice, he was filled with excitement. This kind of thing was extremely difficult to find. Some cultivators might search for it until they died without ever laying their hands on it. Why did Xiaojiu know how to refine pills? Because when he had nothing to do at night, his Yang God would sneak into other sects to peek at their cultivation secrets. He had visited sects like Wudang, Longhushan, Maoshan, and Qingchengshan countless times. At first, he couldn't read the characters, but later he taught himself and became proficient. By the time he finished kindergarten, he could already solve sixth-grade math problems. He somehow bought a Xinhua Dictionary and secretly translated it every day. Gradually, he understood the meaning of the traditional Chinese characters in the books. He also found a recipe for a pill called Peiyuan Dan in the books of Longhushan. However, the ingredients in the recipe were all extremely rare and powerful herbs that had long since vanished from the world. There were only nine ingredients in the recipe. The first one was a kind of grass that grew where a flood dragon slept. It absorbed the flood dragon's saliva and was called Longting Grass. The second ingredient was the blood of a dragon turtle, which was actually the blood of a kind of long-lived turtle in the sea called a hawksbill turtle. The tortoise shell it left behind after its death could be used to make jewelry. The third ingredient was the Immortal Soup, which was the water in which the ten-thousand-year-old Taizui that Xiaojiu had dug up was soaked. Xiaojiu already had this, so he didn't need to look for it anymore. The fourth ingredient was the thousand-year-old ginseng, which seemed to have become extinct. But there were still some in the deep mountains and old forests. Coincidentally, Xiaojiu knew where he could dig for the thousand-year-old ginseng. Who else but him would have his Yang God wandering around aimlessly? The fifth ingredient was called Divine Dragon Wood. Since snakes liked to coil around its trunk, the fruits that grew on it were the snakes' favorite food, so it was also called the Snake Dragon Fruit Tree. Its trunk could be used as medicine. When peeled, it was red throughout, and the juice that oozed out was also red. The sixth ingredient was the Immortal Dew Grass, which generally grew on the precipices and steep cliffs. It usually grew in places shrouded in thick fog and could only be found in areas such as Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan, but it was also very difficult to locate. The seventh ingredient was the Flame Grass, which generally grew at the crater of a volcano. It grew a cluster of small grass every ten years, then flowered after another ten years, and bore fruit ten years later. It could only be picked when it was fully ripe, and it was only effective if the whole plant, including the fruit, was dug up. But as soon as it ripened, it would be eaten by birds, and there was no chance for anyone to dig it up. The eighth ingredient was the Blood Ganoderma that grew in the extremely yin places. This was also hard to find, and it had to be of over a thousand years old. Therefore, many cultivators spent their entire lives searching but couldn't find even one thousand-year-old Blood Ganoderma. The ninth and most important ingredient was the ten-thousand-year-old stalactite juice, which was even harder to find. That's why throughout history, not many people have been able to refine the Peiyuan Dan. It was said that if a dying person took one Peiyuan Dan, they could be revived immediately and their lifespan could be extended by sixty years. An ordinary person who took it could prolong their life and live to be over a hundred years old without any problem. If a cultivator took one, they could increase their spiritual power by ten years and enhance all aspects of their original spirit and body. Therefore, Xiaojiu was trying to find a way to refine the Peiyuan Dan. After all, in this era of the decline of the Dao, there was very little spiritual energy, and it was extremely difficult to achieve success in cultivation. Even if he cultivated his Yang God to be extremely powerful, his body couldn't withstand it. But if he could refine the Peiyuan Dan, he could restore his body to its original state. No matter how powerful his Yang God became, his body would be able to accommodate it. Now, his Yang God was becoming more and more powerful, but his body hadn't fully grown, so he sometimes felt that his body was stiff. This was caused by the mismatch between his powerful Yang God and his underdeveloped body. Xiaojiu understood this truth only after reading many Taoist books, so he was trying every means to refine the Peiyuan Dan. That's why he didn't dare to cultivate his Yang God too much now, for fear of bursting his body.