## AST 997 – Two Hundred Thousand Miles, Seven-Headed Scarlet Serpent, Hallow Fruit, Spirit Deer

Qing Shui stood there for nearly fifteen minutes in hesitation. There was a crazy idea that was tempting him. Right now, he was thinking about whether he would do it or not.

He would use Nine Continents Steps to reach the far places once, look around that area, if there was danger he would immediately use Nine Continents Steps to return.

Earlier, Qing Shui had not used Nine Continents Steps to run away even in a herd of beasts. He had not wanted to waste this chance, the distance of Nine Continents Steps could be freely controlled between Two Hundred Thousand Miles.

“Coming here was difficult enough. Let’s give it a try, if there is danger then I’ll return immediately.”

“No, if I had an accident, what would happen to the Qing Clan?”

The two countering thoughts resounded in Qing Shui’s mind. This was a dilemma, going forward was an unknown territory that could lead to death or opportunity, going backwards would leave nothing but regret. This was an opportunity that was difficult to come by.

At the same time, he was concerned about the dangers ahead. He could not afford a single mishap; else it would be too late to regret. Qing Shui struggled internally with these thoughts.

Right now, he was two thousand miles out, his next distance would be two hundred thousand miles out. This was the Sacred Land of Panacea which was more dangerous than the Sky Penetrating Mountains. He feared for the worst.

Seek wealth within risk. Time to try… …

Qing Shui did not move one inch. However, the scale in his consciousness had already began to sway to one side. In front of him was the furthest direction he could go, he gripped the Big Dipper Sword in his hand.

Gale Pellet, Agility-Enhancing Fruit, Heavenly Talisman. He had re-cast all these then gritted his teeth and stepped forward.

Nine Continents Step!

Hot!

Qing Shui’s activated his spiritual sense. In an instant, Nine Continents Steps had taken him elsewhere. At his first landing, it felt extremely hot. The ground was covered in a red soil. It felt like being in a steamer basket, surrounded by scorching heat.

Suddenly Qing Shui felt goosebumps all over his body because a formless pressure had suddenly blown by. He reacted by using Nine Continents Step into the sky and looked down at the ground.

Once Qing Shui landed he discovered the den of a beast, following the trace of invisible pressure, Qing Shui was shocked to near death.

Seven-headed Scarlet Serpent!

Qing Shui could not accurately detect the opposition’s strength. Its giant body was like a hill. Seeing the seven giant heads, Qing Shui had finally realized that he had come across its den.

However, Qing Shui had inadvertently hidden himself on a green and vigorous tree that was ten meters away. There was a white crystal fruit that was emitting a tempting fragrance.

Qing Shui was approximately five hundred meters from the Seven-headed Scarlet Serpent. He had used Nine Continent Steps and stopped here, almost instantaneously he had detected danger while his spiritual sense was activated.
The Seven-headed Scarlet Serpent was resting with its eyes closed waiting for the fruits to ripen. There were no other beasts that would fight over the fruit but it suddenly felt an existence emitting Qi appear right in front of it.

Seven-headed Scarlet Serpent violently opened its eyes, its seven giant eyes coldly staring at Qing Shui. Qing Shui shivered, the Yin-Yang Image in his body began to spin rapidly.

Nature Energy instantly peaked.

Roc’s Might!

Advanced Spirit Concentration!

Qing Shui knew it was best to retreat. He cursed at his own bad luck, to run into the Seven-headed Scarlet Serpent. Qing Shui could not even fathom what strength the Seven-headed Scarlet Serpent could have. From the history books that he had read, a Five-headed Scarlet Serpent had a strength of over ten thousand stars. Having one extra head was already a doubling in strength.

Just as Qing Shui made up his mind to run, he noticed the fruit hanging right in front of him. He could tell from one glance what fruit it was.

Hallow Fruit!

From coming here until Qing Shui had discovered the Seven-headed Scarlet Serpent and Hallow Fruit, had only be a matter of an instant. After seeing the Hallow Fruit, he wanted to directly reach for it without thinking much about it.

Roar… …

A series of roars could be heard. Qing Shui pulled and removed the Hallow Fruit, the Hallow Fruit tree immediately wilted. Qing Shui used Nine Palace Steps immediately but the Seven-headed Scarlet Serpent’s tail swept over like a giant pillar.

It was galaxies stronger in terms of strength compared to the Golden-Back Giant Crocodile Emperor.

Divinity Protection!

Nine Continents Steps!

Bang!

Qing Shui directly turned around to do all that but he was still swept by the giant snake’s whip. Even under the buff of Divinity Protection his consciousness became a blur.

Frightening, way too frightening!

It was on a completely different level. Qing Shui knew all the bones in his body were broken. His internal organs were all critically damaged. He was left without an ounce of strength left. He was only able to keep his consciousness because of the Yin-Yang Image within his consciousness and the Advanced Spirit Concentration.

Qi of Rebirth!

At this time, a Qi of Rebirth flowed within his Dantian. It activated the Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique and began to regenerate the damaged parts.

Qing Shui felt cultivating from the Ancient Book of “Rebirth” was a serious treasure. He did not have to use it ordinarily but it could strengthen a person’s willpower. Especially when it came to a life and death situation, it could potentially change fate and save lives.

Seeing the mountain peak that was not too far in the distance, returning to the area within two thousand miles, Qing Shui could only lay on the ground without any energy left. He had thrown the Hallow Fruit into the Realm of Violet Jade Immortal. Qing Shui began to slowly recover while laying on the hillside. Right now, he did not have the strength to move.

Seven-headed Scarlet Serpent was too fearsome. This was the first time he had seen a beast with seven heads. Even with the buff of Divinity Protection he was still beaten to a critical state. Had he not had Divinity Protection, he could not fathom the result.

This world was too dangerous. The other four continents and five continents have many dangerous areas in existence. For example, areas like the deep areas of Sky Penetrating Mountain, Giant Beasts Mountains, Southern Sea, Eastern Sea, Polar Icefield, etc…

From the use of Nine Continents Steps to return to the middle only required the time equivalent to taking one breath.

However, Qing Shui was happy right now. It was every bit worth it. Once he had recovered a bit more, he took out a petal of the Golden Buddha Aura Lotus and ate it. This thing was being worn down faster than it could recover. It had nine petals before but he had already eaten six of them. Now that it had regrown a petal, Qing Shui felt a bit more reassured. Even though it took many years to grow one petal, it was better than not growing at all. This type of object like the Bones of the Living Dead was an absolute treasure.

If slowly recovering required some time, this was not the place for it. Qing Shui ate the next Golden Buddha Aura Lotus petal, immediately recovering to the strength he had at the beginning. The effectiveness of these medicinal herbs was unthinkable.

In the previous lifetime, sickness came like a landslide but went away as slowly as spinning silk. Destroying this was fast, just like how easy it would be to crush human bones. But to have those bones heal, it would take a very long time. Now Qing Shui realized the potency of some medicinal objects. Every time he used one he could not contain his surprise.

Not long after recovering, he was quickly surrounded by a pack of a thousand groundhogs. Qing Shui went into hiding. Groundhogs were not very strong, each of them would be born with peak strength. They could dig into the ground and drill through rocks. They were about a foot in length but they carried poison on their bodies. Their teeth were also corrosive. They were rumoured to be able to bite through diamond. But the main point was that their numbers were huge. The leading pack was small but following them would be the main force. Even a Golden-back Giant Crocodile Emperor would hide seeing a pack of groundhogs.

With the rest of his time, Qing Shui travelled around the nearby vicinity. After a while, he had returned to the entrance area. Seeing that everyone was safe, with about eight hours of time left, Qing Shui decided to explore the nearby surroundings.

Luan Luan walked to Qing Shui’s side.

“Daddy!”

“What is it darling?” Qing Shui looked at Luan Luan as if she had something to say.

“I want to tame these beasts.” Luan Luan said while looking at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui did not want Luan Luan to go too far, he knew that Luan Luan had the Heart of Seven Orifices and that there was some time left. He said while smiling, “I’ll go with you.”

Luan Luan said happily.

Though Qing Shui was here, she still would not dare be careless. Though the danger here was mostly due to the beasts, Luan Luan had the Heart of Seven Orifices on her side.

A huge profit. Qing Shui had decided earlier that he would spend some time to help Luan Luan tame some formidable beasts. Was this not the perfect opportunity?

The two of them travelled to the area that was ten miles away. The target was within five hundred miles. He was not certain what strength cap was within Luan Luan’s taming abilities.

Three hundred miles out, they had met a strong beast.

A Spirit Deer with the strength of five hundred stars.

Luan Luan’s strength and abilities have a limit, though she possessed the Heart of Seven Orifices she could not tame whatever beasts she wanted. Moreover, Martial Emperor beasts already possessed a high level of spirit intelligence

This Spirit Deer had a height of five meters and a length of fifteen meters. From seeing the giant beasts, this Spirit Deer felt kind of small. However, the Spiritual Qi that emitted from its body was significant for its size.

It was love at first sight for Luan Luan seeing the Spirit Deer. She let out some noise that Qing Shui could not understand.

Qing Shui looked at the Spirit Deer that was hesitating. At first when the Spirit Deer saw Qing Shui and Luan Luan it had not attacked. What was weirder was that it had also not run away but was hesitating.

Luan Luan continued to let out weird noises. Qing Shui knew this was a way to communicate, like how he and his beasts communicated telepathically. However, Luan Luan was born with the talent to communicate with beasts arbitrarily which was unlike how he could only communicate with his tamed beast. Of course, the stronger the beast, the higher their spiritual intelligence.

After a moment, Luan Luan took out the pellets that Qing Shui had given her. She poured one out and threw it towards the deer. Luan Luan made those weird noises again, Qing Shui then watched dumbfoundedly as the Spirit Deer walked to Luan Luan’s side. It lowered and rubbed its head on Luan Luan.

Luan Luan then let out a crisp laugh, joyfully stretched her hand out to pet the Spirit Deer.

Qing Shui curiously asked what Luan Luan and the beast was talking about.

Luan Luan looked at Qing Shui and smiled, “Just like how Daddy pampers kids. But once the beast gets coaxed over, they will not rebel anymore.”

Although Qing Shui understood that was because of Luan Luan’s constitution. Beasts had sharp spiritual sense. Had Luan Luan not been the carrier of the Heart of Seven Orifices, no taming would have worked.

The Spirit Deer swallowed the pellet and its strength quickly spiked in growth. After consuming two pellets, it surprised Qing Shui with its one thousand two hundred stars in strength. Qing Shui could not help but use Heavenly Vision Technique to look at the Spirit Deer.

Spirit Deer, spirit type of heaven and earth, already awaken. A formidable beast of ancient times. Expert in speed and heavy strikes. Strong sense of protection towards its master. High spiritual intelligence, high growth.

That was it. Qing Shui was surprised after reading everything. A formidable beast from an ancient bloodline. Protective of its master, with high spiritual intelligence and ability for growth. On top of that, it had already awakened. Qing Shui was certain that it was the effect of the pellets since Qing Shui had not felt the same spirituality earlier.