I Have An Infinite Cultivation Resource
Chapter 90: Suppression and Slaughter
The serpent, camouflaged as part of the black mountain, secretly observed Huo Chuan and the others. When it saw that Huo Chuan and two elders were standing guard outside instead of entering, it grinned.
The next moment, the serpent burst out from the earth. Its massive tail swept violently toward the three men. At the same time, one of the storage rings inside its mouth activated, and an entire hundred cubic meters' worth of Qi-Nourishing Pills and spirit stones were swallowed into its stomach.
"Hmph, vile beast, you finally revealed yourself."
Rather than panic, Huo Chuan and the others were delighted. If the serpent was here, then Dongfang Bubai had to be nearby as well. Inside this secret realm, the stronger the cultivation and the larger the body, the more spiritual energy the realm devoured. Huo Chuan was certain the serpent had little strength left.
Facing the incoming tail strike, the three elders formed a triangular formation. Three streams of light rose simultaneously as their flying swords merged together and slashed toward the serpent's tail.
Though they believed the serpent was making a desperate final struggle, none of them held back.
Boom!
Sword and tail collided, shaking the entire black mountain.
The serpent bared its fangs. It had long realized these Golden Core cultivators were severely restricted by the realm. Techniques that normally consumed one unit of spiritual energy now required at least ten. Their full-strength attacks were heavily weakened.
But the serpent's strike carried the force of a hundred cubic meters of spirit medicine.
"Elder Huo, what's happening outside?" came a voice transmission from the six elders inside the cave.
"Ignore us. We'll hold the serpent back while you capture Dongfang Bubai!"
Huo Chuan and the other two elders exhausted themselves blocking the serpent's tail, then frantically stuffed pills into their mouths.
"This beast has started risking its life. It can't hold out much longer."
The serpent blinked innocently, then swung its tail again.
It's another strike powered by a hundred cubic meters of spirit medicine.
Boom!
Using formations and medicinal support, the three elders blocked the attack again. None of them were injured, though they were forced several steps backward by the terrifying force.
The serpent's attacks were indeed powerful, but larger bodies suffered greater losses in this realm. Feeling the overwhelming spiritual energy surging from the tail, Huo Chuan remained calm.
Inside this secret realm, the more violently one erupted, the faster one weakened. There was no need to fight desperately. They only needed to defend a few more times before skinning and dismembering this giant snake alive.
"Hmph. A beast is still just a beast. How could it compare to human intelligence?"
One Golden Core elder circulated spiritual energy and dispersed the force of the serpent's attack, retreating another step in the process.
One foot crossed into the cave entrance.
Three attacks already… and this beast was still fighting desperately?
Huo Chuan subconsciously scanned his surroundings and realized that he himself had unknowingly retreated to the cave entrance as well.
"Not good! This serpent is forcing us into the cave!"
The serpent attacked again without hesitation. Its spiritual fluctuations remained as fierce as ever, showing no signs of weakening.
"We can't retreat anymore!" Huo Chuan roared.
Unfortunately, only he reacted in time.
The other two Golden Core elders were struck directly into the cave by the serpent's tail.
The moment he saw that, Huo Chuan suddenly sensed a terrifying aura emanating from deep within the cave.
At the critical moment, he wrapped himself in spiritual energy and shot upward into the sky. He deliberately endured a tail strike, borrowing the force to fling himself onto the mountain peak.
'Only eight… forget it. One escaping is fine.'
The serpent smashed the cave entrance shut with another tail strike. Massive boulders collapsed and sealed the entrance before the Golden Core cultivators inside could react.
Then, without hesitation, the serpent activated the Mount Tai Talismans.
This time, a full one thousand Mount Tai Talismans activated simultaneously.
A muffled scream echoed from the center of the giant black mountain.
The entire mountain began trembling violently. Small rocks loosened and crumbled, but before they could even fall, they were pulverized into dust by the talismans' crushing force.
RUMBLE!
Like a dead leaf crushed beneath an iron boot, the mountain suddenly sank lower.
Then countless cracks spread across its surface.
Layer after layer of the mountain disappeared.
Not collapsed.
Not torn apart.
It was forcibly flattened out of existence.
The power of the Mount Tai Talismans resembled a pair of colossal invisible hands wrapping around the mountain, then slowly squeezing tighter and tighter until the entire black mountain was compressed into a vast plain.
"What… what just happened? Is this Dongfang Bubai's power?!"
Huo Chuan, who had barely escaped the talismans' range, stood frozen in terror.
The once towering black mountain range had vanished completely, replaced by flat barren land.
The immense pressure had crushed the mountain body into powder. Peaks and ridges were obliterated, as though an invisible giant hand had smashed the landscape apart.
Fragments of shattered stone and dust drifted across the plain.
The lofty summits that once pierced the heavens and the endless rolling ridges were all gone, erased together with the mountain range itself.
Only a desolate wasteland remained—like an abandoned canvas.
Glancing at the serpent still watching him menacingly, Huo Chuan shuddered.
The next second, he no longer cared about conserving spiritual energy. He instantly stepped onto his flying sword and vanished into the distance.
"He actually ran that fast!"
The serpent had originally intended to use its remaining storage rings to finish Huo Chuan off as well, but the speed of a fully unleashed flying sword was simply too fast. With its enormous body, the serpent could not catch up.
"That felt incredible. Even at my peak, I couldn't have crushed so many Golden Core cultivators so easily."
The serpent looked toward the black mountain that had been flattened by the Mount Tai Talismans and could not help trembling.
Fortunately, Lu You had never intended to deal with it. With such a gigantic body, it would be far easier for Mount Tai Talismans to hit the serpent than ordinary cultivators. If Lu You had truly wanted to suppress and kill it, it would have been even easier than killing Golden Core cultivators.
After carefully inspecting the area and confirming that every cultivator who entered the cave had died while Huo Chuan had escaped without a trace, the serpent cheerfully took flight toward Lu You's hidden mountain.
With the spirit medicine stored inside the rings, it flew at full speed without caring about consumption.
Only after spotting the cave entrance did the serpent slow down and gently descend to the ground. Curling its body up, it lightly tapped against the stone wall.
"Exalted One, this little snake successfully activated the trap. Aside from the leader who escaped, all the remaining Golden Core elders have been suppressed and killed."
The serpent wore a respectful expression. When it saw Lu You and Lu Xiao'e emerge together, it deliberately changed "activated the talismans" into "activated the trap," afraid Lu You might dislike the result.
It even added an explanation:
"I originally wanted to pursue and kill the leader as well, but I feared the Exalted One might be anxious waiting for news, so I hurried back first to report. Exalted One need not worry. That cultivator has already been afflicted with my unique serpent poison. No matter where he hides, I can find him."
"Only one elder survived?"
Lu Xiao'e's face filled with shock.
"What trap? Lu You, after entering the secret realm, you actually created a trap capable of killing Golden Core cultivators?"
Seeing Lu You thinking about how to answer, the serpent hurriedly explained first:
"It was not the Exalted One's trap, but one previously arranged by this little snake. I thought it would never be used, but unexpectedly it came in handy."
The serpent secretly winked at Lu You.
After hearing this explanation, Lu Xiao'e believed most of it. Even demon beasts understood secret realms, and setting traps in advance to guard against powerful intruders was indeed a reasonable survival method.
The only thing she found hard to imagine was that this giant serpent—which behaved so respectfully toward them—actually possessed a trap capable of slaughtering eight Golden Core cultivators.
Thinking about how she had eaten so many of the serpent's eggs over the past several days, Lu Xiao'e could not help shivering.
'So my talismans really did kill that many Golden Core elders…'
Lu You remained silent, digesting the serpent's report.
The reason he had hidden inside this cave was because he still did not fully understand his own combat strength.
Now that he had broken through to the Foundation Establishment realm, Evil Eye was feeding upon Foundation Establishment realm cultivation origin blood, greatly amplifying the Hell Avatar.
In addition, Lu You's own spiritual energy had multiplied, dramatically increasing the number of talismans he could release at once.
After calculating carefully, he realized that aside from being unable to fly—and thus slower than Golden Core cultivators—he no longer needed to fear Golden Core experts at all.
"Excellent. Well done."
Lu You stepped forward and gently patted the serpent's head.
At the same time, he secretly took ten storage rings from the small cauldron and tossed them into the serpent's mouth.
"Exalted One, this little snake—hiss."
The serpent happily swayed its head, but just as it began speaking, its nose suddenly twitched.
Its pupils instantly contracted.
"Exalted One… why do I sense the power of our bloodline from your body?"
"You couldn't possibly…"
The serpent hesitated briefly before asking carefully:
"May I ask, Exalted One… are my children still alive?"
The serpent had smelled a familiar aura from Lu You and immediately suspected he had eaten its egg.
Beside them, Lu Xiao'e's heart leapt into her throat the moment she heard the question.
Subconsciously, she gripped the hilt of her flexible sword.
After five full days of recovery and absorbing one serpent egg every day, her Golden Core had already healed more than halfway.
She looked deeply at Lu You.
If the serpent attacked, she had already made up her mind—she would immediately send Lu You away, then detonate her Golden Core to hold the serpent back.
Looking at the serpent's expression, Lu You extended his hand and took out the original serpent egg from his storage ring.
"If you doubt me, then you may take your child back."
All the eggs Lu You had cooked were copies created by the small cauldron. He had deliberately left the original untouched, because this was the one he had promised to safeguard for the serpent.
The serpent suspiciously sniffed the egg several times before lowering its head.
"Please do not blame me, Exalted One. This little snake's lifespan is nearly exhausted. I do not have long left to live. This egg is my final attachment to the world. I only ask that Exalted One keep it by your side."
Afraid Lu You might resent it, the serpent pressed its head against the ground.
"Exalted One, this little snake can go and fight that final Golden Core cultivator to the death, then return here to pass away peacefully and leave my demon core to you."
A demon core differed from a Golden Core.
A Golden Core represented cultivation level, while a demon core was the essence of a demon beast's life itself.
After obtaining one, humans could refine it into pills or treasured artifacts. The stronger the demon beast, the more powerful the resulting medicine or artifact.
Given the serpent's cultivation, its demon core would be more than sufficient to refine a Nascent Soul Condensation Pill—the pill required for Golden Core cultivators to break through into the Nascent Soul realm.
But demon cores were extremely difficult to obtain.
Not only did one need to kill the beast, one also had to prevent it from detonating its own demon core before death.
Because demon beasts could self-destruct their cores, high-level medicinal pills in the cultivation world were considered sect-protecting treasures. Usually, only mighty experts at the Divine Transformation or Tribulation Transcendence stages could instantly kill a Golden Core demon beast before it exploded its core.
However, such experts did not have time to roam the world hunting demon beasts.
If weaker disciples discovered one, they were often eaten alive.
If stronger cultivators encountered one, the beast would either self-destruct or flee.
A sect might go more than a hundred years without successfully hunting a single high-level demon beast.
"There's no need," Lu You replied. "You should spend your remaining time enjoying the life you still have. I have no desire for your demon core."
Seeing that the serpent was willing to sacrifice everything for its egg, Lu You could not accept its decision.
"If you wish to care for the egg yourself, then keep it. If you trust me, then I will take it out of this realm. If I encounter an opportunity in the future, I will not be stingy. I'll help your child hatch into the world."
"Exalted One, I have less than half a year of life remaining. Dying earlier or later makes little difference."
Hearing Lu You's promise only strengthened the serpent's resolve.
"My death would not be meaningless. If I choose to peacefully pass away, not only can I leave behind my demon core, I can also transfer a trace of my life force into my child and awaken it once more."
"So long as Exalted One supplies it with spiritual energy, sooner or later, my child will hatch."
The serpent had already received thousands of cubic meters of spirit medicine from Lu You.
Seeing such generosity, the serpent became convinced that Lu You must come from an extremely powerful cultivation clan.
In that case, its child would not only survive, but would likely become the spirit beast of a great family—well-fed, protected, and free from danger.
As for why the serpent believed Lu You belonged to a great clan—it was because Lu You's cultivation was far too weak.
He was clearly not some heaven-defying genius from a sect.
The serpent concluded that Lu You had to be a rich second-generation cultivator who simply crushed Golden Core experts using endless spirit stones and talismans.
"I see. So you possess a method to awaken your offspring."
Lu You nodded and stopped refusing.
Because ultimately, this was not truly a gift for him.
The serpent was leaving these things for its own child.
The demon core was merely an additional offering.
After all, the serpent egg would still require a constant supply of spiritual energy—and the one thing Lu You lacked least was spiritual energy.
"Set that Golden Core cultivator aside for now. Great Serpent, look at that mountain."
Lu You pointed toward the humanoid black mountain.
"Take me and my friend to the top of that mountain. I suspect it's the core formation eye of this secret realm!"
For the time being, Lu You had no intention of killing Huo Chuan.
He first wanted to investigate whether the mountain truly was the formation core of the realm. If it was not, then Huo Chuan still needed to stay alive so Lu You could interrogate him about how the ancient maps were obtained and how the secret realm was meant to be opened.
Using the Deep Literary Pavilion's methods as reference might prevent Lu You from becoming trapped inside the realm forever.
Meanwhile, Huo Chuan fled in panic, not daring to delay for even a moment.
He flew desperately until he finally arrived at the gathering place of the Foundation Establishment disciples.
Only after seeing all two hundred Foundation Establishment disciples still present did he finally relax.
"Elder!"
"Master!"
The disciples immediately bowed upon seeing him.
Huo Chuan ignored everyone. He sat down directly on the ground, took out Qi-Nourishing Pills from his storage ring, swallowed them, and began regulating his breathing.
Only after a long while did he finally recover.
Once he confirmed that the serpent had not pursued him, the violently pounding of his heart gradually settled.
'This won't do. Dongfang Bubai is far too terrifying. If they find me again, I absolutely won't be their opponent.'
A cold light appeared in Huo Chuan's eyes as he addressed the disciples:
"We need to reorganize our plans and prepare to break the secret realm."
"Jia-One, come with me first."
"Jia-One" was simply a codename among the two hundred Foundation Establishment disciples.
Huo Chuan could not be bothered remembering all their names, so he referred to these unimportant disciples using combinations of words and numbers.
Jia-One respectfully stepped out from the crowd and boarded Huo Chuan's flying sword.
Meanwhile, far away beneath the foot of another mountain, Han Tian—who had been meditating alongside Wu Tong—suddenly opened his eyes.
This Jia-One was precisely the disciple Han Tian had encountered earlier inside the secret realm, the same person to whom he had given a transmission talisman.