Chapter 261: Piercing Cold

"My name is Qu Wu, from the Spirit Awakening lineage. Earlier, there was a constant wailing sound of a snake echoing through this canyon, which drew many disciples here… It's quite strange; I've never heard of a White Serpent Temple in this area before." The disciple, who introduced himself as Qu Wu, said this as he circulated spiritual energy to heal his wounds while leading Ning Xiaoling deeper into the temple.

Ning Xiaoling, holding her unnoticeable broken saber and carrying a bulging cloth bag on her back, walked beside him, listening and nodding gently.

She had never heard Master Ling mention anything about a White Serpent Temple either.

But this temple not only existed, it was also massive, comparable in size to the Medicine King Palace.

The temple was devoid of light, shrouded in darkness. Ning Xiaoling opened her Sword Eyes and saw that the walls on both sides of the path leading deeper into the temple were covered in scrape marks, as if from scales dragging against them.

The walls featured murals and large troughs. Inside the stone troughs stood naked human figures entwined with feathered serpents. These figures, whose gender was indistinguishable, possessed a haunting yet sacred beauty. Numerous other entrances lined the sides, leading into profound depths that stretched beyond sight.

Ning Xiaoling glanced at those areas.

Qu Wu said, "We already explored this place before Ming Lang arrived."

Ning Xiaoling asked, "So what exactly is this place?"

Qu Wu replied, "We hypothesize that the waters of the Underworld Spring beneath the ground have risen, and the netherworld energy is sufficiently abundant. The Bridge of Helplessness has transformed, so instead of leading to the other side of the valley as it should, it has connected to the netherworld."

Ning Xiaoling was slightly surprised. "Can we still go back then?"

Qu Wu replied, "We've tried. We can return by turning back from the Bridge of Helplessness."

Ning Xiaoling felt a little relieved.

The deeper they went into the main hall, the stronger the smell of blood became.

Ning Xiaoling's expression grew serious as she looked at the almost black blood on the ground.

Qu Wu's injuries were temporarily suppressed. He wiped the blood from his forehead and said, "I always thought these feathered serpents were just legends, but I never imagined they actually existed in this world. Luckily, that feathered serpent had just reawakened and was still relatively weak; otherwise, we might all have died here..."

"Legends of feathered serpents?" Ning Xiaoling had seen one before. On the day Lady Bai made her desperate move, transforming into a skeletal feathered serpent as she plunged the red moon into the Underworld Spring to consume herself, the terrifying beauty of its flight through the night left an unforgettable impression on Ning Xiaoling.

Qu Wu asked, perplexed, "Haven't you heard of them?"

Ning Xiaoling shook her head. "I'm a disciple from the Sword Heaven Sect, and I've only been here for about half a year, so there's a lot I'm still unfamiliar with."

Qu Wu nodded. "I see... Legend has it that the Hades Lord's true form was a feathered serpent, with black scales and white feathers. After the Hades Lord's death, the yin and yang were inverted, and his scales transformed into countless young feathered serpents. Most of them perished in the boiling waters of the Underworld Spring, but those who survived had white scales and black feathers. They scattered to various corners of the world, symbolizing vengeance. Our master told us that the Hades Lord will return one day..."

Ning Xiaoling hummed in acknowledgment, the beautiful image of a feathered serpent naturally appearing in her mind.

She had originally thought it was just a random figment of her imagination, never expecting it to come true so quickly.

Deep within the main hall, firelight burned.

A colossal feathered serpent with snow-white scales was coiled in the center. Its spinal scales, covering its body, were rugged and hard. Its serpentine eyes glinted with a faint golden hue, and a vibrant red forked tongue flickered from beneath its rostral scales. On its back, feathers as dark as an eternal night dripped crimson blood, resting softly and wearily upon its body.

It thrashed its body continuously, causing the walls behind it to collapse from the impact. Above it, a man in white robes was swiftly flying on his sword, unleashing streams of sword energy towards the feathered serpent.

Surrounding the feathered serpent were four or five cultivators, all of whom had been drawn by the white serpent's wailing.

"You're back so soon?" someone exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, I happened to run into this junior sister," Qu Wu replied.

The disciple, while manipulating spirits and wielding his sword to try and break the feathered serpent's scales, asked, "Junior sister, your timing is perfect. Go attack its tail. Be careful and follow Senior Brother Ming Lang's lead!"

Ning Xiaoling gazed at the feathered serpent, a tremor in her heart. She asked, "Why are we killing it? Aren't feathered serpents gods of our sect?"

The disciple explained, "This is the serpent that Grandmaster suppressed in the White Serpent Divine Valley long ago. It's a traitor... Somehow, it escaped now..."

Ning Xiaoling said, "Why didn't you inform the elders..."

After saying this, she immediately realized that these disciples likely possessed some spiritual treasures. They were reluctant to use their magical pouches to leave, as doing so would mean forfeiting their treasures.

"Enough talk! Trust us, let's kill it together... Qu Wu, you're too badly injured, rest on the side for now." The senior brother said hurriedly, "This snake is strange too. Earlier, it was sickly and seemed like it was about to die, but then it suddenly went berserk..."

Qu Wu nodded, holding his chest and sitting pale-faced on the ground. His broken sword lay discarded beside him. He had previously been accidentally struck down by the feathered serpent's wing and was still coughing up blood.

While the senior brothers and sisters fought fiercely, Ning Xiaoling was reluctant to harm the serpent deep down. She reluctantly charged forward with a formidable aura, swinging her sword and merely going through the motions.

The senior brother glanced at her and asked curiously, "By the way, junior sister, what's that large bag on your back?"

Ning Xiaoling quickly replied, "Oh, these are spiritual fruits. I picked a few extra because I was hungry..."

The senior brother nodded. Seeing her somewhat weak sword energy, he guessed her cultivation level was low, so he kindly warned her, "By the way, junior sister, after we kill this feathered serpent and get out, you need to be careful. There's someone around your age, seemingly named Ning Xiaoling. It's said she's stolen many disciples' treasures, and her methods are quite ruthless. You really should be cautious."

"..." Ning Xiaoling was silent for a moment, then said, "Thank you for the warning, senior brother. I'll be careful."

They circled the feathered serpent, hacking at it. Although they occasionally shattered or peeled off many of its white abdominal scales, the damage inflicted on the feathered serpent was ultimately limited. The true main battlefield was above.

Ming Lang, nimble and elusive in the air, resembled a true feathered serpent. His Purple Court Realm's ability to tread on air made his attacks within a small range appear as flashes.

Under the prolonged siege, the feathered serpent was already covered in wounds, and its vibrating wings could no longer support its massive body.

Under their relentless assault, the ancient creature, once fearsome but now only half a step into the Purple Court realm, thrashed its spindle-shaped head, roaring in pain with its gaping maw. It slammed against the temple walls, instinctively trying to escape, but the walls were too thick, causing it to shatter even more of its own scales.

Ming Lang avoided a direct confrontation. Although his cultivation was higher than the feathered serpent's, the cultivation of ancient beings couldn't be measured by common standards. In their initial battles, he had suffered significant losses.

Had this foolish feathered serpent not swallowed the top-ranked rare treasure and attempted to escape, he would not have chosen to confront it directly.

Along the way, he had probably found four spiritual treasures.

While these four spiritual treasures were not bad, they were expendable to him. He had promised that once he obtained the top-ranked rare treasure, he would distribute these four spiritual treasures to others as compensation for helping to lure the feathered serpent.

Amidst the chaotic fight, Ning Xiaoling's gaze remained fixed on the feathered serpent.

She noticed something was off about this feathered serpent. Its combat lacked any logic; all its attacks were based purely on primitive instinct. This did not align with the legends of feathered serpent species possessing high intelligence...

Could it be that after being suppressed for too long, this feathered serpent had become nothing more than a living corpse?

As she was thinking this, thunder rumbled in the sky, and a sudden flash of sword light, like purple electricity, vertically struck downwards.

On the walls on both sides, overflowing electrical threads climbed like spiderwebs, sending up clouds of dust.

Sword energy descended from the sky.

It was Ming Lang's sword.

He had been building momentum in the air for a long time. While the feathered serpent was in its frenzy, he avoided its sharp attacks, but now that the serpent showed signs of weakness again, his sword descended without hesitation.

Several currents of energy, along with the purple lightning, struck down. The edges of the lightning subtly carried the black hue of the netherworld.

Ming Lang's sword struck the white serpent's scales, unleashing a series of purple and red sparks. His body landed on the serpent's form, pushing it downwards. The white serpent opened its blood-red maw, trying to flap its wings to dislodge the parasite clinging to its vital spot.

But the other disciples also lunged forward, no longer concealing their strength. A variety of techniques were unleashed at once, metal striking the feathered serpent that had only recently broken free from its seal. Serpent feathers and shattered scales splattered amidst its cries of agony.

Ming Lang plunged his sword into its body.

Power flowed into his arm.

With a *hiss*, the sword sank into the serpent's flesh.

The white serpent's screams were heart-rending.

The temple trembled, and the serpent's anguished wail turned into a gust of wind that swept over them.

Ning Xiaoling was knocked back by the thrashing serpent's tail.

Above, Ming Lang had already plunged his sword into the serpent's flesh and dragged it sideways, effectively disemboweling the feathered serpent.

The creature, a descendant of the Hades Lord, thus collapsed.

Ming Lang landed.

He looked at the sword in his hand, then at the massive corpse on the ground, feeling a sense of unreality.

This feathered serpent wasn't particularly strong; if the elders had come, they could have easily slain it. Why then was it specifically suppressed in the White Serpent Valley?

Perhaps it was simply too long ago, and the elders had forgotten about it.

After pondering for a moment, he drew his sword, imbued it with sharp sword energy, and sliced open the feathered serpent's abdomen, retrieving the top-ranked spiritual treasure from within—the Soul-Summoning Banner.

This Soul-Summoning Banner was entirely different from those used by charlatans in the martial world.

When waved, it could summon all evil spirits within a radius of several hundred miles and command them to obey its orders. Waving the banner at night caused an eerie wind to stir the ravines, creating a spectacular scene.

Ming Lang used his sword's fiery energy to burn away the disgusting mucus that clung to the Soul-Summoning Banner from the feathered serpent's abdomen.

He looked at the brand-new Soul-Summoning Banner and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother Ming Lang," the other disciples congratulated him one after another.

In this Grand Competition of the Spirit Valley, Ming Lang was destined to be the champion.

No one noticed that Ning Xiaoling kept staring at the Soul-Summoning Banner, even secretly swallowing.

However, Ning Xiaoling also knew her limitations. With her current strength in the Longevity realm, confronting Ming Lang would be akin to handing over all the spiritual treasures she had meticulously collected like a squirrel.

Of course, if the disciples she had robbed heard this, they would undoubtedly object furiously to the "cute" moniker of a "squirrel."

Ming Lang turned around and said, "Everyone contributed significantly to this hunt. These are the spiritual treasures I promised you."

He distributed the four spiritual treasures to four disciples.

The disciples thanked him.

Slaying this feathered serpent should be considered a great accomplishment.

Ming Lang looked at Ning Xiaoling and said with a slight apology, "I only found four. When we get out later, I'll find another one for you."

The other disciples were very impressed by his use of "only," considering that historically, the most found had been just five. However, Ning Xiaoling felt no awkwardness. She even waved her hand dismissively, reassuring him, "It's still only midnight, senior brother. You should be able to find more."

"..." The others looked at Ning Xiaoling, thinking that this young girl was indeed a novice, utterly unaware of the vastness of the world.

Only then did Ning Xiaoling realize something was amiss. She immediately tightened her cloth bag.

This cloth bag had the ability to block spiritual energy. The elders designed such bags to prevent unnecessary conflicts among disciples as much as possible, since plundering was far easier than searching.

Qu Wu, who was sitting nearby, also received a spiritual treasure. He said, "I didn't contribute much, yet I received one. I feel undeserving."

Ming Lang replied, "You were the most injured; you deserve it."

Qu Wu smiled. He suddenly looked at Ning Xiaoling, his gaze falling on the broken saber in her hand. With interest, he asked, "Junior sister, may I see that saber in your hand?"

Ning Xiaoling replied, "No."

Qu Wu gave a helpless smile. "Junior sister is a bit stingy."

Ning Xiaoling huffed. This was currently her most prized weapon.

Ning Xiaoling looked at the broken sword in his hand and felt an unprompted sense of familiarity. She asked, "Then can I see your broken sword?"

Qu Wu was very generous. "Of course."

Ning Xiaoling took the broken sword and examined it for a moment in her hand. Her finger traced the jagged edge, and she quietly murmured, "Oh?"

Ming Lang turned to look at the feathered serpent, contemplating how to deal with its corpse.

Ning Xiaoling's pupils contracted slightly... This jagged edge, it seemed to fit perfectly with the broken sword she had found!

White Serpent Valley... White Serpent Divine Valley...

Like a flash of lightning, she recalled the battle she had almost forgotten.

A battle had once taken place in the White Serpent Valley. Although traces of the fight remained, the people involved had vanished without a trace, leaving only a fragment of a broken sword.

"Junior Brother Qu Wu, is this your first time seeing this feathered serpent?" Ning Xiaoling asked, feigning calmness.

Qu Wu nodded. "Of course. I arrived even later than the two senior brothers."

Ning Xiaoling quietly murmured, "Oh," as a terrible thought arose in her mind.

She slowly raised her head, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Senior brother, could I see your magical pouch?"

Qu Wu narrowed his eyes slightly. "Magical pouch? Why do you ask?"

"I was just..." Ning Xiaoling was still formulating her words when, suddenly, her expression changed drastically.

"Look out!" Ning Xiaoling cried out loudly.

It was too late.

With another *hiss*.

Ming Lang lowered his head and saw a sword protruding from his chest.

It was a white bone sword.

Qu Wu was standing right behind him.

The bone sword had slipped out from his sleeve.