Chương 9: I looted the loot box, and I was happy.

Cai Ni rarely affirmed what Xiao Yao said; this place was indeed very dangerous for the two of them.

"Please wait a moment, there are still some things to take care of."

"What's wrong?" Xiao Yao asked suspiciously. Now that everything was done, if he didn't hurry up and leave, he would be killed.

However, the next second Xiao Yao cursed himself thoroughly.

Cai Ni stretched out her jade finger, aiming at the center of the platform, where there were still various unused medicinal materials.

"I'm so stupid, how could I forget about it? I also have things to do, let's hurry up."

With a whoosh, Xiao Yao darted to the table and swept all the spoils into his storage ring, afraid that Cai Ni would snatch them away if he was too slow.

He patted his chest in satisfaction, a rare expression of excitement appearing on his face.

He couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Now we won't be poor anymore, and with Elder Jin's ring, our collection will probably be even more abundant. We're rich! Hehe!"

"What a country bumpkin! Never seen the world before, sigh..." Cai Ni was speechless at his behavior.

Ignoring him, she swayed over to Elder Jin's corpse, bent down, and bit her finger, letting the blood drip from her index finger into Elder Jin's mouth.

Xiao Yao seemed oblivious to her sarcasm, preoccupied with his own thoughts: "A well-fed man doesn't know the hunger of a starving man. I don't even have a single fighting skill yet."

"Hehe! These are all my spoils of war. Let's see if there are any fighting techniques that suit me."

Speaking of combat skills, Xiao Yao rubbed his hands together and took out Elder Jin's storage ring.

His soul power clung to his fingertips, instantly piercing the fragile soul imprint remaining on the storage ring.

"Wow! Quite a lot, even sixth-grade pills! So many materials! And... cultivation techniques! So many!"

"Huh? A copy of the 'Burning Technique'? One hundred... seventy-eight copies? Is this old guy out of his mind? Isn't he an ice-attribute cultivator?"

"So many common, outdated things! Luckily, there are still two that I can practice. I'll sell the rubbings of the 'Burning Flame Technique' for money!"

"Looting the bag is so satisfying, so cool! Haha!"

As expected, Xiao Yao was not disappointed; the collection of a Dou Huang powerhouse was enough to drive him crazy.

Unlike Xiao Yao's excitement, Cai Ni's face turned deathly pale, her brows furrowed, her lips pressed tightly together, and beads of sweat appeared on her nose, clearly indicating extreme pain.

"Hey, Your Majesty, what are you doing?" Xiao Yao quickly noticed her situation and didn't bother to examine the harvest in detail.

What happened next shocked Xiao Yao. Elder Jin's mouth suddenly opened, and a black shadow suddenly darted out. Cai Ni caught it with her five fingers forming a palm.

"Black frost snake venom! You can actually control it!"

"Hmm... Of course, this is something nurtured by countless generations of empresses of my snake-people race."

"This frost snake has been soaking in the Ten Thousand Bones Poison Ice for countless years, and it can actually be considered a part of it. I just need to put it back into this pool of water, and perhaps in the future it can become the real Ten Thousand Bones Poison Ice."

"I must say, you are really smart." Xiao Yao sincerely praised him.

"However... it would be better if you didn't always speak with such a sharp edge."

"Hmph! You got the benefits and you're still making sarcastic remarks. Let's go."

"Are you alright? Do you need to rest?"

"I'm fine, now it's all up to you."

Xiao Yao saw Cai Ni's angelic face turn pale and was also a little worried. He planned to persuade her again, since he would need Cai Ni to lead the way, and she couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

"I think you should rest for a while, and then we can set off again."

"My problem is that I've lost too much of my vital essence, it's not..."

At this point, Cai Ni and Xiao Yao suddenly looked at the same spot—the bridgehead connecting to the shore.

Voices could be heard coming from the only opening in the cave. They might not have been able to hear clearly because of the distance, but they definitely heard them.

"Hurry up!"

The two leaped into the pool with lightning speed, passing through the surface covered with corpses, and quickly dived downwards. The small, venomous snake also slipped from their grasp and disappeared into the pool, its whereabouts unknown.

Cai Ni rushed towards a wall, with Xiao Yao following closely behind.

Soon Cai Ni stopped, pointed to a noticeably protruding spot, and made a pushing motion with both hands.

Xiao Yao immediately understood, and promptly activated his battle qi to push the stone forward.

Suddenly, a stream of water with a distinct surging force rushed out, almost knocking him out of his hand.

In just a few breaths, he had completely pushed the stone away.

This is a passageway that is nearly 1. 5 meters wide, and it is pitch black inside, with nothing visible.

After seeing the passage open, Cai Ni gave Xiao Yao a gesture of putting her hands together and then swam in first.

Xiao Yao nodded and followed closely behind, closing the stone behind him again.

At this point, the surroundings became pitch black, so dark that he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face. He could only feel the slight movement of the water as he struggled to swim forward.

Unbeknownst to them, shortly after they escaped, five people stood in the center of the platform inside the cave, staring at Elder Jin's corpse with terrifyingly grim expressions.

"Big brother!... Brother!"

"Why is this happening? You bunch of useless trash! Useless!"

The leader was dressed in tight black clothes, with a ferocious face, green hair and eyebrows, and a somewhat lewd appearance, making him look exactly like an angry green turtle.

The other four subordinates, dressed in black cloaks, were so frightened that they knelt down and begged for mercy, their hearts filled with terror, frantically searching for a reason to live.

"Elder Qing, spare us! We didn't find anything unusual, nor did we see any trace of anyone coming in."

"Elder Jin might... be... ah!"

Before the subordinate could finish speaking, he let out a scream and was killed by Elder Qing, the leader, with a single palm strike.

"Idiot! My elder brother's soul imprint on his storage ring suddenly disappeared, and the hostage in that big vat is gone! Are you blind? Huh?"

"This is what happens when you fail to perform your duties. If we weren't short-handed, I would have sent you all to your deaths with my elder brother!"

"Search it for me right now!"

"Yes! Yes! I will search immediately."

The remaining three were filled with extreme fear. They got up as if they had been granted a pardon and began to scatter to search for the remaining three.

"Brother! Your death was pointless! I told you to kill that snake cub to avoid trouble, but you insisted on keeping her to offer to the cult leader. Why didn't you listen to me!"

Elder Qing was deeply immersed in grief over the loss of his brother and could not extricate himself from it.

But then, a somewhat cold female voice rang out, interrupting his sorrow.

"A mere peak Dou Huang and a few insignificant Dou Wangs dare to kidnap my Snake-Human Queen? They have some nerve! Hmph!"

The woman's voice was both dignified and very pleasant to the ear.

Judging from the woman's tone, she didn't take the green-haired old man seriously at all; even a Dou Wang level expert was like a pig or a dog in her eyes.

The next instant, a white figure appeared in front of the cave exit. Her body was completely covered from head to toe in a white dress, except for her breasts which highlighted her sexy figure. She had a typical mature and sophisticated look and appeared to be in her thirties.

"A Snake-Man Clan Battle Emperor who has mastered the art of concealment? Hmph! You're all alone, you're courting death!" Elder Qing was momentarily surprised but did not take the white-clad woman seriously.

"She's all alone, don't be afraid!"

Three subordinates of the Battle King quickly moved closer, standing in front of Elder Qing in a defensive posture. Elder Qing, looking at the woman who had suddenly appeared without a sound, shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Hmph! How do you know I came alone?" As the woman spoke, her fighting spirit suddenly exploded within her body, and a surge of energy burst forth instantly.

Behind her, the sound of wind breaking rang out, and then six beautiful figures with similar appearances to her appeared, also wearing long dresses, but the only difference was the color of their dresses.

"Battle Emperor! Peak!"

"Seven!"

"It's over!"

Even his three subordinates were completely dumbfounded this time. One against seven? How could they possibly fight?