<h4>Chapter 81: The ck Viper</h4>


    Trantor: Cinder Trantions


    ---


    The next day, at dawn.


    The underground cave in the ancient battlefield was pitch ck.


    Having calcted the time, Song Wen and Xuan Ye were ready to go.


    As usual, Xuan Ye led the way. The tunnel they were traversing had many branches, and only Xuan Ye knew which path to take.


    After walking for about two hours.


    Song Wen suddenly stopped and asked Xuan Ye.


    "Daoist Xuan Ye, is the snake pit not far ahead?"


    Xuan Ye asked in confusion.


    "Brother Guo Tao, why do you ask? Have you been here before and know the way to the snake pit? It is indeed not far ahead, only a few hundred meters."


    Song Wen shook his head and said.


    "I have never been to the ancient battlefield, but about three hundred meters ahead, there is a group of snakes dragging six zombies, crawling forward."


    Previously, Song Wen had already demonstrated his superior spiritual power. Xuan Ye did not doubt the truth of Song Wen''s words about being able to perceive scenes three hundred meters away.


    He continued to ask, "What do the snakes look like?"


    "They arepletely ck and vary in size. The smallest are as thick as a thumb, and thergest are as thick as an arm," Song Wen replied.


    Xuan Ye nodded, "That should be correct; those are the ck vipers from the snake pit. They are hunting."


    "Hunting!" Song Wen was somewhat surprised.


    It was the first time Song Wen had heard of such peculiar creatures that fed on zombies.


    Xuan Ye nodded and said, "Food is scarce in the cave. It is not unusual for beasts and zombies to hunt each other."


    "So, what should we do now?" Song Wen asked.


    "We should not disturb the ck vipers hunting ahead. Let them carry their prey back to the snake pit."


    Xuan Ye paused and then continued.


    "For the next step in harvesting the snake scale fruit, we will need to rely on Brother Guo Tao."


    Song Wen nodded and said, "No problem, this is what we agreed upon earlier. Shouldn''t you exin the n for harvesting the snake scale fruit now?"


    Xuan Ye had mentioned before that his n required the help of a body cultivator, which was why he invited Song Wen and Niu Ding to join him, but he had not disclosed the detailed n.


    Xuan Ye said, "The ck vipers have been living in the underground of the ancient battlefield for a long time and feed on zombies, making them naturally fond of darkness and yin energy; they fear fire and the yang energy of heaven and earth."


    "To sessfully acquire the snake scale fruit, I have prepared for a long time. I spent arge amount of money tomission a set of the ''Raging Inferno Array.'' This array consists of eight array gs. As long as the eight gs are ced in the correct positions and I activate the array disc, the area within the array will turn into a sea of fire."


    "The temperature within this array is extremely high and contains a trace of the yang energy of heaven and earth. If this array is set up on the ground of the snake pit, the ck vipers, due to their nature, will be forced deep into the snake hole."


    "Then, it will be much easier for us to retrieve the snake scale fruit."


    Upon hearing this, Song Wen frowned deeply.


    Xuan Ye''s n sounded feasible, but its implementation would definitely not be as smooth as he described.


    For example, how to sessfully ce the eight array gs was a significant problem.


    The ck vipers would not just stand by and watch a human cultivator move around their territory without reacting.


    However, Song Wen did not immediately voice any doubts but instead nodded in agreement.


    "Let''s first take a look at the situation in the snake pit and then decide how to proceed."


    Xuan Ye nodded, "That sounds good."


    The two of them waited while the ck vipers ahead slowly dragged the zombies. It took them a full two quarters of an hour to cover a distance of several miles.


    Xuan Ye and Song Wen hid in the shadows at a bend in the cave, about three hundred meters from the snake pit.


    To avoid alerting the ck vipers, Xuan Ye had already put away the luminous stone he used for light, leaving the surroundings in darkness.


    Through his beetle Gu, Song Wen observed the general situation of the snake pit.


    The cave housing the snake pit was several tens of meters high, with a sloping rock ledge extending from the ground all the way to the ceiling.


    The rock slope was dotted with numerous small holes, some asrge as two inches in diameter, others as small as a thumb.


    Hundreds of ck vipers slithered and crawled over the rock slope, with many more lying half-hidden in the snake holes, their tails sticking out.


    These ck vipers varied greatly in size, some as thick as a bowl, others as slender as chopsticks.


    Midway up the slope, a solitary small tree, about two meters high, grew there.


    Perhaps due to never having been exposed to sunlight, the tree was entirely grayish-white, including its leaves.


    At the top of the small tree hung three fist-sized, fiery red fruits, brimming with spiritual energy and emitting a pleasant fragrance.


    Many small snakes slithered around the base of the tree, their eyes fixed greedily on the three snake scale fruits, but none dared to climb the tree and bite into the fruits.


    Looking around at the pitch-ck surroundings, Song Wen asked.


    "Daoist Xuan Ye, what do we do next?"


    Xuan Ye replied, "When we make our move, I will send a fierce ghost to draw the attention of the snakes and simultaneously cast a fireball spell."


    "Brother Guo Tao, your task is to use the firelight to quickly throw the eight array gs into their corresponding positions."


    As he spoke, Xuan Ye produced an array g.


    The array g was about two feet long, with a fiery red banner and a ck pole. The tip of the pole was very sharp, evidently designed to be easily driven into the rock. Mysterious cloud patterns were drawn on both the banner and the pole, with mes seeming to flow among the patterns, making it look extraordinary.


    Xuan Ye said, "This array g weighs about a hundred pounds. You will need to use your brute strength to urately throw it to the array positions. Can you do that?"


    With his seventh-level Qi refining strength, Xuan Ye''s spiritual power could only cover a range of just over a hundred meters. Beyond this range, his control over magical tools would be lost, leaving the tools to move only by inertia, making precise control impossible. Naturally, he couldn''t urately ce the array gs into the array positions.


    Therefore, Xuan Ye had to seek another method.


    He thought of finding a body cultivator to assist in retrieving the snake scale fruits.


    Body cultivators possess great physical strength, enabling them to throw the array gs urately into position from a distance.


    Song Wen took the array g, hefted it, and said, "That should be no problem, but relying on brute strength to throw each g one by one is too cumbersome and time-consuming. It''s easy to be detected by the ck vipers, causing the array setup to fail."


    Xuan Ye raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh? Do you have a better method?"


    Song Wen replied, "My spiritual power can barely cover the area of the snake pit. If I can initially refine the array gs, I can use my spiritual power to control all eight gs simultaneously and ce them into their positions."


    After more than two months of nurturing, Song Wen had slowly discovered new uses for his beetle Gu. Besides extending his spiritual power, the beetle Gu could also simply control magical tools within this extended range.


    Although he couldn''t use the magical tools to attack enemies within this range, he could still manage to control eight array gs and ce them into the array positions.


    (End of the Chapter)