One of his master's wisdoms about how to kill cultivators was simple. Most cultivators didn't like being insulted, underestimated, or offended. For a snake, you only needed to bare your fangs at a cultivator to do all of that. It was hard to believe how short-tempered cultivators were, considering their long lifespans and the patience required for cultivation.

In the last ten years, only a handful of cultivators could endure being followed by snakes constantly trying to provoke them. Even then, when some of his kin tried to block their path, the cultivators would kill them without hesitation. This action guaranteed their own death.

"He is so polite even when I stand proud in front of him," Emerald Fang added.

"A cultivator like that is hard to come by. Is he an old cultivator?"

"No, he's young. I think he's a disciple of the Purple Moon Sect. My last service was to a fox named Emerald Fox, who was guarding five pills that it'll consume later. It seems that this disciple wants to get his hands on those pills."

Emerald Fox was unpleasant, and that pesky moss was also a threat, even for him. When he sensed both of their deaths, he couldn't help but chuckle happily. After all, while Emerald Fang was obedient, he too could feel resentment.

"A young, polite, and strong cultivator, I assume," his master chuckled. "He's rare. Did you catch his name?"

"I didn't, but I can find out if you want."

"No need. If he's as polite as you say, I'll know when I meet him. And I will meet him if he's a talented genius. When that happens, he'll probably die." His master chuckled, and Emerald Fang nodded.

Emerald Fang had killed hundreds of cultivators in ten years, but his master was in a different league. His actions had wiped out two clans and a medium-sized sect, resulting in thousands of casualties, all without a single drop of blood on his hands. It was unfathomable to Emerald Fang, and he wondered how this man didn't think he was smarter than everyone else.

"All right, Emerald Fang. Our conversation has gone on too long. I need to work again. Verdant Mountains Sect is a slave driver, and I'll be punished if I don't meet my quota."

"Master, for how advanced this cultivator society is, why do they still need manual labor? Surely they can create a formation that automatically harvests rice?"

His master chuckled. "Well, I think it boils down to the simple fact that mortals are considered inferior to cultivators, and manual labor is much cheaper than array formation. All right, I'll cut the connection now. Take care, Emerald Fang, and I hope we can meet again soon. I miss you and your brothers."

Hearing his master's words, Emerald Fang smiled happily. "Yes, master."

His master cut the connection, and Emerald Fang's snake heart started pumping excitement through his body. For him and his brothers, their master's wish was a command, but instead of using them like tools, his master treated them like family. Emerald Fang didn't dare think he was more than a servant, but the heart is a fickle thing, and it always wants something.

"All right, I think we need to be more diligent," Emerald Fang said, and his kin expressed their agreement.

They needed to kill as many young and talented cultivators as possible, and he would do that even if the whole world was against him. His master's wish was absolute, and since he wanted this world for himself, Emerald Fang and his brothers would make sure no one could stand in his way. Everyone in this world needed to kneel before his master, be polite to him, love him, and serve him like an obedient slave.

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"Are you guys hungry?"

His kin expressed their approval. While Emerald Fang was a spirit beast and could fast for years, his kin were ordinary snakes and needed to eat occasionally. Still, the joy of eating was something he would never miss, and even later, when he was an immortal and didn't need sustenance, he would like to eat every day.

"I heard there's a little village nearby. Let's visit and make them our food."

As he said that, he also sent a mental command to make sure his kin didn't eat his favorite food. While some expressed disappointment, Emerald Fang couldn't compromise on this. After all, babies and tender meat from children under five were his favorite food.

***

"And this is the last one!" Liu Xing shouted as he picked the third Diamond Pill from a little river crab's pincer. The crab was tiny, mud-colored, and moved aggressively toward Liu Xing with its pincers, as if he had just taken candy from a child seeking revenge.

Liu Xing ignored the crab trying to pinch his calf and smiled while caressing the third pill.

With this, he had finally succeeded in taking all the valuable treasures from Second Grey Cloud City. He didn't get the Red Wings of Stability and had nearly died fighting two abnormally strong spirit beasts, but in the end, he harvested three beast cores and two treasures that would help him win this race and finally become an inner disciple.

Putting the last pill into his spatial bag, Liu Xing checked his surroundings. He stood beside a small, shallow river. It was so narrow he could cross it in one step, and the water was so cool and refreshing that Liu Xing couldn't help but wash his face and body.

"I miss my robe," Liu Xing muttered after washing his body.

After the fight with that inverted triangle, he was half-naked. Since there were no more treasures worth his time in this city, he needed to leave, but he could at least visit a clothes shop so he wouldn't have to travel with his upper body exposed.

Liu Xing decided to walk slowly beside the small river. The crab that had tried to attack him gave up and retreated into the clear water.

As he walked, he rotated his arms like windmills, trying to stretch his arms. The fights with the fox and the moss had been draining. Even though he had absorbed the beast cores from the moss and his qi was full again, his body still felt stiff, as if he had woken up from an awkward sleeping position. Liu Xing felt this stiffness would soon disappear, but he decided to take it slow for a moment.

He took his token from the spatial bag and checked his next destination. The next city he needed to visit was still in the Twelve Sun Empire. Liu Xing tried to memorize the four most interesting treasures that could make him even stronger, and after memorizing the information of these four treasures, Liu Xing intended to put the token back in his spatial bag but decided against it.

Besides the list of treasures, there was a leaderboard that ranked disciples by how many treasures they'd gathered. He was curious whether the leaderboard was still empty or not.

Switching the interface, Liu Xing found himself looking at a simple list. Numbers ran down the side from one to one hundred, with names filling the slots next to the top ten. The rest of the list, from eleven to one hundred, remained blank.

Seeing this, Liu Xing scanned the names on the list, and when he didn't find his name, he stopped walking. His heart suddenly beat faster, and anxiety spread from his stomach throughout his body. There was no way he wasn't in the top ten. He already had the Flute of Serenity, Thunderstrike Gauntlets, Red Lotus Staff, Ethereal Pearl, and Diamond Pills. Not to mention, the Diamond Pills were guarded by a Core Splitting cultivator, which was probably impossible for most outer disciples in the Lock Opening realm to obtain. There was no way Liu Xing wasn't in the top three, let alone not in the top ten.

Liu Xing scanned the names one by one and soon felt stupid for jumping to conclusions. Beside each disciple's name was the number of treasures they had obtained. The number one spot only had two treasures, while the rest had only one.

It seemed this leaderboard wasn't counting treasures that hadn't been given to the sect yet, which was fair since disciples could lose their treasures. Still, this leaderboard felt rather cheap now, as these ten disciples had probably returned to the sect as soon as they got one or two treasures.

As Liu Xing resumed walking, he thought it would be better if there was another leaderboard. One that showed which disciples had the most treasures but hadn't returned to the sect yet. He knew there was a hidden wiki in this interface, so perhaps the leaderboard had other interesting features too.

Liu Xing sent his qi toward the interface, willing it to show its hidden features. But even after a minute of trying, he didn't get the leaderboard he wanted. However, he could now access information about the treasures those ten disciples had returned to the sect, and he realized that they were all herbs.