Cultivation Begins with Skill Points-Chapter 169: The Strange Cold Pond

The Golden Horned Python opened its massive mouth, spewing out a fiery red energy ball that collided violently with the Horse-Slaying Saber in Zhong Lin’s hand.

Boom!

With a thunderous roar, the air exploded, sending a violent gust of air sweeping around, lifting up stones and trees in its path.

"Zhong Lin, watch out."

Yin Daoyan cried out in horror from a distance, noticing the massive tail of the Golden Horned Python piercing through the dust, targeting Zhong Lin, whose old strength was spent and new strength had yet to arise.

The Golden Horned Python was a hundred feet long; a single swipe of its tail could shatter a small mountain, let alone a person.

Amidst the swirling dust and his Master’s exclamation, an ominous feeling arose in Zhong Lin. Without hesitation, he plunged his Horse-Slaying Saber into the ground and formed a hand seal before his chest.

The True Qi within his Dantian surged wildly, coursing through the Hand’s Three Yang Meridians and Hand Three Yin Meridians.

The next moment, a yellow earth-colored protective shield enveloped Zhong Lin, just as the giant tail of the Golden Horned Python lashed out.

Bang!

A violent sound echoed throughout the valley, and the Golden Horned Python let out a miserable screech, while Zhong Lin remained unmoved, only the protective earthy shield dimmed slightly.

In pain, the Golden Horned Python attacked again, its snake mouth like a black hole aiming to devour Zhong Lin.

Crack!

In the confused eyes of the Golden Horned Python, one of its venomous fangs broke, and its gaze dimmed considerably, clearly severely injured by these two strikes.

The protective shield dissipated, and Zhong Lin’s face turned somewhat pale. The Ground Seal was unparalleled in defense, but similarly, it consumed a vast amount of True Qi. These two strikes nearly exhausted all the True Qi within him.

Quickly, he took out an elixir and swallowed it. The elixir melted upon contact and its immense medicinal power spread throughout his body, and the True Qi in his meridians rapidly circulated, quickly absorbing this medicinal power, and in just a moment, his True Qi restored to nearly half.

Zhong Lin grasped the Horse-Slaying Saber plunged into the ground, a fierce look flashing in his eyes.

"Now it’s my turn."

He stepped forward, soaring into the air.

Swish swish swish swish!

Countless sword qi sliced across the body of the Golden Horned Python, accompanied by screams of agony. Large wounds appeared on its body, with thick blood gushing out from these wounds.

In pain, the Golden Horned Python finally began to feel fear, as the ant-like being before it was not only impossible to bite but also capable of inflicting such harm.

Crack!

The Golden Horned Python swiftly lashed out its giant tail again, and as Zhong Lin dodged, it lowered its head, using its python horn to break a large hole in the ground and burrowed inside, disappearing with a rumble.

"Beast, trying to escape?"

Zhong Lin was clearly fired up, seeing the Golden Horned Python burrow underground, and was about to charge in without hesitation.

"Zhong Lin, don’t chase desperate enemies, come back; our target is the Heavenly Essence Fruit, not this beast."

Yin Daoyan’s expression changed, shouting loudly.

Zhong Lin abruptly stopped, staring hatefully at the massive hole before him, not continuing the chase.

"Zhong Lin."

At this moment, Yin Daoyan also rushed over, grabbing Zhong Ling’s arm urgently and saying, "Zhong Lin, you must not act recklessly. Underground is this beast’s domain; who knows what might happen if you pursue it. Our target is the Heavenly Essence Fruit."

Calming the stirred True Qi, Zhong Lin realized belatedly that he had just been thinking of pursuing his victory, clearly a bit too fired up. If he had really chased into the underground nest, who knew what would happen.

"I’m sorry for making Master worry."

Zhong Lin sheathed the Horse-Slaying Saber in his hand, saying solemnly.

"It’s fine as long as you’re alright, really. Zhong Lin, your current strength is beyond my expectations, are you unhurt?"

After the urgency came full joy, every scene of his disciple’s battle with the Golden Horned Python had been witnessed by him.

The strength of the Golden Horned Python was terrifying, but his own disciple’s formidable combat power was equally shocking.

"No injuries. That beast is no match for me."

"Zhong Lin, what was that hand seal just now? I’ve never seen such martial arts before."

Yin Daoyan couldn’t help but ask, as even the tail of the Golden Horned Python could hardly scratch that light sphere, impossible to believe such defensive power exists.

"This is a martial art I learned from the Soft Palm. It’s called the Ground Seal; it can harness the power of the earth, unmoving like a mountain, with unbeatable defense," Zhong Lin explained without hiding anything.

Yin Daoyan was taken aback.

"Soft Palm? Are you talking about that rather sinister Hidden Needle Palm in the Transmission Pavilion? That’s impossible; I have also practiced Soft Palm."

Zhong Lin smiled and said, "That’s how it is. The Ground Seal is hidden within this Hand Skill, only by fully comprehending the Soft Palm can it be realized. I discovered it by accident."

Yin Daoyan nodded, saying, "So that’s it. It seems this martial art was left behind by the sect’s predecessors and only those of extraordinary comprehension have the opportunity to learn it."

The two exchanged no further words and quickly went to the Cold Pond to pick the Heavenly Essence Fruits.

Yin Daoyan carefully placed the two fruits into a prepared Jade Box to prevent the loss of their medicinal properties.

Zhong Lin, on the other hand, gazed intently at the Cold Pond before him, curious about the secrets it might hold to support the growth of two Heavenly Essence Fruits.

"Let’s go!"

Yin Daoyan secured the Jade Box to his body and, satisfied, announced.

"Master, I want to dive into the Cold Pond to take a look."

Yin Daoyan shifted his gaze to the Cold Pond as well, frowning slightly, "You suspect something strange down there?"

"Yes, if there’s nothing strange, it wouldn’t support the growth of two Heavenly Essence Fruits. Rest assured, with my current strength, even if something’s amiss, I can retreat unharmed," Zhong Lin replied with a smile.

Recalling the terrible power Zhong Lin had just unleashed, Yin Daoyan nodded, "Just take a look, and if there really is something strange, retreat quickly. Once we refine the Breakthrough Pill and reach the First Grade Realm, we can solve the mystery."

Zhong Lin nodded, removed his clothes, and leapt into the Cold Pond. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

The pond was not very deep, but the water was quite cold. By activating the Five Elements Mixed Essence Skill, the coldness was immediately dispelled.

In just a few breaths, Zhong Lin reached the water of the pond, True Qi flowed through his eyes, allowing him to see clearly within the dark pond.

The sight before him was bare, with only some stones and withered branches, lacking any special characteristics. Moreover, because of the cold, there was no life in sight, not even plankton.

Suddenly, Zhong Lin was drawn to several glimmers, and driven by curiosity, he swam over.

He swept the withered branches and mud aside, revealing several stones resembling jade, lying there silently.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhong Lin still reached out to pick up one of the jade-like stones.

The fist-sized stone was snow-white and upon touching it, Zhong Lin felt an immense power contained within, similar to the two beads retrieved from the two-headed mutant beast’s body, but much purer.