Pretending To Be A Boss

With that troublesome woman gone, Qing JiuYu felt a noticeable reduction in pressure amid the warfare between the two tribes.

Many Nvwa Snakes hidden in the shadows were killed by her.

The Soul Crystals of calamity-level creatures were of great benefit to Qing JiuYu's recovery from her injuries.

Even with nearly a hundred of them, the headless Nvwa Snake Legion could not pose a threat to her.

With her massive beastly form, Qing JiuYu tore through the bodies of the Nvwa Snakes.

This was a lone Nvwa Snake, found at the edge of Tianque by her, while the snake tribe had already hidden underground.

But occasionally, a Nvwa Snake would still run out.

This kind of defensive, non-combat state also confirmed Qing JiuYu's guess.

Her eyes carried a hint of puzzlement:

"Why did that woman, Bai Mansheng, suddenly abandon her people and leave when victory was within reach?"

Qing JiuYu couldn't understand.

But what she could be sure of was that the White Phosphorus Serpent Demon would return. In terms of strength, it was far inferior to the nine-tailed fox demon.

Yet, the White Phosphorus Serpent Demon, in coordination with her people, made a formidable presence on every outing, proving to be a great nuisance to Qing JiuYu.

"This is actually a good thing. Her departure has tipped the balance. Perhaps my fox tribe can turn defeat into victory."

...

...

White Bone Mountain Range.

The stream water held a touch of chilliness. Bai Mansheng crouched by the stream, drank from it, her pure white gown reminiscent of a bridal dress, stained upon the ground, yet untarnished by dust.

Her human form appeared transcendent and unprofaned, unlike Qing JiuYu's naturally enchanting features.

In human history, the seductive power of serpent demons was actually not much different from that of fox demons.

White Phosphorus Serpent Demons were not as rare as nine-tailed fox demons, and Bai Mansheng did have a few of her kind. However, most were far along in years.

It might be possible to glimpse their nation-toppling beauty and unmatched grace from their youth, but the marks of time spared no one.

Bai Mansheng was still very young, just like Qing JiuYu, both leaders of their respective tribes, unlike the wolf, dog, lion, or tiger tribes.

The leaders of the snake and fox tribes were the youngest and their human forms were exceptionally beautiful women.

Bai Mansheng stood up and looked northwestwards, where her people were currently battling one of the most fearsome creatures on the continent.

Although these days, the strength of her tribe had forced Qing JiuYu into a steady retreat, she had been seriously injured.

The victory seemed assured, yet she had had to leave due to an important matter.

A certain Nvwa Snake was about to evolve into a White Phosphorus Serpent Demon. Once at the calamity level, evolving further became extremely difficult.

Everything depended on chance.

This kind of evolution occurring within her tribe was naturally good news.

But this time it was different, Bai Mansheng personally sought out this Nvwa Snake's trail because this Nvwa Snake… was a deserter.

Once beings begin to possess intelligence that transcends instinct, their developmental trajectory eerily mirrors that of human history.

When the feminine waxes and the masculine wanes, or vice versa, or when they balance each other out.

The deserters had never accepted that the leader of the Nvwa Snakes was a woman, as snake tribe tradition had always been for the youngest and mightiest White Phosphorus Serpent Demon to succeed as leader.

Bai Mansheng had her reasons for needing to rule the snake tribe, and her search was to ensure the deserter's stance.

This place was once a habitat for flocks of birds, but the arrival of a very powerful entity had made the entire White Bone Mountain Range much quieter than usual.

The presence of a calamity-level boss, which was already very close to a cataclysm-level creature, caused any lifeforms that sensed it to scatter and retreat.

Bai Mansheng's steps seemed slow, yet they were incredibly fast. In a moment, she covered a great distance.

Any birds or beasts encountered fled in haste.

The breeze fluttered her gown, making her seem like a celestial maiden.

She actually felt a trace of melancholy. These creatures were too weak; there was no need for them to hide from her.

After all, their Soul Crystals were of little use to her.

A lonely journey made the road seem endless.

...

...

The sea of trees, the wooden hut.
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Tang Xian was preparing food, to cross a vast area in the coming days, carrying easy-to-transport food would save a lot of trouble.

There were places that Tang Xian had only learned about from books.

Tang Xiaojiu looked worriedly at Tang Suoye. Despite once suffering a humiliating defeat to him in terms of food capacity, the mutual recognition between food lovers still made her fond of Tang Suoye.

When she saw Tang Xian, Tang Xiaojiu also vented quite a bit of her frustrations.

She didn't like the Pyramid, even though for modern women, the fortress's thirty-nine shops held many of their luxurious dreams.

But for Tang Xiaojiu, pig's ears, beef tripe, dragon spike fish, or even Mapo Tofu were much more substantial.

"Tang Xian, why isn't that young lady waking up? She really can sleep, she's been asleep an entire day already."

Tang Xian didn't know the reason either. Theoretically speaking, Tang Suoye's bodily functions were all normal, and she should have woken up by now, but she just hadn't come to.

Now that the cabin had Akasi and Tang Suoye too, it had become quite lively. This was also when the Team Shengtang had the most members present at one time.

Tang Xian said,

"Her name is Tang Suoye. Just like you, she likes her own name."

Tang Xiaojiu nodded her head as if she half-understood.

"Tang, are we going on a long journey?" Dong Ran asked curiously.

"Of course, this time we're going to catch snakes. Triple Snake Soup is a very delicious food. I'm not sure if we can eat the meat from a Catastrophe-level creature, but I imagine the meat from a Disaster-level creature will be very nourishing."

Qiao Shanshan suddenly looked up and said to Tang Xian,

"Disaster-level creatures are troublesome, Tang Xian, you actually... don't need to rush. The mining region is so big, whether we can find it is still uncertain. Besides... you said it yourself, it's an evolving Nvwa Snake. If it turns into a White Phosphorus Serpent Demon, going there would just be suicide."

Tang Xian said,

"That's why we need to hurry. Based on my understanding, if it becomes a boss-level creature, at the Disaster-level... basically, it can't be eaten anymore."

The others were puzzled, but Tang Xian didn't explain.

Perfect-level boss creatures and elite-level boss creatures, while powerful, also have intelligence close to that of humans.

Catastrophe-level boss creatures can transform into human form. He didn't know if Disaster-level bosses could do the same.

If Disaster-level bosses turned into human form, Tang Xian's principle was that they wouldn't be part of his diet.

Therefore, they needed to hurry, or else he would be missing out on a serving of snake soup.

"How are we going to track down that Nvwa Snake?" Akasi asked.

"We'll head to the north of Waning Time Valley first. The last place it was seen is there. As for the battlefield between the snake and the fox tribes, it's considered a far southern location, but it will definitely return."

"What do you mean?" Qiao Shanshan asked.

"You need to think of this snake as a person. It fled the battlefield to complete its evolution. Once the evolution is finished, it would naturally return to the battlefield. With this in mind, our target area is much smaller."

Tang Xian glanced at Tang Gazi, and this foolish bird was meowing, and it was unclear what kind of dirty deal it was conducting with Tang Bingxiang.

"This foolish bird is called the hundred-tongued bird. Although it's not very useful in battle, its meat is tender... slip of the tongue, but it's proficient in many creatures' languages, and the Nvwa Snake is not small. There must be many creatures along the way that have seen it."

Tang Gazi clearly didn't know what perilous thoughts his good friend Tang Xian had in his mind.

"Tang Gazi can gather some information for us."

Akasi understood, not expecting Tang Xian's little bird pet to have such capabilities.

After allocating the food, Tang Xian said,

"Pack up, we're preparing to set out."

Qiao Shanshan looked at Tang Xian gratefully. Hunting a Disaster-level creature was basically impossible for a hunter team.

Only those great families, deploying large-scale troops for extended campaigns, could hunt Disaster-level creatures.

As for hunting a Disaster-level boss creature, it would involve exhausting the entire fortress's resources and a plan spanning several years to achieve.

Tang Xian was smart, and Qiao Shanshan believed he was fully aware of the dangers of this mission.

But Tang Xian showed no intention of evading any commitments.

She just didn't know whether she would still feel touched in secret once she learned that Tang Xian's actual subjective desire was to have Triple Snake Soup.

Yet Tang Xian had some other thoughts in mind too.

After the hellhound, he had hunted cat-eared bats, Yi Niu, iron-can pigs, and gemstone tigers. This included the six-tailed fox that perished at the hands of Dong Ran.

None of these creatures had dropped a skill. He hoped that this time the Disaster-level creature would bring some surprises.

Soon, Akasi carrying Tang Suoye, Dong Ran holding Tang Bingxiang, Tang Gazi perched on Tang Xiaojiu's shoulder, Tang Xian in the rearmost position, and Qiao Shanshan walking ahead of Tang Xian, the group of visitors from the forest set out in earnest, all heading north.

In human history, the smallest-scale Disaster-level creature hunting plan commenced!

(This chapter has the most words to date, but it still doesn't reach ten thousand. The mining area plot is a grand scene that I need to think about carefully. That's all for today~ see you tomorrow)