Immortality Starts With Generosity

Chapter 79: This Young Master Does Not Like Snake's End

What if someone were to rip out your spine, but it took them days to pull the last vertebrae from your body?

Chen Haoran didnt bother counting how many days they spent walking within the snake skeleton. Any number would be ridiculous and he couldnt find it within himself to care about measuring it after crossing through the Snakes Mouth. The Machu River, while similarly absurd in size for what it was, at least wasnt larger than the oceans back on Earth. The Snakes Mouth had no such comparison. What could? The giant skeleton could swallow the largest blue whale of Earth in a single bite and have room for more.

He instead he took the time to acclimate himself to Zumulu. Stepping into the Snakes Mouth had been like entering a new world of heat and humid air that he almost assumed Zumulu was a secret realm like the Spa Cavern. The jungles around them were a veritable chorus of noise from birds, insects, apes, and some sounds so strange that he couldnt imagine what creature could make them.

Chen Haoran was thankful he was wearing silk even as he sweated through them. While qi could help regulate temperature it didnt let him completely ignore it. Even supernatural powers couldnt overcome the ridiculous heat multiplier that was humidity it seemed. Thankfully under the immense shade of the skeleton they didnt have the sun beating down on them. A fact he was most thankful while he marveled at its size.

I know that beasts tend to get bigger the higher cultivation they have, Chen Haoran said. But what kind of realm reaches this size?

Who knows, Xie Jin said. It was a mystery even before the Age of Chaos. What realm it reached. What killed it. Why here. The debate is as old as civilization in the south.

Im surprised theyre still here honestly. Even if theyre just bones, they still belonged to a higher realm." Theres no way they didnt have value. Lan Fen had introduced the concept to him and the White Tyrant had provided the clearest example of it back in the Spa Caverns when he killed Patriarch Lan. Even if the owner of the skeleton didnt reach as high as the White Tyrant its bones would have remembered its power. He didnt think cultivators were the type to let cultural value get in the way of their pursuit of power.

The Empire thought the same. Xie Jin shrugged. Even though if that was true, my people would have picked the skeletons clean long ago. Maybe they once held echoes of their power, but time has robbed them of even that now. Theyre durable enough to weather the passing of the ages, but if you try to introduce qi to them or use them in any refining, they crumble. Beyond the decorative, theyre useless. Not that the Empire believed our bone carvers when they said that.

Chen Haoran hesitated, but considering they were finally in Zumulu he felt it right to ask. I dont mean to pry if its personal, but Im curious. You dont seem to like the Empire very much, but you were trying to join the Palace School. I just dont understand.

I am a cultivator. My dislike of the Empire doesnt change the fact that theyre the best way for someone like me to advance. At least I tried to become an official with my own skills than use my Gu.

People do that?

The Empire recruits shamans to serve in various departments. They cant raise Gu they way we can so they try to employ us instead. Its just another thing the Empire failed to exploit in Zumulu.

They invaded for the Gu and bones?

They attacked for plenty of things. Xie Jin puffed out his chest with pride. Zumulu doesnt offer its treasures easily to those it didnt raise. Thats why they dont like us. They cant exploit the south the same way they do everywhere else.

Chen Haoran raised an eyebrow. How am I supposed to get those treasures then? You gonna make me an honorary Zumulian or something?

Ill ignore that absolute butchering of our name. Xie Jin pressed his thumb to his chest. As for the treasures, dont fear; your Brother Jin is here. He pointed forward where the snake skeleton finally narrowed into a tailhouses and buildings of dark red jungle wood formed around the tail and bustled with people.

Well start in Snakes End.

Snakes Mouth and Snakes End. Two very inspired names. Chen Haoran couldnt fault them too much, however. Clearsprings City and White Ridge werent that much better in that regard. It was just easier to name places after their environment, although this world definitely had more fantastical locations willing to lend their names. It made him wonder if the Imperial Capital of Last Light was also named for some bizarre geographical feature.

In any case, Snakes End was far less inspiring than the Snakes Mouth. Formed long ago as a place where merchants rested before continuing their journey to the larger urban centers, it was much like the town where he and Xie Jin chartered Old Jiangs ferry. Snakes End had seen far better days, however. Its buildings were aged, and it wasnt hard to find abandoned homes and ruins. According to Xie Jin it had been the first place the Empire burned down after they marched their army through the skeleton and after conquering the region and constructing a new road there was no hope for the town to return to its former glory.

What they saw no was a place to take care of the needs of the small amount of trade that passed into the western half of Zumulu.

Needless to say, Chen Haoran wasnt impressed. He made sure Xie Jin knew it too as they checked into a particularly run-down inn.

At least hed finally been able to take a bath.

Well start here, huh? He asked, casting Xie Jin an unamused look while they ate. Their table was laden with cheap alcohol and local delicacies, particularly a dish of glass noodles and ground pork tastefully named Ants Climbing A Tree. Chen Haoran steeled himself and took a bite. It seemed southern cuisine favored spiciness. It was too bad that even changing to a new body didnt help him handle spicy food any better.

The boastful bonehead at least looked abashed. Well maybe not here.

Ill remind you Im in need of a city. Particularly one larger than Clearsprings.

No worries, Brother Chen, Ill bring you to the biggest and best. Well rest here for a day and be on our way to Stonebridge.

Phelps once again had his own chair to their side and ate with surprising manners for an animal which Chen Haoran measured by how he didnt spill anything off his plate. He made sure to include plenty of Waterlight Spirit Moss to make up for the terror poor Phelps had to endure while they traveled through the Snakes Mouth. Phelps hadnt let go of him until they exited the skeleton.

Believe me Brother Chen, youll love the south.

He could hear the earnestness in Xie Jins voice. Could see the confidence on his face that Chen Haoran would love his home just as much as he did.

I dont like spicy food.

The confidence died. The voice full of earnestness wavered. Xie Jin looked at him with a mixture of horror and worry. Maybe this was a mistake.

Chen Haoran was about to answer when a man entered the inn and drew his attention. He and Xie Jin had been the strongest cultivators in the inn so when another Eighth-Layer entered, he couldnt help but look over. Bone ornaments marked him as a native, and he was dressed in a simple cotton robe dyed a colorful green with a rough jaguar pelt wrapped around his shoulders. An interesting visual sight to Chen Haoran but typical in the south and he quickly ignored the man as he sat down to eat

At least until a Ninth-Layer cultivator followed in after him. This one caught both his and Xie Jins attention. Spotless white silk robe, shiny, well-groomed hair, confident posture, a single vermillion scabbard at his waist. The man that entered was much younger than the Eighth-Layer. Around his and Xie Jins age, if he had to guess.

The young man scanned the inn, his eyes briefly looking over them before settling on the pelt-wearing Eighth-Layer. Watching the man beeline to his table, Chen Haoran sighed and turned back to eating. Xie Jin refilled his cup and shook his head. There was a spike of qi and the sound of a shattering table as the two cultivators began to fight. For what he didnt know, nor did he care. There was no reason for him to get involved or drag Xie Jin with him.

We gotta stop eating in inns- Chen Haorans words died in his mouth when the body of the Eighth-Layer crashed through their table like a bullet, slamming into Phelps and shooting through the wall.

Phelps!