The surrounding icy cold water vapor was very dense. Long Xiao used 'Dragon Swallows the Four Seas', and the water vapor quickly condensed into balls of mist, entering Long Xiao's body.
As soon as the icy cold water vapor entered his body, an unprecedented chill struck him, causing Long Xiao to shiver uncontrollably.
The earth element in his body quickly suppressed the incoming water vapor. As the water vapor was suppressed, a refreshing sensation spread throughout his body.
The water element in Long Xiao's body suddenly strengthened, and the five elements' vital energy was rapidly mobilized. Following the order of mutual generation of the five elements, it began to transform, balancing the vital energy within his body.
Ten minutes later, the balancing speed slowed down significantly, and the water vapor began to accumulate in large quantities. Long Xiao felt the endless chill again and had to stop absorbing water vapor once more.
The lost vital energy was completely replenished and slightly increased. Long Xiao was very happy.
During the time Long Xiao was recovering his vital energy, with the 'Crimson Flame Worm' watching, the ten giant pythons only stared at Long Xiao and did not dare to attack him.
Seeing Long Xiao stand up, the 'Crimson Flame Worm' happily flew towards him.
As it approached Long Xiao, the 'Crimson Flame Worm's' flames completely disappeared, plunging the entire space into darkness.
"Don't come near me," Long Xiao shouted urgently.
The 'Crimson Flame Worm' retreated and flapped its wings vigorously, and flames reappeared from its wings.
The 'Crimson Flame Worm' flew to a high place to illuminate the area. Long Xiao dispersed his five elements' vital energy, causing all the iron hooks and cleavers scattered on the ground to levitate.
Seeing that Long Xiao was preparing to attack, the giant pythons also eyed him menacingly. The horned giant python was at the front, with the other giant pythons lined up, all raising their heads and staring at Long Xiao with their red lantern-like eyes.
Long Xiao's main target was the horned giant python. As he charged towards it, all the iron hooks also lunged at the scales on the horned giant python's head.
The giant python roared and thrashed its massive body, lunging at Long Xiao.
Long Xiao used 'Chi Mei Xiao Yao Bu' to move rapidly, dodging the giant python's attack while controlling the iron hooks to snag the scales on the giant python's head.
Dozens of iron hooks were cast simultaneously, and only two managed to hook onto the horned giant python's scales.
Blood splattered as two large patches of scales were torn off. The giant python thrashed in pain, and its massive tail swept towards Long Xiao.
With a 'boom,' the giant python's tail smashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of debris. While dodging the tail, Long Xiao controlled the iron hooks to snag the giant python's eyes.
The giant python shook its head, trying to knock away the iron hooks with its head. The iron hooks controlled by Long Xiao were incredibly agile, and no matter how the giant python twisted its head, it couldn't touch the hooks.
Another two patches of scales were ripped off, and the giant python's roars continued to echo. Seeing their leader bellowing incessantly from being tormented, the other giant pythons were too terrified to advance.
Under Long Xiao's continuous attacks, the horned giant python paid a heavy price. The more Long Xiao fought, the more confident he became, and the more passive the giant python became.
The areas where the giant python had lost scales were now defenseless. Long Xiao controlled the cleavers and hacked at them.
The horned giant python was highly intelligent. It sensed the danger and quickly retreated, hiding behind the high platform, no longer daring to attack Long Xiao.
Long Xiao quickly stepped onto the high platform and reached for the 'Ice Marrow.' A bone-chilling coldness washed over him, making him feel as though he was about to freeze. Terrified, he hastily placed the 'Ice Marrow' back in its original position.
Without any other five elements' vital energy, Long Xiao dared not absorb the 'Ice Marrow's' water element rashly. He looked at the 'Ice Marrow' with unwillingness in his heart, wondering if he had come all this way for nothing.
Unable to obtain the 'Ice Marrow,' Long Xiao stood on the high platform and surveyed his surroundings, hoping to discover something else.
This high platform was clearly man-made. Long Xiao believed that besides the 'Ice Marrow,' there must be other things here.
Seeing that Long Xiao had placed the 'Ice Marrow' back in its original position, the horned giant python's tense heart finally relaxed.
Standing on the high platform, he could see almost everything around him. Soon, Long Xiao spotted a pile of white bones and some miscellaneous items beneath the cave wall in the distance.
Due to the distance and poor lighting, he couldn't see clearly. He jumped off the platform and walked over.
The stark white bones exuded a chill. These bones were not in human form, likely the remains spat out by the giant pythons after digesting flesh and blood.
There were many white bones, interspersed with rusty ironware, bronze ware, and jade. These items would fetch a good price if sold. Long Xiao did not want to leave empty-handed, so he picked up all the jade and bronze items and piled them together.
Seeing Long Xiao picking up things from the ground, the 'Crimson Flame Worm' flapped its wings and made a chirping sound from its mouth.
Long Xiao looked up at the 'Crimson Flame Worm.' The 'Crimson Flame Worm' flapped its wings, and a stream of flame pointed towards the cave wall on the other side.
Long Xiao looked carefully by the light of the flame and saw a small cave on the other side of the cave wall.
Following the 'Crimson Flame Worm,' they arrived at the entrance of the small cave. The 'Crimson Flame Worm' flew in without hesitation, and Long Xiao hurried to follow.
Upon entering the small cave, they found neat steps. On both sides of the cave walls, there seemed to be some writing.
Long Xiao took out his phone and shone a light on them. He felt like he had seen these characters somewhere before, but he couldn't recall where.
He took pictures as he walked, capturing all the characters on both cave walls.
Walking along the steps for more than ten meters, they entered a stone chamber. This was a bedroom. In the center was a large bed, against the wall was a desk, and not far from the cave entrance were some ancient cooking utensils. Behind the large bed was a small bookshelf, on which lay stacks of bamboo slips.
Apart from the bamboo slips, everything else was made of white marble, which was not worth much even if moved outside.
Long Xiao's gaze fell on the bamboo slips, thinking that this mysterious place might hold information about the 'Ice Marrow' and the giant pythons.
Long Xiao opened a bamboo slip and looked at it. He couldn't understand a single word.
He emitted his five elements' vital energy, and all the bamboo slips floated up, following Long Xiao out of the small cave and back into the large space.
Long Xiao placed the bamboo slips, along with the bronze and jade items he had just picked up, together and began to wander around again.
After wandering for another hour, having explored the entire place, he found no other useful items.
"Let's go, little guy," Long Xiao shouted.
The 'Crimson Flame Worm' flew to Long Xiao's shoulder, and the surroundings instantly turned dark.
Long Xiao emitted his five elements' vital energy. The bamboo slips, bronze ware, and jade piled on the ground floated up, following behind Long Xiao as they drifted out of the cave.
The ten giant pythons watched Long Xiao leave and did not dare to attack him again.
The moment Long Xiao picked up the 'Ice Marrow,' he understood. As long as he could gather a large amount of other vital energies and bring them here, without touching the 'Ice Marrow,' he could absorb the water element from the 'Ice Marrow' into his body.
He returned to the cave entrance. All the items he had brought out were placed into baskets. Long Xiao called Xiao Ming and asked him and Old Hu to haul all the baskets up.
The two hauled the items to the top of the cliff and were curious about the large pile of things. They opened the bamboo slips and looked at them, but neither of them recognized the characters.
"Can you understand the writing on there?" Old Hu asked, seeing Xiao Ming staring at the characters on the bamboo slips.
Xiao Ming shook his head and said, "I'm illiterate. Forget about the writing on these bamboo slips; I don't even recognize the characters in my primary school textbooks."