Chapter 517 Preparation
Within the Heavenly Academy's Records, where most of the Vast Expanse's rarest and most illustrious books and records existed, the Heavenly Library was a woman who seemed to be looking for something.
"You've been here for days now, are you sure you can find what you're looking for?" another young woman spoke, this one had a rather sad look on her face, but she still she had to tide through the despair and agony that happened upon them.
The one looking all over for the records was Shen Bao's old sect master, Yuyu, who seemed to be fanatically looking all over the place for some sort of hope.
On the other hand, the other person was Liang Yu, another of Shen Bao's companions.
"There must be something we can do, I don't believe he's dead," Yuyu said confidently. Though one could see the wavering in her voice. She wasn't confident, no, she was hopeful, and that's a far crueler fate.
Liang Yu sighed and was about to leave, before a person wearing a full black robe with golden symbols all over arrived at the library.
He looked old as his white beard reached all the way to his waist, and his brows were so thick one would wonder how he could even see.
Yet this old man wasn't some random person, he was the most influential person in the Heavenly Academy.
"Great Elder," Liang Yu bowed as she gave her greetings.
So did Yuyu before she returned to search for more clues on how to solve the problem at hands.
"Child, what are you so vehemently looking for, ignoring food and your personal training for?" asked the elder.
Yuyu stopped, looked at the elder and said, "Hope..." she said.
"I see..." the elder spoke as he noticed the book in her hand.
"History of the Sacred Beasts,"
"Hmm, I suppose you're looking for something related to the Primordial Serpent God?" he asked.
"Yes, anything, a weakness or a clue on how to save Shen Bao," she said.
"You speak as if he lives still, I heard the news..." the grand elder said.
"He's still alive! I know he is!" she replied sharply almost forgetting the status difference between them.
But the elder didn't get angry, "I see. Intuition, a cultivator's intuition shouldn't be ignored. If you still wish to know more about the Primordial Serpent God, you won't find anything here," said the elder.
His words felt as if her hopes were being crushed and as if the world was turning darker.
"I have a few books in my personal collection that related to it though, follow me, both of you," the elder said.
With these words, the almost fading hope was ignited back again, though it still looked bleak.
The two followed the Grand Elder to the main tower of the Heavenly Academy, where they rode on an elevator that took them all the way to the highest floor.
Opening the only door on this floor, the elder revealed a modest house with minimalistic furniture. A bed, a table, a couple of stools, and a tray with tea prepared in it.
"Sit down, have some tea, I'll bring you the books," he said.
The elder then turned to a wall and placed his hand on it, the entire wall came down revealing several rows of books neatly stacked together.
Some looked so old a breath would turn them to dust.
He grabbed a couple of the books and placed them on the table.
"Most records about the Serpent God are nothing but myths and made-up stories of people who were too fearful to ever approach it. These books however hold some truth to what's written in them, one of them was made by Du Shen himself, and the other was made by the Imperial Scribe of the Imperial Clan," the elder said.
"Thank you!" said Yuyu as she opened the first book by the Imperial Clan. Since they were the oldest generation of cultivators in the Vast Expanse they should have a greater width of knowledge about the Primordial Serpent God.
But the disappointment of finding anything of use was great.
The Imperial Scribe gave a detailed description of the Serpent God, its usual habitat and its habits. And also described more of its unusual behaviors and how it would chase and feast upon Poison Cultivators and consume entire planets.
But all these details and this information were useless, it gave no peak on a way or a method how to defeat, weaken or destroy it even.
The second book was made by Du Shen, the person who was the Primordial Serpent God's main enemy.
By reading the book, Yuyu understood far more about the serpent god. How it usually hibernates for five centuries exactly before it starts moving again, and whenever it moves it seeks the Poison God Cultivators, for a reason unknown even to Du Shen, yet he still described one peculiar thing.
The Primordial Serpent God will not feast more than five times in the five hundred years. And whenever it enters hibernation, it will not move act or attack even if attacked. Mainly because it does not consider anything to be a threat to it.
The Primordial Serpent God is basically in a completely different level of cultivation of all the people of the Vast Expanse. It lives in a higher dimension.
Whatever is consumed by the Primordial Serpent God does not leave, not even as excrement. This would mean it completely absorbs whatever it eats into itself and becomes stronger the more it feasts.
But for some reason, it refuses to eat more than five times every hibernation, perhaps to conserve its source of food.
Time means nothing to the Primordial Serpent God, and no matter how numerous the stars and planets in the vast expanse, if it lives an eternal immortal life, one day the serpent will have consumed everything.
And among all the times the Primordial Serpent God and Du Shen had fought, there was only one time when he managed to land a direct blow that drew blood. Only once, but it cost half of Du Shen's Vitality and Life Force. It was a simple blow, and for the primordial Serpent God it couldn't even be considered as needle prick, but it was still a blow that made it retreat for the first time.
If one were to take a closer look they'll see a small scar on the upper lip of the Primordial Serpent God, that's where Du Shen landed his attack. But that was all he could ever do to it.
The book continued on describing a bit more about The Serpent's habit of consumption.
A couple hours later, Yuyu placed the book back on the table.
"Did you find anything of use?" asked the Grand Elder.
"Yes..." she said, though she didn't look too confident she said, "It was wounded once," she said.
"So?" the Grand Elder asked.
"If it bleeds... it dies. And if I have to, I'll rip it apart and pull Shen Bao from inside its guts," she said.
The grand elder smiled, "Good, but it's a tall task, are you up to it? Even I can't guarantee myself to wound it and I'm at the Emperor Rank," he said.
"Then I just have to become as strong as Du Shen if not stronger in his prime," she said.
"There is no need to do that," spoke a woman that entered the room.
"Indeed," said the Grand Elder.
"Your Highness," Yuyu bowed.
"No need to bow to me, child. I've done wrong by Shen Bao twice now, I have to make up for it, Elder I'm going to head for the Primordial Serpent" she said.
"I do believe in your strength, but we still need more than just you for this assault," the Grand Elder said.
"My husband is willing to join, so does Old Beast and a few of the Wind Noble houses, mainly the Sword Mountain Lord as he received enlightenment from the words of Shen Bao and decided he needed to repay it." the queen spoke.
"That's a strong lineup, we may be able to figure out more of the beast's abilities and maybe, just maybe, slay it... yet we still need Master Rain with us," said the Grand Elder.
"Where is Master Rain?" asked Liang Yu.
"He went with Meng Hao to retrieve his fiancée, they should be back soon. Once that happens, we'll make our move," said the Grand Elder.