Purifying Lotus

Zhao Yumin narrated everything, omitting certain key points of course. Painting a picture of Li Tian not giving face to their clan and him trying to defend the honor of the clan. 

Still painting his picture, a slap took him by surprise sending him flying towards a wall in the meeting room.

His father had struck him. 

"You still dare to lie?...we know you wanted the treasure for your breakthrough and tried to take it by force but failed. Normally it's not a bad strategy to steal a treasure from someone who doesn't have the strength to keep it. The problem here is that you got your cousin involved and he lost his life in the process" his father was very angry at this moment. As for his uncle, he had not spoken since he entered the room only looking at Zhao Yumin with a terrifying gaze.

"Enough, he will face his punishment soon enough, what I want to know is, who is this kid that dares to kill my grandson without any regard for our clan?" His grandfather spoke.

Soon Li Tian's information lay before him exactly as it had been in front of Yumin earlier. Looking at it, he decided to go about it a different way. He was a well-connected man.

He got up and left silently, without even looking at Zhao Yumin further.

Just when he was about to step across the threshold of the door, his voice came

"Yumin is to step down as the patriarch from today onwards. The elder council will vote for a new clan leader" 

"As for you Yumin, we will discuss an appropriate punishment after this matter is settled" 

He disappeared.

Hearing the words of his grandfather, he could not believe it. He turned around to see the gloating faces of the elders seated in the room. He just put his head down and walked out of the room. 

He did not care about his cousin's death but cared about how much it had caused him.

His grandfather had concluded that there was definitely someone backing Li Tian and was determined to get to the root of the issue.

.....

Li Tian had been in the forest for a few days hoping to see the flame serpent on its way out. Only today did he finally see it. 

A terrifying creature emerged from the depths of the volcano, its serpentine body stretched over a hundred feet long and covered in shimmering crimson scales that radiated intense heat. Each scale bears intricate patterns resembling flickering flames, serving as a testament to its affinity with fire.

The serpent possessed a pair of piercing golden eyes that gleamed with intelligence and a burning determination. On its head could be seen two bulges and small protrusions atop the bulge reminiscent of dragon horns and under its belly, one could see small claw-like patterns. It had a row of razor-sharp teeth that could melt stone and iron using its searing strength.

Looking at the serpent that had emerged, Li Tian came to the same conclusion as everyone who had seen this serpent. The day it stepped into rank-4 it would definitely become a flood dragon, too bad Li Tian had taken an interest in its core.

From what Li Tian knew due to the memories inherited through his bloodline, this serpent, in its final day before becoming a flood dragon will shed its serpentine body and then slowly evolve into a flood dragon, a process that will leave it weak and almost defenseless for some time. This would've been the prime time to attack it if Li Tian had the time to wait for it to cultivate to rank 4.

The serpent left the volcanic area and moved toward the east. Looking at its size one would not believe it could move this fast. But the speed was within a range that Li Tian could easily keep up with. Slowly moving forward about 200m behind the serpent. 

After traveling for some time the serpent stopped and turned behind a huge rock before entering a hole that led underground. Li Tian had no idea what was inside that hole. It was huge enough for the serpent to fit so it could fit many people of Li Tian's size.

"Whatever is inside that hole must be something of significance. To make the serpent risk leaving its home several times even after encountering cultivators. What kind of treasure could it be?" Li Tian wondered as his curiosity kicked in.

"I have to go in" he decided but thought again "What if it had already noticed me and this is a trap" 

It has to be known Li Tian's fear was not unfounded as the intelligence of demonic beasts increases greatly when they reach rank 3, they can even send out their thoughts through spiritual sense.

As Li Tian thought this, he was hesitant.

"So what if it's a trap? I am going to fight it anyway"

Li Tian thought as he immediately got into the hole. The serpent was not hiding its aura and Li Tian immediately sensed it the moment he entered the hole. His body moved with speed and soon came to an underground labyrinth but he knew he was not lost as the serpent clearly knew its way down here.

After numerous twists and turns, he came to an open cave. The cave was very huge with its ceiling more than two hundred feet above the ground.

Earlier Li Tian had the feeling that they were going deeper underground but only now did he confirm it. He did not know how far underground he had gone but he had marked the way down here and was quite confident he could find his way back.

In the centre of the cave was a huge pond and the spirit Qi contained within it was enormous. The serpent lay beside the pond, its head slightly raised observing the center of the pond. 

Li Tian's eyes were also drawn over. He had found what the serpent kept coming here for. In the center of the pond, silently floating on the water's surface was a lotus. A pure white lotus.

Looking at this, only one name came to Li Tian's mind

"The Purifying Lotus"

The environment here was exactly right for the Lotus to bloom. A serene, secluded pond.

Its flowers emitting a tranquil fragrance, this lotus had many uses, one of which was-- it could be refined by an alchemist into a pill or consumed directly to refine and purify the bloodline.

This beast wanted to use it to improve its bloodline and further its cultivation, thereby reducing the amount of time required for its transformation. This would save it decades of cultivation time.

Li Tian could not let this serpent take this herb.

All along he had cleverly stayed outside the range of the serpent's divine sense but this time around he didn't think further and immediately dived toward the serpent.

The moment he entered 100m around the serpent he was immediately sensed as it turned and looked towards him.

It just glared at him as hisses that had a hint of a roar came out of its mouth. 

Li Tian immediately took out the extermination Saber directly and the battle started.