Chapter 301: Chapter 218: India’s Twelve Vajra
In the dead of night, Li Xiang appeared in Assam State in eastern India. It was just over a thousand kilometers from his home; crossing through Yunnan Province and Northern Myanmar, he arrived in Assam in a mere ten to twenty minutes.
This place was famous for its tea, being India’s largest tea-producing region. Besides tea, its forest resources were also quite abundant, making it one of India’s primary suppliers of timber.
With so many forests, there were naturally a great number of wild animals, including Elephants, hippos, wild buffalo, rhinos, and deer.
Surrounding it were five other states, all partitioned from the original territory of Assam State. Thus, the area could be collectively referred to as the "Great Assam Region."
Assam is actually another name for the Dai Race. In the 13th century, the Dai Race established the Ahom Kingdom here. Unfortunately, it was occupied by the United Kingdom during the First Anglo-Burmese War. After India gained independence, it became one of its states.
Li Xiang had, of course, come here for the large wild animals.
Smaller animals often had limited potential, and he had come to look down on the Low Tier Spiritual Medicine they yielded. Hunting them was just something he did in passing; his main goal was to seek out potential High Tier Extraordinary beings.
India was known to be "overrun with ferocious beasts," famous for its so-called "Twelve Vajra." Since it was also relatively close to his home, he naturally wouldn’t pass up the opportunity.
The so-called "Twelve Vajra," of course, referred to twelve of India’s most formidable wild animals: the Asian Elephant, saltwater crocodile, Indian krait, Indian cobra, Indian red scorpion, Russell’s viper, saw-scaled viper, Bengal Tiger, sloth bear, King Cobra, Leopard, and giant python.
This list alone showed that India was teeming with snakes; among the Twelve Vajra, snakes and pythons accounted for a full half of the lineup.
Indians hold a deep reverence for snakes, with their so-called "Snake Dance" culture. Wandering performers or snake charmers would play an instrument, and a snake would dance gracefully beside them.
India has snake temples, snake villages, Snake Dances, snake boat races, and an annual snake festival. People believe snakes are a symbol of vitality, capable of helping infertile women conceive and of curing illnesses and strengthening frail children.
Some infertile couples bring offerings to temples to pray to the snake god for children.
As Li Xiang made his way through, he killed quite a few wild animals and reaped plentiful rewards.
He had arrived at night, but now the sun was already high in the sky. He showed no restraint, however, and continued his hunt through the forest.
"MOO—"
A low, irritated moo echoed through the trees. Li Xiang ran a few steps forward, following the sound, and saw a massive wild bull ramming against the trees in the forest.
’Damn, this thing must be three or four thousand kilograms, right?’
The wild bull in his line of sight had a body of knotted, bulging muscles that exuded an aura of savage power. Its coat was black, but its four legs were white, as if it were wearing long, white socks.
This was a gaur, one of the largest bovine species in the world.
The moment the gaur saw Li Xiang, its eyes turned bloodshot. It pawed the ground, lowered its horns, and with a thunderous rumble, charged straight at him.
"Holy shit, are you crazy? I haven’t even come looking for you, and you’re attacking me first?" Li Xiang, of course, had no intention of dodging. He brandished the Profound Iron Mountain-Removal Rod in his hand and brought it down viciously on the beast’s head.
System: "Congratulations, Host, for killing the Tier Fourteen Furious Bull Demon King. You are rewarded with 1400 Achievement Points, three stalks of Tier Seven Mutated Spirit Grass: Arrow Leaf Epimedium, and one pair of a Tier Eleven Extraordinary Item: the Mandarin Duck Double-Bladed Sword."
Li Xiang was speechless. ’Why does this Spiritual Medicine feel a bit... indecent?’
’Should I take it back and steep it in wine? I wouldn’t dare just consume it randomly.’
Li Xiang figured the gaur had most likely eaten some sort of aphrodisiac plant, or perhaps it was in its mating season, which would explain why it was so aggressive and attacked on sight.
And for such a frenzied Ox Demon King, the Extraordinary Item it dropped was an exquisitely crafted pair of double-bladed swords. It felt like a complete mismatch with the creature’s style.
Li Xiang took out the Mandarin Duck Double-Bladed Sword and tested them. As the blades danced, they flashed with a chilling light, creating a dazzling display like a flurry of falling petals. They were indeed fine swords. When used together, their power was likely no weaker than a Tier Twelve Extraordinary Spiritual Soldier. They had two Extraordinary Attributes: one sword possessed "Endurance," granting its wielder prolonged Fighting Power, while the other had "Dizziness," which could disorient an opponent, reducing their combat effectiveness to seventy percent at best.
Of course, they couldn’t compare to Luo Feifei’s White Tiger Sword. Hers was a full-fledged Tier Fourteen Extraordinary Rapier, possessing the two Extraordinary Attributes of "Luck" and "Swift."
Li Xiang didn’t collect the Ox Demon King’s corpse. At three to four thousand kilograms, its body of pure muscle was undoubtedly top-grade beef. However, the bull had been extremely frenzied when it attacked, its eyes completely red, and Li Xiang worried it might have mad cow disease.
’Forget it, I don’t want it,’ he thought. ’There are plenty of wild animals around, anyway. Missing out on this one is no big deal.’
Perhaps to make up for it, Li Xiang went on to hunt several more Indian gaurs, as well as a large number of chital deer.
Chital deer are extremely common in India, with a wide distribution range, so they weren’t a protected species at all. This type of deer resembled the sika deer but was a different species. They also looked quite delicious, so Li Xiang naturally didn’t pass them up.
These chital were herd animals, often gathering in groups of over a hundred. They were the primary prey for Bengal Tigers and Sri Lankan Leopards.
Li Xiang hunted several hundred, storing them all in his system warehouse. They would make for some decent ingredients.
"ROAR—"
A tiger’s roar echoed out, followed immediately by the sounds of a fight. Li Xiang ran over and saw a massive Bengal Tiger locked in a deadly struggle with an Indian gaur.
Although the Indian gaur was huge, weighing at least 1,000 kilograms, it was still no match for the Bengal Tiger, which weighed 200 to 250 kilograms.
Soon, the gaur was brought down, and the Bengal Tiger began to feast.
Three minutes later, Li Xiang knocked the Bengal Tiger unconscious with a single blow of his rod and stored it in his system warehouse. Unfortunately, this Bengal Tiger was only Tier Nine and didn’t drop any Extraordinary Items.
Li Xiang pondered, ’Perhaps this Bengal Tiger had limited potential and couldn’t advance to a High Tier. Or maybe it was simply fated to be killed by another Demon Beast, forever halting its progress at Tier Nine.’
After all, not every Bengal Tiger had the potential to mutate, just like humans; their ultimate achievements would vary. Each tiger’s destiny and opportunities were different.
Some tigers had impressive potential from the start, and if they happened to consume some High Tier Extraordinary Spirit Grass or other Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, they could soar to new heights, far surpassing their peers.
Li Xiang walked through the forest, clad in his Black Mountain Profound Armor. It was virtually impervious, leaving him with no fear of snakes, insects, or any other pests.
"Detected Tier Twelve Mutated Creature: King Cobra."
At the system’s prompt, Li Xiang stopped. He listened for a moment, then fixed his gaze on the jungle to his left.
It was obscured by dense leaves and weeds. He gently pushed them aside and stepped through, and a massive, venomous snake came into view.
The snake had reared up the front third of its body, its hood flared, revealing sharp fangs. Its forked tongue flickered in and out as it let out a loud "HISS."
’So big,’ Li Xiang marveled. ’This must be a Guoshan Peak, right?’
Li Xiang looked at the huge snake in admiration. It was at least five meters long, with a grayish-brown underside, black-edged dorsal scales, and pale yellow bands around its body.
He knew India had many snakes. He’d heard that the Indian government once offered a bounty for killing Cobras, but the more bounties they offered, the more Cobras appeared, until the population spiraled out of control.
Of course, the King Cobra and the Cobra are not the same species. Cobras are relatively smaller, typically 1.2 to 2.5 meters long, while King Cobras can grow to five or six meters and are much more robust.
In terms of toxicity, a Cobra’s venom is predominantly neurotoxic and hemotoxic. A King Cobra’s venom is more complex, containing cardiotoxins and other components in addition to neurotoxins. Most importantly, due to the King Cobra’s large size, it can inject a much greater quantity of venom in a single bite. So while a Cobra is also highly venomous, its bite is not as lethal as a King Cobra’s.
Furthermore, Cobras mainly prey on small mammals, birds, and reptiles. King Cobras, on the other hand, primarily eat other snakes, such as rat snakes, suitably-sized pythons, and even other venomous snakes like Cobras, kraits, and smaller King Cobras. Some males, if rejected during courtship, will even eat the female, regardless of whether she is pregnant.
They are so brutal they even eat their own kind. Their Latin name, Ophiophagus, literally means "snake-eater." When food is scarce, King Cobras will also eat lizards, birds, and rodents to survive.
With a SWOOSH, the great snake lunged at Li Xiang. It moved with incredible speed, striking like lightning and creating a whooshing sound like a gale blowing over a mountaintop.
Any other human would have been unable to outrun or fight it off; they would have been bitten and killed by this King Cobra.
But Li Xiang was not the least bit afraid. Even if he stood perfectly still, the venomous snake couldn’t pierce his Armor. Even if it coiled its entire body around him, he could break free with a simple shrug. It was a completely one-sided slaughter.
Of course, he had no intention of letting the venomous snake get close. With a flick of the Mandarin Duck Double-Bladed Sword in his hands, the snake’s head fell to the ground.
System: "Congratulations, Host, for killing the Tier Twelve Mutated Creature: King Cobra. You are rewarded with 1200 Achievement Points, three Tier Six Mutated Spirit Fruits: Earth-Weaving Three-Clawed Wind, and one pair of a Tier Ten Extraordinary Item: Snake Skin Soft Boots."
