The golden crowns felt soft to the touch, yet were incredibly hard; even Lightning couldn't bite through them. Had they been damaged, it would have significantly impacted the strength of the King Cobra.

Long Feng followed over. The Xuanyuan family possessed more secret manuals, giving him a deeper understanding of the King Cobra than Zhang Yang had.

"The golden crown of the King Cobra is the repository of its lifelong essence, filled with vital blood. This vital blood carries the energy of the cobra’s entire life, but storing it is difficult; it absolutely requires a jade vial!"

Long Feng murmured softly. The King Cobra’s crown was most precious, yet its preservation was equally challenging.

Vital blood isn't something every Spirit Beast produces; usually, only those of formidable strength can generate it, such as the King Cobra, which is far stronger than the Fox-tailed Marten. The Fox-tailed Marten is merely highly poisonous, lacking significant raw power.

The vital blood of a Spirit Beast is not only highly beneficial to other Spirit Beasts but can also aid humans.

Especially for Zhang Yang—a doctor—he could utilize the King Cobra’s vital blood to concoct medicines. The effects derived from this vital blood would be no less potent than those from rare celestial treasures.

This was, after all, the essence of a Spirit Beast, an entity inherently infused with spiritual energy.

"I didn't bring any jade vials this time!"

Zhang Yang shook his head with frustration and regret visible on his face. He knew precisely how vital blood needed to be stored, but coming here, he had never anticipated actually slaying a Spirit Beast and obtaining its essence, so he hadn't made any preparations.

Spirit Beast vital blood cannot be preserved indefinitely. If it isn't extracted according to the proper method within six shichen (twelve hours) of the beast's death, the vital blood will slowly dissipate as it loses the support of the beast's life essence and spiritual energy, ultimately becoming useless.

"I have some!"

Long Feng suddenly smiled and produced two jade vials from his person.

These were top-grade emerald jade vials; the bottles themselves held considerable value. Long Feng poured out several pills from one vial, placed them into the other, and then handed the now-empty vial to Zhang Yang.

The vials contained healing medicines. While the Xuanyuan family rarely obtained rare celestial treasures, they possessed many jade artifacts. Such jade vials were common items within the family.

The medicines within the vials were good, but they were refined from ordinary herbs, useful for minor internal or external injuries, though ineffective against true severe trauma.

Even so, to ordinary people, these medicines were exceptionally precious. To preserve their efficacy, they were always stored in jade vials, as they had plenty to spare.

Of course, these medicines, considered 'precious' by ordinary standards, were nothing compared to the vital blood of the King Cobra.

"Good, Long Feng, thank you very much!"

Seeing the jade vials Long Feng produced, Zhang Yang was surprised, though even more so, he was delighted.

With the vials, the vital blood could be properly preserved, allowing him to concoct new spiritual elixirs.

Spiritual elixirs prepared with Spirit Beast vital blood differed somewhat from those made with celestial treasures; these contained the essence accumulated over hundreds of years by the Spirit Beast and provided greater aid in strengthening Neijin (Internal Strength).

Long Feng smiled faintly without speaking, standing with Zhang Yang before the colossal head of the King Cobra.

The sooner the vital blood was extracted, the better the effect; if it could be drawn from a living Spirit Beast, the blood would maintain its most vigorous energy. Alas, Spirit Beasts possessing vital blood were invariably powerful, making live extraction virtually impossible.

Zhang Yang took out his short knife, channeling his Neijin into it, and began to slowly cut at the golden crown.

The crown was truly hard. The short knife that could slice through the King Cobra’s tough scales couldn't even scratch them. Ultimately, Zhang Yang had to lift the King Cobra’s scalp and begin cutting the crown from the underside upwards.

Finally, Zhang Yang managed to sever the first golden crown, and a few drops of golden blood flowed out.

This was the vital blood of the King Cobra. It possessed no fragrance but carried an indescribable, profound vitality.

Wu Ying and Lightning, standing nearby, stared intently at the vital blood. Zhang Yang quickly issued a command for them to remain calm; the vital blood yielded far greater efficacy when used in elixirs than when consumed directly.

Eating it now would only be a waste.

The two little ones seemed to understand Zhang Yang’s meaning, crouching still as Zhang Yang successfully collected the vital blood from the first crown.

Having collected the first, Zhang Yang moved on to the second. With prior experience, this extraction was extremely smooth.

From the five golden crowns, less than twenty drops of vital blood were obtained in total, filling less than half of one jade vial.

This mere half-vial of vital blood was worth as much as all the Immortal Fruit Pills Zhang Yang possessed. This was also the first time Zhang Yang had ever held vital blood from a Spirit Beast; even in his previous life, he had never seen a drop.

Few ancestors of the Zhang family had ever obtained Spirit Beast vital blood, and none had ever hunted and acquired it themselves.

While the vital blood within the crowns was the most crucial part, the severed crowns themselves were also treasures.

Zhang Yang was acutely aware of their hardness; the short knife infused with his Neijin couldn't even make a mark, which attested to their incredible density.

These crowns could serve as materials for forging weapons. A weapon crafted from the King Cobra’s crown could achieve terrifying defensive capabilities.

Unfortunately, Zhang Yang was reluctant to use the body parts of a Spirit Beast to make weapons; he decided to keep them for later opportunities.

With the crowns removed, Zhang Yang and Long Feng began sorting through the other treasures on the King Cobra’s body.

The King Cobra’s fangs were also supreme treasures. Exceptionally sharp, they were excellent material for weapon crafting. Such treasures could not be left behind.

As soon as they cut off the fangs, Lightning suddenly squeaked urgently.

After its cry, it darted directly into the great mouth of the King Cobra. Moments later, it emerged clutching a blood-soaked sac.

"Is that... a poison sac?"

Long Feng exclaimed in surprise. The object Lightning held reeked strongly of blood, larger than an egg. It was something Lightning had pulled from the King Cobra’s mouth, and Long Feng instinctively recognized the possibility.

"Let me see it!"

Zhang Yang said softly. Lightning immediately leaped to Zhang Yang’s side without hesitation, handing him the sac.

This gesture demonstrated absolute trust and dependence.

Zhang Yang examined the sac closely for a while before slowly nodding, saying, "This should be the poison gall, the source of the King Cobra’s toxin. It’s not an ordinary poison sac!"

Lightning nodded vigorously, then hopped back in front of Zhang Yang, holding out its paws. Its posture clearly indicated it desired the poison gall.

After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Yang asked softly, "Lightning, do you want to consume it?"

Zhang Yang knew how to process vital blood into medicine, but he had no idea how to utilize the poison gall. The King Cobra ranked fourth among venomous beasts, several tiers above Lightning. Zhang Yang worried that Lightning might not be able to handle the gall.

Little Lightning immediately nodded with rapid insistence.

"Can you handle it?"

After some thought, Zhang Yang slowly asked. Little Lightning nodded quickly again.

(Shu Shu Wu)

Finally, Zhang Yang agreed. He didn't know how to dispose of this poison gall, so giving it to Lightning, who enjoyed eating toxic things, seemed best—it was just a slightly larger dose this time.

Upon hearing Zhang Yang's permission, Lightning excitedly snatched the poison gall into its claws and bit into it immediately. In just a few bites, it completely devoured the gall, leaving nothing behind.

After finishing, Lightning even licked its lips with lingering satisfaction.

Fox-tailed Martens feed on poisons, and their favorite food was usually venomous snakes. However, the King Cobra was no ordinary venomous snake; it was a far more potent venomous serpent.

It was likely the first time Lightning had consumed the venom of a King Cobra since the Fox-tailed Marten species existed; its ancestors hadn't possessed this capability.

As Lightning was laughing contentedly, its body suddenly went stiff, causing Zhang Yang and Long Feng to jump in alarm.

Zhang Yang quickly gathered it up to check its breathing and pulse. A Fox-tailed Marten’s pulse differed from a human's, but as long as a pulse existed, it followed a certain rhythm. While other doctors might not perceive the nuance, Zhang Yang could.

Zhang Yang’s medical skill surpassed that of other physicians by far.

After sensing for a while, Zhang Yang finally relaxed and nodded. Lightning had consumed something too rich too quickly and entered a deep sleep while it digested.

It was similar to how it slept after consuming spiritual medicine. The poison gall would affect it as much as a spiritual medicine, likely requiring a long rest.

Knowing Lightning was safe, Zhang Yang was relieved and began helping Long Feng sort through the remaining treasures of the King Cobra.

The serpent was so massive that they couldn't carry away many of its valuable parts.

Even the snake blood was a treasure; though far inferior to the vital blood, it had powerful nourishing and beautifying properties, far surpassing ordinary snake blood.

They couldn't take the blood and had to leave it behind.

The blood and flesh could be discarded, but the snake gall must not be abandoned.

Retrieving the snake gall, large as an ostrich egg, brought another smile to Zhang Yang's face.

Aside from the crowns, fangs, and poison gall, the snake gall was another supreme treasure of the King Cobra. The gall of a three-hundred-year-old King Cobra would have efficacy tens of thousands of times greater than that of other snakes.

Furthermore, this snake gall would have an even greater role in Zhang Yang’s hands. In the future, adding a bit of King Cobra snake gall when preparing spiritual elixirs could elevate the overall quality of the medicine and maximize its effects.

After securing the gall, Zhang Yang exerted great effort to peel off the King Cobra’s hide.

This was the scaled armor capable of stopping bullets from a rifle, making it perfect for protective gear. Since the piece was so vast, there would be enough for everyone to have a set, with significant amounts left over. Even if he didn't need it himself, he could trade it with others for items useful to him.

He wasn't the only Neijin practitioner in the country; besides the Xuanyuan lineage, there were other hidden families and lone experts. He could use the hide for exchanges with them later.

However, the snakeskin was too large to move all at once. After consulting with Long Feng, they decided to take only a small portion for now and hide the rest in a secluded spot to retrieve later—such a treasure could absolutely not be wasted.

By the time they finished this inventory, it was deep into the night. Both Zhang Yang and Long Feng were exhausted, sitting on the ground, panting heavily.

Shortly after they sat down, Wu Ying suddenly stiffened. It rapidly climbed onto Zhang Yang's head, staring fixedly in one direction.

After watching for only a moment, it jumped down and quickly scampered forward.