The Rat Cultivator

Chapter 148: Turning Against Each Other

The Red Refined Fire Snake slapped the water surface, as if waking from a dream. Greed flickered in his eyes as he made an exorbitant demand.

“I want fifty percent of the profits!”

Without a word, the Winged Tiger turned and walked away into the mist. “If you don’t want to cooperate, just say so.”

The Red Refined Fire Snake panicked. He hurried to block the tiger’s path, forcing a smile. “Wait! Ask for a sky-high price, settle on the ground—that’s how haggling works! You have to make a counteroffer!”

“Just twenty percent!” The Winged Tiger didn’t pause, speaking as he walked. “Take it or leave it. At worst, we’ll just keep fighting. Let’s see who the final winner is—spoiler alert, it won’t be you.”

The Red Refined Fire Snake said anxiously, “Thirty percent!”

“Twenty percent. Final offer.”

Fearing to miss this golden opportunity, the snake quickly agreed. “Fine! Twenty percent it is. But you have to do me another favor!”

The Winged Tiger immediately turned back, enthusiastically draping a paw over the snake’s shoulders. “Good brother! Whatever favor, just say it!”

“This white mist is your doing, right? Help me hold off the Black Water Flood Dragon Snake for a while longer!”

The Winged Tiger’s eyes shifted, his expression turning troubled. “This is my partner’s method. I can’t command him easily.”

The snake pressed, desperate. “You’re opening a market; you’ll need customers. Help me now, and I’ll drive the water demons from the East directly to your doorstep!”

The Winged Tiger’s eyes lit up. He grabbed the snake’s tail and shook it. “Deal!”

The white mist immediately parted, opening a clear path for the Red Refined Fire Snake.

The snake gave the tiger a deep look. “Give me at least the time it takes an incense stick to burn. The longer you hold him, the more customers I’ll send!”

Demon Power surged, and the Red Refined Fire Snake shot toward his brother’s lair like an arrow from a bow.

He had been scheming from the moment the Winged Tiger appeared. The Sinking Gold Carp promised by his brother were distant dreams. The market profits promised by the tiger were just numbers.

Only the unguarded Sinking Gold Carp in the lair were real.

Inside the mist, the Black Water Flood Dragon Snake was locked in fierce combat.

He spat a stream of black water entwined with lightning, shattering the whip shadows that lashed at him. He frowned slightly, having already adapted to the soul impact.

“Let’s see what you’ll do when you’ve exhausted all these demon souls!” he hissed viciously.

Although water demons kept dying and fueling the mist, the Black Water Snake destroyed them faster. A single sweep of his lightning annihilated swathes of spirits. Thunder magic was the natural nemesis of the soul.

Hiding in the fog, One Ear sighed inwardly. I thought fighting desperately could injure him, but he knows Thunder Magic. I have no chance of winning.

However, the Black Water Snake was overly cautious. He didn’t counterattack One Ear’s position, choosing instead to slowly grind his way out of the formation. One Ear was content to stall, reducing the frequency of attacks to conserve energy.

The snake swam through the mist, observing the corpses.

“A Soul-Flogging Demon… I’ve heard that extracting the soul of such a creature can be used to refine a peerless Fierce Soul or a Soul Pill to enhance one’s foundation. Where is he hiding?”

The snake’s Demonic Sense swept the surroundings, hunting for One Ear.

Suddenly, his head snapped up. His expression changed drastically.

He sensed the protective formation around his lair being attacked.

His eyes turned blood-red. “How could I forget the Red Refined Fire Snake is still outside?! How could I be so distracted?!”

“This mist… it influences the mind!”

He roared and charged toward the exit. But before he could break free, a black shadow blocked his path.

The figure burned with gray Soul Fire. Dense clusters of screaming faces covered its body, writhing in agony as they were consumed to fuel its power.

One Ear stood in the way, holding the long whip.

“Get out of my way!” the Black Water Snake shouted. Crimson flames ignited on his scales, and a horn on his head elongated, crackling with dark lightning. He charged with violent momentum, intent on crushing the rat.

Suddenly, the water around him thickened. It rotated and condensed, adhering to his scales like glue, slowing his charge. Faint green light flickered within the currents, dampening his flames.

Bibo had made his move.

One Ear roared. He lashed the Rat-Tail Whip with all his strength. The shadow extended, wrapping around the snake’s body. One Ear leaped, his claws digging into the snake’s horn.

SIZZLE!

Lightning scorched the flesh of his arms black. The horn pierced through his chest.

But One Ear didn’t let go.

The scars on his body writhed, transforming into ghostly faces that detached and rushed onto the snake, biting furiously. Each bite tore out a wisp of the snake’s soul.

The Black Water Snake felt the legendary torment of Ten Thousand Demons Devouring the Soul. In a single breath, his soul strength plummeted by a quarter.

“Madman! MADMAN!” the snake roared in agony, staring at the rat impaled on his horn who refused to die.

He sensed his lair’s formation shatter.

Rage overcame him. He gritted his teeth and activated his trump card.

A palm-sized Cyan Dragon Scale manifested on his forehead. A terrifying, ancient aura erupted, instantly dispersing the Netherworld Soul Mist. Cyan light rippled over his body, healing his soul damage in seconds.

One Ear dissipated into smoke before the light could touch him, escaping by a hair’s breadth.

The Black Water Snake gnashed his teeth but didn’t chase. He transformed into a streak of cyan light and vanished toward his lair.

The Lair.

“Hahaha!”

The Red Refined Fire Snake laughed maniacally as he shattered the protective formation. His face was stained red with blood from the backlash of breaking their Spirit Contract, but he didn’t care.

He looked at the Sinking Gold Carp fleeing in panic. He opened his mouth to devour them all—then stopped.

“I have the cultivation method,” he muttered, hesitation flickering in his eyes. “Eating them now is a waste. But if I keep them, he will hunt me to the ends of the earth.”

He slapped his tail against a rock. “The bold get stuffed, the timid go hungry! I’ll raise them! He would hunt me down anyway!”

He enveloped the carp in a sphere of water and fled into the darkness.

Minutes later, the Black Water Flood Dragon Snake arrived. He stared at the empty pond, the lingering scent of his brother’s betrayal heavy in the air.

“Red Refined Fire Snake!”

His roar shook the underwater caverns.

“I WILL KILL YOU!”