Crimson Ice Snake King

The Next Day.

Chen Guan wrote two letters. One was sent to Yaoye in the Imperial Capital's Holy City, while the other, along with a token, was sent to the nearby Jieji City.

After handling those trivial matters, he bought two maps of the Magical Beast Mountain Range's Outer Edge in Qingshan Town and ventured in alone without hesitation.

This was Chen Guan's first time entering the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Hiring a mercenary as a guide would have been more convenient, but considering his strength, he abandoned the idea.

Even the leaders of Qingshan Town's major Mercenary Groups were only Dou Masters, let alone the others. If they went in together, they would only hold him back and be of limited use.

Since it was his first time entering the mountains, Chen Guan was in no rush. His priority was familiarizing himself with the environment while also looking for the cave Xiao Yi Xian had discovered in the Original Work.

After spending the entire morning searching, he had not found the cave, but he had killed more than a dozen magical beasts. They were all Tier 1 Magical Beasts and posed no threat whatsoever. Chen Guan seriously suspected they had come looking to scam him.

After eating a delicious meal of roasted Hao Pig meat, Chen Guan got up and continued deeper in.

There was no rush to find the cave. He had plenty of time to search slowly. By changing directions each day and conducting a carpet search, he would find it eventually. For now, training came first; he had to keep his priorities straight.

As Chen Guan gradually ventured deeper, the magical beasts appearing around him grew stronger as well. The Tier 1 Magical Beasts had retreated into hiding, and the active ones were mostly Tier 2 Magical Beasts.

A Tier 2 Magical Beast was equivalent to a Dou Master, and one of the more outstanding Dou Masters at that.

This area was still part of the Magical Beast Mountain Range's Outer Edge, but it was already a depth that mercenaries avoided like the plague.

Because of that, the mercenaries he had frequently encountered earlier now seemed to have vanished completely. Not a single person was in sight.

Sizzle—A stream of scorching venom suddenly assaulted him from behind.

Danger struck, yet Chen Guan seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He shifted his feet slightly and easily dodged it. The Thousand Flame Sword Art condensed a crimson sword aura, which he flung backward with a backhand motion, accurately striking the mouth of the magical beast that had opened its jaws for a sneak attack. A shrill scream rang out alongside spraying blood, thunderous and clear.

A Poison Fire Lizard, a Tier 2 Magical Beast.

Recognizing it at a glance, Chen Guan did not slow down in the slightest. He rushed forward, mounted the Poison Fire Lizard, and beat it to death with three punches.

Wiping the blood from his hands, he took out his longsword and skillfully cut open the corpse. A thumb-sized, Dark Red magical core came into view.

"Oh, not bad luck."

This was the first magical core he had obtained today.

Thinking it over carefully, this seemed to be his first bit of extra income in all these years. It was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

Training his strength while making money at the same time instantly filled Chen Guan with motivation. He put away the magical core and began searching for his next target. In his eyes, this area had already become a gold mine.

Swift Wind Wolves, Green Wood Foxes, Blazing Spirit Pythons—one Tier 2 Magical Beast after another appeared. Yet without exception, every one of them met its end. By dusk, Chen Guan had already killed fourteen Tier 2 Magical Beasts!

Unfortunately, he had only obtained four magical cores.

"Four, fourteen. What unlucky numbers. I'll find one more, then get out of here." Seeing that it was getting late, Chen Guan muttered and made his decision.

At that moment, the Young Man resembled an old general on an opera stage, his back covered in flags. He had fought more than ten battles in a row. Though he had won them all, the expenditure had still been significant, and his mind was slightly fatigued. After all, not every Tier 2 Magical Beast was as pathetic as the Poison Fire Lizard.

Poison Fire Lizard: You think you're so impressive. You took my magical core and still say I'm weak.

Chen Guan carefully searched for a target when a rustling sound suddenly entered his ears.

Chen Guan's expression changed slightly. Using Drifting Cloud Steps, he swiftly retreated to an open area. He gripped his longsword vigilantly as Dou Qi Gauze flickered into existence around him. Forming a hand seal with one hand, he condensed a crimson sword aura in the blink of an eye, floating it behind his back.

One, two... he condensed a full sixty sword auras before stopping, sensing that only around half of his Dou Qi remained.

At that moment, the culprit behind the strange noise entered his sight.

Just as Chen Guan had guessed, it was a swarm of nearly a hundred pale white snakes!

Crimson Ice Snakes, Tier 1 Magical Beasts common in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. They possessed ice attributes, and within their ice lurked Cold Poison. If a poisoned victim did not receive treatment within Half a Day, the Cold Poison would freeze every drop of blood in their body until they died.

Recognizing them, Chen Guan relaxed slightly. This kind of snake swarm was terrifying to look at. Even peak Tier 2 Magical Beasts were unwilling to provoke them, but they were not much of a threat to him.

He was best at crushing low-level opponents.

"Go!"

No longer hesitating, Chen Guan took the initiative to attack. The sixty sword auras behind him shot forth. In an Instant, they were as dazzling as a meteor shower, crimson clouds filling the sky. Fleeting Beauty truly lived up to its name.

Rustle, rustle—

The snake swarm was engulfed by the sword auras, suffering catastrophic casualties. Severed bodies littered the ground, and the scent of cooked meat spread through the air. In a single strike, more than seventy percent of the swarm had been wiped out. Even the lucky survivors were all wounded.

The might of a Profound Tier Dou Technique was terrifying indeed! Chen Guan seized the opportunity and charged in with his gleaming blade.

But just as he was slaughtering them freely and racking up kills, a powerful sense of danger rose in his heart. Without the slightest hesitation, he pushed Drifting Cloud Steps to its limit and instantly flashed more than ten meters away.

Hiss, hiss, hiss. A pool of snake venom landed where he had been standing moments ago. Its intense toxicity corroded the ground into a half-meter-wide poisoned patch. The grass and trees withered and died, before a thick layer of frost formed over them.

Not far away, a gray snake several meters long stared at Chen Guan with icy pupils.

"Tier 3?!" Chen Guan cried out.

It was actually a mutated Crimson Ice Snake King. Its Cold Poison carried powerful corrosive properties. On that point alone, it was certainly not at the bottom even among Tier 3 Magical Beasts.

"Sorry to disturb you. Farewell!"

Without even looking at the seven or eight magical cores on the ground, Chen Guan hurled his longsword at the Crimson Ice Snake King and turned to flee at top speed. By the time the Snake King dodged the sword and looked over, he was already dozens of meters away.

The Snake King had already developed some intelligence. Seeing how cunning the Young Man was, it was utterly enraged. It hissed as it began its pursuit. Its massive body did not hinder it in the least, and it was not much slower than the Young Man.

Chen Guan could feel the Crimson Ice Snake King relentlessly pursuing him. Without Looking Back, he fled toward the densely packed trees, using his greater agility and the constant sound of trees shattering behind him to judge the distance between them.

Though he was being chased, Chen Guan had not actually lost his composure. He still had confidence; this Snake King could not threaten his life.

The reason he fled was simply that activating Myriad God Calamity consumed an enormous amount of energy. In his current state, after one strike, even a random Tier 2 Magical Beast would pose a threat.

Therefore, fleeing was the wise choice.

Chen Guan clearly remembered the route he had taken in and knew that he had cleared out all the magical beasts along the way. Everything was under his control.

But what he never expected was that magical beasts would replace one another so quickly. A Tier 2 Fire Fox that had just occupied new territory, in order to defend its authority, decisively extended its claws when Chen Guan came rushing toward it.

Caught off guard, Chen Guan's Dou Qi Gauze was instantly pierced, leaving a deep claw wound on his left arm.

That was only a flesh wound. More critically, the Fire Fox's interference disrupted Chen Guan's escape rhythm and forcibly stopped him.

Though it had only been a few fleeting moments, it was enough for the Crimson Ice Snake King to catch up.

Before he had time to think, a broadsword appeared in his hand. Boundless Ocean activated instantly, and he forcibly received a Snake Collision.

A tremendous force struck him, sending Chen Guan flying. He even spat out a mouthful of blood in midair. Yet it was precisely through that force that Chen Guan widened the distance once again, farther than before. After several flashes, he plunged into the forest sea. Catching him again had clearly become a vain hope.

Realizing it had been deceived, the Crimson Ice Snake King roared in fury. It coldly turned its gaze toward the Fire Fox, preparing to vent its anger on it.

However, the Fire Fox's survival instincts were fully unleashed. It immediately leaped onto a cliff, and its wall-running skills left the Snake King's massive body utterly unable to keep up.

Having easily shaken off the Crimson Ice Snake King, the Fire Fox was immensely pleased with itself. At that moment, it had no idea that it had become the source of disaster for its entire clan, forever remembered by someone.