He had unleashed every Divine Ability he possessed, yet he still could not subdue this flood serpent. Instead, he had exhausted all the spiritual energy in his body to the point of depletion.
He panted heavily, his eyes incomparably grave.
Su Changqing knew that in his current condition, he could not continue fighting. It seemed he could only retreat for now. If he could not deal with it, surely he could still escape, right?
Just as Su Changqing prepared to flee this swamp, a sudden change came from the flood serpent's direction.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"
At the repeated hisses, Su Changqing realized they were completely unlike cries of pain. Instead, they carried a trace of delight.
He had no idea what the flood serpent was doing, but his curiosity still made him stop and observe what was happening.
Once the mist stirred up by those Divine Abilities had fully dispersed, Su Changqing finally saw clearly. The previously restless flood serpent was now lying quietly on a patch of ground within the swamp. It looked calm yet exceedingly weak, though he could still sense its excitement.
Su Changqing did not approach it, merely watching from afar.
After remaining still for several minutes, the flood serpent finally began to move again. It shifted carefully, and scales started falling from its tail as a translucent layer of snakeskin began to peel away.
"Molting?"
Watching this scene, Su Changqing recalled a growth trait of serpentine creatures. Once they reached a certain age, they would molt and be reborn.
As demonic beasts, they retained this ability as well. Molting not only granted them new life, but could also raise their strength by another level, much like human cultivators breaking through a realm bottleneck—or undergoing Tribulation Crossing.
Naturally, this was also when they were at their weakest. They had to devote all their attention to molting; the slightest mishap would lead to irreversible ruin.
This flood serpent actually dared to molt right in front of him.
Did it know for certain that his spiritual energy was exhausted and that he could not attack it?
Or did it take him for some kind-hearted gentleman, thinking he would not strike while it was vulnerable?
However, Su Changqing truly had no intention of attacking it again. It was not because his spiritual energy was depleted as it thought; even with his reserves drained, he still had enough strength to strike a sword blow and finish it.
Rather, Su Changqing had already acknowledged its strength. He instead wanted to see just how powerful this flood serpent, which had fought him to a draw, could become after molting and growing.
An hour later, the flood serpent finally completed its molting process.
"Hiss!"
A heaven-shaking hiss rang out as the flood serpent seemed to vent its exhilaration and excitement after molting.
Its newly reborn body had vaguely grown another size. Its jet-black scales carried an even deeper dark sheen beneath the light, its wings had become fuller, and lightning began flickering around the horn on its forehead, giving it an imposing aura that could intimidate thunder itself.
It looked truly mysterious and astonishing.
What astonished Su Changqing even more was that the lightning on the flood serpent's horn felt remarkably similar to the lightning from his array just now. Upon closer examination, he could even tell that the two kinds of lightning shared the same origin.
In other words, this flood serpent had borrowed the heavenly lightning summoned by his array and transformed it into its own power?
Could there really be a demonic beast in this world capable of converting another's Lightning Technique?
He had never heard of one, nor had he ever seen one.
Seeing that it had finished molting, Su Changqing was unsure whether the flood serpent would attack him again. He prepared to leave first; otherwise, once it recovered its strength, he might find it difficult to escape.
But the next moment, the flood serpent shot toward Su Changqing.
"Coming again?!"
Su Changqing shouted, his heart jolting as he prepared at any moment to control his Flying Sword and evade.
Yet after approaching within several meters of Su Changqing, the flood serpent stopped. It showed no intention of attacking at all. Instead, it obediently remained a short distance in front of him, with what looked like a smile on its snake face.
Of course, Su Changqing only knew it was smiling through feeling; otherwise, how could he possibly know what a snake's smile looked like?
"Hiss, hiss!"
The flood serpent let out two soft hisses at Su Changqing.
Su Changqing frowned. He could not understand what it was saying, but he could sense no hostility from it. It seemed to be greeting him.
"What do you want?"
As if possessed, Su Changqing actually asked it in return.
"Hiss, hiss!"
The flood serpent softly hissed at Su Changqing once again.
"Are you saying you want to thank me?"
This time, Su Changqing did not know why, but although all he heard were snake hisses, he could understand their meaning as they reached his ears.
The flood serpent nodded its massive head at Su Changqing.
"Why thank me? Didn't I attack you?"
Su Changqing could not understand.
Just moments ago, it had lurked beneath the water to ambush him, seemingly intent on swallowing him whole. After he counterattacked, man and serpent had nearly destroyed this entire swamp in their battle. Yet now it said it wanted to thank him. What was this about?
"Hiss, hiss, hiss. Hiss, hiss, hiss!"
With a very serious expression on its snake face, the flood serpent explained to Su Changqing.
Only after hearing its explanation did Su Changqing understand the reason it had suddenly attacked him.
It turned out that this demonic flood serpent had reached a bottleneck in its cultivation and was preparing to molt in this swamp to break through. Just as it had completed all its preparations, Su Changqing happened to arrive in the swamp. Fearing that Su Changqing would disrupt its molting breakthrough, the flood serpent had struck first in an attempt to drive him away.
"Oh? So that's what happened."
Su Changqing suddenly understood. In that case, he was the one in the wrong.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"
The flood serpent nodded and continued explaining to Su Changqing.
It was actually around the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm, like him, and had encountered a bottleneck while undergoing Tribulation Crossing here. It had intended to drive him away, never expecting him to resist. Thus, man and serpent had fought fiercely without end.
What was even more amusing was that Su Changqing's chain of Divine Abilities had depleted his own spiritual energy, while the flood serpent had not fared much better and had nearly suffered a failed breakthrough. But in the end, the Ten Thousand Heavenly Thunder Array summoned rolling heavenly lightning, allowing the flood serpent to absorb its power and directly find the key to overcoming its bottleneck.
That was how the scene of it molting and breaking through had come about.
After hearing this, Su Changqing covered his forehead with his hand and could not help laughing.
He had clearly wanted to drive the flood serpent away, yet he had unexpectedly helped it find an opportunity to break through. This was truly another version of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used to bait it.
"We became acquainted through a fight. Since I gave you a stroke of Fortune and you wish to thank me, I'll ask you for something as well. If you take me to find it, we'll call it even."
After sorting out the whole sequence of events, Su Changqing smiled at the flood serpent and spoke.
Rather than searching this vast swamp for the Desolate Orchid Water Lily himself, it would be better to have this flood serpent, which knew the area well, lead him there. Perhaps this large snake even knew where it was.
"Hiss, hiss!"
The flood serpent curiously asked what he was looking for.
"The Desolate Orchid Water Lily, a rare white narcissus. Do you know where it grows?"
Su Changqing told it.
The flood serpent did not answer. It simply twisted its body and started moving, then looked back at Su Changqing as though telling him to follow.