Flood Dragon Snake Sheds Its Skin, Unacquainted Yet Familiar

Even with all his divine abilities unleashed, Su Changqing was completely unable to subdue the Flood Dragon Snake. Instead, he had exhausted all the spiritual energy within his body to the point of depletion.

He gasped for air, his eyes filled with intense gravity.

Su Changqing knew deeply that in his current state, he could not fight any longer. It seemed he could only retreat for now. If he couldn't defeat it, he should at least be able to escape, right?

Just as Su Changqing was about to take a step to flee this swamp, he noticed a change occurring with the Flood Dragon Snake.

"Hiss hiss hiss!"

A series of hisses sounded out. Su Changqing, however, could tell that these were not cries of pain. Instead, they carried a hint of joy.

He didn't know what the Flood Dragon Snake was doing, but his curiosity compelled him to stop and observe the situation.

Only after the mist created by his divine abilities had completely dissipated could Su Changqing see clearly. The Flood Dragon Snake, which had been thrashing about wildly, was now lying quietly on the ground in one part of the swamp. It appeared calm and weak, yet he could sense its excitement.

Su Changqing did not approach, but observed it from a distance.

After remaining still for a few minutes, the Flood Dragon Snake finally began to move again. It cautiously shifted, and scales began to shed from its tail. A layer of transparent snake skin started to peel away.

"Shedding its skin?"

Su Changqing watched this scene, recalling a growth characteristic of snakes. They had to shed their skin to be reborn at certain ages.

As demonic beasts, they also retained this ability. Shedding skin not only brought about rebirth but also allowed their strength to increase significantly, much like human cultivators needing to break through realm bottlenecks or undergo tribulation.

Of course, this was also their most vulnerable moment. They had to focus all their mental energy on shedding their skin. Any misstep would lead to eternal damnation.

This Flood Dragon Snake actually dared to shed its skin in front of him.

He didn't know whether to say it was confident that he, with his depleted spiritual energy, couldn't make a move against it.

Or perhaps it mistook him for a devout believer, thinking he wouldn't take advantage of its vulnerability and attack it at this moment?

However, Su Changqing truly had no intention of attacking it this time. It wasn't for the reason it might have thought; even with his depleted spiritual energy, he had enough to unleash a sword strike and finish it off.

Rather, Su Changqing had come to acknowledge its strength. He was curious to see how much stronger this Flood Dragon Snake, which had fought him to a draw, would become after shedding its skin and growing.

An hour later, the Flood Dragon Snake's skin-shedding process was completely finished.

"Hiss!"

A sky-shattering hiss erupted. The Flood Dragon Snake seemed to be expressing the relief and excitement of its rebirth.

Its newly formed body had visibly grown larger. Its ink-black scales shimmered with even more depth under the light. The wings on its back were more developed, and the horns on its forehead began to flash with lightning, exuding an aura that could awe even thunder.

It looked truly mystical and astonishing.

What surprised Su Changqing even more was how similar the lightning on the Flood Dragon Snake's horns felt to the lightning from his array. Upon closer examination, he could even sense that the two types of lightning shared the same origin.

In other words, this Flood Dragon Snake had borrowed the Heavenly Lightning summoned by his array and transformed it into its own ability?

Were there really demonic beasts in this world that could convert others' lightning techniques?

He had never heard of it, nor had he ever seen it.

Seeing that it had finished shedding its skin, Su Changqing was unsure if the Flood Dragon Snake would attack him again. He prepared to leave, thinking that if it recovered its strength, he might not be able to escape.

But in the next second, he saw the Flood Dragon Snake charging towards him.

"It's coming again?!"

Su Changqing cried out, his heart pounding. He was ready to control his flying sword to evade.

However, when the Flood Dragon Snake stopped a few meters in front of Su Changqing, it showed no intention of attacking. It simply stopped obediently not far from Su Changqing, a smile appearing on its snake head.

Of course, this was something Su Changqing sensed. Otherwise, how would he know a snake was smiling?

"Hiss hiss!"

The Flood Dragon Snake let out two soft hisses at Su Changqing.

Su Changqing frowned. He couldn't understand what the Flood Dragon Snake was saying, but he could feel that it bore no ill will. It seemed to be greeting him.

"What do you want?"

On impulse, Su Changqing actually replied to it.

"Hiss hiss!"

The Flood Dragon Snake hissed softly at Su Changqing again.

"Are you saying you want to thank me?"

This time, Su Changqing didn't know why, but although he heard snake hisses, he could understand what it was saying as if it were spoken words.

The Flood Dragon Snake's large head nodded at Su Changqing.

"Why do you want to thank me? Didn't I attack you?"

Su Changqing was puzzled.

It had just ambushed him from the water, intending to swallow him whole. After his counterattack, they had nearly destroyed the swamp. Now it was saying it wanted to thank him. What was going on?

"Hiss hiss hiss, hiss hiss hiss!"

The Flood Dragon Snake's snake face earnestly explained to Su Changqing.

After hearing its explanation, Su Changqing finally understood the cause and effect behind the Flood Dragon Snake's sudden attack on him.

It turns out this demonic beast, the Flood Dragon Snake, had reached a bottleneck in its cultivation and was preparing to shed its skin and break through in this swamp. Just as it had made all its preparations, Su Changqing happened to arrive in the swamp. Fearing that Su Changqing would disturb its shedding and breakthrough, the Flood Dragon Snake attacked first, intending to drive Su Changqing away.

"Oh? So that's how it is."

Su Changqing suddenly understood, realizing that perhaps he was in the wrong.

"Hiss hiss hiss!"

The Flood Dragon Snake nodded and continued to explain to Su Changqing.

This Flood Dragon Snake, like him, was also around the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm. It happened to encounter a bottleneck and was preparing to undergo its tribulation here, intending to drive him away. It never expected to encounter his resistance, leading to the intense battle between the man and the snake.

What was even more amusing was that after Su Changqing unleashed a combo of divine abilities, his spiritual energy was depleted. The Flood Dragon Snake was also not doing well, nearly failing its breakthrough. However, the Ten Thousand Heavenly Thunder Array summoned rolling heavenly lightning, allowing the Flood Dragon Snake to absorb its power and directly overcome its breakthrough bottleneck.

This led to the scene of shedding its skin and breaking through just now.

Su Changqing covered his hands and forehead, unable to help but chuckle.

He had clearly intended to drive the Flood Dragon Snake away, but instead, he had inadvertently provided the opportunity for its breakthrough. It was a classic case of trying to outsmart oneself and ending up with the short end of the stick.

"We've become acquainted through battle. Since I've bestowed such good fortune upon you, and you wish to thank me, I will ask for one thing in return. If you help me find it, we'll be even."

After clarifying the entire sequence of events, Su Changqing smiled at the Flood Dragon Snake and said.

Rather than searching aimlessly for the Desolate Orchid Water Lily in this swamp himself, it would be better to have this Flood Dragon Snake, which was familiar with the area, lead him. Perhaps this great snake would even know where it was.

"Hiss hiss!"

The Flood Dragon Snake curiously asked what he was looking for.

"The Desolate Orchid Water Lily, a rare white water lily. Do you know where to find it?"

Su Changqing said to it.

The Flood Dragon Snake did not answer but began to move, turning its head to glance at Su Changqing as if telling him to follow its lead.