Life and Death Struggle

After investigating the Guo family's affair, the local county magistrate went to Yun'er's grave. He personally saw the White Snake guarding the grave and understood the entire situation. The magistrate admired the White Snake for killing an evil person to avenge a wrong, and deeply felt that even beasts in the mountains had emotions.

Afterward, a bored yamen runner in the county office sighed.

The White Snake, enraged by kindness, slaughtered an entire family. Who would have thought that beasts in the mountains were heartless?

The murder was inexplicably dropped. Some people wanted the authorities to do something, but they were met with a cold shoulder. The county office's stance was simple: if you think you can do it, go ahead. They could tell you where the White Snake was, as long as you dared to go. Recalling the incident where a small clan leader from the countryside led a team into the mountains to catch a snake, resulting in many deaths, the matter of avenging Steward Guo quietly subsided.

The White Snake had no interest in how things turned out. People die like lamps extinguished. It dejectedly returned to the mountains to continue its cultivation.

With Yun'er gone, the desire to venture out of the mountains also vanished. It obediently stayed within its territory, eating, sleeping, and cultivating. Coiled beneath a tree, it watched the wind and clouds. The golden ginkgo leaves, falling like a shower of gold, landed on the giant white snake, adding a touch of artistic conception. Cultivation was a lonely path, like this ancient ginkgo silently observing the comings and goings.

For the White Snake, cultivation was a slow accumulation of progress, valuing perseverance above all else. It had no secret manuals, no master, and no experience; only day-after-day accumulation.

It had also considered finding spirit herbs and elixirs to speed up its cultivation, but spirit herbs and elixirs were not easily found. Even if found, they were often guarded by fierce beasts. Animals' instincts made them view spirit herbs and elixirs as treasures, and fighting was inevitable for them. In the Hundred Thousand Mountains, the greatest taboo was injury, as it led to decreased physical strength and death.

Normally, the White Snake would coil on rocks, twine around ancient trees, or go to the water pit halfway up the mountain to cultivate.

Occasionally, animals would approach the White Snake. Most would quickly leave after seeing the strange white snake, fearing that the giant serpent would wake up and consider them food.

Except on rainy days, it would swim in the pool every day to wash away the fishy smell.

"Empty mountains after fresh rain, clear springs flow over rocks."

The White Snake found itself gradually developing a fondness for rainy days and playing in the water. This was gradually deviating from what a snake should do. The benefit was that its scales became whiter and smoother, making it more pleasing to the eye.

When one is completely immersed in something, the passage of time seems to go unnoticed.

More than ten years slipped by…

On a giant rock at the mountain peak, a white snake coiled and moved slowly, using the sharp stone edges to scrape off the old skin on its head. Then, it slowly shed the old skin entirely. The entire process lasted about fifteen minutes. After shedding its old skin, it rested for half a day. Its body length had reached eight meters, a very rare length.

Now, it could inhale mist within a two-meter radius by breathing in the clouds and fog at the mountain summit, indicating significant progress.

Countless flying and crawling creatures embarked on the path of cultivation, but most were carnivorous beasts or animals with strong survival capabilities. Small herbivores or plants that became spirits were extremely rare. This was because carnivorous or large animals had more vigorous blood and stronger vitality, giving them a greater chance of awakening their intelligence. Those with poor combat abilities needed immense fortune to cross that threshold. Cultivating as plants was even more difficult.

Near the White Snake's territory, there was a low-level spirit that had awakened its intelligence: a Grey Wolf. There might be other spirits in other areas, but they were too far apart to have had contact.

Unlike the White Snake, the wolf was highly aggressive, cruel, and cunning by nature. Upon learning of a giant white snake nearby, it began to provoke it frequently.

Beasts that had begun to understand cultivation possessed a skill that was basically learned without a teacher: devouring powerful prey to obtain blood essence and enhance themselves.

The White Snake was lazy and mostly relied on breathing in the ambient energy of heaven and earth. It used its sense of smell to avoid the Grey Wolf, either climbing to the mountain peak or diving into the deep pool. After all, from its years as a human in its previous life, it was still quite fearful of wolves. It had intended to avoid confrontation, hoping the Grey Wolf would shift its target. Who knew the Grey Wolf would mistake it for an easy target?

Finally, the White Snake, its fighting spirit and predatory genes ignited, decided to kill the detestable Grey Wolf!

After some preparation, the Grey Wolf indeed came to provoke it again, drooling. In its eyes, the White Snake was prime meat that could enhance its strength and make it more robust. It paid no attention to the location of the decisive battle.

The two beasts faced each other. The Grey Wolf, like a calf, hunched its back and lowered its head, growling, while the White Snake hissed.

"Hiss~!"

It opened its mouth, revealing sharp fangs and emitting a warning sound, but the Grey Wolf did not intend to retreat.

No wasted words, no extra movements, and no so-called probing. As soon as the two fierce beasts engaged, they fought to the death…

In the picturesque, fairy-tale-like scenery, the two beasts fought for their lives!

The White Snake deliberately exposed a weakness, using its body as bait to lure the Grey Wolf forward. As the wolf's mouth bit down on it, the snake's mouth accurately bit into the Grey Wolf's back, injecting venom. The needle-sharp wolf fur tore at the snake's mouth, causing it to bleed profusely. Its body was bitten by the wolf, its scales shattered, and blood flowed freely. Stimulated by the blood, the Grey Wolf fought even more desperately, and the White Snake, its wild nature ignited, began to coil around it…

The wolf knew it absolutely could not be coiled by the snake and, with its agility, broke free from the snake's deadly move.

The Grey Wolf, with years of life-and-death combat experience, knew that even if it bit the White Snake, it would only tear off scales and flesh. However, if it were coiled by the snake, it would surely die. The snake could afford to lose, but the wolf could not. It dared not be coiled.

The Grey Wolf was destined to fail. Its fangs had already injected venom into the wolf's flesh and blood. If it fled now, it might still be able to neutralize the White Snake's not-so-potent venom with its life force. But stimulated by the smell of blood and driven to madness, it no longer considered fleeing.

The White Snake accurately seized a small mistake by the Grey Wolf and quickly coiled around its neck, then, at the fastest speed, coiled around its opponent entirely!

It was able to coil the agile Grey Wolf by taking advantage of the environment. The battle location was bordered by a cliff on one side and a deep pool on the other, limiting its maneuverability.

The wolf that had become a spirit was not an old, lame wolf. Every struggle of its wolf claws would scrape off snake scales and inflict wounds…

One wolf and one snake fought desperately. The spilled snake blood stained its scales, turning it into a blood-red snake!

Today, the White Snake was determined to kill the Grey Wolf!

With a surge of strength, it dragged the Grey Wolf into the deep pool. The two giant beasts created a huge splash as they fell into the water. The Grey Wolf knew it was finished…

Snake creatures were excellent swimmers. After falling into the water, the White Snake controlled its opponent, sinking rapidly. It completely ignored the red blood dispersing in the water. The third rule of survival: when attacking, regardless of the enemy's strength, one must go all out with a bloodthirsty ferocity!

In the clear pool water, the two beasts sank to the bottom, stirring up sand and stones.

The White Snake tightly coiled and squeezed, refusing to release. The Grey Wolf struggled as if mad, its movements growing weaker. The wolf's head watched the water surface, its vision blurring until it plunged into darkness.

Only when the Grey Wolf's body temperature dropped did the White Snake release its grip. It twisted its exhausted serpentine body and dragged the wolf's corpse to the surface.

The fight, though seemingly short, lasted a full half-hour. It had lost a lot of blood from its wounds and was utterly exhausted, desperately needing to consume blood and flesh. It did not come ashore. Instead, it bit into the Grey Wolf's throat on the water's surface. It had intended to swallow it whole, but its injuries were too severe. Forcing itself to swallow might tear open its wounds, leading to a swollen belly and an unjust death.

Fortunately, its human intelligence came into play. Its fangs pierced the carotid artery in the throat, and it opened its mouth to drink the blood. Blood was the finest blood essence within a fierce beast.

Perhaps because the Grey Wolf had become a spirit, its blood had not coagulated even after such a long time. A large amount of pure wolf blood entered its belly.

Before long, the White Snake felt a burning sensation in its abdomen, and coupled with its severe injuries, it fainted. Its massive serpentine body drifted downstream with the curre