Giant Python Appears

Wang Teng held two fingers together like a sword. That condensed white Sword Qi tore through the air and shot straight toward Lin Feng's brow, moving at an unbelievable speed.

However, Lin Feng's figure shifted sideways like a ghost. The Sword Qi skimmed past his ear, leaving only a deep hole in the broken wall.

The perfected Soaring Dragon Astonishing Swan Step had brought his control over his body to an entirely new level.

"Not bad footwork, but how long can you keep dodging?" Wang Teng sneered. His assault resumed, Sword Qi crisscrossing between his fingers and palms like a huge net descending over Lin Feng.

Lin Feng's gaze was sharp. Crimson-and-gold Blood Burning Saber Intent coiled around his body, while the perfected Golden Metal Wind Splitting Art made his true essence incomparably keen.

He no longer focused solely on evasion. Crimson-gold saber aura reappeared and collided head-on with Wang Teng's Sword Qi!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Saber aura and Sword Qi clashed violently, the explosive reports ringing without end. Across the ruins, shattered stones flew in every direction and smoke billowed.

The more Wang Teng fought, the more shocked he became. Not only had Lin Feng's saber aura grown vastly more powerful, it also carried a strange, searing sharpness that seemed to corrode his true essence.

That newly comprehended Saber Intent was still immature, but it could no longer be underestimated.

"I can't drag this out any longer!" A vicious glint flashed in Wang Teng's eyes as his true essence erupted without restraint. "Mysterious Cloud Sword, Cloud-Breaking Form!"

He held two fingers together like a sword. His entire body seemed to transform into a drawn blade, and a dazzling sword light condensed to the extreme. Like the first ray of sunlight breaking through the clouds, it carried an invincible might and stabbed straight toward Lin Feng!

This was the Mysterious Cloud Sect's supreme art. He had already cultivated it to the great accomplishment stage and was confident it was enough to slay any seventh-grade martial artist!

Faced with this earth-shattering sword strike, Lin Feng's pupils contracted as he sensed a fatal threat.

He drew a deep breath. The wisp of Crimson Gold Saber Intent in his sea of consciousness throbbed wildly, perfectly merging with the artistic conceptions of the Heavenly Gang Blood Burning Saber and Golden Metal Wind Splitting Art.

"Burning Blood, Splitting Wind, Slash!"

He growled. A saber aura condensed to the utmost, seemingly burning with crimson-gold flames, rose against the tide and met the Cloud-Breaking Sword without the slightest retreat!

"Clang—!"

The ear-piercing clash of metal rang across the wilderness. Violent waves of air swept outward from the two men, shaving three inches off the ground!

The stalemate lasted only an instant.

In the next moment, the crimson-gold saber aura tore through the dazzling sword light with the force of rotten wood splitting apart!

"Pfft!"

Wang Teng seemed to have suffered a heavy blow. He violently spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward, crashing heavily into the broken walls and rubble. His aura instantly withered.

His handsome face was filled with disbelief and horror.

He, the peerless prodigy ranked first on the Yellow List, had actually lost! He had lost to a thousand-household officer of the Imperial Brocade Guard whom he regarded as no more than an ant!

Lin Feng stood with his saber in hand. His breathing was somewhat disordered, but his gaze was cold as iron.

He walked toward Wang Teng step by step, his killing intent awe-inspiring.

"No... Impossible..." Wang Teng struggled to stand, but the internal injuries he pulled aggravated his wounds, and he spat out another mouthful of blood.

As he looked at the approaching Lin Feng, a trace of fear finally flashed through his eyes, only to be replaced by even deeper venom.

"Lin Feng! So what if you won? Do you think this is the end?"

Wang Teng's voice grew hoarse and strange. His body began to twist unnaturally. It seemed as though something living was writhing beneath his skin, causing it to swell.

Lin Feng halted, his brows drawing tightly together as a sinister, frigid aura spread from Wang Teng's body.

"Crack... Crack..."

The nauseating sound of dislocated bones rang out. Wang Teng's body swelled and warped at a speed visible to the naked eye.

His luxurious brocade robes split apart, and dark, icy scales emerged across his skin.

In the blink of an eye, a living man transformed into a black giant python as thick as a barrel and several dozen feet long, its scales glinting with a chilling menace!

The giant python coiled atop the ruins, its vertical pupils fixed coldly on Lin Feng. It flicked its scarlet tongue and spoke in a human voice, its words carrying the grating sound of metal scraping against metal.

"Lin Feng! You should be proud that you forced me to reveal my true form! But this is only the beginning of your true nightmare!"

Its enormous body radiated pressure far more terrifying than when it had been human. A foul wind struck Lin Feng head-on, carrying a nauseating stench.

The giant python looked down from above and mocked him.

"This seat has bitterly cultivated for several hundred years. How could I be someone a fledgling like you can match?

"I was merely playing with you just now. Now, this seat will swallow you and your sister, one bite at a time, along with that damned Northern Garrison Command!"

His sense of danger suddenly soared. Lin Feng tightened his grip on his saber, his true essence circulating rapidly as he stood ready for battle.

"Playing?" Lin Feng scoffed. His gaze was as sharp as a blade as it swept across the python's massive body. "You're nothing but a long worm, yet you dare boast so shamelessly?

"You put on human skin and infiltrated the Mysterious Cloud Sect. Your intentions must be no small matter, right? Today, I'll cut down this monster of yours!"

"Courting death!" The giant python roared. Its enormous body swept toward Lin Feng with the force of ten thousand jun, while its bloody maw opened wide and foul venom shot out like arrows.

Lin Feng moved swiftly, pushing the Soaring Dragon Astonishing Swan Step to its limits. Afterimages streaked through the ruins as he narrowly avoided both the sweep of the snake's tail and the venom's assault.

He swung his saber at the snake's body. The crimson-gold saber aura struck its scales and erupted in strings of sparks, leaving behind only shallow white marks. It could hardly break through the defense!

The giant python's defenses were astonishing, and its strength was vast beyond measure. Every attack sent Lin Feng's blood and qi roiling. He could only rely on his agile footwork to circle around it, and for a time, he fell into a disadvantage.

"Hahahaha! An ant is still an ant! Is your saber scratching an itch for this seat?" The giant python laughed wildly. Its assault grew fiercer, its tail smashing down again and again like a mountain, forcing Lin Feng backward nonstop and leaving him looking rather battered.

Lin Feng's expression remained calm as he dodged while carefully observing.

The perfected realm had brought him more than strength. It had also granted him extraordinary insight.

He soon discovered that although the giant python's defenses were formidable, three inches below its seven-inch vital spot was a patch of inverted scales that was slightly lighter in color.

Whenever it exerted force to attack, the muscles around that area contracted almost imperceptibly, as if deliberately protecting it.

"I've found you!" A sharp glint flashed through Lin Feng's eyes.

He pretended to be exhausted. His body staggered, leaving an opening on his left.

"It's over!" The giant python fell for it just as expected. Its enormous head lunged forward like lightning, its bloody maw bringing a foul wind straight at him.

At this critical moment, Lin Feng's footwork suddenly changed. His figure moved like a soaring dragon and an astonished swan, narrowly avoiding the bite.

At the same time, he shot into the air. Every bit of true essence in his body poured into his saber without reservation, and the Crimson Gold Saber Intent burned to its peak!

"Burning Blood, Splitting Wind—break!"

A crimson-gold saber aura containing all his vital essence, energy, and spirit fell like a meteor from the Ninth Heaven, piercing with incomparable precision toward that patch of light-colored inverted scales!

"Pfft!"

This time, the saber aura was no longer blocked by the scales. Like a hot knife cutting through butter, it easily broke through the defense and plunged deep into the giant python's body!

"Roar—!"

The giant python let out a shrill, anguished howl. Its enormous body writhed madly, smashing the surrounding broken walls and rubble to pieces.

Blood gushed from the wound like a spring, and its aura rapidly weakened.

"You... How dare you..." Pain and disbelief filled the giant python's vertical pupils. It glared at Lin Feng and threatened him venomously. "Boy! Do you know my origins? If you kill me, you, your sister, and everyone connected to you will all die without a burial place!"

Lin Feng landed, his face somewhat pale. That strike had consumed a tremendous amount of energy.

He looked coldly at the dying giant python, raised his saber, and stepped forward to deliver the final blow.

"Wait!" Seeing that its threat was useless, the giant python hurriedly hissed, "Do you think killing me will end everything? Look who this is!"

It opened its mouth and spat out a faint light screen. Within it was a figure bound to a stone pillar by thick iron chains.

It was none other than the Imperial Brocade Guard's banner captain, Zhou Gang, who had previously shown great care to Lin Feng and his sister!

At this moment, Zhou Gang was covered in blood and unconscious.

"Uncle Zhou!" Lin Feng's expression changed.

"Hahaha!" Seeing this, the giant python let out a smug, hissing laugh. "He was captured by my kin and is being held in a secret location!

"If you dare kill me, he'll immediately be buried with me!

"And you, Lin Feng, along with your precious little sister Lin Wan, won't escape either! My kin will never let you go!"

Looking at Lin Feng's dark expression, it thought it had seized his weakness. Its voice was filled with vicious delight.

"Now, kneel! Disable your own martial arts, then kowtow and confess your crimes before taking your own life!

"This seat may consider sending word back and sparing Zhou Gang's life! Otherwise, he'll die at once! Sooner or later, all of you will go down and keep him company! Kneel, quickly!"

Lin Feng's body trembled faintly. The hand gripping his saber tightened, then loosened, then tightened again. His gaze wavered violently, as though he were engaged in a battle between Heaven and man.

He glanced at Lin Wan, whose small face was pale with fright in the distance, then looked at Zhou Gang, whose life or death was unknown within the light screen.

Slowly, as if he had exhausted every ounce of strength in his body, he bent his knees slightly, seemingly about to kneel.

Gloating and cruel light flickered in the giant python's vertical pupils. It savored the feeling of controlling another person's life and death.

"That's right, just like that! Kneel like a dog! A useless fool should look like a useless fool!

"Disable your martial arts! Kowtow! Then die! Hahaha..."

However, just as Lin Feng's knees were about to touch the ground—

His bent legs suddenly straightened!

His entire body erupted like a cheetah that had been lying in wait!

The perfected Soaring Dragon Astonishing Swan Step transformed him into an afterimage. At a speed far exceeding what he had shown before, he instantly closed in on the giant python's head!

The saber in his hand was completely covered by Crimson Gold Saber Intent, which had been raised to its utmost limit at some unknown point, blazing like the scorching sun!

"You...!" The giant python's wild laughter abruptly stopped. For the first time, genuine fear and astonishment appeared in its vertical pupils.

"Threaten me?" Lin Feng's voice was cold enough to pierce bone, carrying an unshakable killing intent. "Then you'll die first!"

The saber light fell!

Like crimson-gold lightning cleaving through the darkness!

The giant python's huge head was severed cleanly at the neck. It rolled to the ground with an expression of disbelief, while its enormous body spasmed violently several times before falling silent forever.

Foul snake blood dyed the ruins red.

Lin Feng stood with his saber in hand, breathing slightly heavily, his gaze still wary.

He had resolved the crisis before him, but Uncle Zhou was still in the enemy's hands...

He focused his mind and waited for the familiar system notification in his head—the one announcing his Slaughter Points reward.

However—

There was only silence.

The notification he had expected never sounded.

Lin Feng's brows furrowed deeply.