Zhao Ming had been lying there for barely ten minutes when another black snake darted up, only to be caught in its beak and swallowed as well.
After eating two snakes in succession, it felt a warm current surge through its body.
These snakes seemed to contain exceptionally rich energy. Its mutated tissue now felt as though it were soaking in a hot spring, leaving it reluctant to move yet somehow more alert.
Rather than return to the nest it had chosen earlier, it simply waited there. More black snakes kept appearing afterward, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups of two or three, even coordinating their attacks against it.
Chen Chuan had always consciously trained its mutated tissue and fighting abilities. It was also clever, so unlike creatures that relied solely on their bodies and instincts, it employed simple tactics and techniques. Its advances and retreats were measured, and it never allowed the black snakes to get past.
Over the next several hours, it ate more than forty of them. At first, they came one after another, but later they seemed to recognize the danger and gradually dwindled. Once night fell, they stopped appearing altogether.
Zhao Ming still did not leave. It remained on guard, preventing these creatures from slipping through and disturbing Chen Chuan's cultivation.
Inside the Rift, Chen Chuan wanted to see how long it could remain open this time, so he continued cultivating.
He had entered at around three in the afternoon, and only at daybreak did the Rift gradually begin to show signs of closing.
That meant it could remain open for at least seventeen hours at a stretch, a considerable improvement over before.
In fact, he felt that continuing for another fifteen or twenty minutes would pose no problem.
But as his cultivation deepened, he was