Formation energy?
Just by looking into this pair of snake eyes, I'd gained a vast amount of Formation energy!
Chen Yan opened his mouth. He could feel how desperately the Saint Breaking Tree craved this yellow light, as if it were nourishment countless times more precious than Qi and Blood Spirit Medicine.
The intoxication lasted only an instant.
The next moment, only one word remained in Chen Yan's mind.
Vast Internal Force surged through his legs. The dirt beneath his feet exploded in an instant, and he shot forward like an arrow.
It was as if every ounce of strength in his body had erupted at once. The exhaustion from running up the mountain that morning vanished without a trace. His legs seemed to have lost all sensation, racing along the mountain path like a machine.
He even leaped between nearby tree trunks, using both hands and arms to change direction.
Rustle, rustle!
Friction sounded behind him.
Chen Yan didn't dare look back. As he ran, he pulled a handful of stones from his Backpack and stuffed them into his pockets.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Impacts rang out behind him to the right, drawing closer and closer.
Hiss...
At that moment, the Green Snake seemed to be moving alongside Chen Yan, holding its position relative to him. Its scarlet eyes gleamed with unmistakably human greed.
The next instant, it lunged at Chen Yan.
Chen Yan's expression shifted. He raised his arm, and waves of Internal Force surged from his waist into it.
A pebble flew from his hand. The greed in the Green Snake's scarlet eyes froze. A moment later, the sound of the stone striking its head rang out.
With a thud, the giant snake's front half jolted to a stop, and its long tail slammed into a tree trunk.
The blow had clearly left it dazed.
Delighted that his strike had landed, Chen Yan veered aside—and crashed into a tree trunk.
The violent impact made him feel as if his blood had reversed course in an instant. A sharp pain stabbed through his chest.
Within the Consciousness World, colors mingled together.
Orange, yellow, and green.
The orange came from Chen Yan's constant running. The yellow was Formation energy triggered by staring into the Green Snake's eyes, but he couldn't absorb it.
As for the green...
Like the yellow, it couldn't be absorbed.
[Tip: Physique energy detected. The Saint Breaking Tree cannot absorb it. Upgrade the Saint Breaking Tree to level three.]
Had he generated Physique energy by crashing into the tree?
Could taking a beating build your body?
Chen Yan shook his head. He'd sensed the changes in both the real world and the Consciousness World, but he was still somewhat dazed.
He had no time to think about it. The next moment, he started running again.
The Green Snake's hiss behind him carried a bloodthirsty intent. The danger was extreme.
Chen Yan threw another pebble. This one struck the Green Snake squarely under the jaw.
Time passed slowly.
"Two people are dead. We got here too late. The Green Snake was probably responsible, but it's gone now."
At the spot where Li Xuan and his father had been killed by the giant snake, a tall man in a black uniform frowned as he surveyed the blood-soaked scene. He could almost picture what had happened.
"You can't stop them. They know they'll run into danger, but you just can't stop them."
The man named Luo Puxin let out a sigh into his walkie-talkie.
"Come over and deal with this. I only came here to rest for a day, so why have I run into so much trouble in half a day?"
Luo Puxin grumbled, then stopped paying it any more attention.
Qingshan was the entire Luoyang County's treasure trove. How many people hoped to make their fortune there and leave for good?
Many people lived in pain and hardship. The hope in their hearts was the deadliest poison of all.
Perhaps recalling his own childhood, Luo Puxin started down the mountain at an unhurried pace. At some point, his eyes narrowed, and he scanned the surroundings.
He spotted freshly turned earth on the ground and marks on a tree trunk where something had struck it.
"Another person!?"
Luo Puxin narrowed his eyes. From the traces scattered across the mountainside, he could guess what had happened.
The Green Snake usually lived deep in Qingshan. It only slithered down the mountain in pursuit of prey.
Following the marks where the Green Snake had struck tree trunks and churned up the dirt, Luo Puxin quickened his pace. A long, black shadow trailed behind him through the dense woods.
In his mind, he could already see what awaited him.
Nothing but a pool of blood.
The Green Snake was fast. An ordinary person couldn't escape its grasp.
Who counted as an ordinary person?
Pretty much everyone in Green Mountain Town did.
But Luo Puxin's expression changed.
No wonder he hadn't noticed anyone while climbing the mountain. The person wasn't heading straight down.
Instead, they were weaving back and forth along the descending trail.
It was a clever approach. The Green Snake moved fastest downhill with its body pressed against the ground.
But that was also the problem. Ordinary people wouldn't run like this. Whether they could even think of such a method was one thing; it also took a lot of energy. Most likely, they'd run themselves ragged and be swallowed by the Green Snake.
"A martial artist?"
Luo Puxin studied the traces on the ground, lost in thought.
"Maybe a newly awakened martial artist with no combat experience."
It was only a guess, but when he saw a certain spot, his eyebrows lifted.
Five meters away, a patch of bark had been smashed off a tree trunk, exposing the damaged white cambium beneath.
Following the trajectory, Luo Puxin spotted a stone embedded in the dirt.
This force... It didn't look like the strength of someone who'd just awakened their Qi and Blood.
At least, when he'd first awakened his Qi and Blood, he couldn't have hit that hard.
A strange feeling rose in Luo Puxin's heart. He could imagine what the fleeing person had been thinking.
In a short time, they'd chosen a route that would keep them alive longer, and even managed to fight back.
Now this was interesting.
Most people couldn't think like that while running for their lives.
Luo Puxin leaped from trunk to trunk. At last, he spotted a trail of blood in the dirt, and his heart lurched.
The Green Snake was wounded.
The fugitive was probably an old hand at mountain running.
But that didn't add up. Once someone awakened their Qi and Blood, they became a martial artist. They could easily team up with other martial artists to enter Qingshan.
His mind filled with contradictions, Luo Puxin sped up.
The Green Snake's hisses, the crashes, and a young man's shouts mingled together. The scene before him swept away every guess he'd made.
A young man in a white T-shirt was racing through the forest, darting between tree trunks scattered across the mountainside. Again and again, he hurled stones at a giant green snake ten meters away.
Dirt flew, and branches snapped.
Luo Puxin stood atop the crown of a thirty-meter-tall spruce, his feet balanced on branches as thin as fingers. Light as a bird, he folded his arms and watched from above.
He didn't rush to save the young man.
The instant he saw the young man's face, Luo Puxin felt a flicker of scrutiny.
But soon, a question surfaced in his mind.
Why wasn't this young man using his Qi and Blood?
A stone slammed into the Green Snake's body, splashing blood. Chen Yan didn't slow down. He pushed off a tree trunk and lunged to the left.
Boom!
A thick snake tail slammed down where Chen Yan had just been standing, gouging a deep pit.
Danger! Danger! Danger!
Chen Yan panted heavily, his whole body caked in dirt. Sweat and soil mingled, making him look like a mud figure from a distance.
[Saint Breaking Realm: Level 2 (1/15)] [Saint Breaking Fruit: Strength: (99/100) Blood: (9/100) Skill: (27/100)]
Under the threat of death, the [Strength] Character Saint Breaking Fruit was growing at a breakneck pace. It was almost ripe.
Just a little more. It only needed one final bit.
A glimmer of hope stirred in Chen Yan's heart.
He dared to spend his strength dodging and weaving around the Green Snake for a reason. He wasn't merely trying to stay alive a little longer before it devoured him.
He was exhausted. The violent running and movements had torn his muscles in many places.
But the [Strength] Character Saint Breaking Fruit only needed that final bit. Once he ate it, all the negative effects on his body would be wiped clean.
Not only that, his strength would surge, giving him a much better chance of escaping.
"Has this kid still not awakened?"
Surprise filled Luo Puxin's eyes as he watched from the treetop.
This was innate superhuman strength—a truly exceptional talent, perfectly suited to the Body Tempering Path.
Even Luo Puxin couldn't help feeling a flicker of admiration for such a gifted young man.
But...
"He's almost out of strength."
From the treetop, Luo Puxin watched the young man below dodge the giant snake's attacks and sighed inwardly.
The young man must have been a local prodigy. If Luo Puxin hadn't been here today, he would certainly have died at the Green Snake's jaws.
He knew how tempting Qingshan was to the locals. But to come here at such a young age, no matter how clever or talented he was, was still far too reckless.
Then, in the next instant—
Luo Puxin's eyes narrowed.
The young man below, wearing a white T-shirt, suddenly froze, as if he'd gone rigid in an instant.
The Green Snake hissed. Its enormous tail suddenly lashed toward Chen Yan.
Up in the treetop, Luo Puxin sighed softly and crouched, ready to intervene.
"Hm?"
At Luo Puxin's quiet exclamation, Chen Yan's eyes suddenly widened. The muscles in his arm rippled, as if a raging torrent of Internal Force had surged through it. The fire poker in his hand shot out with a fierce swing.
The iron rod struck the giant Green Snake's tail. The rod bent, and the tail caved in with a thunderous crash. As metal scraped against scales, sparks burst in every direction.
The thick tail, as broad as two men standing side by side, was hurled away and slammed into a nearby tree. With a crack, the trunk snapped in half.
The Green Snake let out a furious hiss, its rage surging, and glared viciously at Chen Yan.
Chen Yan frowned. The fire poker in his hand had bent into a ninety-degree angle. It was clearly no use anymore.
He threw the fire poker aside and drew a deep breath, his eyes shining brilliantly.
Without waiting, he pushed off with both legs and charged the Green Snake, his right fist clenched tight.
His breathing changed, and the flow of blood throughout his body shifted.
As if he'd thrown that punch a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times.
Punch!
A brilliant Red Light appeared around Chen Yan's fist, dazzlingly bright.
In an instant, it struck the Green Snake.
In an instant, amid the rippling Red Light, a petite, blurry girl's figure appeared opposite Chen Yan. She shouted and punched, throwing her fist at the same time as Chen Yan.
In an instant, Luo Puxin's mouth fell open, and thunder roared in his mind.
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