The Terrifying Giant Snake

The giant snake's cold, dark gold vertical pupils swept indifferently over the slumped Zhao Si and the terrified leopard, as if assessing two insignificant insects. Its movements, though not fast, carried a sense of desperate precision and power.

With a sudden twist of its massive body coiled around the tree trunk!

Its snake body, as thick as a water bucket and covered in dark green scales, was like a reanimated steel cable imbued with the will of death. It plummeted from high above with lightning speed, targeting the Shadowless Leopard that was trying to escape!

The Shadowless Leopard unleashed its final reserves, leaping violently to the side!

But its movements seemed clumsy and slow before the giant snake. The snake's body drew a powerful arc in the air, precisely intercepting the leopard's escape path!

"Bang!"

A muffled, heart-stopping impact echoed!

The massive snake body, like a living shackle, instantly coiled around the Shadowless Leopard's waist! The cold scales pressed against the leopard's warm fur, and the touch of death instantly spread through its entire body.

"Awooo--!!!"

The Shadowless Leopard let out the most piercing, desperate, and agonizing howl of its life! The sound, capable of shattering metal and stone, contained extreme fear and indescribable pain, echoing through the silent forest clearing, startling even the few remaining birds on the treetops into panicked flight!

The giant snake's muscle groups contracted like hydraulic presses! Layer by layer, coil by coil, they tightened! One could clearly hear the bone-grinding, "crunching" sounds of bones being squeezed and crushed! The Shadowless Leopard's tough hide and strong bones were as fragile as paper before this absolute power! Its bulging eyes instantly bloodshot, large amounts of blood and internal organ fragments spilled from its mouth and nose, its limbs twitching and scratching frantically, only leaving a few weak white marks on the cold snake scales.

This process, though seemingly long, happened in mere breaths.

The piercing, desperate howl abruptly ceased.

The Shadowless Leopard's massive body was so contorted by the constriction that it hung limply like a crushed rag doll within the snake's coils, utterly silent. Its emerald green beast eyes, which had once struck fear into countless prey, now completely lost their luster, hollowly reflecting the despair-inducing dark green canopy above.

A deathly silence descended upon the forest clearing. Only the faint "rustling" sound of the giant snake's scales rubbing together and the "chattering" sound of Zhao Si's teeth could be heard.

The next second, an even more horrifying scene unfolded!

The giant snake's ferocious triangular head slowly lowered, opening a terrifying maw large enough to swallow an adult water buffalo! Inside was sickeningly pale pink mucosa, lined with two rows of curved, dagger-like fangs glinting with cold light! A stronger, fishy stench wafted over!

It didn't bite, but rather, in a manner akin to "devouring," it slowly "drew" the Shadowless Leopard's twisted corpse in! The giant snake's jaws enveloped the leopard's head, and then, like a flexible, elastic sack, it began to swallow, segment by segment, slowly and powerfully! One could clearly see the skin and muscles of its neck bulging outwards, forming a massive protrusion that moved slowly down its body with each swallow, like a living creature!

The entire process was filled with raw, savage, and nauseating visual impact! Even Yan Xiao Liu, Li San, and Wang Wu, who were accustomed to bloodshed, felt their stomachs churn and their scalps tingle! Zhao Si was so overwhelmed that he threw up on the ground, expelling bile.

In just a moment, the priceless First-Order Demon Beast Shadowless Leopard, along with all its ferocity and value, disappeared into the giant snake's bottomless gullet. A large, irregular bulge formed in the middle of the snake's belly, slowly undulating with the snake's slight movements.

The giant snake seemed to nod slightly in satisfaction, its cold, dark gold vertical pupils, like two searchlights, slowly and emotionlessly swept towards the remaining four people standing frozen by the thorny bushes – Yan Xiao Liu, Ye Yun, Li San, and Wang Wu.

"Hiss--!"

It flicked its scarlet, forked tongue again. The sound was no longer tentative, but a clear hiss carrying the weight of a death sentence! The sound, like countless sheets of sandpaper rubbing together, pierced the eardrums and souls! The massive snake body slowly slid down from the ancient tree, landing on the ground and coiling up, its head raised high like an ancient demon god looking down upon the ants who dared to intrude upon its territory. An invisible, suffocating pressure spread like a tide, locking onto the four individuals!

"Abomination! Perish!"

Yan Xiao Liu, after all, was an experienced leader. He knew that fear was a death sentence! He forcibly suppressed his inner horror, a surge of courage rushing to his head! They could not wait to die! He roared, like thunder from a clear sky, trying to dispel the chill in his heart. His Dantian's internal energy circulated madly, all of it poured into his arms. He stomped on the ground with his feet, charging towards the giant snake like a cannonball!

His hands gripped the heavy-backed mountain-cleaving saber, raising it high above his head. The blade flashed with a blinding cold light in the dimness! This was his signature move, a strike of utmost rigidity and ferocity, condensing all his strength and internal energy – Cleaving Mount Hua! It targeted the giant snake's raised seven-inch vital spot! Before the saber even landed, its sharp wind had already sliced through the air, emitting a piercing whistle!

This strike, embodying his lifelong cultivation, was as swift as thunder!

However!

Just as Yan Xiao Liu reached the peak of his leap, at the lightning-fast moment the blade was about to fall–

"Wooo--!"

A dull, terrifying explosion that tore through the air suddenly sounded!

It was the snake's tail!

That tail, like a siege hammer, in a moment almost too fast to track, from another unbelievable angle, carrying the terrifying power to shatter mountains, tore through the air, transforming into a dark green deathly blur. It swept towards Yan Xiao Liu, who was in mid-air with nowhere to brace himself, at a speed several times faster than Yan Xiao Liu's cleave!

Fast! Too fast!

Yan Xiao Liu's pupils contracted sharply! All his spirit and energy were focused on that saber strike, leaving no time for any change of tactic! In a moment of desperation, he could only rely on the instincts honed through countless life-and-death battles, pouring all his internal energy into the saber, changing his cleave to a block, holding the heavy saber blade like a shield in front of him!

"Clang--!!!!"

A deafening, earth-shattering roar, like a giant bell exploding, instantly swept through the entire forest clearing!

The heavy-backed mountain-cleaving saber, forged from fine steel, let out a mournful cry of being unable to bear the load the instant it contacted the snake's tail! An irresistible, mountain-flood-like terrifying force slammed into Yan Xiao Liu's arms and chest along the saber!

"Pfft--!"

Yan Xiao Liu felt as if he had been hit head-on by a high-speed moving mountain! His arms instantly lost all sensation, and his protective internal energy was torn apart like paper! His internal organs felt as if they were fiercely gripped and twisted by an invisible hand! A mouthful of scorching blood erupted from his mouth like a fountain!

He flew backward like a kite with a broken string, or a stone thrown by a catapult, at several times the speed he had charged forward! His body traced a tragic arc in the air, trailing a dazzling mist of blood!

"Bang!"

With a heavy thud, Yan Xiao Liu's body smashed into the soft, damp humus less than three steps away from Ye Yun! The immense impact sent him tumbling two more times before he stopped, creating a shallow pit in the ground beneath him. The heavy-backed mountain-cleaving saber had long since flown from his grasp, twisted and deformed, and stuck into a nearby tree trunk, humming. Yan Xiao Liu's face was ashen, his breath faint, his eyes unfocused, on the verge of losing consciousness.

The entire process, from Yan Xiao Liu's sudden attack to his severe injury and being sent flying by the snake's tail, happened in the blink of an eye! Even the mighty Yan Xiao Liu couldn't withstand even one move against this terrifying giant snake!

Ye Yun reacted the fastest. The moment the snake's tail swept out, he felt a premonition and slightly lowered his body, preparing for the impact. When Yan Xiao Liu crashed down like a torn sack at his feet, he didn't hesitate. He immediately stepped forward and knelt down.

He didn't immediately help Yan Xiao Liu, but with swift and steady movements, he extended two fingers and quickly placed them on the artery of Yan Xiao Liu's neck. The pulse felt chaotic and rapid, but thankfully, it wasn't a fatal injury.

All this observation took place in an instant.

Then, Ye Yun abruptly raised his head. His deep eyes, like a cold pool, instantly locked onto the dark green giant snake that had just retracted its tail, its head raised high, its cold vertical pupils looking down at them!

There was no fear, no panic.

Only extreme calmness and a sharpness that pierced through the surface!

His gaze penetrated the suffocating pressure and terrifying appearance, like invisible probes, precisely capturing every trace of aura emanating from the giant snake: the intensity of the luster on its scales, the energy fluctuations within the fishy wind stirred by its flicking tongue, the level of terrifying power unleashed in an instant, and its condescending posture after the attack, as if it were merely swatting away a fly...

With just this glance, Ye Yun's mind became clear.

He had a clear and heavy assessment of the strength and realm of this suddenly appearing terrifying snake demon. This assessment caused a trace of extreme solemnity, yet also a peculiar decisiveness, to flicker in his normally calm eyes.