Encountering a Strange Python in the Mountain Stream

[Name: Qin Meng]

[Realm: mortal body]

[Core Technique: None]

[Martial Arts: eight blade breaking techniques - Proficient (1/500), chain arrow - Adept (147/200)]

While eating, Qin Meng checked his character panel. In the status column, the "damaged foundation" had disappeared. He felt joyful and had a hearty appetite.

Once full, he picked up his waist saber and slung his bow and arrows over his back.

"Mengzi, be careful." Shen Qiuyue stuffed the prepared flatbread into his arms and urged him softly, her eyes filled with unconcealable concern.

"Mm, don't worry." Qin Meng nodded. "Sister Qiuyue, stop taking in laundry for others. Our family will get better. Just wait at home for my good news."

"Alright!"

The outer reaches of Luming Mountain were vast, with towering trees and lush vegetation. However, as Qin Meng knew, large game had become increasingly scarce over the years.

Valuable big game like wild boars and red deer had mostly retreated deep into the dense forests.

Yet, since the beginning of spring this year, fierce beasts had appeared frequently, and many hunters had already perished inside.

With Qin Meng's current mortal body, he had not yet formally begun cultivation. Relying solely on his mediocre swordsmanship and archery, rushing in recklessly would be no different from seeking death.

Throughout the morning, he relied on his observation skills to track prey and set simple traps.

He had some success; his basket gradually filled with seven or eight pheasants and wild rabbits.

But Qin Meng's brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

These small things weren't worth much. For the fifty taels of debt, it was a drop in the bucket.

He leaned against a large rock, took out a meat-filled flatbread, and ate it slowly with cold water from his waterskin. His gaze swept over the basket, anxiety rising in his heart.

Suddenly, he remembered the mountain stream where he had found glehnia root yesterday.

The terrain there was steep and humid. Since there was glehnia root, perhaps there were other medicinal herbs as well?

If he could find some with enough age, they would be worth a lot of money.

Although that place was crawling with venomous insects and hidden pits—a spot hunters usually avoided at all costs—right now...

"Wealth is found in danger." Qin Meng swallowed the rest of the flatbread in a few bites, his eyes turning firm.

"I'll go try my luck!"

He shouldered his basket, picked up his waist knife, and headed in the direction of his memories.

Suddenly, the bushes ahead rustled, and a grayish-brown figure darted out.

It was a plump hog badger!

Both its fur and meat were quite valuable.

Excitement flashed in Qin Meng's eyes. Almost instinctively, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow. The bowstring twanged softly, and the arrow shot out like a meteor, sinking precisely into the side of the hog badger's neck.

The moment the arrow struck its prey, a few lines of small text suddenly appeared:

[Life Source + 2.3%]

[Chain Arrow - Proficient (1/500)]

[Martial Skill Progress: 10%]

[Special Effect: Steady Eyes and Stable Arms (Moderate)]

A surge of powerful energy welled up from within Qin Meng's body, flowing into his arms and eyes.

The muscles in his arms bulged, becoming more toned and powerful. An unprecedented sense of "stability" spread from his palms to the bow, as if he and the weapon had become one.

At the same time, the world before his eyes became suddenly clear. The texture of leaves in the distance and the fleeting colors of bird feathers deep in the brush were captured in an instant.

Steady eyes and stable arms... Qin Meng gave the bowstring a light pull, feeling that astonishing steadiness. He felt invigorated; this improvement had come at just the right time.

He quickly processed the hog badger and continued toward the mountain stream. With his newly improved eyesight and arm strength, he shot down a few more pieces of game along the way.

As he approached the mountain stream area, the sound of flowing water reached his ears, and the air was filled with the scent of damp earth and vegetation.

The banks of the stream were covered in the tracks of various animals, but this also meant danger.

Sure enough, no sooner had Qin Meng cautiously approached the water's edge than he was attacked by venomous snakes three times:

Some launched themselves from the trees, while others struck suddenly from the grass by his feet.

Had his senses not been sharp and his blade flashed in time, he would likely have been poisoned by now.

He wrapped the severed snakes in broad leaves and kept his distance from the stream. Instead, he searched upstream along the perimeter of the ravine, his eyes scanning every rock crevice and patch of grass, hoping to find medicinal herbs like glehnia root.

The deeper he went, the denser the forest became. Even the birdsong grew sparse, and the air was filled with a faint, earthy musk.

Qin Meng felt a shiver of caution and lightly rested his fingers on his bow and arrow.

The memory fragments of this body's original owner told him that the beasts in these mountains possessed hides and scales of a toughness that could not be compared to the ordinary animals of his past life.

Just as he was buried in his search—

"Swish!" A patch of seemingly ordinary withered grass to his front-left quietly "came to life."

Immediately following, a thick, earth-yellow shadow lunged out. Carrying a nauseating, fishy stench, it struck toward his waist at an astonishing speed.

Qin Meng was terrified out of his wits. At this life-or-death moment, he instinctively rolled along the ground while grabbing a sharp stone with his left hand, hurling it with all his might.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, the stone struck the earth-yellow shadow squarely, knocking it to the side.

It bought Qin Meng a moment to breathe!

He seized the chance to spring to his feet. Only then did he clearly see the creature that had attacked him.

It was a giant python, two zhang long and as thick as a water barrel. Its scales were a mix of earth-yellow and rock-brown, blending almost perfectly into the surrounding environment.

Its hideous triangular head was held high, and cold, vertical pupils locked onto him tightly. Its forked tongue flickered rapidly, emitting a "hissing" sound.

"A rock viper?" Qin Meng's heart sank.

An ordinary rock viper was only as thick as an arm; this was clearly a variant that had awakened its bloodline. Not only was it massive, but its venom was likely far more potent.

Without a moment's hesitation, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow with lightning speed.

The bow bent like a full moon, the arrow like a shooting star.

"Whoosh!"

The arrow tore through the air, aiming straight for the raised triangular head.

However—

"Clang!"

A harsh sound of metal striking metal erupted!

The iron arrowhead slammed into the scales of the python's head, sparking a few embers before being deflected away, leaving only a shallow white mark.

"The scales are that hard?" Qin Meng's expression turned grim. The memories from the original owner were correct; his doubts about never having seen a mutated beast in person were confirmed.

In this world, martial arts prioritized blood energy above all else. An ordinary person must first enter the boiling blood realm, using breathing techniques to induce their blood energy to boil, before they could possess the thousand-jin strength to split monuments and shatter rocks.

Although his current body had been tempered to have several hundred jin of strength, due to limited talent, he had never been able to induce his blood energy and was viewed as a lost cause.

At this moment, facing this variant that had clearly awakened its bloodline, without formal cultivation or the ability to mobilize the blood energy within his body, his ordinary hunting bow and iron arrows couldn't even pierce the fragile eyelids of this strange python.

The rock viper python, having been attacked repeatedly, was thoroughly enraged. Its vertical pupils constricted to needles, and its thick body coiled and twisted violently before launching itself once more.

This time, it was three times faster, its blood-red maw aiming straight for Qin Meng's throat.

Qin Meng retreated rapidly, his eyes locked onto the python's maw. Seeing the muscles in its throat bulge, a sense of crisis made him lunge to the side without a moment's hesitation!

"Sss! Sss!"

Two streams of transparent venom grazed his clothes, striking the ground behind him.

"Sizzle—"

A corrosive sound erupted as the rock surface was instantly pitted with holes, emitting acrid white smoke.

Before Qin Meng could steady himself, the python's tail swept toward him with a shrill whistle of displaced air.

He had no choice but to block with his blade held horizontally.

"Clang!"

Blade met scales, sending sparks flying.

Qin Meng's thumb-web split open, and the immense force sent him stumbling back seven or eight steps. His back slammed hard against a tree trunk, and he tasted sweetness in his throat.

The rock viper python was exceptionally cunning; having landed one strike, it slithered forward to cut off his path. It held its head high, its neck bulging once again.

—The second wave of venom was already brewing!

Poison blocked the front, a tree obstructed the rear, and his sides were vaguely hemmed in by that massive body.

A desperate situation!

Qin Meng leaned against the tree trunk, breathing heavily as a mixture of blood and sweat slid down his temple.

He forced himself to stay calm, focusing all his mental energy into his eyes, tracking every minute movement of the giant python.

Blades couldn't cut through it, arrows couldn't pierce it; there was only... the vital point!

Just as the python's neck expanded to its limit while gathering venom, the pale scales behind its lower jaw revealed a tiny gap during the movement—

"Now!"

Qin Meng let out a low roar. The mud exploded beneath his feet as he lunged forward with his blade, transforming into a streak of cold light. He poured all his strength and precision into a direct strike at that sole opening.

"Pfft!"

The muffled sound of a blade piercing skin and membrane.

The blade sank in up to the hilt, wedging deep into the gap between the neck vertebrae.

"Sss-gah—!"

The rock viper python let out a shrill, distorted shriek. Its two-zhang-long body thrashed and rolled wildly, snapping trees and crushing grass as dust filled the air.

Qin Meng gripped the hilt of his blade tightly, stumbling and rolling as he was dragged along, yet he gritted his teeth and refused to let go. He held the hilt with both hands, straining to cut and churn through the giant python's body.

The python's struggles weakened rapidly.

At the same time, a sudden, searing pain flared in the palm holding the blade. A flash of blood-red light surged from his palm, traveling down the length of the blade and into the python's body, devouring its essence and blood.

A massive, surging heat rushed back into Qin Meng's body, scouring his limbs and bones!

[Life Source +21%]

[Deprived Rock Spirit Python bloodline talent: Environmental Integration]