Demon Python

The sea breeze whistled past, carrying a hint of salt.

Half an hour later, the Green Wind Gourd came to a halt above a small island.

This island was not large, and there was a lake several acres in size at its center.

There was a line of footprints on the beach, but no sign of any fishermen.

"That Blue Giant Python is in the lake. Every time we get close to the water, it rushes out," the middle-aged man said, pointing at the lake below, his eyes filled with terror.

Han Changming steered the Green Wind Gourd and slowly descended near the lake.

He pinched a spell seal, and his right hand lit up with a dazzling white light. He slashed at the empty air toward the lake, and a large expanse of white light flew out, striking the lake water.

The area hit by the white light rapidly froze, and the layer of ice spread quickly.

The first-rank low-grade spell, Freezing Technique, could freeze a specific area, with the range depending on the caster's cultivation level.

"Boom!"

With a loud crash, a large amount of lake water splashed into the air, and a massive Blue Giant Python surged out from the lake.

Its waist was as thick as a water barrel, and its body was covered in fist-sized blue scales, marked with line-shaped patterns.

"A first-rank low-grade demonic beast!" Han Changming breathed a sigh of relief. With his Qi Refining fourth-layer cultivation, dealing with a first-rank low-grade demonic beast was not a problem.

The Han Clan had specialists to teach combat techniques, and clansmen sent out on missions were specially trained for a period of time. Han Changming had sparred with his kin and fought against Puppet Beasts; he had a certain amount of combat experience and was no novice in the cultivation world.

Seeing the Blue Giant Python, the middle-aged man's legs trembled, his face turned pale, and his eyes were filled with fear.

"Find a safe place to hide first. Once I take care of this beast, I will take you back."

Hearing Han Changming's words, the middle-aged man felt a sense of relief and took off running as fast as he could.

Han Changming summoned a yellow flying knife and slashed it at the Blue Giant Python, but it failed to even cut through its scales, instead angering the beast.

The Blue Giant Python opened its blood-red maw and spat out several transparent water arrows, striking toward Han Changming.

Han Changming had been prepared; he lightly tapped his toes on the ground and drifted backward like a gust of wind, causing the Blue Giant Python's attack to miss.

He raised a hand, and with a "puff" sound, a Crimson Fireball the size of an egg suddenly appeared in his palm, rapidly growing in size.

After the Crimson Fireball grew to the size of a watermelon, it shot out and smashed into the Blue Giant Python's body.

One fireball naturally could not kill the Blue Giant Python, but Han Changming threw over a dozen Crimson Fireballs in succession, infuriating the beast.

It let out a strange roar and charged out of the lake.

It was two zhang long with a bloated belly; it looked somewhat clumsy, but its movements were very agile.

"I was just afraid you wouldn't come out," the corners of Han Changming's mouth curled up slightly.

He cultivated an earth-attribute technique, and the Blue Giant Python was a water-attribute demonic beast; earth counters water.

He controlled the yellow flying knife to slash at the Blue Giant Python's eyes. Although he failed to kill it, he managed to pin it down.

Han Changming took out five Fireball Talismans, a look of reluctance appearing on his face—these were worth five spirit stones!

He could cast the Fireball Technique himself, but his casting speed was not fast enough to cause significant damage to the Blue Giant Python.

Spells are easy to learn but hard to master. Generally, spells are divided into four stages: entry, minor success, major success, and perfection. A first-rank spell takes a few days to reach entry, at least a month for minor success, several months for major success, and over half a year for perfection. This is only for first-rank spells; second-rank or even third-rank spells take longer to cast and require more time to cultivate, though they are more powerful.

For the same spell, the difference in power between entry and perfection is worlds apart. It is said that there are cultivators who specialize in spells, known as spell-cultivators.

Han Changming had spent two months bringing his Light Body Technique to perfection, while his other spells were at most at minor success.

Precisely because spells are easy to learn but hard to master, cultivators use talismans or magical artifacts during combat. Talismans are the most common items, though most are one-time consumables.

Han Changming flicked his wrist, and the five Fireball Talismans flew out, transforming into five head-sized Crimson Fireballs that slammed into the Blue Giant Python.

Rumble!

Three massive explosions rang out, and nearly half of the Blue Giant Python's body was engulfed in crimson flames, causing it to let out a miserable shriek.

Han Changming summoned a palm-sized yellow seal, which rapidly grew to the size of a house.

This seal artifact was called the Mountain-Shaking Seal, a first-rank mid-grade magical artifact with high attack power. Its flaw was its slow movement, but the Blue Giant Python was so desperate to extinguish the flames on its body that it did not notice the massive yellow seal above its head.

"Fall."

With a scream, the Blue Giant Python's head was smashed into pulp, dead beyond any doubt.

Han Changming felt a surge of excitement; he had combat experience, but this was his first time hunting a demonic beast.

He put away his two artifacts and summoned a palm-sized blue gourd, which instantly grew in size and flew above the lake.

The Han Clan grew many gourd vines, and gourd artifacts were the most common items in the Han Clan.

A powerful suction force appeared out of thin air, and a large amount of lake water surged toward the blue gourd.

Not long after, the blue gourd had drained the lake dry, leaving not even a single small fish or shrimp behind.

Han Changming walked forward and summoned the yellow flying knife, hacking and slashing at the mud at the bottom of the lake, but he found no second demonic beast.

This deserted island was not far from Red Shrimp Island, and the Han Clan had already sent people to survey it; there were no spirit veins on the island, nor any cultivation resources.

Logically speaking, without a spirit vein, there shouldn't be any demonic beasts on the island. Could there be some spiritual treasure here? Or did the beast come ashore from the seabed?

If there were any spiritual treasures or spirit veins on the island, reporting it to the clan would be a merit that could be exchanged for cultivation resources.

Han Changming suddenly remembered something and hurried back to the side of the demon python.

The size of this demon python was simply too massive; the space inside his storage bag was only five feet in size, which was nowhere near enough to hold the corpse of this creature.

Every part of a demon beast is a treasure; the skin and scales of the demon python could be used for artifact refining, its blood could be used to make cinnabar, and its meat was edible.

He used his yellow flying knife to cut open the demon python's belly, only to discover the corpses of five fishermen, their bodies mangled and unrecognizable.

He hacked the demon python's body into several pieces, but the storage bag could only hold the majority of the remains, so he tied the rest together with rope.

Han Changming summoned the Green Wind Gourd and returned to Red Shrimp Island with the middle-aged man, instructing Han Dong to send people to collect the bodies and increase manpower to search the island.

Hundreds of fishermen turned every corner upside down, and even the bottom of the lake was thoroughly scoured, yet they found no other demon beasts, let alone any spiritual veins or metal mines.

Several days later, Han Changming returned to Red Shrimp Island with the hundreds of fishermen.

Back at his residence, he took out the demon python meat from his storage bag, intending to cook it.

"Huh, is this a Wood Spirit Stone?" Han Changming discovered an aquamarine spirit stone inside the demon python's gallbladder, which emitted a pure wave of spiritual energy.

He picked up the green spirit stone and examined it carefully.

After a long while, Han Changming's expression became extremely excited.

The Wood Spirit Stone in his hand was a high-grade spirit stone. Spirit stones are categorized into low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and top-grade based on the amount of spiritual energy they contain. Most of the currency circulating in the market consists of low-grade spirit stones, and high-grade ones are relatively rare.

Theoretically, one high-grade spirit stone can be exchanged for ten thousand low-grade spirit stones, though few people would ever do so, as high-grade spirit stones are often used for setting up formations.

"I'm rich, I'm really rich this time. I never expected to obtain a high-grade Wood Spirit Stone," Han Changming muttered to himself, ecstatic.

One must know that his annual salary was only about twenty-something spirit stones; this single high-grade spirit stone was equivalent to several hundred years of his salary.