At Last

There was a saying: Heaven rewards the diligent.

As long as you kept at it, sooner or later, you would succeed.

And sure enough, after more than a week of relentless searching, Bai Chuan finally found a python sleeping in an underground cave in rocky soil.

The giant snake's entire body was brownish, with brown arrow-shaped markings on its head.

Its back was mostly yellow, covered in large, irregular brown cloud-shaped patches, while its belly was white.

On either side of its cloaca, near the base of its tail, a pair of vestigial claw-like limbs could just barely be made out.

Clearly, this was a Burmese Python, the second-largest snake in the python family. The largest was the Reticulated Python.

"That wasn't easy. I finally found you."

Bai Chuan looked at the huge python coiled up like a pancake and sighed softly, his voice a mix of heartache and delight.

He stared at the enormous python in shock, marveling at the beautiful creature nature had brought into being.

Even though it hadn't fully stretched out, Bai Chuan could tell just how massive it was.

It easily exceeded his own current length of 5.5 meters. By his estimate, it was nearly 7 meters long, and its girth was astonishingly close to that of an average adult's waist.

Compared to it, Bai Chuan looked like a malnourished bean sprout. There was simply no comparison.

Maybe that doesn't mean much to you.

According to the reliable measurements available, an Eye King measuring 4.74 meters long weighed only 16.5 kilograms, or 33 jin.

Bai Chuan, on the other hand, was now 5.5 meters long, and because he had evolved countless abilities, his weight had reached an astounding forty-plus kilograms.

A seven-meter Burmese Python, however, weighed at least 91 kilograms...

That was like comparing 90 jin to 182 jin.

It was roughly like comparing a 1.6-meter-tall girl weighing just 90 jin to a hulking 1.8-meter-tall man weighing 182 jin.

A beauty and a beast.

But now, this powerful creature was about to become Bai Chuan's food.

Snakes really were both incredibly strong and incredibly fragile.

If this terrifying python were in its normal state and Bai Chuan had run into it, he would have turned tail without a second thought.

He wouldn't even consider facing it head-on. The risk was simply too great.

Even though he could generate electricity now, if a python got its coils around him, the current would only make it squeeze all the harder.

It was much like that video from his previous life of a crocodile and an Electric Eel dying together. Once you were bitten and trapped, the more you shocked it, the faster you died.

The moment it was shocked, it would be unable to let go, just like someone getting electrocuted and being unable to save themselves.

Of course, if he prepared thoroughly, he might be able to kill it with a sneak attack, given his current strength.

But as he'd said, the risk was too great, and the reward wasn't worth it.

"What a pity." Bai Chuan looked at the behemoth and chuckled to himself. "No matter how strong you are, you still can't defy a snake's nature. Now you're lying here, waiting to be killed."

After seven whole days of searching, the time had finally come to reap the rewards.

"Become the nourishment that fuels my growth!"

Bai Chuan's eyes gleamed fiercely. He crept silently toward the python, speaking inwardly.

The next moment, a pitch-black venomous snake slowly emerged from the shadows, its form appearing out of thin air.

Its lethal jaws opened wide, and its razor-sharp fangs sprang out. Then it aimed for the spot seven inches behind the python's head—

And bit down!

In an instant, its hard, sharp fangs sank into the flesh as easily as if they were piercing tofu.

Golden-yellow, dangerous, deadly venom began pouring out rapidly, spreading wildly through the python's body like a spiderweb.

At the same time, the pair of terrifying Sharp Claws beneath Bai Chuan's body didn't remain idle. They shot out, ripping into the flesh as easily as tearing through paper.

The next moment, a steady series of "squelches" rang out.

It was the sound of flesh being sliced open inch by inch by the Sharp Claws, gruesome yet strangely rhythmic.

After this attack, the sleeping python finally woke from the pain.

But this was the bitterly cold winter. The snake's metabolism had already slowed because of the low temperatures, leaving its body stiff and weak. After such a long time, it was also ravenously hungry.

Its blood ran ice-cold, its stiff, powerless body was ripped open with wounds deep enough to expose bone, and on top of that, the mixed venom had already begun to take effect. The neurotoxin suppressed its respiratory system, while the hemotoxin disrupted its blood vessels and heart.

What could it possibly do in a body like that?

What was more, the moment it woke, Bai Chuan released its bite. With a vicious yank of his Sharp Claws, he pulled away from it and watched intently from a distance.

In the end, all it could do was slowly die in agony.

To its dying breath, it never understood how a creature that looked so much like itself could be so full of life in such freezing weather.

But it would never get the chance to find out.

After the python had died completely, Bai Chuan waited there a while longer. He picked up a few stones with his Sharp Claws and tossed them at it, testing it several times before slowly approaching.

As soon as he drew near, he struck out with one claw and released a burst of Electric Current. When he saw only the normal muscle spasms that came from being shocked, he finally relaxed.

He couldn't afford to let his guard down around such a powerful creature.

But how was he supposed to carry this snake back to his cave?

After giving it some thought, he simply decided to stay there and finish eating it before leaving.

A creature this huge would feed him for several days. Fortunately, food didn't spoil easily in this weather.

Once he'd made up his mind, Bai Chuan tore into it with both Sharp Claws, ripping off bloody chunks of snake meat and swallowing them.

Ever since he'd grown claws, he'd changed the way he ate. The way snakes swallowed everything whole was too slow, and the process left them vulnerable.

This was much better. Tear off a piece, swallow it.

If anything unexpected happened, he could stop immediately and deal with it.

Eating this way also made digestion easier, and his points increased faster.

It was certainly convenient.

Still, back when he'd been human, he'd found raw, bloody chunks of meat unbearable. Now, though, they didn't bother him at all. They even tasted pretty good, and he ate with relish.

What was this?

Were a snake's body and instincts affecting his consciousness?

Bai Chuan didn't know, but it felt pretty good.

Bai Chuan spent the next few days in more comfort than he could have imagined. A seven-meter giant python contained an extraordinary amount of meat.

And because of the weather, the meat didn't spoil easily. He no longer had to worry about food each day, and for the first time, he felt leisurely enough to go outside and admire the snow.

His Frenzied Digestion ability, which had been inactive for many days, started up again. As a result, his points, whose rate of increase had slowed, began climbing rapidly once more.

But those comfortable days didn't last long. After only four days, the giant python had been devoured completely by Bai Chuan.