Blood Python

Chapter 4: Blood Python

"Fellow Daoist Fan, my Hundred Beast Banner still lacks one main soul. The flesh of this sable belongs to you, but the soul belongs to me. You have no objections, do you?"

A gentle, refined voice approached from afar, and in an instant, a middle-aged scholar appeared beside the old woman.

He gazed at the Silver Sable below, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Hmph!"

A flicker of heartache crossed the old woman's eyes, but she still let out a cold snort. "This old woman naturally has no objections. However, although this place is on the outermost periphery of the Myriad Demon Sect, transformed members of the Demon Race occasionally patrol here. If the two of us do not wish to leave our lives behind, it would be best to make this quick."

The middle-aged scholar nodded, having no objections to this.

Below, the giant silver sable seemed to sense a grave crisis. Without the slightest hesitation, its entire body suddenly shrank several times over, transforming into a slender young man. He moved in a blur, turning into a streak of silver-white light as he attempted to flee.

The old woman remained expressionless, seemingly having been prepared for this.

"Trying to run?"

Her voice was incomparably cold. With a wave of her hand, ribbons of light poured from her sleeves. As red radiance flickered, they coalesced in mid-air into a giant blood-colored net, casting down over the young man's head.

"Roar!"

A bestial, furious roar erupted from the man's throat. Seeing that escape was impossible, he transformed back into the giant sable. Its once-luxurious silver fur was already charred black by heavenly lightning, its entire body was lacerated and bleeding, and the silver horn on its head was cracked. Given time, it would have recovered and undergone further metamorphosis, but having just survived the heavenly tribulation, it was at its most vulnerable and could not break free from the giant net.

The middle-aged scholar did not strike; instead, he looked toward another spot in the void and said indifferently, "Little beast, you have watched for long enough. Are you not going to come out and surrender?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the scholar tapped a small pouch at his waist. Amidst a flash of light, a folding fan appeared in his hand. He unfurled it and gave the void a gentle wave, instantly manifesting five fire snakes that lunged toward a certain spot in the void with hideous roars.

"Whoosh!"

A blurred shadow emerged from the void—a massive, thick python. The giant python was blood-red all over and coiled into a circle, its aura exceptionally powerful. It glared at the scholar with blood-red eyes the size of lanterns, then fled into the distance without hesitation, seemingly aware that it was no match for the scholar.

Unfortunately, the five fire snakes were incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, they coiled around the python. A shrill hiss erupted from the python's throat as it struggled and thrashed in mid-air, trying to shake off the flames.

"Not bad, to be able to hide one's form in the void; it must be some kind of innate divine ability. Pity that a beast is a beast. Before transforming, its intelligence is no different from a wild animal, actually thinking it could take advantage of the situation while the Silver Sable was undergoing its tribulation."

Half a cup of tea later, the middle-aged scholar glanced at the python, whose aura was growing weaker and weaker. With a smile, he beckoned with one hand. The five fire snakes trembled slightly and loosened their grip, though one remained coiled around the python, preparing to drag it back.

But at that very moment, the python, which had seemed so weak it was on its last breath, suddenly erupted with a sharp aura. A flash of crimson light surged over its body, and it transformed into a streak of light that shot into the distance, instantly breaking free from the fire snake.

The middle-aged scholar was stunned, his expression turning cold. "What a cunning beast."

He moved to give chase, but when he saw the old woman beside him already retracting her net and preparing to claim the Silver Sable, he hesitated and did not pursue.

A few breaths later, the old woman finally finished off the Silver Sable.

"A pity, one slipped through the net."

The middle-aged scholar gazed at the red streak of light the blood python had become, muttering to himself.

"It is a pity."

The old woman toyed with the miniature version of the Silver Sable in her hand, letting it struggle and roar between her fingers, and said expressionlessly, "The escape technique that giant python used at the end must also be an innate divine ability. To possess two such abilities—its Heavenly Demon bloodline is extraordinary. However, it is severely injured; it might just end up benefiting some other fierce beast."

"Let us go. This place is, after all, under the jurisdiction of the Myriad Demon Sect. If any transformed demons from their sect sense something, the two of us will be staying here forever."

As the middle-aged scholar finished speaking, the two turned into streaks of light and flew into the distance.

It was not until long after they had departed that the area finally quieted down.

Chen Lin gazed at the figures of the two as they left, his heart churning like a stormy sea.

"Cultivators!"

Chen Lin silently echoed the word in his mind, unable to calm himself.

Cultivators were legendary figures even in Chen Lin's past life, far more powerful than those in the martial arts world! But aside from a few elder-level figures in the Hidden Assassins, no one knew if so-called cultivators truly existed. It was a secret, and also the legendary force that guarded the most powerful strength of Huaxia.

"The clothing those two wore is clearly different from Earth's. It seems this place is highly unlikely to be Earth."

Chen Lin pondered silently for a moment, then suddenly looked toward a spot not far away. He hesitated for a moment, then moved away quickly.

His eyes were composed of thousands of tiny facets, incredibly sharp. Although the old woman and the middle-aged scholar had not noticed, he had seen that when the giant python was fleeing, a shadow so faint it was almost invisible had detached from its body and fallen, landing not far from Chen Lin!

"A golden cicada shedding its shell!"

This was the phrase that instantly came to Chen Lin's mind.

The jungle was eerily quiet at this moment, perhaps due to the deterrent effect of the heavenly tribulation, which kept the less intelligent fierce beasts from acting rashly. This allowed Chen Lin to traverse the short distance without any danger.

However, although fierce beasts generally had low intelligence, some still relied on their sense of smell and keen instincts to quietly arrive at the direction where the python had fallen.

But when Chen Lin arrived, he already regretted his impulsive actions in his heart.

He discovered that quite a few fierce beasts had already gathered there, and among them were many with powerful auras—enough to tear Chen Lin apart with ease!

But at this moment, all the beasts had their gazes fixed on one place: a swamp where a massive python lay coiled.

The python's body seemed to have shrunk significantly, yet it was still the size of a house. Its body was charred in many places, and the smell of roasted flesh permeated the air. Its body was no longer a pure blood-red; in some places, it had begun to turn translucent. It lay motionless on the ground, seemingly devoid of life.

Every beast's eyes held bloodlust and greed, though there was also hesitation. After all, the python's aura was truly too powerful; even the lingering remnants were enough to deter all the beasts from approaching, yet they were unwilling to leave. For a time, they remained in a stalemate.

Including Chen Lin, every beast felt that if they could devour the python's blood essence, it would make them stronger. But after hesitating for a moment, Chen Lin decided to leave.

The python's flesh was tempting, but not worth his life. Acting with caution, Chen Lin quietly shifted his body backward, preparing to leave this impending vortex.

"Screech!"

But just at this moment, a fierce bird perched upon an ancient tree seemed to grow impatient; it let out a shrill cry, spreading wings of iron-black feathers that glinted with a chilling, ghostly light, and dove toward the giant python.

Its movement seemed to pull back the curtain on chaos, startling all the other ferocious beasts, who immediately roared and lunged at the python in turn.

Chen Lin's heart skipped a beat, and he began to retreat rapidly, hoping to slip away amidst the turmoil.

Just as all the beasts were about to reach the giant python, a monstrous, heaven-shaking aura of ferocity suddenly erupted from the serpent's body.

"Oh no!"

Chen Lin was suddenly seized by a jolt of terror; without even looking back, he exerted every ounce of his strength to flee!

At the edge of the swamp, the giant python raised its massive head to gaze at the gathered beasts. Its blood-red eyes, large as lanterns, flashed with cruelty and bloodlust, along with a touch of human-like mockery. Then, it violently opened its cavernous maw, its sharp fangs shimmering with a lethal light in the darkness, as an inexplicable and powerful suction force surged from its throat, sweeping across the surroundings.

All the beasts and birds panicked, struggling and roaring, circling and flapping, but no matter what they did, they could not resist the suction. Chen Lin was still trying to escape, but his body was dragged backward, flying toward the blood-python's gaping maw with no power to resist.

"It's over..."

Chen Lin smiled helplessly. After struggling in mid-air for a moment to no avail, he simply gave up and went limp.