Blood Python

Chapter 4: Blood Python

"Fellow Daoist Fan, my Hundred Beast Banner still lacks a main soul. You can have this sable's flesh, while its soul belongs to me. You have no objections, do you?"

A refined, cultured voice drew closer. In an instant, a middle-aged scholar appeared beside the old woman.

He looked down at the Silver Sable, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Hmph!"

A flicker of pain crossed the old woman's eyes, but she still gave a cold snort. "I naturally have no objections. However, though this place lies at the very edge of the Myriad Demon Sect's territory, transformed Demon Race members occasionally patrol here. If we don't want to leave our lives behind, we'd best finish this quickly."

The middle-aged scholar nodded, in full agreement.

Below them, the Silver Giant Sable seemed to sense the grave danger. Without the slightest hesitation, its body abruptly shrank several times over, turning into a tall, slender young man. Then he moved, transforming into a streak of silvery-white light as he tried to flee.

The old woman remained expressionless, as though she had been ready for this.

"Trying to run?"

Her voice was icy. She waved a hand, and countless strands of light poured from her sleeve. Crimson flashes flickered as they gathered in midair, forming a vast blood-red net that dropped over the young man.

"Roar!"

A furious, beastlike roar burst from the man's mouth. Seeing that he could not escape, he transformed back into a giant sable. Its once luxurious, magnificent silver fur had been scorched black by heavenly lightning. Its body was torn and bleeding, and its silver horn was cracked. Given time, it would have recovered and undergone a further transformation, but it had just survived its tribulation and was at its weakest. It could not break free of the enormous net.

The middle-aged scholar did not attack. Instead, he looked toward another spot in the void and said coolly, "You beast, you've been watching for long enough. Why not come out and surrender?"

As his words fell, the scholar patted a small pouch at his waist. A flash of light later, a folding fan appeared in his hand. He opened it and gave the void a gentle wave. Five fire serpents materialized, snarling as they lunged at a certain spot in the air.

"Whoosh!"

A blurry shadow appeared from the void: a thick, enormous python. Its whole body was blood-red, coiled into a circle, and its aura was extraordinarily powerful. It glared at the scholar with blood-red eyes as large as lanterns, then fled without hesitation, as if it knew it was no match for him.

Unfortunately, the five fire serpents were incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, they had wrapped around the python. It let out a shrill hiss, thrashing and twisting in midair as it tried to escape them.

"Not bad. You can hide your body in the void, so you must possess some kind of innate divine ability. What a pity that a beast is still a beast. Before you take human form, your intelligence is no better than that of a wild animal. You actually thought to take advantage of the Silver Sable while it was undergoing its tribulation."

Half an incense stick later, the middle-aged scholar glanced at the python, whose aura was growing weaker by the moment. Smiling, he beckoned with one hand. The five fire serpents shuddered and loosened their coils, though one still remained wrapped around the python, ready to drag it back whole.

But just then, the python, which had been so weak it seemed to have only one breath left, suddenly released a fierce aura. Red light flashed across its body, and it turned into a streak of blazing red light that shot into the distance, instantly escaping the fire serpent.

The middle-aged scholar froze, then his expression turned cold. "What a cunning beast."

He moved to pursue it, but when he saw that the old woman beside him had begun tightening the enormous net and was about to capture the Silver Sable, he hesitated and decided not to chase after it.

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

"A pity. One fish slipped through the net."

The middle-aged scholar watched the red streak that had been the Blood Python disappear into the distance and murmured to himself.

"It is a pity."

The old woman toyed with the miniature Silver Sable in her hand. It struggled and snarled between her fingers, but her expression remained blank. "The escape technique that python used at the end was probably an innate divine ability too. To possess two such abilities—the Heavenly Demon bloodline in it must be extraordinary. But it was badly wounded. Some other ferocious beast may well benefit from its misfortune."

"Let's go. This place is, after all, within the Myriad Demon Sect's jurisdiction. If one of the sect's transformed Demon Race members senses anything, we'll be staying here forever."

When the middle-aged scholar finished speaking, the two of them transformed into streaks of light and flew away.

Only after they had been gone for a long while did the area finally grow quiet.

Chen Lin watched the two figures disappear, turmoil churning in his heart.

"Cultivators!"

The word echoed silently through Chen Lin's mind. He struggled to calm down.

Cultivators had existed in legends in Chen Lin's previous life, and they were far more powerful than martial artists! Yet apart from a few of Hidden Thorn's veteran elders, no one knew whether these so-called cultivators truly existed. It was a secret, and, according to legend, they were the most powerful force protecting Huaxia.

"The clothes those two were wearing are clearly different from anything on Earth. It seems highly likely that this place isn't Earth at all."

Chen Lin pondered in silence for a while, then suddenly looked toward a nearby spot. After a moment's hesitation, he quickly left.

His eyes were made up of tens of thousands of tiny eyes, giving him exceptionally sharp vision. Though the old woman and the middle-aged scholar hadn't noticed, he had seen that halfway through its escape, a faint shadow, almost impossible to make out, had broken away from the fleeing python's body and fallen. It had landed not far from Chen Lin!

"Cicada shedding its shell!"

Those were the words that came to Chen Lin's mind in an instant.

The forest was eerily quiet. Perhaps the heavenly tribulation had left the low-intelligence ferocious beasts too cowed to act rashly. Chen Lin crossed the short distance without encountering any danger.

Still, though ferocious beasts were generally unintelligent, some had used their keen noses and sharp senses to quietly make their way toward where the python had fallen.

But by the time Chen Lin arrived, he was already regretting his rash decision.

He found the place crowded with ferocious beasts, many of them radiating powerful auras—more than enough to tear Chen Lin apart with ease!

Yet all the beasts were staring in the same direction: a swamp where a huge python lay sprawled.

The python's body seemed to have shrunk considerably, but it was still as large as a house. Much of it was scorched black, and the smell of roasted flesh hung in the air. Its body was no longer a solid blood-red; parts of it had begun to turn transparent. It lay motionless on the ground, as if it had no life left.

The ferocious beasts' eyes were filled with bloodlust and greed, but also hesitation. The python's aura was simply too powerful. Even its fading might was enough to keep them from approaching, yet they were unwilling to leave. For a time, they remained locked in a stalemate.

Chen Lin could feel it too, as could every other beast: if they devoured the essence of the python's flesh and blood, they would become stronger. But after hesitating briefly, Chen Lin decided to leave.

The python's flesh was tempting, but his life mattered more. Keeping to his usual caution, Chen Lin quietly backed away, preparing to leave the vortex that was about to erupt.

"Shriek!"

But just then, a ferocious bird perched in an ancient tree seemed to lose patience. It let out a piercing cry, spread its black-iron-like scaled feathers, which glimmered with a cold, dim light, and swooped toward the python.

Its movement seemed to open the floodgates of chaos. All the ferocious beasts started, then roared and lunged toward the python.

Chen Lin's heart lurched. He quickly retreated, hoping to take advantage of the chaos to escape.

Just as all the beasts were about to reach the python, a sky-shaking ferocious aura suddenly burst from its body.

"Not good!"

A wave of dread seized Chen Lin. Without looking back, he fled with all his might!

At the edge of the swamp, the python raised its enormous head and looked at the beasts surrounding it. Cruelty and bloodlust flashed in its lantern-sized eyes, along with a humanlike look of mockery. Then it suddenly opened its huge mouth. Its sharp fangs glimmered with lethal light in the darkness, and a strange, powerful suction force surged from its throat, sweeping in every direction.

The ferocious beasts and birds panicked. They struggled and roared, wheeling through the air, but nothing they did could resist the suction. Chen Lin was still trying to flee, but his body was swept backward and hurled toward the Blood Python's gaping maw. He was powerless to resist.

"It's over..."

Chen Lin smiled helplessly. He struggled in midair for a while, but it did no good, so he simply stopped.