Titan Python

The Star Dou Great Forest was divided into the outer region, the mixed zone, and the core region.

The outer region was mostly home to Soul Beasts ranging from ten to a thousand years old. Only near the boundary between the outer region and the mixed zone would one or two Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts occasionally appear.

The mixed zone was where Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts gathered, and it too was divided into the outer, middle, and inner layers. The outer layer was home to Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts of thirty thousand years or less, the middle layer was where Soul Beasts between thirty and fifty thousand years gathered, while the inner layer was the territory of powerful Soul Beasts over fifty thousand years old.

Only powerful Soul Beasts older than eighty thousand years were qualified to establish their territories along the edge of the core region, facing the overlords within it from afar.

As for the core region, it was a forbidden zone for humans. Legend had it that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts resided there, striking fear into the hearts of Soul Masters everywhere.

Lin Qing headed deeper into the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest. Gradually, the Soul Beasts he encountered grew stronger, and before long, he arrived at the middle layer of the mixed zone.

Just as Lin Qing was searching for a suitable Soul Beast, an enormous shadow suddenly enveloped him.

"What is that?!" Lin Qing reacted swiftly. "Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash: Godspeed!" He unleashed Godspeed instantly, transforming into a streak of lightning and fleeing three to four hundred meters away in an instant.

Lin Qing's heart still pounded with lingering fear as cold sweat ran down his back. He turned around and looked at the enormous figure.

It was a colossal snake. Its head stood as high as a two-story building, its body was over three meters thick, and it stretched more than thirty meters long.

"This is... a thirty-thousand-year Titan Python!" Lin Qing recognized the massive python at a glance.

Titan Pythons had also existed in Lin Qing's previous world. They were enormous and immensely powerful. Even on Douluo Continent, Titan Pythons were exceptionally formidable. Among Soul Beasts of the same level, their combat strength was no weaker than that of the Titan Giant Ape, known as the "King of the Forest."

Titan Pythons were also easy to judge by age. One only had to look at their length and body diameter. For every additional ten thousand years, a Titan Python grew ten meters longer and one meter thicker. Upon reaching one hundred thousand years, it could grow to a hundred meters in length.

And this Titan Giant Ape had clearly exceeded thirty thousand years, though it had not yet reached forty thousand.

"Damn it! Why did it have to be a powerful Soul Beast like a Titan Python? No matter how strong I am, I'm only a Soul Ancestor—and one without a fourth ring, at that. How am I supposed to fight this big guy?" Lin Qing cursed his rotten luck inwardly.

Forget a super Soul Beast like a Titan Python—even an ordinary thirty-thousand-year Soul Beast was comparable to a Soul Emperor or even a Soul Master of that level. As for a super Soul Beast like this, at thirty thousand years, it was enough to rival the best among high-level Soul Sages, perhaps even some elderly Soul Douluos.

As for Lin Qing, at most he could bully a Titan Python that had just broken through the ten-thousand-year mark.

When the Titan Python saw that Lin Qing had dodged its sneak attack, it became somewhat enraged. It was a mighty thirty-thousand-year super Soul Beast, yet its ambush on a human Soul Ancestor had failed. If other Soul Beasts found out, where would its dignity as an overlord Soul Beast go?!

With that thought, the Titan Python swept its tail at Lin Qing.

"Mist Breathing, Seventh Form: Waterfall." The Nichirin Blade in Lin Qing's hand changed. Its blade turned pale blue-white, while its guard became square, with four protruding square golden frames at its corners.

The next instant, grayish-white mist spilled from Lin Qing's mouth. The fog rapidly spread, shrouding the battlefield, while Lin Qing transformed into mist and narrowly avoided the strike.

"Damn! That destructive power is fucking insane!" Seeing the area before him had been flattened into an incomparably smooth expanse by that sweep, Lin Qing grumbled, "If that hit me just now, I'd have been scattered into pieces."

"Hisss!" The Titan Python was utterly enraged when it saw Lin Qing evade its attack yet again.

The Titan Python lashed its tail about furiously, while Lin Qing continuously switched between different Breathing Styles, dodging and weaving without pause. Each time, he only barely avoided the python's attacks.

Massive clouds of dust repeatedly erupted throughout the fog-covered area, rising like mushroom clouds. Lightning also flashed through the mist from time to time, accompanied by the sound of trickling water.

"Damn it! Why are this guy's scales so hard?! I've slashed it so many times and still can't break through!" Lin Qing was starting to lose it.

"Water Breathing, Seventh Form: Ripple Thrust!" Lin Qing thrust his blade forward, and countless ripples of water and blade light struck the Titan Python.

The Titan Python swept sideways, blocking all the thrusts.

"Damn it! Thunder Breathing, Second Form: Rice Spirit!" Lightning surged around Lin Qing, instantly splitting into four streaks of lightning, each transforming into a clone. Then, all five Lin Qings swung their blades at once. Five lightning slashes struck from five different directions simultaneously, landing on the same spot on the giant python.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

The sound of immense electrical currents rang out. The powerful electricity numbed the python's body, and the five lightning slashes merged into one, finally piercing its scales and carving a moderate wound into its body.

"Hisss!"

Seeing that it had actually been injured, the python's fury nearly shattered its reason.

"What is it trying to do?"

Lin Qing had thought the python was about to launch another frenzied assault, but it instead raised its entire body upright, reaching a height of more than twenty meters.

Before Lin Qing could react, the python opened its abyssal maw and inhaled. The fog blanketing the entire area was sucked madly into its mouth as if being swallowed by a bottomless void.

"Damn it! Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash: Godspeed!" Lin Qing used Godspeed again, but the moment his feet left the ground, the python's storm-like suction dragged him into the air, sending him straight toward its abyssal mouth.

Although Lin Qing struggled desperately and even attacked the python, it was useless. The python endured his attacks head-on, determined to swallow Lin Qing even at the cost of injury.

"That's right! My blood!" Lin Qing suddenly remembered that his Demon Blood could Demonify living creatures. He just did not know whether it could Demonify such a massive creature as well. Screw it! I'll treat a dead horse like a living one!

Lin Qing made his decision at once. He gripped the Nichirin Blade in his right hand, turned its edge upward, and braced it beneath his armpit. "Ah!" With a vicious slash, Lin Qing cut off his entire left arm.

"Thunder Breathing: Godspeed!"

Grabbing his left arm, Lin Qing used Thunder Breathing to hurl it into the python's mouth. Carried by the python's violent suction, the arm was sucked directly into its stomach.

"Hurry, faster! Come on, work already!" As he himself was about to be sucked into its mouth, Lin Qing could only cry out anxiously in his heart.

"Hisss..."

Finally, when Lin Qing was less than half a meter from the python's abyssal maw, it suddenly shut its mouth and collapsed onto the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.

Boom!

Thud!

Lin Qing also fell from high in the air and slammed into the ground.

"Damn it! That hurts like hell!" Lin Qing clutched his butt and back, cursing nonstop.

Fortunately, his Demon Blood had worked. Otherwise, Lin Qing would have been in serious trouble today.

After Lin Qing landed, his severed arm began to regrow at a speed visible to the naked eye. In only a few breaths, his arm had completely regenerated.

Looking at his newly grown left arm, Lin Qing clenched and loosened his fist, testing the new limb. It was no different from the old one.