Thousand-Year Soul Ring, First Soul Skill (3)
The next second, the mud suddenly churned!
A python nearly ten meters long burst from the swamp and coiled its massive body atop a pile of rotting wood. Palm-sized, dark green scales covered it from head to tail, glimmering with cold phosphorescence in the dim forest light.
Its triangular head rose high, its scarlet tongue flickering rapidly as a pair of cold, slit-pupiled eyes locked onto Lin Chen on the bank.
Purple Soul Power surged wildly around it, the telltale sign of a Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
It really was a Thousand-Year Jade Phosphor Python!
"Hiss!"
The python let out a piercing hiss, opened its jaws, and spat out a cloud of dark green venomous mist.
The mist swelled in the wind, instantly becoming a poisonous cloud that rolled toward Lin Chen with a pungent, fishy stench. Wherever it passed, vegetation withered on contact, and even the ground sizzled as it corroded.
Lin Chen had been prepared. He retreated rapidly as the Chaos Pearl spun at high speed within him. A hazy gray shield spread out before him: the Chaos Pearl's innate passive ability, Chaos Body Protection.
The poisonous mist slammed into the shield with a corrosive hiss. The gray barrier shook violently, ripples spreading across its surface as thin wisps of poison seeped through the gaps.
Lin Chen felt a tightness in his chest and a faint, sweet, bloody taste in his throat.
His heart jolted. He had indeed underestimated the potency of a Thousand-Year Soul Beast's venom.
Even with the Chaos Pearl protecting him, he could not be completely immune; it could only neutralize most of it. If an ordinary rank-ten Soul Master had taken that blast of poisonous mist, they would have dissolved into a puddle of blood and pus on the spot.
"Good grief, a Thousand-Year Soul Beast really lives up to its name." Lin Chen steadied his breathing, but his gaze grew sharper.
The harder the fight, the more it proved the value of this Soul Ring. As long as he absorbed it, the Chaos Pearl's poison resistance and defense would both rise substantially. That made it a worthwhile bargain.
When the Jade Phosphor Python saw that its attack had failed, it flew into a rage.
Its thick tail swept toward Lin Chen's waist with a howl of wind. The air exploded in its wake; if it struck him squarely, it would likely shatter his muscles and bones.
Lin Chen pushed off the ground and leaped upward, narrowly avoiding the blow. The tail smashed into the ground, splattering mud and leaving a shallow crater.
Before he could land, the Jade Phosphor Python's massive body had slithered over. Its jaws opened wide, revealing two fangs gleaming with cold light as it bit down at his head!
Its speed far surpassed that of an ordinary Hundred-Year Soul Beast.
With nothing to push off in midair, Lin Chen could only cross his arms and brace himself against its jaws.
"Clang!!"
The fangs bit into the arm guards formed from Chaos Soul Power, ringing out like clashing metal. The tremendous force sent Lin Chen flying. He landed hard in the mud and slid backward several meters before coming to a stop.
His arms went numb, and the skin between his thumbs and forefingers split slightly.
"Hiss, what strength." Lin Chen pushed himself up from the ground and wiped the mud from the corner of his mouth, breathing a little heavily.
Fighting a Thousand-Year Soul Beast with rank-ten Soul Power was ultimately too much of a stretch. His Soul Power reserves were less than a tenth of its own, and he was holding on purely thanks to the Chaos Pearl's properties. A prolonged fight would put him at a severe disadvantage.
He had to end this quickly. To kill a snake, strike seven inches below its head!
His gaze hardened, and his figure blurred as he charged straight at the Jade Phosphor Python. With unpredictable steps, he darted rapidly along the edge of the swamp, drawing the python's attention.
The Jade Phosphor Python was enraged by this puny human. It lunged, lashed its tail, and spat poisonous mist again and again, but Lin Chen narrowly dodged every attack. The swamp terrain restricted some of its speed, but it also left Lin Chen with nowhere to push off, forcing him to rely on his movement technique to keep it at bay.
After several exchanges, Lin Chen had used up nearly thirty percent of his Soul Power, and fine beads of sweat appeared at his temples. He could feel the Chaos Pearl's protective shield growing thinner and thinner, while more and more poison entered his body. His limbs had begun to tingle.
He could wait no longer.
Lin Chen took a deep breath and called inwardly, Heaven-Slaying Sword, come forth!
Hum-
A deep sword hum rang out from his palm. A dazzling flash of silvery-white sword light suddenly shone from his left hand, and a short sword slowly appeared, its body pitch-black and its blade flowing with a cold, keen gleam.
The blade was plain and unadorned, yet it radiated a sharp intent capable of cutting through anything. It was as though even the air around it had been sliced apart by its sword Qi, producing faint cracking sounds.
This was the first time he had released his Second Martial Soul in front of someone. Only Xiao Wu was here, and he trusted her.
The Jade Phosphor Python seemed to sense the threat from the Heaven-Slaying Sword. Its body abruptly tensed, and wariness appeared in its slit pupils for the first time. It jerked its head and spat out another huge mass of dense, inky poisonous mist, even more powerful than the last.
"It's useless."
Lin Chen gave a low shout and swung the sword horizontally with his left hand.
A half-meter-long arc of silvery-white sword Qi tore through the air, incomparably sharp, and cleaved the poisonous mist cleanly in two! Without losing momentum, it struck the Jade Phosphor Python's side. A wound split open through its dark green scales, deep enough to expose bone, and dark green blood gushed out.
"Hiss-!"
The Jade Phosphor Python let out a shrill hiss of pain and flew into a complete fury.
Its massive body surged out of the swamp and lunged at Lin Chen. Its jaws stretched as wide as they could go, its fangs gleaming coldly as it sought to swallow the human who had wounded it in one bite.
Lin Chen stood rooted to the spot, his eyes fixed on the python's vital point seven inches below its head.
Closer, closer still.
A foul wind struck his face, and the python's shadow nearly swallowed him whole. Just as its fangs were about to touch the top of his head, Lin Chen shifted his feet and slid half a step sideways like a ghost. At the same time, he turned his wrist and slashed the Heaven-Slaying Sword diagonally upward.
"Die!"
There was no fancy move, only sharpness in its purest form.
A flash of silvery-white sword light vanished as quickly as it appeared, too fast for the eye to follow.
There was a soft pfft.
The Heaven-Slaying Sword's edge pierced the Jade Phosphor Python with perfect precision, seven inches below its head. It slid straight through a gap between the scales, sinking in to the hilt. Chaos Soul Power surged wildly along the blade, shredding the flesh and meridians inside.
The Jade Phosphor Python's body went rigid. Its enormous head stopped in midair, unable to descend any farther. Its body convulsed violently, and its tail thrashed madly against the ground, sending mud and stones flying, but it could no longer hurt Lin Chen in the slightest.
A few breaths later, the light faded completely from the python's eyes. Its massive body crashed into the swamp, sending waves of mud flying into the air, and lay still.
Lin Chen pulled out the Heaven-Slaying Sword and staggered back two steps, steadying himself against a nearby tree trunk.
His face was deathly pale, his forehead covered in cold sweat, and his left arm trembled slightly.
That single strike had drained nearly seventy percent of his Soul Power. The Heaven-Slaying Sword's power was indeed terrifying, but its consumption of Soul Power was just as terrifying. With his current rank-ten reserves, he could swing it twice at most.
A fang had also grazed Lin Chen's shoulder, leaving a shallow bloody cut. Poison was slowly spreading through his blood.