The Divine Beast, the Skygreen Serpent

Chapter 14: The Divine Beast, the Skygreen Serpent

“What.” Ji Ning came to a halt, staring ahead. “Could the Skygreen Serpent King really be appearing?” Forgetting everything else, he immediately turned and changed direction, dashing at high speed across the surface of the water, trying to flee.

“Hua~~”

A massive, beautiful serpent head covered in emerald-green scales emerged from the water.

Staring at the Skygreen Serpent King’s raised head, Ji Ning’s expression grew grave. “Trouble. I didn’t expect the Skygreen Serpent King to arrive this quickly! With my footwork at the Unity of Man and Heaven level, I’ve been able to escape the pursuit of many great demons. In the Eastmarsh Swamp, there are only a few great demons that pose a real threat to me, and the Skygreen Serpent King is one of them.”

“To run into it on my very first trip to the Eastmarsh Swamp!” Ji Ning’s mind raced, recalling the information on the Skygreen Serpent King he had read in the Western Prefecture city.

The Skygreen Serpent King, a divine beast, a Skygreen Serpent! According to the Ji Clan’s records, the last time it had been scouted, it was at the ‘early Xiantian lifeform’ stage! Although it was only at the early Xiantian stage, it possessed the bloodline of a Fiendgod. Its strength was not much less than that of the great demon ‘Winged Serpent’.

The Skygreen Serpent King was famed for its agility! In all other aspects, it was inferior to the great demon Winged Serpent, but in terms of speed and agility alone, it surpassed it! Additionally, the Skygreen Serpent’s venom possessed a powerful hallucinogenic toxicity. A single bite from it could plunge even an ordinary great demon into a delusional stupor!

“My own proudest asset, my agility, is exactly what it counters.” Ji Ning’s heart burned with anxiety.

In life-or-death combat, agility was more important than raw power or speed!

Just look at the Water Rhinoceros King. Its strength far surpassed Ji Ning’s! Its defense far exceeded Ji Ning’s!

Yet in Ji Ning’s eyes, the Water Rhinoceros King had been a clumsy, stupid fool. He had easily circled around it and killed it. It couldn’t even have rammed him if it had wanted to. This ‘Skygreen Serpent King’, however, was most famous for its agility!

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“Hua hua hua~~~” The scales of an enormous serpent body could faintly be seen churning the distant lake surface.

The Skygreen Serpent King’s head was raised high, looking down at Ji Ning. Its eyes were filled with confusion, and it let out a low, rumbling growl.

“Hm?” Ji Ning frowned, also staring at the Skygreen Serpent King. What was this serpent saying? He couldn’t understand it. As a divine beast, at the early Xiantian lifeform stage, it had not yet transformed into human form and could not speak human language.

Hua!

Another human figure emerged from the water beside the Skygreen Serpent King. It was a tall, thin man in white robes. The man stared at Ji Ning and shouted, “Our king asks you, did you kill that Water Rhinoceros?”

“If I say no, will you believe me?” Ji Ning asked.

“There’s no other human around here besides you. If it wasn’t you, then who else could it be?” The tall, thin man in white sneered. “Besides, you can walk on water, and you’ve even reached Unity of Man and Heaven!”

Suddenly, the Skygreen Serpent King lowered its head and growled again. The man in white relayed, “But there were no traces of Xiantian true essence around the Water Rhinoceros’ corpse. Could it be that you’re not even a Xiantian lifeform yet?”

“If I answer you, will you let me go?” Ji Ning countered.

“How could that be possible?” The man in white laughed coldly. “You killed the Water Rhinoceros that serves under our king. If we just let you walk away, what face would our king have left?”

Ji Ning’s brow furrowed as he barked, “Since that’s the case, enough nonsense. If you want to fight, then fight. If not, I’ll be on my way.”

The Skygreen Serpent King’s massive head looked down at Ji Ning, still filled with confusion. This little human child… it naturally wasn’t afraid of him. It was just that the area around the Water Rhinoceros’ corpse was far too strange. There was clearly no fluctuation of Xiantian true essence. So how had the Water Rhinoceros died? Could a non-Xiantian lifeform have killed a great demon?

“Hmph.” Ji Ning immediately stepped across the water, turning into a gust of wind as he swiftly fled into the distance.

Even when going out to explore and take risks, one had to know their limits. If he went and fought with a great demon that was too strong, that was just asking for death! Ji Ning had never planned on fighting the Skygreen Serpent King in the first place…

“Hua~~” The Skygreen Serpent King shot through the water, transforming into a silver wave.

In moments, its enormous head appeared once more in front of Ji Ning.

“Faster than me, as I expected.” Ji Ning came to an abrupt halt, a crazed light burning in his eyes. “It seems this battle is unavoidable. Since I can’t escape, then let’s fight!”

“In the Eastmarsh Swamp, the only one faster than our king is the old monster Snow Toad! Do you know of the Snow Toad? He’s the most powerful great demon in our entire Eastmarsh Swamp. A single breath of cold air from him could freeze you to death!” The tall, thin man in white was walking on the surface of the water, each step causing its surface to tremble violently, a far cry from Ji Ning’s effortless, carefree gliding. “Before our king, you might as well just resign yourself to death—”

Ji Ning’s brow furrowed. He directly spun around and shot forward like a streak of light, charging straight at the tall, thin man in white. “You demon, you talk too much. Taste my sword!”

Swoosh!

A flash of chilling light. The tall, thin man in white was so terrified he let out a cry and plunged headfirst into the water with a ‘plop’. He was a demon attached to the Skygreen Serpent King, and his strength was even inferior to the Water Rhinoceros King’s. How could he dare to fight this human youth?

“Roar~~~” The Skygreen Serpent King suddenly let out a furious roar.

Ji Ning looked up, completely unafraid. Since he couldn’t escape, Ji Ning quickly cast aside all hesitation and fear, leaving behind a searing, fanatical fervor! Fighting an opponent whose strength completely surpassed his own… that was the kind of battle that made one’s blood truly boil!

Hua~~~ A massive section of green, scaled serpent tail suddenly shot up from the lake water, sweeping towards Ji Ning with incredible speed and ferocity.

“So fast!” Ji Ning’s skin was faintly flushed, the power of Taiyin and Sunstar having been pushed to their absolute limits. At the same time, he stepped into the Windshadow Steps technique, a Northsea Sword held in each hand. One of the blades shimmered with a blue light… poison! The Northsea Swords were a set of three swords in one scabbard. Two were normal, but the third had its blade coated with a potent toxin.

He had even coated a small portion of the arrows he carried with the same poison! After all, when venturing outside and fighting for one’s life, the ultimate goal was to kill the enemy! One had to use any means necessary. He hadn’t bothered during his fight with the Water Rhinoceros King, but this Skygreen Serpent King was far too dangerous.

One hand executed ‘Endless Flowing Waters’.

The other hand executed ‘Silk Rain Forms Threads’.

With the movement of his two Northsea Swords, the power of heaven and earth was instantly drawn forth. Hua hua hua~~~ A visible, slender stream of flowing water coiled around the incoming serpent tail, incredibly tough and stubbornly wrapping around it, drastically reducing the tail’s power.

At the same time, countless droplets of water coalesced into strands of silk, slicing across the massive serpent body!

“Bam!” Ji Ning was sent flying backwards at high speed, splashing up a huge wave of water.

“Splash!” Brilliant, emerald-green blood sprayed out from a large wound on the serpent’s body. But soon, the flow of blood slowed as the wound began to shrink. The blood took on a faint black tinge, but it quickly returned to its emerald-green color. It seemed the potent toxin on the Northsea Sword’s blade was not much of a threat to the Skygreen Serpent King, which was a venomous snake itself.

Swoosh!

Ji Ning leaped high into the air from the lake’s surface.

The Skygreen Serpent King quickly coiled up its massive body, staring at the distant human youth. In a single exchange, this human youth had actually wounded it.

Then, suddenly—

The Skygreen Serpent King’s colossal body began to rapidly shrink. A moment ago, it had been even larger than the great demon Winged Serpent. But in the blink of an eye, it had become a mere ten-plus meters long, its body as thick as a human thigh. This entirely emerald-green serpent stared at Ji Ning, letting out a “Sssss~~~” hiss.

“Not good.” Ji Ning’s expression grew solemn.

The Skygreen Serpent King was a divine beast, capable of growing larger or smaller, and famed for its agility. It was when it shrank that it became its most terrifying!

A purple pill appeared in Ji Ning’s hand, and he quickly stuffed it into his mouth. This was an antidote pill, one of many he had prepared for this adventure to deal with all sorts of great demons and dangerous situations. It was especially effective against hallucinogens and toxic miasmas.

Ji Ning held his swords, staring fixedly at the Skygreen Serpent King.

The Skygreen Serpent King’s head swayed slightly, its tongue flickering in and out as it sized him up, like an experienced hunter seeking an opening in its prey. As it swayed, it slowly glided across the water, closing in on Ji Ning. Ji Ning, in turn, stepped backward across the water, maintaining the distance between them.

“Swoosh!”

In an instant, the Skygreen Serpent King transformed into a bolt of emerald lightning, shooting straight at Ji Ning!

A sharp glint flashed through Ji Ning’s eyes. His right-hand Northsea Sword transformed into a fleeting streak of fire, moving with such extreme speed it could not be followed! This was the ‘Lightning Flash’ technique, one of the three killing moves from the Thunderfire Sword Fragments. This move was defined by a single quality—speed! It was the fastest technique in Ji Ning’s current arsenal, and he was using it to counter the Skygreen Serpent King’s lunge, matching attack with attack!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

In a single, split-second instant, the Skygreen Serpent King twisted and changed direction twelve times, turning into a ghostly phantom. It slipped past the blade of Ji Ning’s right-hand sword, and even used its now much tougher and smaller body to strike the sword.

But Ji Ning’s left-hand Northsea Sword had already transformed into layers of watery ripples, executing the defensive ultimate technique from the Dripping Sutra—‘Not a Single Leak’!

“Clang!”

The serpent’s head clashed against the edge of the Northsea Sword, forcing the Skygreen Serpent King off to one side.

The two figures passed each other!

“Smack!” At the moment they passed, an even more terrifying shadow shot up from the water, lashing out at Ji Ning. Caught off guard, the tail struck him directly in the chest. Bam! Ji Ning’s face flushed red as he spat out a mouthful of blood, spinning head over heels as he flew into the distance before plummeting into the lake.

Hua hua~~~

The Skygreen Serpent King swiftly swam through the lake water, charging straight towards where Ji Ning had fallen.

“Too fast, that whip-like tail strike. It’s far faster than the great demon Winged Serpent’s.” Ji Ning flipped over in mid-air, landing gracefully on the water’s surface. He clutched his chest, feeling the faint crack of broken bones. However, the powerful regenerative abilities of his Fiendgod Body Refining were rapidly repairing the damage.

Crackle, crackle~~~ The two broken ribs in his chest were quickly restored to perfect condition.

“But its strength is far less than the great demon Winged Serpent’s.” Ji Ning glanced down at his chest. The leather vest had been torn open, but the Golden Dust Garment beneath had protected him, so the damage to his body wasn’t too severe.

“Swoosh!”

The Skygreen Serpent King once again transformed into a bolt of lightning, charging at him.

Fast!

“Come on, then!” Ji Ning seemed almost possessed, wielding his twin swords as he frantically defended. The Skygreen Serpent King attacked with everything it had: sometimes biting with its head, sometimes constricting with its body, sometimes lashing out with its tail. Its entire body was a weapon. It launched a frenzied assault, encircling Ji Ning in a very small area, unleashing a storm of incredibly swift attacks. In a single instant, they would exchange blows many times.

Ji Ning’s techniques from the Dripping Sutra and the Thunderfire Sword Fragments had all ‘entered the realm’. And yet, he had not yet reached a true state of Unity of Man and Heaven with his swordsmanship!

A sword technique at the Unity of Man and Heaven level meant that even a simple, ordinary thrust, chop, or lift… any single movement could draw upon the power of heaven and earth. That was true Unity of Man and Heaven in swordsmanship. Because Ji Ning had not yet reached this level, when locked in such lightning-fast exchanges, the transitions and pauses between his sword moves would briefly remove him from the state of Unity of Man and Heaven.

Once he left that state, the power of his sword technique would drop dramatically. This was a huge vulnerability. Even though Ji Ning used the advantage of his dual-wielding swordsmanship to compensate, in the end… a prolonged defense was bound to fail!

“Chii!”

The Skygreen Serpent King’s head savagely bit down on Ji Ning’s calf. Its razor-sharp venomous fangs pierced through the leather and even the Golden Dust Garment. The potent venom stored in its fangs instantly flowed into Ji Ning’s body. An intense numbness and dizzying stupor radiated instantly from his calf, spreading throughout his entire body. Ji Ning hurriedly swallowed the antidote pill he had been holding in his mouth.

“Die!” With both hands holding his Northsea Swords, Ji Ning simultaneously executed the ‘Moth to the Flame’ technique from the Thunderfire Sword Fragments. The two swords transformed into two swirling streams of entwined flame, stabbing directly at the Skygreen Serpent King’s body where it was still clamped onto his calf!