Chapter Thirty-three: The Serpent Dragon Gives Birth

As the corpse of the ancient Golden Crow slowly rose from the distant depths of the Northern Sea, the first ray of sunlight spilled over the mountains, causing mist to rise and swirl through the valley, transforming it into a scene fit for immortals.

“It’s been a whole night—just what is that venomous creature waiting for?”

Sitting cross-legged atop the mountain, Luo Hao exhaled a plume of white breath before opening his eyes. A flash of golden light flickered within them. Clearly, his cultivation had improved over the course of the night, yet even so, though he was now at the late stage of the Seventh Level of Qi Spirit, it would still take time to break through to the Eighth.

He glanced again at the Emerald-Eyed Demon Spider lurking amidst the valley shrubs. It was as still as a corpse; had he not tailed it through the night, he might have mistaken it for a dead spider. With only a little time left before the ten-day deadline, he resolved to wait just one more day. If nothing happened, he would strike and slay the demon spider himself.

Patting the storage pouch at his waist, he summoned a manual with a blood-red cover into his hand. On its cover, four characters spelled out “Blood Ignition Technique” in sinister, crimson script.

Indeed, this was the very secret art Senior Brother Liu had used in his desperate clash with the Dragon Ape. With Liu now dead by Luo Hao’s machinations, the book naturally had found a new owner. Among Liu’s belongings, Luo Hao had also discovered two flight talismans.

Though not rare if one had enough spirit stones, to martial artists below the Tiangang Realm, flight talismans were priceless.

“What a treasure.”

Securing the talismans, Luo Hao began to study the Blood Ignition Technique intently. Half an hour later, having read through most of the manual, his expression grew ever more delighted.

Strictly speaking, this was not a cultivation method, but a secret art to temporarily boost one’s combat power. The manual claimed that ordinary martial artists could unleash triple their strength by activating the technique, while those with particularly strong blood and vital energy could achieve even greater power—up to a terrifying tenfold increase.

But such power came at a price. The aftereffects were severe: one might suffer total skeletal fractures and be bedridden for hundreds of days, as had happened to Senior Brother Liu, or even die outright.

Since the Blood Ignition Technique was a secret art rather than a martial skill, comprehension was unnecessary—one simply needed to memorize the method of activation. Thus, within a few hours, Luo Hao had thoroughly mastered it.

A golden shimmer flickered in his hand, and the manual crumbled instantly to ash. This technique was now one of his trump cards, and he had no intention of letting others discover it.

A rustling sound reached his ears.

As the sun hung high overhead, the Emerald-Eyed Demon Spider in the shrubs below finally stirred. Noticing this, Luo Hao ceased all other activity.

The spider’s six green eyes were fixed unblinking on the pond ahead. Luo Hao, moving down from the mountain, crept through the valley and, from the boughs of an ancient tree, followed the spider’s gaze.

“Damn it, what’s so fascinating about that pond?” he cursed inwardly. But before the thought could finish, the calm waters suddenly erupted with a tremendous roar. Within the thunderous din, a monstrous beast’s howl could be discerned. A wall of water, hundreds of feet high, soared skyward, and from the curtains of cascading spray, a massive water tornado shot up into the heavens.

Like autumn wind sweeping dead leaves, the hurricane flattened the ancient trees surrounding the pond. Luo Hao, hiding behind one such tree, hair whipped wildly by the gale, stared uncertainly at the tornado. Below, the Emerald-Eyed Demon Spider dug its eight limbs deep into the earth, bracing itself against the terrifying wind.

A sudden, agonized roar echoed from within the water tornado—a roar laced with a trace of majesty. Luo Hao, eyes grave, saw a colossal black shadow thrashing within the vortex.

With a thunderous crash, the shadow’s long tail lashed out, shattering the tornado and sending torrents of water flooding the entire area. Luo Hao’s pupils narrowed as he stared at the pond.

“A flood serpent!” he gritted out, barely able to voice the words. What he couldn’t fathom was how such a creature had appeared in the outer reaches of the Sky Azure Mountains.

The gigantic beast before him stretched several hundred feet long, bearing a faint resemblance to the legendary true dragon. Its body was covered in black scales, and beneath those scales, four limbs like cast iron jutted out, gleaming coldly even under the sun.

Its grotesque head bore some likeness to a dragon, but more to a serpent; no horns crowned its brow, only black scales.

Legend had it that a serpent became a flood serpent after five hundred years, then a “qiu” after a thousand, then grew horns after another five hundred, and after a further thousand, became a true dragon. By Luo Hao’s estimate, this flood serpent had cultivated for at least three or four centuries, and should possess strength comparable to a Tiangang Realm martial artist. Yet although it radiated an aura of great danger, it had not yet attained the power of a third-rank beast.

The flood serpent’s roars sent wave after wave surging across the pond. Stealing a glance at the Emerald-Eyed Demon Spider, Luo Hao noticed it showed little fear of the serpent’s third-rank might.

“So that’s how it is,” he mused, eyes lingering on the serpent’s swollen belly. At last, he understood. The flood serpent was about to give birth, its strength drastically diminished—only at the level of a second-rank beast. Hence, the danger he sensed was not overwhelming. After birthing, the serpent would be at its weakest.

The flood serpent had sought a hidden place to give birth, only to be discovered by the Emerald-Eyed Demon Spider. Thus, two powerful beasts, which should never have been in these outerlands, had converged here: one about to give birth, the other lying in wait to strike while its foe was vulnerable—and Luo Hao, intending to slay the spider. Truly, it was the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

With a thunderous crash, the flood serpent’s powerful limbs stomped and cracked the earth. Its immense body writhed and pressed against the ground, black scales glinting faintly, the swollen abdomen pulsing, and its mouth emitting endless cries of pain.

Spiritual energy from the world flooded toward the serpent with each agonized roar, vital essence streaming in from all directions. Luo Hao could keenly feel the serpent’s strength ebbing away—its power had already fallen from the peak of the second rank to the late stage.

The flood serpent’s anguished cries stirred thoughts of his own mother, whom he had never met. Had she suffered such pain to bring him into the world? Shaking his head to dispel the thought, he focused instead on the Emerald-Eyed Demon Spider, which was finally stirring from its feigned death as the serpent’s aura waned.

“At last, you can’t resist, can you? I’ll wait until you two tear each other apart, then swoop in and claim the spoils.”

As the demon spider could no longer hold back, Luo Hao decided to let the beasts battle, reaping the rewards afterward.

With a sharp, grinding sound, the spider’s eight blade-like limbs tore up clouds of dust. Amidst the storm, countless silvery threads formed a vast, venomous web, descending upon the flood serpent writhing below.

Sensing impending doom from above, the flood serpent, though wracked with pain, surged upright, its hundreds of feet-long body rising like a pillar to the sky, black scales shimmering with lethal light. Its fierce aura struck Luo Hao’s heart like a hammer, leaving him breathless.

“Damn, this serpent’s become a spirit! Weren’t there rules against that after the founding of the nation?”