leonardwarren Chapter 11: The Dark Serpent, Six Years Old!
Chapter 11: The Dark Serpent, Six Years Old!
Mingfei's consciousness sank into the Hades Sword, beginning round after round of meticulous adjustments.
The flow of soul power, the resonance of the underworld, the rehearsal of soul skills...
He simulated the use of the "Nether Tiger Assassination Technique" in his mind again and again, adjusting every detail and optimizing the angle and force of each sword strike.
Time becomes blurred in the underworld.
There is no sunrise or sunset, no waxing or waning of the moon, only an eternal gray sky and slowly billowing gray fog.
Mingfei didn't know how much time had passed—maybe an hour, maybe half a day, maybe a whole day. He didn't care.
His men are working hard for him, and he is getting stronger.
This is enough.
Deep within my consciousness, the beating of the three hearts was clear and steady.
They split up: the woman went north, the man on night watch went west, and the man from the Second Ring Road went east.
They moved very carefully, without disturbing any spirit beasts or encountering any danger.
Mingfei continued his cultivation.
After some time, though he still couldn't tell exactly how long, a heart deep within his consciousness suddenly began to beat faster.
It was a woman; she discovered something.
Mingfei opened his eyes and stood up from the rock.
Instead of leaving the underworld immediately, he extended his consciousness there, sharing the woman's vision through the connection between the underworld and the dead.
A dark, dense forest.
The woman's gaze passed through the layers of branches and leaves, landing on a narrow mountain stream.
The mountain stream is flanked by steep cliffs covered with dark green moss. The water is shallow, only ankle-deep, but it is black and the bottom is not visible.
A snake was coiled on a rock by the water.
No, it's not a snake.
It was a huge python, its entire body as black as ink, its scales gleaming with a dark purple sheen in the dim light.
Its body is as thick as a bucket, coiled up, with its head buried in the center of its body, as if it were resting.
Mingfei estimated its length to be at least five meters, possibly longer.
black.
Dark purple luster.
It lingers in the mountain stream.
Mingfei quickly searched his mind for memories of his past life.
Sunset Forest, a giant black python, dark purple scales... a name came to mind.
Dark Serpent.
Snake-type spirit beasts with dark attributes are cold and gloomy by nature, prefer dampness, and are usually active at night.
Its venom is not fatal, but it paralyzes the nervous system of its prey, rendering it unable to move.
The Dark Serpent has average defense, but its attack speed is extremely fast, and it is adept at using the environment to conceal itself.
years.....
Through the woman's eyes, Mingfei carefully observed the snake's body shape, the color and depth of its scales, and the shape of its head.
A five-thousand-year-old Dark Python should be between four and five meters long, with dark gray scales and a dark purple sheen.
This snake is over five meters long, with almost pure black scales and a deep dark purple sheen.
Six thousand years.
At least six thousand years.
Ming Fei took a deep breath, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
The woman quietly stepped back without disturbing the snake.
Her mission was complete: she found the target, confirmed its location, and returned to report.
Next, it's up to Mingfei himself.
But he wasn't in a hurry.
The Dark Serpent dwells in the mountain stream, a position that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The narrow terrain limited movement, the black stream concealed underwater dangers, and the moss on the rock walls could be slippery or poisonous.
Charging head-on into a six-thousand-year-old Dark Serpent is suicide.
He needs a plan.
Mingfei stood up from the rock, his consciousness sweeping across the underworld.
Seventeen century-old soul beasts roam the scorched earth; they too can become his pawns.
They are not needed to participate in the battle.
A hundred-year-old soul beast would be nothing more than a sitting duck if it went up against a thousand-year-old dark serpent.
But they can be used as bait, as interference, or as a feint.
Ghost Tiger.
Mingfei's gaze fell on the dark purple figure in the gray mist in the distance.
The ghost tiger's undead form roams the underworld, stronger, faster, and with sharper claws than in life.
If they coordinate properly, he and Ghost Tiger might be able to take down this 6,000-year-old Dark Serpent.
But more information is needed.
What are the weaknesses of the Dark Serpent?
What are its attack methods?
How wide is its sensing range?
How much difference is there between its speed in water and on land?
Mingfei extended his consciousness toward the woman and gave her a new instruction.
observe.
Do not disturb them.
Record all behavioral patterns of the Dark Serpent.
The woman did not respond, but Mingfei could sense that her direction of movement had changed.
She was on her way back to the mountain stream.
Mingfei sat back down on the rock and closed his eyes.
wait.
Practice.
plan.
The underworld trembled slightly with his breath, gray mist surged, and the dark red light from the cracks in the scorched earth brightened a little more.
.....
The woman's information was relayed back within half a day.
Not through language, but through the invisible bond between the underworld and the dead.
With his eyes closed, Mingfei's mind was filled with images.
The posture of the Dark Serpent coiled in the mountain stream, its speed when swimming in the water, its reaction to distant sounds, and the entire process of it preying on a passing soul beast.
The image is so detailed that it looks like a slow-down video.
The woman was a skilled hunter in her lifetime; she knew which information was useful and which was not.
The Dark Serpent's body length, scale thickness, attack range, perception radius, reaction time...
She meticulously recorded all the data and directly infused it into Mingfei's consciousness through the connection to the underworld.
The Dark Serpent, six thousand years old.
It is about 5.8 meters long and the diameter of the thickest part of its torso is about 40 centimeters.
The scales are black with a dark purple sheen at the edges, and are about three to five millimeters thick, making them difficult to penetrate with ordinary swords.
Its head is triangular, its fangs are about eight centimeters long, and its venom is a neurotoxin that takes effect within three seconds of entering the bloodstream, with complete paralysis lasting about ten seconds.
There are three attack methods: biting, entanglement, and venom spraying.
It bites quickly, but its attack range is short, and it can only attack from the head.
Entanglement is the Dark Serpent's killing move. Once entangled, the strangulation power of a six-thousand-year-old soul beast is enough to crush the bones of an adult in five seconds.
The venom spray has the longest attack range, reaching five meters, but its accuracy is average, and it takes about thirty seconds to recharge the venom after each spray.
It has two weaknesses.
First, the abdomen.
The scales on the back of the Dark Python are thick and hard, but the scales on its belly are relatively soft and only about half the thickness of those on its back.
Second, the eyes. The Dark Serpent has very poor eyesight and mainly relies on heat source perception and ground vibrations to lock onto its prey, which is similar to most snake-type soul beasts.
The sensing radius is approximately thirty meters.
Within this range, it will detect any object whose body temperature is higher than the ambient temperature.
Outside of this range, it is almost blind.
Mingfei opened his eyes and went through the information in his mind.
A six-thousand-year-old soul beast is impossible to confront head-on.
His current soul power is only level 23. Although he has a thousand-year soul ring and his first soul skill, the gap between him and a six-thousand-year soul beast cannot be bridged by skill alone.
In a head-on confrontation, he wouldn't last three seconds.
However, the Dark Serpent has weaknesses, blind spots, and exploitable flaws.
And he has helpers.
.....