Jiang Chen soon arrived before the Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake's lair.
The cave entrance was five meters high and six meters wide. A wide, rough trail was etched into the ground, like a dried-up riverbed—the tracks left by the Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake as it came and went.
'Not out hunting? Perfect. That saves me the trouble of searching for you everywhere!' A glint flashed in Jiang Chen's eyes, and a smile touched his lips.
He scanned his surroundings and, a hundred meters behind him, found a great tree a hundred meters tall, so thick it would take five or six adults to encircle it.
After circling the great tree, Jiang Chen nodded in satisfaction. 'You'll do!'
SWISH!
The silvery gleam of his sword left its sheath and returned in the same instant.
At the same time...
The hundred-meter-tall tree came crashing down, the cut surface perfectly smooth. With a flicker of movement, Jiang Chen hoisted the great, hundred-meter-long tree, weighing over five thousand pounds, above his head with one hand.
He stomped hard on the ground, his speed abruptly increasing. Like a cannonball, he shot toward the cave with a BOOM.
When he was still a hundred meters from the cave, Jiang Chen gave a mighty shove, launching the great tree forward.
RUMBLE...
The entire hundred-meter-long tree slammed into the cave, driving deeper and shattering the rock walls around the entrance. Amidst a deafening KRA-KA-KA, boulders broke loose and tumbled from the cliff face above.
Dust and debris filled the air. The destructive power was astonishing!
"KRAA! KRAA!"
An enraged, bizarre cry erupted from the cavern, making the entire cliff face tremble violently.
BOOM—
Amidst flying sand and stones, as countless boulders and clouds of dust were thrown into the air, a figure of mixed gold and white burst forth.
It was a snake fully twenty meters long and as thick as a water bucket, its body covered in rings of golden and white scales. Its head was triangular, with three emerald-green eyes on each side that glinted with a grim, cold light. It flicked a scarlet tongue, and venom occasionally dripped from its mouth to the ground.
A SSSSSS sound immediately rose from the ground, which was corroded into dozens of pits two to three meters deep. All the surrounding flora withered on the spot!
Atop its head sat a purple, fleshy crown.
Its six star-like eyes locked onto Jiang Chen, glittering with grim killing intent...
This was a Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake, its power comparable to a human at the Martial Arts Sixth Stage!
A large patch of scales on the snake's back had been blasted away, revealing mangled flesh and blood—an injury from the great tree that had thoroughly enraged it.
The behemoth stared intently at Jiang Chen, hissing as if to say, 'You're dead, kid!'
"You beast! Last time, you chased me all over this mountain. Today, I've come for revenge!" Jiang Chen gripped his Fine Steel Long Sword, his tongue darting out to lick the corner of his mouth as a cold light flashed in his eyes.
His cultivation had now reached the Fifth Stage of Martial Arts.
Furthermore, his Thunderbolt Technique, the second form of the Aurora Sword Technique, had officially reached the Great Success Realm, and he had made great strides with the 1st Floor of the Profound Yellow Undying Technique.
Even against an expert of the Martial Arts Sixth Stage, he now had the power to put up a fight!
This Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake was the perfect opponent to test his strength.
At this thought, Jiang Chen raised his sword and charged the Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake. The Aurora Sword Technique was an unorthodox style, focused on pushing the speed of one's strikes to the absolute limit.
As the saying goes, in all of martial arts, speed is the only thing that cannot be defeated.
With this thrust, his sword became a silver streak of Flowing Light. A piercing SWISH cut through the air as the blade appeared before the Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake in an instant.
DING!
The sharp sword struck the Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake's Scale Armor, sending a brilliant shower of sparks into the air. A few scales on its chest were actually pierced by Jiang Chen's strike, and blood sprayed out. A human-like look of astonishment flashed in the snake's six eyes as its body shot backward, snapping a swath of trees in half.
Leaving the area flattened!
It simply couldn't understand. 'How did this human brat, who was like an ant I was chasing just a few days ago, become so powerful?'
Jiang Chen was splattered with the snake's blood, but his eyes and sword shone exceptionally bright. "Die, beast!"
As his words fell, his body moved, and his sword struck!
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
The silver sword light thrust forward in a straight line, tearing through the air and trailing a wave of heat as it instantly closed in on the Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake.
This time, the Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake had learned. Relying on its instincts as a Demon Beast, it immediately dodged to the side, barely avoiding Jiang Chen's fierce strike. Simultaneously, its coiled body whipped around, its tail lashing out like a steel whip.
The whistling sound of its tail cutting through the air was enough to make one's scalp crawl!
'Damn it, this beast's reaction speed is incredible!' Jiang Chen's expression darkened, and he dove to the ground.
He felt a fierce gust of wind at his back, making his robes flap wildly, and felt a stinging pain as if a sharp blade were scraping his skin and cutting his flesh.
Lifting his head slightly, he saw that the snake's sweeping tail had sheared off the top layer of the ground.
"Hm?"
Jiang Chen's gaze sharpened, his pupils contracting as they locked onto the snake's exposed back. A cold glint flashed in his eyes. 'Hahaha, the heavens are truly on my side! The beast put so much force into that attack that it created a flaw in its defense. This is the perfect opportunity!'
In a battle between experts, especially one of life and death, victory is often decided in a single instant.
In its haste to kill Jiang Chen, the Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake had revealed an opening. The wound inflicted earlier by the great tree was now completely exposed to him.
Jiang Chen slammed his palms on the ground, flipping to his feet with a BANG. He charged forward, and with a vicious upward slash—SCHLICK!—he tore open the wound on the Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake's body.
"KRAA..."
The Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake shrieked in pain, its body trembling and twisting violently. Its six bloodshot eyes searched frantically for Jiang Chen, intent on tearing him to shreds.
However...
Jiang Chen had already seized the chance to force his way through the gaping wound and into the snake's belly.
KRAA! KRAA!
The Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake shrieked again and again as its struggles grew ever more violent. It laid waste to everything in its path, leaving nothing but flattened earth in its wake.
A closer look would reveal bulges constantly appearing on its body, each one bursting from the inside out as sharp rays of sword light tore through its flesh, sending blood fountaining into the air.
After more than twenty minutes, the Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake's struggles slowly ceased.
By now...
The blood flowing from its body had dyed the ground red. It had flattened every tree within a five-thousand-meter radius, and now it lay still in a massive pool of its own blood.
BANG!
A blinding flash of sword light burst from the snake's vitals, and Jiang Chen emerged from its body. He was covered from head to toe in blood, panting heavily. He gazed at the enormous corpse, his eyes filled with excitement. "Hahaha... I... I finally killed this damned beast."
The battle had been incredibly perilous.
But more than that, it was exhilarating!
This was a powerful Demon Beast, comparable to the Martial Arts Sixth Stage, and he had killed it with his own hands. He forced his exhausted body to sit cross-legged and began circulating the Profound Yellow Undying Technique to rapidly recover his depleted True Qi.
About an hour later, he had already recovered fifty percent of his True Qi.
Stretching his limbs, Jiang Chen shook off his exhaustion. With his spirits somewhat restored, the corner of his mouth lifted in an excited smile.
'A life-and-death battle is truly a shortcut to improving one's strength,' he thought. 'I feel my cultivation has improved again.'
His gaze fell upon the Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake's corpse, and his eyes lit up. 'A Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake is a treasure trove. Its Demon Pill, fleshy crown, and scales are all priceless.'
Jiang Chen immediately walked toward the Purple Crowned Golden Ring Snake, gripping his Fine Steel Sword, ready to dissect it and claim its valuable parts.
However...
Just as he reached the snake, an aura of death enveloped him. An icy chill shot through his body, and he instinctively threw himself into a roll to the side.
At that very instant, three sharp arrows—SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH—tore through the air, landing exactly where he had been standing.
He had missed death by a single step!
A cold glint appeared in Jiang Chen's eyes. 'If I hadn't dodged in time, those three arrows would be sticking out of me right now!'
His face darkened as he looked in the direction the arrows had come from. His pupils constricted as several figures radiating a dense Evil Qi emerged from the thick jungle...