“Help!”
Yao Dai’s eyes bugged out, her small face turning pale with fright.
The others weren't faring any better. Their breath hitched in unison, terrified of making even the slightest sound.
By the river deep in the dense forest stood a giant serpent dozens of zhang tall, resembling a dragon. Its body was covered in obsidian scales that radiated a dazzlingly iridescent black beneath the sunlight. Every single scale was razor-sharp and gleamed with a mysterious luster.
Two blade-like horns protruded from its head, and its eyes glowed crimson with a chilling, malevolent aura.
Coiled together, the giant serpent was as thick as a centuries-old tree. Faint traces of wings even seemed to be forming on its back, though they had yet to fully unfold. Just looking at it was enough to send a shiver down one's spine.
Even from afar, they could smell the bloody, foul chill wafting off the giant serpent and feel the innate spiritual pressure of a high-tier demon beast, suffocating them all.
“...”
Curse this false advertising! Middlemen really are lethal!
Wen Li went silent, quickly pinching her philtrum. This was the Second Realm Mid Stage demon beast Li Bincheng had talked about?!
What kind of Second Realm Mid Stage demon beast could kick six Foundation Establishment cultivators around like soccer balls until they puked up last night's supper?!
No wonder they hadn't bumped into the other six cultivators hired by Li Bincheng on the way. Turns out they were pushing the objective here—or rather, given the power gap, feed the enemy.
Without a second thought, Wen Li grabbed Yao Dai and prepared to retreat.
“Run!”
Fearful as she was, Yao Dai was also excited. “Master, didn't we come to catch the demon beast to trade for money?”
“Do I look like a demon beast to you? Why don't you catch me instead? Can't you see those six Foundation Establishment cultivators are almost dead?”
Yao Dai asked, puzzled, “So what?”
“Master, you are the top of the Aptitude Ranking! What can a mere little demon beast do to you? With a flick of your fingers, you can change the heavens and earth to easily capture this earthworm! I believe in you!”
Yao Dai assumed that when Wen Li had told Du Mojin she was only at early-stage Foundation Establishment, she was just lying out of modesty, much like how she refused to admit she was top of the Aptitude Ranking.
Master doesn't like to show off. I understand.
Earthworm...
It's dozens of meters tall with horns on its head, and you call it an earthworm?! Why don't you go fight it yourself?!
Wen Li realized that her disciple's blind trust in her had reached a level where she could boast to anyone, “My Master dares to eat dung! Can yours?!”
“No, your master divined a hexagram today and found it inauspicious to make a move. We shall spare its life and fight another day.”
Kindhearted as she was, just as she was about to shout for Du Mojin to retreat as well, she noticed something.
The two who had just talked about honing themselves through adversity had already sprinted a hundred meters away while they were talking!
“Wen Li, keep chatting, don't leave!” Du Mojin waved from afar.
Wait, no, it was:
“Hurry and run, stop chatting!”
He had only started running because he saw Wen Li run. Who knew that when he turned back a second later, her little disciple was pulling her back, looking eager to charge in and fight a boss monster? Who knows a master better than her own disciple?
He figured Wen Li must have hidden her true strength and wasn't at early-stage Foundation Establishment at all, which explained why Yao Dai was so calm.
Still, no matter how powerful she was, she couldn't possibly handle a great demon whose strength clearly exceeded Golden Core, right?
“Holy crap, I knew these two were unreliable.”
Wen Li spat in disgust and promptly grabbed Yao Dai to flee.
If they didn't leave now, they'd really be dead meat. At a time like this, she couldn't care less about the bounty or taking the opportunity to help Yao Dai break through.
[Ding! Congratulations on unlocking the second villain: Xie Tinglan.]
Mid-flee, Wen Li shivered violently. “?!”
Don't tell me there's going to be a hero-saves-the-beauty trope right now? Could one of those six cultivators be my disciple?
Then I'll just pretend I never had that disciple! From now on, I only have five disciples.
La la la, I'm not listening!
Detecting her thoughts, the system popped up.
[Dearest, nope! Your second lovely disciple is that giant spicy strip right there! Surprised? Unexpected?]
“...”
“System, I'll * your father **, system I'll your * grandfather's , you ****** motherless asshole!”
A series of bleeped-out noises demonstrated the owner's rage.
[Host, hurry! This is your best chance. Right now, the Ancient Soaring Serpent is only in its juvenile stage and injured. If you don't subdue it now, you won't get another chance.]
Wen Li took a deep breath, halted her retreat with Yao Dai, and turned around to look.
“This is a juvenile?!”
That Ancient Soaring Serpent had a mouth full of fangs. A single tooth was bigger than her, the kind that could pin her to the ground and smash the shit out of her intestines.
[Dearest, it's 100% genuine.]
“It seems to have gone wild. How am I supposed to talk it down? Are you going to help me suppress it?”
[No, no, Host. You're immortal, so you can rely on your long lifespan to brawl with it and grind it to death.]
Wen Li pointed at herself. “Ah, me?”
She just had a long lifespan, not invincibility!
[Otherwise, me?] The system picked its feet.
Whatever, worst-case scenario, we die together.
Wen Li let out a long sigh, seeing that the other six cultivators were almost entirely flattened by the Ancient Soaring Serpent, which seemed ready to swallow them whole.
Yao Dai grew anxious. “Master, hurry! They're about to get eaten!”
It wasn't that she cared about their lives, but rather that if they died, no one would know Master had saved them or spread the word about such a grand, badass scene.
As Master had said: If no one sees you flex, then flexing is pointless.
“No rush. We'll strike after it's full.” That way it won't be able to stomach me.
If it eats them, it can't eat me.
Wen Li raised her hand to pat her frantically beating heart. Her hands were trembling slightly, and her legs felt weak.
Yao Dai's eyes sparkled. “Ah, Master is waiting for the great demon to recover before acting because she doesn't want to kick a demon while it's down? Master, you're amazing! You have such righteous integrity!”
Wen Li raised her hand, casually flinging a protective barrier over her before sending her over to Du Mojin's side.
“Hide far away. Don't let the blood splatter on you.”
Her embarrassment couldn't be witnessed by others—and besides, she could secretly wipe away her own blood if she got hit.
“Go, Master!”
Yao Dai was wildly excited. Master was finally going to show her move—this was her first time seeing it!
Du Mojin was bewildered. “What is Wen Li doing?”
Is she going over to shout insults, trying to anger the great demon to death with her mouth?
“My Master is going to subdue the serpent demon!”
Having heard Wen Li say she was early-stage Foundation Establishment, Du Mojin—who was mid-stage Foundation Establishment—was speechless: “?”
Subdue who?!
You doing this makes my running away look like a complete joke.
Lin Qing hurriedly urged, “She's crazy! That great demon clearly exceeds the Second Realm Mid Stage, maybe even reaching the Third Realm Early Stage—equivalent to an early-stage Golden Core cultivator! Your master is only at early-stage Foundation Establishment, she's walking straight to her death! Even if you calculate bounties, Li Bincheng's three thousand mid-grade spirit stones aren't worth that much!”
Saying so, he hastily drew his sword, preparing to fly up and help.
“Enough, you going up there is just committing suicide too. You stay here and watch Yao Dai. I'll go,” Du Mojin stopped him helplessly.
Lin Qing still wanted to argue.
“Are you, an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, not going to your death either? What, buy one get one free?”
Du Mojin's words choked Lin Qing up. Why has Senior Brother, who is usually so gentle and refined, become so irritable and sharp-tongued as well?
On the other side.
Wen Li didn't actually wait for the six cultivators to get eaten. After all, who knew if eating them would turn into a tonic for the giant serpent to recover? She let out a sigh, her back exuding a desolate aura of "the wind blows cold and the river freezes", as she flew on her sword right up to the Ancient Soaring Serpent.
“I am Wen Li, your... future master.”
Opening her mouth, she greeted it politely first.
Midway through a fierce battle and preparing to feast, the Ancient Soaring Serpent froze, its huge head filled with tiny doubts as human and serpent locked eyes.
“?”
Pre-meal dessert?
Next time maybe, I can't eat another bite right now.
“ROAR!!!” Beat it!
The Ancient Soaring Serpent's crimson eyes turned cold, and opening its cavernous mouth, it let out a furious roar. The shockwaves oscillated outward, blowing away the surrounding trees.
Fortunately, Wen Li had anticipated this and blocked her hearing beforehand.
However...
“Gag!”
Wen Li dry-heaved from the overwhelming stench of bloody sourness coming from the Ancient Soaring Serpent's mouth.
“Do you have Helicobacter pylori? You have terrible hygiene, you know you can catch hand-foot-and-mouth disease like that?” Since it's in its juvenile stage, isn't it basically a child?
Trolling it with a comment, the Ancient Soaring Serpent seemed to understand it was being insulted. Enraged, it shifted instantly from showing off its power to snapping its jaws down to swallow her whole.
The moment the bloody cavernous mouth snapped shut, the sharp serpent teeth interlocked—yet nothing unusual occurred.
Rate on N.U.
