Chapter Ten: The Serpent Demon

From the trembling treetops in the distance, snakes began to emerge, each revealing their monstrous form. Leading the pack was a serpent demon nearly ten feet tall, bearing four arms, each wielding a blade or sword. Upon its head sat a peculiar horn, marking its status as a python demon.

A serpent cultivates for a hundred years to become a python; a python for five hundred to become a boa; a boa must cultivate another thousand years to become a flood dragon... At that stage, it could ascend to become an immortal, achieving true transformation. Then, after three to five thousand more years, the flood dragon turns into a horned dragon, and the horned dragon becomes an imperial dragon, finally being entered into the dragon clan’s genealogy, achieving ultimate destiny.

In simple terms, this is the arduous and challenging path of the dragon-serpent clans—a grassroots ascent against all odds. Though fraught with hardship, there always remains a road by which the serpent tribe may ascend to become dragons.

The appearance of the python demon caused Six Ugly’s eyebrows to twitch slightly—not out of fear, but rather as a confirmation of his own cautiousness. His vigilance had proven justified.

“They’ve finally arrived!”

Six Ugly suddenly stood, raising his hand high, where several bloodstained demon cores glimmered in the sunlight. The mountain wind carried this unique serpent scent straight into the nostrils of each snake demon.

“Hiss—hiss—”

A chorus of hissing erupted. The snake demons, enraged and rushing forward, lunged at him, climbing the steep cliff in a frenzy, intent on tearing this reckless human to shreds.

Whoosh!

A crossbow bolt sliced through the air, striking the foremost climbing serpent. It shuddered violently, released its grip, and convulsed as it fell from the cliff, the bolt buried deep in its skull, its tip protruding, the sharp blade gleaming black in the sunlight.

Six Ugly calmly drew another bolt, loaded, and, without dodging, aimed again at the furious snake demons and fired.

The serpents clinging to the cliff could not match Six Ugly’s speed. As the first snake fell, a second was shot through the neck, left barely alive. The others, startled, pressed on, but Six Ugly’s subsequent bolts struck only their bodies and arms, missing vital points, failing to kill instantly.

From a height of about thirty feet, the crossbow’s bolts possessed tremendous force, piercing anything they hit—even skulls, so hard and thick, were not spared. The weapon’s power was evident, yet the snake demons’ vitality was formidable; as long as their vital points were spared, they would often rise again, venting their rage in furious hisses and returning to attack.

However, the bolts’ poison was not merely ornamental. Six Ugly, undistracted, waited patiently for the toxin to spread and take effect within the serpents’ bodies...

“Hiss—hiss—roar!”

The python demon’s roar rang out, and the snake demons began to disperse. Some moved to blind spots where Six Ugly could not directly shoot, others split and circled, climbing from the sides to attack the stone platform.

More than half of the snake demons were already wounded, meeting Six Ugly’s expectations. He did not choose to wait for them to reach him or to continue his futile shooting, but slung his crossbow and began climbing the cliff, ascending higher.

The distance between the two sides shrank. Seizing the moment, Six Ugly leapt, flying obliquely, his claws lightly grasping before flipping to the summit. The crossbow appeared in his palm like a conjuror’s trick, and he unleashed bolts at the python demon.

The python demon, a seventh-tier minor demon, was extraordinarily alert. Its body twisted grotesquely, dodging the bolts which struck the rocks beside it, sparking violently.

Six Ugly cursed his luck. His main aim had been to force the python into danger and wound it, but it dodged. Still, he had anticipated this, and without waiting for the bolts’ outcome, he reloaded and fired at two other snake demons.

These two lacked the python’s prowess and were struck, their long screams trailing as they plunged to the valley below.

Six Ugly leapt again, landing on another stone, firing his crossbow. This time, his aim was slightly off; though the bolt hit, it pierced only the snake demon’s arm, failing to make it lose its grip. It clung to the cliff, bellowing angrily as it climbed.

After several such exchanges, Six Ugly had climbed dozens of feet, shooting most of the snake demons. Those wounded earlier now dangled helplessly from the mountainside, teetering, as the poison began to take effect. Their vision darkened, the world spun, and they were but a step from falling.

Monsters’ physical prowess far exceeded humans, and the serpent clan were among the strongest; thus, the toxin took longer to act, but it was sufficient. Seeing the moment was ripe, Six Ugly put away his crossbow, drew his iron staff weapon, and prepared for battle.

Whoosh—

Without hesitation, he jumped from midair, swinging his staff straight at the snake demon’s head below.

Clang! The snake demon blocked with its scimitar, but the impact sent blood spurting from its hand gripping the cliff, loosening its hold. Its body toppled backward, while Six Ugly, leveraging the swing, somersaulted in midair and swept again, sending the snake demon tumbling down.

Even as it fell, the snake demon struggled desperately, but hit the ground with a thud and fell silent. Six Ugly glanced at the approaching python demon, smiled, and prepared to move.

Clang!

A gust of wind swept by. Six Ugly turned his head just in time to see an arrow incoming, still three feet away—it posed no threat and required no evasion.

A snake demon had wrapped its tail around a conveniently extended branch, stabilizing itself and launching a sneak attack with bow and arrow. Yet, in the mountain wind, the soft bow’s weakness showed, and the arrow flew wide—no match for Six Ugly’s crossbow.

Six Ugly judged the distance, ignored it, and moved toward three other snake demons, switching staff for crossbow again.

Whoosh!

Three bolts struck, wounding the snake demons. One was hit in the eye socket, another in the tail, and one grazed its arm. Amid shrill howls, two snake demons charged with renewed fury.

Perhaps their ferocity had been stirred; the one shot in the tail, upon closing in, ignored its pain and snapped its tail, launching itself bodily at Six Ugly, intent on coiling him and tumbling down the mountain together.

Six Ugly twisted agilely in midair, kicking out and stomping on the snake demon’s body, just as its arms snapped shut and missed.

The attacking snake demon wailed, falling from the sky, while Six Ugly landed on the cliff. Confronted by the snake demon with a wounded arm, he put away his crossbow, drew his iron staff, and charged. Meeting the scimitar head-on, his strength broke the blade and the arm, then smashed the snake demon’s body, sending it flying.

In martial skill, the point is not fancy technique, but the simplest, most direct method to kill, destroy, and win.

Another snake demon closed in; Six Ugly, expressionless, drew his crossbow once more and climbed.

He was not impatient for results, exploiting the snake demons’ awkwardness on the cliffs, the power and poison of his crossbow. The serpent and python demons, raging in pursuit, were helpless against him, for the detestable human never intended a head-on fight, only using distance for shooting and sudden ambushes.

A kite-flying tactic!

Six Ugly maintained a range of thirty to fifteen feet, never giving the snake demons a chance. Now, with most of them suspended in midair, even retreat was nearly impossible. Fleeing in panic only made them easy targets—better to fight desperately.

All this took little time—barely a quarter of an hour. On the cliff, few snake demons remained; except for the python demon, those still barely clinging had stopped, teetering, while the others had already fallen. Now, the last enemy was the python demon.

Once it was slain, all would be finished.

Six Ugly chose a platform as the python demon’s burial ground. With only one foe left, though it was seventh-tier, Six Ugly felt no fear.

As the python demon, enraged, appeared at the platform’s edge, Six Ugly’s figure blurred, and he leapt like a leopard to attack.

Clang!

The python demon’s longsword blocked Six Ugly’s iron staff, but its body shuddered, cracks like a spiderweb crawling across the sword’s blade. In a clash of brute force, the staff was far superior to such a weapon.

The python demon finally realized its opponent’s terror. With a sudden roar, it spat a jet of bright green water from its mouth, while its other three arms swept from all four directions, trapping Six Ugly, leaving no room to dodge.

Six Ugly’s muscles tensed, channeling all his power into his legs. In that instant, he leapt, his iron staff smashing against the python demon’s broadsword, forcing a gap, and his body shot through that breach, soaring across the air.

A seventh-tier minor demon, its reactions were equally swift. As Six Ugly flew by, the python demon twisted its head, aiming its green water jet at him. Six Ugly had to inhale sharply and let his body drop.

He landed right in front of the snake demon, exploiting the gap left by its swinging arms.

Facing the still-twisting python demon’s head, Six Ugly braced his legs, gritted his teeth, and shot upward, ramming his head into the python’s lower jaw!

Two teeth flew out. Six Ugly’s sudden assault left both dizzy, but the python demon suffered far more. Its upper jaw’s fangs burst out, while the lower jaw impaled its brain, nearly stunning it with pain.

The advantages of long-term, overload training showed at last. Six Ugly, only briefly dazed, quickly recovered. He swung his iron staff without hesitation, smashing it onto the python demon’s wildly thrashing head.

Blood began to flow from his brow—the previous collision had left a gash as the snake demon’s fangs grazed his forehead, exposing flesh.

Six Ugly seemed oblivious, raining blow after blow onto the python demon’s head until it was a mangled mass. Only then did he breathe out, wiped his bloodied forehead with his nearly soaked shirt, drew a deep breath, and gouged out the python demon’s demon core.

The battle was over; it was time to clean the battlefield.