22: Chapter 22 Fierce Battle Against the Demonic Serpent, A Choice in the Abyss

Yunmeng Marsh amidst the wind and snow.

On the pitch-black river surface, a First-Order Medium Grade Peak Yao Beast... the Blue-Scaled Demon Python, crashed down towards the frail figure at the bow of the boat.

However, the expected agonizing pain of being crushed to pieces did not come.

"Buzz!"

Just as the python's venomous fangs were about to pierce through the crown of Village Chief Lin Cang's head, a burst of deep blue divine light suddenly erupted from his chest.

That drop of Limit-Breaking Heavy Water, which Lin Ze had previously placed into his body, instantly unsealed upon sensing the lethal Demonic Qi.

Within a single breath, the endless mana of the heavy water transformed into an absolute defensive barrier around Village Chief Lin Cang, flowing with ancient water patterns. Though the barrier appeared to be only a thin layer, it weighed over a thousand jin.

"Bang."

A loud explosion erupted on the lake's surface.

The Blue-Scaled Demon Python's jaws, capable of crushing refined iron, bit down on the deep blue Heavy Water Shield, actually producing sparks.

A hint of bewilderment flashed through the python's vertical pupils.

It felt as if its proud, terrifying bite force had bitten into a basalt mountain that hadn't melted for ten thousand years, shaking its mouth until it was full of blood, and its two venomous fangs nearly snapped on the spot.

"Vile beast, your time has come."

"Boom."

The river water directly beneath the Blue-Scaled Demon Python bulged upward, then exploded violently, turning into a sky full of ice crystals.

Lin Ze emerged from the water, stepping on a pillar of water!

His green robes fluttered loudly in the fierce wind, and the mana of his Qi Refining Level 3 Peak within his Dantian operated at full power.

"Limit-Breaking Heavy Water, kill!"

Lin Ze pointed his right fingers like a sword, his eyes cold as eternal ice, and pointed a finger toward the python's jaw, which was raised high in pain!

Under the enhancement of Limit-Breaking Heavy Water, the Perfection-level Water Arrow Technique had long since shed its originally weak form as a basic Spell.

A drop of heavy water emitted a terrifying sense of gravitational collapse—the Heavy Water Heavenly Sword!

"Squelch!"

The Heavy Water Heavenly Sword, with the peerless sharpness of its "penetration" trait, directly pierced through the Blue-Scaled Demon Python's weakest point, its lower jaw, and burst out from its upper jaw along with a large amount of red and white matter!

"Hiss-roar!"

Scalding demon blood splattered onto the river surface, melting all the floating ice within dozens of zhang and sending up a blood-colored mist.

However, how tenacious was the life force of a First-Order Medium Grade Peak Yao Beast.

The intense pain did not kill the Blue-Scaled Demon Python; instead, it completely triggered the violent ferocity deep within its Bloodline.

Its body rolled frantically on the river surface, and its snake tail lashed out fiercely toward Lin Ze in mid-air.

Everywhere it passed, the air produced a piercing sonic boom, and even space seemed as if it were about to collapse from the force.

"Playing with water against me?"

Lin Ze sneered, his figure advancing instead of retreating.

The Major Achievement-level Azure Wave Art gave him absolute control over the surrounding water-attribute Spiritual Qi.

He tapped lightly in the Void Realm, surrounded by water mist, and his entire person was like a phantom on the river surface, dodging that lethal tail sweep by a hair's breadth.

Immediately after, Lin Ze's hands quickly formed seals in front of his chest.

"Major Achievement-level Hundred Arts, Spirit Net Technique... Net Weaving!"

No Talismans, no Magic Treasures; Lin Ze used the immortal cultivation arts he had practiced day and night until they had become instinct.

"Splash..."

Countless deep blue water lines, difficult to discern with the naked eye, surged up from the riverbed. These water lines were no longer soft waves; under Lin Ze's extreme mana compression, they had become cutting lines sharper than Magical Artifacts.

The water lines wove into a giant net, tightly ensnaring the frantically thrashing Blue-Scaled Demon Python.

"Bind!"

"Sizzle..."

The spirit net instantly contracted, carving out bloodstains and making a grinding sound.

The demon python struggled desperately, but the spirit net was soft yet firm; the more it struggled, the tighter it bound.

"Hiss!"

The demon python went completely berserk. It realized that the human Cultivator before it was no easy prey, and that net made it feel a lethal threat.

Just then, its vertical pupils suddenly shifted, staring fixedly at a nearby location that was emitting dense fluctuations of Demonic Qi.

That was the direction of the Reed Island formation.

Since I can't kill you, I'll destroy your Foundation.

Enduring the cutting of the spirit net, the demon python forcibly twisted its body, opened its bloody maw, and spat out a beam of cold light, heading straight for the formation on the shallows.

"Xiao Xuan, time to welcome the guest."

Lin Ze stood in mid-air, his expression still calm, only coldly issuing a command in his heart.

"Click!"

With a thought from Lin Ze, a streak of light shot out from the direction of the Reed Island formation, crashing into the path of the demon python's cold light beam.

It was the Black-Armored Water-Seeking Turtle that had finished its transformation after devouring the essence blood of the Green-Scaled Water-Line Snake!

"Roar!"

Xiao Xuan grew rapidly in mid-air; its body, originally the size of a washbasin, instantly swelled to the size of a millstone, letting out a roar.

The dark gold patterns on its shell, woven from the Black Tortoise and snake, shone brilliantly!

Divine Abilities... Heavy Water Shield and Immovable as a Mountain were activated simultaneously!

A layer of incredibly thick black water wave shield, along with its mountain-like bronze turtle shell, stood firmly in front of the demon python.

"Boom..."

"Crack, crack, crack!"

The demon python's cold light beam slammed into Xiao Xuan's shell, the extreme cold instantly freezing Xiao Xuan into a giant ice sculpture.

But in the next second!

"Bang!"

The ice sculpture shattered, and Xiao Xuan floated in mid-air unharmed, its small, bead-like eyes filled with mockery.

The enraged Blue-Scaled Demon Python lost its reason, and using the momentum from breaking free of the spirit net, its body bit down fiercely on this reckless turtle!

"Clang!"

The sound of the collision was deafening, like a great bronze bell.

The demon python's maw, capable of crushing Magical Artifacts, bit down hard on Xiao Xuan's Heavy Water Shield.

The violent impact smashed Xiao Xuan, along with its shield, into the silt at the bottom of the river, creating a massive swirling crater!

But Xiao Xuan blocked it!

Not only did it block it, but the moment the demon python bit down on the shell, a glint of malice flashed in Xiao Xuan's eyes.

Talent Trait... Azure Water Cold Poison, erupt!

A cloud of emerald-green poison mist suddenly erupted along the patterns on Xiao Xuan's shell.

This poison mist not only contained the lethal poison of the water-line snake but also fused with the extreme cold of the cold spring.

The poison mist followed the wound in the demon python's jaw pierced by Lin Ze, frantically drilling into its Meridians like maggots on a bone.

"Hiss..."

The demon python's massive body suddenly stiffened, and its struggle, originally full of destructive power, came to an uncontrollable halt in mid-air for a moment.

Paralysis!

Even if it was only for a single breath, in the life-and-death struggles of the cultivation world, it was enough to pronounce a death sentence!

"Well done!"

Killing intent surged in Lin Ze's eyes.

Now!

"This time, I'll crush your demon core along with you!"

Lin Ze stepped through the air, reaching directly above the demon python's head in one stride.

He took a deep breath, his eyes turning completely deep blue, and even the falling snowflakes around him stopped under his terrifying Spiritual Pressure.

Within the Qi Sea of his Dantian, that drop of Origin "Limit-Breaking Heavy Water" began to burn frantically.

Lin Ze extracted the final eighty percent of the mana within his body!

The Blue-Scaled Demon Python struggled to lift its head, fear and despair finally appearing in its vertical pupils.

Under the shadow of death, it wanted to twist its body to escape, but the paralysis of the Azure Water Cold Poison left it like a loach pinned to a cutting board.

"Slash!"

Lin Ze was expressionless as his hands swung down violently.

The Heavy Water Decapitation Blade fell with a violent Aura that could cut through rivers!

The giant blade struck the demon python's "seven-inch" vital point, which had been corroded by the Azure Water Cold Poison!

The demon python's proud, hard scales and body were actually split open nearly two-thirds of the way by Lin Ze's strike!

The forest-white spine was exposed to the cold air, and even that azure demon core was clearly visible.

Just a hair's breadth away, this Peak great demon would have been completely sliced in two!

"Hiss-roar!"

A scream of agony.

But immediately after this killing blow, a sudden change occurred!

Trapped in a desperate situation, a flash of madness appeared in the Blue-Scaled Demon Python's eyes.

It opened its large mouth, and instead of attacking Lin Ze, it spat a mouthful of golden life-essence Demonic Qi onto its own demon core!

"Burning the demon core?!"

Lin Ze's pupils constricted.

This beast, to save its life, did not hesitate to destroy centuries of cultivation, burning its life-essence blood and demon core Origin!

"Boom!"

A violent wave of demonic power, far exceeding the Peak of Qi Refining and even faintly touching the threshold of the Foundation Establishment Stage, erupted in a ring from the demon python's mangled body.

This final burst of strength instantly shredded the remaining spirit net and even sent Lin Ze flying back several zhang, his Qi and blood churning.

Dragging its mangled body that was almost severed in two, the Blue-Scaled Demon Python turned into a streak of blinding blood-colored blue light and plunged headlong into the deep, bottomless river water.

"Splash!"

A pillar of water splashed into the sky as it dived toward the riverbed.

Lin Ze landed on a piece of broken floating ice, gasping for breath, his chest heaving violently.

Repeatedly using Limit-Breaking Heavy Water beyond his level, no matter how deep his Foundation, he now felt a sense of emptiness and stinging pain from his dried-up Meridians.

He looked down at his feet.

The originally clear water of Yunmeng Marsh had now completely turned into a dense sea of blood.

Under the extreme detection of the Major Achievement-level "Water Wave Perception."

In the deep water zone directly beneath Reed Island, at some point, an extremely hidden, bottomless underwater rift valley had opened up—the Deep Water Undercurrent.

The heavily injured Blue-Scaled Demon Python was frantically fleeing toward the depths of the earth's pulse along the entrance of this undercurrent.

Its Aura grew weaker and weaker, but it remained like a strand of spider silk, never completely severed.

The river wind howled, bringing a bone-chilling cold.

On the nearby black-canopied boat, the old Village Chief Lin Cang, whose life had been saved by the Heavy Water Shield, had fainted from extreme shock and blood loss, but his chest still rose and fell weakly.

Lin Ze stood with his hands behind his back on the floating ice, looking at the undercurrent entrance, his brow furrowed in a long silence.

To pursue, or not to pursue?

"Do not pursue a desperate foe, do not enter a forest"—this was an iron rule built upon the bones of countless Loose Cultivators in the cultivation world.

In this deep and eerie underwater undercurrent, the water pressure was comparable to the crushing force of a Magic Treasure.

That was the absolute home field of water-attribute Yao Beasts, and a forbidden zone where even sunlight could not penetrate.

No one knew if even more terrifying Second-Order old demons lurked within, or if it was densely packed with natural killing formations.

But if he didn't pursue...

A half-step First-Order High Grade great demon's level of holding a grudge was beyond imagination.

Once it was allowed to hide in the undercurrent and lick its wounds using the earth's pulse Spiritual Qi, it would return.

At that time, a prepared demon python would never easily leave the deep water zone again.

It would be like a time bomb, forever hanging over the heads of Reed Island and these five hundred Mortals!

Moreover, on that demon python's body, there was not only a set of priceless High Grade Materials but also a Peak demon core that was about to take shape!

With it, he could break through the Bottleneck of the Qi Refining Level 4 Early Stage!

"In the way of immortal cultivation, if one only seeks stability and doesn't even dare to swallow the fat meat already at one's mouth, what's the point of cultivating, what's the point of seeking longevity?"

In the depths of Lin Ze's eyes, that hint of madness belonging to a "Grind King" and the gambler-like resolve ignited once more.

Laying low is for staying alive to develop; but shrinking back when it's time to risk one's life, that is a coward!

"If you don't pull up the weeds by the roots, they will grow again when the spring breeze blows."

Lin Ze pulled out one of the bottles of "Minor Restoration Pills" sent by Manager Lin Hua for daily Breakthroughs.

Flicking off the stopper, Lin Ze tilted his head back and poured them all into his stomach!

"Boom!"

The violent medicinal power turned into a surging torrent within his body, forcibly filling his dried-up Meridians.

"Xiao Xuan, return!"

Lin Ze shouted, and the Black-Armored Water-Seeking Turtle, which had already shrunk back to its original size, turned into a streak of light and landed on his shoulder.

Lin Ze's eyes were as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice as he stepped into the river water.

"Splash!"

Man and turtle entered the Deep Water Undercurrent!