Chapter 218 The Tragedy of the Stream Dragon

Chen Mu's figure moved like lightning, speeding through the dense forest while following the trail of dark green blood and traces of Demonic Qi. He pushed his Divine Void Step to its limit, his perception firmly locked onto the massive aura fleeing ahead.

The Python-Dragon no longer possessed its former ferocity and dominance; its aura had become chaotic and weak, yet it also carried a sense of urgency.

After chasing for about three miles, the sound of flowing water suddenly emerged ahead, diluting the scent of blood. Chen Mu paused, quietly slipping behind a dense cluster of bushes, holding his breath and fixing his gaze forward.

Before him lay a small shallow beach in the woods. A clear stream flowed over the mountain rocks, forming a pebbled bank. The Python-Dragon lay coiled in the stream, emitting low, painful roars.

It was giving birth, and it was imminent; it didn't even have time to return to its lair.

A cold glint flashed in Chen Mu's eyes, and he began to observe more carefully.

The Python-Dragon was in an even more wretched state than before. Its massive body twitched and contracted, appearing abnormally twisted, with viscous blood seeping from between its scales. It couldn't even coil itself into a perfect defensive formation, only barely managing to raise its head to stay alert, its aura fluctuating between strong and weak.

Most eye-catching was what lay beneath it.

Two mucus-covered objects, roughly the thickness of a human arm, were wriggling on the pebbled beach. They already had the basic outline of a python, but possessed tiny, milky-white fleshy horns, and their bodies were covered in pale green scales. Their eyes were half-open, pupils cloudy, seemingly possessing only the most instinctual perception of the outside world.

It was ovoviviparous; upon birth, they possessed the bodies of half-python, half-dragon.

Chen Mu swept his gaze over the two newborn hatchlings, then looked at the Python-Dragon's painfully twisting body. Its abdominal contractions were reaching a climax, and a third protrusion was struggling to push its way out.

He could not wait any longer.

Chen Mu did not hesitate in the slightest. His entire body shot out like an arrow from a bowstring. Gripping the soul-slaying blade, he struck directly at the side of its abdomen. Because of the birth, the Python-Dragon could not defend itself closely, and that area happened to be where an old injury lay, with scales cracked and flesh mangled.

"Hiss!"

The Python-Dragon quickly sensed the fatal threat and let out a furious roar. Pain, anger, and the madness of protecting its young intertwined, causing it to ignore the agony of childbirth as it violently twisted its body, swinging its tail to sweep horizontally toward Chen Mu.

At the same time, it tilted its head and opened its mouth to spew a stream of pale green frigid Qi. Wherever it passed, the surface of the stream rapidly froze into a thin layer of ice, and the air temperature plummeted.

Chen Mu's pupils slightly constricted. He forcibly changed direction in the middle of his charge using the Divine Void Step, barely dodging the edge of the frigid Qi. However, the range of the tail sweep was too large, so he had no choice but to hold the soul-slaying blade horizontally in front of him, infusing it with Hunyuan Calamity Astral Qi.

"Boom!"

The blade and tail collided with a dull, thunderous sound. Chen Mu was sent flying, crashing heavily into an old tree by the stream, even cracking the trunk. A sweet taste rose in Chen Mu's throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

The Python-Dragon was not having an easy time either. Forcing its strength had agitated its old abdominal and Divine Soul injuries. It suddenly let out an even more painful hiss, its body trembling violently. The third hatchling slid out a large distance, dripping with mucus, and it looked as if it was about to completely detach from the mother.

"Chen Mu!"

Only at this moment did Bai Junyi and the other three arrive at the stream, panting. They happened to see the scene of Chen Mu being knocked flying and vomiting blood, and turning their heads, they saw the heavily injured, laboring snake king on the beach, the two born hatchlings, and the third child about to be birthed.

Bai Junyi let out a furious shout, and the Protective Aura of his zhan yue blade rose again. Despite his internal injuries, he still forced himself to take a breath and push forward.

"Attack its head and its vital point! Create an opportunity for Chen Mu!"

Shen Suning's soft whip lashed out again, wrapping around the Python-Dragon's neck, which was raised in pain. Feng Qing's iron bow fired in succession; three armor-piercing arrows flew in a triangular formation, aiming straight for its eyes and the roof of its mouth.

Ling Xiaoning looked at the scene before him with an expression of reluctance, but he knew this was a life-or-death situation. Gritting his teeth, he gripped his short sword and circled to the flank, attempting to create a distraction.

The Python-Dragon was now in a true dilemma and desperate situation. The birth had reached the final stage and could not be stopped. With its Divine Soul damaged and body severely injured, it also had to face the siege of four Martial Artists who, though injured, were still fierce.

Even more fatal was that the human who had charged first and caused it the most damage, although knocked back, had not lost his combat power. Those eyes were staring fixedly at the hatchlings beneath it.

"Roar!"

Amidst the frantic hissing, the Python-Dragon had already made its choice. It barely swung its head to avoid the two arrows aimed at its eyes, but the third arrow shot straight into the soft flesh of its mouth. The pain caused it to violently jerk its head, while it used its tail and body to forcefully take the blow from Bai Junyi's blade and Shen Suning's soft whip.

Scales flew off, and blood flowed freely, but most of its attention remained on what was beneath it, especially the third child about to be fully born, and on Chen Mu.

Chen Mu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his Hunyuan Calamity Astral Qi circulating rapidly within his body to suppress his churning blood and Qi.

He did not rashly charge at the Python-Dragon's main body again, but shifted his gaze to the two newborn hatchlings that were wriggling unconsciously on the pebbled beach.

There was no pity in his eyes. He exerted force with his feet and shot out once more.

"No!"

Bai Junyi instantly understood Chen Mu's intention and was shocked, but he also knew this was the most effective, albeit cruelest, way to enrage and distract the Python-Dragon and quickly break the stalemate.

The Python-Dragon let out a frenzied screech, no longer caring about anything else. It completely abandoned its defense and attacks on Bai Junyi and the others, raising its tail to whip through the air at Chen Mu with incredible speed, while simultaneously spewing the remaining frigid Qi from its mouth, not hesitating to aggravate its internal abdominal injuries once more.

Chen Mu had anticipated this. Just as the python's tail was about to hit him, his forward momentum came to an abrupt halt. He floated half a step backward, and the soul-slaying blade swiped upwards, barely grazing the side of the tail's sweep before retreating instantly, borrowing the force to change direction again and lunging straight for the hatchlings.

"Puchi! Puchi!"

The blade light flashed, and before the two hatchlings could even hiss, their heads were separated from their bodies.

[Slayed newborn half-dragon, plundered Martial Dao Lifespan: 370 years.]

[Slayed newborn half-dragon, plundered Martial Dao Lifespan: 378 years.]

"Hiss—ahhhhhhh!"

The pain of losing its children drove the Python-Dragon completely insane. Its massive body convulsed violently from extreme rage and agony. Under this violent trembling, the third child finally detached completely from the mother, landing on the ground only a few feet away from its dead siblings, wriggling weakly.

The Python-Dragon charged at Chen Mu regardless of everything, opening its bloody maw with the determination to perish together.

"Chen Mu, watch out!"

Shen Suning exclaimed, her soft whip hurriedly turning back to coil around the Python-Dragon's rear. Bai Junyi and Feng Qing also attacked desperately, attempting to draw its attention.

But the speed erupted by the frenzied Demon King far exceeded what it had shown before as it crushed toward Chen Mu. Chen Mu felt as if he had been struck head-on by a giant hammer. His Protective Aura fluctuated violently and instantly dimmed. Immediately after, the frigid Qi spewed from the Python-Dragon's open mouth engulfed him, and his right arm holding the blade was instantly covered in a layer of white frost, his internal organs feeling as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

"Wah!"

Another large mouthful of blood sprayed out, and Chen Mu was sent flying backward again. This time he landed even further away. He struggled to stand up, his face as pale as paper. A piercing pain came from his ribs in his chest—he didn't know how many were broken. The Qi in his body was chaotic, and his aura had withered to the extreme.

"Chen Mu!"

Having succeeded with one strike, the Python-Dragon immediately pounced toward Chen Mu again, carrying monstrous hatred, swearing to tear the killer of its children into shreds.