Chapter 20: Molting the Flood Dragon-Snake, Friends Through Fighting

Having exhausted all his divine abilities yet completely failing to get a grip on the flood dragon-snake, Su Changqing had instead drained all the spiritual Qi within his own body to the point of depletion.

He gasped for air, his eyes grave and heavy.

Su Changqing knew deep down that he could not fight again in his current state; it seemed he had no choice but to retreat first—if he couldn't finish it off, he surely couldn't fail to escape.

Just as Su Changqing prepared to take a step and flee this marsh, he saw an anomaly occur where the flood dragon-snake was.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"

With each hiss, Su Changqing could tell this was completely different from the cries of injury; instead, it carried a hint of joy.

He did not know what the flood dragon-snake was doing, but his curiosity made him decide to stop and observe what the situation was.

Once the water mist caused by those divine abilities had all dissipated, Su Changqing finally saw clearly: the flood dragon-snake, which had been restless, was now lying quietly on a patch of ground in the marsh, looking calm and extremely weak, yet one could feel that it was still excited at this moment.

Su Changqing did not walk closer, but instead sized it up from afar.

After being quiet for a few minutes, the flood dragon-snake finally began to move again; it shifted cautiously, and from the tip of its tail, scales began to fall off, and a layer of transparent snake skin began to separate.

"Molting?"

Watching this scene, Su Changqing thought of a growth characteristic of snake-like creatures: whenever they reached a certain age, they had to begin molting to gain a new life.

As for demonic beasts, they also retained this ability; molting not only brought a new life but could also cause their strength to surge, much like how human cultivators needed to break through cultivation bottlenecks or undergo Tribulation Transcendence.

Of course, this was also the time when they were at their weakest, requiring them to put all their heart and soul into the molting process; if there were the slightest mishap, it would mean total destruction.

This flood dragon-snake actually dared to molt right in front of him—did it assume he was too drained of spiritual Qi to strike, or did it mistake him for a kind-hearted soul, thinking he wouldn't take advantage of a snake in its vulnerable state to attack? However, Su Changqing truly had no intention of attacking it this time, and not because of what it thought; even if his spiritual Qi were depleted, he still had enough to strike one sword blow to finish it off.

Rather, Su Changqing had already acknowledged its strength and instead wanted to see just how strong this flood dragon-snake, which had fought him to a draw, could become after molting and growing.

One hour later, the flood dragon-snake's molting process finally concluded.

"Hiss!"

With a heaven-shaking hiss, the flood dragon-snake seemed to be venting the relief and excitement of having finished molting.

One could see that the newly reborn creature had grown slightly larger in form, its ink-black scales taking on an even deeper luster under the light, the wings on its back becoming fuller, and the horns on its forehead beginning to flicker with lightning, possessing a momentum that could awe thunder itself.

It looked truly mysterious and astonishing.

What astonished Su Changqing even more was how the lightning on the flood dragon-snake's horns felt so similar to the lightning from his array just moments ago; upon sensing it closely, he could even perceive that the two types of lightning were of the same origin.

In other words, this flood dragon-snake had borrowed the heavenly lightning summoned by his array and converted it into its own ability? Was there actually such a demonic beast in the world capable of converting another's Thunder Technique?

He had never heard of it, nor had he ever seen it.

Seeing that it had finished molting, Su Changqing was unsure if the flood dragon-snake would launch another attack on him, so he prepared to leave first; otherwise, once it recovered its strength, he might find it difficult to escape.

Yet the next second, he saw the flood dragon-snake flying toward him.

"Again?!"

Su Changqing cried out, his heart shaken, ready at any moment to mount his Flying Sword and dodge away.

But he saw the flood dragon-snake stop after coming within a few meters of him, showing no intention of attacking at all, but instead staying honestly not far from Su Changqing, a smile appearing on its snake head.

Of course, this was what Su Changqing sensed and knew, otherwise how could he know how a snake smiled.

"Hiss, hiss!"

The flood dragon-snake hissed softly at Su Changqing twice.

Su Changqing frowned; he could not understand what the flood dragon-snake was saying, but he could feel that it held no malice, as if it were greeting him. "What are you doing?"

On a whim, Su Changqing actually asked it in return.

"Hiss, hiss!"

The flood dragon-snake hissed softly at Su Changqing again.

"You mean you want to thank me?"

This time, Su Changqing did not know why, but even though he heard it as snake hissing, he could understand the meaning of what it said as it reached his ears.

The flood dragon-snake nodded its massive head at Su Changqing.

"Why thank me? Didn't I just attack you?"

Su Changqing did not understand its meaning.

It had clearly been lurking in the water to ambush him just moments ago, with every intention of swallowing him whole, and after he fought back, the man and the snake had nearly destroyed this marsh; now it said it wanted to thank him—what kind of situation was this? "Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss!"

The flood dragon-snake explained to Su Changqing with a very serious look on its snake face.

After hearing its explanation, Su Changqing finally understood the cause and effect of why the flood dragon-snake had suddenly attacked him.

It turned out that this demonic beast, the flood dragon-snake, had reached a bottleneck in its cultivation and was preparing to molt and break through its realm in this marsh; just as it had finished all its preparations, Su Changqing happened to arrive at this marshland, and the flood dragon-snake, fearing that Su Changqing would disturb its molting and breakthrough, had struck first to drive him away.

"Oh? So that's how it is."

Su Changqing suddenly realized; put that way, it was actually his fault.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"

The flood dragon-snake nodded and continued to explain to Su Changqing.

This flood dragon-snake was actually at the ninth layer of the Qi Refining Realm just like him, and having encountered a bottleneck, it was undergoing Tribulation Transcendence here; it had intended to drive him away, but never expected to encounter his resistance, and so the man and the snake had fought until they were exhausted.

What was even more amusing was that Su Changqing had unleashed a series of divine abilities that drained his own spiritual Qi, and the flood dragon-snake hadn't had it easy either, nearly failing its cultivation; but in the end, the Ten Thousand Nothingness Heavenly Thunder Array had summoned rolling heavenly lightning, allowing the flood dragon-snake to absorb the power of the lightning and directly find the breakthrough for its bottleneck.

That was what led to the scene of molting and breaking through just now.

After hearing this, Su Changqing covered his hand to his forehead and could not help but laugh.

He had clearly wanted to drive this flood dragon-snake away, but who knew he had instead provided the opportunity for its breakthrough—a different version of "stealing a chicken only to lose the rice" indeed.

"We've become friends through fighting; since I gave you a stroke of fortune and you want to thank me, then I shall ask you for one thing—if you lead me to find it, we shall be even."

After clarifying the cause and effect, Su Changqing smiled and said to the flood dragon-snake.

Rather than searching aimlessly for the Huanglan Narcissus in this marsh himself, it would be better to have this flood dragon-snake, which was familiar with the place, lead him; who knew, maybe this big snake knew exactly where it was.

"Hiss, hiss!"

The flood dragon-snake asked curiously what he was looking for.

"The Huanglan Narcissus, a rare white narcissus; do you know where it can be found?"

Su Zhangqing said to it.

The flood serpent did not answer, but merely shifted its body and began to move, turning its head to glance at Su Zhangqing, as if to have him keep pace with it.

(End of chapter)