บท 15: Fighting with Underground Blue Python

[Updated] [Rewritten]

______ ___ _

Inside the forest.

Swish!

A figure dashed through the trees at a high speed.

"I managed to distract them. And this gave me a chance to escape." The figure said to himself.

He was Huan, the young boy who had passed the first exam. He was being chased by the three cultivators who had tried to rob him.

"But I'm sure they will catch up to me soon." He thought, feeling anxious.

"I need to find a place to hide before they find me." He thought, looking around for a suitable spot.

~huf ~ huf

He ran for a while, until he finally found a place that seemed easy to hide. He saw a cluster of trees growing close together. He noticed a small opening in one of the trees. It was hard to spot, but he had sharp eyes.

He realized it was a cave inside the tree. He quickly ran towards it.

"I will hide here..." He said. He jumped into the cave without hesitation.

The cave was quite spacious.

"What a big place!" He exclaimed, surprised by the size of the cave.

"One could easily build a hideout in this place." He thought, impressed by the cave.

"I'm sure they will have a hard time finding me here." He thought, feeling relieved.

He calmed down and sat down to cultivate and replenish his spirit power. It was always necessary for a cultivator. After a few minutes passed, Huan heard some movements outside the cave.

"Have they found me?" He wondered, feeling alarmed. "And this fast?!"

"I could only replenish half of my spirit power." He thought, feeling frustrated.

"I need to use it wisely." He thought, feeling determined.

He took his sword and went to the entrance of the cave. He drew his sword and prepared to attack.

He wanted to catch them off guard with a sneak attack. But he wasn't sure if it would work. But it was all he could do.

He waited for a few seconds. The sound also came closer to the cave. The sound stopped at the entrance of the cave.

~Swish

Suddenly something jumped into the cave.

While it was falling to the ground, Huan attacked it as soon as he saw it. Blood splattered everywhere.

"Huh?" Huan was surprised after he looked at it. He tried to identify what it was.

It was just a first-grade wild beast. It was a Long Eared Fat Boar. This wild beast was famous for its meat, but only other wild beasts would eat it. Because it would make your stomach ache if you ate it.

The Fat Boar was already dead even before Huan attacked it. Something had already killed it. Suddenly Huan thought of something. Then a wry smile appeared on his face.

"It seems I entered some wild beast's den. I hope it's not a powerful beast." He said, feeling worried. "If it is..."

"Well, I don't know what to do." He said, feeling helpless. At this moment, something else entered the cave. Huan was shocked by seeing it. It was a large blue snake's head.

~Hiss ~Hiss...

The snake hissed as it saw Huan and its body slowly slid into the cave. Its half body was in the cave while the other half was outside.

"Whoa!" Huan exclaimed, stunned by the size of the snake. "This is a fifth-grade wild beast, Underground Blue Python."

He recognized the snake. This beast's cultivation was equal to the power of a cultivator who was at the tenth level of the Spirit Body Stage. But beasts always had an advantage over humans because of their bodies.

~Hiss

The Blue Python hissed again as it glared at Huan with its cold eyes. It looked angry and hungry.

"This Python is surely huge." Huan thought, feeling terrified. "It is even bigger than a normal fifth-grade wild beast." He thought, feeling hopeless. "It must have started to evolve into a spirit beast."

"In that case, I have no way to get out of here." He thought, feeling desperate. "What do I do?" He asked himself, feeling panicked. "I can't fight this thing. Will I just die here? No, I promised my mother!"

He remembered his oath. "I won't die like this..." He said aloud, feeling determined. Then Huan resolved himself to fight with the beast. He knew he had no chance against it. But he refused to give up without trying.

The Python also prepared to attack and suddenly lunged toward Huan with its open mouth. Huan who was waiting for the Python's attack dodged to his right side. The Python which couldn't catch its prey, attacked him again with its sharp teeth.

~Swish

As Huan was dodging to his right, the Blue Python changed its attack pattern and moved its jaw to the side where Huan was moving.

~Clang

Huan barely blocked the Python's attack with his sword. His sword and the Python's teeth clashed against each other. Huan felt a strong force pushing him back. He took a few steps back to regain his balance. The Python saw that and attacked him again with its head.

Huan leaped to his left side as fast as he could, but his speed was still slower than the Python's. As a result, the Python hit his legs with its teeth while Huan flew off and crashed against the cave's wall.

The Python also couldn't stop in time, and it hit the cave's wall with its head.

"Ughh!" Huan groaned as he got up.

His left knee was bleeding because one of the Python's teeth had pierced through his skin. He was lucky that the Python wasn't a venomous beast.

Otherwise, he might have died from this wound.

His other advantage and the reason why he hadn't died yet against a powerful beast was because of the space in the cave. It might be a spacious cave, but it wasn't suitable for fighting, especially for huge creatures.

So the Underground Blue Python had trouble attacking Huan. And it ended up hurting itself on the wall. Its attack speed and power were also slightly reduced because it couldn't move freely in this space.

Huan hadn't been using his spirit power this whole time. And he also noticed that the Python's attacks were somewhat avoidable. He looked at the Python. It was also turning its head towards him.

Then its eyes glowed.

"Oh, no!" Huan exclaimed, feeling scared.

"It wants to attack me with spirit power." He realized, feeling doomed.

~Swish!

The Python attacked with a much higher speed than before. Huan knew he couldn't dodge this attack. So he decided to attack the Underground Blue Python by using all of his spirit power in one attack.

"Successful hiding but unfortunate fighting", he thought about how he had escaped from the thugs but ended up facing a formidable monster.

"This will be the end of me or it!" He thought, feeling determined.

"Probably mine!" He thought, feeling realistic.

"But at least I will heavily injure it!" He thought, feeling hopeful.

As the Python's attack reached him, he shouted:

"An Arrow Sword Strike!"

Then he quickly raised his sword to his chest and aimed at the Python's head.

He then thrust his sword with all of his spirit power. It was like an arrow that had been shot from a bow. As the Python was nearing him, it sensed that its prey was also attacking it.

So it lowered its head as soon as Huan launched his attack.

~Swish!

Huan saw the Python dodging his attack and felt shocked. He instantly lost hope. But an unexpected situation happened.

~Shriek!

The Underground Blue Python shrieked in pain and lifted its head up.

~Swish!

Huan's sword stabbed through the Python's head.

~HISS!

The Python hissed in pain and shook its head wildly, left and right.

"Huh?" Huan was confused by what happened. He had a big question mark on his face.