Chapter 16: The Battle of Poison
Night crept across the dense forest, shadows swaying under the pale light of the moon. Shen Yuan sat quietly atop a tall boulder, his gaze fixed on a small lake surrounded by black stones. His eyes remained sharp, locked onto a faint ripple in the water—until he finally saw what he had been searching for.
Three massive serpents, each no less than five meters long, slid across the surface. Their dark green scales gleamed under the moonlight like steel, their yellow eyes glowing with a predatory light. Forked tongues flickered in and out, tasting the air. These were no ordinary beasts, but second-star, low-ranked monsters—renowned for their deadly venom and relentless endurance.
Shen Yuan drew in a deep breath.
It had been a week since he devoured the beast cores, and now he had reached the sixth stage of Body Refinement. His raw physical strength alone could contend with a third-level cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm—a feat he wouldn't have dared dream of not long ago. Still, he knew that facing a human opponent of that level would be a perilous endeavor. Humans schemed and strategized, while these beasts moved by instinct. That difference, slim as it was, gave him the slightest edge he needed to survive.
"This battle will mark the beginning of my month in hell…" he murmured.
A chilling hiss shattered the silence. One of the serpents had spotted him, and its colossal body lunged forward like a dark green spear, jaws gaping wide to reveal long fangs dripping with viscous venom.
Shen Yuan leapt back just in time, the beast's scorching breath brushing past his face. Before he could steady himself, the second serpent lunged from the right, while the third surged from the lake below.
"Damn it… all three at once!"
He stamped the ground, propelling himself away—but a massive tail smashed down where he had stood, shattering stone into fragments. The shockwave alone made his ears ring.
Raising his right hand, he focused on the black ring on his finger. In an instant, a dark radiance surged forth, as if the very night gathered into a single point. The ring elongated, reshaping itself into a pitch-black sword, its veins glowing faint crimson, pulsing with a heartbeat of its own.
A chilling aura coursed through him as the weapon merged with his spirit, sharpening his senses and stiffening his resolve.
"The War God's Pearl… I didn't think I'd need to rely on it so soon."
The first serpent lunged again. This time, Shen Yuan did not retreat. He met its charge head-on, his dark blade slicing through the air with a trail of black sparks, piercing straight into its eye.
The serpent's scream split the forest, its massive body thrashing violently, tearing trees apart.
But the other two did not falter. One spat a poisonous green mist, while the other coiled its body around him in a crushing embrace.
Covering his mouth and nose with energy, Shen Yuan retreated swiftly, but the venom was far more potent than expected—it scorched his skin the moment it touched.
"This poison… it's stronger than I imagined!"
Summoning his primal energy to anchor his body, he drove his blade into the coiling serpent's throat. The strike ripped open its flesh, and a torrent of toxic green blood poured forth, sizzling against the rocks.
Yet the serpent did not die immediately. Its body writhed with brutal strength, constricting tighter around him until he heard the faint crack of his own ribs.
Shen Yuan roared, the crimson veins on his sword flaring with terrifying light. A surge of dark energy pulsed outward, as if the blade itself drank the beast's blood to feed its own hunger. In an instant, the serpent's grip slackened—it collapsed lifeless to the ground.
Now only the third remained—the largest of them all. Its gaze burned with fury, tongue flickering like a whip. With a hiss, it raised its head high and then dove down with lightning speed.
Shen Yuan raised his sword, but the impact was overwhelming. The serpent's bulk crashed into him, flinging him backward through three trees before he slammed into the ground, blood spilling from his lips.
He coughed, forcing himself to his feet. His voice was hoarse, yet steady:
"If you were a human at Foundation Establishment… I would've already lost. But you're just a brainless beast."
His eyes gleamed with unyielding determination. Planting his feet, he shot forward like an arrow, launching himself high toward the serpent's skull. His sword gleamed with the darkness of night itself.
With a fierce cry, he brought it down upon the beast's forehead. The blade tore through bone and flesh, piercing its skull clean through.
The serpent's massive body convulsed violently, then collapsed into silence.
Shen Yuan fell to the ground, panting, drenched in sweat and blood. He gazed at the three fallen monsters before him.
"This… is only the beginning."
A strange energy seeped into him from the dark sword. The War God's Pearl was no mere artifact—it was a dark, living power that craved battle and blood. The more he fought, the more it stirred in response.
He smiled bitterly.
"So… I will either leave this forest strong enough to face death… or I will be buried here."
Lifting his head toward the cold moonlight, his exhausted eyes still burned with iron will.