Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Please eat

While Xu Qing was observing the environment of the fighting area among the cheers and shouts of the crowd, when he and the other trial-takers had just stepped into the arena, a huge gate fell behind them with a bang.

It hit the ground heavily, sending up dust.

This sound was like a starting horn, making the surrounding scavengers grow even more excited.

Xu Qing noticed that on the top platform directly in front, there was a middle-aged man wearing a brocade robe sitting in the most prominent position, accompanied by a group of people.

Due to the distance, his appearance was a little blurry.

But this person's status was obviously not ordinary.

Even at such a distance, Xu Qing could feel that the spiritual energy fluctuations on the opponent's body were terrifyingly strong, beyond anything he had ever seen.

While this made Xu Qing vigilant, he also guessed that this person was probably the camp owner.

He saw the trident-beard from yesterday standing at that person’s side, seemingly carefully making a report.

And as the camp owner took his seat, trident-beard stood on the high platform and made a gesture toward the ground.

Soon, another wooden gate opened on the opposite side of the arena, and without the obstruction of the wooden gate, the roars of fierce beasts were louder and clearer.

A group of scavengers entered.

They were divided into four teams of three, each carrying a huge iron cage as they slowly walked out.

Inside the iron cages, fierce beasts roared and jumped around, as if trying to tear apart their cages.

Xu Qing quickly swept his gaze over the four iron cages.

Two of them contained wolves, one large and one small. Both wolves had jaws full of sharp teeth, their bodies were pitch black, and their eyes were bloodshot.

As they looked at Xu Qing’s group, the wolves drooled and exuded killing intent.

There was also a red-furred bear. Its thick arms were wider than an adult’s thighs and its expression was full of violence and impatience as it kept shaking the iron cage.

The three scavengers that were carrying it seemed to be having a difficult time.

As for the beast in the last iron cage, it was clearly a lot weaker than the red bear.

It was a gibbon.

Its whole body was covered with pustules that seemed like they would burst open at the slightest touch, making it look extremely miserable. It frenziedly shook the cage and the pustules constantly broke open, making for a grotesque and shocking sight.

The appearance of the beasts made the crowd boil over with cheers again.

The faces of the two teenagers beside Xu Qing turned pale instantly, and the little girl was also extremely frightened. Even the young scavenger was obviously nervous at the moment.

"Why are there only four?" Xu Qing was surprised and looked at the open passage behind the wooden gate.

Just as he looked at it, the four roaring and struggling beasts suddenly quieted down, as if they were scared.

At the same time, a huge iron cage that was nearly twice the size of the previous cages was slowly carried out from the wooden gate by six scavengers.

With the appearance of this iron cage, exclamations rang out from the surrounding audience.

"Giant horned python!!"

"This time, the camp owner actually got a giant horned python! Oh, but in the eyes of the camp owner, this thing is actually not very valuable."

"Whichever of these little brats pulls the python is going to die. Even if we met it out in the wild, we’d need two people going all out to kill it.”

The fierce beast that was contained in this iron cage was a huge python.

The thickness of its body was comparable to that of an adult's waist, and its entire body was gray and black. There were dark patterns on it that seemed to depict a horn-like mountain peak.

As it coiled motionless in the cage, its huge head was slightly raised, and its vertical pupils were cold as it gazed at the outside world.

Under its gaze, both the wolves and the gibbon trembled.

Only the red bear let out a low growl when it met the snake’s gaze. It looked as if it wanted to fight, but in fact its body slowly retreated until it reached the edge of the cage.

"Don't let me pick it, don’t let me pick it..."

Behind Xu Qing, the two teenagers were trembling at the moment, and as they prayed in low voices, light flashed through Xu Qing's eyes.

He knew about the giant horned python. When he was in the slums, he had seen a python carcass being brought back by hunters from the city.

At that time, he’d also heard from experienced people that this python was very powerful. Even a giant tree would be crushed once the python coiled around it, and its skin was extremely thick.

However, it was clumsy and relatively slow.

Moreover, its gallbladder had medicinal properties and was able to dissipate heterogeneity in the body to a certain extent. The snake’s meat was also very nourishing.

Thinking of this, Xu Qing recalled that Captain Thunder once said that he liked to eat snakes.

As for himself, Xu Qing had caught and eaten quite a few snakes when he was younger. He licked his lips.

In addition, the mutation point on his body became darker and darker as he cultivated, and there was a faint tingling sensation when he cultivated yesterday.

Xu Qing thought that if he could eat the gallbladder of this python, he would be able to alleviate that issue a bit.

As he stared at the giant horned python, the drawing of lots began.

According to trident-beard’s arrangements, a scavenger came forward with five bamboo sticks. The sticks were marked with the name of the beast they would have to fight.

The young man stepped forward to draw first, and when he saw what he’d drawn, he was obviously relieved.

Then came the two teenagers and the little girl.

The first two prayed before pulling their bamboo sticks. After drawing, their expressions were a little bitter, but as the little girl looked at the bamboo stick in her hands, her eyes showed utter despair.

She had drawn the giant horned python, and the last bamboo stick left was the smaller wolf, which was obviously the weakest among the five beasts.

Xu Qing held the bamboo stick and frowned slightly with a pondering expression.

Soon, after that scavenger withdrew, a simple barricade was raised up to prevent the trial-takers from leaving. Amid the cheers of the surrounding spectators, the first trial began.

The first to go up was one of the two teenage boys.

He trembled as he walked out. The fierce beast that he had drawn was the robust red bear.

The fight was over very quickly. The teenager was no match for the red bear at all. After reluctantly exchanging a few blows, he was knocked down, and in despair, his body was torn apart.

Blood splattered everywhere. The crowd boiled over, and their shouts were mixed with sounds of both joy and remorse.

This scene made the other teenager's body tremble, and he, who was supposed to be the second player, suddenly shouted that he wanted to give up the trial.

Amid the booing of the crowd, Xu Qing watched the teenager being taken away by a scavenger. He didn't know what would end up happening to him.

Third up was the young man who was originally a scavenger.

What he drew was the bigger black wolf. His previous experience as a scavenger made him more ruthless than ordinary people.

After a thrilling life-and-death struggle, he slayed the wolf. Panting, with injuries all over, he became the first success of the trial.

The door opened, and he was free to leave as he clutched his chest.

The fourth... was the little girl.

When the iron cage that held the giant horned python was opened, the trembling little girl gritted her teeth. She was about to walk past Xu Qing and put up a desperate struggle.

But at that moment, Xu Qing suddenly spoke.

"Let's switch."

The little girl was stunned for a moment, and before she could react, Xu Qing had switched their bamboo sticks.

After taking away the bamboo stick engraved with giant horned python, he ignored the grateful gaze of the little girl and walked towards the giant horned python.

As he entered, the scavengers in the crowd all started to boo. They had seen the previous order of fights.

But other than the people who placed bets on him and the little girl, the others didn’t care about this kind of thing. The camp owner didn’t care, either. They just let things be.

Inside the arena, Xu Qing calmly walked towards the iron cage. The giant horned python inside looked at Xu Qing gloomily, and slowly slithered out.

As its stout body exited the cage, its scales rubbed against the iron bars, making harsh screeching sounds.

Its animal instincts could tell that the young man in front of it was a little different from the prey it normally encountered.

So after slithering out, this giant horned python did not attack immediately, instead coiling up outside the iron cage. It held its head high as it vigilantly stared at the approaching figure of Xu Qing.

This scene aroused the interest of the surrounding audience, and their booing quieted down a little.

Xu Qing’s expression was the same as ever, approaching the python step by step. Maybe he walked into the attack range of giant horned python, or maybe it was aggravated by his aura, but the giant horned python’s eyes filled with coldness as it suddenly smacked its tail on the ground.

A boom rang out as the python shot forward. Its mouth was wide open, exposing its sharp teeth and foul breath. It whistled through the air toward Xu Qing, about to swallow him up.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and looked coldly at the approaching giant horned python. The moment it got near, his body swayed to avoid it. Rather than focus on its head, his eyes glowed with a sharp light as he closely observed the python’s abdomen.

The giant horned python gave a low roar, twisted its body, and suddenly thrust its tail out behind it. With a loud whistling sound, the tail shot right towards Xu Qing.

Moreover, the huge python instinctively turned its head as well, stretching as if it was trying to bite its own tail. Its head and tail both fiercely charged towards Xu Qing.

Xu Qing was silent. He continued to stare at the python’s abdomen until its tail came close. Suddenly, his hand clenched into a fist, and when the python’s tail drew near, he punched out.

Boom.

Although his Sea and Mountain Art was still only at the first level, the power it granted to Xu Qing’s physical body wasn’t little. The python’s tail was immediately knocked back. The giant horned python was obviously in pain, but the strike wasn’t fatal and only made it fiercer. With red eyes, its head slammed forward to bite Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed as a cold light flashed through them. He finally found the spot he was looking for. Instead of retreating, he pressed forward, directly approaching the upper middle area of the giant horned python's body.

His right hand clenched into a fist and punched out, one punch, two punches, three punches...

He punched over and over again.

As Xu Qing punched out, the python roared with fury. It tried to wrap around Xu Qing, but the power in his punches made it impossible for it to completely circle him.

As for the abdomen that suffered the bombardment, because its scales were relatively weak there, after a few punches, blood oozed out.

Seeing this, before the giant horned python could change its battle strategy, Xu Qing's eyes flashed coldly.

He immediately pulled out the dagger tied to his calf, and with a flash of cold light, it pierced directly into the giant horned python’s flesh and blood.

A vicious wound instantly opened up.

Blood splattered everywhere, and as the giant horned python hissed shrilly, the gaping wound in its abdomen revealed its gallbladder.

Although the python was very large, it was clearly mutated. Its gallbladder was small, like an egg.

Without any hesitation, Xu Qing reached a hand into the wound, grabbed the gallbladder and tugged it hard. As the giant horned python hissed in pain, he directly ripped it out.

Blood sprayed out and drenched the sandy floor.

Ignoring the spurting blood, Xu Qing held the gallbladder in his hand. His eyes showed a strange light, and in front of the surrounding scavengers, he directly put it in his mouth and swallowed it.

As he calmly swallowed the gallbladder, the giant horned python roared mournfully and smacked the ground hard to kick up dust, as if trying to vent its pain.

Its head slammed towards Xu Qing violently, its red eyes showed madness, and its mouth opened as wide as it could go, as if it was trying to swallow Xu Qing whole.

Xu Qing looked at it coldly, and the moment the python approached him, he suddenly jumped up. After avoiding the attack, he waved his right hand in midair, and the black skewer appeared.

As he descended, killing intent flashed through his eyes. With the help of his own strength, speed, and weight, the penetrating force of the black skewer reached the extreme, and it pierced directly towards the python’s heart.

The python’s scales shattered like broken leaves, and the skewer directly penetrated it with a single blow.

With a loud bang, this giant horned python trembled violently. As if it had no strength to support its body, it landed heavily, and its furious hissing came to an abrupt end. Only the sound of its tail weakly falling onto the ground spread all around.

After a while... As the dust dissipated, the surrounding scavengers watching the battle were all astonished.

Many people stood up and looked solemnly at the boy in the arena, who at the moment was pulling the iron skewer out of the python’s corpse.

If it was an adult who killed the giant horned python in this manner, they wouldn’t give them such looks.

But this small child who looked thin and weak actually swallowed the gallbladder of a living snake so calmly and executed it with a single blow, and furthermore his expression was indifferent, not changing from beginning to end.

This was extremely rare in the camp.

The small wolf and red bear in the cages on the side were obviously frightened and trembled in their cages.

It seemed like this wasn’t a trial, but a hunt.

Under the gazes of everyone around, the boy put the iron skewer away, stuck his hand into the giant horned python’s gaping wound, and dragged it away towards the gate of the arena.

Behind him, the blood from the giant horned python formed a red line as it was dragged along, creating a shocking sight.

When he noticed that the gate hadn’t opened yet, Xu Qing glanced up at the high platform.

Not long after, trident beard reacted. With some lingering fear, he immediately gestured, and the gate quickly opened with a bang.

Captain Thunder, who had been waiting for a long time, appeared outside the gate, leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest.

He smiled and looked at Xu Qing.

"Can I live with you?" Xu Qing dragged the python corpse and looked up at Captain Thunder.

"Yes." Captain Thunder laughed.

Xu Qing nodded and tossed over the python corpse in his hand.

"Since you like to eat snakes, please eat this."

Captain Thunder was startled, then laughed loudly. He took the giant horned python’s corpse, and laughing loudly, he left with Xu Qing.

It wasn't until they walked away that the arena suddenly erupted in an uproar.

In the midst of this uproar, in the corner of the crowd, there was an old man in a purple robe along with a middle-aged man who looked like a servant. There was a five-pointed star between the middle-aged man’s eyebrows.

It was obvious that be it their clothing or deportment, both were completely out of sync with their surroundings, but no one seemed to be able to sense their existence.

Even the camp owner couldn’t see them.

The old man's face was ruddy, and there seemed to be a kind of thunder in his eyes that could destroy everything. Even sitting down, he was clearly extraordinary, but at that moment he looked at Xu Qing’s disappearing figure and laughed.

"Interesting kid."

Previous Chapter

Table of Contents

Next Chapter