Urban Extraordinary Immortal Doctor
Chapter 973: Black Scaled Python

Chapter 973: Chapter 973: Black Scaled Python

Ouyang Jian’s roar startled the eight team members following closely behind him as they crossed the river, reflexively causing them to circulate their True Essence in frenzy. With a light tap of their toes on the floating wood beneath their feet, they propelled themselves into the air.

Fast as their reactions were, the dark shadow that burst from the depths of the river was much faster.

With a resounding "boom," the calm surface of the river was shattered by a forceful impact that surged from below.

A Giant Python covered in black scales burst forth from the water, creating waves several meters high.

Even just the upper half of the Python that emerged above the river’s surface was already over ten meters long. Its scales, the size of a bowl, reflected a ghostly black glow in the sunlight, resembling miniature, solid shields.

This was a Black-Scaled Python with a beast age of four hundred years, even more formidable than the Black-Scaled Giant Python that had just devoured Yu Zhong.

The Black-Scaled Python not only possessed a formidable attacking power comparable to that of a mid-tier Spirit Beast, but the layer of black scales covering its body was also incredibly tough, endowing it with powerful defensive capabilities.

In the Nether River, the Black-Scaled Python was one of the most powerful rulers. Rarely seen in the mountain training of Bitao Martial Academy disciples in the past, it was unfortunate for Ouyang Jian and the others to have encountered it this time.

After the upper half of the Black-Scaled Python surged out of the water, its head, the size of a winnowing basket, swung slightly. A pair of dark red eyes fixed on Ouyang Jian, who had leapt into the air.

Ouyang Jian immediately felt as if he were locked in by an intense murderous intent. His scalp tingled, his hair stood on end, and when he looked down, he met the intimidating gaze of the Black-Scaled Python’s eyes.

"This damn cursed beast has set its sights on me!"

Ouyang Jian internally cursed his misfortune, knowing that once targeted by a powerful Spirit Beast like the Black-Scaled Python, it would be hard to escape its attack, and a slight misstep could result in a fate similar to Yu Zhong’s, devoured by the python.

Though the Black-Scaled Python was enormous, its movements were incredibly agile. Upon seeing Ouyang Jian, greed flickered in its eyes the size of a fist, as if it had spotted a delicious prey.

Human Martial Artists enjoyed hunting Spirit Beasts, roasting their flesh and eating it to strengthen their bodies and boost their strength.

Similarly, Spirit Beasts also relished eating human Martial Artists. The more powerful the Martial Artist, the greater the benefit to them.

Therefore, every year during the mountain training of Bitao Martial Academy disciples, the Spirit Beasts living in the Nether River would become much more active than usual. They would usually lurk quietly at the bottom of the river, but as soon as Bitao Martial Academy disciples attempted to cross, they would burst forth from the depths to launch an attack.

Some Bitao Martial Academy disciples, caught off guard or due to lack of strength or bad luck, often fell victim to the sudden attacks of Spirit Beasts.

Take this Black-Scaled Python for example—with hundreds of years nourished by the Heaven and Earth Origin Energy, it had developed a degree of intelligence. Whenever Bitao Martial Academy disciples were crossing the river, it would lurk at the riverbed and silently observe the movements on the surface.

If the crossing disciples were weak, it would disdainfully ignore them, too lazy to bother. Only when it discovered stronger disciples would it violently launch a surprise attack.

Though there were many Spirit Beasts in this stretch of the river, the vast majority were wary of the Black-Scaled Python’s strength and kept their distance, not daring to compete with it.

As a result, this section of the river had become the territory of the Black-Scaled Python.

The Black-Scaled Giant Python that had just devoured the Inner Court disciple, Yu Zhong, had accidentally intruded into its territory. After it swallowed Yu Zhong and sank to the bottom of the lake, it was chased away by the Black-Scaled Python.

Spirit Beasts were extremely sensitive to their surroundings, and when Ouyang Jian led his eight teammates to cross the river, the Black-Scaled Python immediately sensed that Ouyang Jian’s Martial Artist Aura was the strongest, so it targeted him first for its attack.

For Spirit Beasts, the stronger the human Martial Artist, the more delicious their flesh would taste.

After emerging from the water, the python’s crimson, trident-shaped tongue flicked in and out, and then its triangular head shot toward Ouyang Jian like lightning.

When it was still two or three zhang away from Ouyang Jian, the Black-Scaled Python opened its mouth wide, revealing a pair of sharp fangs that glowed with a ghostly blue light, lunging to swallow Ouyang Jian whole.

The sharp fangs of the Black-Scaled Python were highly poisonous; even if Ouyang Jian was powerful and his body was resilient, if bitten by those fangs, he would likely find no path to survival.

As the Black-Scaled Python opened its mouth, a stench of poison wafted towards Ouyang Jian, and even the air seemed to corrode, making a "sizzling" sound and giving off whiffs of white smoke.

The mouth of the python had not reached him yet, but the poisonous fog had arrived first.

Caught in the air, Ouyang Jian, enveloped by the toxic mist, felt dizzy and immediately held his breath. True Yuan circulated through his body as he forcefully shifted sideways by two zhang to escape from the mist’s range, evading the python’s gaping maw in the process.

"Clang!"

A clear sound of metal scraping against metal rang out as Ouyang Jian drew his longsword from its scabbard and slashed diagonally with a loud shout. The sharp sword, infused with the unstoppable Golden Attribute True Essence, struck the triangular head of the Black-Scaled Python.

Ouyang Jian excelled in swordsmanship and was famous for his techniques. The longsword in his hand was also an extraordinary treasure.

He struck the python’s head with his sword, feeling a surge of joy as he expected to inflict a heavy blow, or at the very least, force it to retreat back into the river so that his team could cross the Nether River safely.

To Ouyang Jian’s surprise, his sword didn’t cut through the python’s scales or spill its blood as he had anticipated.

The edge of the unparalleled sharp blade struck the scales covering the Black-Scaled Python, resulting in a deafening clash of metal that sparks flew, numbing Ouyang Jian’s entire arm, nearly causing him to lose grip of his sword.

The scales the longsword had struck bore only a shallow sword mark.

"This cursed beast’s scales are terribly tough!"

Ouyang Jian was shocked and turned his eyes to his longsword, only to discover it had several nicks, filling him with shock, anger, and fear.

His shock stemmed from the python’s defense being too strong, making it incredibly difficult to harm.

His anger came from the fact that his beloved longsword, which had cost him a significant amount of Cultivation Resources, was now severely damaged, almost rendered useless.

His fear was that having been slashed by his sword, the enraged Black-Scaled Python would definitely launch a frenzied attack. Currently suspended in mid-air with no support, he would likely find it hard to defend himself, and could suffer the same fate as Yu Zhong.

As expected, although the Black-Scaled Python was not hurt by Ouyang Jian’s sword strike, it had its ferocity provoked. With its massive body twisting, its tail hidden under the river suddenly whipped upwards, bringing with it a spray of water like a huge steel flail, violently lashing out towards Ouyang Jian.

Ouyang Jian only saw darkness before his eyes while a terrifying force rushed at him like a collapsing mountain. Startled, he had no time to think and concentrated all his power into his palms, thrusting them forward.