Chapter 31: Intimidation — The Four-Clawed Crimson Blood Teng Snake
This bloody scene happened to be witnessed by Xue Ming’s half-brother. Back then, the Teng Snake was still young, and Xue Ming’s actions terrified him. Suppressing the fear in his heart, he plotted something momentous.
He knocked unconscious a young Teng Snake cub that had been gravely injured by demon beasts and brought it to Xue Ming’s hunting grounds. Then he cast an illusion on the cub.
Thus, what Xue Ming saw was not a Teng Snake cub, but a red-skinned wild boar. He ate that “red-skinned wild boar” bite by bite, swallowing it whole.
He had no idea that all of this was orchestrated by his own half-brother. He had cruelly eaten his own kin—an injured juvenile at that.
This entire scene was witnessed firsthand by the elders of the Teng Snake clan, who were utterly shocked by his bloodthirsty cruelty.
Xue Ming had tried to explain. But no matter how he explained, the Teng Snakes refused to believe him. They trusted only what their eyes had seen. Even Xue Ming’s biological parents were frightened by his brutality and felt ashamed of him.
And so Xue Ming was sentenced to death. Not a single person believed him; everyone wanted him dead.
In order to integrate with his clan, he had endured his bloodthirsty nature again and again. In the end, he gained nothing. Thus, he darkened. At the cost of half his life, he escaped from the Teng Snake clan and then completely gave up, freely unleashing his nature—devouring spirit beasts at will, the bloodier the method, the better.
He continued to devour, growing stronger and stronger. Later, after swallowing the previous Demon King alive, he became the new Demon King and continued living freely and unrestrained.
Thus, the ferocious reputation of the four-clawed Crimson Blood Teng Snake spread far and wide. Humans and divine beasts alike paled at the mention of it, while the Teng Snakes regarded it as a disgrace. In order to eliminate this scourge, they even allied with their mortal enemies, the Dragon Beast clan.
When Xue Ming spoke of these past events, his expression was terrifyingly calm, but Nan Xun felt a pang of heartache.
Xue Ming had once been a little bun too—innocent once. It was just that fate had insisted on turning him into a bloodthirsty, ferocious beast.
Thinking of this, Nan Xun immediately lost all goodwill toward the Teng Snakes on the battlefield. Even that majestic Azure Dragon earned one of her glares.
“Little Eight, do you see Xue Ming? Why can’t I find him?” Nan Xun asked.
“That little black dot— isn’t that him?” the Void Beast said.
Nan Xun squinted for a long time before finally spotting the tiny black dot standing atop the head of a massive double-tailed black python. The python itself was black, and he was wearing black robes—it was truly hard to notice.
After finding Xue Ming, Nan Xun’s gaze followed him unblinkingly. She watched as he stood on the black python and unleashed his ultimate moves. With a casual wave of his hand, terrifying crimson-black mist surged forth, coiling around its targets, burning divine beasts or emperor-level human powerhouses until they screamed miserably, quickly turning into piles of ash.
“My psycho really is amazing…” Nan Xun sighed.
Seeing the Azure Dragon lead several lesser dragons in a frontal assault, while several Teng Snakes encircled from behind, Nan Xun’s breathing tightened. Indignantly, she said, “Ganging up on one—how shameless!”
“Don’t worry,” the Void Beast said. “Your psycho is tough. Just watch.”
Wait—psycho is psycho. Why did it have to add “your” in front of it?
Just as the Void Beast finished speaking, the black dot atop the python’s head shot into the air.
Dense black mist rapidly gathered around it, forming an enormous cloud.
At that moment, all the demon beasts, humans, and divine beasts locked in fierce battle froze, staring at that vast black cloud, fear or dread flashing in their eyes.
Nan Xun also widened her eyes and looked over.
When the black cloud dispersed, a colossal figure that blotted out the sky revealed itself.
Once Nan Xun saw the true appearance of that monstrosity, her mouth formed a perfect O. The Demon King’s beast form she had seen before really had been scaled down by several times! On top of that, the sleeping chamber lighting had been dim, and they had been doing embarrassing things—so she had never properly examined his beast form.
But now…
The mere appearance of the beast body struck fear and retreat into everyone’s hearts.
Enormous bone wings spread wide, blocking out half the sky. The thick, massive snake body was densely covered in crimson blood-red scales. Four claws front and back, fingertips razor-sharp. A pair of blood-colored snake eyes on the head overflowed with cold, bloodthirsty aura. From the crown of its head down its back grew a row of sharp barbs, like a line of blood-red great blades. When the gaping maw opened, a pair of vicious venom fangs glinted with terrifying silver light!
Nan Xun pressed a hand to her chest. Her heart really was strong—she had actually hugged, kissed, and cuddled a beast like this not long ago.
Once the four-clawed Crimson Blood Teng Snake revealed its beast form, it was simple and brutal. In the blink of an eye, it swallowed a large swath of human powerhouses whole. Those were frontline pathfinders, at the very least emperor-rank experts, yet they didn’t even manage a single struggle before being devoured alive by the Demon King.
Nan Xun shuddered.
Although she had already seen Xue Ming eat people before, this was still… those were living, breathing humans, gone into the Demon King’s belly in the blink of an eye.
“If you can’t bear it, don’t force yourself,” the Void Beast said considerately, then turned off the live feed.
Nan Xun felt a bit regretful, but recalling the scene just now, she obediently accepted the Void Beast’s advice.
Just as she was about to lie down and sleep, Nan Xun suddenly felt the entire sleeping chamber shake.
“It’s the barrier—someone is attacking the barrier outside the sleeping chamber!” Nan Xun’s expression changed.
There were far too many people and demon beasts outside who wanted her dead. With the Demon King at the wasteland battlefield, far from the Demon Realm, although the barrier was under his control, it was nowhere near as strong as when he was present. If some powerful figure forcefully broke it, it wasn’t impossible.
Listening to the repeated booming impacts, Nan Xun’s heart pounded along with them.
“The one breaking the barrier is a Teng Snake, and beside it is that beast of a cousin of yours,” the Void Beast said.
Nan Xun relaxed slightly—at least it wasn’t those demon beasts that ate people at the slightest disagreement.
“Oh, right. And your father,” the Void Beast added hesitantly.
Nan Xun immediately brightened. “He thinks I’ve been imprisoned by the Demon King and came to rescue me?”
The Void Beast fell silent for a moment, then replied, “Perhaps.”
Nan Xun sensed something off in its tone, but didn’t think too deeply about it at the moment.
With her bargain-bin father here, that Teng Snake and that beastly cousin shouldn’t dare harm her.
The repeated booming sounds were nerve-wracking, yet the people outside continued attacking the barrier tirelessly.
“Your father used a forbidden secret art to borrow power against the heavens. Combined with a divine-beast Teng Snake, this barrier will probably be broken very soon,” the Void Beast warned.
“What? Borrowing power against the heavens?” Nan Xun cried out softly. “Has he gone mad? That’s one of the forbidden techniques with the most severe backlash. He dares use such a secret art—doesn’t he fear the Heavenly Dao’s punishment?”
Then came a thunderous boom outside the sleeping chamber. In the next instant, the chamber doors were shattered by a single palm strike.
