Chapter 25: Inhuman Reactions

The speed of snakes is generally considered fast, but that only refers to the velocity at which their heads strike. When it comes to actual movement, the majority of snakes are not particularly swift. The mottled rock python lunged with its massive head, fierce and imposing, but Catherine could still evade it. What truly troubled her, however, was the sudden slam of the python's tail against the ground. She couldn't quite discern what skill the python had just unleashed, but her keen eyesight sharply caught the hammer-like structure at the end of the python's tail flaring with a brilliant yellow light upon impact—something unknown had just been released!

Immediately, she focused all her senses. When the snake's head was just five meters away, she finally detected something odd: a faint vibration was emanating from the ground on both sides of her body—something was about to break through the surface! Truly insidious!

Catherine marveled inwardly. Confronted with such a savage attack, any ordinary creature would instinctively dodge to the left or right, only to be struck head-on by whatever was about to erupt from underground. Fortunately, she had already anticipated this possibility. Making a slight adjustment with her footing, she waited with icy composure until the rock python was within two meters. Then, like a startled monkey, she executed a powerful backward leap, escaping just in time!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two heavy gusts of wind sounded almost simultaneously as two huge earthen spikes erupted from the ground on either side of where Catherine had just been. These spikes were perfectly conical—though made of soil, their tips gleamed with a deadly sharpness. One could well imagine that a direct hit would mean certain death or, at the very least, grievous wounds, leaving her utterly defenseless against the python's continued pursuit.

Ahead, the python’s gaping maw snapped shut, but even at its closest, it was still a meter away from Catherine as she soared through the air. Enraged, the beast hammered its tail against the earth once more. Even mid-leap, Catherine could feel the now-familiar tremor. She sensed precisely at her intended landing spot, another vicious spike was waiting beneath the ground.

Damn it! She’d leapt too far back! Regret swelled within her—her lack of combat experience had made her too eager to widen the distance, so she’d jumped with full force. Her time in the air now left her unable to change course, and in hindsight, there had been no need to leave over a meter of safety—thirty centimeters would have sufficed! The extra fraction of a second before landing had cost her any chance of evading the spike below.

No choice but to gamble! Catherine twisted in midair, flipping upside down so her feet pointed skyward and her head and arms reached toward the earth. She strained to arch her head back, arms reaching desperately downward. At just the right moment, her hands clasped the conical spike as it burst from the ground.

A piercing screech rang out as her palms met the spike’s ferocious ascent, the friction burning her flesh, the acrid smell of scorched skin filling the air. Catherine summoned every ounce of willpower not to let go. In a flash, the spike’s tip slid past her hands, its cold gleam growing ever larger in her eyes. At last, with less than a centimeter to spare from her brow, she seized the spike, her body carried upward with its momentum.

With a sickening lurch, her fall was transformed into a rapid ascent, the brutal force straining her body to the limit. Blood spurted from her lips—a clear sign her fragile lungs had been damaged. Not daring to relax, she pressed her hands against the spike, harnessing its upward force and her own strength to launch herself like a cannonball, soaring over ten meters into the air. After a deft backflip, she barely managed to land unsteadily on a high branch.

“Incredible! Absolutely explosive!”

“I’m officially a fan of the streamer!”

“User ‘The Majestic Second’ gifts the streamer a Chaos Meteor! Message: Damn! You survived a certain death situation!”

“That was far too close! The spike missed your brow by less than a centimeter! If you’d been any weaker, you couldn’t have offset that force—your head would be pulp right now!”

“No one can stop me now; magic is nothing! I want to master martial arts!”

“User ‘The Suffering Coder’ gifts ten Chaos Meteors! Message: I haven’t dared to breathe since it started! Only with Quadruple Hawk Eyes could I see the streamer’s hands catch the spike! That was insane! I’ve fallen for you!”

“User ‘Forever Seventeen’ gifts three Meteor Showers! Message: How did you even think of that?! I almost thought you were done for!”

“User ‘Cutest in the World’ gifts a Meteor Shower! Message: I’m changing my name to ‘Right Guardian of the Martial God Sect!’ At first, I was only interested because martial arts made you beautiful, but now I’m a true convert!”

“User ‘Right Guardian of the Martial God Sect’ gifts a Meteor Shower! Message: Too slow! The Right Guardian is here! I’m the most loyal follower of the Martial God Sect—martial arts reign supreme!”

“…”

Catherine’s follower count surged, but her condition was dire. Though she had escaped death by the narrowest of margins, her hands—bloodied, some parts charred—hung limp at her sides, useless. Her arms ached terribly with a blend of soreness, stabbing pain, numbness, and itching; the muscles were certainly torn, and she could only hope there were no fractures or dislocations.

These external injuries were bad enough, but the true danger was internal. She had forced herself to keep moving despite spitting blood, her lungs now burning, heart pounding like a drum, as if her heart might leap from her mouth at any moment. Her eyes were fully engorged with blood, rendering everything in a crimson haze. She had lost all fighting capacity, though thankfully her legs remained unscathed enough for flight if needed.

The mottled rock python hadn’t expected its relentless assaults to be thwarted by this wretched little monkey, who had also managed to climb to safety. Though the python could climb as well, being separated from the earth made it sluggish—a dire disadvantage for a creature of earth magic. Its best talents lay in ambush after all.

Reluctant, it raised its head, flicking its tongue at Catherine in warning before lowering itself and burrowing into the ground, its long body following in a disappearing wave.

Seeing the python withdraw, Catherine finally exhaled, collapsing onto the branch. She hooked her left leg around a thin twig to keep from falling. That small action, however, would prove her undoing.

As the python burrowed, at the very instant its hammer tail dipped into the soil, the spindle-shaped tip detached, rocketing skyward with a deafening roar, and in a blink, it was upon her.

This was the python’s true killing move: hurling the earth magic it had condensed at its tail as a stone projectile at its prey. Even a glancing blow would trigger an explosion, the resulting shrapnel capable of shredding any creature at such close range.

Catherine was utterly helpless, her posture fixed and unchangeable, forced to stare death in the face. Once more, she experienced firsthand the cunning of the rainforest’s magical beasts—no wonder this jungle was famed as one of the continent’s eight deadly realms.

But the anticipated death never came. Suddenly, a large hand appeared between her and the incoming stone. With casual precision, it caught the projectile, which neither exploded nor resisted, spinning a few times before settling calmly in the hand.

Below, the python’s head emerged from the earth just in time to witness this. Its eyes bulged, mouth agape in an almost human expression of disbelief. Then, in a panic, it plunged back down, its long body vanishing into the depths in a heartbeat. As its slender tail slipped below, it swept earth over the hole, disappearing without a trace.

Ling Mo paid the retreating python no mind. Tossing the stone in his hand, he looked at Catherine—now drenched in cold sweat—with an enigmatic smile, saying nothing.

Catherine drooped her head in defeat, as though in repentance. After a long silence, she finally looked up, pouting pitifully.

“All right, Master. I know I was wrong. Punish me however you see fit, okay?”