The Poisonous Mist Serpent was still moving slowly and cautiously among the giant Dragon's Claw Fern plants, its black, forked tongue flicking in and out rapidly, tasting the faint scents and minute vibrations in the air. It had not yet sensed Wei Shen's presence, hidden behind the trunk of a towering Ironwood tree. Wei Shen, a shadow among shadows, watched the serpent's every move, his mind analyzing every detail.
"A spiritual beast at the first level of Qi Condensation," Wei Shen thought coldly, his hand gripping his sharpened stone shard tightly. "Stronger than ordinary animals, it possesses its own 'Qi' and innate abilities. The mist is its means of camouflage and attack, and its venom is an additional weapon. I must neutralize the mist element as much as possible and avoid its fangs at all costs."
The serpent was a dark green, almost black in places, allowing it to blend almost perfectly with the dark fern leaves. Its scales were small and smooth, reflecting the dim light intermittently. Its yellow, lidless eyes stared coldly, searching for any potential prey.
Wei Shen decided that taking the initiative was the best option. Waiting might give the serpent a chance to fully utilize its mist-generating ability, which would complicate matters.
He pushed the cold, aggressive Blood Qi in his body towards his legs and arms. He felt that sensation of additional strength, of hidden readiness. Then, with a sudden, swift movement, he launched himself from behind the tree like an arrow.
He didn't expect to reach the serpent before it sensed him. Spiritual beasts, even at the first level, possessed far keener senses than ordinary animals.
Indeed, the moment Wei Shen broke from his cover, the serpent's head whipped around towards him with lightning speed, its yellow eyes fixing him with a deadly cold stare. It let out a high, sharp hiss, like the sound of tearing silk, and the front part of its body rose from the ground, ready to strike.
Wei Shen didn't hesitate. He continued his charge, aiming his Blood Qi-infused stone shard towards the serpent's head.
The serpent's reaction was faster than he had anticipated. Its head darted sideways at the last moment, evading a fatal blow, but the sharp edge of the stone grazed its skin near its eye, leaving a red scratch from which blood slowly began to seep.
The serpent hissed with rage and pain, and in the same instant, a light gray mist emanated from its body, quickly spreading through the surrounding area, attempting to obscure Wei Shen's vision.
"The mist… as expected," Wei Shen thought, taking a step back, trying not to lose track of the serpent in the growing fog. "It reduces visibility and conceals its movements. I must rely on my other senses and anticipate its actions."
The serpent leaped, its long body twisting in the air like a whip, its gleaming venomous fangs aimed at Wei Shen's neck.
Thanks to the power of his second-level Qi Condensation, Wei Shen's reflexes were faster. He leaned back sharply, narrowly avoiding the fangs, feeling the cold wind pass over his face. Simultaneously, he delivered a sideways blow with his stone-wielding hand towards the serpent's lunging body.
The stone struck the serpent's body, and Wei Shen felt a solid impact, like hitting thick, resilient leather. The serpent let out another hiss of pain, but the blow wasn't enough to stop it. Part of its body coiled around Wei Shen's leg, attempting to bind his movement.
Wei Shen felt the pressure of the serpent's strong muscles beginning to constrict. "Decent physical strength," he thought, pushing Blood Qi more forcefully into his fist. "But not enough."
He stabbed repeatedly with his stone shard at the serpent's body coiled around his leg, targeting any spot he could reach. Each stab was powered by Blood Qi, making it penetrate the thick scales slightly better than mere physical strength would have allowed. He felt the serpent's viscous blood cover his hand and the stone.
The serpent began to emit continuous hisses of pain, and its grip on Wei Shen's leg started to loosen slightly. Wei Shen seized this opportunity, freed his leg, and then leaped away, trying to create distance between himself and the serpent, which was now writhing on the ground, the surrounding mist growing denser.
"Its venom… I must avoid its venom," Wei Shen remembered. He knew this serpent's venom wasn't instantly fatal, but it could cause paralysis or weakness that would make him easy prey.
In the increasing mist, it became difficult to see the serpent clearly. Wei Shen now relied on the sound of its hissing and the rustle of its scales on the ground to pinpoint its location.
Suddenly, something shot out of the mist towards him rapidly – not the serpent itself, but a glob of viscous green liquid. The serpent had spat its venom!
Wei Shen dodged with difficulty, feeling the sticky droplets pass close to his face, its sickly sweet, nauseating smell filling his nostrils. Some drops fell on the leaves of a nearby bush, and the leaves immediately began to wither and turn black.
"Potent," Wei Shen acknowledged in his mind. "Even if not fatal, direct contact would be a major problem."
He decided to change his tactics. Hiding in the mist was the serpent's advantage. He had to force it out, or reduce the mist's effectiveness.
He began to move in a circular pattern, trying to lure the serpent into an area with fewer trees, or an area where air currents might help dissipate the mist. He moved cautiously, Blood Qi circulating in his body, making him feel every muscle, every nerve, ready to react.
The serpent responded to the provocation. It shot out of the mist again, this time not with a direct attack, but with a swift flanking maneuver, attempting to get to Wei Shen's side or behind him.
This was the opportunity Wei Shen had been waiting for.
As the serpent approached, Wei Shen didn't retreat. Instead, he took a step forward to meet it, and at the same time, slammed his free fist powerfully onto the ground, using Blood Qi to drive a small wave of air and dust towards the serpent.
It wasn't a special technique, just a clever use of rudimentary power. The flying dust and the sudden disturbance in the air momentarily confused the serpent, causing it to hesitate.
In that moment of hesitation, Wei Shen attacked.
He lunged forward, his Blood Qi-infused stone shard aimed at the serpent's head, which had risen slightly in its confusion. This time, there was no room for evasion.
The stone struck the serpent's head with a muffled thud, and Wei Shen heard a faint crushing sound. The serpent's body convulsed violently, then it collapsed to the ground, writhing erratically for a few seconds before finally becoming still.
The surrounding mist slowly began to dissipate, revealing the small battleground.
Wei Shen stood over the corpse of the Poisonous Mist Serpent, panting heavily. His body was covered in mud and sweat, and some drops of blood – his own and the serpent's. He felt a burning pain in his arm where the serpent's fangs had grazed him at the beginning of the fight, and he began to feel slightly dizzy, perhaps from a weak dose of venom or from exhaustion.
But when he looked at the lifeless spiritual beast at his feet, he felt only a harsh coldness filling his chest. He had succeeded. He had killed his first spiritual beast.
"A first-level spiritual beast…" he muttered, his voice carrying a note of cold satisfaction. "The difference between the first and second levels of Qi Condensation… is clear. But the battle wasn't as easy as I expected. These spiritual beasts possess innate combat instincts and special abilities that cannot be underestimated."
"And I lack experience."
He cautiously approached the serpent's carcass. Using his stone shard, with a skill acquired from his previous experiences dissecting his prey, he began to extract the most valuable parts of this beast.
First, the beast core. It was a small crystal, the size of a hazelnut, a misty green color, radiating a faint but pure Qi compared to the Blood Qi in his body. "First-level energy," he thought, placing it in a small pouch he had made from a previous rabbit skin. "Good fuel for the stone, or perhaps… to study the nature of purer Qi."
Then, with extreme care, he extracted the poison sacs from the serpent's head. They were small and contained a viscous, dangerous green liquid. "A valuable substance… or a potential future weapon," he thought, carefully wrapping them in a large leaf.
Finally, he collected a significant amount of the serpent's blood in the empty waterskin he carried. The blood of a spiritual beast was heavier and denser than that of ordinary animals, and Wei Shen felt that it carried a much stronger vital essence.
When he had finished, he looked at the deep, dark forest stretching before him. This small victory hadn't diminished the danger of the place; rather, it had confirmed it.
"A first-level beast core… and blood saturated with Qi. The 'Blood-Devouring Stone' will enjoy this offering. And the third level of Qi Condensation… no longer seems as unattainable as it once did."
He carried his spoils and began the cautious journey back to his cave. He was no longer just a fleeing boy, but a true beast hunter, walking a dark and bloody path, step by step, towards a power whose limits no one could fathom.