The Damnation Snake

"Tzu Yu, I hope you won't disappoint us. After all, I heard that the Shadow Leopards are quite fast." Said Hae Jin.

Yang Zhai came forward and the Shadow Leopard followed him closely.

He didn't say anything and stood at the front, ready to face the first challenge.

"Are there any rules?" He asked the leading vulpia.

"No," the vulpia replied.

Yang Zhai nodded.

"Who would be competing from your side?* Hae Jin inquired

When he said that, a monkey came forward from among the group of vulpias.

"Here,"

Hae Jin: "..."

Yang Zhai: "..."

Cultivators: "..."

They want me to compete against a monkey in the forest?: This came to Yang Zhai's mind.

His eyes narrowed.

On top of that, this monkey wasn't too big nor was it too small, giving it the advantage of speed as well as height.

"They are too clever…" someone muttered.

"Why don't they just ask him to give them his life,"

"Is this even fair?"

Everyone was surprised: this group of vulpias really did a good one on them.

"What do you mean by this? This is clearly cheating."

Hae Jin wasn't satisfied by what the vulpia just did. They were clearly underestimating them.

"Just said, no rules." The leading vulpia said.

"Fine, we will be replacing our beast with another,"

Hae Jin's eyes narrowed when he heard the vulpia. So, he, too, was going to choose another beast that could go against that monkey.

We cannot lose our first round and end up at a disadvantage. I can test this Tzu Yu on a later date: he reflected.

"No, impossible that is. Once chosen, no change can happen. You chose, now begin." The leading vulpia rejected Hae Jin right away.

"What do you mean? Are you playing with me?! Do you think we aren't able to figh…"

Elder Jin's tone turned serious. Instead of rising, it lowered. It even faded at the end. His patience was ending.

Yang Zhai was looking at this. When he saw this, his eyes narrowed.

Not good; I need to stop him, he thought when he saw Elder Jin getting impatient.

If he wanted to fight, he could have just used his own army of hounds. He had joined this qafila so that he could cross this region safely without fighting the vulpias.

"Fine, we don't have any issues, let's begin,"

He moved forward and interrupted Hae Jin.

"Tzu Yu,"

"Don't worry, Elder Jin, I have got this," he interrupted Hae Jin again.

"Let's start," he said to the leading vulpia.

"Very good, begin then we do," answered the vulpia.

As such, both the Shadow Leopard and the Monkey got into position.

What is he thinking? It's obviously obvious that he is at an overwhelming disadvantage: Elder Jin was confused by Yang Zhai's actions.

With a sound, the round began.

Both the leopard and the monkey started running. As anticipated, the result was exactly what they expected.

The monkey ascended a tree and started to run. As for the leopard, it was being obstructed by not just the trees, but also many obstacles deliberately placed in the way by the vulpias.

Even though its speed was fast, it wasn't having any advantage.

It had only just begun, yet the outcome was already clear. The monkey quickly leapt from one tree to another, while the leopard was constantly being obstructed.

"He is going to lose,"

"What was he thinking? He should have let Hae Jin handle the situation,"

"It was obvious before the round even started that the monkey had an overwhelming advantage from the beginning."

"Unless something changes, he will die."

"What will you do now, Tzu Yu?"

Whispers began to rise in the qafila.

Everyone thought that Tzu Yu was going to lose this. However, he stood there like nothing happened.

"Isn't he afraid of dying?" Han Wen muttered.

"What's happening?" Yue Qing, who was standing close to Han Wen and Xiu Lan, touched Han Wen's shoulder and asked.

"The monkey has already left the leopard far behind. Tzu Yu is definitely going to lose, but there is no fear on his face. It's as if he is not worried at all." Han Wen answered.

"Hm," was all Yue Qing uttered.

"It's about time,"

Yang Zhai said calmly and moved his left hand forward.

Smoke began to appear out of his hand. Slowly, his hand began to turn black. In a while, it completely turned black. After that began his wrist, and slowly, it began to spread upwards and his arm was turning black.

In a while, it even began to spread to his shoulder, and veins-like black marks began to appear on his shoulder as well as on his neck.

His arm was beginning to give off black smoke-like wisps.

After a while, a black snake slowly appeared slithering out of his hand; first was its mouth, then its body and then its tail.

"What's happening?" Elder Jin's eyes narrowed.

Yang Zhai's arm was getting black too quickly, he had never heard of something like this.

This much toll can only be accumulated when the techniques are activated again and again: he thought.

A sound came and the snake shot towards the monkey.

Just as the monkey was about to reach its destination, it was grabbed by the snake.

Eek-eek!

The monkey's shrieks filled the air with intense, frantic sounds.

The black snake bit it and it started to wither away. It started to turn black and was slowly eaten by the snake.

The Damnation Snake!

A technique created by Yang Zhai himself. It was top even among the top rank 4 techniques. It was something even he avoided using and had to reduce its original strength. Even then, it remained top among the top techniques.

In the past, there was no one who didn't fear this name: Yang Zhai thought.

He had created it with inspiration from the Will Of Malice Ka, which was one of his top Kas in his previous life.

However, he mostly avoided using it because of the toll it left on his body.

I tried to limit the toll as much as possible, but it still managed to reach my neck: He thought and looked at his arm.

!|!*****!*****!|!