Chapter 108: Duskscale Viper, Back-to-Back Breakthrough
Dawn broke over Dragonspire Forest, casting long golden rays through the dense canopy. Within the hidden cave, Su Tianhao sat in meditation, his breath steady, his aura calm and controlled.
When his golden eyes snapped open, the clarity in them was immediate—his body revitalized after a full night's rest and a proper meal. The Jade-eyed Buffalo he had slain the day before had been roasted over open flame, its rich spiritual meat mending fatigue and refueling his strength. In this harsh wilderness, food was no longer a concern. Powerful beasts roamed freely, and their flesh served as perfect sustenance.
Water, however, remained elusive.
"Looks like bathing will have to wait," he muttered. "Right now, strength comes first."
His fingers brushed Shadowfang's hilt—cold steel, familiar and ready. He strapped the blade firmly at his waist, exhaled slowly, and activated Illusory Flow. His overwhelming presence faded into the forest's backdrop without a trace.
Without another word, he stepped out and disappeared into the wild.
---
He moved swiftly through the undergrowth, each step precise, his instincts razor-sharp. Upon reaching the outer edge of the inner region, his eyes began scanning with focused intent.
"Time to find my first opponent for today," he murmured. "Maybe locate a water source while I'm at it."
A few spirit beasts crossed his path—1st and 2nd level grade three at best. But he didn't spare them a second glance.
'Why harvest weeds when the true prize is deeper in the forest?'
Eventually, the terrain changed.
The trees here were ancient titans—their trunks so wide it would take ten men holding hands to encircle one. Their canopies choked off sunlight, and twisted branches curled like slumbering serpents in unnatural stillness. The air was dense, humid, thick with the intermingled scent of rot and life. Even the wind felt muted. Silence pressed down like a heavy shroud.
Su Tianhao stopped, scanning the unnatural gloom. "What is this place?"
Just then a faint shift in the air caught his attention—not sound, but pressure. An instinctive warning.
He saw it.
Half-hidden beneath a decaying log, coiled against the earth, was a massive serpent. Its scales were dusky black, flecked with grey-green that blended perfectly with the forest floor. If not for the faint flicker of its tongue tasting the air, even Su Tianhao might have missed it.
"A Duskscale Viper..."
It was massive—nearly ten meters long, thick as a barrel, exuding a quiet and suffocating menace. Its slit pupils were like black knives—cold and emotionless. Unlike most spirit beasts, it didn't rage or roar.
It waited. Coiled. Calculating.
The Duskscale Viper was infamous for its patience. A rare-bloodline species that relied not on brute strength but on timing, precision, and deathly stillness. It was said that once it struck, even Martial Grandmasters would struggle to react. With a dense, high-quality bloodline, these creatures were guaranteed to evolve into grade seven monstrosities that even Martial Grandmasters treated with caution.
Su Tianhao's expression turned grave—then his eyes narrowed, analysing carefully.
'A juvenile. Only a 3rd level grade three beast.'
He exhaled slowly, relief watching over him like autumn breeze. His lips curled into a faint smile.
"Now this... is more like it."
His hand drifted to Shadowfang's hilt, fingers wrapping around cool metal. Muscles coiled. Senses sharpened.
A single breath passed.
Then—the serpent struck.
---
Maw wide open, silver fangs gleaming in a flash of emerald light, it launched itself at Su Tianhao with a speed that belied its massive bulk. The air rippled as it moved.
Su Tianhao remained unfazed.
His eyes narrowed. He leaped backward—feet pressing mid-air against the thick trunk of the massive tree behind him. Then, using it as a springboard, he shot forward like an arrow loosed from a warbow.
Shing!
Shadowfang flew from its scabbard in perfect harmony with his motion, its dark blade cutting through the air—silent, lethal, its obsidian edge drinking in the surrounding light.
"Shadow-Splitting Flash—Phantom Bloom!"
In an instant the air quivered. One strike split into countless afterimages—a blizzard of phantom blades born from a single swing. A thousand gleaming arcs danced through the air, swift and indistinguishable, blurring the line between illusion and death.
The Duskscale Viper froze.
Its gaping maw had threatened to swallow Su Tianhao whole just moments ago—but now it was as if the serpent had been cast into a storm of blades. Its serpentine eyes widened, pupils narrowing with primal fear.
Amid the chaos, one blade moved differently.
Faster. Sharper. Hungrier.
It bore down on the viper's skull with refined killing intent—like a final verdict descending.
But just before the fatal strike could land—
Fwooooosh!
Panicked and desperate, the Duskscale Viper flung open its jaws and unleashed a torrent of ghastly green gas. The mist erupted in a thick wave, rolling outward like a flood, swallowing the battlefield in seconds.
Su Tianhao's form vanished within it.
Hmph.
His snort carried quiet disdain. For someone who had comprehended Sword Sense, sight was unnecessary—his perception could pierce illusions, predict intent, even locate life force through the densest obscurement.
His sword carved a clean arc through the air, slicing through the mist with such force that it tore the poisonous cloud apart—
But in that moment, he realized he had lost his target.
The divided mist began flowing back together like a severed shadow stitching itself whole.
'Where did it go?'
His body tensed. Both hands tightened around Shadowfang's hilt. The thick green cloud blanketed his surroundings, obscuring everything in a noxious haze.
A foreboding silence fell—heavy, oppressive, steeped in tension. No movement. No rustle. Even the forest seemed to hold its breath.
"Such a cunning beast," he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Even with his enhanced senses and draconic instinct, he couldn't pinpoint the serpent's location. It was deliberately hiding somewhere in the shadows—waiting, calculating.
Then—
Whoosh!
His ears caught a subtle shift in the air.
Without hesitation, Su Tianhao sprang upward. The moment his feet left the ground, a massive tail swept through the space he had just occupied. A heartbeat later and it would have shattered the legs of any ordinary Martial Disciple.
"Trying to play dirty?" Su Tianhao sneered, golden eyes narrowing with focus.
But after that failed ambush, silence returned. No movement. No follow-up strike.
The serpent had realized sneak attacks were futile. So it waited again—patient as death.
Minutes passed. Su Tianhao began noticing subtle shifts in his body—vision blurring at the edges, muscles growing faintly heavy, a dull ache spreading through his bones.
'Poison,' he thought, eyes narrowing. 'So that was your plan all along. Saturate the air, wear me down, strike when I'm weak.'
His golden eyes gleamed coldly.
"Devour."
The vortex stirred to life. The invading venom was drawn inward instantly—devoured and refined into revitalizing energy, the toxins purged completely.
Su Tianhao closed his eyes. His grip on Shadowfang remained firm, but his stance shifted—appearing loose, unguarded, even vulnerable. Beneath that performance, his senses stayed razor-sharp. He had shifted entirely to Sword Sense and draconic instinct.
To the Duskscale Viper, he looked on the verge of collapse.
That was precisely the illusion he wanted.
As the saying goes: the sharpest blade is often hidden in a broken sheath.
---
The silence stretched on for several long minutes—no movement, no disturbance.
Then Su Tianhao felt it. A pair of eyes locking onto him, unmistakable and filled with murderous intent.
He remained composed. Acting oblivious.
SWOOSH!
Like a bolt of darkness, the Duskscale Viper launched itself from the mist—fangs bared, aiming straight for his exposed throat with terrifying precision and speed. Its massive body twisted midair, momentum fueled by patience and predatory instinct.
But just as it reached striking range—
Su Tianhao's eyes snapped open.
"Got you."
Time seemed to freeze.
In that instant, his entire presence transformed. The fluttering, weakened stance vanished—replaced by the sharp stillness of a drawn blade. A single step. A twist of the waist. A breath.
"Shadow-Splitting Flash—Phantom Bloom!"
Shing!
A thousand phantom blades bloomed from a single motion. Obsidian arcs filled the forest—dozens, hundreds of afterimages spinning into a whirling vortex of death. The viper froze mid-lunge, instincts screaming.
Far too late.
One blade—the true blade—cut silently through the air with deadly precision.
CRACK!
The Duskscale Viper's charge halted mid-air. Its body spasmed—then stopped.
A line of crimson split down its length.
THUD.
The massive serpent crashed heavily onto the forest floor, coiling once in death throes before going completely still.
Su Tianhao exhaled softly, Shadowfang gleaming faintly in his hand.
"Smart beasts fall just as easily... when they underestimate the sword."
---
As the mist faded around him, Su Tianhao stood before the serpent's corpse in quiet stillness. The air was calm. Only the faint scent of blood and venom remained.
He raised his palm slowly.
"Devour."
Whoosh!
The vortex surged back to life—silent at first, then roaring. Under its pull, dense crimson essence began pouring from the serpent's broken body, drawn into Su Tianhao's dantian in a steady torrent. It wasn't merely energy—it was instinct, venom, bloodline, will. The very essence of a predator that had spent its life in silence, waiting to kill.
Against the Heavenly Devouring Dragon Physique, resistance was meaningless.
Su Tianhao's expression remained calm as the torrent flooded into him, his mind focused entirely on guiding it through the pathways of the Supreme Dragon Essence Refinement Art. His veins lit up faintly beneath his skin, a soft crimson hue pulsing with each heartbeat. His muscles tightened. His blood surged.
Then—BOOM!
A dull explosion echoed from within his dantian, as if a gate had been torn open.
Su Tianhao exhaled sharply. Power—raw and overwhelming—rushed through his limbs like a breaking storm.
"8th level Martial Disciple Realm."
He flexed his fingers slowly, feeling new strength settle into them. His aura shifted—sharper, deeper, more dangerous. He glanced once at the drained Duskscale Viper, then activated Illusory Flow and left without ceremony, already in search of the next target.
---
Throughout the day, he fought relentlessly.
At the 8th level, he could engage 4th level grade three beasts head-on—genuine threats, no longer merely convenient prey. He slew them methodically, devoured their essences completely. But even as power accumulated, the Heavenly Devouring Dragon Physique proved its insatiable nature. Each breakthrough demanded exponentially more energy than the last.
By late afternoon, Su Tianhao stood over the corpse of a Flameclaw Bear—a 4th level grade three beast with fire-attributed spiritual energy. Its essence burned hot as it entered his dantian, but the vortex consumed it without pause.
Still not enough.
As twilight descended, painting the forest in shades of amber and violet, he encountered a Stormwing Hawk—a rare aerial predator with lightning-fast strikes and wind-blade attacks. The battle was fierce, forcing him to use Phantom Bloom and Dragon Roar Descent in combination before the hawk finally fell. Its essence surged into him like a tempest.
The accumulated energy from the day's hunt—the Duskscale Viper, the Flameclaw Bear, the Stormwing Hawk, and countless others—finally reached critical mass.
His dantian trembled. The vortex spun faster, denser, hotter.
Then—
BOOM!
A second explosion, more powerful than the first, erupted from within his body. Shockwaves rippled outward, scattering leaves and startling nearby beasts into frenzied retreat.
Su Tianhao staggered slightly—then steadied himself. His entire being thrummed with overwhelming vitality. The feeling wasn't subtle. It was like standing atop a mountain after having clawed through the earth below.
When he opened his eyes, they blazed with golden light—brighter, fiercer than before.
"9th level Martial Disciple Realm."
His voice was calm. But his clenched fists trembled slightly—not from exhaustion.
From exhilaration.
Peak-stage Martial Disciple Realm. His base strength had reached twenty thousand pounds—equivalent to a 1st level Martial Adept. Combined with the Supreme Dragon Transformation Technique and Shadow-Splitting Flash, his combat power could rival even 5th level Martial Adepts.
Blood Grin's advantage had shrunk dramatically.
Su Tianhao slowly raised his head toward the darkening sky, where the first stars were beginning to appear one by one.
"I am coming for you... Blood Grin," he murmured softly, his voice carrying a cold edge sharper than any blade.