Chapter 55: The Stellar Cannon

Though Wang Ben was frustrated, he instinctively took up the role of distracting and dividing the attention of the flood serpent, creating opportunities for Chen Longshi. This was not to say that he truly thought himself inferior to Chen Longshi. Even if there was a gap now, he was confident he could catch up in the future. This was simply the instinct and awareness of a seasoned fighter. True powerhouses may bear grudges, but in the face of great events, their hearts are never too narrow. Even in competition, even wishing to defeat the other, they could still cooperate seamlessly in the midst of battle.

Repeated collisions finally shattered the stone stele, no matter how tough its material. Fortunately, Chen Longshi had already steered the flood serpent toward the heart of the lake. This time, with no stele in sight, he simply seized the massive bixi sculpture with a sudden force and tore it from the ground. “Get out of the way!”

“Damn—” Wang Ben swore, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head.

The scene unfolded right beside him, more vivid than ever. That colossal stone carving, weighing hundreds of tons, was actually uprooted by Chen Longshi and wielded like a hammer, smashing down relentlessly upon the flood serpent.

The speed was meteoric—Wang Ben could scarcely believe a mere Silver-rank could accomplish such a feat. It wasn’t just him. Watching intently through the “Heaven’s Eye” monitor, Chen Yasong and Liu Shishi both stared wide-eyed. What kind of monster was their captain? They had already relayed the battle information to headquarters. “Silver Fox” Yuan Tianfeng received the message at once, witnessing this astonishing display.

“What? This kid was still hiding his strength?”

He had personally tested the marvels of sword manipulation. Back then, Chen Longshi had shown power comparable to Gold rank, but nothing this outrageous. In his view, the flood serpent had not yet broken through its Golden-level shackles, but some beasts could not be judged by rank alone—its size alone meant its attributes far outstripped those of humans.

Yet here was Chen Longshi, wielding hundreds of tons with telekinetic force, matching the flood serpent blow for blow.

Boom!

This time, the flood serpent was smashed directly into the bedrock of the island at the lake’s heart. Stone fractured, water and debris filled the air, a torrent like a freak mudslide. The once-beautiful Fairy Lake now seemed to be collapsing into apocalypse.

The blow finally left the flood serpent badly wounded—half its head was flattened, its massive body thrashing wildly on the island.

Wang Ben, panicked, hugged his autocannon and ran straight into the lake.

“Watch out!” At that moment, Chen Longshi’s expression changed, and he shouted a warning. He managed to intercept the attack, but a lashing flood serpent tail still grazed Wang Ben. He barely managed to activate his defensive star technique, but under such absolute force, it shattered instantly, and he was sent flying like a swatted fly, crashing dozens of meters away into the lake.

Wang Ben was caught in the crossfire, but the flood serpent could do nothing to Chen Longshi and could only vent its fury skyward in a barrage of monstrous energy blasts.

Chen Longshi himself dodged by the skin of his teeth, unable to worry about Wang Ben’s fate. He could only reinforce himself with telekinesis, pushing his speed to the limit, dancing on a knife’s edge to further wear down the beast.

Though these evasions were perilous, the flood serpent’s physical might was almost unreasonable. It was fortunate he had improved himself before coming—otherwise, he would have been at a loss.

The ongoing battle honed his control over telekinesis, giving him the thrill of facing a true match. To be blunt, there was no one at his level who could force him to go all out—only this flood serpent allowed him to fight with unrestrained abandon. In terms of sheer force, his telekinesis was not lacking, but his physical body was far inferior.

Boom—

The massive stone sculpture kept smashing down mercilessly.

Shards and rubble flew, thunderous crashes filled the air.

Li Ying, Jiang Zu’er, and the others, watching from the distant lakeshore, stared, hearts pounding, at the roiling waves in the lake.

A monstrous energy blast, thick as a barrel, shot into the sky—Chen Longshi barely dodged it.

“Exhilarating! Again!”

The gigantic stone struck the flood serpent’s head, leaving it no time to dodge. The beast howled in pain, half a dragon’s horn snapped clean off. Its enormous head, along with the upper half of its body, was flung through the air, crashing heavily onto the island.

This straightforward, brutal clashing of strength alone stirred Chen Longshi’s long-dormant passion for battle. Yet for all the excitement, his use of telekinesis was still crude, and the cost was not small. Fortunately, his continuous efforts had worn the flood serpent down—its energy blasts grew slower and slower. Sensing the critical moment, Chen Longshi, instead of retreating, suddenly closed in.

In a flash, his sword struck—an ear-splitting hiss resounded.

The Zhi Jiang Sword, hidden among the boulders, shot into the serpent’s open maw—Nine-Star Sword Manipulation.

Sword Art: A Thread of Life!

A dark red blade of light pierced through the serpent’s mouth and out the back of its skull.

With a piercing, tragic wail, the flood serpent at last knew fear.

At the same time, in the Capital Heavenly Sword Bureau, “Minister, Li Yinglong has already set out—he’ll reach the skies above Heluo Town in ten minutes.”

Yuan Tianfeng, watching the feed from the Heaven’s Eye, shook his head. “No need. Tell Li Yinglong to return.”

The flood serpent, not yet dead, crashed heavily onto the island’s structures, dazed and reeling. The sword light fell again, hacking off the serpent’s other horn.

Chen Longshi’s gaze was icy. At some point, a mist had risen, shrouding the sky and obscuring vision. His right hand instantly transformed, demonized. Tuntun, unable to resist its ravenous instincts, pounced upon the still-twitching serpent.

Vital essence and spirit poured from the beast’s wounds, its struggles weakening until at last it lay still.

“Soul Food +3000”

The number was secondary; Tuntun, thoroughly satisfied, belched and slipped back into Chen Longshi’s body. As soon as it appeared on the lotus platform within his mental world, it spun out layers of soul-cocoon silk, wrapping itself tightly.

Tuntun was finally about to evolve. Chen Longshi was deeply gratified.

As he landed, his steps faltered, his head swimming with dizziness.

He knew it was the result of overusing his telekinesis. Seated cross-legged, he circulated the Soul Sutra, burning the fuel of his soul, and in moments had mostly recovered. Only then did he have the leisure to assess the spoils of this battle.

This flood serpent had likely not yet broken its Golden-rank shackles, but it couldn’t have been far off. Chen Longshi had fought as a Silver against a peak Gold—dangerous in the extreme. Most of his attacks had been ineffective; had it dragged on, there was no telling who would have prevailed.

Luckily, he had the last laugh.

With a punch, he shattered the corpse, its vital essence almost entirely devoured, leaving only the serpent’s skin and two broken horns. After a careful search, he finally found a star core at the seven-inch mark.

“Huh, only a single rune—Monster Energy Cannon?!”

That was peculiar. He had no idea whether anyone else had ever acquired the Monster Energy Cannon as a star technique, but for a flood serpent of this level to leave behind only a single skill—was that really all right?

Moreover, could a human martial artist even use this kind of technique?

He mulled it over—there was no reason a peak Gold flood serpent would only yield an Iron-level star technique. He’d encountered plenty of Iron-level star technique cores, but rarely had he seen one with only a single rune.

Perhaps it was a special star rune. Ultimately, Chen Longshi crushed the star core.

After quietly refining and comprehending it, a new technique, Monster Energy Cannon, appeared on his skill panel. To his surprise, its rank actually rose in tandem with his own life level.

He was Silver rank now—thus, so was his Monster Energy Cannon.

Monstrous beasts usually launched this technique from their mouths, its power tremendous. For a human martial artist, would it also have to be fired from the mouth?

After some study, Chen Longshi extended his left hand, forming his palm into a finger-gun.

A dark red beam shot out, flying over Wang Ben’s head as he was clambering onto the island, blasting a gaping hole in the ruined building.

“Ah!” Wang Ben, scrambling ashore, was nearly scared out of his wits.

Once he processed what had happened, he stared, dumbfounded. “M—Monster Energy Cannon?!”

Chen Longshi, seeing him clutching his arm with an injured look, asked with concern, “Are you all right?”

Wang Ben blurted, “Don’t worry about me! You can actually use the Monster Energy Cannon? Did it come from the serpent’s star core? How is it possible for you to use it? It doesn’t make sense!”

Chen Longshi pondered. When he’d released the cannon just now, it had only worked because Tuntun’s demonic energy mixed with his own star power. For other martial artists, it probably wouldn’t be possible to learn this technique. After a moment’s thought, he replied, “Strictly speaking, it should be called Star Energy Cannon—I don’t actually have any demonic energy.”