Chapter 35: If it's not poisonous, why are you acting so arrogant?

While Lin Li was observing the black snake beast, the beast was also observing him.

The prey before its eyes looked quite delicious. Having traveled from the wilderness several kilometers away to find food, this long trek had certainly not been in vain.

"Hiss..."

Starving, the black snake beast let out a hiss at Lin Li. First, a pale golden spiritual light erupted from its eyes, followed immediately by the same light enveloping its entire body.

Its pitch-black scales were wrapped in pale golden light, making the already majestic aura of this massive black snake beast even more overwhelming.

"It's coming." Seeing the stance the black snake beast had taken, Lin Li immediately knew the beast was preparing to launch an attack.

"Hiss..."

The black snake beast swayed its head, its cold serpentine pupils glowing with pale golden light as it stared fixedly at Lin Li. After letting out a hiss, its coiled upper body snapped forward like a compressed spring.

The beast's massive head shot toward Lin Li like a bolt of lightning. During this process, it opened its maw wide, its sharp teeth glinting with a cold light; it intended to swallow its prey in a single gulp.

On high alert, Lin Li had already prepared to dodge the moment he sensed the beast's intent to attack.

The instant the black snake beast's head lunged, Lin Li made a move to leap to the right.

The attack speed of the black snake beast was extremely fast; there was no room for hesitation. Even a mere half-second of indecision could allow the opponent to succeed in a single strike.

*Thud.*

Lin Li's decisive choice to dodge was correct. The black snake beast's attack missed, and its massive head slammed heavily into the grass with a dull thud.

"Whew..."

Having narrowly escaped the beast's preemptive strike, Lin Li watched as a small crater formed where the snake's head had struck the ground.

As he let out a long breath, he felt his heart racing at an accelerated pace.

"Don't be nervous. Although this black snake beast looks fierce and terrifying, I can clearly keep up with its attack speed. As long as I maintain a good mindset and rely on my own reaction speed, it will be difficult for it to bite me."

After encouraging himself mentally, Lin Li felt his racing heart settle down significantly.

"Hiss..."

The black snake beast was highly dissatisfied with its failed strike. At the same time, it was somewhat surprised that this prey could actually dodge its lethal lunging bite.

As an experienced predator of the wilderness, the black snake beast was no fool.

The fact that its confident, preemptive attack had been evaded meant that this prey—which it had viewed as a delicious feast—was not as easy to deal with as it had initially thought.

However, it didn't matter. It wasn't as if it hadn't encountered difficult prey before. With its massive body, this little thing would eventually be brought down.

The black snake beast writhed its body and slowly approached Lin Li, occasionally flicking out its bright red tongue. A bone-chilling hissing sound spread through the area.

In the surrounding dense grass, common small animals like insects and rodents trembled in fear at the terrifying hissing. Unable to endure it any longer, they began to flee into the distance.

"Hiss..."

A sharp hiss suddenly erupted—the signal for the black snake beast to attack.

Hearing the sudden change in the hiss, Lin Li immediately realized the beast was about to launch a ferocious assault.

*Rustle, rustle, rustle...*

This time, the black snake beast did not use its previous spring-like lunging method. Instead, it crawled rapidly toward Lin Li, attempting to close the distance for close-quarters combat.

This proved the black snake beast was indeed an experienced predator. Since the previous distance had allowed the prey to dodge, it would now close the gap to attack from within reach, seeing how the prey could dodge then.

Having dodged the initial strike, Lin Li had also gathered the intelligence he wanted: he judged that this black snake beast was non-venomous.

Because when it had lunged with its mouth wide open, it had not spat any venom.

*Since you aren't a venomous snake, I can fight you with peace of mind.*

*Pop.*

Lin Li raised his left hand, which was wrapped in medical gauze. Spiritual light bloomed at his fingertips. As the pale golden light flashed, a small fireball the size of an egg appeared out of thin air.

"Hiss...?"

Charging toward Lin Li with fierce momentum, the black snake beast's crawling speed slowed slightly upon seeing the small fireball suddenly appear in the prey's hand.

However, in its view, a fireball the size of an egg could not cause it any substantial harm, so its slightly slowed speed suddenly surged again.

But in the next second, the egg-sized fireball hovering above Lin Li's fingertip instantly expanded, growing to the size of an apple.

The volume of the fireball increased several times over, and its power naturally increased as well.

"You black bastard, if you're not venomous, what are you acting so cocky for? Take this!" Lin Li cursed the beast inwardly and swung his hand to throw the fireball.

*Whiz!*

The apple-sized fireball shot out with extreme speed.

Because the black snake beast was charging so fast, it was too late to dodge when it saw the egg-sized fireball suddenly multiply in size and streak toward it.

However, as an experienced predator, it still managed to make a movement to minimize the damage when faced with such a crisis.

The black snake beast's slippery body exerted a sudden force, and its head jerked upward instantly.

The fireball Lin Li threw had intended to hit the snake's head, but having lost its target, it struck directly against the beast's black-scaled body.

*Bang!*

The orange-red fireball collided with the black snake beast's body and immediately exploded.

In an instant, the exploding fireball tore flesh and blood from the beast's body. The scorching flames from the explosion even charred the open wound black.

"Hiss..."

The intense pain caused the black snake beast to writhe uncontrollably. Its massive body slammed against the ground repeatedly, kicking up clouds of dust.

...

PS: Thanks to "08a" for the 600-point tip.

(End of Chapter)