Chapter 89: A Single Force Shatters Ten Thousand Techniques

Such prey was not something Lu Chen would ever pass up. He hurriedly followed the scent, soon catching sight of the black-scaled giant anaconda once more.

The creature’s massive body was coiled around a tree, hissing menacingly at a white-throated capuchin perched atop the tree’s crown. Suddenly, its forked tongue detected a new scent particle in the air.

Another predator was drawing near…

The black-scaled anaconda swiftly slithered down from the tree, its enormous head raised high. In its emerald green eyes gleamed a savage, merciless light.

When it saw the huge four-legged beast emerging from the darkness, it did not attack immediately.

Instead, a trace of fear flickered in its reptilian gaze.

Instinct told it that this quadruped was nothing like the prey it had killed before—this was not an opponent to be trifled with.

Seizing the chance while the two behemoths faced off, the white-throated capuchin leapt from the treetop, landing in a flash upon another tree. In a few swift bounds, it vanished entirely into the night.

Lu Chen paid no mind to the fleeing monkey. A creature weighing only a few pounds could at most provide twenty or thirty energy points—not worthy of being called his prey.

But this black-scaled anaconda—he hoped it would not disappoint him.

Lu Chen had hunted more than a few anacondas and knew their ways well. Their attack methods were simple: they would coil to build up force, then spring forward with blinding speed, fangs sinking into their prey, and rely on their immense constricting power to suffocate their victim.

He had already devised a counter for such tactics.

With a thunderous roar, his massive form shot forward like an out-of-control off-road vehicle, unleashing hundreds of pounds of momentum as he charged his foe.

Almost instantly, the black-scaled anaconda responded. Its giant head struck from above, razor-sharp fangs stabbing toward the armored scales along Lu Chen’s spine.

Each combatant struck in its own way, neither yielding.

Lu Chen ignored the attack. From his experience with the black-tailed rock python, he knew that his “Scale Armor Defense” skill was formidable—he had no fear of the snake’s fangs.

Before the anaconda could coil itself around him, Lu Chen’s powerful forelimbs came crashing down.

A deep, muffled sound rang out.

With his full strength, his claws struck with the force of over a thousand pounds.

The dense jungle was cluttered with obstacles and his massive bulk was seriously hampered, while the anaconda thrived in such terrain. If his attack failed, the serpent could easily escape by exploiting the landscape.

That was why, from the very start, Lu Chen had planned to use his body as bait to limit the snake’s speed advantage.

Then—overwhelming force to break all resistance!

Before absolute strength, speed meant nothing; the foe could only submit to his will.

A sharp crack sounded, followed by a terrified hiss from the black-scaled anaconda.

It tried to coil and constrict its target, only to discover that a section of its powerful body was now numb—gone, as if it had never existed.

Another blow landed, the sound echoing through the jungle.

Lu Chen did not stop after his first success; his claws struck again, snapping another section of the serpent’s spine.

From the moment he burst forth to the end of the battle, barely half a minute had passed. The creature had already been reduced to a pile of limp, broken flesh, sprawled helplessly in the grass.

Only its head and the front half of its body continued to writhe in a desperate struggle.

Lu Chen opened his gaping jaws and swiftly ended the anaconda’s life.

He remembered almost dying once to kill a six-meter-long giant python. Yet this beast, over nine meters long and weighing more than four hundred pounds, had been slain with ease.

Lu Chen could feel, vividly, how rapidly his strength was growing.

He then swung his claws, intending to split open the serpent and see if a spirit stone might be concealed inside.

To his surprise, sparks flew as his claws struck the scales.

It seemed the anaconda’s mutation had also hardened its scales, making them tougher than steel. That likely explained its newfound speed.

Unfortunately, its internal skeleton had not been similarly reinforced; when faced with a brute like Lu Chen, who relied on raw strength, even its formidable defenses could not save it.

He continued to tear at the snake, finally ripping open the armor at its neck to reveal the blood-red flesh beneath.

To his disappointment, he sensed nothing unusual.

Opening the stomach, he found no sign of a purple stone.

Undeterred, Lu Chen began to devour huge chunks of the anaconda’s flesh.

“Black-Scaled Water Boa, genus Eunectes, can provide 1,079 energy points.”

So it was not a python after all, but a mutated water boa.

As for the difference between the two—it was merely a matter of reproduction. Boas are ovoviviparous, giving birth to live young in amniotic sacs, while pythons are oviparous, laying eggs that later hatch. Both are snakes, but belong to different families.

Yet the quality of this water boa’s flesh was a delightful surprise.

By his calculations, each pound of meat could yield about seven energy points—much higher than the black-tailed python he had encountered before.

Weighing over four hundred pounds, even after eating his fill, Lu Chen had managed only half.

If he had known, he would have brought the old crocodile and the others along.

Pressed for time as he tracked the humans’ great ship, he could not linger.

He resorted to his usual method, burying the remains deep beneath the river mud, covering them with a thick layer to keep other predators from digging them up.

Even so, there was no guarantee it would be left undisturbed.

Once all was done, Lu Chen followed the scent trail away.

The white-throated capuchin was proving troublesome—if it survived, he could never approach the humans’ ship.

After running for more than ten miles, he finally found its tracks again.

“Screech! Screech!” The white-throated capuchin spotted Lu Chen as well.

With a terrified cry, it leapt to the highest branches, seeking refuge.

So the creature thought hiding in the trees would keep it safe?

With a roar, Lu Chen leaped nearly five meters high. All four limbs gripped the trunk, claws sinking several centimeters into the bark.

Given his current size, climbing was no longer easy.

Of course, he did not expect to reach the capuchin at the treetop. After ascending a ways, he stretched out a forelimb and struck the trunk, thick as a man’s arm, with tremendous force.

Branches swayed violently.

The capuchin clung desperately to a branch, shrieking in terror.

Crack!

With another powerful strike, the branch finally snapped.

The white-throated capuchin tumbled from the treetop, rolling as it hit the ground, then tried to leap away to another tree.

Almost simultaneously, Lu Chen pounced down, letting out another thunderous roar. As his bloodline’s ancestral power surged, his presence exploded, shaking the very leaves of the forest.

The capuchin had barely climbed two meters before its body suddenly slumped, crashing to the ground.

Lu Chen rushed over, about to strike with his claws, but paused.

Hm?

Was it dead?

The little creature’s eyes were wide with terror, its body lying motionless on the ground, as if life had fled it entirely.