Chapter 1430: Between Reality and Illusion

The reason why Zu An’s group was so shocked was because the difference between before and after was just too ridiculous. Mere moments before, the massive elephant had put them under a lot of pressure. And yet now, the ferocious maw seemed to treat it as merely a small dessert.

The large elephant struggled frantically, but the bloody maw chomped down twice, crunching bones between its teeth.

Crunch crunch!

Just like that, the large elephant stopped moving. The elephant herd wailed, clearly heartbroken to witness their leader’s fate. However, no one stepped forward to help it, and they all fled hurriedly.

The bloody maw gulped a few times, swallowing the elephant completely. Then, it seemed to have noticed Zu An’s group, as a long body rose from the muck. It stared at them with strange, vertically-slitted pupils.

Only then did Zu An and the others see its true appearance. It was a giant black snake, countless times larger than the serpent they had seen in the marsh of Lord Sui’s Tomb. It had a dark brown head that resembled a giant train engine, and its tan pupils looked extremely dangerous. From time to time, it flicked a black, forked tongue, making the group shiver in fear.

Zu An swallowed his saliva. There was a saying that went ‘A man who is never content is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant’, and yet just now, he really had seen a snake swallow up an elephant…

The giant snake appeared to look down on the group, thinking they had too little meat on their bones. It only gave them a look before turning around and leaving.

Just how did this guy hide in the shallow waters? they thought. The giant snake was clearly the Xiushe Snake they were looking for, though. They naturally couldn't just let it leave like that.

At that point, Yun Jianyue and Yan Xuehen had already recovered quite a bit of their strength, so they weren’t scared of the colossal creature. They moved one after the other, sending the Crescent Ring and Flying Snow Sword at the snake’s vitals.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

However, the giant snake seemed to have not even noticed their attack. It continued to depart into the distance.

Yun Jianyue and Yan Xuehen were a bit upset. Wasn’t this guy treating them with too little importance? They were grandmasters who had already been famous for a long time. Even earth immortals would be injured quite badly after ignoring their attacks like that.

However, the following scene made their eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. The Crescent Ring and Flying Snow Sword passed straight through the giant snake’s body as if there were nothing there. Then, the snake began to fade into thin air, eventually disappearing without a trace.

“What’s going on?!” The group gathered and looked at each other in dismay.

“Could it be a stealth skill, letting it hide near us while it prepares to attack?” Yu Yanluo asked.

They looked around vigilantly. However, Yan Xuehen shook her head and said, “I do not think so. I cannot sense its presence at all. Additionally, the Xiushe Snake’s figure is too large. Even if it tried to hide, there is no way it could hide without revealing anything. The surroundings would expose it.”

“You’re right, I can’t sense its presence either,” Yun Jianyue said worriedly. With a wave of her hand, the Crescent Ring began searching in a wide radius. It vibrated as it traveled around them, but it didn’t find anything.

Zu An looked toward Yu Yanluo and asked, “Were you able to communicate with it?”

Yu Yanluo looked confused as she replied, “I could sense that it was a snake, but when I tried to contact it, I couldn't succeed no matter what I did. I don’t know why that is, though.”

“Is this Xiushe Snake one of those legendary spatial element experts?” Yun Jianyue wondered, her expression turning serious.

Yan Xuehen’s expression changed as she added, “That would make things very difficult.”

The cultivators of this world usually awakened an element. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, and others were the most commonly seen elements. However, there were some rarer elements like space or even the legendary time element. Such cultivators were just too rare; if they did appear, they were often extremely difficult to deal with.

For example, spatial element users could not only move wherever they wanted to; if they couldn't win, they could jump through space to escape. Furthermore, their bodies constantly faded between reality and illusion, making them hard to hit. Such an opponent was a headache for anyone to face.

It appeared as if their attacks had all missed because the Xiushe Snake’s body likewise faded between reality and illusion. When they thought about how they had to face such a creature, the group all felt their scalps go numb.

…

Then, they looked in the direction the giant snake had disappeared in. The water along the way wasn’t that deep, and it really didn’t seem as if it could hide the Xiushe Snake’s massive body. That made them even more certain that it had a spatial element skill.

They searched for a long time, but unfortunately, the Xiushe Snake was nowhere to be seen. They were at their wits’ end, but suddenly, they saw a small boat up ahead. There was actually someone standing on it!

The group was alarmed. Their first thought was that they had run into the Fiend Emperor. After all, his group was the only other one that had entered the Unknown Region. However, they then saw that it wasn’t the Fiend Emperor; rather, the figure looked like a fisherman.

“Be careful. Any human who can live in this Unknown Region might actually be someone extremely powerful,” Yun Jianyue said with a grave expression. Yan Xuehen and Yu Yanluo both nodded in deep sympathy, preparing to attack at any moment.

Meanwhile, Zu An was in a daze. Previously, in the secret dungeon of Brightmoon City Academy’s rear mountain, he had seen some humans too. They had even played a part in helping him out of a seemingly impossible situation against the emperor.

The person also noticed Zu An’s group, gesturing angrily toward them. Yan Xuehen and the other women became even more nervous. They all maintained their guard.

However, Zu An couldn't help but say, “It might not be as dangerous as you think.”

The others didn’t understand what he was saying. However, as they got closer, they noticed that even though the person on the boat looked strong and healthy, there weren’t any ki fluctuations coming from their body.

There could only be two reasons for that. Either the person had sought out the natural state and had cultivation much stronger than theirs, which would mean they naturally couldn't see through his cultivation, or it meant he didn’t have any cultivation at all and was just an ordinary person.

“What are you all doing? You scared all of my fish away!” the person called out unhappily upon seeing their approach, in a strange tone that sounded like a dialect of some little-known place. However, it was still just barely intelligible.

The group thus became sure that the person was actually just an ordinary individual who didn’t know about cultivation. The three women’s faces all heated up. Making such a huge fuss over that really was a bit embarrassing.

Zu An took the chance to apologize to that person, giving him a silver tael. That person’s discontented expression immediately changed to a big smile as he replied, “You’re too polite! Actually, those fish weren’t worth this much.”

Zu An chuckled inwardly. In the past, he had read a saying in a book that went, ‘gold and silver aren’t naturally money, but money is naturally gold and silver’. Now, his personal experiences in this world had taught him that gold and silver really were the best money.

“There’s no need for uncle to be so polite either. We just happen to have some things we need to ask you about,” he said. In his position, he naturally didn’t care much about one silver tael.

“Young master, please speak. If I know, I’ll definitely reply,” the fisherman said with an eager expression.

Zu An asked, “Does uncle know about the Xiushe Snake? Uh… It’s that giant black snake-like thing. Do you know where it comes from and goes to? Where can we find it?”

The fisherman was stunned, asking, “What are you looking for the Ba Snake[1] for?”

Ba Snake? the group thought. Is that what the locals call the Xiushe Snake?

Judging from his tone, he clearly knew about the Xiushe Snake, which made them happy. Yan Xuehen took the chance to ask, “We heard that the Xiushe Snake brought disaster to Dongting Lake, bringing extreme distress to the local creatures, which is why we came to help everyone deal with the disaster.”

They had thought that once he heard what they came for, the native inhabitant would receive them enthusiastically. To his surprise, however, his expression suddenly changed. He snapped, “I was going to say that your outfits are strange. So you were despicable eastern barbarians after all! This old one doesn’t want your damn money. Get lost!”

He threw the silver tael he had previously already put away at them.

The sudden developments left the group confused. Zu An quickly said, “Uncle, there must be some misunderstanding. Who are the eastern barbarians? We’ve never heard of them before!”

“Leave, leave. Like I care if you’re eastern barbarians or not. Since you came to kill the Ba Snake, this place doesn’t welcome you. Get lost!” the fisherman yelled as he tried to drive everyone away with the bamboo pole in his hands, acting as if it would be inauspicious for him to even say another sentence to them.

1. A Ba Snake, also known as a Xiu(Xiushe) Snake, is a beast from the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Ba Snakes are so large they can swallow an elephant whole. After three years, they spit out the bones. Ba Snakes can be cyan, yellow, or black, though there are records stating Ba Snakes have a black body and cyan head. If a talented and/or virtuous person consumes the flesh of a Ba Snake, they cannot be ailed by heart or stomach pains. ☜