Urban Martial Saint

As the sound gradually approached, the cave entrance also began to tremble slightly, as if the thing about to appear from below was immense, causing the entrance to quiver as well.

Everyone was staring intently at the position of the cave entrance. At this moment, no one was in the mood to look at the giant snake in the water behind them or the snake swarm. Because, judging by the attitude of the giant snake and the snake swarm towards this place, it was clear that what was about to crawl out of the cave entrance was no simple matter and could even be more terrifying than the giant snake and the snake swarm.

Finally, the sound reached the vicinity of the cave entrance. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, a claw suddenly stretched out from the cave entrance. This claw wasn’t large — much like a crocodile’s claw — but it was far sharper than a crocodile’s. With a casual swipe, it shattered the rocks at the cave entrance. A few swipes expanded the cave entrance from the size of a basketball to several meters wide, revealing a pitch-black and deep cave.

The onlookers were astonished to see this cave. Previously, seeing the entrance was only basketball-sized, they assumed the cave below wouldn’t be too wide either. Who could have imagined that this cave had a narrow entrance, but below was an entirely different world.

After snapping open the entrance, the claw retracted, and immediately afterward, a massive head peered out from the entrance.

Ye Qing, watching closely from the side, saw that it was an enormous snake head. However, a small horn on top made it look quite eerie, different from ordinary snake species. Moreover, the snake head was covered with black scales, making it look much more ferocious, utterly incomparable to the previous giant snakes.

”Snake! It’s another snake!” a foreigner exclaimed in horror, clearly very afraid of snakes.

The others also frowned and looked at the newly emerged snake head, each face filled with shock and worry. Although it was still unclear how large this snake was, its appearance was unlike ordinary snakes. And, the fact that the snake had extended a claw just now was shocking enough. How could a snake possibly have claws, or a horn on its head? Furthermore, it crushed the cave’s rocks with its claw; this indicated that its power was not only terrifying but also that its claws were extremely sharp, almost like a famed instrument.

”Great Lord, could this be the monster we are searching for...” an elder couldn’t help but ask in a low voice. The creature about to crawl out from the cave looked like a snake, yet it had scale armor, a horn, and claws — wasn’t this precisely a monster?

The Great Lord knitted his brows tightly, saying nothing, but kept his eyes fixed on the creature about to crawl out. Although it had poked its head out, it did not charge directly but stuck out its forked tongue, sensing the surroundings. The realgar powder beside the stones seemed completely ineffective on it; it ignored these things entirely.

”Not good, it’s not afraid of realgar powder!” The Great Lord exclaimed softly, ”Everyone be careful, this is indeed the monster we are looking for. Its strength is terrifying, definitely beyond the four giant snakes from before, so don’t let your guard down!”

As the Great Lord spoke, the monster stretched out a claw, gripping the stone, and slowly crawled out of the cave. Only then did everyone clearly see its appearance. How to say — the monster looked very similar to a snake, but its body was much shorter, roughly two meters in length, yet over a meter wide, looking much like a very fat snake.

It had a horn on its head, which left people wondering how it came to be. Its abdomen had four small claws that looked chubby, but everyone had seen the power of these little claws tearing through the stone earlier, so no one dared underestimate these seemingly harmless little claws. Its body was covered with black scales, which gave its fat body a somewhat majestic appearance. Without these scales, its body would have been unsightly — being so plump — appearing merely as a rotund fat snake without the scales!

The monster supported itself on four claws, but due to its exceedingly fat body, it wobbled as if it could roll over on the ground at any moment. Seeing its corpulent body indeed made people worry for it. Moreover, its four small claws seemed quite uncoordinated compared to its hefty body. Standing on them, it made people secretly wonder if the four small claws could hold up its hefty figure.

Looking at the monster’s appearance, everyone wanted to laugh but dared not. Although the monster looked absurd, they had truly witnessed it using its claws to break the stone earlier. These seemingly chubby little claws, if they casually scratched any of them, could easily rip them open — their power certainly far exceeded the sharp teeth of the four previous giant snakes!

After coming out, the monster paid no attention to the surrounding people but simply stood there, wobbling, leaving everyone clueless as to what it was thinking. After a while, its body suddenly tilted and fell directly to the ground, rolling several times, again leaving everyone bewildered about what happened — could it be dead?

Just as everyone was about to go up and see if this monster was truly dead or just pretending, suddenly, the monster let out a snore, making everyone there widen their eyes.

Ye Qing was also dumbfounded, staring at this monster. At such a critical moment, this monster, this monster actually fell asleep? When it first came out, it was awe-inspiring and frightened everyone, and it turned out to be just a sleepy fat snake?

Seeing the monster fall asleep, those foreigners also breathed a sigh of relief. An old man looked at the Great Lord and said in a low voice, ”Great Lord, what do you think this monster really is?”

The Great Lord stared at the monster for a while and said in a low voice, ”If I’m not mistaken, this should be a Jiao!”

”A Jiao!?” Everyone was shocked, even Ye Qing’s heart skipped a beat. This was actually a Jiao? Does such a thing as a Jiao really exist in this world?

”A Jiao? Such a thing really exists?” an old man asked the doubt in Ye Qing’s heart.

”Not only does it exist, but my grandfather has even seen one!” The Great Lord nodded slowly and said in a deep voice, ”It is said that this thing evolved from snake species.”

”Snakes can evolve into Jiao?” Everyone was even more astonished, and the old man asked in surprise, ”How is that possible? How could snakes possibly evolve into Jiao?”

”Snakes are the most peculiar creatures, almost without any lifespan limitation. As long as they have enough food and no natural enemies, they can live endlessly. Moreover, snakes possess spirituality and can easily undergo mutations.” The Great Lord said in a deep voice, ”Ancient people say, a Water Viper evolves into a Jiao after five hundred years, and a Jiao evolves into a dragon after a thousand years. Among them, a Water Viper is a kind of snake. In fact, there are many similar cases recorded in Church’s texts. My grandfather encountered a real Jiao when he was young, so such things truly exist, not at all fictitious!”

Everyone looked at each other in dismay. The Great Lord’s words left everyone unable to remain calm. Everyone looked in astonishment at the fat snake still snoring on the ground. Who would have thought that this thing was the legendary Jiao?

Ye Qing was also very shocked, but after experiencing the dragon crocodile and the mountain wild man, he could accept these things. The ancient records were not baseless. Since so many ancient texts recorded Jiaos, it seems that such things likely truly exist. But if Jiaos exist, do dragons also really exist?

Ye Qing then remembered the story he heard about Dragon Blood Wood. This Dragon Blood Wood is said to be a type of wood formed by dragon blood spraying on it. This type of wood is extremely hard, and can only be cut by a Famed Instrument like the Xuanyuan Sword or the Minghong Knife. Nothing else can damage it even slightly. Ye Qing never cared about the origins of Dragon Blood Wood before, but now seeing such a Jiao, he couldn’t help but ponder whether Dragon Blood Wood is indeed formed by real dragon blood spraying on it?

The Great Lord looked around, including the snake groups behind that seemed like statues, and said in a low voice, ”No wonder there are so many snake species on this mountain, no wonder there are no Snake Sheddings around this clearing. It turns out, there is a Jiao on this mountain. No wonder it gathered so many snake species. And this clearing, it seems to be the Jiao’s territory, so naturally no snake species dares to leave Snake Sheddings here. A Jiao, not only has terrifying power itself but can also command so many snake groups. This mountain is indeed its territory!”

An elderly man in a Red Robe said excitedly, ”If this is a Jiao, Great Lord, if we can capture it and bring it back to our master as a steed, that would be a great feat!”

The Great Lord glanced at him and said coldly, ”Don’t blame me for not warning you, a Jiao’s power has surpassed the Acme. If it gets angry, so many of us aren’t enough for it to kill. Moreover, there are so many snakes on this mountain; they must be its descendants. As soon as it gives a command, these snake groups will rush at us desperately. Hmph, by then, not to mention the few of us, even if the Church sent ten times more people, it wouldn’t be enough to die here!”

The Great Lord’s words involuntarily made everyone shiver, looking at the fat snake, or rather the Jiao, still snoring on the ground. Everyone was puzzled. They really couldn’t associate the Great Lord’s description with the fat snake lying there, needing to roll over a few times. This fat snake is said to have power beyond the Acme? With its tiny claws, can it really exert power beyond the Acme?