Chapter 29: Two old friends?

Several miles away east of the Green Fog Swamp sect, a green creature was flashing around the swamp at abnormal speed almost as if running away from something. Only a green blur could be seen due to its fast movement. The green creature that seemed to be heading in a straight line suddenly deviated from its path and swiftly turned to its left. Seconds later a loud thud was heard followed by a brief animal grunt that was silenced soon after almost like it had been muzzled shut.

The green blur turned out to be a green snake whose scales glistened like green rubies. The snake was ravenously devouring a willow-horned deer. The deer's head had been cleanly sliced off, with the snake rapidly sucking its blood. Despite its massive frame that was about the size of a fully grown ox with well-defined muscles, with every millisecond that passed by, its frame would decrease in size, it wasn't long before it was gaunt, leaving nothing but skin and bones, as its body was sucked dry by the green snake and a second later not even the skin and bones were left as the skin devoured all of it.

The instant the green snake finished eating the deer it closed its eyes in meditation. It grimaced in pain with beads of sweat trickling down its face. There was a deep wound in one of its eyes that had been sliced apart. The wound extended from its eye down its head to its lower body. It covered a range of 3 meters from its eye to its body. There was a frosty chill emanating from the wound with the greatest concentration coming from its eye.

Most of Its scales turned into a darker shade of green with only the head being lustrous. It seemed like energy was being drawn from the rest of the body and was concentrated on the head where the injuries were the heaviest. Steam was continually released from its wounds almost as if the frosty chill was being boiled at high temperatures.

The frown it had on grew deeper as a small pained grunt escaped its mouth. The source of it was the struggle it had with the frosty chill clinging tightly to its body despite its attempts to purge it. It kept trying to eliminate the mist within its wounds but every time it thought it was close to success in eliminating it, it would resurge with renewed vigor and potency. The back-and-forth struggle between it and the mist continued for almost an hour before the green snake finally opened its remaining eye which reflected its current state that was a mixture of despair, worry, and fear.

No matter the efforts it made, the wound didn't shrink by even a millimeter.

"Figures, even a beast at the first stage of core formation realm isn't able to provide me with enough energy to heal the wound. Not even the tiniest bit of the mist has let up. What a fearsome ability.

From the look of things, it's going to take me at least a few years to heal from these wounds and that is only if I wholly dedicate myself to healing and not spare a thought for anything else. There's also the amount of nourishment I will need for the endeavor. With my body in this state, even keeping the rampant energy is a struggle, I doubt I'd have any spare to deal with it, even when meditating. Hopefully, the herbs and cores I have stored up will be enough. If they are not..."

The green snake couldn't help but shake its head in dejection before it turned its head in the direction it had fled from with worry and guilt being shown on its face.

"Bolin, I'm sorry old friend, I thought it was an opportunity for us. Who knew we were delivering ourselves on a platter for that human? I even detected insatiable greed coming from him. Hehehe! some false king I am," the green snake silently thought as it made a self-deprecating laugh which caused it to flinch slightly when its movements exacerbated its wounds.

The green snake was the green flash viper, one of the spirit beasts who surrounded Feng Xin. He was also one of the three false kings of the eighth zone. He was the sole survivor of the failed ambush. Though he managed to keep his life, he did not emerge unscathed. Even with his fast reaction, one of Feng Xin's attacks still reached him, leaving him with grievous wounds. This was the first time he had ever felt true fear in all his life.

Feng Xin's qi was like a ferocious beast that constantly ate away at his body without rest creating as much damage and havoc as it could penetrating deeper and deeper into his body. His internal organs were already ravaged, and some of his meridians had already been destroyed in the process as the qi seeped into other parts of his body. If he did nothing, it would not be too long before his core became the next victim. He could feel the grip of frigid cold death quickly tightening his body.

Countless thoughts swirled in his mind which only served to push him further and further into the pits of despair. Dealing with the wounds was hard enough as he wasn't sure even with the means he had on hand if he would be able to successfully rid himself of the frosty qi eating away at his body, but he also had to be wary of other spirit beasts specifically his lackeys.

Other than Bolin whom he had known since they were nameless, he couldn't trust the rest. If they saw his condition, they would be the first to attack him and devour him in the hopes of being as powerful as he was. He would do the same in their shoes and had in fact done the same to reach where he was today.

It took a few moments before he decided on his next step which was to flee to a secluded ground in the lower zones. No one but him knew the location. It was well hidden under a treasure he had taken off a human he killed. The treasure could obscure areas and make them seem unimpressive even decreasing the quality of qi. There was no better place than there to recuperate.

It was amid its calculations that its body suddenly tensed like a surge of lightning had suddenly hit it. A vigilant expression washed over it with its pupil constricting as it stared to its northwest side.

The side had been normal just a few seconds ago. It had been filled with large trees lush with leaves and hanging vines. Though sunlight was obscured by the green fog some still penetrated giving the area an ambient glow. However, currently, there was a dark circular spot less than 2 miles away. What started as the size of a fist had grown to the size of a window then a door within a couple of minutes. Everywhere the darkness touched would be devoured by it growing its size in the process, inching ever so closer to the green flash viper. 

"Zekekeke my old friend Li Lun you look like you've had better days. Has the cold of this place finally got to you? You need to take care of yourself more, soak in some sunshine if you can.

I can't help but wonder just who was strong enough to strike and heavily injure the fastest false king of the eighth zone, the green flash viper," a cold raspy voice sounded from within the blanketing darkness.

The eyes of the green flash viper rapidly darted around it looking for an escape route. Of the spirit beasts he hoped to avoid in his current state, the one standing before him was at the top of that list. The green flash viper couldn't help but shake his head when he detected numerous other presences that had encircled the area creating a perfect net hindering his chances of an easy or a successful escape.

At this point, he realized there was one way out, though deep down he knew this was it for him. As much as he loathed the creature that was smirking before him, even at his peak, he was an opponent he would not want to face.

How could he not when the creature before him just like him was also a false king?

"Zekekeke! Li Lun, it looks like you wanted to leave. That's rather cold-hearted of you, seeing how I came all this way just to see you. Let's sit down and have a nice chat about who gave you such a nasty wound. On account of how long we have known each other I may even help you get vengeance, and maybe even rid you of that frost. I may not be great at healing like that obstinate babirusa but I'm rather proficient at swallowing stuff. I could swallow that nasty qi for you," said the creature with a teasing voice.

Its frame was still veiled in the darkness that was encroaching on the area.

"Stop with the nonsense Liao Ying. What do you want?" Li Lun said with coldness in his voice as its eyes narrowed.

"Nothing much, I just want to catch up with a fellow False King who I haven't seen in a while.. zekekeke.." the creature said, mockery and slight distaste evident in its tone.

After its words, it finally came into view. It was a 100-meter length caiman with scales that were darker than black obsidian or the night of the sky. There was a faint cluster of small sparkly white dots on some of its scales that looked like stars. On its left side from its jaw down to its stomach was a massive scar that looked like it had come from a sword.

With every step the caiman made, light, and the living components next to it such as the grass, shrubs, trees, and vines were all devoured by the darkness produced by its body. It soon stopped when it was 200 meters from the green flash viper.

This caiman was one of the false kings, the black cosmos caiman Liao Ying. Two false kings stood face to face chatting like old friends but the tremendous pressure produced by each of them clashing against each other said a different story.