What was that power?

Li Jun's sword sliced the flesh at the corner of the snake's mouth as he dodged to the left. The blade sank in a little and then came to a halt as it hit one of the hardened scales.

The sword almost flew out of his hand as he came to a halt. He continued his stride and ran the tip of the blade down the side of the snake's gigantic body. A deep scratch etched itself into the scales but didn't sink any deeper.

He jumped back with a shocked expression. "It's scales are too hard to cut through." 

The snake continued its relentless attack, hissing violently. Li Jun continued to dodge, which annoyed the snake even more. It wasn't used to its prey putting up so much of a fight.

'Why is it so strong?' he thought as he examined the spiritual energy surrounding it again.

The snake had a similar amount of spiritual energy as he did. It was equivalent to a martial artist at the second stage of body refining; however, he couldn't even hurt it. 

'Is it because it's a beast?' He wondered. Its attacks were quick, but he was faster. It seemed powerful, but he felt his own attacks carried more strength. The only thing the snake appeared to have an advantage in was its defense. 

The snake struck again, leaving him no time to think. He quickly dodged and ran his sword down its scales once again.

'Maybe its eyes?' He thought as it narrowed its gaze towards him and coiled back for another attack.

The snake lunged forward, but so did Li Jun. As its snout came down from above, he jumped to meet it. As soon as his feet left the floor, its head slammed against the ground in an attempt to eat him, but Li Jun slashed up with his sword.

An ear-piercing screech shook the cave as blood spurted out from the snake's left eye. The large cut leaked blood as it thrashed its head around wildly. It had clearly never felt such pain before. 

The snake attacked again; this time, its head was too far to the right, and it missed Li Jun altogether. He didn't even need to dodge. He took advantage of the snake's failure and jabbed the sword into its eye once more. 

It shook with pain as it slammed its head to the side. Li Jun assumed it would recoil again before striking and was left unprepared for the sudden attack. He felt a sudden pain shoot through his body. One of his ribs cracked beneath the force. He flew backward and then hit the wall with a thud.

He winced as all the air left his lungs. He took in a deep breath and struggled to get back up. He coughed up a mouthful of blood that dripped down his chin. Something burned within his body. Each breath he tried to take failed to fill his lungs. 

A cold breath tickled the back of his neck, and slimy liquid dripped onto his skin. He glanced up and saw that his sword was just out of reach. His face turned pale as he realized how much trouble he had gotten into.

He thought that since the snake had the same amount of spiritual energy as he did, he would be able to beat it. He hadn't expected such an overwhelming defeat.

'I should have run away! I should have run away!' he screamed internally as the snake's mouth snapped shut.

A howling scream emerged from within the snake's mouth as it closed around Li Jun's body. A blue flame flickered from the corners of its mouth. Its remaining eye shot wide open as it realized it couldn't move. Ice settled upon its scales as the flame grew. Instead of burning with heat, it chilled the snake to the bone. 

Suddenly, the snake's body shook as Li Jun burst out of its mouth, his body enshrouded in a vibrant blue flame. His eyes shot towards the dark sword, and without giving the snake another chance to attack, he reached down and grabbed it.

He looked back and saw a massive hole in the side of the snake's mouth, where he had slammed his body against it in an attempt to escape. It looked as if it had been hit by a meteor. However, not even a drop of blood had spilled. Its flesh simply crumbled into a fine mist. He then noticed the flames hovering above his arms.

'What!?' He thought as an icy chill filled the cave. It was as if winter had come early and sent a powerful frost to freeze the entire world.

Li Jun panicked as ice spread through the cave and the snake's lifeless eyes drained of color.

The flames surrounding his body flickered out and vanished, leaving an empty feeling in Li Jun's heart as his heavy eyelids gently closed. A weightless feeling washed over him as he fell forward. However, before he could feel the pain of falling face-first onto the stone floor, he took a step into the land of unconsciousness.

The cave became humid as the sun reached its peak outside the cave, and Li Jun awoke with a painful shriek. His body ached all over; it felt as if a thousand needles had buried themselves beneath his skin. His chest felt tight, and the area the snake had smashed its head into was entirely numb.

He shakily stood up as the right side of his body burned. He glanced up at the snake that seemed to have thawed out. A pool of blood gathered below its head. The cave was still completely dark, and the trees outside blocked the sunlight.

"What was that power?" His voice echoed around the cave as his eyes settled on the snake again.

'Is it dead?' He thought. It was best to make sure. So he picked up his sword, stumbling as he walked toward it, and then, with as much strength as he could invoke, he stabbed the blade into the snake's lifeless eye.

"It really is dead." He almost collapsed again with relief. He was in no state to fight. He felt that if he moved around too much, he would die of exhaustion. 

He looked at the rest of the snake's body. It was well over ten meters in length and easily two meters wide.

"How am I going to bring this back to the city?" He sighed, feeling as if his plan to make money had been ruined. He eyed the beast again with a cold look.

"You wanted to eat me?" His stomach rumbled as he spoke. "I guess I will make a meal out of you instead."

He walked to the middle of the snake. It had rolled over slightly after it died. Its belly was exposed, and as fate would have it, that was the only part that didn't have armored scales. Li Jun stabbed his sword into its flesh, cut out a piece the size of his hand, and hesitantly took a bite.