Chapter 44: Who Dares to Stand Taller Than Me? (Please add to your favorites, please keep reading!)

Once the "long serpent" took shape, it immediately stood upright. In truth, its posture could scarcely be called human anymore; rather, it resembled a slender chimney, rising straight within the bizarre fog. Its length was such that, when fully erect, it surpassed even the limits of visibility in the mists—Shanglu could not see its "head," only segments of its body formed by a succession of strange serpents joined head to tail.

"I am taller! I am taller!" The scales of the monstrous snakes quivered violently as they let out a piercing cry of triumph. Yet this time, their voices were no longer chaotic and discordant as before, but rang out in perfect unison, as if they had truly become a single entity. Their cry was deafening, like thunder rumbling across the earth, making the very ground tremble.

At the same time, the friction of scales on many of the serpent bodies produced a sinister "je-je-je" laughter, as though mocking Shanglu’s audacity in challenging them for height, or perhaps exulting in their own cleverness at surpassing him. Rows of triangular eyes, aglow with a menacing red, fixed upon Shanglu from within the dense mist, appearing all the more eerie—like a horde of ravenous, malevolent spirits.

With a thunderous roar, the "long serpent," having confirmed its superiority in height, launched its attack. Like an immense whip, it lashed down from above, whistling through the air with a forceful crack. Simultaneously, a series of muffled bangs erupted from the bodies of the joined serpents, bursting forth clouds of dark blood. Dense, slender bone spurs shot out amidst the blood and noise from the bodies of hundreds of the strange snakes, making the "long serpent" even more grotesque and nightmarish. Without a doubt, any prey ensnared by this monstrous entity would be doomed—not only strangled, but also impaled and shredded by those razor-sharp bone spurs.

Shanglu also moved. He did not retreat, but instead charged directly toward the "long serpent." Though the creature was bizarre and towered high after rearing up, its structure was fundamentally a chain of serpents joined head to tail; long, yes, but not particularly thick. Shanglu could not outdo it in height, but he had a way to shorten it.

As he ran, he discarded his bamboo staff and unleashed the Tiger’s Stride, his movements fierce and predatory like a hunting tiger. With astonishing speed, he dodged the serpent’s descending strike and, pushing off powerfully from the ground, closed the distance to the monster. The "long serpent’s" attack missed, gouging a deep furrow in the earth, sending dirt and stones flying. It quickly reared up once more, bone spurs bristling like a forest of blades, launching a frenzied assault at Shanglu.

Shanglu sprang upward, channeling the Tiger’s Stride’s offensive kicks—his legs like iron whips, swift and unyielding. With a series of heavy blows, he shattered several of the nearest bone spurs. Then, shifting to the Monkey’s Path, his movements transformed from fierceness to agility, using the bone spurs and scales as footholds to climb rapidly upward—just like a nimble monkey darting through the forest canopy!

Whenever danger threatened, Shanglu either countered with the Tiger’s Stride or deflected incoming bone spurs with a sweep of his sheath, shattering them. All this happened in the blink of an eye; in moments, Shanglu had climbed to the serpent’s midsection. There he paused. With a resonant clang, he drew his Ox-tail Sabre and unleashed the Sweeping Gale Blade technique. Blade gleams flashed wildly, the force of the blade slicing in all directions. Bone spurs, like leaves in a storm, were swept away in a cacophony of metallic clangs.

Clearing a path, Shanglu’s gaze locked onto one of the serpent heads, tail gripped in its jaws. The chaotic dance of sabre light suddenly converged into a single lethal strike—swift, precise, and merciless—aimed at the serpent’s head. It was the beheading move from the Severing Blade technique.

Every eye scattered across the long serpent’s body witnessed this moment, erupting into a cacophony of alarm. The targeted serpent writhed desperately, trying to evade the sabre’s arc. The others attempted to coil around Shanglu, seeking to entangle and neutralize him. Yet for all their strangeness and cunning, these monsters could not match the power of Shanglu, who had already ascended to the Pass Through Veins realm.

The chosen serpent failed to escape. The others could not entrap him in time. With a sickening splatter of dark blood, the serpent in front of him was severed in two. The "long serpent" was thus cleaved into separate segments.

Even as he struck, Shanglu, with the Monkey’s Path, deftly stepped onto another serpent trying to coil up from below. His right foot, with the Tiger’s Stride, delivered a crushing kick to its body, sending it flying. As its tail was gripped by yet another serpent, this triggered a chain reaction—the lower half of the "long serpent" crashed to the ground. At the same moment, the upper half, losing its support, toppled downward.

Yet even in freefall, the monster’s savagery did not abate. Twisting and lashing with bone spurs, they sought still to ensnare and destroy Shanglu. But he granted them no such chance. Once more, he unleashed the Sweeping Gale Blade, a storm of sabre energy severing every bone spur that lunged at him. Taking advantage, he sliced through several more serpents, leaving the upper half of the "long serpent" in tatters.

As Shanglu landed, the lower section of the creature reared up again. From the severed stumps of the monster, countless blood-red, grotesque tendrils sprouted, striving to reconnect with their missing heads. But Shanglu was well aware that these monsters, even hacked to pieces, could regenerate—he would not allow it.

Before his feet even touched the ground, he employed the Bird’s Path, swooping down like a diving bird toward the lower segment of the "long serpent." Landing, he swung his blade in a blur, hacking the lower half into several more pieces.

At this moment, the bamboo staff he had discarded earlier floated back to him—it was Sanniang who had sent it his way. Indeed, after he had chopped the "long serpent" down, when one of the serpents tried to destroy his bamboo, it was Sanniang who protected it, thwarting their attempt.

Grasping the bamboo, Shanglu raised it high above his head, gazing down at the serpents on the ground. In a ringing voice, he declared, "I am still the tallest!" He nearly let out a triumphant laugh to mock the serpents, but thought better of it. The monsters had laughed too soon—he would not repeat their mistake. Besides, the matter was not yet settled.

The monstrous serpents were not resigned to defeat. Writhing desperately, they struggled to merge and reform the "long serpent." So, with bamboo in one hand and sabre in the other, Shanglu darted through the writhing mass. Whenever a serpent neared completion, he would rush over and, with a few swift strokes, hack them apart again—preventing them from reuniting and creating even more fragments.

Blessed by the Tiger’s Stride and Monkey’s Path, Shanglu’s speed far outstripped the serpents’ ability to reform. No matter how many times they tried, not only could they not regain their previous form, they were chopped into ever shorter pieces.

At last, some of the serpents, realizing they would never surpass Shanglu in height and infuriated by his one-sided "cheating," simply exploded in rage. One after another, more and more serpents burst apart, and soon the sound of their detonation filled the air.