A giant python, its back adorned with three rows of crystal-like scales, each as large as a palm, stretched from the snake’s head to its tail. Another python only had one row of these crystalline scales.
Under the night sky, the pythons’ scales glimmered faintly, creating a luminous trail as they slithered, an eerily beautiful sight.
These were Crystal Pythons, a ferocious beast unique to the Evernight Continent, known for their toxic mists. A fully grown python with three rows of crystal scales could match the strength of a human warrior at the seventh or eighth level.
Qian Ye observed the two Crystal Pythons, contemplating whether to engage. However, the smaller python noticed his presence first, raising its head warily and exhaling a glowing, shimmering mist.
Qian Ye sidestepped the toxic fog, leapt down the cliff, and in an instant, he was inside the python’s nest.
A vivid red blade flashed through the air, piercing the head of the three-rowed python. Qian Ye used almost eighty percent of his strength to lodge the short knife into the skull, indicating the toughness of the creature’s head—strong enough that even an Eagle Strike might not shatter it in one hit.
The python, despite being pierced, thrashed wildly, nearly slamming Qian Ye against the cave walls. This was the opponent Qian Ye needed. He held onto the glowing tooth tightly with one hand while gripping the python with the other, leaping between the cave walls as the python thrashed.
After a long struggle, the python finally lay still.
The other single-rowed python, pushed to the edge by the fierce energy, seized the moment and lunged at Qian Ye. However, its strength was far weaker, barely reaching the fourth or fifth level, and it soon met its end under the glowing tooth.
When the night was at its darkest, Qian Ye climbed back to the cliff top. His backpack was much fuller, filled with the palm-sized crystal scales.
The scales of the Crystal Python were confirmed to be a form of crystal, radiating beautiful halos when infused with origin power. Therefore, they fetched a high price, used both as raw materials for lower-level origin arrays and as a popular jewelry material in the upper continent. The two pythons were too large, so Qian Ye could only take the best quality scales, less than a third of the total.
Returning to his cave, Qian Ye’s face suddenly flushed with a deep blood color, exhaling clouds of pale red mist.
When he killed the three-rowed python, to prevent a deathblow, he stabbed it directly through the heart. A torrent of blood energy flooded into him, nearly equivalent to a ninth-level dark warrior, though of poor quality, laden with impurities.
Qian Ye realized for the first time that he could absorb blood energy from a dark attribute creature like the Crystal Python, with the dark origin power even richer than that of a comparable dark warrior. With the Song Clan Ancient Scroll, the purity of the blood energy didn’t matter.
However, Qian Ye felt puzzled, realizing that most beasts on the Evernight Continent seemed to have a dark origin power affinity.
In the following days, Qian Ye traversed several war zones, visiting the projected battlefields of the dark races marked on the Wei Clan map, observing the forces of the expeditionary army, the imperial main corps, and the participating noble families’ private armies.
Several times, as before, Qian Ye used his long-range sniper skills to aid the imperial soldiers, altering the tide of battles, but he quickly left after the situation stabilized, avoiding further contact with the noble families.
One ordinary morning, a brutal battle had just ended on the Silver Light Plain, on the northern edge of the Evernight Continent.
This vast plain, once covered with luminous grass, shimmered with a soft silver glow under the black velvet night, resembling a vast, glowing lake. It was a scenic spot until the loss of nearby key positions led to the appearance of dark races, dissuading visitors.
Now, the Silver Light Plain was unrecognizable, marred by corrosion and burns, with some explosion craters spanning a hundred meters. The luminous grass was almost entirely burned away, leaving the brown soil awash with green streams of spider demon venom, which would destroy any life in the soil, preventing regrowth.
Columns of expeditionary and imperial troops cleared the battlefield, removing corpses and relics, placing them in designated areas. From the control of the battlefield, it appeared the humans had won, yet no joy was seen on the faces of the imperial generals standing at the edge.
Among the uniformed generals, Bai Ao Tu stood out in her wide-sleeved robe. She had a unique qualification: in the three counties of the Silver Light War Zone, she was the powerhouse, capable of taking over all military and political authority if needed.
Though the Silver Light War Zone was a secondary war zone, it had a designated battlefield for the dark races. Among the young generation of imperial strongmen, few could hold such a position independently.
Bai Ao Tu’s plain robes were stained with blood, her shoulders and back ripped, revealing gory wounds. Her pale face and weak, unstable breaths indicated severe injuries.
Surrounded by generals twice her age, the respect and fear in their eyes were for her real achievements. In the recent battle, Bai Ao Tu had almost single-handedly killed the strongest enemy, turning the tide.
Observing the gruesome scene, a gray-haired general sighed heavily, “We… won, right?”
Another general smiled bitterly, “The dark races retreated in order. We can only claim a minor victory.”
The old general’s expression darkened, “My entire army is decimated. We might be dissolved upon return.”
One person consoled, “That won’t happen. You’ve achieved a great feat. The empire will rebuild the 133rd Army.”
“Let’s hope so,” the old general sighed, still disheartened.
They knew that although the army would be rebuilt, it would fall to third-rate status, far from the seasoned troops they had lost.
Bai Ao Tu’s downcast eyes suddenly opened, “Our total casualties exceed a hundred thousand, right?”
A nearby general responded, “Still counting, but I estimate over a hundred and ten thousand.”
Bai Ao Tu mused, “On the dark side, nearly ten thousand regular soldiers died, plus over a hundred thousand cannon fodder. What was the purpose of this battle?”
The generals exchanged glances, none having an answer. This battle was extremely brutal, with dark races surging forward, showing no fear, many dying alongside imperial soldiers, suggesting a strategy to drag more of the latter to their doom.
Uneasy, the generals remained silent.
Suddenly, Bai Ao Tu darted dozens of meters away, squatting beside a fallen expeditionary soldier, pulling out a short knife, and slicing open his chest.
Stunned, the generals followed. Bai Ao Tu never did pointless things, clearly noticing something unusual.
She pointed at the soldier’s corpse, frowning, “Look, he was killed by a high-ranking bloodline warrior, a sword through the forehead. His body should be unaffected, yet his vitality is draining abnormally fast. Isn’t that strange?”
The soldier, recently deceased, showed signs of internal organ decay, continuing to deteriorate, turning into a mummified corpse within two days.
A sharp-eyed general thrust his hand into the ground, squeezing a handful of soil, from which blood dripped!
Gravely, he said, “This land seems to absorb vitality. No wonder I feel heavy. We shouldn’t stay here long.”
Yet, if it were just the environment, there’d be no need to fear. The present group, all strong, with stable and powerful blood energy, remained unaffected by the Silver Light Plain’s absorption.
Bai Ao Tu’s brows furrowed tighter, “It might not be that simple. Remember, the old men in the Evernight Council are crazy but not stupid. Show me the military map again.”
A lieutenant general spread out the latest map, marking fifteen battlefields, seven already fought, with the humans winning three, losing four, slightly at a disadvantage.
These were pre-set battlefields for the dark races, yet the humans, with a slight advantage, still lost more than they won.
Studying the fifteen battlefields, Bai Ao Tu frowned in silence.
The imperial military had analyzed these fields thoroughly, including various diagrams, but found no meaningful patterns. Many had tried divination, including Lin Xitan, who traveled from the Western Frontier to the capital, yet the Great Derivation Heaven-Machine Formula yielded nothing.
The result was not surprising. Several giants of the Evernight Council were rumored to be present, making it impossible to discern their plans through divination.
The old general then said, “Miss Bai, we’ve only fought seven. There are eight more. Perhaps more battles will reveal their intentions.”
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