Chapter 67 : Chapter 67
Chapter 67: The Demon-Taming Art That Left Cheng Yu Stunned
Inside the vast hollow at the mountain’s heart, a man and a serpent faced one another.
Looking at the enormous phantom before him, Cheng Yu was caught off guard.
Hadn’t the system said that the giant snake could be subdued with the True Martial Aura?
Then what exactly was this overbearing phantom?
As far as he knew, demons—especially the truly powerful ones that had already awakened intelligence—were violent by nature.
Only when such a creature was made to submit utterly and completely could it truly be taken in under one’s command.
What use was there in summoning a phantom?
He studied the phantom’s appearance.
It was the figure of an awe-inspiring man, majestic and supremely imposing.
He was barefoot, with long black hair spilling loose over his shoulders.
A divine radiance shone above his head.
He wore a suit of brilliant golden armor, and beneath it was an exquisitely crafted robe of deep black.
A jade belt circled his waist.
In his hand was a treasure sword that looked strangely familiar, its tip leveled at the giant snake.
His eyes were wide with wrath, as though he were trying to cow the serpent into submission.
“It certainly looks impressive, but what does this have to do with taking it in as a ‘Snake General’?”
“You can’t subdue a thing like this just by trying to scare it...”
Cheng Yu grew puzzled.
The giant snake showed no sign of bowing its head before the phantom.
On the contrary, it continued to bare its fangs savagely and stare fixedly at it.
Its body drew back slightly, coiling with gathered force, ready to launch an attack at any moment.
Just as Cheng Yu had seen, the giant snake had not grown fearful just because its earlier charge had been blocked by the phantom.
If anything, the vicious gleam in its eyes only deepened.
It lunged at the phantom once more.
The phantom reached out to seize it, but the snake dodged with startling agility, leaving the grab empty.
Its tail lashed out and struck the phantom, making its whole body sway.
Its cunning little trick, full of intelligence, had actually succeeded.
The giant snake narrowed its blood-red eyes.
The corners of its enormous maw curled upward, revealing an expression so human it was almost absurd.
It was mocking the phantom!
The phantom, as though it had never expected such a thing to happen, stood there blankly.
The giant snake’s mockery only grew more brazen.
It even began rolling about, making the surrounding cavern shake violently.
“I knew it. Scaring it alone won’t work. If you want to tame a pet, you need love... a loving caress.”
As Cheng Yu was still thinking, he suddenly sensed a subtle change in the phantom before him.
After being mocked by the giant snake, the stunned phantom began to tremble.
Its body grew increasingly solid, and an immeasurable pressure spread outward from it.
All at once, Cheng Yu had the strange feeling that he could sense the phantom’s emotions.
It was not anger.
It was exciting!
The pressure it released crashed down unexpectedly onto the rolling giant snake, making it furious once again.
“ROAR!!”
With an enraged howl, the giant snake unleashed all of its dragon-might and gathered itself for another attack.
But this time, its fury never even got the chance to turn into action.
An enormous bare foot slammed down onto its body.
The kick sent it flying backward into the stone wall, triggering a violent tremor.
“ROAR!!”
The giant snake was instantly consumed with rage.
This thing actually dared strike it!
It had only just gotten back up and was about to retaliate when another kick sent it crashing to the ground again.
That kick was vicious beyond measure.
It sent a mouthful of searing dark-red blood spraying from the serpent’s mouth.
The scorching blood hit the ground and evaporated at once.
And wherever the dark-red blood flowed, spirit herbs and medicinal grasses actually began to sprout.
Cheng Yu stared blankly at the domineering sight of the phantom kicking the giant snake and understood less and less.
What kind of taming method was this supposed to be?
At that moment, a few words suddenly flashed through his mind.
A loving caress...
“A loving caress?!”
Cheng Yu’s eyes widened.
The phantom was conveying those words to him.
To subdue the giant snake, this was what it called a “loving caress”?!
The giant snake, after coughing up blood from that “caress,” raised its head again and glared at the phantom with even deeper malice.
It had actually been injured!
Courting death!
Without the slightest restraint, it unleashed its terrifying aura in full and charged over.
The phantom did not continue glaring at the giant snake.
Instead, it looked at Cheng Yu.
“Why are you looking at me?”
Cheng Yu was momentarily dumbfounded, but then a flash of insight struck him.
He immediately took out two items the system had previously rewarded him with.
The Dragon-Binding Rope!
And the Heaven Grade weapon, the Demon-Beating Staff!
The phantom nodded in satisfaction and reached out to take both items into its hands.
The moment they entered its grasp, the two objects instantly grew enormous and radiated a terrifying aura.
The giant snake sensed the aura of those two items.
Its eyes changed, and it instinctively tried to pull back.
But the phantom seized it by the vital spot in a single move.
The Dragon-Binding Rope, dozens of zhang long, wrapped around its body and cinched down tight.
The giant snake was constricted so painfully that it convulsed wildly.
In rage, it attacked the phantom again.
But it was useless.
The Demon-Beating Staff smashed down viciously onto its head.
BOOM!
The giant snake crashed to the ground, and the impact made the entire cavern tremble violently once more.
But it still refused to give up.
It struggled back to its feet again, only to be clubbed back down with another blow.
The phantom planted one foot hard on the snake’s body, its majestic aura surging as its gaze turned incomparably fierce.
At that moment, only three words flashed through Cheng Yu’s mind.
Submit now?
“ROAR!!!”
A savage light flared in the giant snake’s blood-red eyes as it roared once again.
Cheng Yu understood its meaning.
It refused!
And so, in the next instant, Cheng Yu witnessed a scene he would never forget.
The phantom pinned the giant snake down with one foot.
At the same time, it looped the Dragon-Binding Rope around the serpent’s vital spot and yanked it tight with savage force.
The immense strength nearly constricted the giant snake’s thick body to half its former girth.
The snake writhed in unbearable agony.
But every time it struggled, what greeted it was only another kick.
A kick that sent it vomiting blood...
Cheng Yu stared so wide-eyed that he had gone completely numb.
He had gained an entirely new understanding of what it meant to tame a demon beast.
Outside the cave, Jian A and Ai Peng stared anxiously into the tunnel.
Then, all of a sudden, the earth shook and the mountain trembled.
Their hearts grew even more frantic.
They wanted to go down and look, but wave after wave of violent shaking came from within.
That beast must be rampaging again.
What state was Lord Cheng in now?
They were frantic, yet utterly helpless.
All they could do was wait here.
Jian A gritted his teeth.
“Damn that beast! If it dares harm my master, the Sword Bearers will never let you go!”
If anything happened to Cheng Yu, he would drag the leader of the Sword Bearers over to cut that Great Demon down!
He had not even yet become the leader’s Second Senior Brother!
...
A long time later, Sword-Forging Mountain finally stopped shaking.
The laborers who had already descended the mountain were no longer so uneasy.
At last, the tremors had ceased!
Inside the cave, the giant snake, which had originally been brimming with life and boundless might, now lay sprawled on the ground, utterly unable to resist.
White scales littered the floor everywhere.
Its head had been beaten completely red.
Its mouth and tongue had turned black-purple, as though it had swallowed something foul.
Only then did the phantom lower the tools in its hands and nod in satisfaction.
Then it gradually dispersed.
From beginning to end, Cheng Yu’s mouth had never once managed to close.
The phantom’s method of subduing the giant snake was simply too shocking!
“So this is a loving caress...”
He cautiously walked toward the half-dead giant snake.
The moment it saw a tiny ant-like creature approaching, disdain flashed through its eyes.
But in the very next second—
SNAP!
The Dragon-Binding Rope struck the ground.
The giant snake shuddered all over, and its body abruptly shrank to the size of an ordinary python.
Then it came slithering over at once, eager and obedient, pressing its head affectionately against Cheng Yu’s hand as though it had finally found the master it had served for years.
Cheng Yu stroked its icy, smooth scales.
The admiration in his heart for that phantom had reached an indescribable height.
So this was how one tamed demons?
【Congratulations, Host. The Heavenly Serpent has been subdued. Would you like to appoint it as the “Snake General” under your command?】