58. Striking While You're Down

Xie Wuji awoke, feeling as if he had glimpsed his deceased grandfather. His grandfather was up among the clouds, ballroom dancing with a group of elderly ladies, all the while emitting that peculiar, infectious laughter of his. Chasing after one of the old women—who, though not quick on her feet, laughed heartily—his grandfather called out, “Come catch me! If you catch me, I’ll let you hehehe…”

“Don’t run, don’t run…yo hehehe, hehehe…” That lecherous laugh was something Xie Wuji would never forget.

“Grandfather!” Xie Wuji cried, his eyes snapping open, only to find himself gazing into the tearful eyes of Dongmen Xianyun.

When she saw that Xie Wuji had awoken, Dongmen Xianyun was so overcome with emotion that tears welled up in her eyes. "Brother Xie… Brother Xie!" she called out, rushing into his arms.

“Xianyun, you…” Xie Wuji was bewildered. He distinctly remembered shielding Dongmen Xianyun from the molten lava with his own body, certain he had died in the process. Yet here he was, still alive.

“Brother Xie… it's wonderful, wonderful, you’re alive…” Dongmen Xianyun was so choked with sobs that her words tumbled out in fragments.

A lump rose in Xie Wuji’s throat. He realized immediately that Dongmen Xianyun must have saved him. “Xianyun, what happened?”

Dongmen Xianyun recounted how she had saved him, though she omitted the part about administering medicine mouth-to-mouth, too shy to mention such an intimate detail.

Xie Wuji was astounded. “You didn’t take the Creation Pill?”

“That was the Creation Pill?” Dongmen Xianyun was taken aback. Xie Wuji hadn’t told her the name of the medicine before, and though she knew of its legendary power to revive the dying, she’d thought it was something else.

“It’s said there’s only one Creation Pill left in the world, and it’s kept in the imperial palace. Brother Xie, how did you get it?” Dongmen Xianyun asked, wiping away her tears.

“That’s a long story… I’ll tell you when we get out of here,” Xie Wuji replied. But when he glanced outside, he saw the giant serpent sprawled drunkenly in the shade of the trees, still blocking the entrance with half its massive body.

“I think I know why the Fire Python has become so agitated lately,” Dongmen Xianyun remarked.

“Huh?” Xie Wuji shivered, suddenly aware that his clothes had been scorched to tatters by the lava. Barely covering his vital parts, he looked more like a beggar—or perhaps even worse.

Dongmen Xianyun approached the enormous serpent and said, “Look, there’s a sword lodged in its body!”

Xie Wuji noticed it too: a bronze sword, likely a magical artifact, had pierced the serpent right at its vital spot—its “seven inches”—the most lethal point on a snake. No wonder the Fire Python had been so enraged.

Boldly, Xie Wuji advanced toward the serpent. Dongmen Xianyun, full of concern, called out, “Brother Xie, what are you going to do?”

“Strike while it’s weak! This beast has taken too many lives. Now that an opportunity has finally presented itself, how can I let it go? Last night, I must have missed its weak spot because of the darkness, but this time…”

Xie Wuji drew closer, just a few steps away. Regardless of whether the creature was a python or a flood dragon, their bodies were much the same—just as all people, be they cultivators or ordinary folk, could not survive a blow to the heart.

The “seven inches” was not a precise measurement but referred specifically to a snake’s heart. Strike the heart, and the snake would die. Though the heart’s position varied from snake to snake, the term generally referred to the most vital area; if you were unsure, you aimed for the belly.

Having grown up poor in the countryside, Xie Wuji had hunted eels for food as a child and occasionally caught snakes by accident. Through these experiences, he’d learned to locate a snake’s weak points with unerring accuracy.

Now, with the serpent just within reach, Xie Wuji gave a cold snort and leaped forward, straddling the python right at its vulnerable spot.

The Fire Python, instantly alert to the attack, recognized Xie Wuji and glared with luminous eyes, seemingly averse to the sunlight. Its attacks were far less ferocious than at night.

Xie Wuji was ready. He seized the bronze sword with both hands.

“So that’s it—the blade wasn’t pushed in all the way, which is why the serpent survived!” Xie Wuji exclaimed.

“Brother Xie, be careful!” Dongmen Xianyun called anxiously from the cave’s entrance, fearing for his safety once more.

But this time, Xie Wuji—fresh from a brush with death—felt his cultivation had surged, likely thanks to the Creation Pill. He now hovered at the threshold of the Golden Core stage.

The Creation Pill’s spiritual energy was explosive, but since Xie Wuji had been gravely injured, most of its power had gone into healing his wounds, inadvertently strengthening his body.

Not a single scar remained. Much like how a bone becomes stronger after it heals from a fracture, Xie Wuji’s body had been refined by adversity, propelling him to a new level.

He could have started condensing his Golden Core then and there, but instead, he focused all his attention on the giant serpent before him.

The serpent thrashed wildly, shaking Xie Wuji as if he were riding a bucking bronco, but now, full of energy and strength, Xie Wuji no longer feared the weakened Fire Python.

After a struggle, the bronze sword sank deeper into the wound, and scorching blood gushed from the opening.

The Fire Python coughed up a mouthful of hot blood, twisting its head to snap at Xie Wuji, but he clung stubbornly to the sword, refusing to let go.

With a thunderous roar, the serpent spewed lava at Xie Wuji, but he was prepared. At the moment the lava surged forth, he spun around and hugged the serpent’s belly, causing the lava to splash harmlessly onto its own body.

The python hissed in rage, but Xie Wuji seized the moment, raining punch after punch down onto the sword’s hilt.

The serpent’s muscles were as hard as wood, and each blow demanded his full strength. With every strike, the sword drove deeper.

Their battle churned the forest into chaos, trees flattened and the ground churned to mud, dust swirling everywhere.

The commotion attracted the disciples and the sect master of the Fire Dragon Gate, who had been searching for Xianyun all night.

Meanwhile, the spiritual energy atop Fire Dragon Mountain was in turmoil. Having just finished his thirty-sixth pot of tea, Swordmaster Dongmen finally sensed the Fire Python’s aura. He leaped to his feet, flung his treasured sword into the air, stepped onto it, and shot off in a streak of light.

The most unfortunate of all was Shi Zhentian, who had lain in wait under Xie Wuji’s bed for a full day and night, hoping to assassinate him in his sleep. But Xie Wuji never returned. Just as Shi Zhentian began to nod off, grumbling in frustration, he too sensed the Fire Python’s immense energy.

“What on earth is happening up there? Could it be that Xie Wuji is actually fighting the Fire Python? I hope the beast eats him—I’d better go take a look!”

Shi Zhentian rolled out from under the bed, opened the window, and took to the skies on his sword.

Around the battlefield where Xie Wuji fought, the forest had been flattened, the terrain ravaged.

Even gravely wounded at its vital spot, the Fire Python was tenacious, thrashing so violently that Xie Wuji suffered considerable injuries as well.

But Xie Wuji knew that if he retreated now, there would be no second chance. With the opportunity before him, he would not let it slip away.

He didn’t notice that the edge of the battlefield was now ringed with spectators.

The disciples of the Fire Dragon Gate watched in terror, even Huo Chilian was stunned, his mouth agape. “A disciple not even at the Golden Core stage has single-handedly slain a millennia-old Fire Python?! Is this the true strength of Danxia Sect?”

“This is insane! The way that Fire Python is struggling is terrifying—just who is this kid?”

Swordmaster Dongmen, perched at the treetops, was equally astonished by the scene before him. “Even for me, taking down a millennia-old Fire Python would come at a heavy cost, yet this boy Xie Wuji…”

Spotting Dongmen Xianyun at the cave’s entrance, the Swordmaster let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, my sister is safe.”