Puff!
A stone struck the back of a black-clad man’s head who was trying to quietly escape the hall, shattering his skull.
As the corpse collapsed to the ground, Zhao Ya said indifferently, "From now on, all of you kneel for me. Without my command, make no unnecessary moves, or you will end up like him!"
The remaining black-clad men trembled like leaves, without even a moment’s hesitation, and collapsed to their knees with a thud.
The reason they so easily gave up resistance was entirely because Zhao Ya’s single-handed defeat of the giant serpent had utterly broken their psychological defenses.
To these people, the Python God was omnipotent.
This fact was evident as it could grant longevity and great power.
That’s why they had previously gone to such lengths to gather sacrifices, even establishing the Python God Sect, all to obtain more from the giant serpent.
Yet such a powerful "god" was easily defeated by the young man before them.
Doesn’t that mean he is more terrifying than a god?
Once this thought appeared, the black-clad men naturally lost any will to resist, immediately giving up without a fight.
Zhao Ya reached out his hand, gently touching the giant serpent’s brow.
The giant serpent’s eyes showed fear and plea, yet it dared not move at all.
For at this time, Zhao Ya unleashed his full aura, his eyes shining like those of a deity, with the faint pattern of dragon scales emerging beneath his skin.
Such a powerful aura froze the blood within the giant serpent entirely.
At this moment, a trace of anger appeared on Zhao Ya’s face.
Because as soon as he touched the giant serpent’s brow with his fingertip, he instantly sensed much information.
Much of it involved images of sacrifices.
Initially, this serpent was an ordinary small snake, but later, for some reason, its body mutated, gaining extraordinary power.
Over a long expanse of time, this giant serpent was eventually discovered by a group of people.
Because of its immense power, these people revered the serpent as a god, worshipping it with great devotion.
This marked the beginning shape of the Python God tribe.
Initially, these people merely offered simple tributes to the serpent, sacrificing just cattle and livestock.
However, a priest later discovered that after pleasing the serpent, he could temporarily regain youth and even gain great power.
Thus, seeking immortality, the priest began offering human sacrifices to gain favor from the giant serpent.
The outcome was as he expected: the serpent, delighted by the taste of humans, generously rewarded the priest.
From then on, in pursuit of greater power, the Python God tribe strayed further down this crooked path.
Initially, they only sacrificed prisoners from other tribes, but later they began targeting their own people.
Especially young girls, who became the giant serpent’s favorite.
This was the reason Wu Bao’Er initially escaped.
Later, when the Wilderness Jungle was swept by the Jingping Saint, the Python God tribe escaped due to their remote location, coupled with the serpent’s retreat underground when it sensed danger.
Afterward, the tribe entered a rapid development phase, with war prisoners from remnant tribes almost all ending up as food for the giant serpent.
To the point where, by now, it required a young girl every ten days.
This is precisely why Zhao Ya was so angry.
On the one hand, angered by the greed and audacity of the Python God tribe’s priests, and on the other, by the serpent’s atrocities.
In the sacrificial visions, the feeding process was vividly clear.
In the end, the serpent even accumulated some knowledge, such as making the "food" more delicious.
It would deliberately scare those girls, teasing them relentlessly, only beginning to feast when they were scared nearly insane to its satisfaction.
Such behavior was reminiscent of a cat toying with a mouse, except the prey were living humans.
"How does it feel to feed on humans? Quite thrilling, isn’t it?" Zhao Ya coldly remarked.
He knew the serpent could understand his words.
In fact, after so much time mingling with humans, the serpent had developed a very high intelligence, surpassed by none save for its inability to speak.
The serpent looked at Zhao Ya in utter fear, hissing with every breath, blood slowly dripping from its mouth, appearing pitiful.
Zhao Ya, however, was not deceived by these appearances.
The information he retrieved through his powerful perception ability was enough to reveal everything.
So no matter how much this giant serpent pretends to be pitiful, it’s useless now.
Zhao Ya stepped on the giant serpent’s head with one foot, drew the dagger hanging from his waist with the other hand, and fiercely thrust it into the scales.
After a terrible screech of grinding metal, the dagger plunged directly into the serpent’s body.
Immediately, Zhao Ya drew the blade smoothly downward.
With the sound of slicing leather, the serpent’s skin was forcibly cut open, and blood gushed out.
The giant serpent trembled all over with pain, trying several times to struggle, but under Zhao Ya’s menacing aura, it dared not even twitch, passively allowing Zhao Ya to skin it bit by bit.
The serpent was very long.
When it attacked Zhao Ya just now, the upper half of its body lunged forward, yet even its coiled lower half was sizable.
When Zhao Ya sliced down to this point, he grabbed the tail underneath and yanked it out, forcibly dragging that coiled body wide open.
Then Zhao Ya continued wielding his knife, soon skinning down to the tail, and gave a powerful yank downward.
The serpent’s skin peeled open, revealing the still pulsating snake meat beneath.
With only a small part still attached below, Zhao Ya took out a small bottle, opened the stopper, and poured its contents onto the serpent’s wound.
"Roar!"
The excruciating pain made the already nearly dead giant serpent lift its head and let out a roar.
Because of this stimulation, the last bit of skin and flesh broke apart completely.
The serpent’s entire body was left with only crimson flesh, while Zhao Ya acquired a complete snake skin.
But it still wasn’t over.
The serpent was indeed extremely powerful, already at the peak of Meridian Opening, just one step away from advancing to the Primordial Sea stage.
Combined with its strong animal instinct, this made its Life Force incredibly robust.
Even though its skin was forcibly removed, it wouldn’t die immediately and even had the potential to survive.
Zhao Ya threw the snake skin aside and went straight to the serpent’s abdomen. After sizing it up, he suddenly plunged his dagger in and slashed downward.
A huge wound formed abruptly, and Zhao Ya thrust his hand into the opening, starting to search around.
The serpent finally couldn’t endure the pain any longer, swiftly lifted its head, and bit down on its own body.
Even at this moment, it dared not attack Zhao Ya, instead thinking of ending its own life to escape the agony.
But Zhao Ya was prepared for this.
At the moment it rose, Zhao Ya seemed to grab onto something and gave a fierce tug.
Thud!
A snake gall the size of a watermelon was forcibly yanked out from the wound by Zhao Ya.
Once its snake gall was violently extracted, the serpent seemed to have all its strength drained, toppling to the ground with a thud, unable to struggle anymore.
Zhao Ya paid it no heed, instead admiring the snake gall in his hand with satisfaction.
The gall was golden and emitted a refreshing aroma, just a whiff of which cleared the mind.
Moreover, Zhao Ya felt a strong surge of Qi Blood Power from it.
No need to ask; this must be the giant serpent’s Meat Field.
Key was owing to the harsh extraction; this snake gall remained very fresh, even twitching slightly.
Zhao Ya contentedly pocketed the snake gall and turned to the serpent’s head.
By now, the serpent was more dead than alive. When it saw Zhao Ya approaching, its eyes were full of venomous resentment.
Zhao Ya, however, showed no fear.
Given the serpent’s deeds, it more than deserved a thousand cuts.
Having peeled its skin alive was already merciful.
Thud!
The short dagger pierced through the forehead, plunging into the brain.
The serpent’s body convulsed violently, then its eyes quickly dimmed and lost their luster.
Yet to ensure nothing was left to chance, Zhao Ya scoured inside thoroughly, turning the serpent’s brain into complete mush, ensuring it was utterly dead before withdrawing his blade and turning to the black-clad adversaries.
"Now, it’s your turn!"