Now Su Li could finally see clearly—what was pulling the kayak at high speed through the water was actually a massive snake.
This giant snake was entirely cyan. Since most of its body was submerged, with the kayak blocking the view behind it, Su Li couldn’t tell its full length. But judging by the head rising from the water, which was as thick as an adult’s calf, he could imagine the snake’s length was quite astonishing.
“No wonder it’s pulling a kayak—riding this snake in the water wouldn’t be easy. But the fact that it can drag a kayak at such a breakneck speed means its strength is pretty incredible,” Su Li mused silently.
The young man, wielding the massive black blade, slashed through the water repeatedly, quickly carving a bloody path. Though the gathered spirit-source beasts were numerous, most were level six or seven monsters, ordinary types that couldn’t stop the young man armed with a spirit-source weapon. He soon approached the Jinhui Central Building.
Su Li watched as he prepared to climb toward another balcony nearby. Suddenly, the cyan giant snake lifted its head from the water and let out a series of sharp hisses toward the spot where Su Li was hiding.
The young man immediately stopped and turned his head to look at Su Li’s balcony.
“This guy—does it know I’m hiding here?” Su Li frowned slightly. Though he had evaded the young man’s notice, the cyan giant snake had detected him.
The young man suddenly chuckled, changed his mind, and leaped toward Su Li’s balcony, holding the massive black blade in front of him as a precaution against attack.
Seeing he’d been discovered, Su Li stopped hiding and stepped out from the corner.
The young man vaulted into the balcony, steadied himself, and sized up Su Li with the black blade in his right hand.
Su Li wore a faint smile and spoke first: “Hello.”
The young man showed a strange expression and said, “What are you sneaking around here for? Trying to ambush me?”
Su Li frowned slightly. “I’m just here to take shelter from the rain. I don’t even know who you are—why would I ambush you?”
“You’re also here to escape the rain?” The young man shook the rainwater from his hair, tilted his head as if thinking, then suddenly grinned, showing his teeth. “Right, you’ve got a point. I’ve never seen you before—this is our first meeting. We don’t know each other, so why would you ambush me? Looks like you’re a good person. Sorry, I misunderstood you just now.”
The young man laughed, his eyes bright, looking very cheerful.
Su Li watched him, noticing that the young man’s smile seemed innocent, his gaze pure. But from his words, Su Li felt the young man in front of him might be a bit slow-witted.
“My name is Mo Ziyuan. What’s your name, big brother?” The young man, now convinced Su Li was a good person, grew enthusiastic.
“Mo Ziyuan?” Su Li was taken aback. This guy was Mo Ziyuan?
The name wasn’t unfamiliar—he’d heard Jiang Xiaodong mention it not long ago. The Eastern Building had three leaders: the first leader, Mo Xingxuan; the second leader, Zhao Haoyang; and the third leader, Mo Ziyuan, nicknamed the Madman.
Looking at the beaming Mo Ziyuan before him, Su Li suddenly understood why others called him a madman behind his back—no, this should be an idiot.
This guy was a bit simple.
Though he seemed simple, the strength he’d just displayed was indeed formidable, no weaker than Zhao Haoyang. Such a person might be simple, but compared to some clever types, Su Li actually preferred this kind of simpleton—at least he didn’t have to worry about underhanded schemes or sneak attacks.
Su Li smiled. “My name is Su Li. You’re Mo Ziyuan, right? Why are you here alone? Was that snake pulling the kayak tamed by you?”
As he spoke, he activated his “Peep Rune” and found that Mo Ziyuan, like himself, was a level 8 spirit-source user with five special abilities. Beyond that, he couldn’t glean any more valuable information.
Mo Ziyuan stared at the vertical slit-like mark on Su Li’s forehead and said cheerfully, “What’s that, big brother? A tattoo that changes? Interesting.”
Su Li looked down at the cyan giant snake, trying to peek at its data. As he did, he suddenly noticed the snake had vanished. The kayak was still there, the ropes in place, but the giant snake that had been tethered was gone without a trace.
“Are you looking for Qingxuan, big brother?” Mo Ziyuan laughed carelessly, extending his left arm. Su Li saw a massive cyan snake head emerge from behind him, slithering down his arm until it rested its head on his palm, opening its mouth to flick a blood-red tongue with a hiss.
When had this cyan giant snake appeared behind Mo Ziyuan? Su Li hadn’t noticed at all.
He immediately used the Peep Rune to examine the cyan snake but couldn’t detect any data.
“This isn’t a spirit-source beast… Could it be…” Su Li suddenly understood. This snake named Qingxuan wasn’t a spirit-source beast—it was a manifestation of Mo Ziyuan’s special ability, possibly even his spirit-source technique. His ability could summon or conjure this cyan giant snake, and he could command it to pull the kayak at high speed through the water. Su Li had assumed, due to preconceptions, that it was a tamed spirit-source beast like the Crocodile-Toothed Turtle.
“So it’s called Qingxuan.” Su Li smiled. “Is it a manifestation of your ability? It looks exactly like a real one.”
Hearing this, Mo Ziyuan immediately dropped his smile, looking displeased. “Big brother, you’re wrong. Qingxuan is alive—it just lives inside me. We’re symbiotic.”
Qingxuan, as if understanding Su Li’s words, immediately bared its sharp fangs at him with a hiss, expressing its displeasure.
“Your words made Qingxuan angry.” Mo Ziyuan looked anxious. “Apologize to Qingxuan quickly and beg for its forgiveness, or it’ll be trouble.”
Su Li was taken aback, looking at Mo Ziyuan and the Qingxuan resting on his hand, frowning slightly.
Mo Ziyuan lowered his head to look at the Qingxuan in his left hand and muttered, “Qingxuan, Qingxuan, are you still angry?”
Qingxuan kept its fangs bared, staring at Su Li with an agitated hiss.
“What?” Mo Ziyuan looked shocked. “You want to eat him? No, no, Qingxuan. This Brother Su Li seems like a really good person. Can’t you forgive him just this once?”
“Oh? You mean he’s not a good person? That he was sneaking around just now to ambush me? Is that it?”
Su Li silently watched this one-man, one-snake exchange. Mo Ziyuan seemed to be talking to the Qingxuan in his hand, yet also to himself. Su Li suddenly understood why outsiders called Mo Ziyuan a madman, not an idiot.
The Qingxuan in Mo Ziyuan’s hand kept hissing, its head raised, staring at Su Li with hostility.
Mo Ziyuan looked up at Su Li, his face darkening imperceptibly.
“Qingxuan says you’re a bad person. Qingxuan never misjudges people. So you’re a bad guy, pretending to be good to trick me just now.” As he spoke, he slowly raised the black blade in his right hand, and the atmosphere suddenly grew tense.
Su Li stared at the pair before him. He didn’t know if Mo Ziyuan was putting on an act or genuinely had a split personality, with Qingxuan becoming a manifestation of another consciousness, the dialogue with it being a conversation with another persona. But Su Li finally understood completely—this guy was indeed a madman.
A sword hilt emerged from his chest. Su Li grabbed it and swiftly drew the Dragon-Rhino Sword. For a madman like this, he didn’t bother with words—direct action was simpler.
This move startled Mo Ziyuan, who lowered the black blade he’d just raised.
“I didn’t expect you to have a weapon like that. So, you want to kill me with that blade. Qingxuan, he wants to kill us. What should I do?”
Mo Ziyuan’s expression shifted constantly—excitement, anger, confusion, fear. Su Li had never seen anyone’s face change so much in such a short time.
This wasn’t an act. The Mo Ziyuan before him truly had a mental issue.
Just as he thought this, Mo Ziyuan let out a wild roar, like a thunderclap exploding there. He gripped the black blade with both hands and swung it down in a head-on slash.
The black blade, about one and a half meters long and two palms wide at its broadest, came down with a faint sound of wind and thunder, unstoppable.
In comparison, Su Li’s Dragon-Rhino Sword seemed more delicate.
As fellow spirit-source weapons, Su Li even wondered if his slender Dragon-Rhino Sword could withstand the fierce, domineering black blade.
Qingxuan fully emerged, coiling around Mo Ziyuan’s body, its head raised high, hissing, its tail slowly extending outward.
Su Li cautiously sidestepped, retreating diagonally through the balcony door into the interior.
Mo Ziyuan’s black blade arced in the air, following Su Li’s retreat, slicing into the wall like tofu, cutting horizontally through it.
The Qingxuan coiled around him suddenly shot out, a flash of cyan light, darting through the door like lightning to strike at the retreating Su Li.
Su Li raised his Dragon-Rhino Sword, angling it to deflect the incoming Qingxuan.
With a sharp clang, Su Li felt his right arm sink as the sword rebounded from a massive impact. Qingxuan, struck by his blade, was unharmed.
Mo Ziyuan followed closely into the room—a living room with a sofa, coffee table, TV cabinet, TV, and two large floor vases. Though not cramped, it was far from spacious, hardly suitable for a fight.