"Who goes there?" Feng Lin barked, acting without a second thought as he struck instantly.
The writhing shadow was clearly a living creature. Though its body was as supple as a snake's, it had a head and limbs—unmistakably human. It had crept up silently, bearing ill intent.
Whether friend or foe, striking first was undoubtedly the right move.
Feng Lin's voice cracked like thunder as he inhaled deeply and exhaled, the sound exploding like a bomb. Even before his fist landed, it sent chills down one's spine.
A flash of white light shot from his mouth—a qi arrow piercing the air to wound.
He stomped hard on the ground, shattering the mountaintop rocks. His legs swept in rapid succession, kicking dozens of kilograms of stone like soccer balls, fast as cannon shells.
Without slowing his pace, he pounced down like a fierce tiger, his momentum blazing like wildfire, unleashing his full strength in an instant to subdue the opponent.
With a relentless barrage, Feng Lin launched an attack as fluid as quicksilver, giving the enemy no chance to catch his breath.
"Not good!" The snake-like shadow on the mountain's dark side cried out in alarm upon being discovered.
He hadn't expected this man to react so sharply or attack so ferociously—swift as the wind, aggressive as fire. In an instant, he found himself trapped in a perilous situation, utterly defenseless.
His slender form slithered rapidly, limbs pressed to the ground, darting along the cliff face like a snake. The qi arrows and rocks were dodged one after another.
Just as Feng Lin's strike closed in, the snake-like figure arched its back, sprang up high with explosive force, nimbly evading the attack. It slipped past the fist like oil, then flattened itself against the cliff, scurrying forward at breakneck speed.
"Where do you think you're going?" Feng Lin snorted coldly. As their forms crossed, he caught a rough glimpse of the figure: a boneless, supple body clad in black scale-like clothing, resembling a massive black-scaled python, perfectly blending into the surrounding darkness.
If not for his awakened psychic gene, Feng Lin would have struggled to detect him.
The more eerie this snake-man was, the more sinister his intentions seemed.
He couldn't let this man escape.
*Ha!*
Feng Lin stomped again, sinking his feet into the rock as if it were soft tofu. With a breath and a shout, he threw a punch.
*Hong Fist!*
This was a common ancient martial art, unenhanced by genetic abilities, yet it still displayed formidable power in his hands.
A simple long punch, launched repeatedly through the air, sent out wild, invisible force waves that struck from a distance.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The air rang out with successive thunderous echoes.
The fist force, fast as cannonballs and dense as rain, blasted toward the enemy all at once.
The hard cliff face was riddled with holes, debris flying everywhere.
The snake-like figure slithered along the ground like a real serpent, twisting its body incessantly, dodging through the gaps in the fist force with uncanny agility, evading every attack.
Such bodily flexibility was beyond ordinary human capability.
Seeing this, Feng Lin knew the man had awakened a mythical gene—his abilities were too bizarre, his flexibility snake-like, a type he'd never encountered before.
Snake gene? Boneless gene? Flexibility gene? ...
He couldn't tell.
There were many types of body-softening genes, with similar abilities, but in such a short time, he couldn't distinguish them.
"A bit tricky," Feng Lin thought to himself.
But only a bit tricky.
As an interstellar cultivator, he had too many tricks up his sleeve to handle any situation calmly.
Watching the snake-man flee in panic, Feng Lin unleashed his full speed and gave chase.
With a speed of at least 2.28 seconds per hundred meters, he moved like teleportation, closing in instantly.
This extreme speed surpassed both the human body's limits and the eye's ability to track, leaving afterimages in his wake. It seemed as if Feng Lin's figures filled the mountainside, real and omnipresent.
Feng Lin's hand formed a claw, striking fiercely with a gust of wind.
*Shiiing...*
The air tore like ripped cloth. The snake-like figure, caught off guard, was yanked out of the shadows and held high in midair.
Feng Lin saw a grotesque figure—its face scrunched up, ugly and strange, its body soft as water, seemingly boneless. Though human, it writhed in his palm like a snake.
Its clothing, whatever it was, felt like a layer of slippery scales, hard to grip, as if it might slither away at any moment.
Feng Lin tightened his grip.
"Ah..." The figure's face contorted in pain as Feng Lin's immense force crushed it. Suddenly, its mouth opened, and two green lights flashed—tiny as needles, sharp and deadly, shooting straight for Feng Lin's eyes.
At such close range, it was face-to-face, nearly impossible to dodge.
"What's that?" A sense of crisis surged in Feng Lin's mind. He instinctively shut his eyes and activated the Stone Monkey gene, his skin instantly tightening, hardening like marble.
The tiny needles struck his eyelids with a *ding-ding* sound, sparks flying as they bounced off.
"What?!" A cry of disbelief rang out as the surefire attack failed.
Taking advantage of Feng Lin's distraction, the snake-like body slipped, suddenly shrinking into an elongated form, escaping his grasp and fleeing frantically, desperate to put as much distance as possible between itself and this inhuman being.
*Sizzle! Sizzle!*
The two green needles fell to the ground, hissing as they corroded the earth—clearly laced with potent poison.
Feng Lin's fury flared. Such a venomous move meant the man had truly intended to kill him.
Originally, he'd only wanted to subdue the man and figure out his origins—why he was following him.
Now, there was no need for deliberation!
When someone tries to kill you, showing mercy would be sheer idiocy.
Feng Lin let loose, going for the kill.
He flicked his fingers repeatedly, his tiny muscles vibrating at high frequency, shooting out needle-thin qi projectiles that pierced the air with sharp whistles, fast as bullets.
Though each individual qi projectile wasn't powerful, their density and number made them hard to evade.
The snake-man knew the danger. Opening his mouth, he spat out a rain of poisonous green needles.
The needles and qi projectiles clashed repeatedly, *clinking* like metal striking stone, sparks scattering as they fell to the ground.
Each green needle was razor-sharp, sticking upright in the earth, while the qi projectiles left the ground riddled with holes.
It seemed evenly matched, but Feng Lin had successfully stalled the man. He wouldn't miss this chance.
*Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist!*
With the Stone Monkey gene granting a stone-hard body and iron bones, his toughness rivaled that of the Diamond gene, allowing him to fully utilize this genetic martial art at 100% power.
Feng Lin punched relentlessly, like a vajra descending to earth, taking three-meter strides as he closed in.
*Boom!*
His fist, heavy and powerful, sent surging qi force crashing forward, creating a strong wind pressure that pinned the man to the ground, unable to move.
This punch...
Unblockable!
The snake-like figure looked up, his face filled with terror.
*Bang!*
The snake-man, utterly defenseless, was struck hard by the punch, his body flattened into a shriveled snakeskin.
"Something's wrong!" Feng Lin sensed it immediately. With his immense strength, a full-power punch should have made the man spit blood—but he didn't. Impossible!
*Whoosh!*
A figure suddenly shot out from the snakeskin, fleeing for its life.
This snake-like shedding ability caught Feng Lin off guard, but his killing intent was fully roused. He wouldn't let the man escape.
His invisible psychic force spread out, locking onto the figure, preventing any escape.
Outmatched in speed and direct combat!
The shadow was gradually pushed to its limit. Finally unable to hold back, it lunged forward.
Its flat body inflated like a balloon, expanding into human form. It pulled out a beam gun and fired.
A scorching beam tore through the darkness, aiming to destroy everything in its path.
A massive crisis surged in Feng Lin's heart. He crossed his arms to shield his chest.
*Sizzle!*
The beam struck Feng Lin's arms, forcing him back over a dozen steps before he stopped, leaving a trail of shocking footprints.
The Stone Monkey gene, impervious to fire and water, finally withstood the energy impact.
Feng Lin's hands trembled slightly, his arms charred black. His killing intent surged.
"Die!" he roared, leaping high with unstoppable momentum, his fist pressure heavy as a mountain.
Before the strike landed, it already pinned the man in place.
Even if you were a snake, this punch would turn you into a dead one.
Facing such a terrifying blow, the snake-like figure knew he couldn't dodge. Despair filled his face, as if he could already see himself crushed beneath the fist.
"Spare him!" At that moment, a pair of hands emerged from the darkness. Seemingly ordinary, they contained infinite variations, with a encompassing momentum that subtly enveloped Feng Lin's fist technique.