The Rat Cultivator

Chapter 155: Ripping the Skeleton from the Snake

Bibo sneered, his expression dripping with disdain. “Small body, big mouth.”

“So, just because you hiss a command, this place belongs to you? We’re all supposed to bow down and obey?” Bibo picked his ear nonchalantly. “Did you drink too much lake water and get drunk? If you’re intoxicated, roll back to your mountain and eat some mud to sober up!”

Bibo’s mockery drew a chorus of suppressed cheers from the aquatic demons hiding in the periphery.

The Red Refined Fire Snake had been far too tyrannical recently. He acted like a bandit warlord, pointing at anything he fancied—even Spirit Stones the size of rice grains—and claiming it as his own. Robbery wasn’t enough; he also demanded flesh. He would select weaker water demons to fill his belly, driving the survivors to the desolate southern shore.

Most of the spectators had fled here to escape his gluttony. They feared his power too much to speak, but seeing Bibo stand up to him was cathartic.

Bibo wasn’t finished. “You look pathetic. Did the Black Water Flood Dragon Snake kick you out to beg for scraps? Tell you what—call me ‘Grandpa Bibo,’ and I might toss you a fish head!”

Hidden deep beneath the surface, Wu Yuan nodded in approval.

“Bibo has spent too much time with the Winged Tiger; his tongue has become as sharp as a blade,” Wu Yuan mused. “But does this Red Refined Fire Snake have brain damage? He seems… sluggish. Is this really how one applies political pressure?”

On the surface, the Red Refined Fire Snake exploded with rage.

“You insolent rat!”

Opening his jaws, the snake sprayed a jet of venom that burned with the intensity of liquid fire. The air itself distorted, sizzling as the toxic stream cut through it.

Bibo recoiled. He didn’t dare let that substance touch him. He knew the potency of fire poison all too well.

With a wave of his hand, a wall of water surged up to intercept the blast. It held for barely a second before boiling away into steam. Bibo was forced to deploy his Tooth Magical Artifact to slash through the remaining firelight.

Hiss!

The artifact cleaved the attack, but the fire poison clung to it, scorching the surface and dimming its spiritual light. Bibo winced, his heart aching for his damaged gear.

Despite the banter, the gap in power was evident. The Red Refined Fire Snake was a mid-stage Qi Condensation beast with over 20 strands of Demon Power. His physical strength was average, but that fire poison was lethal. Bibo wouldn’t last long in a direct confrontation.

Beside Wu Yuan, Little Wolf watched eagerly.

“This snake is weaker than I remember,” Little Wolf whispered, his fur bristling with anticipation. “He used to tower over me, but with the Great King’s resources, I’ve caught up. My cultivation is now his equal.”

“And my element is his natural predator,” Little Wolf growled. “Great King, watch this. I’m going to pound him into the mud.”

Wu Yuan nodded, his eyes locked on the chaotic surface. “Wait for the opening.”

Above, the Red Refined Fire Snake had pinned Bibo down. If not for the beaver guards running interference, the battle would have already ended.

Sensing victory, the snake’s eyes flashed crimson. He soared into the air, diving toward Bibo while spitting a beam of concentrated cold light—his fangs, transformed into needle-like Magical Artifacts.

They flashed through the air, too fast for Bibo to dodge.

“Now!” Wu Yuan commanded.

Little Wolf unleashed the Frost Chill Breath he had been charging since the fight began. In a single burst, he drained his entire reserve of Demon Power.

A massive wolf avatar made of solid ice erupted from the water, intercepting the snake’s dive. The ambient temperature plummeted instantly, freezing the lake surface for dozens of meters around. The firelight surrounding the snake was instantly suffocated by the overwhelming cold.

“No! You damn wolf pup, why are you here?!”

The Red Refined Fire Snake shrieked in panic. He frantically recalled his needle artifacts to deflect the ice wolf, but the momentum was unstoppable. The impact barely bought him a fraction of a second to twist his body, saving his head from being crushed.

Crunch.

The ice wolf’s jaws clamped onto the snake’s lower body. Frost spread rapidly, turning the vibrant red scales white. The fire poison in his veins began to solidify.

Just as the snake turned to bite the ice, a green streak flashed—Bibo’s Tooth Artifact struck, aiming for the eyes.

Cornered and freezing, the Red Refined Fire Snake’s eyes went wild with desperation. He opened his mouth and spat out a dark red Talisman.

BOOM!

The talisman detonated, releasing a shockwave of thermal energy that instantly vaporized the ice wolf and deflected Bibo’s artifact. The snake was free, panting heavily, his body riddled with deep, frostbitten gashes. He stared at the fading ashes of the talisman with heartache—that was his last lifeline.

Deep below, Wu Yuan’s eyes lit up.

“Trump card exhausted. Calculations complete.”

Wind Walk Technique.

Wu Yuan’s body dissolved into a formless breeze, merging perfectly with the air currents. He vanished from the water without a ripple.

In the blink of an eye, he materialized directly beside the hovering snake.

The speed was unnatural. If the Winged Tiger were here, he would have questioned his own existence; compared to Wu Yuan’s mastery, the tiger’s flight was as clumsy as a falling rock. This proficiency was the result of the Three-Leaf Green Root.

Originally a thirty-year-old spirit herb, it had been cultivated by Little Yellow in a High-Grade Spirit Field until it grew three additional leaves, doubling its potency. Consuming it, combined with Wu Yuan’s anatomical study of the Green Roc’s wind-attuned skeleton, had elevated his Wind Walk Technique to a terrifying level.

He moved faster, merged deeper, and consumed less energy.

Wu Yuan extended his claws. Blood and Qi condensed in his palms, forming a pressurized field that locked the snake in place for a single, crucial heartbeat.

Thud.

One hand clamped onto the snake’s tail. The other seized the “seven-inch” vital point—the heart.

Wu Yuan’s grip was like a hydraulic press. The snake’s flesh burst under the pressure, blood spraying. Wu Yuan’s claws dug deep, piercing muscle and clamping onto the spine.

The Red Refined Fire Snake’s eyes bulged, his head turning purple from the chokehold. He tried to scream, but his windpipe was crushed.

Let me go! My brother will kill you! The frantic message blasted out via Demon Sense.

Wu Yuan grinned, a look of feral, scientific madness crossing his face.

“Die.”

He yanked his arms in opposite directions.

RIIIIIP!

It wasn’t a messy tear; it was a surgical extraction.

Wu Yuan used a specific frequency of vibration and brute force to separate connective tissue instantly. The entire spinal column of the Red Refined Fire Snake was drawn out of the body in one smooth motion.

In his left hand, the spine hung long and pristine—bone white as jade, pulsing with red spirit patterns, completely devoid of meat.

In his right hand, the boneless sack of flesh and scales flopped limply, instantly dead.

A fountain of toxic, fiery blood erupted from the cavity, spraying over Wu Yuan. But his protective aura flared, and the corrosive liquid slid off his fur like rain on oil, hissing as it hit the lake below.