The Rat Cultivator

Chapter 162: Captured Alive

Wu Yuan didn’t engage further. He dissolved into a wisp of clear breeze and vanished from the jaws of the beast.

Reappearing a short distance away, he stared coldly at his opponent.

The Black Water Flood Dragon Snake didn’t dare pursue. He retracted his Flood Dragon Spear, which morphed back into the single horn atop his head.

“Cough! Cough!”

He spat out a mouthful of blood and broken teeth. His voice was hoarse and gloomy.

“Good. Very good.”

“Where did a monster like you come from? To have such power…”

He lifted his face. It was a ruin of mangled flesh. His left eye socket was a bloody crater—Wu Yuan’s earlier mace strike had completely crushed the eye.

Staring with his sole remaining right eye, sinister and hateful, he gritted out his surrender.

“I, Snake Liu, submit.”

“I don’t want the Sinking Gold Carp anymore. From this day forward, Polong Lake honors you as Supreme Ruler.”

Wu Yuan looked at the venomous resentment practically spilling from the serpent’s eye and burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha!”

“You think a few empty words will make me let you go?” Wu Yuan’s smile vanished, replaced by icy mockery. “Did you really think I was just playing games with you earlier?”

The Black Water Flood Dragon Snake’s expression twisted. Without another word, he dissolved into a stream of water, diving deep into Polong Lake to flee.

Wu Yuan didn’t chase him. He just floated there, watching the ripples with a look of supreme contempt.

“Ridiculous.”

HUMMM—

Suddenly, the air above the lake darkened. A murky yellow haze descended, suffocating the sky and the water alike.

Beams of light erupted from the Beaver Water Fortresses dotting the southern shore.

Bibo, the Winged Tiger, the Snow Plains Wolf King, and One Ear emerged from their hiding spots. They poured their Demon Power into the formation nodes, their energy converging to form an invisible, impenetrable barrier over the water.

The Earth Wave Water Suppression Formation locked into place.

The surface of the lake stopped rippling. It hardened, taking on the color and consistency of solid earth.

“ROAR!”

The Black Water Flood Dragon Snake was forcibly squeezed out of the water by the formation’s pressure. He crashed onto the solidified surface, panic seizing him as he scanned the yellow dome trapping him.

“When did you set this up?!”

He could feel the Water Spiritual Qi in the air being ruthlessly suppressed by Earth Qi. The realization hit him like a physical blow: I might actually die here.

“Let me go! I will leave Polong Lake immediately! I swear on my bloodline I will never return!”

Previously, he had been fearless, relying on his mastery of Water Escape to flee if things went south. But now, trapped in a jar with the lid screwed tight, his confidence shattered.

Without the advantage of terrain, he was weaker than the Rat Demon. Now, with the terrain actively hostile? He had no chance.

“My backing is the East Sea Dragon Palace! Do not make a mistake you cannot unmake!”

Desperate, he transformed into a streak of black light, driving his horn like a spear into the barrier wall.

BOOM!

The formation rippled like water, but it held firm. A First-Tier Middle-Grade Formation powered by multiple Mid-Stage Qi Condensation cultivators wasn’t something a single exhausted snake could break in an instant.

Wu Yuan watched the serpent’s futile struggle. He stretched his limbs, feeling his Qi and Blood humming with restored power.

He grinned, revealing a row of sharp teeth.

“Round Two begins now.”

He raised the Ancient Xun to his lips and channeled his Demon Power.

Woooo—

A melodious, haunting sound echoed through the formation.

[Heavenly Demon Soul-Confusing Sound].

The Black Water Flood Dragon Snake froze. His bloodline instincts screamed of imminent disaster. He knew he couldn’t dodge this.

Roaring in defiance, he burned his remaining vitality. His body erupted into red and black lightning, transforming him into a desperate thunder-dragon that slammed frantically against the formation walls, trying to break the sound barrier before it broke his mind.

The barrier flickered and dimmed under the suicidal assault. Hope flared in the serpent’s eye.

But Wu Yuan remained unmoved. He poured more power into the Ancient Xun, layering the psychic attack.

He had analyzed his opponent perfectly. The Black Water Flood Dragon Snake was physically strong, magically potent, and well-armed. But his Divine Soul was his Achilles’ heel.

Compared to Wu Yuan—who honed his soul daily by burning Divine Sense to trace complex Bloodline Spirit Runes—the snake’s mental defenses were paper-thin.

The [Ten Thousand Roars Spirit Sound] had worked earlier. The [Heavenly Demon Soul-Confusing Sound], specifically designed to target the soul, would be a death sentence.

The Black Water Flood Dragon Snake’s movements slowed. His lightning fizzled out. His eyes glazed over as he fell into a deep, inescapable nightmare.

Splash.

The massive body went limp and crashed into the solidified “water.”

Wu Yuan descended.

With one claw, he lifted the unconscious serpent by the neck. With the other, he seized the Flood Dragon Spear (horn).

“Capture successful.”

Wu Yuan’s heart raced as he assessed the victory. “Cultivation? Weaker than me. Body? Weaker than me. Soul? Far inferior.”

He nodded in satisfaction. He had confirmed his position at the apex of the food chain. To capture a beast like this alive… his strength in the Mid-Stage Qi Condensation realm was undoubtedly top-tier.

Wu Yuan looked at his prize. His excitement shifted from warrior’s pride to something… darker. More scientific.

He rubbed his hands together, circling the comatose body. His eyes were wide, filled with an intoxicated, fanatical gleam.

“Beautiful… so beautiful…”

“Look at these Spirit Runes!”

He stroked the scales, the horn, the muscle texture, his touch trembling with reverence. It was like an artist admiring a masterpiece—or a butcher eyeing a prime cut.

He extended a claw, digging into the gap between two scales.

The flesh was tough as cured leather, resisting his intrusion. Wu Yuan had to exert significant force to pry a single scale loose.

He held the bloody scale up to the light, wrapping it in his Demon Sense.

“Truly worthy of a live harvest!” he gasped. “The Spirit Runes are still active! Look at that clarity!”

“Sturdiness… Self-healing… My god, it even has [Spell Prohibition] and [Liquefaction] properties!”

“And a [Spirit Ascension] effect! Marvelous! Simply marvelous!”

In the distance, the Winged Tiger and the Snow Plains Wolf King watched their leader, shivering. Wu Yuan looked less like a King and more like a demon possessed.

“What… what is wrong with the Great King?” the Winged Tiger whispered, his wings trembling.

Bibo hesitated. “Um… perhaps he is just… delighted by the hunt?”

Wu Yuan ignored them. He peeled back a patch of scales, exposing the bright red muscle beneath. The flesh twisted and writhed, trying to close the wound, emitting a faint golden light.

Wu Yuan stroked the raw meat like a lover.

“Such vitality!” he sighed. “Completely different from a Barbarian Beast. This is the unique life force of a Demon Cultivator!”

Barbarian Beasts were biological tanks—tough muscles, massive blood volume, simple regeneration.

But Demon Cultivators? Their bodies were versatile. They evolved toward functionality and mutation.

Wu Yuan knew this well, thanks to the Pangolin. Since his “session” on Wu Yuan’s operating table, that poor creature refused to come within a mile of the Rat King.

“This Dragon Body vitality is aggressive,” Wu Yuan noted, his eyes narrowing. “It tries to infect and mutate foreign tissue. Dangerous. Fascinating.”