Chapter 118: Battles Require Wit!

The moist earth that blocked its path also broke apart, filling the space between its body and the rocky hand, swelling to resist the crushing pressure of the stone. The Marsh Serpent contracted its scales, muscles bulging in response. Under the dual resistance of tense muscles and damp soil, tiny cracks began to appear on the giant stone hand, accompanied by the creaking sound of fractures.

“It’s activated two skills: Serpent’s Stillness and Mastery of Wet Earth,” Wang Chen thought to himself. “I must finish this quickly. With its head unprotected, now is my best chance.”

He swung Forest Gale, mist swirling around him. “Nature Totem!” Threads of water streamed from the tip of his staff, gathering midair into a column. Within its calm façade, a vortex of destruction brewed.

Wang Chen directed the water column toward the Marsh Serpent’s fierce head. The beast’s primal instincts sensed danger; it immediately closed its eyes, bracing its entire body for defense. The water column enveloped its head, the swirling vortex slicing across its scales, leaving only pale marks.

Wang Chen frowned. He realized he might be facing the toughest defense yet. After a moment’s thought, he relaxed—he had a plan.

Calmly, he continued to hold the water column over the serpent’s head. White streaks appeared, but caused no real harm; instead, the hardened mud caked on its scales was scraped away, as if he were polishing them.

The Marsh Serpent felt the strong flow pass over it, the force penetrating its scales and massaging its muscles, leaving only a faint tingling sensation. It wondered what this foolish monkey was doing, but found the water column rather pleasant and wouldn’t mind another dose.

After four or five minutes, the column still shrouded its head. The Marsh Serpent’s nostrils began to uncontrollably release bubbles. Suddenly, it realized—was this Wang Chen’s true intention? To restrict its breathing and suffocate it alive?

A flicker of unfamiliar emotion passed through it; if it possessed higher feelings, it would know it as disdain. Indeed, while using its skills, it couldn’t enter the pseudo-hibernation state typical of serpents, where respiration slows and life signs drop, so it was genuinely at risk of suffocation.

But did this monkey really believe the stone hands would hold it forever? By the time its lungs ran out of air, those giant hands would’ve been destroyed countless times.

It redoubled its efforts, muscles straining, swelling the damp earth further. Crack after crack splintered across the stone hand.

Now, the surface of the stone hand resembled a fragile porcelain vase, ready to shatter at a touch.

Sure enough, moments later, the hands restraining the Marsh Serpent exploded. Swollen wet earth sprayed out, striking distant trees and boring small holes into their trunks.

The serpent shook its body, power surging from belly to neck, and with a sudden jolt, the water column shattered. The Marsh Serpent, brimming with murderous intent, was finally unleashed!

Held captive by Wang Chen for so long, it seethed with rage, eager to tear him apart. But as it finally blinked away the protective membranes and opened its eyes, Wang Chen was nowhere to be seen.

It soon spotted him—he had somehow moved onto another stone hand.

The serpent hissed a warning, convinced its prey was doomed, whether sooner or later. It coiled and crawled toward Wang Chen’s position.

Wang Chen stood atop the stone hand, motionless. Seeing this, the serpent grew more excited, thinking Wang Chen was paralyzed by fear. As soon as it reached the hand, it would shred him.

Suddenly, it crashed into a stubborn stone, recoiling in pain and circling around it—a minor inconvenience, merely a delay.

Sharp fragments scraped its belly, causing discomfort. What was happening? Why did it keep making such elementary mistakes?

As it slithered cautiously, confusion filled its mind. Was this cursed mist obscuring its vision? But the mist had been present before, hadn’t it?

Wait… the mist seemed thicker now.

The Marsh Serpent abruptly sensed something amiss. Inhaling the haze, the pain was no longer like swallowing a blade, but as if gulping down a sword.

Watching the serpent writhe in agony across the marsh, Wang Chen smiled. In his hand, the tip of Forest Gale was shrouded in white smoke, carried by swirling air.

He had just consumed several potions, casting Fog of Five Miles repeatedly in a short span and dramatically increasing the mist’s density, amplifying its lethality to the lost serpent.

When Wang Chen realized the armor on the serpent’s head was too tough for a swift decapitation, he knew he couldn’t kill it in one blow. If its exterior was so resilient, then he would attack from within. So, while the serpent was restrained by the water column, he enacted his plan.

The results were promising—the Marsh Serpent, after wildly thrashing about, was now on the verge of death.

Wang Chen hesitated, uncertain if the serpent was feigning weakness to lure him in for a finishing strike and then swallow him whole.

He considered his options, the sound of waves rising in his palm as he prepared to unleash Dragon Wave Strike.

He would attack from afar; even if it was playing dead, repeated assaults would reveal its deception.

But just as he was about to release the strike, the serpent’s body shuddered.

It turned its tail toward Wang Chen and, after violent convulsions, let out a screech and ejected a large mass wrapped in sticky fluid.

Wang Chen’s Dragon Wave Strike hit at that exact moment, a long, dancing water projectile smashing into the mucus bundle, which burst open and scattered across the sky.

He then saw clearly—inside the mucus, there were countless serpent eggs.

These eggs splattered to the ground, cracking open, and miniature Marsh Serpents wriggled out.

They circled in place, unsure what to do.

As the mother serpent let out a high-pitched hiss, the hatchlings began swimming toward Wang Chen.

It was a spectacular scene: from his vantage atop the stone hand, Wang Chen could see everything clearly.

Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of little Marsh Serpents slithered through the swamp, converging beneath him, their incessant hissing filling the air.

It was enough to unsettle even the bravest—if any adventurer with ophidiophobia were here, they’d likely go mad.

A flash at Wang Chen’s fingertips, and Flame Serpent Blade appeared in his palm.

Choosing an angle that would engulf most of the serpents, he unleashed a Flame Wave Slash.

A massive, crescent-shaped wave of fire swept down from above, devouring the serpent horde.