This paltry showing, barely scraping a few high-tier monthly votes, was truly demoralizing. …… Under the gaze of the assembled crowd, Ye Chen strode forward and retrieved the blood-red battle saber. Not a single person dared to step forward and stop him; they were utterly stunned by the sheer ferocity he had displayed moments before.

Just then, Ye Chen suddenly noticed the python carcass begin to move, and his eyes instantly chilled. He silently noted the time: "One minute left." He looked up, fixing the python corpse with an icy stare. "One minute is enough." His figure blurred into motion, and in less than 0.01 seconds, he was beside the massive snake body.

Looking ahead, he saw Long Zhixiang and Wu Hao, leading a contingent of their trusted men, dragging the python’s tail and making off into the distance. It turned out that these two, having witnessed the Blood Saber kill with a single punch in Ye Chen's hand, were utterly horrified and had decided to retreat. They had secretly conspired to spirit the python away while Ye Chen was occupied dealing with the crowd.

Ye Chen leaped, landing squarely on the python's corpse, and sprinted toward the section where the three men held the tail. Long Zhixiang sensed something amiss and spun around just as Ye Chen appeared, wielding the three-meter-long blood-red saber, charging with swift, powerful strides. His body was smeared with gore, evidence of how many he had slain—a demon fresh from hell.

His eyes contracted in sheer terror. "Hurry! Stop him!" The loyal subordinates flanking him let out wry smiles and activated their superhuman modes, weapons in hand, charging forward.

Most were primary assault types: Ant Supermen, Rhinoceros Beetles Supermen, Storm Hound Supermen, and others. Among them, the Rhinoceros Beetle Supermen were the rarest; in a group of twenty-odd people, there was only one. This was because the Rhinoceros Beetle monsters themselves were scarce in the city, and furthermore, they were incredibly powerful—even if encountered, they were nearly impossible to capture or kill, let alone extract genes from.

Ye Chen had exerted every ounce of his strength just to capture that one ant; with a Rhinoceros Beetle of comparable power, his strength alone would have been insufficient for capture. The world was vast, filled with marvelous creatures, but one might never encounter them, and if one did, victory was far from guaranteed—one might just be killed in return. "Stop him!" the Rhinoceros Beetle Superman bellowed, leading the charge.

In his first stage of enhancement, he boasted a 30-fold increase in strength, a full 10 times greater than the Ant Supermen, putting his combat power around Level 1500 when factoring in his base physique. "Begone!" Ye Chen gripped the blood-red battle saber and swung it in a sweeping arc toward the man's head. It moved like lightning.

The Rhinoceros Beetle Superman’s grim expression instantly dissolved into one of utter panic. His eyes widened in terror as he scrambled backward. "How is this possible?

No—" Before the word finished, the blood-red battle saber cleaved through his skull. Against Ye Chen's raw power, nearing Level 5000, the man's confident strength was utterly insignificant. The saber shattered, its life extinguished just like its temporary master's.

Shhhhk A horrifying spray of crimson blood painted the scene. The surrounding Supermen who had rushed forward gasped in shock. Gazing at the Rhinoceros Beetle Superman who had been killed in a single exchange, their eyeballs nearly popped out, deep terror reflected in their eyes.

One of them whispered in horror, "How? Boss Lu died in one move against him? What kind of monster is he?" "Everyone, scatter!" a younger man shouted urgently.

Ye Chen stood atop the python corpse, coldly observing the scattered Supermen leaping about. He felt the massive snake body beneath his feet being dragged farther away. A flicker of malice crossed his eyes as he leaped down, gripping a small protrusion near the python's head.

He stomped his feet against the ground, driving his legs deep into the soil. He roared, pulling with the force of Hou Yi drawing his bow. The rapidly moving python carcass instantly halted.

Long Zhixiang and Wu Hao, clutching the tail, were jerked forward by the sudden stop, nearly stumbling. "Come back here for me!" Ye Chen roared, using the small knob on the python's forehead to haul its immense body toward the peak of Nine Dragon Mountain. The Runes Space portal had opened there; only within one zhang of the portal could he force it to close.

Long Zhixiang and Wu Hao were aghast. They desperately clung to the tail, pulling back with all their might. Yet, against Ye Chen's monstrous strength, even with their feet dug deep into the mud, they were dragged, sliding along the ground like a bulldozer, carving two deep furrows in their wake.

"Quick! Help!" The subordinates of the two men rushed forward. Those with greater strength grabbed the tail and strained backward; those weaker charged into the middle of the snake body, hacking with their blades, attempting to slice the carcass in two.

A murderous glint flashed in Ye Chen's eyes. He suddenly released his grip. The snake body surged backward, causing Long Zhixiang and the others to tumble down.

However, they quickly scrambled up and resumed dragging the carcass away. Ye Chen gripped the blood-red battle saber and shot toward the center of the python. Seven or eight men were hacking away there, prying open the scales, turning the corpse into a bloody mess.

Ye Chen roared in fury, suddenly snatching one of the youths by the nape of his neck and flinging him far away. The others, seeing Ye Chen bear down on them, screamed and turned to flee. Just as Ye Chen was about to pursue, his eye caught sight of a dark, oval blood sac within the gruesome wound.

A thought sparked in his mind. His original plan was to preserve the python corpse and hand it over to Little Black for control, gaining a powerful ally. But seeing this object, his mind shifted.

He swung the blood-red battle saber, making a shallow cut. Amidst the bloody slurry, there indeed lay a pitch-black snake gallbladder. Ye Chen’s eyes lit up.

He immediately dove in. The gallbladder was massive, nearly three to four meters in diameter, containing bile acids, glycocholic acid, taurine, and many other elements. Moreover, there were Diphyllobothrium tapeworm larvae on the surface—a common parasitic affliction in snakes.

If swallowed untreated, these larvae would burrow into the intestinal lining after entering the digestive tract. Ye Chen, of course, had no intention of swallowing it raw; nor could he have physically managed it. He slowly extended his palm, pressing it against the gallbladder.

It felt warmly smooth, like a hot water bottle. He channeled his internal energy, creating a circulation through his five fingers, generating a powerful suction that drew the essence from deep within the gallbladder toward him. Qi—concentrated life essence, incredibly precious!

The surging life essence poured into his body through his palm. This python had originally been a venomous serpent monster, but through a fortuitous encounter, it had consumed numerous zombies, causing its physique to swell rapidly and undergo continuous transformation, reaching its current state, on the verge of awakening its innate talent and generating Qi Power. However, its gallbladder contained the purest essence, completely untainted by external attributes.

Thus, Ye Chen absorbed it with extreme smoothness, like a gentle stream constantly flowing into his system. His previously depleted Qi Power rapidly recovered, and his parched meridians were irrigated like dry earth blessed by rain. At this moment, Long Zhixiang and the others outside noticed Ye Chen plunging into the python carcass and instantly sensed trouble.

They stopped their retreat, signaled their subordinates, and began cautiously creeping closer to investigate. Ye Chen heard the faint footsteps but ignored them, continuing to rapidly draw the essence from the gallbladder. Once he broke through the tenth stage and advanced to become a Qi Power Master, he could project his Qi Power externally, allowing him to kill even Supermen experts.

The surging essence flooded his meridians from the gallbladder, filling them to capacity. His Governing and Conception Vessels, along with the Eight Extraordinary Vessels, were forced open. The Qi Power flowed through points like the Huagai and Zigong Tang, entering the Qihai (Sea of Qi).

Taking the Qihai as the origin point, it extended and connected outward, pouring into lower points such as Shiguan, Qugu, and Huiyin, before finally looping back to the Qihai, forming a vortex. This vortex spun at the center of the Qihai like a whirlpool, creating a strange tensile force that drew Qi Power from all the major points. The energy would bypass the Qihai, return to its original location, and repeat the cycle endlessly.

Ye Chen vaguely felt that with every full circulation, his Qi Power intensified. In the Yutang and Danzhong points, small secondary vortices formed, circulating energy that flowed toward the points in his arms, generating a peculiar pulling force before finally returning. Ye Chen felt his internal Qi Power was saturated, a bursting sensation in his chest—a common illusion when Qi Power reached its zenith.

His power had now reached the peak of the tenth stage, but to become a Qi Power Master, one crucial step remained: refining the internal Qi Power until it was forged into Qi Jin (Vibrating Force). Ye Chen mentally checked the time: 20 seconds left for the Supermen enhancement. He moved, leaping up.

He saw Long Zhixiang and the others closing in for a sneak attack. He cast a cold glance at them, ignoring them completely. Landing on the ground, he swept his hand out, hoisting the massive python carcass, swiftly moving underneath it, bracing the enormous body, and charging toward the peak of Nine Dragon Mountain.

Long Zhixiang and the others were shocked. They quickly grabbed the tail and pulled back. Ye Chen paid them no mind, running at full tilt, dragging them along until they reached the Nine Dragon Mountain peak.

The area was strewn with corpses, and many people were cautiously approaching the Runes Space, clearly consumed by curiosity about that great black aperture. Hearing the commotion, everyone jumped in surprise and turned. Seeing Ye Chen charging up with the python corpse in tow, they all bolted away.

After the previous display of power, no one dared to obstruct him while he was under the Supermen enhancement. With a mighty heave, Ye Chen hurled the massive body of the python toward the Runes Space. Long Zhixiang and his followers, dragging the tail, cried out in alarm, terrified of being pulled into that unknown dimension, and quickly let go.

After the python entered the Runes Space, Ye Chen swiftly sealed it. He glanced at the remaining people, then moved, dashing away to find a secluded place to refine his internal Qi Power into Qi Jin. "Damn it, he's running!" "Everyone, chase him!" Seeing Ye Chen collect both corpses, everyone was aghast and rushed after him.

But Ye Chen’s speed was astonishing. Before they could catch up, his figure vanished. Only a few Supermen gifted with speed or keen senses managed to trail him, pursuing his path.

He ran for only a short distance before entering a barren wilderness area. "Five seconds left." Just as Ye Chen was about to accelerate and shake off the pursuers, a four-to-five-meter-tall cheetah burst from ahead, reeking of blood, its eyes fixed greedily on Ye Chen. "Vermin!

You dare stand in my way too?" Ye Chen’s eyes turned frigid.