Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

Chen Tao involuntarily took two steps back in the dark water.

The lake water around him was filled with the remains of his men, and the blood flowing from their bodies stained every inch of the water in his sight.

The twenty-two lives he had taken were thus fed to the giant snake in front of him.

Across from Chen Tao, a massive golden-striped black python locked onto him with its vertical pupils, its forked tongue flicking in and out, as if savoring the last struggle of its prey.

This is the final powerful medicine to help it break through!

Having understood the beast's gaze, Chen Tao gripped the broadsword tightly, the calluses on his hands aching from the hilt.

He knew in his heart that he couldn't win by normal means.

This giant snake's defenses are ridiculously strong.

The full-force strike, executed with the inner energy fully perfected at the third level, only managed to cut half an inch into the seam of the scales.

To kill it, you would have to concentrate all your attacks on the same wound and keep pounding it in, but it is 30% faster than you, so you can't catch up in the water, let alone lock onto a fixed spot and keep slashing.

So trying to fight head-on is a dead end.

Turning around and running away? That would be a dead end.

Moreover, his hopes for a breakthrough were pinned on the other party. Thinking of this, Chen Tao narrowed his hooked triangular eyes.

Eight years.

He waited for eight years, from forty-three to fifty-one, watching his hair turn gray, one strand sprouting from his temple. Every time he looked in the mirror, it reminded him that time was running out.

The heart's blood and black-scaled fruit of the golden-striped black python are in this cave.

Today, either it dies, or he dies.

There is no third way.

Having made up his mind, Chen Tao reached into the inner lining of his body with his left hand.

There he sewed a hidden pocket, inside which he wrapped a small porcelain bottle in three layers of oilcloth, sealing the mouth of the bottle with wax.

He bit open the wax seal and poured out the only pill inside.

This pill is blood red all over, slightly larger than a thumbnail, with fine, flowing lines on its surface. When you hold it in your hand, you can feel something alive inside.

He bought this item six years ago from a black market pharmacist for eight thousand taels of silver.

The pharmacist said that this substance is called "Crimson Violence Pill". After taking it, one can increase the strength and power of the body to the limit within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. However, it has a huge side effect - the meridians will be damaged after the effects of the drug wear off, and in severe cases, the foundation of martial arts will be shaken.

He hadn't been able to bear using it for six years.

It's kept for a day when I have to work desperately.

It looks like today is the day.

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Tao threw the Crimson Violent Pill into his mouth, bit it hard, and then swallowed it.

The elixir worked faster than expected.

The moment the medicine exploded in his stomach, Chen Tao felt as if molten iron was being poured into his veins.

The muscles beneath his skin began to swell, his joints cracked, his robes tightened, and the buckles on his sharkskin armor creaked and groaned, with two of them flying off.

Chen Tao's figure grew a full size larger in just a few breaths.

His shoulder width increased from three feet to nearly four feet, his arms were as thick as a normal person's thigh, and his neck was almost as wide as his head.

The veins on his head bulged from his forehead to the back of his hands, one by one, writhing in the water. He didn't look like a normal person at all.

Upon seeing this, the golden-striped black python's vertical pupils contracted slightly.

It sensed the change.

The aura of the "food" in front of it was surging wildly at an absurd speed, rising directly from the third level of perfect inner energy, which made it feel uncomfortable.

The snake's instincts led it to strike first.

Without giving Chen Tao any time to react, the giant python shot out and rushed towards its prey, opening its blood-red maw.

But this time, Chen Tao did not dodge.

He pushed off the rocks at the bottom of the water with his right foot and charged towards the snake's head.

He slashed horizontally with the large sword in his hand.

Chen Tao's speed changed.

The 30% gap that was previously impossible to close has now been bridged by the medicinal power of the Crimson Violence Pill.

Chen Tao's knife arrived even faster than the snake's head, the blade precisely slicing into the lower jaw of the golden-striped black python.

The force of this strike was completely different from before.

"Bang!"

The golden-striped black python's head was smashed off course, and its body tilted to one side.

A visible shockwave erupted in the water, pushing surrounding rocks and debris dozens of feet away.

A crack suddenly appeared on its golden-patterned scales.

It was no longer the previous white mark, but a real crack, with dark liquid seeping out from the gap.

At this moment, Chen Tao's triangular eyes were filled with madness, and he revealed a cruel and gleeful smile:

"It works!"

Chen Tao didn't stop. His swollen body twisted in the water, and he flipped his wrist with the broadsword, slashing the same spot with a second blow.

"Bang!"

The cracks in the scales on the giant snake's body widened.

The golden-striped black python roared in pain as it was attacked, its body, which was over thirty feet long, thrashing wildly in the water. Its tail swept across, but Chen Tao managed to block it with his left arm.

In the past, this blow would have shattered his bones, but the physical hardness of his body after being enhanced by the Crimson Violence Pill is now completely different.

The huge snake tail swept across his left arm, only cracking the skin; the bones in his arm didn't budge.

The immense force propelled Chen Tao five zhang away, but he used the momentum to bounce back by stepping on the rock wall.

The third cut.

With this strike, he channeled all his inner energy into the blade, aiming it at the spot on the belly of the golden-patterned black python where he had previously made a half-inch-deep cut. He plunged the blade in and stirred it.

The snake's belly is much softer than its back. The power enhanced by the Crimson Violent Pill flowed into the blade, and the broadsword twisted half a circle inside the golden-striped black python's abdominal cavity like a stirring rod.

The sensation of shattered internal organs traveled from the hilt of the knife to Chen Tao's palm.

This single strike caused the golden-striped black python's body to convulse.

A large amount of dark blood gushed from the wound, turning the surrounding water black.

Its movements began to slow down, and the snake's head no longer tracked accurately, but instead crashed around wildly.

Its body smashed deep grooves into the rocks at the bottom of the water, and pebbles fell everywhere.

Then, realizing it couldn't win, it ran away.

Its body, over thirty feet long, resembled a black lightning bolt, dragging a large amount of blood as it darted deeper into its cave.

It was still fast, but slower than before; it was badly injured!

Seeing this, Chen Tao did not hesitate and chased after them.

……

Yi Yang, who was a hundred feet away, raised an eyebrow at the sight.

The red pill that Chen Tao swallowed was quite interesting.

After a martial artist at the third level of internal energy perfection swallowed that thing, his physical strength and explosive power were directly raised to a level close to the True Qi Realm.

Although it doesn't seem like it can last long, within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, it's enough for him to fight that snake to the death.

However, Yi Yang also noticed the side effects. On Chen Tao's swollen body, the veins throbbed faster and faster, and fine blood vessels began to appear on his skin. This thing was draining his life force.

Once the effects of the medicine wear off, Chen Tao will be like meat on a chopping board.

Yi Yang didn't wait any longer and silently followed.

……

The golden-striped black python dragged its heavily injured body into the depths of the cave.

The further they swam, the narrower the cave became, eventually turning into a passageway barely wide enough for a snake's body to pass through. Chen Tao followed behind, his broad shoulders occasionally brushing against the rock walls, making a rustling sound as his sharkskin armor was worn down.

The passageway suddenly opens up into a bright and spacious area.

A spherical space appeared before us, about ten zhang in diameter. Glowing moss hung from the cave ceiling, illuminating the water with a faint green hue.

The golden-striped black python was coiled in the center of the space, its body curled up in a ball, and blood was still flowing from its wounds.

It didn't run away.

Because there is nowhere to retreat. This is its lair, its deepest part.

When Chen Tao swam in, the golden-striped black python raised its head.

For the first time, a feeling akin to despair appeared in those vertical pupils.

Then it opened its mouth.

They used their last resort.

A thick cloud of black mist shot out from the throat sac of the golden-striped black python, spreading rapidly in the water. It was not ordinary ink, but a highly poisonous mist that corroded everything it touched.

The toxic fog spread to cover half a spherical area.

Chen Tao was prepared. He held his broadsword horizontally in front of his chest and released his internal energy to form a protective shield, keeping the poisonous mist a foot away from his body.

The abundant internal energy brought by the Crimson Violent Pill came into play at this moment, making the energy shield very stable and impervious to the poisonous mist.

He braved the poisonous fog and charged forward.

Finally, the golden-striped black python emptied its venom sac. As it watched this incomprehensible human pass through its last means of survival, the light in its vertical pupils dimmed completely.

Chen Tao approached the golden-striped black python and found the still-bleeding wound on his broadsword.

A knife.

Two cuts.

On the third cut, the broadsword plunged completely into the abdomen of the golden-striped black python. Chen Tao gripped the handle with both hands and dragged it down, tearing a three-foot-long gash in the wound.

The snake's body twitched a few times, its tail coiled twice, and then it loosened.

The golden-striped black python's vertical pupils lost focus, its head sank to the bottom of the water, and it never rose again.

Chen Tao drew his broadsword and took a few deep breaths.

The effects of the Crimson Violent Pill were beginning to wear off; he could feel his swollen muscles shrinking back little by little, and aches and pains spreading throughout his body.

But he ignored all of that.

His gaze passed over the snake's corpse and landed deep within the nest.

There, against the cave wall, grew a small patch of black fruit. The size of a fist, their skin covered in scaly patterns, a dozen or so clustered together. Black-scaled fruit.

There were also three precious medicinal plants of different shapes standing nearby, each emitting fluctuations of medicinal power.

Looking further to the left, a huge snake egg was half-buried in the silt, its surface gleaming with a dark golden luster.

Chen Tao's triangular eyes widened to their maximum.

eight years.

Eight years in total.

He looked at the patch of black-scaled fruit, his body feeling weak, not from exhaustion, but from excitement.

The breakthrough to the True Qi Realm that he had been yearning for was right before his eyes.

It will be within easy reach soon.

Chen Tao sheathed his broadsword on his back, swam over, squatted down, and reached out his hands toward the black-scaled fruit.

Just as he bent down.

A powerful, swirling aura, thick enough to twist water, pressed in from behind.

Chen Tao's scalp tingled upon sensing this aura, and at the same time, a muffled tiger's roar came from the water behind him.

"roar!"

"roar!"

The effects of the Crimson Violence Pill in Chen Tao's body had not completely worn off, and his reaction speed was still intact.

Driven by instinct, his body spun around abruptly, and he drew his sword from behind to parry.

A heavy black sword appeared before his eyes.

The 72-pound blade, coated with a visible layer of true qi, cleaved down from above.

Behind the knife was a sixty-year-old man.

He wore a gray cloth robe, had a full head of black hair, an aged face, and eyes as sharp as knives.

"you--!"

Before Chen Tao could finish speaking, he raised his broadsword and charged forward.

The two swords clashed.

The difference between true qi and internal qi was fully demonstrated in this collision.

Chen Tao's broadsword broke in the middle the moment it came into contact with Hu Xiao, with the two pieces of the blade flying to the sides.

The tiger's roar did not stop.

The blade cut diagonally across Chen Tao's left shoulder, through his chest cavity, and out through his right hip.

Chen Tao's body was split in two.

His eyes were still open, his lips were still moving, and his triangular eyes reflected Yi Yang's face, as well as the black-scaled fruit that was within reach behind him.

Eight years.

Just one step away.

Just one more step!

Chen Tao's two halves of his body slowly sank in the water, his expression frozen on the resentment of that final moment.

Yi Yang sheathed his sword, glanced down at Chen Tao's corpse, and felt nothing more.

These gang members are not worth pitying at all. They can be said to be one of the sources of suffering for the ordinary people and martial artists of White Fish City. As the leader of the Three Lakes Gang, Chen Tao's rise to power was full of bloodshed and death.

Under his leadership, the martial artists in the Three Lakes Gang's territory were charged every year for various reasons the silver they had worked so hard to earn from this great swamp. Generally, two-fifths of the martial artists' harvest from White Dragon Swamp would be forcibly taken away.

Yi Yang looked past the corpse and focused his gaze on the patch of black-scaled fruit.