Chapter 16: System.. Are We Cooked?
**Chapter Sixteen**
[HOST, RUN!!!]
For the first time in a long while, the system sounded genuinely alarmed. And honestly, it had every reason to be worried. The beast Liyu had just awakened from its slumber was far from ordinary. It stood at the absolute peak of Level Two, the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm. But what made the creature truly terrifying was the fact that its combat power could not be judged by cultivation alone.
The dark-scaled king cobra was a monster among monsters. Even beasts at the same realm would be effortlessly slaughtered before it. It was simply built differently, unnaturally powerful and disastrously dangerous.
No beast dared approach within a kilometer of the cave where it rested. The surrounding forest had long become a forbidden zone of death, as if every creature instinctively understood that breathing too loudly near the serpent’s territory could cost them their lives.
To put things into perspective, even hundred of the two-spiked gorillas Liyu had massacred the previous day would not stand the slightest chance against this creature.
They would only scream in terror before being ripped apart and devoured alive. In simple words, what Liyu had just done was utterly insane. Even by madman standards, this was pure suicide.
Still, despite how reckless Liyu usually acted, he was not stupid enough to challenge the king cobra head-on. Yes, he had become significantly stronger after breaking into the Eighth Stage of Body Refinement, but he knew one thing with absolute certainty. If he fought that serpent directly, he would die.
Before the system’s warning even fully registered inside his mind, Liyu was already moving.
BOOOOM!
The moment he crossed the cave entrance, he threw a full-powered punch into the rocky wall beside him. His monstrous strength exploded outward violently, causing the entire cave entrance to tremble before collapsing inward. Massive chunks of stone rained down instantly, sealing the entrance beneath countless tons of debris.
But Liyu did not slow down for even a second. Because he knew perfectly well that those rocks would not stop the serpent. Not even close. And just as expected, another explosion shattered the stone behind him.
BOOOOM!!!
The next instant, something tore through the air at an utterly terrifying speed.
[Host, danger!]
The system’s warning echoed sharply in his mind, but Liyu had already sensed it himself. His sharpened instincts screamed violently. Using the momentum of his sprint, he instantly dropped low, sliding beneath a nearby tree instead of leaping over it like before.
A fraction of a second later, a gigantic boulder larger than Liyu himself blasted through the spot where he had been moments ago before smashing into the forest ahead. The tree it struck exploded apart instantly, splinters flying everywhere. But that was only the beginning. Several more deafening whistles suddenly filled the sky.
Liyu instinctively glanced upward, and his heart nearly stopped. "Holy shit!"
Massive boulders were raining down from all directions, blotting out the sky itself as they descended with annihilating force. And all of this just because he had interrupted the serpent’s sleep.
"This damn snake has serious anger issues," Liyu muttered breathlessly.
Yet even while speaking, his body never stopped moving. His physique operated at full capacity as he weaved through the destruction like a beast fighting for survival. He twisted, rolled, leapt, and ducked through the storm of falling boulders, his sharpened senses barely allowing him to survive.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The forest erupted into chaos. Trees shattered apart. The ground cracked open. Entire sections of the forest were flattened beneath the bombardment. And amidst all the destruction, Liyu kept moving. His eyes remained frighteningly sharp and focused. Because unlike before, this was real danger.
If even one of those boulders landed directly on him, the result would be disastrous. Perhaps his body was sturdy enough to survive a single impact, but taking several hits in succession? He would be crushed alive.
The final boulder descended toward him from an impossible angle, leaving no room to evade. So Liyu did the only thing he could. He planted his feet firmly against the ground, pulled his body backward into a perfect boxing stance from Earth, and unleashed a full-powered punch.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
His fist collided with the descending boulder head-on. The gigantic rock exploded apart instantly into hundreds of shattered fragments that rained across the forest. Liyu landed heavily on the ground, his chest rising slightly as he stared at the devastation surrounding him.
"Just what kind of monster strength does that serpent possess?" he muttered. To casually launch boulders weighing several thousand kilograms across several hundreds of meters with such destructive force, that creature was terrifying.
But Liyu knew he was still far from safe. Without hesitation, he jumped upward, yet even then, he was too slow. A gigantic dark-scaled tail suddenly tore through the air beside him like a black whip of destruction.
Danger exploded through every nerve in his body. Liyu barely managed to raise both arms in defense, protecting his head at the last possible moment.
And then, a horrifying impact erupted.
BAAAANG!!!
CRACK!
Sharp pain instantly exploded throughout Liyu’s body as the serpent’s tail slammed into his guard. He felt the bones in his arms crack violently beneath the overwhelming force. But he didn’t even get the chance to scream. The attack launched him through the air like a missile fired from a super cannon.
WHOOSH!!!
Liyu tore through the forest uncontrollably, smashing through branches and trees as the world blurred around him. Still, despite the pain, his mind remained frighteningly calm.
Instead of resisting the momentum, he used it. Twisting his body midair, he redirected the force to propel himself even farther away from the serpent’s territory.
Several meters vanished behind him in seconds. Yet Liyu still did not slow down. Because after witnessing the king cobra firsthand, he understood one terrifying truth clearly. That monster was fast. Absurdly fast. And if he slowed down for even a single moment, he was completely cooked.
Liyu ran at his absolute fastest speed. At several hundreds of meters per minute, his body became nothing but a blur tearing through the forest. Trees flashed past him endlessly as he pushed himself harder and harder, refusing to slow even slightly. Faster. Faster. Faster. That was the only thought inside his mind.
Yet despite his monstrous speed, he could still hear it behind him. The roaring wind. The collapsing trees. The terrifying sound of something massive crashing through the forest like a living natural disaster. Liyu’s danger senses screamed violently.
Another curse almost escaped his mouth, but he didn’t even have the focus to curse right now. Every ounce of concentration he possessed was directed toward one thing: run faster.
But no matter how fast he moved, it never seemed enough. Suddenly, another sharp prickling sensation exploded across his skin. Without hesitation, Liyu twisted his body sideways and somersaulted away with explosive agility.
BOOOOM!
The tree he had just leapt from exploded into splinters. Liyu skidded across the ground before instantly lifting his head. And then he saw it. The gigantic king cobra stood ahead of him, its massive body coiling upward while its golden eyes stared down at him with terrifying hostility.
It had caught up. No matter how desperately he tried to outrun the monster, the serpent was still faster. Liyu exhaled heavily before shaking his head. "Well... guess I have to fight for my life now."
The system’s voice echoed inside his head. [Host] Then it suddenly stopped, as if it no longer even knew what to say in this ridiculous situation.
Liyu chuckled lightly despite the danger. "What is it, system?" he asked casually. "Are we cooked?" He laughed softly inside his mind. "Trust me, I already know we’re completely cooked right now." Then his expression slowly darkened. "But trust your host." A dangerous grin spread across his face. "I’m not dying to some overgrown snake."
The system remained silent. Not because it wanted to, but because it was rapidly calculating every possible outcome of this battle and finding absolutely no path to victory. None. Liyu simply could not win. Not because he was weak; honestly, for someone in the Body Refinement Realm, Liyu was terrifyingly powerful.
The problem was the king cobra itself. That monster was simply far too overwhelming. Perhaps if it were another beast at the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm, Liyu might still have around a sixty percent chance of killing it through sheer brutality and madness. But this serpent was different. This wasn’t merely a powerful beast; it was one of the absolute rulers of this region.
Although Liyu himself had already become infamous throughout the forest, with many beasts fleeing the moment they sensed his presence, there was one crucial difference between him and the king cobra. Some beasts still dared to challenge Liyu. None dared to challenge the serpent king.
No beast within this entire section of the forest would even approach the creature’s territory. The fear they felt toward it went beyond terror. It was reverence. Instinctive submission. A crushing sense of inferiority before an apex predator. Even among beasts of the same cultivation level, the king cobra was an absolute monster.
