Chapter 511, Part I: Hidden Affection Translator: Pika Now wasn’t the time to ponder over why it was still alive. The taotie monster, with its heavy, plodding footsteps, had reached his position. Zu An looked up at the sinister monster in front of him and swallowed, the fine hairs on his arms standing on end. He continually tried his best to cheer himself on, afraid that he would somehow lose the will to fight. Hey, this thing only looks scary on the outside. It might be a rather famous legend, but just look at its size! It’s only a mini Tyrannosaurus Rex. He wouldn’t have stood a chance if he’d run into this thing in his previous world, no matter how many lives he had. But things were different now, because he was a cultivator. His body’s abilities and reaction speed made him a mini-superman himself, so there was a non-zero chance that he would still emerge victorious. As these thoughts poured through his mind, he calmed down substantially. “Come at me, you bastard!” he yelled. The taotie monster seemed to have understood his provocation. It screamed as it ran towards him. That infantile wailing coming from such a massive figure was just absurd, but Zu An couldn’t find it within him to laugh. His opponent sent a paw flying in his direction, but it disappeared before reaching him, pulled away to dodge the counterblow from his longsword. Zu An’s Poisonous Prick wasn’t effective, so he had switched to the Tai’e Sword, which gave him more reach. Zu An had been darkly optimistic at first, as he saw the taotie flinging its paw stupidly towards the Tai’e Sword. The monster was still made of flesh and blood after all. The Tai’e Sword was sharp enough to slice through the strongest metal, and it would cut right through the taotie’s body like tofu. However, just as his sword was about to cut into his opponent, the taotie’s claw dodged the blow and struck the Tai’e Sword from the side instead, along the flat of the blade. Caught unprepared, the impact made Zu An lose his grip on his sword. The Tai’e Sword flew through the sky and stabbed blade-first into a pile of bones. Zu An was horrified. This wasn’t a normal monster! It was actually way stronger than it looked! It’s not a bloody mini T-Rex, it’s way stronger than that! He felt the wind go out of his sails. It looked like humans weren’t the only ones who could increase their cultivation through training. Monsters could do the same thing! He didn’t dare treat his opponent as a monster with a low IQ anymore. The monster’s quick reactions in this exchange got him thinking that the taotie had probably noticed the two of them from the very start, but had feigned ignorance. Only when the two of them had put down their guard did it lash out with its tongue, almost taking the both of them out. Thoughts flooded through his mind as he sprinted towards the Tai’e Sword. He had to retrieve the longsword in order to continue his battle. He had no confidence in beating this thing bare-handed. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶 Of course, the taotie had no intention of letting him have his way. It wailed and leapt between him and the Tai’e Sword. In one smooth motion, it tackled Zu An. Zu An didn’t expect it to be able to move so quickly. After all, up to this point, the creature had always walked with heavy, ponderous steps. He was caught off-guard again, and the taotie managed to pin him down with its body. Zu An wanted to cry, yet no tears came out. This was the first time he had been pushed to the ground, yet it wasn’t a ravishing woman who did so, but this freakish monster! He began to wonder if he’d been born with some sort of mental disability. Why the hell would he think about such a thing right now? The taotie didn’t show him any mercy. A bloody mouth bit down on his head, and his nose was filled with a foul, bloody stench. Zu An reached out his hands, grabbing its upper and lower jaws, and closed them before they could reach him. He had learned from watching the Discovery Channel that many of these creatures were able to exert large amounts of force while biting, but opening their jaws again was an entirely different story. For example, a crocodile’s jaws could tear through buffaloes and horses, let alone a human being. However, if its mouth was shut ahead of time, the strength of a mature man alone was enough to keep it from opening again. Zu An had already deduced from their earlier exchange that, even though this taotie was stronger than him, the difference in strength wasn’t that great. That was why he grabbed its jaws in a moment of desperation, to prevent it from using its menacing fangs. The taotie was stunned as well. This was the first time it had encountered prey like this. It instinctively tried to open its mouth, but found that its jaws were still tightly clamped together, and there was no way it could open them. It flung its head around frantically. This was a matter of life and death, so there was no way Zu An would let go. Seeing that it was unsuccessful at dislodging Zu An, the taotie suddenly raised its sharp tail and stabbed it towards his head. “Be careful!” Pei Mianman had been watching this battle the entire time. She cried out to try to warn him, but ended up triggering her injuries as well. She was in so much pain that sweat covered her body, but she didn’t care. She stared weakly in Zu An’s direction. When she saw that sharp tail stab into the ground, she felt something explode within her head, and her soul almost left her body. But Zu An’s voice sounded immediately afterwards. “You little sh*t, do you think I’ve never seen ‘Aliens’ before?” Pei Mianman was overjoyed to hear his voice, but her injuries were too serious, which prevented her from speaking. Zu An turned his head and saw that the tail had embedded itself deep into the ground. He sighed in relief. He had been paying attention to its long, sharp tail from the moment the fight had begun, and had known that it was preparing an attack the instant he saw its tail coil upwards like a scorpion’s. The taotie was furious. Its tail trembled. It pulled itself out of the ground, then stabbed downwards again. Zu An turned in the other direction to dodge the blow. The taotie missed again. It pulled out its tail and stabbed at Zu An, and Zu An evaded… Just like that, they entered a deadly game of attack and evade. Of course, this might just be a game for the taotie, but a single moment of distraction for Zu An would result in his inevitable death. Zu An knew that he would only be delaying his defeat if he focused solely on defense. This wasn’t a solution. However, with his current level of strength, it was all he could do just to keep the taotie’s mouth closed. There was no way he could push this heavy body off of him. A flash of cruelty lit up his eyes, and he purposely chose not to dodge the next blow, allowing the tail to stab deep into his shoulder. There was a fountain of blood, and Zu An’s eyes became bloodshot. He wanted to suffer more injuries in order to activate the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra’s strengthening effects. He was already injured, and this horrific new injury sent a fresh wave of power through him. He pressed his leg against the taotie’s stomach. As the tail stabbed downwards once more to take his life, he sent the taotie flying with a kick. There was a loud crash as the taotie landed in a pile of bones, crushing them to pieces. The strange snakes hiding inside fled in disarray, but the taotie swiftly grabbed them with its claws and threw them into its mouth. The eyes on its shoulders stared at the human across from it. It couldn’t understand why he had suddenly gained a burst of strength. Zu An had already taken the opportunity to pick up his Tai’e Sword. At the same time, he stared at the taotie’s paws, which seemed somehow human, but with claws as sharp as a tiger’s. The way the monster had flung those strange snakes into its mouth was exactly like how a human would eat with their hands. Its claws were clearly extremely agile. This was not good news at all. The taotie hesitated for the briefest of moments. Its gluttonous instincts propelled it to throw itself straight at Zu An. Zu An was prepared for its speed this time. He used the Sunflower Phantasm to dodge to one side, his technique boosted by the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra’s effects. As he passed alongside the onrushing taotie, he thrust his sword towards its head. The taotie sensed the oncoming danger. Its long tail thrashed out, stabbing towards his body. Zu An sized up the reach of the Tai’e Sword with the length of the taotie’s tail, and determined that trading blows with it right now was not worth it. He gave up on stabbing its head, and hacked his sword sideways instead. The Tai’e Sword was incredibly sharp, and sliced through the midsection of the taotie’s tail with ease. Greenish-gray liquid splattered across the white bones, the corrosive liquid burning large holes in them. “Screech!” The taotie screamed in pain. Clearly, the sudden loss of half its tail had caused it great suffering. All this screeching was giving Zu An a headache. He swung his left fist right at its head, dealing it a vicious blow. “Shut the hell up!”