Chapter 38: Tracking the Giant Python

Could this be the mate of the python I just slayed?

A few thoughts flashed through Tang Mu's head. But he didn't dare dilly-dally, especially since the beast with true-blue rank one powers was closing in on him like a black bolt flashing through the grass.

A few seconds ago, it had been a kilometer away, near the limit of his spiritual sense perception scope. But in only a few heartbeats, it had shortened the distance toward him by about two hundred meters. Such was the horror associated with rank one metaphysical beings. They could move at speeds of roughly 30 m/s and ambush rank-one psionics before they could even notice them.

Fortunately, Tang Mu was an abnormal case within the ranks of low-level psionics.

He was a rank one who could move at the same speed as the python if he expended some energy. Aside from that, he possessed a spiritual sense that detected the dangerous beast when it was still a kilometer away. He had all the time in the world to react, even before the python could narrow down the distance towards him to half a kilometer.

He quickly stowed his bow into the star orb's storage space right after he sensed the pressure from the approaching threat. Adrenaline pumped through his system, and he allowed the misty psionic energy from his unlocked Galactic Chakra to flow into his legs and feet. He then took off towards the opposite side, away from the approaching python, and gradually accelerated to about 30 m/s.

He was using another trick that psionics could employ. By reinforcing a part of his body with psionic energy, he could improve his fitness temporarily and achieve feats ordinary humans could never dream of ever accomplishing.

Tang Mu covered about one hundred meters in three seconds. The breeze blowing across his face forced him to narrow his eyes into slits. But he continued running and pumping his legs like there was no tomorrow until he reached an acacia tree with a large canopy.

He slowed down and walked into the tree's shadow as his eyes flashed with mysterious symbols. On cue, something magical happened, and his body seemed to become darker while melting into the shade. Its outline became less distinct, and it instantly disappeared into thin air.

Of course, he had not vanished from the place in the true sense. He had instead used his Mentifery superpowers to manifest a small-scale shadow stealth array that concealed his body in the shadow.

In principle, he had just used the shadow runic arrangement to push the light and other electromagnetic waves to flow smoothly around his body and recombine on the other side in such a way as to make it appear that they traveled straight through him unhindered. And since he had no reflection or shadow, he was just a part of the tree shade and invisible to the observers outside the immediate area.

With that, he achieved a high level of stealth close to invisibility in its truest sense. Aside from high-level beings with exceptional perception, most others wouldn't discover his presence. Of course, that was on condition that he didn't make excessive movements.

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Tang Mu sighed with relief after seeing and understanding the effect of the shadow veil. He expelled a long, drawn-out breath and triggered his spiritual sense to continue observing the python in the distance.

By then, it had already arrived at the scene where he slayed the other python, meaning it was only 300 meters from his position. Its massive serpentine body was slithering around the place as it used its forked tongue to sense its surroundings. Most likely, it was searching for Tang Mu's traces.

Tang Mu maintained his stealth while observing it with his spiritual sense. His heartbeat accelerated and pounded with anxiety when he saw it pick up his trace and slowly approach his position. He felt cold and frightened. He deeply yearned to use his runic bow and put a hypersonic arrow through its head.

But eventually, he controlled his trigger-happy fingers and took no action. He relied on his stealth ability to remain hidden from the python that had stopped about 100 meters away.

Of course, it wasn't that he feared attacking the python. Instead, he planned to follow it back to its den and see if anything was interesting within it.

On his past two adventures, he hadn't gotten a chance to explore the savanna to its full extent. He had been too scared to move about carelessly since his powers had been inadequate.

But after his breakthrough to rank one, everything changed. He could now use his potent psionic powers to investigate the painting world and see what was special about it.

A full twenty minutes passed as Tang Mu observed the python scouring the area for his traces. Finally, when he planned to reinforce his stealth by manifesting the shadow veil again, he saw the beast let out a helpless hiss before slithering towards the distance. Moreover, it was moving at a much slower speed when compared to when it arrived.

Tang Mu didn't lose his patience even after the beast started departing. He remained composed and waited while triggering his spiritual sense to confirm that there were no other threats in the vicinity. Then, as the python reached a distance of about 800 meters from him, he dispelled the shadow veil array and chased after it.

Everything else that followed was simple for him. He relied on his spiritual sense to tail the colossal python while maintaining a distance of about 800 meters from it. He saw it effortlessly swallow down a few giant rats along the way but did nothing against it.

He just continued pursuing along as the savanna scenery flashed by. At times, there were a few other beasts in the way. But he noticed them with his abnormal perception ability in advance and circumvented them while stalking the serpent.

Two hours flashed by, and he finally tracked the python to the bottom of the mountain that had always been towering in the distance. He continued forward for a few minutes, and that was when the vegetation and overall ecology started changing.

More trees appeared in his vision, and his nose picked up a fresher scent of the mountain air. His spiritual sense also detected a few more animals, like mountain rabbits, squirrels, and other snake species of abnormal size. They were going about their own matters within their ecological niches. But they would scamper off without looking back when they sensed the powerful aura of the passing python.

Tang Mu witnessed everything. But he still stuck to his plans and ignored everything else. He continued using his spiritual sense to avoid all the other animals while covertly pursuing the python.

He followed it for another thirty minutes until it reached halfway up the mountain. By then, the sun had started to descend toward what he believed was the horizon in the western direction of the painting world. Due to pursuing the beast for long, he was somewhat panting and sweating. He was also hungry and mentally exhausted.

Fortunately, the python seemed to have finally reached its destination. Tang Mu breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed it was approaching a cave opening on the mountain slope. He was even more pleased when he saw it slither forward and disappear into the entrance.

The cave opening must have been the entrance to its den, and he had finally tracked it there. The next order of business was to hunt it down before seeing if anything of value was in its nest.