Chapter 436: The Lone Brave
Even though the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel was already injured and its speed in the water had been greatly reduced, it was still far faster than Qi Han, who could only paddle forward.
Before Qi Han could stroke the water more than a few times, the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel surged forward amid churning waves, jaws wide open as it lunged straight for Qi Han's chest.
Qi Han's expression changed drastically. He drew his arms back in a flash and clamped both hands onto the upper and lower jaws of the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel. Even as the sharp teeth pierced his palms, he did not dare loosen his grip in the slightest, firmly restraining its head so it could not move even an inch closer to his chest.
With a body more than five meters long, the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel's sheer mass and momentum slammed Qi Han straight down into the water. Unable to bite him, the beast continued its downward dive, attempting to drag Qi Han along with it into the cold, lifeless depths of the sea.
With Qi Han's current cultivation, holding his breath for several minutes was no problem—but if things continued like this, it would no longer be a matter of minutes.
At this critical moment, Qi Han had a sudden flash of inspiration. His hands, still gripping the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel's jaws, twisted sharply to the side as he used the momentum to slip away, his body flashing past the massive form of the beast.
The move carried a hint of Tai Chi's principle of borrowing force to redirect force. At the instant he passed by the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel, Qi Han followed through with a powerful shove, releasing his grip and hurling the beast away from him.
In the water, with nowhere to brace himself, Qi Han's movements were heavily restricted. Fortunately, this throw succeeded in widening the distance between them by several meters. Taking advantage of the moment while the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel was still tumbling and had yet to stabilize itself, Qi Han's kitchen knife reappeared in his hand. His First, Second, and Fourth Spirit Rings lit up simultaneously as he slashed forward.
The power of the Third Spirit Skill would be greatly weakened underwater—and might even backfire—so he chose not to use it at all. Using one fewer skill also conserved some Spirit Power.
However, the result of this slash differed greatly from what Qi Han had anticipated. When he swung the Knife, he had been aiming for the middle of the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel's body, but the resistance of the seawater caused the strike to deviate slightly, landing instead on its tail.
The Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel failed to activate its Boundless Water Guard innate ability again. Under this unstoppable blow, its tail was severed instantly. Its body twisted violently as strange, eerie sounds—laced with pain and madness—rippled through the water, crashing against Qi Han's eardrums and making his head spin with dizziness and pain.
Finish this quickly!
Qi Han shook his head, forcibly steadying his mind as he swam toward the writhing Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel, intent on ending the battle at once.
Even though it was on the verge of being overwhelmed by agony, the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel still sensed the imminent threat of death. Madness and bloodlust filled its eyes as it lunged at Qi Han, jaws snapping toward him. Spirit Power surged within its mouth—it was actually trying to spew a water jet at point-blank range.
A cold glint flashed in Qi Han's eyes. Without the slightest hesitation, he slammed one hand onto the top of its head while driving his knife upward with the other, stabbing straight in through its lower jaw.
A dull thrk of steel piercing flesh echoed through the water. The water jet that was about to erupt from the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel's mouth dissipated instantly. With its lower jaw injured, the beast went completely berserk, thrashing wildly as it wrapped its remaining body around Qi Han, trying to force the kitchen knife back out of its jaw.
Qi Han kept one hand firmly pressed against the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel's head, while the other clenched the knife tightly, driving it deeper and deeper into the lower jaw until only the handle remained exposed.
The Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel struggled even more violently. Qi Han's kitchen-knife Martial Spirit was only about twenty-five centimeters long—more than enough to deal with any ingredient in the kitchen. But now, that very length became a fatal limitation. Even fully embedded in the lower jaw, the Knife was still far too short relative to the massive head of the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel, unable to continue forward into its brain and deliver a killing blow.
Qi Han's expression darkened. If he pulled the knife out now, there was no guarantee he could stab it back into the frenzied Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel again. He absolutely could not allow the beast to wrench the Knife free.
But the Knife being too short was an undeniable flaw.
Wait—
A sudden thought struck him, and his eyes lit up.
If the Knife is too short…
Then make it longer.
Spirit Power surged into Qi Han's arms as he forced the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel's head down with all his strength. His body was tightly constricted by the eel's coils, his chest crushed by immense pressure, suffocation and weakness flooding his senses—but he endured it. His other hand gripped the knife handle firmly, bracing it against the eel's lower jaw.
Turn into a maguro kiri— NOW!
Pshhk!
A length of Knife burst out from the opposite side of the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel's head in a spray of blood. With its brain completely pierced through, the violently struggling Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel went rigid in an instant. The madness in its eyes froze, then faded, as the last traces of life drained away.
Heh…
As a layer of black light surfaced on the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel's body and slowly condensed into a black Spirit Ring, Qi Han managed to force a faint smile onto his face.
He won.
Maguro kiri—also known as a tuna knife—is a type of Japanese chef's knife specifically designed for cutting black tuna (bluefin tuna) that can reach two to three meters in length. With a thick spine and a long, sharp knife, it can split a massive tuna cleanly in a single stroke. Such knives can reach lengths of eighty centimeters—or even longer.
As early as when he was learning carving techniques, the kitchen knife in Qi Han's hand had already been granted a special ability by Ru Yi—the ability to transform into any type of kitchen knife. However, Qi Han had never used this ability in actual combat. Most of the time, he only turned the knife into a carving knife for sculpting various foods.
Yet in the midst of a life-or-death crisis, inspiration struck him in a flash. He thought of this rarely used special knife and, in a near-suicidal gamble, used it to kill the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel.
After dispersing the elongated knife that had pierced through the dragon eel's skull, Qi Han placed both hands against the stiff corpse tightly coiled around his body. The smile on his face quickly turned bitter.
After such a brutal battle, he was completely exhausted. For a short while, he couldn't even break free from the corpse wrapped around him, and could only be dragged downward with it, sinking deeper into the sea.
"Quick, submit the quest!" Ru Yi urged anxiously, snapping Qi Han's mind back to clarity for a brief moment.
With a thought, Qi Han pressed both hands against the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel and silently recited, Submit.
[Time-Limited Quest: Ingredient Acquisition (Completed)
Quest Rewards: System Spirit Ring ×1 (Claimable), 4-Star Recipe: Zilong Sheds His Armor (Claimable).]
The notification announcing the quest's completion appeared before Qi Han's eyes, but he had no time to pay attention to it.
The massive beast corpse that had been wrapped around his body vanished, yet the suffocating sensation only intensified. After the underwater struggle, his remaining breath was almost gone. Powerlessness flooded his limbs, making even the slightest movement difficult. Even without the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel's body restraining him, he continued to drift helplessly with the current in the cold, deathly sea.
Am I… going to die…?
As the suffocation worsened, every cell in Qi Han's body seemed to scream in desperate need of oxygen. The overwhelming weakness and pain spread instantly through his entire body.
Yes, you're going to die…
Give up. Stop struggling…
Countless voices of unknown origin echoed in his mind, like hands reaching out from hell itself, dragging him toward an endless abyss.
The light in his eyes gradually faded, and everything before him became blurred.
"Don't die!"
In a haze, he seemed to see something streak toward him—something tinged with silver-gray and dark gray. In the next instant, his vision went black, and he lost all consciousness.
<+>
if you want to see more chapters of this story and don't mind playing $5 per month to see my latest update, please go to my Patreon[1]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/67255?view=condensed[2]
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 474: A Terrifying Truth[3]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/becoming-food-in-152113444[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/67255?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/collection/67255?view=condensed
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/becoming-food-in-152113444
[4] https://www.patreon.com/posts/becoming-food-in-152113444