I Refused To Be Reincarnated

As the noise of Julius' steps echoed around the campfire, Arun rose to his feet and raced towards him. His friend's somber face lit up, and his lips stretched into a smile as he could finally escape Asha's never-ending conversations. Then, Arun dragged him inside his carriage and slammed the door behind them.

"Good night, Asha. It's getting late!" Arun yelled, his tense mind relaxing. Then he turned to Julius and pleaded, frustration lacing his voice.

"Please, I beg you, don't leave me alone with her again. You have no idea how much I suffer when she talks nonstop about business opportunities and the country's economy. All I want is to focus on alchemy. I don't care about those boring topics!"

For as long as he could remember, Asha had always been obsessed with those subjects and forced him to listen to them. He suspected she liked them so much that she could even sell him as long as the deal was profitable.

After considering this thought, he paled a little, realising it might really happen if he annoyed her enough.

"Hahaha, sorry. I was busy investigating the djinn's attack," Julius said, laughing at his friend's over-acting.

"I hope we won't be attacked anymore during our five last days of travel."

Arun's depressed voice resounded. He missed their first day of travel when they could speak and laugh all day about their dreams without being threatened by ugly beasts... or annoyed by a fiancé...

"Me too. You should sleep soon if you don't want to be woken up by Asha banging on the door."

Julius advised him with concern, shifting the subject while sitting cross-legged to cultivate.

He didn't share his discoveries with his friend yet. After all, if he raised his guard the next day, he would only alert the culprit with his sudden shift in behaviour. In addition, he wasn't entirely sure about his conjectures yet. He needed more time to ponder and observe before he could reveal anything.

After cultivating for an hour, he slid under the thick blanket to recover his strength.

The night quickly passed, and their third day of travel unfolded almost the same way as the previous one. Except that in the evening, instead of inferior djinns, a giant, pale yellow snake coming from the desert appeared on the side road.

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Julius scanned the creature, determining its body length reached twelve meters. Then, he saw its two razor-sharp fangs dripping with poison and scales as hard as iron. He didn't doubt the creature would be a formidable foe as he estimated its weight to border two hundred kilos.

Sadly, the bad news didn't end there. He felt the creature's life force, and it surpassed the first tier, making it a magical beast in the early stage of the second tier. This level granted it access to potent mana-based abilities and elevated its threat level by a large margin.

As the creature slithered towards them, ominous hissing echoing through the air, Julius gazed at every group member, his eyes darting left and right to find the person he suspected the most.

Sadly, he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Taking a deep breath, Julius approached Louise and the guards, stretching his neck while Arun and Asha ran to hide inside their carriage.

"We must cooperate to beat that overgrown snake," he said, worry flashing in his hazel eyes.

"Sure. But will you be ok without a weapon?" The guard's captain asked, concerned for his safety.

"Don't worry, miss. My principal weapon is my body!" He answered, quoting how his big brother described cultivators with a cool tone.

His words hung in the air, his muscles tensing a stream of Qi cursing through his meridians. Without another word, he lunged at the serpent, a calculative light flashing in his eyes.

Despite the arrogant vibe he gave off, his answer was well-thought-out. He knew he couldn't break through the serpent's hard scales with an iron sword. In that case, the best solution would be to use blunt weapons instead, like war hammers or maces, to bypass the defense and damage the internal organs.

Unfortunately, no one used this type of weapon. So, he used the next best thing to attack.

With the speed of an arrow, he cut through the wind, reaching the serpent's massive body. Then, he swung his arm, making the wind howl behind it to punch the snake.

Unfortunately, the beast's vertical pupils followed his movements. In the blink of an eye, it moved out of the fist's way before opening its mouth to swallow the foolish boy in retaliation.

Julius observed the serpent's terrifying maw hurtling toward him like a bottomless abyss threatening to devour everything.

From his position, he could smell the creature's blood-curdling breath as it drew dangerously close.

With lightning-quick reflexes, he rolled to the left, narrowly evading the venomous bite, then let out a scream addressed to his companions.

"The beast is too swift. I need you to distract it for a moment!"

Then he jumped backwards to let the others draw the creature's attention as he mobilised his Qi to deliver a single but devastating blow.

To do so, he slowly gathered his internal energy in his right fist, enhancing it with strength and potency on par with weak tier-two spells.

It was the strongest and only technique in his arsenal. After all, it took him four years to design it by copying Adam's approach, emphasising energy flow and control.

As he prepared to face the giant snake, he noticed Louise and the other guards readying their weapons and positioning themselves strategically around the serpent, showcasing their teamwork.

The serpent lunged forward the next moment, not paying attention to the guards and snapping its jaws dangerously close to him.

With ample time to prepare, he evaded the attack with a graceful sidestep before countering. His left punch boomed like a bullet, colliding with the metal-like scale with a loud thud. However, the result was lacking, as he expected. It confirmed that without using his energy to fuel his strikes, he couldn't hurt this opponent.

Meanwhile, Louise and the guards engaged the serpent from different angles, distracting it and preventing it from focusing solely on Julius.

They used their weapons and combat skills to harass the creature, aiming to weaken it and create an opening for Julius.

After a few seconds, he seized the chance he was waiting for and charged at the distracted creature. Instead of a classic straight punch, he opted for a powerful smash aimed at its underbelly.

'You'll tell me how you like that.'

He smirked confidently as his Qi coursed through his tense muscles, making their volumes double before the impact.

BOOM

The punch reverberated through the surroundings with the resonance of a beating drum as a cracking sound echoed. Long fissures crisscrossed the scales, and the snake's underbelly caved in under the force of the smash.

Hissed in pain and fury, the magic beast's vertical pupils locked on Julius, hate visible in them. Then, it opened its mouth and spewed a violet gas, veiling and transforming the surroundings into a dead zone.

"Be careful. It is using its poison mist ability!" Julius only had enough time to hear the guard's captain scream before being engulfed.