Chapter 110 - 109: Forceful Robbery, Fu Jiao Serpent

Chapter 110: Chapter 109: Forceful Robbery, Fu Jiao Serpent

However, there was little sign of joy on Luo Fang’s face. He could feel the runes within the Hundred Beasts Seal gradually dimming, and he smiled bitterly to himself.

’Without this Top-Grade Magical Artifact, which has been accumulating power for so long, what can I possibly use to contend with Tong Zuo?’

"Did I lose...?"

And just as he feared, the moment he activated the seal-like Magical Artifact...

「On the other side of the island.」

Tong Zuo’s eyes lit up slightly as he chuckled. "He’s made his move..."

He turned and sent a few words to Luan Jian via voice transmission. Then, with a single leap, he landed in the lake. Ignoring Mingzhuang’s struggle with the Snake Demon, he shot straight toward the island.

At the bottom of the lake, Mingzhuang’s body was aglow with Spiritual Power. Hundreds of water chains surrounded him, fending off the Snake Demon’s relentless attacks.

"Hey! Don’t forget about me!"

He shouted in anguish when he sensed Tong Zuo’s aura passing by.

The Snake Demon battling him sensed someone heading for the island. It let out a roar, disengaged from Mingzhuang, and turned to chase after Tong Zuo.

"Damn it!"

Mingzhuang cursed inwardly. With a mere thought, the magical water chains covering his body split apart. One half anchored deep into the lakebed, while the other half shot out to wrap around the Snake Demon’s tail.

Instantly, an immense force surged from the Snake Demon.

CRACK... A dozen or so chains snapped in succession. The other chains also cracked, but they healed completely in the next instant.

Mingzhuang’s face turned deathly pale as his Spiritual Power was rapidly consumed.

Just then, a cold voice rang in his ear.

"Tie up two of them..."

Before Mingzhuang could even react, he saw a ten-foot-long wave of Sword Qi slice through the water, hacking down at one of the Snake Demons.

The Snake Demon was so focused on breaking free from the chains that it was caught completely off guard. The Sword Qi struck it directly on the head.

The biting Sword Qi shattered its scales instantly. Flesh and blood splattered as a deep gash was carved into its skull.

ROAR...

The Snake Demon sank for a moment before letting out a painful shriek. Its body thrashed wildly, blood pouring from the wound and staining the surrounding water red.

But it didn’t end there. Luan Jian ignored the other two demons, his eyes locked on the injured one. Sword in hand, he dove into the water to attack again.

Mingzhuang sensed Luan Jian’s aura, and a look of joy crossed his face. He surged Spiritual Power into his magical channels.

The magically-formed chains around him began to glow faintly, spreading out to bind the other Snake Demons.

The two demons spat out poisonous mist, melting chain after chain. But the chains seemed endless; as soon as one dissolved, another would materialize to take its place.

This clearly took a heavy toll.

The blue glow in Mingzhuang’s eyes gradually faded, and his aura weakened considerably.

However, his efforts were not in vain.

One of the three Snake Demon auras quietly vanished.

CRACK...

Luan Jian emotionlessly stored away the corpse of the decapitated Snake Demon. His gaze shifted to the other two, and he moved like a fish through the water, charging once more.

「In the sky, aboard the Flying Ship.」

Tan Hu tore his gaze away from the patch of water where Luan Jian fought and looked to the other side. When he saw the large man directing a three-headed python to slaughter the serpent beasts, his face filled with thick disdain.

"Just a cheap imitation. He’ll never break through to Late-Meridian Condensation in this lifetime..."

Hearing this, Li Changsheng couldn’t help but follow his gaze.

There, he saw the large man commanding a massive, crimson, three-headed serpent that was slaughtering the other serpent beasts.

Serpent beasts, shimmering with spiritual light, pounced on the three-headed serpent, only to be snapped in two, swallowed, and dissolved into pools of blood within its belly.

In just a short time, it had slain dozens of serpent beasts, including many mid-grade and top-grade Rank-1 spirit snakes.

’What a formidable, exotic serpent...’

Li Changsheng thought to himself, his gaze shifting to the top of the island.

Luo Fang and Tong Zuo had entered the island one after the other. Some time had passed, but there was no sign of any change.

’Could they have reconciled?’

The absurd thought suddenly popped into Li Changsheng’s mind.

As he was lost in his wild speculation, the expressions of Lan Cai Shen and the others changed drastically.

Tan Hu’s eyes bulged like bronze bells. "A Jiao Demon!" he exclaimed in disbelief.

Hm?

Startled, Li Changsheng quickly scanned his surroundings.

Just then, the sky suddenly dimmed, and a heavy, oppressive aura began to spread.

MOO...

A low, heavy bellow, like that of a cow, suddenly echoed.

The sky darkened further, and a fierce wind began to blow.

Hearing the bellow, the Snake Tide froze for an instant before receding back into the lake like a literal tide.

The expressions of the Cultivators fighting on the shore changed. They hastily collected the snake corpses near them and fled from Ten Thousand Serpent Lake.

In a corner of Ten Thousand Serpent Lake, the water churned violently.

Luan Jian—his clothes in disarray and his aura unstable—leapt from the lake’s surface, carrying a listless Mingzhuang. He shot a glance toward the island before speeding away from Ten Thousand Serpent Lake.

Meanwhile, the Flying Ship descended, landing a short distance from the lake.

After they disembarked, Lan Cai Shen said nothing. He put away the Flying Ship, then transformed into a streak of light and shot straight toward the island.

Just then... MOO... A piercing bellow erupted from the island. The world lit up as a bolt of blue-white lightning crashed down onto it.

BOOM...

The moment the lightning struck, Li Changsheng felt a searing pain in his eyes, followed by a tremendous roar.

Then, a hoarse, furious roar echoed. "You dare!"

The words had barely faded when a streak of earthy-yellow light shot up from the island, followed by a streak of purple light in hot pursuit.

But just at that moment, a slender, black-scaled Jiao-serpent with a sharp horn on its head lunged and bit down on the purple streak of light.

BOOM...

The Jiao-serpent caught the purple light in its maw as if it were a pearl, then smashed it down onto the island.

BOOM...

「A few moments later.」

A furious and exasperated voice rang out. "You beast! All you did was awaken a mere sliver of Jiao Dragon bloodline...!"

This was followed by an eruption of dense Demonic Power, and a series of violent explosions shook the island.

’The energy is terrifying...’

Li Changsheng felt the waves of Spiritual Power rolling out from the island like a surging tide, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

All this time, he had only ever heard tales of what Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators were capable of...

Now, for the first time, he was personally witnessing and feeling the battle of a Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator.

Whether it was Mingzhuang, Luan Jian, or the large man commanding the three-headed python, their techniques had been a true eye-opener for him.

Luo Fang and Tong Zuo, however, showed him just how terrifying a Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator could truly be.

’In my current state, I probably couldn’t even withstand the aftershocks of their battle.’

Then, on the island, with the appearance of that strange, dense Demonic Power, the sounds of battle gradually faded, as if a victor had been decided.

When Lan Cai Shen arrived at the island’s summit, the scene before him left him stunned.

The first thing he saw was a Jiao-serpent. It was nearly twenty zhang long, as thick as a barrel, and covered in jet-black scales. It was already dead, blood gushing from a gaping hole in its head.

A scorpion, two meters wide and with a body like amethyst, was devouring the Jiao-serpent’s brain.

The aura it radiated was scarcely weaker than the Jiao-serpent’s; it was clearly a Scorpion Demon of the Late-Demon Realm.

Tong Zuo sat beside it with his eyes closed, meditating to suppress the chaotic energy within his body.

「A moment later.」

Tong Zuo exhaled a turbid breath and slowly opened his eyes, revealing pupils webbed with crimson veins, like shattered glass.

After a few moments of silence, a hoarse voice spoke.

"Give me a day to recuperate. Come back tomorrow."

"Alright."

Lan Cai Shen nodded without the slightest hesitation, then turned and departed the island as a streak of light.

’Whether he’s recuperating or hunting for treasure, it’s none of my business.’

After he departed, Tong Zuo stood up. He stored away the Jiao-serpent’s corpse and the Purple Crystal Scorpion Mother, then strode to a dark, deep pool on the summit and leaped in.

He descended for an unknown amount of time.

Suddenly, a SIZZLING sound came from the thick layer of Spiritual Power protecting his body, as if something outside were gnawing at it.

At this, Tong Zuo’s expression remained unchanged; he simply increased his speed of descent.

Before long, he felt himself touch the bottom.

Tong Zuo flipped his hand over, producing an illuminating Magical Artifact. He activated it with his Spiritual Power, and a soft glow spread out.

The scene at the bottom of the pool became clearly visible.

The pool bottom was about a thousand square meters. Beneath his feet was a boulder several zhang wide, which bore obvious scrape marks.

In a corner, more than a dozen small, purplish-black, six-leaved herbs, each about three feet tall, swayed with the current.

Tong Zuo’s eyes lit up when he saw them. He walked over, squatted down, and began to dig into the ground beneath the herbs.

The swirling mud and sand quickly obscured his position.

「A moment later.」

A hard, cold sensation registered in Tong Zuo’s senses, making his heart beat faster.

He waved his hand to clear the sediment, revealing a scorpion tail. It was about a meter long, as thick as an arm, sharp at the tip, and covered in ring-like segments.

The tail was covered in intricate patterns, and at its severed end, the sprawling roots of the purplish-black herbs had grown to plug the hollow opening.

As it was uncovered, an invisible wisp of black gas seeped from the severed end and brushed against the sleeve of Tong Zuo’s robe.

Silently, a tiny tear appeared in the fabric.

Seeing the tear in his sleeve, Tong Zuo’s expression shifted. He took out a jade box covered in runes from his robes and carefully stored the scorpion tail inside, along with the purplish-black herbs.

Then, circulating his Spiritual Power, he rapidly ascended.

Not long after he left, a black shadow emerged from under the boulder and darted into the hole where the scorpion tail had been buried.

「Outside.」

After Lan Cai Shen returned, he informed the group that they would have to wait another day to go onto the island. Then he headed for the Patrol Guard Station.

After he was a good distance away, Tan Hu snickered. "Just you watch. This isn’t over yet..."

Li Changsheng and the others exchanged glances but said nothing.

Afterward, the group fell into idle conversation.

Even Jin Fang, no longer wearing a stern expression, joined the conversation. However, he and Tan Hu shared a tacit understanding, neither addressing the other nor starting any arguments.

「As night fell.」

The group lost the desire to chat. Each found a spot to sit and meditate with their eyes closed.

Li Changsheng summoned Xiaohua and his insect swarm. He sat on its belly, took out the "Blood River Refining Yang True Skill" jade slip, and began to study it in silence.

Although he kept the swarm contained around him, it still drew the attention of Tan Hu and the others. They shot him a few odd glances, looking at the insects flitting about his body.

Tan Hu even gave him a direct thumbs-up in silent praise.

Just as Li Changsheng was engrossed in the Cultivation Technique...

BOOM...

A sudden, loud explosion echoed through the area.

They all snapped their eyes open, looking toward the source of the sound.