Chapter 29: Ironwood’s First Battle, Slaying the Snake King
Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Ironwood’s First Battle, Slaying the Snake King
At the Dark River Entrance, a cyan mist coiled like a living snake. Liu Fengchun’s Snake-Head Staff CLANGED as he drove it into a crevice in the rock. The Jade Eyes on its head reflected the flickering light on the four faces. "The roots of the sapling, divided into four parts. Will that be enough for everyone?"
A hoarse sneer escaped from under Yin Jiu’s mask. The antennae of the Red Centipedes in his Pottery Jar rustled as they crawled about, seemingly in time with his laughter. "Elder Liu, since you want the Snake King’s Poison Sac, why bother using some paltry roots as a bargaining chip?"
His withered fingers flicked open the jar’s lid. Three centipedes climbed along his arm armor and onto his shoulder. "I only want the Snake Shedding to temper the leg-blades of these Red Centipedes."
The silver needle on Chen Moyang’s Array Disc suddenly began to move. "The Array on the edge of the South Cliff developed a crack last night. The snake’s nest is likely over there."
Everyone frowned upon hearing this. It was a place they usually avoided even on patrol. Beneath the half-eaten carcass of a Demon Beast there was a swarm of Water Scorpions, and they were not to be trifled with.
As he looked up, his gaze swept over Lu Zhao’s Profound Water Turtle Shell Shield. A thought seemed to strike him, and he said, "Mr. Lu, your new Puppet... would you be willing to have it scout the cavern and test its mettle?"
"And how would you know I have a new Puppet?"
Lu Zhao’s expression hardened.
"Don’t worry, Mr. Lu. I haven’t been spying on you. It’s just that the wood chips washing out of the Dark River have been a bit different lately."
’Damn it, I was too careless. I’ll have to be more cautious from now on,’ Lu Zhao thought.
A silent, deep blue Water Curtain surged forth from the Turtle Shell Shield. Lu Zhao said, "My Puppet will engage the main snake pack head-on, but I’ll need all of you to lock down the snakes on the flanks."
His gaze swept over the fiery centipede peeking out from Yin Jiu’s sleeve. "Ink-Scale Snakes fear fire and poison. It’s time for Mr. Yin’s fire centipedes to taste real blood."
CRACK!
At this moment, Liu Fengchun spoke up. "My grandson needs Pills for his breakthrough. The Snake King’s Poison Sac alone isn’t enough. I need a larger share."
He then took something out of his Storage Bag. It looked like a worn, old Scroll.
"This is a detailed map I’ve spent the last six years surveying and drawing. It even marks out a section of the Dark River. Is this enough?"
In the dead silence, only the sound of the Dark River weeping as it struck the rocks could be heard. Lu Zhao finally spoke. "We’ll set out at 7:00 AM tomorrow. The materials from the Snake King are up for grabs. I don’t want the sapling, but all its roots must go to me. If there’s a shortfall, I can make it up with Spirit Stones."
After the group separated, they agreed to set out the next day.
Inside his stone room, Lu Zhao laid out his assets: the eerie patterns on his Profound Water Turtle Shell Shield flowed, the twin blades of his Water-Splitting Needle were condensed with Dark River Water Essence, and the Magnetic Button on his hip hummed softly with his breath.
The vortex on the Hundred Waters Magic Disc pulsed with blue light, and the Array Core in his robe vibrated faintly like a heartbeat.
Three Red Patterned Bursting Flame Talismans, three Water Escape Talismans, two Golden Sword Talismans, and a Quasi-Tier Two Ice Dragon Talisman.
His fingertips traced the turtle pattern on an Ironwood Guard Breastplate as he thought about the Puppets in his possession.
Four Ice Mouse Puppets, two Flowing Cloud Sparrows, and two Ironwood Guards.
’I’ll use the snake swarm to test out the Puppets. I haven’t even tried the Ironwood Guards yet...’ Lu Zhao murmured.
In a stone cavern, Chen Moyang dipped a finger in snake blood and wrote swiftly on the back of his Array Disc.
A mixture of Spirit Stone powder and Golden Sand seeped into the trigram patterns. "The Gate of Life in the Xun Position opens at the Hour of the Serpent, the aura of death in the Kan Position surges like a tide..." A spiderweb of cracks suddenly appeared on the Array Disc. He slapped his chest, and a drop of Essence Blood flowed down his fingertip to feed the eye of the trigram. The silver needle abruptly settled on the seventh red dot.
Meanwhile, in his room, Yin Jiu submerged a Red Centipede in a boiling, dark green slurry. Inside a Pottery Jar, a snake corpse rapidly shriveled into ash.
’This blood-burning fire poison should be enough to eat through snake scales...’ He stared through the eyeholes of his mask toward the stone wall. ’Let’s hope Lu Zhao’s clumsy lumps don’t get in the way of my centipedes’ feast of marrow.’ The slurry in the jar roiled as if alive.
Liu Fengchun sat cross-legged in a corner of his own room, stroking a crack on his staff’s Jade Eyes. He viciously pressed a shard of bronze into the fissure.
The moment the Celestial Wind Blade fragment sank in, spiderweb-like blood patterns surfaced on the staff. ’The residual power of this fragment will last no more than ten seconds... You all had better not waste the map that took this old man six years to create.’
「At the bottom of Cyan Rattan Stream.」
The current of the Dark River was swift and murky, resembling the slick, viscous intestines of a colossal beast.
A potent stench of rot, mixed with a strange, dizzying, sweet and coppery odor, invaded their nostrils, impossible to escape.
They had advanced less than a hundred yards when HISSING sounds erupted from the rock crevices, and seven or eight Ink-Scale Snakes, each as thick as an arm, shot out like lightning!
A red shadow flashed from Yin Jiu’s sleeve, and a Red Centipede leaped forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
The snake’s body visibly shriveled, turning into a light, empty husk. Before its Snake Bones could hit the ground, a layer of deep blue Ice Crystals had silently coated it—the residual power of the Dark River Water Essence, channeled by Lu Zhao’s Water-Splitting Needle, still lingered, its Cold Qi biting.
"The scales on this Snake Shedding are dull and lusterless. It doesn’t even have a decent cyan pattern."
The silver needle on Chen Moyang’s Array Disc was stuck fast in the Xun Position, its tail vibrating at a high frequency. "The Snake King’s nest is just a few dozen yards away. Its aura is so thick you could cut it with a knife. ...But these..."
He kicked a frozen snake corpse at his feet, his tone laced with a barely perceptible frustration. "They’re all just Tier One Early Stage. Not even enough for a snack!"
BOOM—!
The stalactites overhead came crashing down like a torrential rain! The instant the foul wind bore down on them, the hairs on the back of Lu Zhao’s neck stood on end.
The Hundred Waters Magic Disc spun of its own accord into his palm, and the Water-Splitting Needle drew upon the Dark River’s water vapor, condensing it into an arcing blade to block the attack—
CLANG!!!
A deafening, ear-piercing explosion of metal on metal rang out in the narrow space, shaking rock dust from the ceiling like an avalanche! The Ice Blade shattered on impact, exploding into a pervasive Ice Mist.
Through the spreading Ice Mist, the ambusher’s true form was revealed: a giant snake, thirty feet long, its entire body covered in dark cyan Scale Armor that was nearly black. On its forehead, a demonic cyan pattern flickered like a flame. Dark green venom dripped from its fangs, splattering onto the black rock wall and instantly corroding pits into it, sending up plumes of sizzling green smoke!
"That cyan pattern?!" Blood-red light shot from the Jade Eyes on Liu Fengchun’s Snake-Head Staff. "So it really is this beast!"
The Snake King’s vertical pupils locked onto Lu Zhao. Its tail whipped through the air, blasting the Ice Mist apart as it swept toward his legs, its scales scraping against the rock wall and kicking up dazzling sparks.
But Lu Zhao suddenly retreated at high speed. "Everyone, get back!"
Before his voice had even faded, the rock wall beside him exploded! An Ironwood Guard’s body smashed through the stone and charged out, silent as a mountain! Its Profound Iron-clad fist shot out without any flourish, smashing head-on into the whipping snake tail!
BANG! SKREEE—!
The massive sound of the head-on collision was accompanied by the piercing shriek of scraping metal! The snake’s tail scales flew off like arrows. The thick Profound Iron Armor on the Puppet’s right arm was shockingly dented inward and cracked, and the earthen-yellow Spirit Patterns at its joints flashed violently, spewing out fine fragments of Spirit Light!
"Hold it down!"
Lu Zhao’s Divine Sense flooded into the Puppet Core like a tidal wave. The Spirit Patterns on the Puppet’s chest and abdomen flared instantly, the earthen-yellow light now flowing like molten lava. Its arms erupted with astonishing power, clamping down on the snake’s tail joint like two giant, molten-hot iron pincers!
The Snake King roared in pain and fury, its massive body twisting and rolling wildly. Its thrashing tail smashed against the hard rock walls, sending rubble flying and covering them in a spiderweb of cracks.
The Puppet’s body was thrown off balance, its joints emitting a teeth-grinding metallic groan under the immense strain, as if it might fall apart at any moment. But the grip of its arms did not waver in the slightest!
A vicious glint flashed in Yin Jiu’s eyes. Two Red Centipedes transformed into streaks of red light, lunging straight for the Snake King’s cold, vertical pupils! The Snake King snapped its mouth open, spewing forth a cloud of bluish-black poison so thick it seemed tangible! The moment the Red Centipedes touched the mist, they burst into flame, letting out short, shrill hisses as they were instantly carbonized into two clumps of black ash that drifted to the ground!
"Now!" The cyan light on Liu Fengchun’s Snake-Head Staff exploded with a sound like tearing wind. The Snake King convulsed as if struck by lightning, the cyan light flickering wildly.
Lu Zhao made his move. The vortex on his Hundred Waters Magic Disc spun with frenzied speed. Three deep blue Ice Cones crystallized on its surface, then shot through the air, propelled by the Magic Disc’s power!
SHOO! SHOO! SHOO!
The Ice Cones whistled sharply as they sliced through the air, piercing the Snake King’s body in a triangular formation!
Before blood could even spurt out, the "Trapping Array" from Chen Moyang’s personal array disc had enveloped the snake’s head. Liu Fengchun thrust the head of his staff into the snake’s mouth and twisted viciously, while Yin Jiu’s Poison Needles rained down, burying themselves in the wounds...
By the time the Snake King’s corpse smashed into the Dark River, the Spirit Patterns on the Ironwood Guard’s right arm had dimmed considerably. Lu Zhao ran his hand over the deep scars, and the Puppet Bead gave him feedback:
Bluish-black tree sap was leaking from the seams of the right arm’s armor. Three old cracks had widened and now extended to the shoulder blade.
’It’s still a bit of a stretch for it to handle a Tier One Middle Stage Demon Beast,’ Lu Zhao thought to himself.