Chapter 32: Death of the Snake King
Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Death of the Snake King
’But it’s come to this. Overthinking is pointless. I have to go all out.’
The two Ironwood Guards, wreathed in yellow light, charged forward. As always, they swung their heavy, Profound Iron-clad fists toward the Snake King.
Lu Zhao moved. The deep blue Water Curtain of his Profound Water Turtle Shell Shield swirled around him, enveloping him completely.
He poured his Magical Power into the Hundred Waters Magic Disc. With a soft hum, three deep blue Ice Cones condensed into existence, emanating a biting cold and brimming with chilling killing intent.
"Go," he commanded under his breath.
Like a sudden gale, the three deep blue Ice Cones shot toward the Snake King.
"SSS."
With a hiss, the Snake King moved. Its fifty-foot body was like a phantom, instantly dodging the Ice Cones and pouncing toward Lu Zhao.
Just then, the two Puppet figures moved to intercept, blocking the Snake King’s charge head-on.
The sound of the impact was deafening. As the Snake King struck one of the Puppets, the latter threw its right arm across its body. Its Profound Iron Armor blocked the blow, its earthen-yellow Spirit Patterns flashing wildly.
The moment they collided, the Puppet’s Spirit Light shattered like porcelain. The light burst and scattered, and the entire Puppet was knocked back several steps!
’Keep it busy! Full power!’
Lu Zhao’s Divine Sense flooded the Puppet Cores like a tide, issuing the order once again.
The Spirit Patterns on the two Ironwood Guards flared brightly once more. An earthen-yellow light erupted from them as if it were on fire. They pressed forward, swinging their arms in unison like a pair of great hammers to pin down the Snake King’s assault.
Seizing the opportunity, Liu Fengchun struck. A cyan radiance erupted from the Snake-Head Staff in his hand as he aimed it straight for the Snake King’s head.
Lu Zhao, meanwhile, activated his Hundred Waters Magic Disc again. The whirlpool on its surface spun rapidly, and another three deep blue Ice Cones materialized, aimed directly at the Snake King’s vital spot.
The two worked in perfect sync, spontaneously employing the same tactic they had used to kill the other Snake King.
Just as the Ice Cones were about to hit, the Spirit Light on the Snake King’s body flickered, and it vanished into thin air!
’Not good! The beast can use its innate magic again.’
The sight startled them both.
He immediately recalled what he’d read in the old texts: using innate magic was incredibly draining for a Demon Beast, and it was rare for one to use it multiple times in a short period. But this Ink-Scale Snake King was clearly an exception. ’This symbiosis between demon beasts is truly a complicated matter,’ he thought.
A moment later, hundreds of feet away, a giant serpentine shadow emerged from the ground.
As it turned out, during the chaos of the battle, Yin Jiu had already snuck over to the Cyan Vine.
A corner of his mask was broken and his clothes were in tatters. With a hand seal, he opened the Pottery Jar. The sickly-sweet scent of blood wafted out as dozens of Red Centipedes crawled forth.
Each one was as thick as a baby’s arm, their crimson fangs gleaming with a cold, terrifying light.
With a flick of Yin Jiu’s finger, the Red Centipedes’ legs scuttled rapidly. They swarmed the Cyan Vine, attempting to crawl all over it.
Although the Cyan Vine was an extraordinary plant, it was still just a sapling. All it could do was flail its ancillary vines in a desperate attempt to fend them off.
WHIP! An ancillary vine lashed out, smashing a Red Centipede to pulp against the ground.
But more Red Centipedes had already clambered onto the main stalk. The Cyan Vine hastily secreted its Wood Poison, attempting to incapacitate the venomous creatures.
However, the Red Centipedes were poisonous creatures themselves. While the Wood Poison had an effect, it only managed to slow them down.
In less than half a quarter hour, dozens of Red Centipedes were brandishing their scissor-like fangs, frantically tearing at the Cyan Vine’s main stalk and ancillary vines.
Fiery red venom seeped into the wounds. The Cyan Vine’s movements gradually slowed, and its ancillary vines waved more and more sluggishly, as if on the verge of complete paralysis.
Sensing something was wrong with its partner, the Snake King broke free of the Puppets’ grasp. It lunged at Yin Jiu, its cavernous maw gaping to reveal terrifying fangs.
Seeing this, Yin Jiu instinctively cast a spell. With a flash of red light, he retreated a hundred feet away, his speed hardly inferior to the Snake King’s.
Seeing its strike had missed, the Snake King didn’t pursue. Instead, it whipped its tail, rapidly swatting the Red Centipedes off the Cyan Vine. Each lash of its tail crushed several of the creatures.
In just a few moments, a dozen Red Centipedes were smashed to a pulp. But seeing their kin die didn’t make the remaining centipedes retreat; it only drove them into a greater frenzy. Some even abandoned their attack on the Cyan Vine.
They bared their huge fangs and began to attack the Snake King. The most ferocious among them even tried to leap onto its body.
Yin Jiu, who had already withdrawn, watched this unfold. A rare, twisted expression appeared on his usually stoic face.
"Damn it! Damn it all! I’ll eat you alive, you beast!"
His voice, hoarse and ragged like tearing cloth, was a furious roar.
Despite his words, his hands were not idle. He immediately began casting, and a flash of blood-red light shot out.
The Red Centipedes immediately abandoned their attacks on the Snake King and the Cyan Vine and began to scatter in all directions.
Just then, Lu Zhao and Liu Fengchun arrived on the scene.
"The Cyan Vine has been hit by my Fen Blood Fire Poison. It won’t be able to help that beast for a while."
Yin Jiu stated with a grim face, his voice hoarse.
Seeing this, Lu Zhao and Liu Fengchun exchanged a meaningful glance.
The two Ironwood Guards were the first to move. The earthen-yellow Spirit Light once again enveloped their bodies as they charged the Snake King from the left and right, their Profound Iron-clad arms smashing toward its head.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhao frantically poured his Magical Power into the Hundred Waters Magic Disc. With a loud CRACK, five deep blue Ice Cones condensed on its surface. They were a fraction larger than usual—the result of him pushing the Magic Disc with all his might.
His Ice Cone Technique was at the Great Success Level. Augmented by the full power of the Magic Disc, the attack was no weaker than a full-force strike from a Late-stage Qi Cultivator wielding a Middle-Grade Spiritual Artifact.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! Though launched after the puppets, the five Ice Cones were so fast they arrived first, streaking toward the Snake King.
The Snake King was resolutely shielding the Cyan Vine. It opened its mouth wide and spewed a thick, blue-black toxic mist toward the incoming Ice Cones in an attempt to intercept them.
But these Ice Cones were different from before. They pierced straight through the toxic mist, their speed only slightly diminished.
The Snake King no longer tried to evade. With a whip of its tail, it met the Ice Cones head-on.
A series of loud CRACKS echoed as the Ice Cones collided violently with the snake’s tail.
Although they didn’t all pierce through, one of them plunged deep into the Snake King’s tail, making it howl in agony and writhe violently.
Though it felt like an eternity, the previous exchange had happened in a flash. The two Puppets finally reached the Snake King, raising their fists to smash down upon it.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Four sounds of Golden Iron striking Ink-Scale rang out, and the Snake King was sent flying backward.
Liu Fengchun saw his chance. He swung his Snake-Head Staff, and a wind-cleaving cyan radiance erupted from it. With a sickening CRACK, the Snake King’s spine snapped.
Lu Zhao didn’t pause either. He swallowed a Spirit Recovery Pill and performed a Circulation of the Little Spirit Rain Technique, rapidly restoring his Magical Power.
Another five Ice Cones materialized and shot forth.
THWUMP, THWUMP, THWUMP, THWUMP, THWUMP—the sound of five Ice Cones embedding themselves in flesh.
The Snake King was now a spent force. With its spine shattered and its body pierced by Ice Cones, it could only writhe and thrash about on pure instinct.
A quarter of an hour later, the Snake King’s body was mostly caved in from the blows of the Puppets’ iron arms and Liu Fengchun’s Snake Staff, its spine shattered into several pieces.
With one final, agonized hiss, it finally breathed its last.
Seeing the Snake King finally dead, the group let out a collective sigh of relief.
As for the nearby Cyan Vine, Liu Fengchun had already bound it tightly with a rope-like Magical Artifact.
And Lu Zhao had long since collected the three severed vines into his Storage Bag.