Chapter 310 - 216: Joint Demon Hunt, Fire Manipulation and Fire Extinguishing
Chapter 310: Chapter 216: Joint Demon Hunt, Fire Manipulation and Fire Extinguishing
Mo Zhaoli wanted to protest, but seeing Lin Changheng’s resolute expression, she had to drop the idea of an even split.
"That’s more like it. This Essence Blood is more than enough for me."
Lin Changheng brandished the four vials of dark green Essence Blood in his hand.
It was all taken from the corpses of the Demon Deer lying nearby.
’It’s a shame we didn’t find the whole herd,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, I wouldn’t have minded figuring out a way to kill and clear out a few more. For now, I’ll have to let it go and see if we get another chance in the future.’
’Another reason I’m taking all this Essence Blood is to maintain my persona as someone who needs it.’
"Brother Lin, you always talk to Li’Er as if I’m just a little girl..."
Mo Zhaoli said softly, wrinkling her delicate nose.
"Ahem..." Lin Changheng quietly retracted the hand he had been about to place on Mo Zhaoli’s hair.
Mo Zhaoli glanced at Lin Changheng’s sheepish smile as he pulled his hand back, and she couldn’t help but let out a giggle.
"Alright, Brother Lin, please try what I’ve made."
As she spoke, she picked up a piece of roasted deer meat skewered on a branch and offered it to him.
Lin Changheng sighed inwardly. ’Li’Er is the best. She must have been afraid I’d feel awkward, so she created an out for me...’
He had just reached out with a smile to take it and was about to take a bite when he suddenly heard Mo Zhaoli’s voice again. "You’re so used to Miss Yan’s cooking; I wonder if you’ll find what Li’Er makes palatable..."
"COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!"
Caught completely off guard, Lin Changheng’s breath hitched, and he nearly choked, breaking into a fit of coughing.
His coughing was accompanied by the sound of charming, bell-like laughter echoing through the Demon Beast’s cave.
With his mouth full of savory, tender deer meat, Lin Changheng was momentarily lost in a daze. His memory flashed back more than sixty years, to the girl who had tried making Spiritual Food for the first time. He saw her bringing it to him, watching as he grimaced his way through the entire meal.
She was just as radiant, just as charming.
...
「Several days later.」
The two continued to travel through the forest.
They were starting to look a little travel-worn.
Suddenly, Mo Zhaoli stopped and let out a small gasp of surprise.
"What is it?"
Lin Changheng stopped beside her, asking via voice transmission.
"Brother Lin, look."
Mo Zhaoli pointed to a crimson Exotic Fruit on a distant tree. It pulsed with a brilliant Spiritual Light, its color dazzlingly vibrant. It was clearly no ordinary fruit.
"Oh?"
Lin Changheng stepped forward to see from her angle. After observing for a moment, a smile touched his lips. "Watch this, Li’Er."
With a flick of his sleeve, a Cyan Gold Flying Sword shot out like a bolt of violet lightning. In a flash, it crossed a hundred paces, striking with immense power right at the stem of the crimson Exotic Fruit.
"CLANG!"
An explosive sound erupted—the crisp, ringing clash of metal on metal!
The Cyan Gold Flying Sword hadn’t struck the stem of any fruit. It had hit a section of an incredibly hard snake’s tail, covered in scales the color of tree bark!
The "stem" writhed in pain, contracting violently.
At the same time, the entire tree seemed to come alive. Its branches and leaves swayed madly as the "crimson Exotic Fruit" was abruptly withdrawn. In its place, a pair of vertical pupils, filled with savagery and cunning, peered down from above!
The Disguise was broken!
A Demon Snake dozens of feet long, its body covered in crimson scales that seemed to ripple like liquid fire, shot out from the dense canopy.
It had been coiled around the tree the entire time, its tail disguised as the fruit’s stem, its head and venomous fangs hidden in the shadows above, waiting for greedy prey to fall into its trap.
Thoroughly enraged by the Flying Sword striking its tail, the Demon Snake reverted to its true colors. Like a bolt of red lightning, it lunged straight for Lin Changheng, who had attacked from a distance.
The Demon Snake shrieked, unleashing a foul stench. Its gaping maw was large enough to swallow a calf, and stinking, toxic saliva dripped down, corroding the leaves below with a SIZZLE.
However, just as it launched into the air, in the split second that the softest part of its underbelly—the seven-inch point—was exposed...
"SHOOO!"
An incredibly condensed beam of silver light, faster than an arrow and swifter than thought, shot out silently from Mo Zhaoli’s position.
The timing was perfect, down to the millisecond.
It struck with impeccable precision right on the Demon Snake’s Reverse Scale at the seven-inch point!
"PUFF!"
A soft, muffled thud.
A gruesome gash was torn in its Scale Skin, revealing the flesh beneath as blood spurted out.
The Demon Snake’s ferocious lunge froze in mid-air. Its massive body convulsed violently, and the light in its savage vertical pupils instantly dimmed, replaced by a deathly, ashen gray.
THUD!
Its heavy body crashed onto the forest floor’s layer of humus, sending dead branches and leaves flying. Then, silence.
From Lin Changheng’s Flying Sword luring out the enemy to Mo Zhaoli seizing the fleeting weakness, the entire exchange happened in the blink of an eye.
Lin Changheng recalled his Cyan Gold Flying Sword. He glanced at the snake’s corpse in the distance before turning back with a small smile. "Good eye, Li’Er. And a fine move."
His sword strike had served two purposes: first, to probe the enemy, and second, to deliberately create an opening that would force the Demon Beast to reveal a fatal weakness.
Mo Zhaoli nodded, sharing a look of perfect understanding with Lin Changheng. She smiled radiantly. "That was a Red-Training Demon Snake. They are masters of disguise and luring prey. Their venom is potent, but the Reverse Scale at their seven-inch point is their greatest weakness. Your swift reaction just now gave me the perfect opportunity, Brother Lin."
"Judging by its aura, it was also around the Tier Two Early Stage, but it was much stronger than that Deer Demon. It’s likely lured and eaten its fair share of Cultivators."
Lin Changheng nodded. ’That’s certainly possible. Some Demon Beasts with Spiritual Wisdom get too clever for their own good and end up delivering themselves to your doorstep.’
With that said, they both turned to the snake’s corpse and simultaneously summoned their Spiritual Artifacts once more.
"Together?"
"Together."
They shared a knowing smile and activated their Spiritual Artifacts in unison.
Lin Changheng’s Cyan Gold Flying Sword became a streak of light once more, shooting toward the snake’s eye, aiming to pierce straight through and pulp its brain.
Meanwhile, the Silver Bracelet flew from Mo Zhaoli’s wrist again, spinning with a clear chime. It carried a chilling power as it hurtled toward the seven-inch point, aiming to obliterate it completely.
Two powerful waves of energy instantly descended upon the snake’s corpse.
However, in the split second before the Spiritual Artifacts could strike—
The unexpected happened.
The belly of the supposedly dead "snake corpse" suddenly swelled, and an extremely dangerous, violent aura erupted from it! Its once-dim vertical pupils blazed with a terrifying, blood-red light, filled with madness and venomous hatred!
It hadn’t been feigning death. It had compressed its last wisp of life and all its Demonic Power, waiting for this one final chance to take them down with it!
"CHIIII—!"
A crimson line of fire, condensed to an extreme and as fine as a single hair, shot forth like a deathly ray from the Nine Netherworld. It arrived before it was launched, ignoring the incoming Spiritual Artifacts and streaking toward Mo Zhaoli’s face at a terrifying speed!
This dying counterattack was utterly vicious, targeting the one it perceived to be weaker!
Mo Zhaoli’s Silver Bracelet was still flying forward; its momentum was spent, and she had yet to recall it. She was about to be struck by the fatal line of fire.
In the nick of time!
The distance was too short for her to dodge. Her Defensive Spiritual Artifact had only just launched and wouldn’t reach her in time. All she could do was conjure a Magical Power Shield.
But it wouldn’t be nearly enough to block the attack—
"Fire Manipulation!"
"Fire Extinguishing!"
Lin Changheng’s pupils contracted. The sliver of vigilance he’d maintained had just paid off.
It was an almost instinctual reaction. The Magical Power in his body surged out without reservation as his thoughts moved like lightning. Instantly, he unleashed the True Intent of his Fire Manipulation Divine Abilities, bringing it to bear on the crimson line of fire.
An invisible hand seemed to descend from the heavens, grabbing hold of the fiery thread, slowing its advance and doing its utmost to loosen the condensed flame and make it dissipate.
At the same time, his Fire Extinguishing Demon Technique arrived!
PFFFT!
The weakened core of the now-dissipating crimson flame was like snow in the spring sun, or a snuffed-out candlewick. It was instantly annihilated in mid-air.
In the blink of an eye, the Demon Snake’s incomparably ferocious line of fire was completely extinguished, vanishing into thin air without even a wisp of smoke.
Meanwhile, Mo Zhaoli’s Silver Bracelet and Lin Changheng’s Cyan Gold Flying Sword, brimming with cold killing intent, finally crashed down!
CRACK!
This time, there were no more surprises. Immense power erupted, instantly obliterating the madly counter-attacking snake’s head and its seven-inch point.
The mangled remains of the Demon Snake convulsed one last time before going completely still. Its violent aura dissipated, and all signs of life were gone for good.
"Brother Lin..."
Mo Zhaoli dismissed her Magical Power Shield and recalled the Jade Shield spinning before her. She looked at Lin Changheng, her heart still pounding with lingering fear.
"That snake was insidious and cunning, with incredibly high Spiritual Wisdom and a talent for Concealment. It wasn’t your fault."
Lin Changheng gently ruffled Mo Zhaoli’s hair, comforting her.