Lin Xiao pushed off the ground, his mountainous body shooting into the sky, the immense impact throwing Wu Yan off him.
“Rest assured, Eldest Senior Sister. I’ll give you a peaceful sleep.”
Lin Xiao began to fall from midair, his left leg, as thick as a tree, stamping toward Wu Yan.
The howling wind rustled past her ears. The Ouroboros still slithered over Lin Xiao’s body. His flesh had already surpassed the limits of human imagination, approaching the Demonic Ape she had encountered in the Cangwu Secret Realm.
His left leg grew larger in Wu Yan’s eyes. Its enormous form sealed off all her escape routes.
Wind gathered behind her into a vortex, lifting her upward.
Riding the wind to adjust her direction, Wu Nian let the gale drive it, meeting the attack head-on.
Against Lin Xiao as he was now, the result of a counterattack was naturally not good.
Wu Nian was kicked flying by Lin Xiao. Ripples spread through the air, forming layer after layer of folds. The power, undiminished, caved in Wu Yan’s left shoulder and sent her hurtling downward.
Before the light pillar, Yu Qingyao was supporting Xia Lingshuang, about to step into it, when a snake—entirely scarlet, with dull yellow eyes—blocked their path.
The snake was not coiled or reared up in a normal posture. Instead, it floated before the light pillar, forming a horizontal figure-eight shape, its mouth biting its tail. It kept gnawing at its own body, kept extending itself. Everything about it was caught in a cycle, tirelessly repeating.
“The World-Destroying Serpent?”
Yu Qingyao murmured unconsciously, her voice trembling in a way she herself hadn’t noticed.
Xia Lingshuang, supported by her, was seriously injured, but she still caught the words “World-Destroying Serpent” from Yu Qingyao’s mouth. This snake—she had seen it before. More precisely, she had seen it in her previous life.
After a long time, Xia Lingshuang’s usually calm heart stirred and surged once more.
Yu Qingyao’s mind fell into chaos. Her body froze in place.
“How… how can this thing be here?”
Thud.
The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground snapped Yu Qingyao out of her thoughts. A long trench was carved into the ground beside her. At its end, Wu Yan’s left arm hung limp and useless, blood streaming from her mouth.
“Senior Sister!”
Yu Qingyao brought Xia Lingshuang over to Wu Yan and pressed a Rejuvenation Pill between her lips.
As the pill entered her mouth, Wu Yan began to cough, expelling all the stagnated blood from her chest.
“Cough, cough, cough.”
“Qingyao, why haven’t you left yet?”
As her consciousness cleared, Wu Yan realized that Yu Qingyao and Xia Lingshuang had not yet entered the light pillar.
“Senior Sister, something is blocking the way.”
Yu Qingyao pointed at the light pillar. Wu Yan focused her gaze—the snake on it was exactly the same as the tattoo on Lin Xiao’s body.
What did this symbol of the Ouroboros mean? Why did this Ouroboros appear everywhere, from Lin Xiao to this light pillar?
But now was not the time to dwell on it. The top priority was to send Qingyao and the Master away.
“Haha, realized you have no way out?”
With every step Lin Xiao took, the ground caved into a large crater. His massive body had stopped expanding, his broad latissimus dorsi nearly blotting out the sky.
Wind swept up dust and sand, obscuring Lin Xiao’s vision with a brownish yellow current.
Fortunately, Wu Yan had a backup plan for this.
The half-buried Wu Nian trembled violently, its exposed blade edge—once cyan—now dimmed, almost returning to its original black.
Wu Yan’s Spiritual Power reserves were nearly depleted, but it should still be enough to shatter that Ouroboros for Yu Qingyao and Xia Lingshuang.
“Go.”
The tip of the sword shot straight for the snake’s vital spot—seven inches from its head.
However.
Something unexpected happened.
Just as Wu Nian was about to strike the Ouroboros, the snake seemed to encounter something terrifying. In an instant, it dissolved into a drifting shadow, vanishing without a trace.
“What… is this?”
Having lived two lifetimes, Yu Qingyao had never seen such a thing.
Even in her past life, when she and her senior sister had died together, she had never seen the World-Destroying Serpent behave like this.
But regardless, since the obstacle had dissipated, she and Xia Lingshuang could leave.
Wu Yan did not speak. She just nodded silently.
“Qingyao, take good care of the Master.”
“Mm. I will, Senior Sister. You must come out alive.”
The moment she stepped into the light pillar, Xia Lingshuang’s gaze toward Wu Yan seemed to shift slightly.
“This Ouroboros… sends chills down my spine.” The Sect Leader of Supreme Clarity Sect stroked his beard and remarked. “Old woman, where did you see this symbol?”
No answer.
He turned to look, only to find the Palace Lord of Crescent Moon Palace with a very serious expression, as if facing a great enemy.
“I have never seen this symbol before. Nor did I bring it in.”
“What?”
By the time Lin Xiao burst through that brownish yellow storm, Xia Lingshuang and Yu Qingyao had already entered the light pillar and left.
The only ones remaining on the field were Wu Yan and Lin Xiao.
“Oh? They’re already gone?” The sound from Lin Xiao’s mountain-sized body was almost deafening. The enormous noise carried an echo, drilling straight into Wu Yan’s ears. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Even if they get out, they can’t escape that great one’s grasp. Successfully bringing you along is still a major achievement.”
“Feel free to try.”
Wu Yan lifted her head. In her still-functioning right hand, she raised her long sword high, speaking calmly.
Hearing Wu Yan’s words, Lin Xiao’s bloated body shook, the muscle groups on his body squeezing together from laughter. “Hahahaha, Eldest Senior Sister, you’re still so confident.”
“Your stamina is gone, your Spiritual Power is gone, and the two who could support you have abandoned you. What are you going to fight me with? Your life?”
“Exactly.”
Wu Yan pulled an ancient Bronze Fragment from her bosom. Bai Zhiqiu’s lively face appeared in her mind, and her mischievous voice echoed in her ears.
“Big Sister Wu, when you feel there’s no way out, why not try this? I believe you’ll find a use for it~ ”
A cold sensation came from her palm. The jagged bronze edge now seemed so crucial. Lin Xiao’s eyesight was exceptionally sharp; he immediately noticed the Bronze Fragment in Wu Yan’s hand.
“Eldest Senior Sister, you don’t seriously think you can beat me with that thing, do you?”
“We’ll find out.”
Wu Yan exerted force with her hand. The Bronze Fragment exploded against the sword hilt and fell to the ground.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
Nothing happened.
Lin Xiao’s body, which had tensed up from Wu Yan’s confident words, suddenly relaxed. He stepped forward, a massive amount of Demonic Chi rising from his fist, and laughed as he punched at Wu Yan. “Eldest Senior Sister, time to wake up!!!”
Just as his attack was about to hit Wu Yan—the wind rose.
The fragments that had fallen to the ground were lifted by an unknown force, forming a shield that held firm above Wu Yan’s head, pushing his fist back little by little.
“How is this possible?!”
Lin Xiao roared. The muscles in his arms exerted force again, his terrifying bulging flesh becoming rock solid as he added more power to his fist.
But it was useless.
No matter how hard he pushed, no matter how much Demonic Chi he output, his attack was repelled by that clump of bronze shards.
Even the Demonic Chi he expelled was being devoured.
No—not devoured!
Lin Xiao’s expression shifted drastically. He forcibly stopped his attack.
“You noticed it too?”
Beneath the shield, Wu Yan’s pale complexion gradually regained color. Her limp left arm recovered its mobility. Even her right wrist, injured from blocking Lei Wei’s sneak attack, was healed.
The shield seemed unsatisfied with merely passively absorbing Demonic Chi while blocking attacks.
Then the air began to flow at high speed. A whirlpool kicked up around Wu Yan. It greedily consumed Demonic Chi, expanding and spinning. Starting from Wu Yan’s side, it grew larger and more intense.
From this swamp land, to that desolate mountain with the mineral cave, to that magma plain.
Until finally, it covered the entire sky above the secret realm.
Rich Spirit Chi flowed out from its vortex core, sweeping away every trace of Demonic Chi in the air.
And all of this happened in just a few breaths.
“Th-this, this, this is impossible!!!”
Deprived of Demonic Chi to sustain him, Lin Xiao’s colossal flesh began to shrink, his overly bulky muscles slowly returning to their proper size.
‘Zhiqiu, what kind of ultimate weapon did you give me?’
‘Now I owe you even more. It’s really hard to repay.’
In a secluded corner of the secret realm, Bai Zhiqiu suddenly opened her eyes.
Feeling the dense Spirit Chi, she chuckled. The abacus behind her clattered up and down.
“Hehe, Big Sister Wu really did use it~ Looks like this farce is about to end soon~”