Chapter 1445: Five-Colored Heavenly Thunder

Chapter 424: The Demonic Snake

Amidst everyone's exclamations, Han Li, who was already prepared, raised his other hand. The Green Luster Sword shot from his grasp and collided with the black shadow. The shadow was instantly knocked back to the edge of the pool, where it raised its head, flicked its tongue, and stared coldly at everyone.

"A Demonic Crown Snake? But why has its demonic crown turned into the shape of a Seven-Colored Lotus!" Hu Yue exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief, as he clearly saw the black shadow's true form. The black shadow by the pool was indeed a bizarre, jet-black snake, three to four feet long, with a fleshy horn on its head. The snake flicked its bright red tongue, and the upper part of its fleshy horn was clearly a three-colored flower bud, as if a delicate little flower was growing on its head, making it look quite absurd. As for the rainbow, it was actually a stream of lingering, seven-colored demonic energy exhaled by the snake. It looked identical to a real rainbow. No wonder it had deceived so many cultivators.

Upon seeing the snake's true form, Shi Die's eyes flashed with cold light. Without a word, she raised her hand and released a purple cloud-kerchief, which, accompanied by a roaring sound, struck directly at the demonic snake.

"Be careful! This snake is incredibly venomous; you're no match for it!" Jin Qing quickly warned, his face suddenly changing. After speaking, he also released his white great seal, which transformed into a beam of white light to assist the attack. The demonic snake's eyes were cold. Seeing the two objects strike, it opened its mouth and spat out a seven-colored iridescent pearl, which emitted a dazzling treasure light. The pearl blocked the great seal and the purple kerchief, preventing them from coming even an inch closer.

At this moment, Hu Yue finally snapped out of his disappointment over the sudden loss of the treasure. After a slight hesitation, his two flying daggers transformed into long rainbows and joined the battle. Immediately, in front of the demonic snake, three beams of white light, one purple gleam, and a mass of seven-colored light intertwined.

The snake showed no fear! After a few croaking cries, it spat out several mouthfuls of colored mist. As soon as the cultivators' magic treasures and artifacts touched the mist, they instantly dimmed and lost their radiance.

"How can this monster be so powerful? Is it a mutated demonic beast?" Jin Qing said, somewhat horrified, upon seeing this. But no sooner had he spoken, a streak of blood-red light shot from the side, flashing through the colored mist and striking the demonic snake's fleshy crown. A thumb-sized blood-hole instantly appeared there. The demonic creature shrieked, rolling in pain on the bluestone ground. Then, it coiled its body and, with a flash, shot into the jade pool.

But just then, a jade-green flying sword flew in from above, pinning the snake's head to the bluestone ground with lightning speed, causing its tail to thrash wildly but leaving it utterly immobilized. This was Han Li and Qu Hun suddenly taking action from the side. Besides Qu Hun using a Blood Spirit Drill, Han Li deliberately controlled the demon-repelling divine lightning on his "Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword," preventing it from being released. This was to avoid anyone recognizing that the sword was forged from Heavenly Thunder Bamboo.

Only after seeing the demonic snake subdued by Han Li did Jin Qing and the others relax. Using their magic treasures, they cooperatively forced the seven-colored demonic pearl to slowly fall. After a brief discussion, Shi Die put the pearl into her storage bag. Then, the group surrounded the demonic snake.

"This is indeed a Demonic Crown Snake," Hu Yue said, his expression doubtful as he looked at the demonic snake still struggling desperately under the small sword. "But its demonic crown seems to have been deliberately refined into the shape of a Seven-Colored Lotus by someone. It definitely isn't natural to this snake."

"Clearly, this Seven-Colored Lotus was a trap all along, probably set specifically for the person whose bones are here," Jin Qing agreed with a bitter smile. "We simply fell for a big trick again."

Han Li stood silently to the side, looking at the demonic snake, then at the damaged right hand of the skeletal remains. He couldn't help but imagine someone, excitedly going to pick the Seven-Colored Lotus, only for a venomous demonic snake to suddenly fly out of the pool, bite their finger, and then drag them into the poisonous pool. Han Li felt a chill run down his spine! Looking again at the small arrow on the bones, it was clear the plotter had another trick up their sleeve. The person who set up this trap was truly devious!

With a "thwack," the Demonic Crown Snake's head and body were severed in two by a flash of cold light. It was Shi Die, her gaze grim, standing coldly to the side, holding a short sword. Seeing this, Han Li slightly furrowed his brow. He knew that this woman harbored such hatred for the snake because her face had been disfigured. Even if this Demonic Crown Snake wasn't the direct culprit, it was certainly the instigator, and for a woman, appearance was probably as important as life itself.

Han Li gently shook his head, then beckoned with his hand. The small sword, completely spotless, flew back into his body. Then his gaze returned to the arrow on the skeleton. At first glance, the jade-green color of this foot-long arrow was very similar to Han Li's Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, but on closer inspection, there were slight differences. Han Li's flying sword was a brilliant, radiant jade-green, while this arrow faintly carried a black aura, as if it had been refined or defiled by some dark sorcery.

"Fellow Daoist Han, should we go and look elsewhere? Perhaps there are other discoveries?" Hu Yue couldn't help but ask, seeing that Han Li was still intent on examining the skeleton. It seemed he was very unwilling to return empty-handed this time!

"Feel free to go, fellow Daoists. Daoist Qu and I can just stay in the hall," Han Li said calmly, his expression unchanged. Hearing this, Hu Yue was somewhat surprised, but after looking at the skeleton and the jade-green arrow, a hesitant expression appeared on his face. In the end, he didn't move. Seeing this, Jin Qing and Shi Die also remained silent and did not leave the spot. After all, given their previous encounter, who knew if there were other dangers inside the cave? Naturally, it was safer for everyone to stay together. Furthermore, they had also noticed that this arrow seemed unusual. Otherwise, in their minds, Han Li, who was already somewhat mysterious, wouldn't be examining it so intently.

"Fellow Daoist Han, do you think this place isn't actually an ancient cultivator's ruin at all, but rather a trap specifically set by someone?" Jin Qing suddenly asked in a low voice from the side.

"No, that's not right," Han Li said, shaking his head. "This should indeed be an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence for the two fellow Daoists to find the pearls and lead us here? It's just that someone else got here first and used this place to set up traps."

"So, does that mean there are no treasures here?" Shi Die's voice was cold. Han Li showed a hint of regret. Although he said nothing, it was an implicit agreement. Instantly, Jin Qing and Hu Yue exchanged glances, their expressions subtly changing. Especially Hu Yue, who not only gained nothing from this trip but also saw one of the two people he strongly invited disfigured and the other perish. By any standard, this was a failed treasure hunt!

Just as everyone fell silent, a faint, almost imperceptible groan came from the direction of the pool. Hearing this, all the cultivators were startled and quickly looked over. The corpse of the cultivator named Jian, who should have been dead for a long time, was seen slowly rising from the pool, limbs flailing, and occasionally emitting indistinct groans from its exposed, skeletal mouth. Everyone was stunned, looking at each other in disbelief.

Since they were cultivators, they wouldn't have been particularly surprised if a fierce ghost or some other evil entity appeared; in fact, they would most likely have immediately moved to eliminate it. But what stood before them was the physical body of a companion who had entered the cave with them not long ago. Could there be some secret technique that allowed a spirit to remain intact even with a body so ruined? Unsure whether the entity was human or ghost, Hu Yue and the others hesitated. They watched as the corpse of the cultivator named Jian slowly climbed out of the pool and walked straight towards them.

"Whether you're human or ghost, don't come any closer! Otherwise, don't blame us for being impolite!" Hu Yue seemed to sense something was amiss and quickly shouted. With a flick of his sleeves, his pair of flying daggers flew out, circling and hovering around him. Jin Qing and Shi Die also became highly vigilant, staring intently at the approaching figure.

No sooner had Hu Yue finished speaking than the body of the cultivator named Jian stopped, standing motionless in place. Hu Yue and the others couldn't help but breathe a slight sigh of relief. However, Han Li, observing coldly from the side, had a bad feeling. He instinctively flipped his palm, grasping something.

Just then, a sudden change occurred. The body of the cultivator named Jian suddenly kicked off the ground, and its skeletal, exposed form lunged fiercely towards the group. Hu Yue and Jin Qing's expressions changed drastically. Without thinking, they unleashed their magic treasures. Two white gleams and one white light simultaneously struck the opponent. Instantly, the cultivator named Jian burst apart, proving utterly vulnerable to the attack!