Chapter 428: 妖蛇

A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality – Volume 4: The Wind Rises Overseas

Amidst everyone's exclamations, the prepared Han Li raised his other hand, and the Green Brilliance Sword shot out, colliding with the black shadow.

The black shadow was immediately repelled to the edge of the pond, where it coldly stared at everyone, head raised and tongue flicking.

"A Demonic Crown Snake? How did the demonic crown on its head turn into a Seven-Colored Cloud Lotus?" Hu Yue exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief, as soon as he saw the black shadow's true form.

The black shadow by the pond was indeed a strange, dark snake, three to four feet long, with a fleshy horn on its head.

The snake flicked a bright red forked tongue. The upper part of its fleshy horn was clearly the three-colored flower bud, making it look as if a delicate little flower had grown on its head, appearing extremely comical.

As for the rainbow, it was actually trails of dazzling, lingering seven-colored demonic energy exhaled by the snake.

It looked exactly like a real rainbow. No wonder it had deceived so many cultivators.

Upon recognizing the snake's true form, Shi Die's eyes flashed with a cold glint. Without a word, she raised her hand and released a purple cloud-kerchief, which flew with a booming sound directly towards the demonic snake.

"Be careful! This snake is incredibly venomous; you're no match for it!" Jin Qing exclaimed, his face suddenly paling. He then released his white grand seal, which transformed into a beam of white light, assisting in the attack.

The demonic snake's eyes were cold. Seeing the two objects approach, it opened its mouth and spat out a seven-colored pearl, emitting a dazzling precious light that blocked the grand seal and the purple kerchief, preventing them from coming even an inch closer.

At this moment, Hu Yue finally recovered from the disappointment of his precious treasure being lost. After a brief hesitation, his two flying daggers transformed into long rainbows and joined the battle.

Immediately, three white beams, a purple glow, and a mass of seven-colored light intertwined before the demonic snake.

The snake showed no fear! After several strange croaking sounds, it spat out several mouthfuls of colorful mist. As soon as the cultivators' magic weapons and artifacts touched the mist, they instantly dimmed.

"How can this beast be so powerful? Could it be a mutated demonic creature?" Jin Qing said, somewhat startled by the sight.

But no sooner had he spoken. Suddenly, a beam of blood-red light shot from one side, piercing through the colored mist in a flash and striking the demonic snake's fleshy crown.

A thumb-sized blood-hole instantly appeared there.

The demonic creature let out a strange cry, writhing in pain on the bluestone ground. Then, it coiled its body and, with a flicker, shot towards the jade pond.

But just then, a jade-green flying sword shot from beyond, pinning the snake's head to the bluestone ground with lightning speed. Its tail thrashed wildly, but it could no longer move an inch.

This was Han Li and Qu Hun suddenly making their move from the side.

Besides Qu Hun using a Blood Spirit Drill, Han Li deliberately controlled the Divine Thunder of Exorcism on his "Azure Bamboo Cloud-Swarm Swords," preventing them from being unleashed. He did this to avoid anyone recognizing that the swords were refined from Heavenly Thunder Bamboo.

Jin Qing and the others felt relieved when they saw that Han Li had subdued the demonic snake.

Using their magic treasures, they jointly forced the seven-colored demonic pearl to slowly fall. After a brief discussion, Shi Die collected the pearl into her storage bag.

Then, the group approached the demonic snake.

"This is indeed a Demonic Crown Snake, but its demonic crown seems to have been deliberately refined by someone to resemble a Seven-Colored Cloud Lotus. It couldn't possibly be natural for this snake," Hu Yue remarked, looking at the demonic snake still struggling desperately beneath the small sword, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Clearly, this Seven-Colored Cloud Lotus was a trap, likely designed specifically for the person whose bones are there. We simply fell for a major deception again," Jin Qing agreed with a wry smile.

Han Li stood silently to the side, first looking at the demonic snake, then at the damaged right hand of the skeletal remains.

He couldn't help but imagine the scene: someone, overly excited, going to pick the Seven-Colored Cloud Lotus, only for a strangely venomous demonic snake to suddenly leap from the pond, bite their finger, and then drag them into the poisonous pool.

A chill ran down Han Li's spine!

Looking at the small arrow on the skeletal remains, it was clear that the schemer had another trick up their sleeve. This person truly put a lot of thought into their trap!

With a "swish," the Demonic Crown Snake's head and body were sliced in two by a cold flash of light.

Shi Die, her eyes grim, stood coldly to the side, holding a short sword.

Seeing this, Han Li slightly furrowed his brow.

He knew that this woman's intense hatred for the snake stemmed from her ruined appearance. Even if the Demonic Crown Snake wasn't the direct cause of her disfigurement, it was certainly the main culprit. For a woman, one's appearance could be as important as life itself.

Han Li gently shook his head, then extended his hand. The small sword, completely unstained, flew back into his body.

His gaze then returned to the arrow on the skeletal remains.

At first glance, the jade-green color of the foot-long arrow was very similar to Han Li's Azure Bamboo Cloud-Swarm Swords, but upon closer inspection, there were subtle differences.

Han Li's flying swords were a radiant, luminous jade-green, whereas this arrow carried a faint black aura, as if it had been tainted or refined by some evil art.

"Fellow Daoist Han, should we go look elsewhere? Perhaps we'll find something else?" Hu Yue asked, unable to resist, seeing Han Li still intent on examining the skeletal remains.

It seemed he was very reluctant to return empty-handed this time!

"Feel free to go, fellow Daoists. Daoist Qu and I will stay in the main hall," Han Li said calmly, his expression unchanged.

Hu Yue was somewhat surprised by this, but after looking at the skeletal remains 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 area.

After all, given their previous encounter, who knew if there were other dangers lurking within the cave dwelling? Naturally, it was safer for everyone to stay together.

Furthermore, they had also realized that this arrow seemed to be no ordinary object. Otherwise, Han Li, who was already somewhat mysterious in their eyes, wouldn't be examining it so meticulously.

"Fellow Daoist Han, do you think this might not be an ancient cultivator's relic site at all, but rather a trap specifically set by someone?" Jin Qing suddenly asked in a deep voice from the side.

"No, this should indeed be an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling," Han Li said, shaking his head. "Otherwise, what a coincidence it would be for the two fellow Daoists to find pearls and lead us here. It's just that someone else has already gotten here first and used this place to set up traps."

"So, there won't be any treasures here?" Shi Die's voice was cold.

Han Li showed a hint of regret. Although he said nothing, he tacitly agreed.

Immediately, Jin Qing and Hu Yue exchanged glances, their expressions subtly changing.

Hu Yue, in particular, not only gained nothing from this trip but also saw one of the two people he strongly invited disfigured and the other perish. From any perspective, this was a failed treasure hunt!

Just as everyone fell silent, a faint, almost imperceptible groan came from the direction of the pond.

Hearing this, all the cultivators were startled and quickly looked over.

They saw the corpse of the cultivator surnamed Jian, who should have been dead for a long time, slowly rising from the pond, limbs flailing, and occasionally emitting indistinct groans from its exposed skeletal jaw.

At this sight, everyone was dumbfounded, exchanging bewildered glances.

As cultivators, they wouldn't be particularly surprised if a malevolent spirit or some other evil entity appeared; they would likely immediately try to slay the demon and eliminate the evil.

But what was before them was the physical body of a companion who had entered the cave dwelling with them not long ago. Could there be some secret art that allowed a spirit to remain intact even with a body so damaged?

Unsure whether the entity was human or ghost, Hu Yue and the others hesitated.

They watched as the corpse of the cultivator surnamed Jian slowly crawled out of the pond and walked directly 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 and circled around his body.

Jin Qing and Shi Die also became highly vigilant, staring intently at the approaching figure.

No sooner had Hu Yue finished speaking than the physical body of the cultivator surnamed Jian stopped, standing motionless where it was.

Hu Yue and the others instinctively breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Han Li, observing coldly from the side, had a bad feeling. He instinctively flipped his palm, gripping something.

Just then, a sudden change occurred.

The cultivator surnamed Jian's body suddenly pushed off the ground, and its skeletal form lunged fiercely towards the group.

Hu Yue and Jin Qing's expressions changed drastically. Without thinking, they unleashed their magic treasures. Two white glows and one white beam simultaneously struck the advancing figure. Instantly, the cultivator surnamed Jian's body exploded. It was incredibly fragile!

Hu Yue immediately felt a lightness in his heart. A breeze swept by, followed by a chill on his back. A pale white skeletal hand emerged from his abdomen, its five fingers tightly gripping a pea-sized, brilliant blue round pill.