Spirit Talisman Severely Wounds Demon Serpent (Please Bookmark, Please Vote)

Time passed swiftly. During the two days Ling Pengyun had been stationed at Azure Stone Lake, the demon serpent within indeed never emerged to commit further atrocities, likely because Ling Pengyun had patrolled the lakeshore some days before.

This led Ling Pengyun to secretly speculate that the demon serpent in the lake was probably not highly cultivated—at the very least, it was not a Qi Training Late Stage demon serpent.

If the demon serpent's cultivation had far surpassed his, why would it hide from Ling Pengyun? When Ling Pengyun had inspected Azure Stone Lake two days ago, it could have simply burst forth, slain him, swallowed him into its belly, and converted him into cultivation. Would that not have been better?

To demon beasts, cultivators were like miraculous pills, capable of increasing their cultivation. Moreover, cultivators' flesh was even more delicious than that of mortals. No demon beast could refuse to devour a cultivator.

Under Ling Pengyun's instructions, Ling Dong entered the lake alone that day, pretending to catch fish in its waters.

To make it seem real, he even wore nothing but an inner suit of armor.

Yet even if he had worn a full suit of heavy armor, it would still have been difficult for him to survive against a Qi Training Demon Beast.

Meanwhile, Ling Pengyun concealed his aura and hid inside the house closest to Azure Stone Lake, ready at any moment to support Ling Dong, who was more than fifty zhang away in the lake, luring out the demon serpent.

After waiting a full half hour, there was still no movement in the lake. Ling Dong, on the other hand, had caught quite a few fish.

Yet he felt no joy whatsoever. The clothes on his back had long been soaked through with cold sweat, and his heart remained suspended in his throat as he struggled to suppress his fear of the demon serpent in the lake.

Knowing danger was coming but not knowing where it lurked was an agonizing feeling. The fear in one's heart would magnify without limit. He had already imagined dozens of ways the demon serpent might kill him.

Second by second, time passed. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a massive black shadow flashing through the lake more than ten zhang away.

His heart immediately trembled. He did not dare look too closely and quickly turned his head away, instantly guessing that it was the demon serpent.

Yet he did not dare cry out loudly or flee in panic toward the shore. He continued pretending to fish.

The demon serpent was skilled in water. Although this was shallow water, there was still some distance to the shore. Ling Dong could not be certain whether the Immortal Elder from Azure Stone Mountain could arrive in time, stop the demon serpent, and kill it.

For all he knew, the water-skilled demon serpent might escape and continue harming the villagers of Azure Stone Village in the future.

Ling Dong did not wish to see such a thing. As the Village Chief of Azure Stone Village, if too many people in the village under his management died unnatural deaths, he would not only be removed from office, but might never again have a chance to walk the road of power and wealth. In the end, he would remain nothing more than an unremarkable farmer.

His ancestors had all been cultivators. Though he was a mortal, he was unwilling to sink into mediocrity. Rather than be dismissed by the clan in the future, he might as well take a gamble—let the demon serpent draw closer before calling for the Immortal Elder's help, giving the Immortal Elder a better chance of stopping the water-skilled demon serpent from fleeing.

The enormous black shadow moved incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, it had reached within three zhang of Ling Dong.

Just as the demon serpent lurking beneath the water prepared to swallow the delicious human, "Ling Dong," who was within arm's reach, in a single bite, a Black Iron Flying Sword shot over from the direction of Azure Stone Village. In an instant, it struck the demon serpent's head as it burst from the water.

The Black Iron Flying Sword was incomparably sharp. With a single strike, it shattered the demon serpent's hard blue scales and sank an inch deep into the flesh of its head.

"Hiss!" The blue demon serpent howled loudly in pain.

"Ling Dong, you can retreat now!"

A somewhat excited voice came from the direction of Azure Stone Village.

The moment Ling Dong saw the demon serpent reveal itself, its thick and massive body filling his vision, he had already wanted to flee. Now that the Immortal Elder had spoken, he swiftly stirred his qi and blood, drew upon his Innate Perfection cultivation, and kicked off with both feet, racing toward the shore.

Immediately afterward, two Ice Spikes flew over from the direction of Azure Stone Village.

However, their targets were not the demon serpent, but the lake water around it.

The moment the two Ice Spikes touched the lake water, they rapidly froze it, turning all the water within half a zhang of the demon serpent into ice and temporarily trapping it.

The demon serpent was not powerless. When it realized it was trapped in ice, it flew into a rage. It swung its head, flinging away the Black Iron Flying Sword embedded in its flesh, then twisted its millstone-thick body and smashed apart the surrounding ice.

After breaking free, it did not flee. Instead, it let out an enraged hiss at the young man in Daoist robes rushing toward it from the village, then opened its jaws and spat a three-inch Water Arrow at him.

That young man charging toward the demon serpent in Azure Stone Lake's shallows was naturally the cultivator Ling Pengyun.

Seeing the Water Arrow launched by the demon serpent, Ling Pengyun gripped the Black Iron Shield in his left hand and raised it before him. With a wave of his hand, he controlled the Black Iron Sword that the demon serpent had flung away, stabilizing it before sending it once more toward the blue demon serpent.

This Azure Scale Water Python has the same cultivation as me. We are both at the Qi Training Middle Stage. With my own strength alone, I fear it will be difficult to keep it here. If anything changes, it will surely flee by controlling water!

It seems I can only use the three Fire Arrow Talismans the clan gave me!

You cannot catch a wolf without sacrificing the child. If this demon serpent escapes today, killing it in the future will surely become fraught with difficulties!

With a thought, Ling Pengyun immediately made his decision. He slapped the Storage Bag at his waist with his right hand, calling forth three spirit talismans shimmering with red spiritual radiance. After infusing them with spiritual power, he waved his hand and sent them flying.

Stirred by spiritual power, the three talismans transformed into three Fire Arrows five feet long and blasted toward the Azure Scale Water Python in Azure Stone Lake's shallows.

At that very moment, the Water Arrow fired by the Azure Scale Water Python struck Ling Pengyun's Black Iron Shield squarely.

Clang!

Though the Water Arrow was blocked, the immense force transmitted through the Black Iron Shield halted Ling Pengyun's charge, forcing him to stagger several steps backward before he regained his footing.

On the other side.

In Azure Stone Lake's shallows, the Azure Scale Water Python saw three powerful Fire Arrows rushing toward it and panicked. Those three attacks were enough to threaten its life.

There was no time to dive into the water. The three Fire Arrows were far too fast. It could only block them.

It hissed, spiritual light flashing around its body as it conjured three Water Shields in quick succession before itself.

Only after placing the three Water Shields in front of itself did it dare dive toward the water.

Seeing the Azure Scale Water Python showing signs of escape, Ling Pengyun changed his hand seal with one hand. The Black Iron Sword attacking the Azure Scale Water Python accelerated another thirty percent. In the blink of an eye, it struck the Azure Scale Water Python's head again.

This blow was thirty percent stronger, and the Black Iron Sword sank nearly an inch and a half into the Azure Scale Water Python's skull.

"Hiss!" The Azure Scale Water Python hissed again in pain. Yet aside from shooting Ling Pengyun a resentful glare, it used no other means and continued diving into the water.

It understood perfectly well that the three Water Shields it had conjured could not completely block the three Fire Arrows.

The reason it had summoned the Water Shields was merely to delay the Fire Arrows and buy itself a chance to escape.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The three Fire Arrows in the sky slammed into the three Water Shields standing before the Azure Scale Giant Python.

Though the three Fire Arrows had been formed from spirit talismans, they were among the finest Tier 1 Middle Grade Spirit Talismans. All had been made by the Ling Clan's First Rank High Grade Spirit Talisman Master, Third Elder Ling Yunfeng. The power of each Fire Arrow was equivalent to a Qi Training Sixth Layer cultivator's full-force Fire Arrow Art, so they were immensely powerful. The three Water Shields conjured by the demon serpent shattered upon impact.

Yet the three Fire Arrows still retained thirty percent of their force. With no Water Shields left to obstruct them, the three Fire Arrows, guided by Ling Pengyun's divine sense, viciously blasted into the Azure Scale Water Python's huge body.

The scales on the Azure Scale Water Python's body were blown apart in all directions, leaving three wounds several inches wide on its body.

The instant the attack landed, the Azure Scale Giant Python successfully dove into the lake.

Though grievously wounded and in excruciating pain, and though it hated Ling Pengyun to the bone, it did not dare linger. It hurriedly twisted its body, controlling the water as it fled toward the depths of Azure Stone Lake.

"Damn it!" Ling Pengyun had just reached the lakeshore when he saw the Azure Scale Water Python escape beneath the water. He cursed under his breath. The worst outcome had still come to pass.

He had spent three Fire Arrow Talismans worth nine spirit stones, yet still allowed the demon serpent to escape. He truly could not accept it.

This made him hesitate over whether to risk diving into the water to pursue the Azure Scale Water Python, which had been severely wounded by the three Fire Arrows.

My cultivation is not high. If I go deep underwater, my strength will surely be greatly diminished!

Though that demon serpent's strength matches mine, it is badly wounded now, so its strength has also fallen greatly!

If I let this demon serpent escape this time, it will surely become even more cautious when committing atrocities in the future, and killing it will become even more difficult. Besides, even if it escapes this place, I would have wasted three Fire Arrow Talismans for nothing and accomplished nothing. I truly cannot let that go!

Whether for Azure Stone Village or to avoid wasting those three Fire Arrow Talismans, he was determined to kill the demon serpent today.

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