Dawn arrived.
The cross-legged Zhong Bai opened his eyes, stood up, and saw that FourEyes had already polished a massive brass sword until it gleamed.
"Junior Brother Qianhe, an inch longer means an inch stronger. Although Junior Brother Qianhe cultivates the thunder technique divine ability, executing thunder techniques consumes true essence excessively.
With junior brother's true essence at the third layer of Qi Refinement, it'll probably be hard to sustain for long.
Slaying that snake demon this time will be a hard-fought battle. If Junior Brother Qianhe lacks handy magical treasures, senior brother has plenty right here.
Junior brother, please don't stand on ceremony with me; anyway, they were just forged by my master out of boredom on ordinary days.
They're not worth much..."
Listening to FourEyes' endless nagging, Zhong Bai did not feel annoyed; it was rare for someone to care about him.
However... it was very clear that FourEyes was not aware of Zhong Bai's specific situation.
This was normal. If Zhong Bai told FourEyes that he was already at the mid-stage of the fifth layer of Qi Refinement, FourEyes would probably just roll his eyes and cry out that it was impossible.
It was mainly a bit defying of common cognition.
Before coming down the mountain, Zhong Bai was undeniably at the strength of the third layer of Qi Refinement; this was the result detected by his master, True Immortal Changsheng.
It had only been about a month since coming down the mountain, and he had soared from the third layer of Qi Refinement to the fifth layer.
No one would believe it if told...
"No need, Senior Brother FourEyes. Junior brother does have means to deal with the snake demon.
It's not early anymore now. When the rising sun ascends to the sky, I imagine the snake demon will also come out to bask in the sun.
Setting an ambush in advance will give us a greater chance of success!"
"Indeed. Then let's head up the mountain!"
It was early morning, and the mountain dew was somewhat heavy and damp, yet Zhong Bai walked through it without making the slightest sound.
"Junior Brother Qianhe, the snake demon senior brother saw last time was right on the boulder beside the mountain pool.
As for whether we can find it this time, that depends on luck. But Junior Brother Qianhe, your luck is always quite good, so senior brother feels this trip will definitely yield a rich harvest!"
Before even confronting the target, Daoist Priest FourEyes started fantasizing about the harvest after slaying the snake demon.
Zhong Bai nodded.
"Senior Brother FourEyes, let's track down the snake demon's trail first!"
The two continued threading through the forest, and before long, they arrived in front of a pool of water.
At this moment, the sunlight had not yet shone down. When Zhong Bai and FourEyes arrived, it coincided with strands of golden light scattering down.
"Stop!"
Zhong Bai raised his hand slightly to signal FourEyes to halt his steps, having already caught the scent of the snake demon at the demon-soldier realm lingering in the pool.
Sure enough, before FourEyes could react, a huge head poked out of the water in the pool. The head appeared blood-red, and clusters of flesh lumps looked exceptionally intimidating.
Flicking its tongue, after discerning the air for a moment, it finally revealed its entire body!
A hundred meters away, looking at the fully revealed snake demon, Zhong Bai could not help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
"Senior Brother FourEyes, it seems we have no choice but to bring out our true abilities this time. At the late demon-soldier stage, if we fight to the death, even cultivators at the seventh or eighth layers of Qi Refinement would be unwilling to provoke it lightly."
FourEyes was likewise somewhat startled. Last time, he had only taken a distant glance without observing closely.
Now truly facing that body of around ten meters, for FourEyes to say he wasn't apprehensive would be a lie.
Taking a deep breath, FourEyes grew somewhat hesitant.
"Junior Brother Qianhe, it seems this snake demon's strength exceeds our estimation somewhat. If it were the mid-demon-soldier stage, you and I, fellow apprentices, could still try using our divine abilities.
But in the present situation... whether to fight or retreat, junior brother, make up your own mind!"
While swallowing his saliva to steady his emotions, FourEyes cautiously observed Zhong Bai's expression.
"It's only the late demon-soldier stage. If worst comes to worst, junior brother will just use the trump card left by my master!"
As the saying went, now that they had come all this way...
Looking at the Exorcism Points close at hand, and thinking of his own master's trump card backing him up, Zhong Bai simply made up his mind.
FourEyes wanted to dissuade him, but the arrow was already on the bowstring.
He really found it hard to speak out...
Besides, he was truly terrified of being poor. Such a god-given opportunity was one he wanted to seize.
The two continued to approach with extreme caution.
A dozen minutes later, when Zhong Bai was only about twenty meters away from the snake demon—
Suddenly, the snake demon, which had been lazily enjoying the sunlight, flicked its tongue.
Its lazy eyes instantly turned crimson!
Seeing this, Zhong Bai understood that he had been exposed.
He simply stopped concealing his form.
Executing the Thunder Escape Technique, he leaped into the void in an instant.
The Divine Firmament Five Thunder Art circulated his true essence, and the thunder seal in his dantian emitted arrays of purple radiance.
A purple bolt of thunder converged in Zhong Bai's palm, and with a single palm strike, thunder cracked!
The thunder was on the verge of crashing onto the snake demon's head in practically an instant.
Yet at this moment, the flesh lumps on the snake demon's head transformed into layers of blood-red scales, protecting its head and taking the thunder head-on while its body rapidly dove back into the water pool.
With the first strike failing, Zhong Bai felt somewhat vexed, and at the same time grew vigilant; this snake demon had clearly already awakened some divine-ability means.
Before Zhong Bai could continue thinking, the snake demon that had previously hidden in the pool abruptly leaped out of the water, spewed a torrent of roaring flames toward Zhong Bai, and FourEyes, closely following behind, could only watch helplessly as the flames came splashing toward Zhong Bai.
"Junior Brother Qianhe!"
FourEyes panicked slightly, but the next second, the scene before him made him doubt reality.
He saw countless streams of vital blood surging out from the surface of Zhong Bai's body, forming a barrier of protective battle-qi that stubbornly kept the flames from advancing even an inch further.
"Truly a fine trick, you vicious beast!"
Zhong Bai's reaction was very timely, yet he was also lingeringly terrified.
No one knew what divine-ability means an encountered demon possessed, and therefore, without absolute certainty, one generally would not proactively provoke a demon!
Dodge the breath of flames, and just as Zhong Bai wanted to gather thunder, he saw the snake demon's tail whip toward him rapidly like a long lash.
The speed was so fast that there was even a sonic boom.
With no time to overthink, Zhong Bai exerted strength in both arms, gathered his whole body's strength in front of him, and threw a punch.
Bang, bang, bang!
The moment they collided, Zhong Bai felt that his ten-thousand-jin strength was somewhat insufficient, and his figure retreated continuously until he stepped back dozens of steps before finally stopping to discharge the momentum.
With his right arm experiencing waves of numbness, the moment Zhong Bai took a deep breath, he saw that the nearby FourEyes had already summoned a spirit into his body, and the brass longsword in his hand shot out like a flying arrow, heading straight for the snake demon's vital gate!
Seeing this, Zhong Bai no longer dared to delay. Disregarding the soreness in his arm, he grasped the thunder and similarly closed in to attack.
With the two cooperating, they managed to trade blows evenly with the snake demon.
The pool was after all too small, and the snake demon could barely manage by hiding in it on ordinary days.
Yet facing the current pincer attack from Zhong Bai and FourEyes, it could only attend to the front and neglect the back.
After taking another one of Zhong Bai's thunder strikes to its abdomen, which left its skin torn and flesh open, the snake demon grew thoroughly enraged.
Its body violently surged out of the pool, about to flee toward the distant dense forest.
At this point, both Zhong Bai and FourEyes had their eyes bloodshot from the killing intent.
How could they let the snake demon leave so easily?
While Zhong Bai executed the Thunder Escape Technique to keep pace, FourEyes also supported the Spirit Summoning Technique and pursued with his sword raised.
A dozen minutes later.
When an abyss appeared before the snake demon, the snake demon obviously grew excited.
Just as its body leaped into the abyss, the sound of air being torn and thunder rapidly assailed it from behind.
Its movement in midair halted, and the instant the snake demon turned its head, it had grown angry to the extreme.
"Damned stinking Daoists, you want to die!"
Hearing the hoarse words transmitted by the snake demon, Zhong Bai and FourEyes exchanged a glance, both seeing worry in each other's eyes.
Demons generally at the demon-soldier realm had no way to achieve human speech.
Only demons with exceptional innate talent had the opportunity to accomplish this.
And virtually all demons of this category possessed the potential to achieve the demon-general realm!
Facing the threat, it was already a life-and-death situation where neither side would stop until one died, so neither Zhong Bai nor FourEyes held back.
Seeing itself plummeting heavily down toward the abyss below, the snake demon could only pray that its life was tough enough...
Before you continue