Hooked Snake, Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast!

Smack!

Li Yu's widened eyes shifted to Dugu Yan's face.

She looked at the Big Sister before her in disbelief. She'd already shown her—why did she still hit her?

Li Yu could not be bothered to explain himself to Dugu Yan.

He raised a hand and clenched it. When he opened it again, Bi Fang had already flown out!

Only then did Dugu Yan finally understand why Li Yu had slapped her across the face.

Just as the slap had knocked her head aside and the Fire Bird flew from Li Yu's hand, a deep green vine suddenly shot out beside her ear!

It could be said—

Had it not been for Li Yu's slap, her head would have already been pierced through!

The look Dugu Yan gave Li Yu immediately gained a few inexplicable emotions, and mist rose in her eyes.

Naturally, Li Yu had no mood to care about Dugu Yan's feelings at the moment.

All his attention was fixed on the vines that had suddenly attacked him!

He sensed an intense threat from those vines.

He had to stay completely alert, or today might prove dangerous.

"Shriek!"

Bi Fang cried out and collided with the vines.

Boom!

After only a few breaths, Bi Fang scattered.

The deep green vines were also ignited by Bi Fang's flames before turning to ashes and dissipating.

"Big Sister is amazing!"

Dugu Yan looked at Li Yu with a face full of admiration, instantly turning into a fangirl.

Li Yu ignored her completely.

The sense of danger had not disappeared!

No matter what kind of Soul Beast those vines belonged to, it could not have died so easily.

Of course, there had always been only one simplest way to determine whether a Soul Beast was dead.

That was whether a Soul Ring had appeared!

And clearly, none had appeared yet!

Rustle, rustle!

All of a sudden, the sound of grass swaying rose from every direction.

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Yu raised his hand and tossed out two Elemental Cubes.

One was crimson, and the other sky blue.

The next instant, the two cubes transformed into Bi Fang and Ying Yu.

Bi Fang soared through the sky, keeping watch in every direction.

Ying Yu, meanwhile, spat out a massive bubble that enveloped itself, Li Yu, and Dugu Yan, silently protecting them.

"Mm~"

Wrapped within the bubble, her entire body felt indescribably cool.

Even the hems of her clothes floated upward.

Yet Dugu Yan discovered in surprise that although she was submerged in water, she could still breathe freely.

It was as though she had become an aquatic creature in that instant.

Li Yu, however, seemed to have expected this long ago, and his attention was not on it at all.

At that moment, he had already formed another transparent Elemental Cube in his hand.

With a thought, he began injecting Poison-element Soul Power into it!

The Poison-element Soul Power he had never displayed before was Deep Purple.

As the Soul Power flowed in—

The vortex inside the transparent cube was dyed Deep Purple as well.

Just as before—

The entire Elemental Cube turned Deep Purple, and an indescribable aura spread from it.

Then—

Light blossomed, and the cube shattered before reforming.

As dark purple mist spread out, a long snake slowly emerged from within!

Its entire body was dark purple, and Spikes covered both sides of its body!

Its tail, too, ended in a Spike, like a fang!

Seeing this, Li Yu immediately searched his mind for a Classic of Mountains and Seas Beast that matched those features.

A moment later, he had his answer.

Among the Classic of Mountains and Seas Beasts, there were only four that possessed the form and name of a snake.

Of them, Singing Snake and Transforming Snake both had wings. Though the remaining Ba Snake and Hooked Snake both had purple bodies—

The strange snake before him seemed to share nothing with Ba Snake besides the color of its body.

Its characteristics were simply too obvious!

Without question, the creature formed by injecting Poison-element Soul Power into the Elemental Cube was the Classic of Mountains and Seas Beast—Hooked Snake!

And after Hooked Snake was formed—

Cube Schedule: 3/10

The system prompt arrived as expected.

Seeing it, Li Yu let out a sigh of relief.

With three Classic of Mountains and Seas Beasts holding the field, his taut nerves finally relaxed slightly.

And while he was forming Hooked Snake—

The Soul Beast that had launched the vine attack had already begun its assault!

Deep green vines from every direction, like blooming Flame Flowers, began retracting before stabbing down toward Li Yu and Dugu Yan at the center!

But Bi Fang was no pushover.

As the vines approached, it had already flown around Li Yu and Dugu Yan, spewing flames and setting the surroundings ablaze.

It formed a protective circle made entirely of fire.

Yet this only slowed the vines down slightly!

That Vine Soul Beast was clearly experienced. Upon encountering the ring of flames, it decisively abandoned several of its own "tentacles."

Those "tentacles" directly swept away the protective ring!

Only then did it unleash that Flame Flower-like curling attack!

"Shriek!"

After crying out, Bi Fang resolutely soared up to meet them. The instant it collided with the vines, its body suddenly erupted with dazzling light!

Then it exploded with a thunderous boom!

The bubble protecting Li Yu and Dugu Yan also swayed violently beneath Bi Fang's eruption!

Even the water within suddenly heated up sharply!

For an instant, Dugu Yan even felt as though she were being boiled alive.

But Ying Yu reacted quickly as well.

It immediately opened its fish mouth wide, energy continuously surging from within and causing the temperature in the bubble to rapidly fall.

From beginning to end—

Li Yu's expression had not changed much.

Even after Bi Fang self-destructed, it remained the same.

Because—

He slowly raised his hand, and under Dugu Yan's shocked gaze, another Bi Fang flew out!

"This..."

Dugu Yan had already been completely dumbfounded.

Before this—

She had assumed the Fire Bird was Li Yu's Spirit, one that had undergone some sort of mutation. That was why, after being released, it did not cause Li Yu's body to take on beast-like traits.

Instead, it manifested directly as a physical entity.

But in the battle just now, her understanding had clearly been overturned!

First, the Fire Bird had already dissipated during its first clash with the attacking vines.

Her mind had been muddled then. Seeing both the Fire Bird and the vines disappear, she had thought the danger was over.

But later, when she saw that Li Yu's expression remained stern and no Soul Ring had appeared after she looked around—

She naturally realized that the danger had not ended.

In that instant, her first thought was: We're done for!

Li Yu's externally manifested Spirit had dissipated after just one exchange. How the hell were they supposed to keep fighting?

But immediately afterward—

She saw Li Yu merely clench his hand.

A brand-new Fire Bird appeared, along with a winged flying fish!

At that point, she had realized that Li Yu's Spirit was not that Fire Bird. It was most likely some kind of summoning-type Spirit.

But then Li Yu formed another cube of some unknown sort!

And then he "hatched" another bizarre-looking snake!

That snake—

Actually made even her feel an inexplicable fear!

One had to know that her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Spirit was no ordinary Spirit!

Otherwise, Dugu Bo could not possibly have cultivated to the realm of a Titled Douluo!

Yet despite that, the fear still descended with such certainty!

At the time, she had wondered:

What kind of Spirit could summon so many powerful Soul Beasts?

And even let them constantly be reborn!

Furthermore, Li Yu's consumption of Soul Power did not seem particularly great!

At that moment, her curiosity toward Li Yu rose to another level.

Even the way she looked at him was filled with a thirst for knowledge.

While countless thoughts churned through Dugu Yan's heart—

The dazzling halo produced by Bi Fang's self-destruction finally faded.

The scene outside the bubble appeared once more.

The vines that had curled back like Flame Flowers had all been charred black by Bi Fang's self-destruction.

The newly formed Bi Fang merely flapped its wings slightly. A breeze swept through, and the charred vines instantly turned to powder and scattered.

Watching this scene, Dugu Yan relaxed a little.

But this time, she did not immediately say, "Big Sister is amazing."

Instead, she first looked around. Once she saw no movement and still no Soul Ring—

Only then did she speak with a somewhat grave expression. "Big Sister, that Soul Beast should have run away, right?"

After pausing, she added with lingering fear, "How about we go back and find my grandfather first? With our strength—"

When she got there, she seemed to feel that phrasing it that way was not quite appropriate, so she changed her words. "With your strength, Big Sister, dealing with this Plant-type Soul Beast should not be a problem. But we can choose an easier method!"

The more Dugu Yan spoke, the more reasonable she found it.

If her grandfather Dugu Bo were here, how could some Vine Soul Beast dare to act so wildly!

If it angered her, she could just have her grandfather crush it to death with a single finger!

Therefore—

After saying this, Dugu Yan looked at Li Yu with a sincere expression.

It was as though she were saying that she absolutely did not mean to look down on Li Yu's strength. She truly just wanted to choose the easier and more direct method!

At the same time, it was also the safest method.

Li Yu fell silent for a moment upon hearing that.

But then he merely said flatly, "We don't have that chance!"

How could he fail to understand what Dugu Yan meant!

But—

This girl seemed to have been protected too well.

And when she usually hunted Soul Beasts, Dugu Bo was probably guarding her in secret. That was why she thought hunting Soul Beasts simply meant running away when you could not win!

But she had not considered—

Without someone like Dugu Bo secretly protecting her, could she truly escape?

If she could not defeat it, that meant the Soul Beast was stronger than she was.

Trying to flee from a Soul Beast stronger than herself, and on its home ground at that, was unimaginably difficult!

Moreover—

He had already injured it.

Or rather, he had already enraged that Vine Soul Beast. How could it possibly let the matter rest!

As for fleeing back to seek Dugu Bo's help, that was even more difficult!

Because even now, he had no idea where that Vine Soul Beast was!

Its attacking vines had come from every direction, as though they were everywhere.

"Ah?"

When Dugu Yan heard Li Yu's answer, she did not understand what he meant.

But the next moment—

Rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle!

The sound of the grassland swaying grew even more violent and dense.

This time—

Not only did the ground move, but countless thick vines were climbing and twisting through the trees all around them!

And the tips of those countless vines were undoubtedly aimed at the two of them!

Like countless venomous snakes flicking their tongues at them, they sent a chill down Dugu Yan's spine.

She had never been this afraid before!

This was also the first time she had encountered such a crisis.

During these past few days in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, she had naturally learned that her grandfather, Dugu Bo, was currently in seclusion. He most likely did not know about the danger they were facing.

It was probably impossible for him to come rescue them.

In a crisis like this, the only person she seemed able to rely on was Big Sister, who had silently stepped in front of her!

But was Big Sister really a match for this Vine Soul Beast?

There was a high chance this Soul Beast was already at the Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast level!

To deal with such an existence, one needed at least the strength of a Six Ring Soul Emperor!

And Li Yu had clearly not reached that realm.

Dugu Yan herself was a Three-Ring Soul Grandmaster. When Li Yu had released her power earlier, Dugu Yan had naturally sensed Li Yu's Soul Power Level.

It was higher than hers, but not by much—only around Four Rings.

How could someone like that

possibly deal with a Soul Beast that might have reached the Ten Thousand Year level?

She did not know.

And she felt there was little hope.

Her face was filled with despair.

Were they going to die right at her own doorstep?

When all it would take was for her grandfather at home to notice this place—one glance from him would solve everything.

She was utterly despairing.

Unlike Dugu Yan—

Li Yu's eyes were full of fighting spirit.

After consuming the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, Li Yu's Spiritual Power had increased considerably.

His eyesight had become exceptionally sharp as well.

Thus, from the vines' first attack onward, Li Yu had been searching for their source.

Likewise, she had realized earlier than Dugu Yan that this Vine Soul Beast was most likely a Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast.

Having exchanged a few simple moves with Dugu Bo before, she had a certain understanding of her own strength.

She did not believe she lacked the power to fight!

Back then, she had only summoned Bi Fang and Ying Yu.

But now, she also had the Hooked Snake.

If she still did not have even the slightest chance after that, she refused to believe it.

Even if she could not win, she believed she could at least ensure that they survived.

Because she possessed the innate ability, Elemental Dissolution!

But that brought another problem: she did not know whether Elemental Dissolution could affect others.

Simply put—

She could naturally escape if she wanted to.

But Dugu Yan would most likely suffer for it.

Just then—

Li Yu's spirits lifted, and her faintly golden eyes turned toward one direction.

"Be careful!"

She gave a warning, and Bi Fang immediately let out a shrill cry as it shot into the sky.

Its body suddenly expanded, and the flames covering it burned with unprecedented intensity!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The next moment, Bi Fang violently shook its body in midair, as though lice that had lived in its feathers for ages were all biting down and sucking blood at once.

And with that shake—

The flaming feathers on its body fell away all at once.

In an instant—

Sheets of fiery feathers shot in every direction!

It was as if a natural disaster had descended!

The restless vines all around them retreated beneath this move, Fire Feather Meteor.

"Plants are still plants. In the end, they fear fire!"

Li Yu narrowed her eyes, but she did not lower her guard.

Dugu Yan, hiding behind Li Yu, froze slightly when she saw this.

She murmured instinctively, "So beautiful."

But she did not notice—

Behind her, beneath the soil covered in grass, something seemed to be drawing closer!