Tian Sha made the arrangements, then led his fellow disciples in a burst of speed, rapidly pursuing the direction in which the Horned Dragon had fled.
Seeing that Tian Sha had left Yun Qian behind, Bei Qing Si frowned, but said nothing. Yun Qian awkwardly flew back to the mountain peak.
"Zhong Shan isn't dead! Quick, quick, save Zhong Shan!" Tian Ling'er cried. Tears streamed from her eyes as she twisted and struggled, as if she wanted to break free of Bei Qing Si's grasp and rush down to find Zhong Shan.
"Ling Er, Zhong Shan can't be saved," Yun Qian immediately told Tian Ling'er.
"I don't believe it! Zhong Shan won't be hurt!" Tian Ling'er cried.
Bei Qing Si merely shook her head and sighed. Her heart was terribly conflicted. She wanted Zhong Shan dead, yet she also hoped he would survive. If Zhong Shan died, what had happened last time would sink into the past, and she would no longer have to agonize over it. Yet for some reason, she also hoped Zhong Shan could miraculously escape. Her heart was tangled in knots.
"No, Zhong Shan isn't dead. He definitely isn't dead!" Tian Ling'er cried.
Zhong Shan was indeed not dead. Just as Tian Ling'er had said, he truly was still alive. If Da Hong had attacked Zhong Shan, he might already have died, but instead, it had swallowed him whole.
The moment he entered Da Hong's belly, Zhong Shan felt the world around him turn black. His body passed through a slick passage before coming to a halt in a place surrounded entirely by flesh.
The flesh had been soft only to let him pass through the passage. In the blink of an eye, it turned as hard as giant vajra stones, while constantly contracting and twisting, as if it meant to crush him to pieces. Moreover, the area being squeezed contained large amounts of liquid that irritated the skin, and Zhong Shan suddenly felt pain flare across his entire body.
The stomach—the stomach of the great red snake.
This was the great red snake's stomach. Zhong Shan immediately recognized it. With life and death hanging by a thread, he wanted to counterattack quickly, but the vast stomach muscles left him unable to move.
Heavenly Devil Body Tempering Great Technique!
He swiftly activated the Heavenly Devil Body Tempering Great Technique, causing the bones that were nearly crushed throughout his body to brace themselves rapidly. But the pressure from the stomach muscles was still too much, and Zhong Shan struggled in agony.
Red Phoenix Mist!
Vast quantities of Red Phoenix Mist surged in every direction like water poured without a thought, flooding into Da Hong's body.
This won't do. The corrosive power of this gastric juice is too strong.
What should I do?
Absorb!
Zhong Shan rapidly controlled the Storage Bracelet, quickly absorbing the stomach. Whatever was inside, he stuffed it all into the bracelet. Gastric juice, other residue—it didn't matter. As long as he could escape alive, nothing else mattered.
Large amounts of gastric juice were rapidly stored in the Storage Bracelet. Zhong Shan even sensed something like a small wooden box being taken inside. What does this great snake eat? Even wood?
The strange thought flashed through his mind for only an instant before the pain from the great snake's stomach muscles squeezing him became unbearable. Even after using the Heavenly Devil Body Tempering Great Technique, Zhong Shan felt as if his entire body were about to be crushed.
Red Phoenix Mist—vast amounts of Red Phoenix Mist surged toward Da Hong. Deep underground, Da Hong's eyes suddenly turned blood-red, and it began twisting restlessly all over. It struggled rapidly, its entire body becoming unbearably agitated.
After being struck by the world's number one aphrodisiac, Da Hong's body had fallen into chaos, but the strength of its stomach did not diminish in the slightest. It continued squeezing Zhong Shan ruthlessly.
The gastric juice had all been stored in the Storage Bracelet, but the squeezing force only grew stronger. Unable to bear it, Zhong Shan widened his eyes until red veins burst across them. He braced himself with all his might, because he knew he could not relax even for a moment. The slightest lapse would cause the stomach muscles to crush him into minced meat, and then he would be completely dead.
Under the tremendous squeezing and churning, Zhong Shan was nearing his limit. It seemed that if the force increased by even the slightest amount, he would collapse.
Blue veins bulged across Zhong Shan's body. He clenched his teeth, and an intense desire to live drove him to struggle with all his might.
"Ah~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
Zhong Shan let out a deafening roar. In an instant, his body swelled another circle, and he felt the strength throughout him increase once more.
The second level of the Heavenly Devil Body Tempering Great Technique.
Three times the strength, three times the power. Finally, at this most critical moment, Zhong Shan broke through. The peerless fiend swiftly revealed his savage side. He violently shook his arm, and the great saber Nightmare instantly appeared in his grasp. He hacked viciously at Da Hong's stomach.
Da Hong had already been struck by the Red Phoenix Mist, and its entire body had descended into chaos. It writhed madly underground, its path no longer clear as it simply thrashed wildly. When the blade suddenly struck its stomach, Da Hong cried out in pain and shot upward.
"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
In its confusion and pain, Da Hong burst out of the earth, knocking a great tree up by its roots.
"Bang~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
The great snake landed in a forest and thrashed wildly, its tail lashing rapidly and destroying countless trees and plants. The forest instantly descended into utter chaos.
"Kill them all without mercy~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
With one final roar, Zhong Shan brought the saber down on Da Hong's belly with three times his full strength. The tremendous force abruptly split open Da Hong's stomach, and the full-power slash carried vast amounts of fiery-red Baleful Qi as it cleaved through the snake's belly.
"Whoosh~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
With a tremendous crash, the saber split open the snake's belly, and blinding light from outside instantly poured in.
With its stomach ruptured, the stomach muscles seemed to lose all their strength in an instant and softened.
Zhong Shan quickly squeezed out through the belly, emerging from the snake's abdomen amid a flood of snake blood.
A huge gash had opened in Da Hong's belly, and countless things inside spilled out. At that moment, Da Hong seemed to suddenly regain consciousness. It turned its head toward its abdomen, intense disbelief flashing in its eyes. Dead... dead?
The great snake continued twisting its body as if making one final struggle. But struggling was useless. The more it struggled, the weaker it became, and its vitality dwindled away.
"Zhong Shan~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
Tian Ling'er's startled cry suddenly rang out from the distant mountain peak.
Bei Qing Si and Yun Qian had already given up. A thirty-meter-long snake possessed strength close to the Golden Core Stage, while Zhong Shan had only entered the Kaiyang Sect a little over a year ago. Once inside the snake's belly, even if he had not been corroded, he would have been squeezed to death by the stomach. Now they could not even see the snake, much less know where to look for its corpse. Only Tian Ling'er continued calling out, leaving Bei Qing Si helpless.
After everyone had left, while Tian Ling'er was still crying out, a giant red snake suddenly burst from underground in a forest in a distant valley. The red snake broke through a great tree and writhed in agony amid the woods. Pain—utter pain.
Da Hong was actually writhing in agony? And this red snake was the very one that had swallowed Zhong Shan, identical in every way.
When she saw Da Hong, intense delight burst from Tian Ling'er's eyes, while Bei Qing Si and Yun Qian both revealed astonishment.
Then the two of them saw something even more astonishing. Half a blade suddenly emerged from Da Hong's belly, splitting open a massive gash.
No—the blade was extending from inside the belly. In the blink of an eye, a body rolled out from within.
Bei Qing Si and Yun Qian seemed to realize what had happened. Taking Tian Ling'er with them, they quickly flew toward the writhing giant snake.
Seeing Zhong Shan escape alive, Tian Ling'er cried out in delight. Her tears of sorrow were instantly replaced by tears of excitement. She flew into the valley, quickly leaped off Bei Qing Si's sword, and rushed toward Zhong Shan.
As for Yun Qian, he drew his sword and began attacking the heavily wounded, dying snake.
Tian Ling'er threw herself into Zhong Shan's arms.
"Big bad guy, you scared me to death!" Tian Ling'er sobbed, then suddenly broke into a radiant, happy smile.
Having just broken through to the second level of the Heavenly Devil Body Tempering Great Technique, Zhong Shan was somewhat unaccustomed to it. His entire body ached as he watched Tian Ling'er cry one moment and laugh the next in his arms. Zhong Shan said softly, "I'm dirty."
Indeed, Zhong Shan was covered from head to toe in the great snake's blood and filth, along with a heavy stench. But Tian Ling'er clung to him without the slightest hint of disgust.
"Take him over there. Don't let the great snake hurt him again," Bei Qing Si said.
Hearing Bei Qing Si, Tian Ling'er paused. Right—Zhong Shan was injured and could not be hurt by the great snake again. She picked him up and charged toward a safe place in the distance.
Seeing Tian Ling'er like this, Zhong Shan smiled faintly. For some reason, his cold heart, silent for so many years, suddenly felt strangely warm.
Bei Qing Si followed behind them. Watching Tian Ling'er carry Zhong Shan with such overwhelming happiness, Bei Qing Si suddenly felt an inexplicable emptiness in her heart.
Dealing with the heavily wounded snake was easy for Yun Qian alone. Sure enough, by the time Zhong Shan had been carried to safety, Da Hong had been completely slain by Yun Qian.
P.S. Please collect and recommend.
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