Fierce Battle with the Giant Snake

"Roar--!"

The fierce battle lasted less than ten breaths, and the Giant Snake's rage seemed to have reached its peak! It let out a deafening roar and its massive body spun like a top! That deadly giant tail, no longer a simple sweep, but like a dragon's wag, carved out a bizarre and tricky arc, its speed far exceeding Li San's prediction!

"Not good!" Li San's pupils constricted, and he only had time to block horizontally with his saber!

"Bang!"

A muffled, earth-shattering sound! Li San was hit head-on like by a battering ram! The heavy-bladed saber in his hand let out a mournful cry, bent and deformed by the sheer force! An irresistible, immense power slammed into his ribs! His protective Internal Force shattered like paper! The clear sound of bone cracking rang out!

"Pfft!" Li San spat out a mouthful of blood, his body flying backward like a kite with a broken string, directly towards Wang Wu's location!

Wang Wu, who had been standing still like a sculpture, finally moved! He shifted his feet slightly, his body gliding several feet like a phantom, precisely extending his arms to steadily catch the flying Li San. A gentle yet powerful internal force instantly flowed into Li San's body, helping him stabilize his churning blood and qi.

"Cough cough... Fifth Brother..." Li San, leaning on Wang Wu, managed to stand steadily. His face was pale, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes burned with an almost crazily excited light. "This beast... is indeed powerful! Definitely a Second-Order Demonic Beast! Tough hide, immense strength, and venom... cough cough... I'm afraid you won't be able to take it down quickly!" He coughed blood as he spoke rapidly, his voice breathless but clear to everyone's ears.

For the first time, a solemn expression appeared on Wang Wu's grim face. He didn't look at Li San, his cold gaze like two bone-scraping steel knives, fixedly staring at the Giant Snake which had temporarily stopped attacking after repelling a strong enemy, raising its head and flicking its tongue in a threatening hiss.

"Mm." Wang Wu's voice was deep and hoarse, like two rusty iron plates grinding together. His gaze slowly moved away from the Giant Snake, like a cold searchlight, sweeping over the heavily injured Yan Xiao Liu, the half-kneeling Ye Yun, and the limp Zhao Si beside them! In his eyes, there was no trace of concern for companions, only a detached assessment of prey, a valuation of worth, and an undisguised, tangible killing intent!

When his gaze fell on Yan Xiao Liu, Yan Xiao Liu felt a chill rush from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, as if licked by a venomous snake along his spine, his hair standing on end! He instantly understood that Li San and Wang Wu's previous "comrades" act was all a pretense! This cold killing intent was their true face!

Ye Yun, half-kneeling on the ground, paused slightly as his hand supported Yan Xiao Liu. Wang Wu's tangible killing intent swept over him, and he clearly felt it! The killing intent was cold, pure, carrying a resolve to destroy all obstacles! The target was definitely not just that Giant Snake!

"Don't waste time on this beast," Wang Wu's voice, like a cold spring from the netherworld, rang out clearly, with an undeniable tone of command. "You and I will join forces and quickly finish them." He deliberately emphasized the word "them," his gaze once again like a poisonous thorn, fixed on Ye Yun and Yan Xiao Liu!

Before his words fell, Wang Wu's figure had already vanished from his spot! In the next instant, he appeared like a black lightning bolt tearing through space, appearing on the flank of the Giant Snake! His speed was even more terrifying than Li San's by several points!

The long, narrow saber in his hand was no longer a cold, lifeless object as it was when he was wiping it, but had come alive! The blade hummed and vibrated, emitting an eerie low groan! On the blade, a visible layer of strange Gangkqi (Essence Qi), flickering like black flames, suddenly lit up! That Gangkqi (Essence Qi) exuded a cold, corrosive aura, as if it could devour light!

"Chira--!"

Wang Wu's saber was no longer the fierce, unyielding chop of Li San, but like a viper striking from its den, tricky, ruthless, and deadly! The saber light, like black lightning, instantly slashed across the Giant Snake's tough scales!

A grating sound of friction arose! This time, it wasn't just a white mark!

The curved saber, covered in the strange black Gangkqi (Essence Qi), tore open a hideous, foot-long wound on the Giant Snake's ink-green scales, as hard as steel, as if a hot knife through butter! Thick, viscous, ink-green snake blood spurted out like a fountain! The air was instantly filled with a more intense, pungent, sweetish smell!

"Siiang--!!!"

The Giant Snake let out an unprecedented, shrill cry mixed with intense pain and rage! Its massive body thrashed wildly, its dark golden vertical pupils instantly bloodshot! It violently opened its gaping maw, carrying a foul-smelling gale and two rows of dagger-like fangs, and bit fiercely at Wang Wu!

Wang Wu's figure flickered like a phantom, narrowly dodging the fatal bite! But the Giant Snake's furious counterattack followed, its huge tail smashing down like a collapsing mountain, with world-destroying momentum!

"Rumble!"

Wang Wu avoided the vital point, but his shoulder was still scraped by the scales on the edge of the tail! He grunted, his body shaking violently, as if hit by a giant hammer. He slid back several yards, plowing deep furrows in the ground, and a trace of blood also seeped from the corner of his mouth! Clearly, facing the enraged counterattack of a Second-Order Demonic Beast, even the strong Wang Wu could not emerge completely unscathed!

But the Giant Snake also paid a price! The moment Wang Wu drew the Giant Snake's full fury and took the blow from its tail, Li San, who had been lurking like a venomous snake nearby, had a sharp glint in his eyes!

"Now!"

He endured the severe pain in his ribs, pouring all his remaining internal force into the bent and deformed heavy-bladed saber in his hand! His entire body tensed like a drawn bowstring, and he suddenly exploded! His body turned into a blurry afterimage, and from the Giant Snake's blind spot – behind its tail – he charged in with a suicidal resolve!

The target – the wound below the Giant Snake's seven-inch mark, torn open by Wang Wu!

"Die--!"

Li San let out a beast-like roar! The twisted saber in his hand, carrying all his strength, killing intent, and madness, like a red-hot brand, plunged fiercely into the wound that was continuously gushing ink-green blood! And with all his might, he stirred it frantically!

"Chich! Chich! Crack!"

The horrific sounds of the blade tearing flesh, crushing tendons, and even scraping bone rang out consecutively!

"Siiangangang--!!!"

The Giant Snake's hiss instantly turned into an indescribable, soul-piercing wail! The pain and despair contained in that sound made the entire dense forest tremble! Its massive body suddenly stiffened, then, as if all its bones had been removed, it thrashed, convulsed, and slammed on the ground madly and without pattern! Its tail, like an out-of-control giant whip, smashed ancient trees around it into wood chips and shattered rocks! Ink-green snake blood spurted out from the wound and its mouth like it was free, instantly dyeing a large area of the forest floor green!

This death throe struggle was violent and terrifying! The moment Li San succeeded, he was violently flung away by the Giant Snake's wildly twisting body, spitting out another mouthful of blood and crashing heavily in the distance. He struggled a few times before managing to get up.

Wang Wu, however, stood in place like a rock, coldly watching the Giant Snake's final frenzy. His eyes were cold, without any fluctuation, as if watching an irrelevant farce.

This battle between man and snake was extremely brutal. Although Li San and Wang Wu eventually heavily injured the Giant Snake, they also paid a considerable price. Li San's face was as pale as paper, his ribs caved in, clearly having broken several ribs, and his internal qi was in disarray. Wang Wu had blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his shoulder clothes torn, revealing bone-deep wounds beneath, which were still covered in ink-green snake venom, being forcibly suppressed by his powerful internal force, and his face was somewhat ashen. The two no longer had the "calm and composed" demeanor from before; they were disheveled, and their auras were much weaker.