Viper Bites the Heart, Schemes Shattered

The team stepped into the dense forest on the left, and the surrounding atmosphere suddenly turned cold and oppressive.

The once crisp chirping of insects and roars of beasts vanished without a trace. A faint, fishy sweetness permeated the air, and the ground, piled high with rotting leaves, was damp and sodden. Even the vegetation took on an eerie, dark green hue; any soul master with even a modicum of perception could sense the hidden danger lurking here.

Ma Hongjun instinctively furrowed his brows, his Phoenix soul power surging slightly as he lowered his voice. "Something feels very wrong here. The yin energy is too heavy, and there's a strange stench." Oscar gripped his sausage tightly, scanning his surroundings with vigilance, while Ning Rongrong, hailing from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, saw her expression shift as she whispered a warning: "It's the scent of a highly venomous soul beast, and its age is not low!"

Only Tang San, walking at the very end of the line, felt a flicker of imperceptible, sinister amusement in the depths of his eyes.

His fingertips, hidden within his sleeves, trembled slightly. Strands of Blue Silver Grass, as thin as hair, were quietly spreading along the underground roots, precisely connecting to a thousand-year Datura Snake lurking in a nearby cave. Relying on the affinity between the Blue Silver Grass, the flora, and the earth's veins, he bit by bit incited the ferocity of this venomous soul beast, guiding it to pounce in the direction of the team.

This time, he did not use the clumsy method of bandits that left behind easy flaws; instead, he borrowed a knife to kill, utilizing the wild soul beasts of the Soul Beast Forest to launch the attack. Even if suspected later, he could claim the beast's assault was an accident. No one would find concrete evidence. He wanted Lin Chen to suffer a massive setback—ideally, to be bitten by the Datura Snake's venom. Even if it didn't kill him, it would leave him with damaged cultivation, completely washing away the humiliation he had suffered before!

"Watch out! There's something underground!" Zhu Zhuqing, relying on the keen perception of the Hell Spirit Cat, was the first to detect the anomaly. As she issued a sharp warning, her figure instantly retreated, her sharp claws already unsheathed.

But it was a step too late!

BOOM!

The ground suddenly exploded, mud splattering everywhere. A giant snake, as thick as a water barrel and entirely ink-green, lunged out. Its body was several zhang long, its triangular head hideous and terrifying. Its scarlet tongue flicked frantically, and its two sharp fangs glinted with a pitch-black, icy light—it was exactly the thousand-year Datura Snake that Tang San had deliberately lured! A thick, poisonous aura swept outward instantly; the surrounding vegetation, upon touching a trace of the snake venom, withered and blackened at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"It's a thousand-year venomous Datura Snake! If you're bitten, your soul power will collapse instantly, and there is no cure!" Ning Rongrong turned pale with fright, instinctively hiding behind Lin Chen and clutching his sleeve tightly.

The incident happened too suddenly. Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and the others scrambled to fight, but the Datura Snake was incredibly fast. Its tail swept out, carrying a thick, fishy wind, lunging straight for Xiao Wu, who was closest! Its mouth gaped wide, and drops of toxic saliva fell, corroding the ground and sending up black smoke—it was extremely dangerous!

"Brother Chen!" Xiao Wu cried out. Just as she tried to dodge, she was trapped by the fierce wind carried by the snake's body, unable to break free.

At this critical juncture, Lin Chen moved.

He showed not a hint of panic. His ink-colored soul power erupted, forming a thick barrier that instantly shielded Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing behind him. His dense soul power directly isolated the Datura Snake's toxic assault. Immediately following this, he tapped his feet lightly on the ground, his figure darting out like a ghost. His speed was even more ferocious than when he had subdued the bandits, and the claws of the Ink Shadow Spirit Cat glinted with a cold light that pierced the void, striking straight for the snake's seven-inch vital point!

Overestimating your own strength! How could you possibly break the defense of a thousand-year Datura Snake? Tang San rejoiced inwardly, thinking Lin Chen's rash attack would lead to a backlash, and he was already prepared to see Lin Chen struck by the snake venom.

But in the next second, the smile on his face froze instantly.

Lin Chen's claws landed precisely on the Datura Snake's seven-inch mark. His ink-colored soul power, wrapped in extreme piercing force, ignored the rough defense of the snake's body and stabbed in fiercely! The thousand-year Datura Snake couldn't even let out a scream; its massive body twitched violently a few times, pitch-black blood gushed out, and it instantly lost its life. A deep, purple thousand-year soul ring slowly rose into the air.

One-shot kill!

A fierce, thousand-year venomous soul beast had been unable to withstand a single blow before Lin Chen, the entire process taking no more than a breath!

Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and the others stared in dumbfounded silence. Their previously tense expressions relaxed instantly, and the looks they cast toward Lin Chen were filled with extreme awe. Xiao Wu's eyes shone with excitement as she rushed to Lin Chen's side, her heart full of lingering fear and adoration: "Brother Chen, you're too amazing! You scared me to death just now!" Zhu Zhuqing stepped forward quickly, carefully checking Lin Chen's hands to ensure he hadn't been contaminated by the snake venom; only then did her tense, cold brows soften, her worried eyes unable to hide her concern for him. Ning Rongrong also patted her chest repeatedly, her Seven-Colored Glazed Pagoda flickering as she praised him sincerely: "Lin Chen, you are simply too strong! You can one-shot a thousand-year soul beast!"

Lin Chen nodded faintly. After calming the three girls, his gaze suddenly shifted to Tang San at the end of the line, his eyes as cold as ice.

He stepped onto the corpse of the Datura Snake and leaned down to pick up a strand of extremely fine, light blue grass fiber tangled in the snake's scales. With a slight flick of his fingers, the fiber instantly dissipated into specks of soul power, and a faint, lingering trace of soul power belonging to the Blue Silver Grass emerged in the air.

"Tang San, manipulating a thousand-year venomous soul beast to ambush your companions—do you really take everyone for fools?" Lin Chen's voice was cold, echoing through the entire forest, every word striking at the heart.

The group was stunned. They looked at the strand of grass, then at Tang San, and suddenly realized the truth.

The appearance of this Datura Snake was far too suspicious, its precise ambush of the team, and the traces of Blue Silver Grass left on its body—besides Tang San, who possessed the Blue Silver Grass martial soul, no one else could have done it!

Tang San's expression changed drastically, the last shred of hope in his heart completely extinguished. He never imagined that the Blue Silver Grass fibers he had hidden with extreme soul power would be so easily plucked out by Lin Chen! He feigned composure and argued sharply: "You're spouting nonsense! It's just a common strand of grass; how can you frame me with it? It was clearly a natural soul beast attack; it has nothing to do with me!"

"Nothing to do with you?" Lin Chen sneered. He moved his feet, instantly appearing before Tang San, his powerful soul power pressure locking him down tightly. "You used the Blue Silver Grass to burrow underground, incite the Datura Snake's ferocity, and guide it to attack us. Did you really think you could do it without anyone knowing? The team's route was entirely under my control; had I not guided us, you would never have had the chance to lure the snake near."

"Ever since your bandit ambush failed, you've been plotting this scheme of borrowing a knife to kill. First, you secretly scouted the forest for soul beasts, locked onto the Datura Snake's nest, and then deliberately lured the team into the trap. Every step was calculated, all to put me to death and drag the entire Shrek team down with me. Just how venomous has your heart become!"

Lin Chen's words were clearly heard by everyone, each sentence piercing through Tang San's calculations. Coupled with the evidence of the Blue Silver Grass on the snake, Tang San's defense appeared pale and powerless.

"Tang San, you are truly disgusting!" Ma Hongjun was the first to explode, his face full of rage as his Phoenix Fire Line surged instantly. "First you hired bandits, and now you lure venomous snakes! Do you really want to kill us all!"

"We were classmates, yet you are so sinister!" Dai Mubai's brows were locked in a frown, his White Tiger martial soul faintly gathering power. The look he cast at Tang San was full of disgust. "I didn't hold you accountable before out of consideration for our school ties, but I didn't expect you to go from bad to worse!"

Oscar was also full of disappointment, shaking his head as he said: "To sacrifice the entire team for a personal grudge—Tang San, you are no longer fit to stay in Shrek!"

Xiao Wu was trembling with anger, pointing at Tang San and scolding him furiously: "Tang San, I really misjudged you before! You are full of schemes, and there isn't a shred of camaraderie in your eyes!" Zhu Zhuqing's aura surged, her Hell Spirit Cat claws unsheathed as she stared coldly at Tang San; she would strike the moment Lin Chen gave the order. Ning Rongrong was so angry her face turned red, her Seven-Colored Glazed Pagoda glowing brilliantly as she said sharply: "Insidious and vicious, stopping at nothing—my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will never deign to associate with someone like you!"

The accusations and contempt of everyone surged toward Tang San like a tide. His face turned from green to white, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms, drawing blood. He stared fixedly at Lin Chen, the resentment in his eyes almost overflowing, yet he was powerless to refute. All his conspiracies and schemes were torn to shreds before Lin Chen's absolute strength and insight, exposed in the light of day, leaving him in a state of utter wretchedness.

Just then, Zhao Wuji's figure appeared once more. His face was livid, and the pressure of his soul power was incredibly heavy; clearly, he had witnessed everything that had just transpired.

"Tang San! You refuse to mend your ways, repeatedly plotting against your classmates and disrupting the team's training—you have no regard for the rules!" Zhao Wuji roared, his voice causing the leaves in the forest to rustle and fall. "You ignored all previous warnings. If not for Lin Chen's formidable strength today, the entire Shrek team would have suffered a catastrophe! From this moment on, you are removed from the team to train alone. If you dare to come within half a step of the team again, or pull any more tricks, I will immediately cripple your soul power, expel you from Shrek, and never allow you to return!"

This was an extremely severe punishment, equivalent to completely kicking Tang San out of the core Shrek team and leaving him to fend for himself in the dangerous Soul Beast Forest.

Tang San trembled all over, his head hanging low, the hostility within him suppressed to the extreme. He did not argue further, only biting his teeth hard as he turned and walked toward the depths of the dense forest. Every step felt like walking on the edge of a blade, the hatred in his heart growing wildly.

The bandit ambush and the snake trap—both schemes had failed miserably. Not only had he failed to harm Lin Chen in the slightest, but he had also become a laughingstock to everyone, expelled from the team and suffering utter humiliation. Ordinary methods could no longer shake Lin Chen. A flash of ruthlessness crossed his eyes as he quietly reached into the depths of his Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges, where he hid the prototype of the hidden weapon he had spent countless efforts on but had yet to fully refine—the fragments of the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus.

Lin Chen, I, Tang San, will engrave today's humiliation in my heart! Tang San roared frantically in his mind. It won't be long before I make you pay a hundred, a thousand times over!

Lin Chen glanced coldly at Tang San's departing back, not giving it a second thought.

Tang San was now at the end of his rope. Should he dare to use any more sinister methods, he wouldn't mind finishing him off completely to eliminate the threat once and for all.

"Clean up the scene. The Datura Snake's venom sac can be refined into toxic materials. Although the soul ring isn't suitable for us, it can be kept for other uses. Let's move on." Lin Chen withdrew his gaze and ordered calmly. After these two incidents, the team's trust in him had reached its peak, and the team's cohesion was unprecedentedly strong. Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong, in particular, followed him closely, their hearts full of reliance and devotion.

Sunlight pierced through the canopy, dispelling the coldness of the dense forest. Lin Chen led the team forward, his aura becoming increasingly steady.

Yet, what he did not know was that Tang San, who had been expelled from the team, was hiding in the shadows, nourishing the hidden weapon fragments with his own essence blood. An ultimate, life-and-death assassination was quietly brewing, and the training in the Soul Beast Forest was about to face an even more dangerous storm!