Deep in the Soul Hunting Forest, the light was dim.
A Mandala Snake nearly four meters long was coiled in a clearing, its triangular head raised high, the head covered in repulsive fleshy growths.
Its cold, yellow, slit-pupil eyes were fixed on Su Yu, Tang Wu, and Xiao Wu, while its scarlet tongue flicked rapidly in and out.
Without the slightest warning, the Mandala Snake suddenly opened its gaping jaws.
A dense pink mist gushed from between its fangs, carrying a pungent, sickly-sweet stench. Like a churning sea of clouds, it swept toward the three of them in an overwhelming wave.
The poisonous mist spread incredibly fast, instantly sealing off every route of retreat.
The moment the surrounding weeds touched the pink mist, they withered and blackened at a visible speed, turning into foul-smelling pools of liquid.
"Careful! Its poisonous mist has a powerful paralyzing effect. You absolutely mustn't breathe it in!" Xiao Wu's expression changed, and she shouted a warning.
Soul Power surged within her as she prepared to force her way out with Tang Wu.
"Don't move recklessly. If we retreat, we'll just become sitting ducks." Su Yu stood where he was, remarkably calm.
His gaze pierced through the churning poisonous mist and locked firmly onto the Mandala Snake's massive body.
He turned to Tang Wu beside him and gave her an order. "Tang Wu, now! Use your Blue Silver Grass to bind its tail and pin it in place!"
Tang Wu looked at the terrifying poisonous mist and the hideous snake. Her little face was pale, but her eyes held a stubborn resolve.
She took a deep breath, forcing down her fear, and thrust her delicate hands forward.
"Blue Silver Grass, go!"
At Tang Wu's clear, spirited cry, the level-ten Soul Power within her erupted without restraint.
The earth split open in an instant, and several translucent vines with faint golden patterns burst from the ground.
These Mutated Blue Silver Grass vines moved astonishingly fast, like several nimble golden whips skimming across the ground. In an instant, they swept around the edge of the poisonous mist.
Under Su Yu's precise direction, the vines seemed to have eyes of their own as they wrapped tightly around the Mandala Snake's thick tail.
The vines tightened, loop after loop, digging deep into the gaps between its dark green scales.
Sensing that its tail had been bound, the Mandala Snake let out an angry hiss.
Its enormous body lunged forward, trying to wrench itself free of the seemingly fragile plants.
Its terrifying strength, powerful enough to crush stone, erupted all at once.
"Creak—creak—"
The Mutated Blue Silver Grass wrapped around its tail was pulled taut in an instant, stretched to its limit.
A teeth-grating friction groaned from within the vines, as though they would snap apart the very next second.
The Mandala Snake struggled violently, its thick body thrashing wildly across the ground as dirt and gravel flew everywhere.
But though the translucent Blue Silver Grass vines creaked under the strain, they showed no sign of breaking. They held the Mandala Snake firmly in place.
"Nice work!" A sharp glint flashed in Su Yu's eyes.
This was the moment he had been waiting for.
The Mandala Snake had overexerted itself, its body stretched taut. For one second, it was completely rigid.
Su Yu didn't hesitate. His Innate Full Soul Power surged through him like floodwaters bursting through a dam, racing along his meridians and gathering at the index and middle fingers of his right hand.
His dense Soul Power compressed intensely at his fingertips, becoming an invisible blade of air about half a foot long, keen beyond compare.
The air around the blade warped slightly under its fierce, cutting aura.
At the same time, brilliant golden light flared deep within Su Yu's eyes.
The Eye of Truth opened fully!
In his vision, a dull scale three inches below the Mandala Snake's belly seemed to enlarge without limit.
That was the Mandala Snake's most vulnerable vital point, its fatal weak spot—and the least protected place on its entire body.
"Die!"
Su Yu shot forward like lightning, his whole body becoming a blur.
He moved so fast that Xiao Wu saw only a flash before her eyes.
Using the surrounding tree trunks as cover, Su Yu deftly avoided the pink poisonous mist rushing at him head-on, moving at an impossible angle.
In an instant, he was beneath the Mandala Snake's belly.
Facing the dark green scales, hard as iron, Su Yu didn't try to meet them head-on.
His gaze turned icy. With a turn of his wrist, he guided the invisible blade at his fingertips into the tiny gap between two scales with unerring precision.
Meeting no resistance, the blade pierced through the Mandala Snake's muscle as easily as cutting tofu, driving straight into its beating heart.
The Innate Full Soul Power erupted inside the snake, instantly shredding its heart into a mass of pulp.
"Hiss—!"
The Mandala Snake let out an unbearably shrill hiss.
Its enormous body arched violently, writhing and rolling across the ground in agony.
Its thick tail slammed into the surrounding tree trunks, snapping several trees in half.
But this struggle was only its final flicker of life.
After only a few rolls, the Mandala Snake's strength rapidly drained away.
Its raised head drooped helplessly and crashed into the dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The cold yellow slits of its eyes quickly lost their light, and life left them completely.
The forest fell quiet again. Only the broken branches nearby still swayed faintly.
Xiao Wu stood motionless, watching Su Yu kill the snake cleanly and decisively, without a single wasted movement. She couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.
"What kind of monster are you, anyway? You didn't even use your Martial Soul. You just condensed your Soul Power into a blade and killed a four-hundred-year-old Mandala Snake in one strike. And your eye for finding its weak point is ridiculously good!" Xiao Wu swallowed, looking at Su Yu as if he were a prehistoric Ferocious Beast wearing human skin.
Su Yu dispersed the blade of air at his fingertips, dusted off his hands, and calmly walked back.
With the Mandala Snake dead, a bright yellow ring slowly rose from its corpse.
The ring spun in midair, radiating a wild, violent energy.
This was a Hundred-Year Soul Ring.
Su Yu turned to Tang Wu, who was still breathing heavily, and gave her a gentle smile.
"Xiao San, you did very well just now. If you hadn't held it in place, I couldn't have killed it so easily." Su Yu praised her without reservation.
Hearing Su Yu's praise, a happy blush appeared on Tang Wu's pale little face.
"Go on. This is your spoils. Sit down and absorb it, and let your Blue Silver Grass complete its true transformation." Su Yu pointed to the yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring and encouraged her.
Tang Wu nodded firmly, her eyes full of resolve.
She walked over to the Mandala Snake's corpse, sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and began using her Soul Power to draw the Soul Ring down from the air.
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