Slaughtering All Sides

At the bottom of the pool.

In a dark, secluded corner.

The python, its terrifying maw clamped around Pang Jian, found its body rapidly stiffening and paralyzing due to a strange, intense heat. The remnant beast soul of the "Dark Giant Boa" felt a massive, overwhelming power sealing it shut.

Under the influence of this power, deep within the python's obsidian-like pupils, thousands of hair-thin spirit snakes could be seen being slowly submerged by a scorching sea of light.

Every single one of those pitch-black, hair-like spirit snakes was a wisp of beast soul it had painstakingly refined, now being rapidly dissolved and refined away.

Attached to this frail shell, the "Dark Giant Boa" found its beast soul locked tight by the formidable, alien energy; it wanted to escape, but it could not.

It could only emit mournful pleas through its beast soul.

It was unclear how much time had passed—perhaps only an instant, or perhaps a long, drawn-out epoch—but its already fragmented beast soul finally ceased its continuous evaporation.

Then, it heard Pang Jian's low, internal monologue: "This guy's fangs don't seem very sharp."

The "Dark Giant Boa" felt it too: the youth it held in its jaws suddenly pushed it away with great force.

It looked at the youth with eyes full of pain and regret, only to find the youth observing it with a strange expression, as if new ideas were sprouting within his mind.

It could not perceive thoughts unrelated to itself, but as long as the youth harbored a desire to utilize it, it could sense those thoughts immediately.

"If I could ride it into battle in the water, things would go much more smoothly."

As soon as this thought arose in the youth, the boa grew suddenly enraged, only to immediately feel wisps of its beast soul being eroded once more.

It was instantly seized by terror.

Looking at the Bronze Tablet hanging on the youth's chest, it suddenly experienced a flash of insight. Seeking a glimmer of survival, it proactively moved closer.

It stubbornly forced its own snake neck beneath the youth's crotch, voluntarily transforming into his mount within the water.

In any case, it is merely a shell possessed by a fellow creature; it will not diminish my majesty.

It consoled itself silently in its heart.

It soon discovered that once it satisfied the youth's expectations, not only did its beast soul stop disappearing, but even the portions previously submerged by the sea of light quietly returned.

Its spirit felt immediately replenished. While recovering some lost memories, it also finally clarified one thing.

—As long as it obediently followed the guidance of the youth's inner voice and humbly cooperated, it could gather its beast soul and restore it to completeness!

It tried to actively communicate with the youth, wanting him to continue issuing commands, but it found that the youth could not hear its own inner voice.

It could only passively sense the youth's thoughts, and even then, only the small portion that concerned itself.

In the shadows, it felt as if a pair of invisible eyes, like those of a god, were staring at it, isolating it from taboos it dared not touch.

Having lost part of its beast soul and many key memories, the "Dark Giant Boa" no longer knew why it had been so hostile toward the youth.

It only vaguely remembered that the bronze pendant hanging on the youth's chest was the most terrifying object in the world.

To it, that thing symbolized supreme majesty, and it would never allow any existence to desecrate it.

"Strange."

Having escaped the snake's maw, Pang Jian looked, bewildered, at the python that had been trying to kill him, now proactively darting over to carry him on its neck.

The spine where the python's fangs had bitten him showed only a few bloody punctures; his bones had not shattered.

Those puncture wounds had already stopped bleeding after only a small amount of fluid had leaked out.

He could not understand why such a vicious and cunning creature had suddenly become so docile and well-behaved.

Clearly, the entity inside this python was not the one belonging to Hong Tai, but the great, fierce creature lurking in the Blackwater Pool.

Looking at the giant python's frame, with snake bones spanning dozens of meters, he felt more and more that the pitch-black alien snake possessing the small python was truly inexplicable.

"I should go join the battle."

As soon as this thought arose, the python, which had come to view itself as Pang Jian's mount, carried him toward the location of the Phoenix Bone.

Pang Jian was startled. Unable to speak in the water, he thought, Not now!

The python's movement came to an abrupt halt.

The expression on Pang Jian's face turned incredibly strange. He tested it with a few more thoughts, intending to make the now-docile python change direction.

Wherever he thought, the python moved, as if it were an extension of his own limbs, a part of his own body.

"It can actually know my inner voice? This guy is truly extraordinary; it lives up to being... a psychic spirit beast. But Zhou Qingchen and Han Duping never said that spirit beasts could discern other people's inner thoughts?"

Pang Jian, unable to fathom the mystery, continued to experiment with the python, eventually confirming that this alien snake, which had possessed its own kind, was indeed completely obedient to his commands.

What Pang Jian regretted was... he could not know the alien snake's thoughts, nor did he know why it was at the bottom of the pool or why it would take orders from him.

However, with the help of this alien snake, Pang Jian felt more confident in getting involved.

"The divine mystery within the Phoenix Bone must be the source of my transformation. I'll go try my luck as well."

He did not rush to drive the python out, but remained hidden in the shadows, observing the battle raging around the Phoenix Bone, waiting for the perfect opportunity to appear.

Still at the bottom of the pool.

Ning Yao, bound by the silver net, puffed out her cheeks. She watched intermittently as Hong Tai and three other Pulse-Opening Realm experts besieged the Ouyang Family's notorious good-for-nothing, then glanced toward the place where that python had vanished.

She had seen it with her own eyes: after Pang Jian waved goodbye to her, he had headed straight for that gloomy area tucked against the rock wall.

The python that Hong Tai had ordered to track Pang Jian had also slithered in that direction; it should have accurately located Pang Jian's hiding spot.

Yet, why had that python failed to reappear?

Feeling deeply humiliated by Pang Jian, Ning Yao now harbored a secret grudge against him, wishing nothing more than to see him torn to shreds by that serpent.

But she waited for a long time, and still, the python did not emerge.

In order to hold her breath longer at the bottom of the pool, she dared not move about, even though Hong Tai and his group no longer paid her any mind.

The more she struggled or twisted, the faster her breath would escape; even as a cultivator in the Pulse-Opening Realm, she could not hold out for long.

On the surface of the pool.

Standing atop the Phoenix Bone, the enchanting woman hesitated for a long time before she finally lost her patience.

"Go down. Become my eyes and let me see clearly what is happening at the bottom of the pool."

Deep within the faint blood mist, she waved her hand with elegant grace to issue the command. One by one, the Qi Refining Realm Dark Ghost cultivators possessed by the "Spirit Sha" leaped into the water.

As these people fell into the water, the scene at the bottom of the pool unfolded in her mind like a complete, three-dimensional image, visible from multiple angles.

The Phoenix Bone piercing the skull of the "Dark Giant Python," the battle raging around that bone, the strange state of Ouyang Duanhai—the one whose heart was being devoured by the Phoenix Marrow—the way Hong Tai and Jin Yang kept casting greedy glances at the spots of Phoenix Marrow within the bone, and Ning Yao staring blankly toward a dark corner.

Everything was laid bare before her eyes.

Yet, she was not satisfied.

She continuously transmitted her thoughts to the "Spirit Sha," ordering the possessed Dark Ghost cultivators to spread out further in search of the mastermind she believed was keeping the "Dark Giant Python" in captivity.

Gradually, one of the Dark Ghost cultivators possessed by the "Spirit Sha" finally headed toward the gloomy area Ning Yao had been watching.

I cannot immediately join the battle between Hong Tai's group and that humanoid monster. But these Qi Refining Realm fellows actually dare to enter the water to hunt me? They truly have a death wish.

Pang Jian snorted inwardly. He looked back at the stone door, now closed to a mere sliver, and silently memorized its location once more.

"Follow me and slaughter these wretches!"

As this thought stirred, the python possessed by the "Dark Giant Python" suddenly lunged out from the gloomy area where he was hiding!

Under the water, this python suddenly became the most agile and swift creature in the pool. As it quietly emerged, the Dark Ghost cultivators possessed by the "Spirit Sha" remained completely unaware.

"Pfft!"

A spear thrust forward instantly, and a flower of blood bloomed on the forehead of the Dark Ghost cultivator.

Obeying Pang Jian's mental command, the "Dark Giant Python," striving to complete its beast soul, was surprised to see a Spirit Sha residing within the blood blooming on the man's forehead—a morsel it could devour.

Deep within its obsidian-like snake pupils, two dark pools similar to the Blackwater Pool appeared, and whirlpools began to form within them.

The dark pools existing within its eyes, combined with the strange whirlpools of the pool water, pulled a gray, hazy light-shadow out from the "blood flower" on the Dark Ghost cultivator's forehead.

The light-shadow vanished instantly into the black pupils of the "Dark Giant Python."

I once swore to avenge you, Brother Zhou. If there is an opportunity and a possibility, I will naturally slaughter all who participated in this affair.

Pang Jian, who had just speared the Dark Ghost cultivator to death, had already locked his gaze onto his next target; he did not notice that the cultivator he deemed dead had something else hidden within his skull.

Not being in the state of practicing the "Pot-Heaven Qi Cultivation Art," he did not know that the "Dark Giant Python" had made a discovery and was feeding by hunting the "Spirit Sha."

"Next."

As his murderous intent rose again, the "Dark Giant Python" beneath him cooperated with excitement.

As the true master of the Blackwater Pool, the "Dark Giant Python" used a shell countless times weaker than its true form to carry Pang Jian as they streaked through the water.

Pang Jian thrust his Dragon-Patterned Spear again and again.

One after another, the Dark Ghost cultivators who had fallen into the water later, controlled by the mysterious woman's mental commands, died beneath his Dragon-Patterned Spear.

Under the water.

Ning Yao, sitting upright within the silver net, stared in a daze as Pang Jian wielded the Dragon-Patterned Spear, riding the spirit beast that had once belonged to Hong Tai, and slaughtered his way through the ranks, killing the incoming Dark Ghost cultivators one by one.

Her beautiful eyes were filled with utter disbelief; she felt as if she were trapped in a nightmare.

Atop the Phoenix Bone above.

Amidst the hazy blood mist, the enchanting and beautiful blood-shadow stamped her foot and cursed, "Damned little thief, he has actually blinded all of my eyes!"