A Move Ahead?

At the other end of the battlefield, Su Wen and Su Li had joined forces against the Snake-People leader, but they had already fallen completely into a disadvantage.

Together, the two possessed combat strength comparable to a peak Four-Star Dou Master, but against a Five-Star Dou Master, they still fell short by a level.

If not for the innate defensive advantage of earth-attributed Dou Qi, the two Su Clan guards would likely have been defeated long ago.

"You've already exhausted yourselves. How many more moves can you withstand from me?"

The Snake-People leader laughed wildly as he swung the spear in his hand. Azure spear light rained down upon a Dou Qi shield formed from sand and earth.

Behind the sand-and-earth shield, the two Su Clan guards were pale as paper, blood streaming from the corners of their mouths. Several black, bloody holes in their shoulders and lower abdomens were a horrifying sight.

To protect Su Heng, the two had risked their lives to force the Snake-People leader away from the main battle. Their battlefield was now several hundred meters away from the convoy.

That distance happened to ensure that, in the pitch-black night, the Snake-People leader could only see flashes of Dou Qi colliding in the distance. He had no idea of the exact situation in the battle between the mercenary group and the Snake-People.

The intelligence Ya Hei had brought back earlier showed that this mercenary group only had three Dou Masters. Now that he had held down two of them, there were also two Four-Star Dou Masters among the Snake-People assigned to the ambush.

The Snake-People leader felt that victory was already assured, and he became more arrogant and overbearing with every exchange.

"You think the convoy behind you will be safe just because you risked your lives to hold me back? In truth, I was deliberately holding you back! Let me tell you, there are two more Four-Star Dou Masters at the convoy. You're so far away that they'll only die faster!"

The Snake-People leader burst into loud laughter, his spear attacks growing increasingly fierce. Upon hearing that there were two more Four-Star Dou Masters at the convoy, the two Su Clan guards' minds went blank.

Terrifying images flashed through their minds. Overwhelming fear threw their thoughts into chaos, and the Dou Qi within their bodies began to dissipate.

Azure Dou Qi coiled around the black spear, raising several wind blades. The already-cracked sand-and-earth shield shattered beneath the grinding assault of the azure wind blades, scattering sand and dust across the sky.

The instant the shield broke, the azure wind blades transformed into a fifteen-foot-wide wall of energy and slammed into the two Su Clan guards. Blood gushed from them as they were sent flying several meters away, smashing two large pits into the sand and becoming unable to move another inch.

The spear came crashing down! Everyone believed this was the fatal strike. Tears filled the Su Clan guards' eyes as they closed them and awaited death. They did not hate dying here; they only hated that the family's final hope would be destroyed by their own hands.

Clang!!!

Silver lightning suddenly flashed through the dust, illuminating half the starry sky. A youth stood there, and the outcome had been decided.

The Snake-People leader had poured all his strength into that killing blow, yet instead of the sound of a spear crushing flesh and shattering bone, he heard a crisp metallic clang. A dazzling figure, brilliant as a star in the night, had appeared to block his path.

"This time, you've lost!"

Xiao Li shouted as he deflected the Snake-People leader's attack. The spear in his hand transformed into three arcs of lightning that shot toward his opponent's chest. At the same time, two packets of Qi-Replenishing Powder landed securely in the arms of Su Wen and Su Li, who lay on the ground.

"This is?!"

When Su Wen and Su Li saw the Qi-Replenishing Powder in their arms, their despair instantly vanished. Since Xiao Li had brought Qi-Replenishing Powder to help them, Su Heng was most likely unharmed. After all, this was high-grade stuff that only Su Heng possessed.

The two quickly consumed the Qi-Replenishing Powder, then sat cross-legged and began restoring their Dou Qi.

Seeing his opponents rapidly recovering, the Snake-People leader fiercely knocked aside Xiao Li's spear and darted toward them. If they recovered even a portion of their Dou Qi, the three of them would surround him, and he would surely die.

But in terms of speed, Xiao Li, who cultivated lightning-attributed Dou Qi, was far faster than the Snake-People leader, who cultivated wind-attributed Dou Qi.

Just as the Snake-People leader's spear was about to pierce Su Wen, silver lightning flashed. A silver arc struck the spear tip head-on and blocked it.

Xiao Li's Dou Qi had just recovered, while the Snake-People leader had been worn down by the two Su Clan Dou Masters. In both attack and defense, Xiao Li now held the absolute advantage. After a few exchanges, the Snake-People leader was forced several yards away and could no longer approach Su Wen and Su Li.

"Wait, your Dou Qi? No, that's not right!"

After exchanging a few more moves, the Snake-People leader stiffened. He seemed to have realized something.

He swept his spear sideways, and violent azure Dou Qi raised a tornado of sand and dust that charged toward the two Su Clan guards. Taking advantage of Xiao Li rushing back to defend them, his body flashed into an azure streak and sped toward the convoy.

After crossing several hundred meters in frantic haste, what he saw was utter devastation.

The ground was covered with nothing but Snake-People corpses. One of them had even been blasted in half, leaving behind only half a charred body.

"Impossible... impossible... Humans... you deserve to die!"

Seeing his clansmen annihilated, the Snake-People leader was overwhelmed by grief and fury. When Xiao Li had arrived to rescue the others, he had already felt a faint sense of foreboding. Now that he had witnessed it with his own eyes, he completely lost his reason. Rage filled his chest as he let out a heaven-shaking roar.

Just as the Snake-People leader flew into a rage, the sound of something cutting through the air rang out. A black spear shot fiercely from the night.

The Snake-People leader reacted swiftly and turned to block it, but he did not stop the spear. Instead, it exploded half a foot before him, and a cloud of orange-red mist instantly enveloped him completely.

Mountain-Pushing Palm!

Su Heng arrived with his shout. Within the dense realgar mist, the Snake-People leader's body stalled, leaving him wide open.

The blow struck solidly against his chest. Flame-attributed Dou Qi erupted, exploding into a dazzling burst of light in the darkness and swiftly swallowing the snake-shaped black shadow.

After a thunderous blast, the Snake-People leader was hurled several yards away and vanished into the dark night.

Although the Snake-People leader had anticipated that they might launch a sneak attack, he had still underestimated their ruthlessness.

Su Heng had taken out every Realgar Pill and tied them to a spear, then had the mercenary from the Desert Iron Mercenary Group most skilled at throwing spears aim at the Snake-People leader and hurl it.

He and the other flame-attributed mercenaries of the Desert Iron Mercenary Group had attached their flame-attributed Dou Qi to the spear in advance. Once it neared the enemy, all the flame-attributed Dou Qi erupted at once, blasting out a cloud of realgar smoke.

Su Heng, who had the most Dou Qi remaining, then launched a surprise attack to deliver the fatal blow. Even if the enemy survived by sheer luck, the time they had bought would be enough for Xiao Li and the others to return and reinforce them.

As the firelight faded, silver lightning flickered.

Xiao Li and the two Su Clan guards had already returned in time, while the Snake-People leader lay in the desert, his entire body charred black and motionless.

"Dead? Impossible. Second Brother Xiao, while he can't move, go finish him off! Kill him!"

Although he had unleashed his full-strength strike, Su Heng simply could not believe that an attack from a Two-Star Dou Practitioner could kill an unguarded Dou Master.

Just as Xiao Li prepared to step forward and finish him off, a violent gale suddenly howled across the silent desert. Sand filled the sky and obscured everyone's vision. Within the storm, a snake-shaped figure slowly rose.

"Humans, you are the most vicious mercenary group I have ever seen. But unfortunately, no matter how many schemes and tricks you have, before absolute strength, they are nothing but a joke!"

"Today, I'll let you witness the might of the Snake-People Tribe's secret art."

The Snake-People leader took a purple pill the size of a longan from his Storage Ring. After hesitating briefly, he swallowed it in one gulp.

The pill melted the moment it entered his mouth. A strange, deep-purple aura instantly swept across his entire body before completely enveloping him.

Within the gale, the Snake-People leader's body began to swell beneath the purple aura. His bones melted, his skin split apart, and strange scales resembling slabs of rock replaced them.

His body gradually expanded, his human form disappearing completely. A giant python over ten feet tall could vaguely be seen amid the dust.

"Clack-clack-clack..."

A chilling yet familiar sound echoed through the air, as though someone were constantly shaking an enormous maraca.

"A rattlesnake?"

Naturally, no one would be shaking a maraca for fun at a time like this. The only sound that resembled it was that of a rattlesnake shaking its tail.

As everyone stared in shock, a massive snake tail accompanied by that strange sound swept toward them.

The battered old carriage was completely smashed to pieces by the blow. Su Heng and the others dodged with all their strength, barely managing to evade it.

As the dust dispersed, a giant python several meters tall appeared before them.

Its scales resembled chunks of brown rock, murderous intent filled its pitch-black eyes, and most unbearable of all was its constantly shaking tail, which produced that chilling sound without pause.

"A Third-tier Magical Beast, a Rock-Scaled Rattlesnake!"

Su Wen recognized the Magical Beast at once. In his youth, while traveling abroad, he had once been fortunate enough to witness one. This was a Third-tier Magical Beast equivalent to a human Great Dou Master, and Su Wen had personally watched two human Great Dou Masters die at its hands.

"Everyone, run! This Magical Beast isn't something we can fight!"

Having witnessed the Magical Beast's power, the fear buried deep in Su Wen's heart completely erupted. At this moment, there was only one thought in his mind: run. He did not even have the courage to resist.

After all, he had personally watched two Great Dou Masters give everything they had and still fail to break through the Magical Beast's rock-hard scales. The sound waves constantly emitted by the giant snake's tail could also disturb one's mind, preventing its opponents from gathering Dou Qi properly.

In other words, if their group did not run, there was only one word waiting for them: death!