Mutation

The cold scrutiny lasted only an instant.

The next second, the Nether-Ring Viper Queen possessing the D-rank snake demon launched an attack without hesitation!

It did not pounce itself. Instead, it raised its head and released a silent yet piercing psychic hiss!

Hiss—!

In an instant, every remaining Nether-Ring Snake nearby, including those that had just finished devouring and advancing, whether E-Rank or D-rank, turned their heads in unison, their scarlet or dark green vertical pupils all locking onto Hua Yin!

They abandoned all other targets. Like puppets controlled by invisible strings, they surged madly from every corner, crack, and ceiling vent, converging into an even more violent and orderly tide of dark green death that swept toward Hua Yin!

This was not a scattered rabble. It was an army-like siege!

The bestial red light Hua Yin had just suppressed flashed fiercely in his eyes again!

Before the threat of death, that cold hunting instinct once more gained the upper hand, becoming even purer and more efficient!

"Kill!"

Hua Yin growled low and charged forward instead of retreating!

His right arm, covered by the Pale Butterfly Blade, and his Tang saber became a frenzied pale storm, crashing straight into the tide of snakes!

At the same time, more Pale Bewitching Butterflies surged from the void around him. Rather than gathering on the blade, they transformed into dozens of agile pale torrents, like slaughter units with independent awareness, precisely cutting into the snakes' weak points and madly slicing and shredding!

Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft—!

The sounds of flesh tearing apart fell as densely as rain.

Hua Yin charged left and right through the snake swarm, saber light and butterfly shadows weaving together into a domain of death.

Every time he killed a snake, the Pale Bewitching Butterflies swept over its wound, devouring its dissipating life force and chilling energy before feeding it back into Hua Yin through an invisible link.

At first, the cold spiritual power continuously washed through his meridians, replenishing his expenditure and even accelerating the healing of his wounds.

But gradually, as he killed more and more and devoured increasingly massive amounts of energy, a strange sense of "fullness" began to rise from the Pale Core.

It was not satisfaction, but the feeling of being stuffed with energy to the absolute limit, as if it were about to break through some boundary.

It was as though the reservoir of life force within his body had filled with water, the surface constantly rising, ready to overflow the dam.

Hua Yin felt the spiritual power within him accelerating and boiling!

Some sort of shackle seemed to be loosening in his mind. The world before him appeared clearer, and his perception of the surrounding flow of energy grew sharper.

He could even "see" the paths along which the cold energy circulated within the Nether-Ring Snakes, allowing him to predict the subtle signs before their attacks.

Was he about to break through?

A vague thought flickered at the edge of the mind ruled by his beastly instincts.

But he was still short of something...

Just a little more pure, more powerful life force as a "primer" to help him completely shatter that barrier!

The snake swarm remained endless, yet under Hua Yin's increasingly violent and efficient slaughter, along with the tireless devouring of the Pale Bewitching Butterflies, their offensive was temporarily contained.

A trace of impatience and uncertainty flashed through the dark green vertical pupils of the Nether-Ring Viper Queen possessing the D-rank snake demon.

This human youth's resilience, along with that strange devouring ability, had exceeded its expectations.

It could not drag this out any longer!

It had to personally eliminate this variable!

It abruptly scattered some of the surrounding snake swarm and cleared a path. Its thick, ink-black body swayed, and it personally lunged at Hua Yin at a speed far beyond before!

Venom dripped from its fangs, and its tail was poised to strike!

Hua Yin sensed that more condensed and terrifying killing intent locking onto him.

His beastly instincts told him that facing the possessed Snake Mother head-on gave him little chance of victory!

That newly emerging sense of breakthrough needed space and time!

This thought instantly overwhelmed everything else.

He violently shook off several entangling E-Rank snakes around him, kicked away a lunging D-rank snake, then turned and rushed into the main building!

He was not running outside, but upward!

Toward the rooftop!

"Hiss!" The Snake Mother's consciousness let out a sharp mental sneer, believing Hua Yin had finally fled in fear.

It immediately dispersed most of the snake swarm still attacking, afraid they would compete for its blood meal later. The next moment, its enormous body darted nimbly into the stairwell and gave chase without relent!

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Smooth scales scraped against the stairs and floor, producing hurried rustling sounds like the footsteps of death, tightly pursuing Hua Yin from behind.

Hua Yin pushed his speed to the limit. The Pale Core throbbed madly as spiritual power flooded into his legs without regard for the cost.

He could clearly hear the scraping sounds growing closer behind him, and he could feel that cold, viscous killing intent nearly touching his back.

The sense of fullness in his body and the stirring of breakthrough grew stronger and stronger, like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

But he was still lacking that final trace!

That trace of higher-quality "fuel" sufficient to pry open the barrier between realms!

He kicked open the rusted iron door leading to the rooftop and rushed out.

The empty rooftop came into view, where the high-altitude wind was biting cold.

Almost the same instant he stepped onto the rooftop, the iron door behind him was violently blasted away by tremendous force!

The ink-black D-rank snake body squeezed through the doorway, its dark green vertical pupils immediately locking onto Hua Yin as he leaned against the water tank, panting.

Hua Yin turned around, his chest heaving violently, his face flushed an unusual red from exhaustion and that strange feeling of fullness.

The pale butterfly shadows clinging to the Tang saber in his hand flickered unpredictably.

The Snake Mother controlled the D-rank snake demon as it slowly slithered onto the rooftop, unhurried and relaxed, carrying the teasing air of a cat toying with a mouse.

It "watched" Hua Yin's somewhat bedraggled state, and the greed in its dark green vertical pupils deepened.

It could sense that this human had accumulated an immense amount of energy within his body, and that its nature was unusual.

If it devoured him, the shell of this D-rank offspring would likely advance directly to C-rank!

Once its consciousness returned and devoured this C-rank offspring as well...

The B-rank barrier would surely be broken!

For this goal, it no longer held back!

The next moment, the D-rank snake body suddenly launched itself forward, moving even faster than it had in the stairwell!

Its attack angles were vicious and tricky. Fangs, poisonous mist, sweeping tail strikes, and even invisible psychic impacts—multiple offensives poured down like spilled mercury, instantly engulfing Hua Yin!

Hua Yin raised his saber to block while the butterfly swarm danced and sliced, but the abnormality within his body severely hindered him.

For at the instant the Snake Mother had burst through the door, the core within him that constantly pulsed and carried the origin of the Pale Bewitching Butterflies—that Pale Core suspended between reality and illusion—suddenly became covered in countless fine cracks!

Crack...

The faint sound of shattering seemed to echo deep within his soul.

The cracks in the core instantly caused the previously smooth circulation of spiritual power to become sluggish and chaotic!

His formerly fluid output of power became intermittent, while the summoning and control of the Pale Bewitching Butterflies also lagged!

With one side weakening while the other strengthened, Hua Yin immediately fell into a disadvantage!

The blade was viciously struck by the snake's tail and nearly flew from his hand!

Poisonous mist grazed his arm, corroding his combat suit and sending searing pain through his skin!

Hua Yin staggered backward, evading a fatal bite, but his back slammed heavily into the cold concrete railing at the edge of the rooftop, making his blood and qi churn violently.

Because the Snake Mother's attacks came like a raging storm, utterly merciless.

Hua Yin struggled to fend them off, more wounds constantly appearing across his body as blood gradually soaked through his combat suit.

At that moment, the bestial red light in Hua Yin's eyes fiercely alternated with struggling clarity, but the exhaustion in his body and the cracks in his core left him increasingly powerless.

If the Pale Bewitching Butterflies had not instinctively continued devouring the snake demon energy escaping during the gaps between attacks, barely maintaining a trace of recovery, he would likely have already collapsed.

After barely dodging another headbutt, Hua Yin's foot slipped, and half his body was already hanging beyond the edge of the rooftop!

Below lay open air several stories high!

Now!

A vicious gleam flared in the Snake Mother's eyes. Its body compressed like a spring, gathering strength for the final blow, ready to send this hateful yet delicious human plummeting to his death before devouring him!

However—

"Wretched beast! How dare you run wild!"

A clear, cold shout exploded from the sky like thunder!

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