The giant snake crashed down onto what had once been farmland beside the river with a boom.
Yi Shuyuan was the fastest, charging ahead alone.
Gongsun Yin and Xu Zichang followed behind, swords in hand, one on either side.
"My attacks can't hurt this fiend. I can only draw its attention. Go for its eyes in a moment-"
With those words, Yi Shuyuan rode the wind and accelerated again, reaching the giant python almost as soon as it hit the ground.
The monster raised its head to find Yi Shuyuan already before it. He spread his arms, his dark red robes opening like wings and blocking everything from its sight.
"Roar-"
The monster opened its jaws and lunged to bite, but although the man before it was someone it craved desperately, its attempt to swallow him was merely a feint.
At that moment, nearly all its attention was on the two sword-wielding men.
Sure enough, the red-robed man flashed aside, evading its jaws, and two sharp swords appeared behind him.
"Die-" "Strike-"
Gongsun Yin's face blazed with fury while Xu Zichang looked solemn. Their swords thrust forward almost simultaneously, determined to blind the giant snake.
Yet at that moment, a trace of almost human mockery appeared in the Snow Python's eyes. The two fellow disciples' hearts lurched as they realized something was wrong.
"Hiss!"
A cloud of white vapor suddenly sprayed from the snake's mouth. Before their swords could reach its eyes, both men took the blast head-on, their exposed skin swiftly turning red.
Yi Shuyuan, who had clearly already leaped away, now drew the wind and snow around him and drifted toward the snake's belly. The Folding Fan slipped from his sleeve. Though it could not transform into a sword, its handle, brimming with sword intent, struck the vital