Cultivators and demons on both banks stopped to watch, pointing and discussing, but not one took the opportunity to rush forward and seize the child.
The short-haired man was a formidable fighter, ruthless and merciless when he struck. He had shattered the unspoken understanding between the cultivators and demons.
Black Snake kept churning the water into crashing waves, circling and watching as he patiently waited for an opening.
On the other side, the old otter River Ash also displayed a ferocity rarely seen in him, repeatedly launching probing lunges to harry and occupy the man.
The short-haired man rose and fell with the waves.
He seemed to be fending off River Ash's bites, but his gaze remained firmly locked on Black Snake's movements.
Confident though he was, he knew perfectly well what mattered.
A bite or a few scratches from this otter would do little harm, but a bite from Black Snake might cost him his life. That snake was clearly highly venomous. Taking advantage of the short-haired man's divided attention, River Ash landed two swipes, tearing his clothes and exposing copper-colored skin. Scratching it felt like clawing a lump of iron. Clearly, the man had trained in the Iron Body Art.
Black Snake locked onto the short-haired man with Thermal Sensing, observing the minute changes in heat throughout his body.
When he sensed the temperature in the man's legs rise, Black Snake abruptly sprang backward!
Almost simultaneously, the short-haired man leaped up, raised his long staff, and smashed it down viciously where Black Snake had been, only to send water spraying as he struck empty air. He leaped close again, but Black Snake once more dodged ahead of time.
Only then did he realize with a start that his movements had been completely predicted. Suppressing his confusion, he changed