After Feng Lingtian passed through the area teeming with bats, the passage ahead began to change noticeably.
The cliff faces on both sides gradually transformed from rough rocks into smooth stone walls, their surfaces gleaming with a dark red sheen, as if they had been repeatedly polished by something.
The ground beneath my feet began to warm up, and I could feel the rising temperature even through my boots. A faint smell filled the air, no longer just the smell of sulfur and blood, but more like the stench of some kind of reptile.
Feng Lingtian slowed his pace, his gaze sweeping across the passage ahead. His eyes stopped in front of a rock wall—there was a charred black mark on the stone wall, as if it had been burned by something.
The outline of the mark was irregular, with radial cracks at the edges, as if something of high temperature had exploded here. Feng Lingtian took a few steps closer and squatted down to examine the ground.
Beneath the scorch marks, several broken scales lay scattered on the ground. The scales were thick, their edges charred and blackened, but a blurry dark red pattern could still be seen on their surface.
Feng Lingtian picked up a fragment and squeezed it. It was hard and had sharp edges, as if it had been peeled off from some large snake.
Feng Lingtian quickly recalled what had happened. It was the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent, which Tang San had defeated and obtained its inner core.
Feng Lingtian put down the fragment in his hand and looked around—the scorch marks extended to both sides of the passage, leaving a burn mark several meters long on the cliff wall, as if a giant snake had rolled and struggled here.
The entire area was still radiating the lingering heat of the scorching sun, Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent's lair was now empty.
Feng Lingtian didn't linger and continued forward. But he knew in his heart that with the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent dead, whatever in this area had been suppressed by its aura was probably starting to stir.
After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Feng Lingtian suddenly slowed down.
He heard a sound—very faint, coming from a distance ahead, like something dragging across a stone surface, slow, heavy, with the subtle sound of scales rubbing against rocks.
Moreover, there were at least four sounds coming from different directions, as if they were gradually approaching him.
Feng Lingtian immediately stopped and listened for a while. The sounds neither approached nor moved away; they simply remained at a certain distance.
Feng Lingtian took a few more steps, and they followed, always maintaining the same distance. It was as if they were testing him, confirming his strength.
Feng Lingtian did not quicken his pace, but continued walking at the same rhythm. However, he had already condensed the wind blade at his fingertips and hidden it on the side of his palm, ready to deal with it at any time.
A fork appeared ahead in the passage, with two paths branching off from the main passage and leading in two different directions.
Feng Lingtian paused at the fork in the road and glanced at the ground—there were crawling marks on both sides of the ground, with large scale scratches distributed on the road surface on both sides, as if something was stationed in these two forks in the road.
Feng Lingtian did not choose any of the forks in the road, but stood directly in the middle of the intersection and did not move forward.
He could feel those gazes—something was watching him from the shadows, from different directions. But they didn't attack immediately, as if they were waiting for something.
Feng Lingtian waited for a while, confirming that they wouldn't show themselves on their own. He stopped waiting, slightly raised his right hand, and a wind blade condensed at his fingertips. Then he flung it into the shadows of the left fork in the road.
The wind blades sliced through the rock face, leaving a deep gash, and rubble crumbled down. A short hiss came from the shadows. Immediately afterward, the sound of scales rubbing against the stone surface rang out simultaneously from both sides—a triangular head slowly emerged from the shadows of the left fork in the road.
Dark brown scales, vertical pupils, and a skull much wider and thicker than that of ordinary snakes, as if it had undergone some kind of mutation. Then, a second head, a third, a fourth... appeared at the fork in the road to the right.
Feng Lingtian quickly counted five snakes, each with a different size, but all with the same dark brown scales and vertical pupils.
They were not as large as the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent, and none of them were beyond the Soul King's ability to handle on their own. However, their positions were well-coordinated, blocking his retreat from different directions.
Feng Lingtian quickly assessed the situation – they were not descendants of the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent, but rather a companion snake species forced to inhabit the periphery of the serpent's nest due to the compression of their living space.
The Snake King is dead, the suppression has disappeared, and things that previously dared not approach this area have begun to expand outwards, now regarding him as their new prey.
Feng Lingtian knew that dealing with these snakes was a waste of time. What he should do was to cross this area as quickly as possible, rather than getting entangled with each batch of creatures that were released.
The five snakes flicked their tongues, their vertical pupils lingering on Feng Lingtian for a few moments, as if trying to determine if this person was the same kind of person who had previously killed the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent.
Feng Lingtian didn't wait for them to finish their assessment before he made his move.
A wind blade flicked from his fingertip, slicing across the neck of the nearest snake and leaving a deep cut that exposed bone. The snake hissed, its body thrashing violently as it crashed into the rock wall on its left, sending pebbles tumbling down.
The other snakes moved almost simultaneously, their goal clear: to block his movement from different directions.
Feng Lingtian didn't fight them head-on. Instead, he took advantage of the snakes' fast attack speed but lack of maneuverability to quickly weave through the gaps between them.
As Feng Lingtian passed by a snake, his wind blade sliced across its abdomen, leaving a wound, before he immediately retreated and turned to the next snake before it could retaliate.
Two snakes tried to attack him from both sides at the same time, but Feng Lingtian did not retreat. Instead, he took a step forward and passed through the gap between them that had not yet closed.
As the wind blades passed through, they grazed the heads of the two snakes, followed by several short hissing sounds, and the heads of the two snakes fell to the ground one after the other.
The remaining two snakes stopped and did not give chase. They retreated to the edge of the fork in the road, flicking their tongues and staring at Feng Lingtian with their vertical pupils, as if reassessing whether this person was worth continuing the attack.
Feng Lingtian did not pursue them. He withdrew his wind blade and stood in the middle of the fork in the road, confronting them for a few moments. The two snakes remained silent for a moment, then turned around and disappeared into the shadows deep within the fork in the road.
Feng Lingtian waited a few moments to make sure they wouldn't turn back before choosing a side path and continuing forward. His steps remained steady, but he knew clearly in his heart—
Those five snakes were merely suppressed by the aura of the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent. Now that the Serpent King is dead and the suppression has disappeared, the remaining creatures in this area are beginning to stir.
He didn't know how much further ahead lay. But he didn't slow down and continued walking towards the edge of Hell Road.
No matter what you encounter next, as long as you keep moving forward, you will eventually reach your destination.