While the Edicts of Death are powerful, they are somewhat weak in physical attacks. Even the powerful Ancestor Nether Serpent, who cultivated the Edicts of Death, was unable to overcome this deficiency.
Especially when facing an opponent with such strong physical defenses as Andrew, the Ancestor Nether Serpent was extremely troubled.
"Physical attacks won't work, so we'll have to try Soul Attack."
The Ancestor Nether Serpent acted decisively, quickly distancing himself from Andrew. At the same time, the color of his snake scales changed slightly. For some reason, the previously glossy black scales darkened.
"This is Material Defense Sovereign Artifact." Andrew sensed the change in the Nether Serpent's aura and immediately understood that the Nether Serpent was probably going to fight desperately. However, Andrew was soon drawn to a short stick in the Nether Serpent's hand.
With a clench of his right hand, the Nether Serpent produced a two-foot-long, dark stick. The stick was made of an unknown material, with a slightly pointed tip and a pattern of a one-eyed black snake on its surface.
Upon seeing the short stick, Andrew's eyes widened involuntarily, and a storm raged within him.
"What kind of divine artifact is this?" Andrew's eyes shone with an unusual light. The moment the short stick appeared, Andrew felt as if his soul was swaying. When he focused his attention again, he felt that the area around the short stick was distorted, and he could not see its exact location.
Startled, Andrew immediately enveloped the short stick with his divine sense and finally understood that the stick had a special effect of attracting soul power. Once soul power got close, it would be distorted and attracted by the stick, and even without deliberately getting close, it would still be affected by the stick.
Andrew had never seen or even heard of this amazing artifact.
"No wonder the Nether Serpent is so strange and powerful; probably half of it is due to this special artifact," Andrew mused. According to the intelligence of the Four Divine Beasts Clan, the Eight Great Clans were almost evenly matched, and each patriarch was a top-tier Asura powerhouse. However, in terms of sheer strength, the Ancestor Nether Serpent was still superior. Andrew had even seen the Ancestor Nether Serpent's Battle Projection. In the Floating Shadow, his opponent was a Fire Element Asura powerhouse. Originally, the difference in their strength was not significant, but as soon as the Ancestor Nether Serpent took out his short staff, his opponent seemed to be under a spell, momentarily stunned during the fierce battle.
Fighting a powerful figure like the Ancestor Nether Serpent, being momentarily stunned is practically tantamount to courting death!
Finally, the Fire Element Asura's head was smashed by the Ancestor Nether Serpent. The Fire Element Asura's strength was among the top in the Fire Element Divine Plane, and it was because of this battle that the Ancestor Nether Serpent became recognized as a powerhouse second only to the Paragon Realm.
It wasn't until he fought the Nether Serpent that Andrew understood the truth behind that battle.
"Boom!"
The Ancestor Nether Serpent twisted its long serpent body twice, and in a flash, it traversed thousands of meters of space to arrive in front of Andrew. At the same time, the short black stick was slowly extended, and at the tip of the stick, one black ring after another appeared endlessly.
The ring landed on Andrew, instantly trapping him.
"This short stick's attack can actually bind the soul... This power is definitely not Mysteries or Laws; it's more like Innate Divine Ability..."
The ring fell directly into Andrew's Elemental Sea, attempting to trap the Golden Dragon's soul. Andrew immediately understood the ring's purpose. However, the Golden Dragon's soul was not to be trifled with. The thousand-meter-long Golden Dragon dragon slashed forcefully at the ring with its claws, instantly Shattering the unexpected ring.
Having escaped the attack of the short stick, Andrew deliberately paused for a moment.
"You've challenged the Ashcroft Clan; you'll pay the price!"
The Ancestor Nether Serpent's blood-red eyes flashed, and its tail coiled towards Andrew's neck, the scales on its tail all standing up like sharp blades.
This attack was something the Ancestor Nether Serpent had been planning for a long time, and its power had reached its peak. Especially at the last moment, in order to ensure that the attack would not fail, the Ancestor Nether Serpent did not hesitate to use a drop of the Sovereign’s Might.
When a powerful being like him uses the Sovereign’s Might, a full-force attack is something even Paragon expert cannot underestimate. He is confident that even if Andrew's physical defense is strong, he absolutely cannot withstand this attack.
"The clan leader's ultimate move... he's doomed now!" The group, who had narrowly escaped Andrew's Soul Attack, beamed with joy.
"Call out!"
Just as the Ancestor Nether Serpent's tail lashed out, Andrew suddenly turned his head, revealing a smile to the Ancestor Nether Serpent. At the same time, his body flashed with the green Sovereign’s Might, and his golden dragon tail met the serpent's tail from behind. However, what alarmed the Ancestor Nether Serpent the most was that Andrew's powerful dragon claws had somehow gripped his short staff.
"How is this possible? He wasn't affected by the Soul-Devouring Rod at all!" The moment he saw Andrew's smiling face, the Ancestor Nether Serpent knew he had been tricked.
"He wants to take my Soul-Devouring Rod!" Seeing the golden dragon claw, the Ancestor Nether Serpent knew exactly what Andrew was planning.
The next moment, a tremendous force surged through the Soul-Devouring Rod, a force that even the Ancestor Nether Serpent could not withstand. The force cracked the Ancestor Nether Serpent's tiger's mouth, and the Soul-Devouring Rod immediately slipped from the Nether Serpent's hands.
Holding the icy Soul-Devouring Rod, Andrew was overjoyed.
"Boom!" The dragon's tail, which had swept away the snake's tail, struck the Ancestor Nether Serpent. Even with the Ancestor Nether Serpent's ability to deflect force, he was severely injured for a moment, since Andrew had also used the Sovereign’s Might.
The Ancestor Nether Serpent was like a meteorite, crashing to the ground and creating a crater hundreds of meters deep.
"Impossible! How could the clan leader be defeated, and... and have his divine artifact stolen?" No one expected such a turn of events, and the leader of the Ashcroft Clan warriors, the elder, shouted out unconsciously.
Having taken the short stick, Andrew immediately stored it in his spatial ring; this magical artifact greatly intrigued him.
"Whoosh!" The Ancestor Nether Serpent flew back up, his usually cold face now resembling that of a demon.
"Give me back the Soul-Devouring Rod!" the Nether Serpent roared, panting heavily.
Andrew smiled slightly, "So it's called the Soul-Devouring Rod, that's quite fitting. But Nether Serpent, such a name is unbecoming of your status. By the way, Nether Serpent, how did you obtain this divine artifact?"
"You..." Upon hearing Andrew's words, the Nether Serpent immediately knew that the other party would never return it. However, he was still unwilling to give up, as the Soul-Devouring Rod was simply too important to him.
Unconsciously swaying its tail, the Ancestor Nether Serpent's mind raced, and its gaze towards Andrew shifted between light and shadow.
"Material attack!" The burly man not far away once again organized his formation, and thousands of black Divine Power flew towards Andrew, transforming into various ferocious beasts and weapons. The material attack of thousands of elite Highgod was extremely powerful, no less than that of ordinary Asura; however, this attack was too scattered.
Seeing his subordinates begin to attack, the Nether Serpent's expression changed, and he stretched out his body, heading towards the five elders of the clan.
"Go quickly!" the Nether Serpent transmitted telepathically.
"Whoosh!" Andrew watched the surging attack of matter without changing his expression. He swung his dragon claw downwards, Shattering space inch by inch, and the Spatial Turbulence swept away the matter attacks. On the other side, Andrew had already flown above the array, and a giant dragon claw pressed down, crushing the bodies of hundreds of Highgod.
This is the absolute suppression of strength. Ordinary Highgod, or even five- or Six-Star Fiend, would not fare well if they attacked Asura together. What's more, their opponent at this moment is a top-tier Asura like Andrew.
With a few attacks, the Ashcroft Clan warriors were all killed.
However, when Andrew turned around, he found that the Ancestor Nether Serpent had escaped with five elders.
Andrew was stunned for a moment, then the turquoise Water Sovereign Power slowly disappeared into his body, until finally, there was no trace of his presence. This kind of technique was clearly something only Paragon expert could possess! This wasn't surprising; although Andrew hadn't reached the Paragon yet, his soul power was already no less than that of Paragon. And the Sovereign’s Might relied on soul power.
" The Nether Serpent is truly decisive; it's willing to abandon such an important artifact and still manage to escape."
After thinking it over for a moment, Andrew turned and left without giving chase. He knew in his heart that while defeating the Ancestor Nether Serpent was easy, killing him would be difficult. The opponent possessed Material Defense Sovereign Artifact and had a very strong soul cultivation.
"Unfortunately, I can't unleash my full soul power right now..."
Andrew was somewhat helpless. His soul power was growing too fast, and it was mainly due to absorbing the power of the Soul Stone. With his current level of soul cultivation, he was not yet able to mobilize such a massive amount of soul power. Otherwise, even if the Nether Serpent's soul power was strong, Andrew would not have let him go.
Having defeated the Nether Serpent and seized a special artifact, Andrew headed towards the Skyrite Mountains.
Two days later, in an unnamed valley on the outskirts of the Skyrite Mountains, a teenager spotted Andrew's Metallic Lifeform and immediately reported it to his clan. Soon, the White Tiger Clan Leader was reunited with Andrew.
"Thank you so much, Lord!" The White Tiger Clan Leader sincerely thanked him, a gentle smile on his usually cold face.
Andrew nodded without any modesty. "The harvest was not bad, it's a pity the Nether Serpent got away. By the way, you all need to be careful lately, the Eight Great Clans may retaliate."
The White Tiger Clan Leader said, "Don't worry, Lord, my elder brother has already given instructions."