No One Values Honesty More Than I Do
"Heaven and earth are desolate, yet emptiness has created form!"
At the critical moment when a bloody stench filled the air and a gaping maw was about to devour them.
The fear and stiffness that had been on Zhu Ping's face vanished instantly.
Instead, a sinister smile of triumph appeared on his face.
He uttered a low shout, and the Method Formula he had already formed in his sleeve was instantly completed.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The four explosions rang out almost simultaneously.
Four small, inconspicuous, dark flags that had been hidden around the stream suddenly burst out of the water and floated in mid-air.
The flag moved without wind, instantly weaving countless fine yet incredibly strong strands of shimmering white light, forming a massive and intricate spiderweb formation.
The Formation Art completely enveloped and bound the stealthy attacking python, as well as several other giant pythons that suddenly emerged from the water, all within its core!
The light threads were incredibly sharp, instantly piercing into the giant python's tough scales and flesh.
No matter how frantically they twisted, screamed, and struggled.
Its massive body was instead bound tighter and tighter, unable to break free even slightly, and could only futilely stir the blood-stained stream.
"Finally, they fell for it!" Zhu Ping laughed heartily, then calmly and carefully put away the [Blood Fuluo] he had used as bait.
"I went to great lengths to get you brainless bastards to obediently fall into my trap. Wasn't my acting convincing enough?"
"Hmph, a beast is still a beast. Such a low-level trap, do you really think your Holy Sect Ancestor Grandfather is blind?"
Having captured these giant pythons, Zhu Ping showed no mercy and immediately activated the magic array with all his might.
Buzz!
The banners shone brightly!
The countless tangled, binding strands of shimmering white light suddenly unleashed a terrifying cutting force, rapidly tightening.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
A series of teeth-grinding cutting sounds rang out, accompanied by the giant python's short, mournful hiss before its death.
In an instant, those ferocious pythons, some tens of meters long, were brutally sliced into countless pieces of flesh by these delicate threads of light.
It crashed down, completely dyeing the entire stream a dazzling scarlet.
A strong stench of blood instantly filled the air.
Zhu Ping, who had just chopped up the giant python and was about to turn and leave, suddenly let out a soft cry.
My gaze was drawn to something on the head of a huge snake not far away.
Inside the neatly cut, ferocious snake head was visible.
A Demon Beast bone that should have been hard and pale was now only the size of a palm.
It has a strange, translucent blood-red color, and its texture is unusually soft. It is even trembling slightly, like a trembling piece of blood-red jelly.
"The transverse bones have softened to this state; no wonder these normally docile demonic snakes have acquired the wisdom to ambush and hunt." Zhu Ping took a few steps closer, observing carefully, a thoughtful look in his eyes. Then, he suddenly connected the [Blood Fuluo] used as bait earlier, and a guess surfaced in his mind:
"Hmm? Could it be—"
"The Orthodox God of this [Blood Fuluo] is that it can help demons refine the transverse bone at the back of their heads and awaken their intelligence?"
If that's the case, the value of this item is probably far more than just completing the exam!
While Zhu Ping was slaying the demonic python, similar scenes were unfolding in different corners of Fuluo Prefecture.
Having endured the brutal selection process at Great Black Mountain and the bloody battle at [Peach Garden], the original number of over a thousand disciples of the Outer Mansion has dwindled to less than one in ten, with fewer than two hundred remaining.
But these two hundred survivors were all true elites who had crawled out of the Blood Sea at Hushan. Their combat experience, ruthlessness, and keen sense of danger were far superior to when they first entered the Outer Mansion.
It could even be said that they were the most formidable and troublesome group of the Outer Mansion in the Holy Sect in the past hundred years.
Meanwhile, the leader of this group of the most formidable and troublesome disciples from the Outer Mansion had already arrived deep within the entire [Fuluo Prefecture].
This is a vast, boundless swamp, filled with the stench of decay.
The swamp's surface was murky and bubbling, exuding an unsettling oppressive atmosphere amidst its deathly stillness.
"I knew it! How could such a spiritual herb, capable of awakening the intelligence of demons, possibly grow randomly, one here, one there, and be found everywhere?" Qi Yun sat cross-legged atop the skeleton, a cold smile playing on his lips.
Its powerful Divine Sense had already thoroughly explored the swamp below, as easily as mercury spilling across the ground.
Beneath the murky, stagnant swamp lay countless enormous holes, making the entire bottom of the swamp resemble an incredibly large beehive.
Within each hole lurks a terrifying python with a massive body and scales that shimmer with an eerie light.
Their cold gazes were fixed upwards, like hunters waiting for their prey to step into a trap.
The moment he steps into the swamp, a devastating attack will be launched.
"You outsiders, this is our home!"
Just then, the largest and most robust python, with a slightly bulging head, suddenly broke through the water's surface, raised its upper body, and looked down at Qi Yun with its cold, eerie eyes. Its scarlet tongue flickered rapidly, uttering indistinct yet resentful human words:
"We've already sent some of the medicinal herbs out of the swamp for you to pick as you please. What more do you want?"
"Send it away? Are you stupid and I'm stupid too?" Qi Yun sneered, his figure as steady as Mount Tai, supported by the skeleton. The surrounding white bones made him look like a ghost king descended to earth.
"You're just using the spiritual herbs as bait to lure us deeper in, so you can ambush and trap us."
Don't try to stall me for time, hand over a hundred [Blood Fuluo].
I can give you a chance to repent and start anew as snakes.
Qi Yun's words exposed his scheme, and the giant python's eyes instantly turned even colder, its murderous intent almost tangible.
"So what if I am? Since you've seen through my disguise, you'll die here today!"
Family, let's go!
Hiss!
Before it finished speaking, the swamp seemed to boil instantly!
As if receiving a command, the giant pythons that had been lurking beneath countless holes swarmed out instantly.
A vast array of enormous, twisting serpentine shadows stretched across the sky, their gaping maws emitting a foul stench.
The horrific scene was enough to drive anyone who feared snakes to the brink of madness and cause them to die on the spot.
"Hmph, you're asking for it!" Qi Yun's face turned cold, and a chilling glint flashed in his eyes:
"A bunch of mudskippers have developed a little bit of intelligence, and they really think they're real dragons?"
With a flick of his sleeve, he rapidly formed hand Method Formula, unleashing the [Corpse Explosion] technique that he had been preparing for.
The ten skeletons surrounding him suddenly let out a piercing, grotesque laugh, their Corpse Poison Yin Fire surging wildly, transforming into ten ghastly green meteors that charged towards the densest area of the snake swarm with a resolute will to self-destruct!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Deafening explosions rang out one after another.
Dark green mushroom clouds of poisonous fire rose one after another into the sky.
The terrifying high temperature and shockwave, mixed with highly corrosive corpse poison, raged wildly, evaporating most of the water in the swamp.
These demonic snakes, which had just awakened their intelligence and whose strength was barely equivalent to that of cultivators at the second or third level of Qi Refining, were as fragile as paper under the Corpse Explosion that were born specifically for slaughter.
In an instant, it was blown to pieces, without even being able to scream, before turning into piles of charred and twisted ashes!
With just one volley, the snake swarm's offensive was abruptly halted, resulting in heavy losses!
"Wait! Stop! We're willing to hand over the spirit herbs!!" The remaining demon snakes, especially the leader, were terrified by Qi Yun's ruthless and terrifying methods and immediately begged for mercy.
He then hurriedly dove into the depths of the swamp and quickly retrieved a large quantity of [Blood Fuluo].
One could see clusters of exquisite, blood-red flowers piled up on the swampy open ground in front of Qi Yun.
There were more than four hundred flowers, far exceeding the one hundred he had asked for.
"Please—please keep your promise and spare us." The leader of the giant pythons trembled, his previous arrogance completely gone.
Qi Yun flicked his sleeve, and an invisible force swept up the more than four hundred [Blood Fuluo] flowers, taking them all into his pocket.
He nodded with a solemn expression, his tone very sincere:
"Rest assured, Qi Yun has always been the most trustworthy."
The serpent demons had barely breathed a sigh of relief.
The thirty white skulls emitted another series of eerie, deathly laughs, like a death knell, and charged fiercely towards the swarm of snakes below, accompanied by even more raging, venomous flames!
"You lied to us! Didn't you say you were the most trustworthy?!" The leading python roared in despair and rage, its scales standing on end in extreme fear.
Upon hearing this, Qi Yun looked completely innocent and shrugged.
I'm not lying to you.
I said I'd give you a chance to "start over as snakes".
"How can you become snakes again if you don't die?"
As soon as the words were spoken, even more violent and intense explosions completely engulfed the entire swamp.