Who could have imagined.
A First Rank human martial artist, who seemed utterly insignificant in their eyes,
was steadily approaching the core territory of their clan.
Yet there were still a large number of Flying Serpents rushing out of the passage, and therefore, to avoid detection, Li Yuan’s descent speed remained very slow.
…
“Huff!” “Huff!” Two enormous Second Rank Flying Serpents, their flying speed was incredibly astonishing, rapidly exceeding 200 meters per second.
They burst through the layers of fog and soared into the sky.
“Roar!”
“Roar~” The two Second Rank Flying Serpents let out earth-shattering roars, their elongated pupils fixed on Liu Jing on the cliff, swiftly slaughtering one Flying Serpent after another.
At this moment, tens of thousands of Flying Serpents had surrounded Liu Jing atop the cliff.
All gazing at Liu Jing.
With the serpents closing in, the heavens and earth seemed to turn into a dense mass of black.
Ordinary people upon seeing this, would likely feel dizzy and chilled to the bone.
“Finally here.” Liu Jing revealed a smile, regarding the myriad serpents as nothing, solely focusing on the two Second Rank Flying Serpents breaking through the clouds.
Prime Warriors cannot fly.
And now, being on the cliff, Liu Jing would certainly not take the initiative to attack the two Second Rank Flying Serpents.
Once airborne, without anything to push against, trouble would ensue.
For Liu Jing, battling and slaughtering these Flying Serpents wasn’t the goal; delaying until Li Yuan safely acquired the “Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Fruit” was.
“Boom!”
“Boom!” The two Second Rank Flying Serpents could no longer contain themselves, their wings trembling, their massive bodies abruptly sprinted forward, streaking towards Liu Jing.
Claws whooshing.
“Come.” Liu Jing, holding his Combat Saber, stared intently.
He didn’t have a Divine Palace control panel.
But his combat experience was extremely rich; just from the two Flying Serpents’ body sizes and velocity, among many other aspects, he could approximately deduce that these two Second Rank Flying Serpents were around level 22.
At least 2 levels lower than him!
However, in a battle between Second Rank powerhouses, due to the presence of Origin Power, each one had a much stronger life force. Even with a two-level difference, it was not an impossible fight.
Moreover, the ability of Second Rank Flying Serpents to fly was an absolute advantage.
“Boom!”
“Boom!” The hundreds and thousands of First Rank Flying Serpents, also under the command of their two leaders, once again crazily rushed towards Liu Jing, attempting to limit his ability to exert his full strength.
…
At the bottom of the valley, the bodies of Flying Serpents continued to fall, raining blood.
But it was visible to the naked eye.
The number of Flying Serpents that originally spread across all parts of the valley floor was rapidly dwindling.
Clearly, a large number of the higher-ranking Flying Serpents had already charged toward where Liu Jing was fighting.
The distraction plan was incredibly successful and created an opportunity for Li Yuan.
“Fast!”
“I must be quick! Liu Jing’s abilities are astonishing, but the cliffside is not a space suitable for his battle. Engaging head-on like this, the consumption of physical strength and Origin Power are tremendous,” Li Yuan thought anxiously, accelerating his descent while ensuring he remained concealed.
He knew that Liu Jing was gambling with his life.
In fact, if not for the worry that the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Fruit would be destroyed in the battle, Liu Jing, with his abilities, could have entirely penetrated into the depths of Flying Serpent Valley alone… but it would have been even more dangerous.
At last.
Li Yuan descended once again until he was about 300 meters above the valley floor, where the fog had completely dissipated.
He could now clearly see the situation at the bottom of the valley, and this sight left him utterly stunned.
Because!!
The two Second Rank Flying Serpents were gone.
But around that one Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood, massive Flying Serpents were coiled.
Their bodies were particularly immense, each at least 20 meters in length.
Each massive serpent head was raised high, watching the surroundings vigilantly; their bodies encircled the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood within a hundred meters, encasing it completely.
Without leaving the slightest gap.
“Level 19.6! Level 19.2! Level 19.4…” Li Yuan quickly deployed the Divine Palace Inquiry.
This inquiry gave him quite the shock; the Flying Serpents guarding the valley floor all surpassed level 19, the highest even reaching level 19.9.
They were just one step away from Second Rank.
At a glance,
there were more than 50 level 19 Flying Serpents, a truly terrifying guardian force, definitely second only to the two Serpent Kings within the Flying Serpent Valley.
Facing such a large group of powerful Flying Serpents,
without the strength of a Prime Warrior to break through, death was almost certain!!
“What to do?” Li Yuan rapidly pondered in his mind: “With my abilities, it wouldn’t be hard to get past these Flying Serpents… but the key is how to leave?”
These Flying Serpents were too dense; there was no more room for Li Yuan to move forward.
He would definitely be discovered.
After hesitating for merely a second,
“4.” Li Yuan activated his smart ring, sending four consecutive messages to Liu Jing.
Four messages, four vibrations.
Four vibrations meant he could no longer sneak in directly; a forceful intrusion was the only option, but there was still hope for success.
Just two seconds later.
“Buzz~” Li Yuan’s smart ring vibrated, displaying a message of garbled text.
It was from Liu Jing.
One vibration signified—it was time to go all out.
“Then let’s go for it.”
“If Senior Liu Jing is confident, then let’s take the risk.” Li Yuan’s eyes turned icy cold.
The current situation was much better than before; at least there were no Second Rank Flying Serpents blocking his path.
Going after the treasure?
Sometimes one had to risk everything. Nothing worthwhile ever came easy in this world.
“Boom, boom, boom~”
In the dark chasm above, from the area shrouded in mist, came the deafening roars of Flying Serpents, with some still plummeting to the ground.
Among them, a few particularly sharp roars easily penetrated the thousand-meter chasm.
Resonating within the gorge.
Without a doubt, those were the howls of Second Rank Flying Serpents.
“Can’t delay any longer, with two Second Rank Flying Serpents leading so many others, Senior Liu Jing will only become more strained.” Li Yuan clenched his teeth.
With a shift in posture and aided by the darkness, he continued to probe towards the bottom of the gorge.
The deeper he went, the darker it became.
Given Li Yuan’s height and sticking close to the mountain wall…it was nearly impossible for the Flying Serpents to spot him.
Whoosh!
Silent and stealthy, Li Yuan finally found his way to the base of the chasm. It was damp and muddy, much like a swamp… but Li Yuan, covered entirely in his Battle Garment, hardly cared about such nuisances.
“200 meters,” Li Yuan whispered, lying prone in the grass, gazing at the massive Flying Serpents in the distance.
The grass, submerged in mud and water, mostly trampled and disheveled, but it provided Li Yuan ample cover.
The stench here was unbearable, with thousands of Flying Serpents gathered and the air hardly circulating…the smell could only be imagined.
Fortunately, the Battle Garment came with an air filter, which to some extent made it less suffocating for Li Yuan.
“Closer.”
“The closer, the better,” Li Yuan thought to himself, “It would be best to get within dozens of meters, then a sudden sprint would catch these Flying Serpents off guard.”
Li Yuan held his breath, inching closer and closer.
In the sky above, the bodies of fallen Flying Serpents occasionally plummeted, drawing the attention of many of the guarding serpents.
Which was fortunate.
Li Yuan and Liu Jing had roughly estimated the location of the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood, so the battlefield Liu Jing chose was not directly overhead, but about 200 meters away horizontally.
Hence, the falling Flying Serpents were unlikely to hit the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood.
“50 meters,” Li Yuan paused again, as he dared not move further.
In such an open space, with so many Flying Serpents present, their perception was not to be underestimated.
Moving closer would certainly alert them.
“Huff!”
Li Yuan took a deep breath, his eyes firmly fixed on the ‘Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood’ behind the rows of Flying Serpent bodies, eyeing the three silver-lit fruits on it.
Subtlety of the soul! Countless fine strands of Vigor moved.
Origin Power circulated! The Battle Garment activated.
The next instant.
“Boom!” Li Yuan’s legs exploded with power, propelling him like a bullet from a gun, his speed reaching a terrifying level, soaring over 100 meters per second in just one second.
Just one second.
In that time, Li Yuan could charge through 50 meters, breaking through the defense ring the Flying Serpents had formed.
But these Flying Serpents, surpassing the 19th level, also had incredibly fast reaction times.
In just a fraction of a second, as Li Yuan shot out thirty meters, the nearby serpents were already aware of his presence.
Instinctively.
“Ang!”
“Roar~” Several massive Flying Serpents leapt forward with a roar, attempting to intercept the human shadow blitzing towards them like lightning.
“Die!” Li Yuan’s eyes were fiercely sharp as his speed burst to its limit.
Boom! He dodged the attacking claws of two Flying Serpents with the quickness of lightning.
His Long Spear was already thrusting forward furiously.
“Poom~”
With a thrust of his spear, moving several times the speed of sound and unleashing a terrifying force of nearly a hundred thousand kilograms, its might far more ferocious than a cannonball, he tore a massive wound across the waist of another Flying Serpent.
Blood spurted everywhere.
Rip! Fully activating his Battle Garment, Li Yuan grazed past the serpent’s ripped-open wound, barreling his huge body to one side.
And finally, he broke through their defense.
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At this moment, the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood stood only a hundred meters away from Li Yuan.
“Roar~”
“Ang!” Then, the Flying Serpents guarding the Soul-Nurturing Ancient Spirit Wood started to howl madly.
Wave after wave of frenzied, piercing roars echoed throughout the entire chasm.