The Serpent’s Escape

“Don’t run!” the Huan Beast great demon bellowed angrily as it gave chase across the water, but the waves it stepped on kept exploding beneath its feet. After all, it had not yet reached the Unity of Man and Heaven realm; it could only rely on its demonic power to forcibly tread on the water. As a land beast, its speed on the surface was naturally even slower!

In truth, even in the forests and grasslands, its speed was probably a bit slower than Ji Ning’s. On the water, it was even worse! It could only watch helplessly as Ji Ning quickly fled into the distance.

“Hoo.” The Huan Beast great demon could only turn back. Gazing at the Skygreen Serpent King, who was wildly struggling within the heaven-obscuring formation, sometimes expanding to enormous size and sometimes shrinking to tiny, it muttered, “Can this Skygreen Serpent really withstand the power of the formation? No matter how it struggles, in the end it will have to submit!”

…

Formations! By guiding the power of heaven and earth, they could produce all sorts of mysterious and unfathomable effects!

The might of this Yin-Yang Dual Qi Formation was far beyond what the Skygreen Serpent could resist.

“Hahaha…” Tie Muzhan stood on the water’s surface, pointing from afar at the enormous green serpent bound by countless streams of black and white energy. “Skygreen Serpent! You have entered my grand formation. Struggle all you like, it’s useless. Be a good little snake and submit, acknowledge me as your master, and you’ll spare yourself a lot of suffering!”

“HROOOAR!” The Skygreen Serpent raised its head and roared in fury.

“You won’t submit?” Tie Muzhan couldn’t understand the language, but he could feel the serpent’s fury and animosity. He let out a cold laugh. “Skygreen Serpent, the true masters of this endless land are we humans! The ruler of this entire region is the Grand Xia Dynasty! As a divine beast, no matter how powerful you are, do you think you can overturn the heavens? Even if I let you go today, someone else will come to collect you in the future. I advise you to just obediently submit to me!”

Tie Muzhan kept talking, but no matter what he said, the Skygreen Serpent paid him no attention. This infuriated Tie Muzhan. “Let’s see… whether your pride is harder, or my Yin-Yang Dual Qi Formation is more powerful!”

“Chi chi chi…” The black and white energy streams frantically twisted around the serpent, grinding like a millstone. Scales shattered and fell off,碧绿的鲜血洒落. The excruciating pain of having its scales and flesh torn away did nothing to make the Skygreen Serpent lower its head.

SWISH!

The Skygreen Serpent abruptly shrank to the thickness of a single finger, temporarily escaping the缠绕 of the black and white energy streams. Instantly, however, the energy streams surged back, encircling it once more.

Qi—gathering and dispersing without fixed form! How difficult it was to evade the encirclement of such flowing energy!

“YAAH!” The finger-thin little green serpent gave a shrill cry, then in the same instant expanded to an enormous size, even larger than the Winged Serpent! It alternated between huge and tiny, struggling with all its might. Only by doing so could it minimize the time spent being ground by the Yin and Yang Qi. After all, being ground like that was truly, truly painful.

While struggling, the little green serpent even tried repeatedly to pounce at Tie Muzhan. But the power of the Yin-Yang Dual Qi Formation was too strong; it couldn’t touch so much as a single hair of his.

Again and again it struggled, its entire body covered in wounds, scales shattered,碧绿 blood scattering everywhere.

“YAAH!”

Again and again it cried out in anguish.

The Skygreen Serpent King struggled with all its might. As a divine beast, it was inexpressibly proud; how could it easily submit to a mere human like this? If it had been a Zifu Disciple, it might have been willing to bow its head. But this Tie Muzhan was not qualified.

“Hmm?” After a long while, Tie Muzhan frowned.

“It’s still struggling?” Tie Muzhan looked at the Skygreen Serpent, which, though heavily wounded and on the verge of death, was still fighting with insane ferocity. “Even though the Yin-Yang Dual Qi Formation is only using a fraction of its full power, this fool is seeking death. If this continues, it will be ground to death by the formation! Would it rather die than submit to me?”

Tie Muzhan gritted his teeth. With a thought, the black and white energy streams binding the Skygreen Serpent began to disperse.

“Skygreen Serpent!” Tie Muzhan pointed at the grievously wounded great serpent. “You were suppressed by my formation’s power, so you’re probably unconvinced! How about this: you and I fight. I won’t use the formation to assist me. If you can defeat me, I’ll let you go. But if you lose, you will submit to me. Deal?”

“YAH!”

The Skygreen Serpent let out a hate-filled cry, then shrank to a length of over ten meters—the body size at which it could unleash its greatest strength—and lunged straight at Tie Muzhan.

“Hmph.” Tie Muzhan’s right hand produced a long black whip, studded with naturally grown, sharp spikes. This magic treasure, known as the ‘Blackwood Thorn Whip,’ was the very weapon that had made Tie Muzhan famous throughout the Yan Mountains. He swung it fiercely, and the whip transformed into a massive black shadow, sweeping toward the Skygreen Serpent.

SWISH! SWISH!

The Skygreen Serpent moved with blinding speed, managing to evade that one strike.

“HUA HUA HUA~~~” Tie Muzhan began to coil the whip in his hand, causing it to spin in circle after circle. In an instant, countless rings, blotting out the sky and covering the earth, enveloped the Skygreen Serpent. Then, with a tearing sound, a chunk of the serpent’s scales and flesh was ripped away.

“SSSSS—” The Skygreen Serpent hissed in fury, willing to take damage as it tried to pounce.

But Tie Muzhan just laughed coldly, swinging his Blackwood Thorn Whip again and again. This was not his first time battling the Skygreen Serpent. He was skilled in using a whip, and it perfectly countered the serpent’s agility. In the past, the Skygreen Serpent had been too fast for him to catch, but now it was trapped within the formation with no way to escape.

“How about it?” Tie Muzhan stood there, his long whip dancing. Each strike possessed enough power to split a small mountain, tearing open the Skygreen Serpent’s flesh. “I am stronger than you. Just obediently submit.”

SLAP!

The collision of a magic treasure against a physical body was brutally one-sided. Tie Muzhan, after all, was a late-stage Xiantian lifeform; he completely overpowered it.

“SWISH!”

While dodging a flying whip strike, the Skygreen Serpent abruptly vanished into thin air. In the next instant, it reappeared several hundred meters away.

This left Tie Muzhan stunned. Then his face drastically changed. “Not good!”

“SSSS—” The Skygreen Serpent let out an excited hiss. Every time it darted forward, it seemed to teleport, covering dozens or even hundreds of meters in an instant.

“DIE!” Tie Muzhan’s face twisted with rage, his expression one of madness.

RUMBLE~~~

The grand formation radically shifted. Vast quantities of black and white energy streams frantically converged to crush the Skygreen Serpent. The Skygreen Serpent, however, cast a cold glance at Tie Muzhan, then vanished with a swish.

“BOOM!” The collision of the black and white energy streams created a maelstrom of chaotic currents.

“Damn it!” Tie Muzhan roared in fury, waving his arms wildly. “DAMN IT!!!”

“Void Shuttle! Void Shuttle!” Tie Muzhan’s face was twisted with rage, his eyes bloodshot, clearly on the verge of a breakdown. “That Skygreen Serpent actually managed to execute a Void Shuttle! Yes… it’s that brat from the Ji Clan! That damned Ji kid! He fought that serpent several times, and it must have helped it improve, allowing it to reach the Unity of Man and Heaven realm in movement technique and perform a Void Shuttle!”

Tie Muzhan was utterly furious.

On this vast land of Yan Mountain, there might be only one Skygreen Serpent, but across the endless lands ruled by the Grand Xia Dynasty, there were many. So Tie Muzhan knew exactly how dangerous a Skygreen Serpent was, and he desperately wanted to tame this one.

Most great demons had special abilities: controlling water, poison, fire, and so on.

Even the Water Rhinoceros King and the Winged Serpent—neither of which were divine beasts—had such talents. But as a divine beast, the Skygreen Serpent King had no special talent at all…

In truth, it wasn’t that it had none. Rather, the Skygreen Serpent King’s innate talent was too powerful, too difficult to unleash at a low cultivation level. Just as ordinary demons couldn’t control water while in the Houtian realm but could after becoming Xiantian, the Skygreen Serpent King’s talent lay in ‘Void.’ Even after reaching Xiantian, it had to reach the Unity of Man and Heaven realm before its body could, for a brief instant, merge with the void itself and perform a Void Shuttle!

“Void Shuttle!” Tie Muzhan ground his teeth in fury. “A Skygreen Serpent that has comprehended Void Shuttle… it will swiftly become incredibly powerful!”

Void Shuttle…

This ability allowed the Skygreen Serpent to enter some very mysterious places, even to steal celestial spirit-fruits from hidden groves. Its rate of growth would enter an explosive phase. Without a doubt, this Skygreen Serpent King would leave the Eastmarsh Swamp and begin wandering, because only by traveling far and wide could it steal more celestial treasures and grow faster. Staying in one remote corner of the world would be a waste of its talent!

“Given the depth of its hatred for me, if it returns to Yan Mountain in the future, it will almost certainly come seeking revenge.” Tie Muzhan was both furious and alarmed.

“ARGHHH!!!”

Tie Muzhan howled with rage, his roar causing the lake water to explode violently!

He was furious.

“It’s all because of that damned Ji Clan brat!” Tie Muzhan ground his teeth in bitter hatred.

If Ji Ning hadn’t caused the Skygreen Serpent King to make so much progress through their battles, how could it have suddenly broken through during this fight? He would have already tamed this divine beast! Now, not only had he failed, but he had also provoked a fearsome enemy. The Skygreen Serpent would surely remember this enmity!

…

The heaven-obscuring formation dissipated. Tie Muzhan collected his eight formation banners, then, with a dark expression, walked across the water’s surface.

“Master.” The Huan Beast great demon, now a black-robed man, rushed over. Seeing his master’s expression, he knew the taming had failed. He quickly said, “Master, do not be angry. That Skygreen Serpent is a fool. It deserves to be killed by you!”

“It’s not dead,” Tie Muzhan said coldly.

“Not dead?” The black-robed man was stunned. “Then where is it?”

Tie Muzhan shook his head. “It actually comprehended Void Shuttle. It escaped.”

“This… this…” The black-robed man found it hard to believe as well. The Skygreen Serpent had actually comprehended Void Shuttle at the critical moment.

“Everything is the fault of that Ji Clan brat,” Tie Muzhan said in a frigid voice. “His strength was on par with the Skygreen Serpent’s. Their repeated battles caused the serpent to improve greatly. That’s why, this time, it was able to resonate with Heaven and Earth, merge with the void, and perform a Void Shuttle! That Ji Clan brat ruined my plans! I’ll flay his skin and pull his tendons, or I won’t be able to vent the anger in my heart!”

The black-robed man quickly nodded. “Master, rest assured. Earlier, when I shot my spike at him, it was coated with Ice Flower Dew. A little bit of that Dew has gotten onto his body. As long as we release the Ice Wasp, we will surely find him.”

“Mm.” Tie Muzhan took a grey pouch from his waist and loosened the opening. Instantly, a translucent crystalline insect flew out with great speed.

“Let’s go.”

Tie Muzhan and the Huan Beast great demon followed the Ice Wasp as it flew swiftly in pursuit.

After they left, a small green serpent emerged from the placid lake water, gazing into the distance. There was a trace of hope in its eyes. It had fought Ji Ning many times; they had been evenly matched and had developed a mutual respect. Moreover, it was partly because of Ji Ning that it had reached Unity of Man and Heaven in its movement technique and comprehended Void Shuttle. It felt a trace of gratitude toward him.

“SSSS~~” The Skygreen Serpent let out a soft hiss, hoping Ji Ning could escape this calamity. This was all it could do. After all, right now, it was only skilled in escaping; in a straight fight, it was no match for Tie Muzhan.