After walking forward for a while, a rustling sound came from ahead.
This time, without Han Li's reminder, the group stopped simultaneously.
"Snakes?"
Du Gu Yan looked at Han Li, who smiled but didn't answer. Instead, he rose into the air, clearing the path for them.
"Can I direct?"
Du Gu Yan consulted Xiu'er and Shui Bing'er for their opinions.
"Yes."
The two nodded in unison, having no objections. In this area, they were indeed less knowledgeable than Du Gu Yan.
"Bing'er, we'll come from the sides, leave the front to Xiu'er."
Du Gu Yan decisively flapped her wings and flew up, while Xiu'er didn't have the ability to fly.
Once they were in formation, the enemy in front finally revealed its true form.
It was a massive dark red serpent, coiled on the path ahead, occasionally flicking its tongue.
On the head and back of this snake, there were nine protrusions, each resembling a bright red mushroom, seemingly with blood flowing inside.
The snake's abdomen was particularly large, bulging on the narrow path, and its length was at least ten meters.
The strange snake's tongue slowly rose from the narrow path, and a pair of golden-red eyes instantly became as bright as lanterns.
After seeing the full appearance of the strange snake, Du Gu Yan in mid-air was stunned. What was this thing? A mutated Soul Beast? She hadn't seen any related records in any books.
"Be careful, I don't recognize it. It might be a mutated Soul Beast, pay special attention to those fleshy bumps on its body."
Du Gu Yan said to the other two with a serious expression.
"Bing'er, use Ice Spears to test it, attack the fleshy bump areas."
Du Gu Yan pondered slightly and instructed Shui Bing'er.
Considering the environment here, it was more appropriate to have Shui Bing'er, who had a stronger shaping ability, use ice elements to condense Ice Spears to test it, rather than flames that would obstruct vision.
"Okay."
Hearing her words, Shui Bing'er on the side unhesitatingly condensed several milky white Ice Spears and shot them towards the strange snake that was swimming towards them.
Gua...
Seeing Shui Bing'er's attack, the strange snake made a gua gua sound, like a baby crying, and the nine fleshy bumps on its back began to emit a golden-red light.
A fiery red light suddenly spewed out of its mouth, carrying a strong stench, and flew quickly towards the Ice Spears, colliding in mid-air.
After the Ice Spears fought against the flames, they still stubbornly penetrated the flames, but they didn't have much power left and were swept away by the strange snake's tail.
"Its fire element isn't weak."
Shui Bing'er reminded.
"Well, but fire and poison? It's unlucky to meet me."
If it were other offensive abilities, Du Gu Yan wouldn't be sure, but fire and poison were also her strengths.
However, she glanced at the strange snake's huge body and looked at the two Wing Blades in her hand, which were pitifully small compared to the snake.
"Xiu'er, follow behind me, I'll help you intercept the fire poison and energy, the attack is up to you. Bing'er, try to limit its movements as much as possible and try to solve it quickly. Please take care of Xiu'er's feet as well."
Shui Bing'er nodded and quickly changed her attack mode. As her wings flapped, ice elements quickly gathered in the narrow section of the road where the strange snake was, forming a vortex of ice and snow that was almost solid, sticking to it tightly, and the cold air also began to try to invade its body.
Gua gua gua, the strange snake's somewhat harsh voice became much louder again.
"Let's go."
Du Gu Yan stuck to the path under her feet and quickly came to Xiu'er, holding her Wing Blades in front of her, emitting a strong fire element, and rushing towards the strange snake.
And Xiu'er behind her, Soul Power began to continuously gather in her claws, and followed silently.
The strange snake was still trying to break free from the ice prison that Shui Bing'er had prepared for it, but after feeling the aura on the two of them, it decisively stopped struggling.
The snake head turned sharply, and a mouthful of venomous flames spewed towards the two of them. It was quite cunning, as the flames traveled along the narrow path at ground level, rapidly spreading towards them.
Its attack wasn't aimed at Du Gu Yan at all, but at Xiu'er behind her. The strange snake had noticed that only the girl at the very back didn't have wings, implying she couldn't fly.
"Wishful thinking."
Du Gu Yan naturally noticed its intention as well. She snorted coldly and increased her speed again. Vermilion flames erupted from her Wing Blades, and she plunged straight into them.
Then, to the snake's bewilderment, her Wing Blades devoured the venomous flames without hesitation.
Croak—
Another ear-piercing cry rang out, and the strange snake coiled its body. Its streamlined muscles contracted, but its upper body turned rapidly.
"It's trying to escape?"
Han Li and Dugu Bo, hovering in the air, exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.
This was the first time they had seen a monster trying to escape on the Hell Road. Even the weaker bats from before, knowing they were no match, had still attacked desperately.
Not only them, but even Du Gu Yan and Shui Bing'er in front were stunned for a moment. Wasn't this a trial? How could the guardian escape?
However, Shui Bing'er quickly reacted and didn't hesitate to expend her Soul Power. Three solid Ice Walls appeared one after another behind the strange snake, slamming down on it.
However, something unexpected happened. Just as the Ice Walls appeared, the strange snake rotated its upper body again at an extremely fast speed. The coiled body below exerted force, and it shot out towards Du Gu Yan and Xiu'er, once again opening its mouth to spew a mouthful of venomous flames at Du Gu Yan.
Judging by its landing point, the strange snake seemed to be aiming for the narrow path between the two.
Its target was the narrow path beneath their feet, it was Xiu'er. It was trying to destroy the terrain here and directly eliminate one of them.
"This thing's intelligence is really high."
A hint of surprise flashed in Dugu Bo's eyes in mid-air. It was much smarter than the snake-type Soul Beasts he had encountered before.
"Well, it's still a primeval beast. Hanging that title, it can't be completely useless, right?"
Han Li also shook his head and said with a smile. Battle power aside, it was indeed quite clever among Soul Beasts.
However, he had no intention of intervening. If it was just this kind of attack, Xiu'er wouldn't be afraid at all.
Sure enough, the moment the strange snake descended, Xiu'er guessed its intention.
Her small face turned solemn, and Soul Power began to gather beneath her feet, and she actually took the initiative to meet it.
"Burst Step."
A delicate shout came from Xiu'er's mouth.
With a bang, the narrow path beneath her feet was directly shattered by her under the enormous force, and she reversed her previous relatively slow movement speed, shooting into the sky like a cannonball.
Her slightly petite body, with her right claw glowing with a purplish-golden light, carried a fierce aura as she directly slapped towards the giant snake's head.
Croak—
A fierce look appeared in the strange snake's eyes, and the nine golden-red fleshy sacs on its back became even brighter.
It actually arched its upper body in mid-air without any support, and the fleshy sacs shattered directly, with nine golden-red liquids suddenly shooting out from them.
Most peculiar was that the liquids merged into one after being ejected, turning into a fist-sized golden-red ball before smashing towards Xiu'er.
The Inner Core appeared. Han Li tensed up, ready to act at any moment. He was really afraid that Xiu'er would shatter this thing with a single slap.
"Xiu'er, Ice Surface and Ice Pillar."
Just as he was about to move, Shui Bing'er's voice came from the side, her voice carrying a rare hint of anger.
This snake had actually tricked her just now, which made her a little angry ╰_╯.
As Shui Bing'er's voice fell, Xiu'er understood her meaning. She had also sensed the danger of the golden-red small ball.
Xiu'er decisively abandoned her original attack plan, reached out and grabbed the Ice Pillar that also manifested beside her, and smashed the golden-red small ball with the pillar.
At the same time, Du Gu Yan, who was below, had also dealt with the venomous flames and nodded towards Xiu'er.
Xiu'er immediately adjusted the angle, changing the direction in which the golden-red small ball was knocked away to where Du Gu Yan was.
Clang
The two made slight contact, producing a large amount of steam, which temporarily obscured Xiu'er's figure completely, but under the force, the golden-red small ball still flew towards Du Gu Yan.
"Croak--"
A different, more shrill cry than before came from the strange snake's mouth, but now that it was in mid-air, it was somewhat powerless and could only watch helplessly as the golden-red ball flew towards its rear side.
However, the next second, its cry came to an abrupt halt.
Because Xiu'er's figure rushed out of the steam again, and even though she was in mid-air, she walked as if on flat ground, once again waving her right claw towards its head.
Under Xiu'er's feet, Shui Bing'er had already paved an ice passage supported by Ice Pillars from below, leading all the way to it, and even thoughtfully provided anti-slip treatment.
The most terrifying thing was that on the narrow path below, a sharp, five- or six-meter-long Ice Spear-shaped Ice Pillar was still gradually forming.
Then, with no way to dodge, the strange snake was struck head-on by Xiu'er's claw, and most of its head shattered.
In the instant that the entire snake body curled into a ball, before it could be blasted away by the enormous force, Xiu'er grabbed its tail with her left hand and pulled it back, aiming its vitals at the Ice Spear, and smashed it down fiercely.
Fresh blood splattered, and the entire snake was directly split in half during the fall, heading towards the blood pool below.
And the narrow path below, supported by the ice surface, although somewhat shaky, ultimately did not shatter directly.
This scene made Han Li and Dugu Bo couldn't help but shudder and look at each other.
Sure enough, the year spent living in Slaughter City had brought about some changes in them.
Below, seeing that the battle was over, Du Gu Yan turned her gaze to the golden-red ball in her hand and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
She had an urge to swallow this golden-red ball directly.
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