Lin Siyuan and Luo Han dove out of the way just in time to avoid the large, gray snake head that slammed right into the ground where he was standing just an instant prior.
“Close call, but since that’s the second time now that it’s failed, I don’t think it’ll try that particular plan again,” Luo Han says, rubbing the bottom of his nose with his finger after he gets back onto his feet.
Meanwhile, Siyuan was pretty much stuck in place, the snake demon’s aura pressing down onto him oppressively. He felt as if he was stuck under a heavy boulder. Panicked thoughts flooded into his mind, but this time, he managed to suppress them. As the snake sank right through the ground once again, he reached into his robe and pulled out his jade pendant. He poured some of his qi into the jade, but to his horror, nothing seemed to happen. It didn’t even glow to life.
“Don’t bother,” Luo Han says, reappearing beside Siyuan with a whoosh. His expression was serious as he grabbed Siyuan’s shoulder. “Qi Manifestation cultivators are unable to activate their pendants within an aura. It’s a defect with the pendants. If we wanna get out of here, we have to get out of the range of its aura.”
Siyuan suddenly felt himself shoot sideways as Luo Han forcefully pulled him away just as the snake demon, once again, shot out of the ground where they were standing an instant before. The two both go tumbling off to the side as Luo Han loses his footing, cursing as he rolls back onto his feet.
Siyuan tries to get back up onto his feet, but the oppressive aura was making it difficult to do even just that.
Every movement requires such a struggle, he thought as he managed to rise onto one knee. If we can barely even move, what hopes do we have of getting away?!
Luo Han seemed a bit better off, but it was clear that he was also feeling the effects of the beast’s aura. His breathing was already hard and quick and perspiration dotted his forehead.
The large snake hissed, its head swaying from side to side. Siyuan finally manages to rise onto his two feet, his teeth grit as he held his sword out in front of him. His qi surged as the blade glowed slightly, bolstering the flow of it within his dantians and slightly relieving him of the oppressive aura. Beside him, wind began to gather and surge all around Luo Han’s body as his qi flared up.
“Guess it’s just the two of us,” Luo Han says, his focus kept on the large snake towering over him and Siyuan. “Sorry to rope you into this, but I’m gonna need your help if we want to survive.”
“I’ll try my best,” Siyuan says.
Then he stops.
Wait a second, two of us?
He turns around, only to see the cultivator from earlier, lying on the ground unconscious, most likely from the pressure of the aura. Ling Yan, however, was nowhere to be found.
“That little rat!” Siyuan exclaimed angrily. “How did he even get away so quickly?!”
“He used a teleportation pill,” Luo Han said with a sigh. “No surprise there. Of course a spoiled rich brat like him would have one on him. So here’s the plan.”
The snake suddenly opened its mouth, revealing its large, sharp fangs. A loud, ominous hiss filled the atmosphere as it lifted its tail into the air. It was only then did Siyuan realize that the tail’s tip was rigid and sharp, like a blade.
“If all we do is try running out of its aura’s range, it's just going to chase us down and in a contest of sheer speed, I won’t be able to beat it.”
Siyuan just nodded grimly.
Luo Han possessed a rare, yet valuable affinity to the wind element. A powerful affinity on top of that, one powerful enough to rival the strength of Siyuan’s affinity to the metal element. Thanks to that, Luo Han’s speed was unlike anything most other disciples in the Mystic River sect’s lower reaches could achieve, even among Foundation Establishment cultivators. If he himself believed he couldn’t outrun this demon, then Siyuan had no chance at all.
“However, we alone don’t have the capability to kill it,” Luo Han says. “So what we’re going to have to do is hit it hard enough to make it stop. Just several seconds will be enough for me to grab you and this guy and bring the three of us right outside of its range.”
Siyuan nodded. It sounded like a very reasonable plan and although it would be difficult to possible, it was at least very much within the realm of possibility. However, the more he thought about it, the more he saw just how difficult it would be.
First of all, they’d have to muster up an attack to momentarily stun a beast that could rival an Aura Manifestation cultivator in strength. Perhaps if the two of them were in the Foundation Establishment realm, then the task wouldn’t have been too difficult to pull off, but they weren’t in the Foundation Establishment realm. And although Luo Han could be counted as a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator due to his strength, Siyuan most definitely couldn’t.
Plus, even if Luo Han would be able to muster an attack powerful enough to stop the beast for several seconds, how would he then also have the time to grab him and another unconscious cultivator and leave the beast’s aura? Siyuan was too slow, so he needed to rely on Luo Han’s speed if he wanted to get away.
“Hold on, Luo Han, this plan still seems too flimsy,” Siyuan says.
“If you haven’t noticed already, we’re two Qi Manifestation cultivators going up against a beast whose strength is two realms above ours,” Luo Han says. “The fact that we have a viable plan at all is already better than good enough. It’s definitely better than just running around like chickens with their heads cut off, just simply waiting to die.”
Siyuan sighed. He readied his blade.
“Alright then, but how’re we gonna muster up an attack to stop a tier 5 beast?” he asks.
“We? No, that’s your job,” Luo Han says. “You have a metal-type affinity, don’t you? Metal-types are the ones that are usually the hard hitters.”
“Luo Han, I’m a smith,” Siyuan says, emphasizing the “smith” part. “I don’t exactly have a super powerful metal-type qi skill hidden up my sleeve.”
“A smith with a particularly strong metal affinity,” Luo Han shoots back, emphasizing the metal part. “You don’t need a super powerful metal-type qi skill. If you muster all of your qi into a single attack, then that should do it. Plus, it’s not like I can do it. I have to distract the beast to buy you some time. The most I can do to help you in that department is lead in with an initial attack so that yours has some extra impact.”
Qi suddenly exploded from all around Luo Han’s body, heavy gusts of wind flying in every direction, lifting his short hair and robes. Then he suddenly disappeared. Siyuan looked up and suddenly saw the snake’s tail blade shooting right towards him from the sky.
The smith dove to one side, rolling across the side just as the sharp tip of the snake’s tail blade plunged into the ground where Siyuan was soon before. He looked back up at the large snake hovering its large head over him, its large eyes directed right at him. Its tail blade lifted into the air once again as it began to rotate itself before…
Wind suddenly exploded against the side of its head with a loud boom. Luo Han’s figure suddenly appeared beside its head, his arm extended in a punch. Although he seemed like no more than a flea beside the large snake’s head, the explosion that resulted from his punch created a shockwave of sheer wind that easily matched the size of its head.
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“It’s been a while since I’ve had a good fight!” he shouted, a toothy grin on his face. “Come you filthy beast, show me a good time!”
Luo Han dropped back to the ground a distance away. Although the attack seemed powerful, the snake seemed barely affected by it. If anything, it seemed more annoyed than hurt. However, that was enough to divert its attention away from Siyuan and towards Luo Han beside it. Its tail was a blur as it quickly turned around and slammed it into him with a speed befitting a tier 5 beast. However, even quicker was Luo Han himself, who launched back into the air and slammed his foot against the side of its head.
The attack sent a shockwave of wind flying in every direction. However, although it seemed extremely powerful, it was just enough to make the snake flinch.
After all, it didn’t really matter how much effort Luo Han put into his attacks. The gap in strength between him and the tier 5 beast was simply too vast. Despite that apparent fact, there was a sharp, wolf-like grin on his face, as if he was going to try to slaughter it regardless.
Siyuan just sighed and shook his head.
Please don’t forget that you’re still only in the Qi Manifestation realm…
After that, he closed his eyes. He bent his knees slightly, digging his feet into the ground. He clapped his hands together, his sword held out straight in front of him.
His body began to exude a light, golden-yellow qi as he activated his qi. Within the darkness of his closed eyes, he willed all the qi from his nascent soul within his dantians to move towards his hands.
That was when he suddenly stopped.
My qi…why is it so bright? he asked himself as he examined the qi flowing within his dantians. It wasn’t nearly this bright before. It’s gotten stronger somehow? No, rather, it seems that my affinity to the metal element suddenly skyrocketed!
The shock of this discovery almost broke him out of his meditative trance.
My metal element affinity was already much more powerful than usual before, and now it’s even stronger! Much stronger, almost twice as strong!
Wait, could it be that this was the effect of the smithing? When I was forging myself into a relic, the purpose I assigned to the core, my own nascent soul, was to be able to forge relics at a guaranteed rate. So, in order to accomplish that…it greatly enhanced the vessel’s affinity to the metal element! To the point where, to the nature of the world, I’m more of a relic smithing object than a human being!
So that must mean-
He was suddenly broken out of his thoughts when he suddenly felt something heavy slam right into his front. His eyes opened just in time to see Luo Han collide into him, sending the two of them tumbling backwards.
Luo Han quickly gets back up onto his feet, wiping a bit of blood that dripped from the corner of his mouth. There was more blood trickling from his hair.
“Damn snake’s toying with me,” he hissed, wiping the blood from his lips. “If it took us seriously at all, we’d already be dead.”
Siyuan also gets back onto his feet, albeit more slowly than Luo Han. He was, at least, getting used to the demon’s oppressive aura by this point.
“So we’d better take this opportunity now before it gets fed up with playing around,” Luo Han says, turning to Siyuan. “What’s taking you so long? We don’t exactly have all the time in the world here.”
“I’m getting to it,” Siyuan says. “I barely had time to gather my qi.”
“Well you’d better move faster,” Luo Han says. He moves a hand down to the hilt of the sword sheathed at his hip. “If I ever feel that it is necessary to do so in order to preserve my life, I will be using my sword relic. And in a full-on clash with a tier 5 beast? Don’t expect it to remain intact.”
Siyuan’s expression became slightly gloomy when he heard that. Luo Han’s relic was the four-fold enhanced relic that Siyuan had put his life on the line to forge. Hearing that it could possibly be destroyed in an exchange with a demon that they weren’t supposed to even encounter in the first place made his heart ache.
It was enough inspiration, though. As when Luo Han launched himself at the snake demon once again, he immediately went to work.
Qi began to gather around Siyuan’s body once again as he re-entered a meditative stance. A dull, golden glow enveloped his body as he clapped his hands once again, his sword held out in front of him. This time, as he gathered his qi towards his hands, he ignored the abnormally bright glow of his own qi.
The most basic metal element qi skill that all cultivators with a metal element affinity could learn was a skill simply dubbed “Arrow.” Gathering qi towards one point then firing it as a small, yet powerful projectile. This was only accomplishable because of the abnormal rigidity of metal element qi compared to other types of qi. It was so simple that even Siyuan, who had almost no combat experience at all, was capable of pulling it off almost flawlessly.
Finally, he opened his eyes, his pupils glowing slightly with a bright golden yellow color. The aura around his body intensified as he set his determined gaze on the snake’s head, which was hit back once again by an explosion of wind. The snake let out a loud hiss before it suddenly lashed out its head at him. There was a whoosh as Luo Han pushed himself out of the way with another burst of wind. However, he wasn’t able to do so before its tail came around and slammed into him a second time.
As he was sent tumbling back to Earth, Siyuan raised his sword and pointed the tip of its blade right at the side of the snake’s head. A bright spark of golden qi suddenly appeared at its sharp point.
Its appearance was sudden and quick, yet that amount of qi seemed to immediately permeate the space around it. Luo Han was the first to sense it. He immediately got back onto his feet, then with all the speed he could muster, shot towards Siyuan. The snake noticed it just slightly later than Luo Han did, baring its fangs at the bright golden yellow spark at the tip of Siyuan’s sword. However, it did so just too late to react in any meaningful way.
There was a small flash, shortly followed by a loud boom as Siyuan fired “Arrow” from the tip of his blade.
The projectile fired from Siyuan’s blade at such a speed that it seemed less of an arrow than a beam of energy. The snake had raised its tail and was about to bring it down on him, but it couldn’t before the arrow slammed into the side of its head at full force.
Immediately, a golden shockwave of sheer qi shot outwards in every direction. The snake let out a loud hiss of pain, its head pushed so far back by the force of the arrow’s impact that it almost seemed enough to make it topple over onto its back. Strangely, as the energy hung in the air, it crackled slightly like lightning. That, however, wasn’t what had caught Siyuan’s attention.
What the-?! Siyuan thought. What the heck was that arrow?! That kind of power…it's beyond what I should have been capable of at this cultivation stage! Especially since I have almost no training…
Before he could dwell on the thought however, he felt Luo Han’s arm curl around his stomach before he was suddenly dragged backwards. The battle cultivator grit his teeth as he pushed forward, bending his body slightly to grab the other unconscious cultivator by the collar of his sect robes as he shot past.
“We’re almost out!” Luo Han shouts, dashing forward as fast as he could with two other people in tow. “Have your pendant ready! We’re teleporting out of here the moment we leave its aura’s range!”
Siyuan grit his teeth as he reached for his pendant within his robes, struggling slightly in his position as he was carried by Luo Han, but still managing to quickly get it out nonetheless. Right after he managed to do so, he began to pour qi into it.
At that exact instant, Siyuan felt the oppressive feeling of the aura of the beast’s aura suddenly lift away. A joyful expression appeared on his face as he began to pour qi into the pendant. It began to glow to life, symbols on its pure green surface.
Until the ground suddenly began to shake. The beast’s oppressive aura suddenly re-entered his and Luo Han’s perception. Its sudden reappearance caused Luo Han to almost lose his footing, causing him to nearly drop both he and the other unconscious cultivator. Siyuan’s face fell as the glow of the pendant completely fizzled out, the glowing symbols on its smooth surface disappearing.
“Shit!” Luo Han cursed as the ground under his feet began to rumble. Wind immediately exploded under his feet.
A large, sharp blade suddenly shot out of the ground, nearly skewering right through Luo Han. The battle cultivator goes tumbling off to the side, just barely managing to keep a tight grip on Siyuan and the other unconscious cultivator. Once he manages to stop himself, he puts down Siyuan and the other cultivator.
“Crap, I wasn’t fast enough!” he exclaimed, quickly getting back onto his feet.
The ground began to rumble as the snake emerged from the ground once again. Just like before, it looked down on the two cultivators with its large golden-yellow eyes, but this time, there was something else in its otherwise apathetic gaze.
The yellow glow of its large eyes seemed to have darkened. Not darkening in the sense that it had dimmed, but rather in the sense that the tint of its once pure, honey-yellow eyes had transitioned slightly into a murkier yellow color.
Siyuan was completely frozen in place, his eyes wide as plates with fear as the beast’s killing intent washed over him like a snowstorm. His instincts were shouting at him to move, to get as far away from there as possible, but he couldn’t move a single muscle in his body.
Siyuan wasn’t a battle cultivator, nor did he ever desire to go down that route in the future. He didn’t leave the sect much, and whenever he did, he almost never got into any conflicts with beasts, much less ones that posed any actual threat to his life.
To the woefully inexperienced him, this brand new sensation he was feeling right now in front of this much, much, much more powerful beast was easily enough to overwhelm him.
This sensation of fear.
“Welp, we’ve officially stepped foot into the worse-case scenario,” Luo Han says. “We’re still in its aura, but now it’s pissed off.”