Chapter 176: Pursuit

A man and a snake fought fiercely in the underground cavern. With loud booming sounds, sand and stones flew, and grass and trees were tossed around.

The thick dust nearly filled most of the cavern. Zuo Zhicheng’s clothes were tattered and torn. But the Underworld King Snake also had large frostbites on its body. Its speed and strength were only about seventy percent of what they were at the beginning.

Finally, after a furious roar, the Underworld King Snake swiftly darted into the exit tunnel.

It was truly starting to escape.

Seeing half of the Underworld King Snake’s body already inside the corridor, Zuo Zhicheng raised his sword stance. He thrust his sword toward the snake’s tail from a distance. As the sword struck out, a sharp screech echoed through the air. The speed of this sword strike was like a flash of lightning across the sky. The screech of the air even echoed back and forth throughout the entire cavern.

Its swiftness and speed truly resembled a white rainbow piercing the sun, a comet striking the moon.

In the eyes of ordinary people, this sword strike was already as fast as lightning. But in the perception of the Underworld King Snake, it carried a chill that could freeze all things and end the world, wildly sweeping toward its body.

At the same time, the screeching sound of the air continued to vibrate, as if a thunderclap had burst out of nowhere. It was even louder and more terrifying than the thunder during a storm.

This move of the Ice Soul Cold Light Sword, Flicking Finger Ice Thunder, captured the meaning of winter thunder. It is said that when thunder sounds in winter, the earth must shake. The natural phenomenon of thunder in winter has long been regarded as an ominous sign, a heavenly punishment, a portent of chaos in the world.

Flicking Finger Ice Thunder captured the concept of winter thunder, possessing both the cruelty of harsh winter and the majesty of thunder.

Between this sword strike and thunder, the Power of Mind and Spirit on the Underworld King Snake exploded and scattered. Even the Heartscape on its body surface, which looked like black flames, the Black Dread Prison, completely vanished at a glance. The physical damage was even more terrible. It almost felt as if its blood had instantly frozen solid, stopping its flow.

A shocking cry of pain came from the cavern, followed by falling rocks and a scene of shaking ground and mountains.

…

A woman in red silk clothes, covered in dust and grime, was moving quickly through the mountain forest.

Her face looked very charming, and her skin was as tender as white jade. But one of her shoes had fallen off, so she had to walk barefoot through the mountain forest. It was clear that her skin had been well taken care of. Her fair, tender feet looked almost like oversized baby feet.

But after walking in the mountain forest for a long time, even a single leaf could leave a red mark on her delicate skin. The soles of her feet were covered in cuts and the frostbite brought by winter.

Even though intense pain continuously came from her feet and her lips were nearly purple from the cold, her eyes were still filled with determination. Gritting her teeth, she walked forward step by step.

One could even see tear stains under her eyes that hadn’t dried yet, and tears still swirling in her eye sockets.

Her name was Han Saier, a member of the Shadow Corps.

‘My senior brothers and sisters are all dead.’

‘I must survive!’

Since childhood, she had been the little princess doted on by everyone. Even after joining the Shadow Corps, her superiors and senior brothers and sisters took good care of her, basically assigning her only the simplest tasks.

Therefore, although her martial arts were good, she lacked experience in the martial world and also lacked ruthlessness.

Originally, when the Shadow Corps clashed with the Dìyù Gate, although she was sent to the Xinlu area for reinforcement, it was only at the outermost region where the Dìyù Gate’s presence was weakest.

But who would have thought that she could still run into the other side’s main force experts.

Han Saier’s companions, senior brothers, and senior sisters had stayed behind to fight to the death to save her. She escaped alone, desperately, but pursuers were still closely following her. She hadn’t rested for a very long time. If it weren’t for the earthquake that just happened, she would have almost been caught.

But no matter how tired or painful she was, it couldn’t compare to the sorrow in her heart. She deeply hated her own weakness.

Why did she usually spend so much time dressing up? Why did she wear such beautiful but cumbersome clothes? Why didn’t she spend more time practicing her martial arts? Why didn’t she spend more time learning about wilderness combat and mountain survival knowledge?

Just then, a light sound came from not far behind her.

A flash of fear appeared in her eyes. Ignoring her body’s exhaustion and pain, she started running wildly. Various stones and branches scraped against her tender soles, leaving red cuts.

She frowned and couldn’t help slowing down a little. But when she thought of what happened to her senior sisters who fell into the enemy’s hands, the despair and emptiness in their eyes, she gritted her teeth and sped up again.

This caused the wounds on her feet to widen and split open.

Suddenly, she let out a cry of surprise. Her foot missed a step, and she tumbled down a small slope.

The fall almost made her feel as if her body was falling apart. Her head was dazed as she turned over and got up. But Han Saier let out another scream.

Right in front of her was the body of a giant snake, about three to four meters thick. The giant snake was curled up, lying in front of Han Saier as if dead. But even so, its size still looked as huge as a small hill.

While screaming, Han Saier covered her mouth with her hand.

She glanced around and noticed a man sitting cross-legged in front of the giant snake. The man had long hair and wore an eye patch. His body looked very fit and strong, but his face was pale. It seemed he was injured.

Just then, light sounds came from the slope again. Han Saier turned her head and saw several black shadows slowly appearing.

…

In a clearing in the forest, there were all kinds of corpses everywhere. Blood spilled on the ground, almost forming small ponds.

The leader of the black-clad men was a big man with braids all over his head. This braided man held the chin of a woman in front of him, giving it a slight squeeze. A cruel smile appeared on his face.

“Your martial arts are pretty good, huh? I like women with good martial arts the most.”

This woman had quite a striking appearance, especially with her long, straight legs from years of martial arts training. With her body tied up with ropes, it deliberately emphasized the curves of her chest and hips, making the braided man itch with desire.

“Spit!”

The woman glared at him coldly and spat on his cheek. Her companions had all been killed. The enemy kept her alone only to humiliate her.

Smack! The braided man left a red mark on her face. While wiping off the spit, he sneered, “I hope you still have this much energy tonight. When your companion is brought over, I’ll take on both of you… hehehehe.”

Just then, several black-clad men rushed over from a distance. One of them was carrying Han Saier in red clothes on his back.

Seeing this, the tied-up woman’s face showed despair.

“Let her go! I’ll keep you company tonight! Do whatever you want with me!”

Hearing this, the braided man laughed heartily. “Why use one when I can use two? Not only will I use you, but all my brothers will use you too.”

All the black-clad men around laughed loudly, looking at Han Saier and the tied-up woman with unusual gazes.

However, one of the black-clad men who captured Han Saier came to the braided man’s side and reported, “Sir, we also just saw…”

“The ground shaking just now might have been caused by them.”

“There’s a master fighting with an Ancient Beast, and both sides are injured?” The braided man’s eyes shone with excitement. He said excitedly, “Let’s go, everyone follow me. How much Spiritual Energy Food can such a huge Ancient Beast make? And that man who can fight the Ancient Beast must be a master. Capture him, interrogate and torture him, make him hand over all his martial arts.”