Even though Abels had been to more ancient tombs and city ruins than he could bother remembering, Nieyao took the cake when it came to which was most dangerous. Owing to its long history, the probability an enemy was hiding in a man-made hidden passage existed in every nook and cranny. Had Gewu not let his haughtiness dictate his strategy, sending all his men to the frontline for a head-on contest, the alliance would’ve been defeated if Gewu used ambush tactics. Nieyao wasn’t the base of just ten thousand soldiers but also a beast army, after all.
Abels’ unit’s primary objective was to locate the locations of the beasts because, not counting Ming Feizhen, he was the best at shadowing. Due to his members having to break off to relay information back, his team continued to shrink until he was alone. He didn’t bring A-Lan along, so he had to do the leg work himself.
Once he had searched half of Nieyao, Abels commenced his real mission. He paused when he felt a heat wave. A man in grey zipped up to his side, stopping the moment they were shoulder to shoulder. Keeping his gaze affixed forward, Abels queried, “So, this is today’s main antagonist?”
“Correct.”
Abels flashed his pearly whites, though he wasn’t devoid of tension and concern. “Patriarch Moyan, I believe our task is to kill this freak.”
Size-wise, the red python wasn’t as big as the white python. That being said, it stood almost twice as tall as the average man and was too thick for a single man to strangle. As soon as Chichen hissed condescendingly at Abels, the heat it emanated from its red scales intensified, generating even more smoke from its scales, scorching the ground underneath it.
Chichen blasted a fire beam from its mouth, prompting Abels to bash it with his palm.
“Patriarch Moyan, it appears it has decided we are its opponents. What shall we do?”
“Kill it.”
“Couldn’t agree more.”
Abels drew Sea Deer Hunter, and Patriarch Moyan unsheathed his broadsword from his back.
***
Just as it showed up out of the blue a decade ago and devoured almost everything Luo Ming cared about, it made its entrance in the same manner again today. Anterior to it, Nieyao’s soldiers stood in line. Posterior it, it had countless snakes at its beck and call. The only one its condescending mouth shape and jaundice-like eyes couldn’t shake was Luo Ming.
The leader of the vanguard – Shen Yiren – rendezvoused with Luo Ming. Though she had scratches and stains, she wasn’t breathing hard and, to the contrary, was revving for some more. “I shall keep the enemies at bay for you.”
Luo Ming could barely go toe-to-toe with a dragon, let alone when it had assistants. Feng Jian, standing on Luo Ming’s other side, was on the same page with Shen Yiren even though he didn’t vocalise it. Two thousand Luo Clan elites and one thousand imperial court warriors had convened where Luo Ming was to ensure Luo Ming wouldn’t have distractions. Frankly, nevertheless, nobody was confident they could keep that many snakes from getting in Luo Ming’s way.
Luo Ming looked the python straight in the eye, indifferent to everything else taking place in his vicinity. How could he ever be calm when he had been trapped in a nightmare – and arguably still was? Through his ghastly lips, he enunciated, “… This sword is called Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon Slayer. It took this old one ten years to produce it.” Upon raising his golden weapon, red trails coiled around. “… It’s designed to spill your dragon blood!”
Luo Ming imbued the sword with his qi in whipped it up to the firmament using Luo Clan’s swordplay. Snakes rained down as if they were caught in a whirlwind for a long time. In one slash, Luo Ming slew a thousand snakes!
***
The only thing Nieyao’s troops had left to do was surrender to the twenty thousand soldiers. With only four thousand remaining of their initial ten thousand, annihilation was only a matter of time. Still, Feng Xue didn’t show any condescending feelings. There’s nothing to celebrate about killing thousands of people. More importantly, the real fight had yet to even begin.
Ming Feizhen already provided the Divine Realm adepts with a blueprint; whether or not they could implement it was on them. Since Lai Jingzhen couldn’t enter the city with them, including Ming Feizhen, there were only five Divine Realm adepts to go up against four sons of a dragon. The only viable method was to have two focus on taking one down while the other three stalled one each. After the two-man cell finished one, they’d go to assist another adept – rinse and repeat. If it worked out, they would have a greater chance of winning each time the enemy’s numbers dwindled.
The problem with the strategy was that nobody could predict how long it’d take to bring one down and how much energy it would take. The longer it took to down one, the harder it was for them to stall one. To add, if the two in charge of killing wounded up unable to continue fighting, then the tactic fell apart on its own.
Coming face to face with the purple jiao, Feng Xue ordered, “You don’t need to watch out for this old one; it’s a pointless endeavour. When it comes to fighting a dragon, you’re not safe in the sky or underground. Just try to clear out the mutants and whatever, but keep your distance from us.”
Wazi stood taller than the white giant Le Kuangnu rode and had a mouth that could swallow Feng Xue whole with room to spare, yet Feng Xue dismounted and fearlessly sauntered over. Wazi’s troops didn’t even bother stopping Feng Xue as they already counted him out.
Feng Xue gently placed his hand on the side of Wazi’s head. “It’s been a long time.”
Only after Feng Xue finished his greeting did it dawn on Wazi that somebody had touched its head, prompting it to raise its head in an attempt to rip Feng Xue. Try as it may, howbeit, it couldn’t push the hand back. Its neck had gone concave in a way it wasn’t supposed to.
“I lost my arm to you ten years ago because I was weaker, so I don’t harbour a grudge for it. However, you’re the reason I couldn’t save my wife. I’ve never stopped racking my brains to defeat you ever since. Nothing I say holds any weight, though, when I can’t beat you as a cripple. To be frank, I still don’t have a more feasible idea. All I have to say is, revenge will only beget death.”
Purple qi blocked out the black sky.
