Chapter 98: Die for Grandfather

Li Xuan immediately reacted, drawing his dagger at once; one hand grasped the dagger, the other hand formed a single‑hand seal, releasing a Burning Heart Seal!

Li Xuan crouched, just evading the Giant Snake's lethal strike, and simultaneously raised his dagger.

With a burst of sparks, the Giant Snake slipped back into the Poison Fog.

Now Li Xuan truly saw the enormity of this Giant Snake.

The Giant Snake was as thick as a water bucket, about fifty meters long, its whole body wrapped in blue scales; despite the poor lighting, Li Xuan could still perceive the metallic sheen on the scales, and the dagger had left no mark on the snake's scales.

After seeing the snake's size, Li Xuan could say with certainty that this was a bona fide Ten Thousand Year soul beast, and moreover a soul beast with over fifty thousand years of cultivation.

"The Giant Snake's belly scales are harder than refined steel; it seems I'm no match for this thing, so it's best to leave quickly," Li Xuan said, then took two Alchemy Pills from the Void Pearl and swallowed them.

They were a first‑grade Giant Strength Pill and a first‑grade Light Agile Pill, one to increase strength and the other to increase speed.

After taking the pills, Li Xuan, moving at the speed indicated by the Treasure-seeking Compass, rushed toward the outside of the Poison Fog.

The Giant Snake, seeing Li Xuan try to run out of the toxic array, grew impatient, put aside its amusement, and swayed its massive body, continually closing in on Li Xuan,

Li Xuan naturally understood that the creature was now serious, so he raised his vigilance to the utmost, fearing a sudden attack from the Giant Snake.

At that moment, Li Xuan suddenly sensed something, halted his steps, then with a lazy roll, he vaulted several meters away.

"Chi…"

A glob of black Poison Liquid splashed onto the ground, corroding a basketball‑sized deep pit, and a cloud of foul, white, corrosive toxic gas rose upward.

"Damn contraption, this is a death trap," Li Xuan gritted his teeth, then surveyed the surroundings.

"Burning Heart Seal! Burn for me!" Li Xuan's mind surged; the Burning Heart Seal that had landed on the Giant Snake during the chaos began to slowly emit Burning Heart Divine Flame, driving the snake into a frenzy.

Although Li Xuan's Burning Heart Divine Flame was powerful, this was still a Ten Thousand Year soul beast, and the flame's effect on the Giant Snake was not as great as imagined; it merely made the snake's attacks even more ferocious.

However, the snake, having lost its rhythm, grew stronger but could no longer locate Li Xuan.

Conversely, Li Xuan could use the Burning Heart Seal to pinpoint the snake's position and hide.

Li Xuan found a small pit, hid inside, took out an ice‑type plant and shoved it straight into his mouth.

Snakes are thermosensitive; as long as Li Xuan lowers his body temperature, the Giant Snake becomes blind within the Poison Fog.

Previously, the Giant Snake could locate him precisely by sensing the temperature emitted from Li Xuan's body.

Crouched in the deep pit, Li Xuan continuously drove the Burning Heart Divine Flame, gradually gnawing away at the snake's Heart Fire.

The stronger the creature, the more stable its Heart Fire; for a soul beast with tens of thousands of years of cultivation, its Heart Fire is like a truck‑sized meatball, and the Burning Heart Divine Flame is like a child scooping meat with a tiny spoon, igniting the Heart Fire bit by bit.

The Burning Heart Divine Flame works excellently, but only against foes of comparable level; using it to surpass higher tiers remains difficult.

After all, the Burning Heart Divine Flame has not yet inflicted serious damage, and the opponent could simply crush Li Xuan with a single palm.

Now it's different; Li Xuan has fully concealed himself, intending to wear down the snake's Heart Fire with time.

This process is extremely time‑wasting, but Li Xuan has plenty of time here.

Under the continual provocation of the Burning Heart Divine Flame, the Giant Snake grew increasingly angry, wildly attacking the air within the Poison Fog.

Spitting Poison Liquid!

Poison Snake Entangle! Earth Spike!

Ice Cone!

Fire Spray!

The Giant Snake possesses many skills, but for Li Xuan, who is nearly frozen into an ice statue, they no longer matter.

Li Xuan's whole body is frozen solid, with only a bean‑sized flame at his chest keeping his life alive.

After all, fighting an enemy many times stronger than oneself requires Li Xuan to use every possible advantage to secure ultimate victory.

Now Li Xuan has leapt out of the battlefield.

The advantage is mine!

As long as Li Xuan doesn't waste time, gradually eroding the snake's Heart Fire, in a few hours the snake's Heart Nature will collapse, and the initiative will be in Li Xuan's hands.

As the Burning Heart Divine Flame continuously corrodes the snake's Heart Fire, the Giant Snake, once angry from not finding Li Xuan, has become utterly insane.

It now no longer knows why it's enraged; it only knows there's a fire inside that must be vented.

Although the Giant Snake is now delirious, Li Xuan still dares not expose himself; showing up now would mean death.

Another two hours passed; the Giant Snake was exhausted, and Li Xuan sensed that the Heart Fire inside its body had dwindled to a mere trace.

Even so, Li Xuan made no move, waiting for the last bit of Heart Fire to extinguish.

Only after Li Xuan could no longer feel any Heart Fire in the snake's body did he sigh in relief, circulate his soul power, and the Burning Heart Divine Flame instantly filled his entire body, dispersing the energy of the ice‑type Heavenly Material Earth Treasure, allowing his body temperature to return to normal.

"Caused such a commotion… I need to speed up," Li Xuan squinted slightly, then snapped his fingers.

The Giant Snake's cultivation should be tens of thousands of years, making the chance of producing a soul bone very high; however, this isn't a suitable place for slaughter, so it can only be stored for later dissection.

Moreover, Li Xuan is quite fond of the snake's scales and already envisions using them to craft an inner armor in the future.

The snake's corpse is irrelevant; what matters is the chaotic destruction it caused before it died, which could easily attract Dugu Bo's attention.

Seeing the black soul ring on the snake's corpse confirmed that Li Xuan hadn't guessed wrong—it truly was a Ten Thousand Year soul beast! So after packing the soul beast's corpse, Li Xuan immediately left, already contemplating a retreat.

However, Li Xuan realized that having come this far, turning back was utterly impossible, so he must now hold the Bing Huo Liang Yi Yan in his hand.

Running at full speed, Li Xuan sprinted three kilometers and finally escaped the Poison Fog's range.

In front lay an extremely sheer cliff; its surface was smooth with no footholds, making ascent virtually impossible.

Li Xuan leaned against the Stone Wall, took out the Treasure-seeking Compass.

He checked the distance on the golden Light Screen and saw he was less than five hundred meters from the Bing Huo Liang Yi Yan.

In other words, the Stone Wall ahead was a full five hundred meters thick.

"Let's first look around for another route; whether climbing up or tunneling, the difficulty is too great," Li Xuan said with some helplessness.

Li Xuan then began to feel his way along the Stone Wall, seeking a convenient and swift path into the Bing Huo Liang Yi Yan.

(End of Chapter)