Chapter 336

'Yes!'

……

'I'm gonna be crushed to bits—'

Seeing the last two 'Jin Sha Four Ghosts' perish before his eyes, the middle-aged man with a square face, now half-man, half-snake, went utterly mad!

His reason, under the side effects of the Beast God Pill and the immense pressure from Chen Mu, was nearly swallowed by beastly instinct.

From his mouth erupted a garbled roar, a mix of serpent hiss and human speech, carrying a nauseating stench and a sky-piercing torrent of vengeful demonic energy, as he spun back and charged toward Chen Mu with even greater ferocity!

The scaled serpent head snapped violently backward, its bloodied maw opening to an absurd width!

'Roar—'

A roar, sharper and more piercing than any before, exploded thunderously!

This was not merely an auditory attack—it carried a powerful spiritual assault!

Visible gray-black sound waves spread fan-like; where they passed, even the scorching steam tornadoes were briefly shattered, ripples shimmered through the air, striking directly at Chen Mu's soul!

'Hmph~'

Chen Mu's spirit remained unshaken; the Three Laughter Buddha Beads trembled, radiating pure radiance, effortlessly purging the invading spiritual shock.

Simultaneously, a condensed stream of water-fire gangqi shot forth like a sharp drill, splitting the incoming fan-shaped sound wave cleanly in two, dissolving it into nothingness.

Even as he neutralized the opponent's assault, Chen Mu's counterattack was already brewing!

'The Crimson Water Dragon Slaying Dao—Dragon Tooth Piercing Heaven!'

Chen Mu let out a low roar, his water and fire forces boiling to their peak! His left hand clenched as if gripping the vast vapor and scorching true energy of the entire Dahe River! His right hand, the Sunken Long Jian, angled sharply toward the heavens!

'Roar! Roar!'

Two high-pitched, ancient-sounding dragon roars erupted out of thin air.

Before Chen Mu, water and fire primordial energy surged wildly, coalescing in an instant into two lifelike energy dragons!

One dragon of fire, one of water—opposing elements, yet perfectly balanced and resonating under Chen Mu's exquisite control, tearing through heaven and earth with overwhelming might, lunging left and right in a pincer strike to bite and collide head-on with the charging half-snake monster!

Boom! Boom! Boom—

The enraged dragons slammed into the serpent beast!

Deafening explosions rang out in relentless succession, as if countless thunderclaps were detonating above the river.

Terrifying energy shockwaves exploded outward, utterly detonating the river surface already churned by battle.

Splash! Splash! Splash~

Towering waves surged, countless droplets blasted hundreds of meters into the air, turning into a blinding white mist, some of which evaporated under the scorching heat, shrouding the area in swirling clouds and fog—a terrifying sight.

After swallowing the Beast God Pill, the half-snake monster's defense and strength had indeed skyrocketed—it had withstood the direct impact of both enraged dragons!

But its massive body shuddered violently; its scaled chest exploded into charred, mangled flesh, spewing foul blood mixed with internal organs, as it staggered backward two steps.

Yet beastly instinct completely overrode reason—the agony only ignited even greater savagery!

After only a moment's pause, it let out another inhuman shriek, whipping its thick serpent tail through the stench-laden air, charging at Chen Mu with even greater speed, claws tearing through the air, aiming straight for his throat and heart!

'Close-range combat?'

Chen Mu's eyes blazed with battle fury—he advanced, not retreated.

Holding the Sunken Long Jian, he unleashed the Peak-Level 'Bodhi Sky Fighting Sword.'

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The clashing of metal rang like a downpour of rain!

Chen Mu, wielding the Sunken Long Jian, clashed fiercely against the monster's claws, tail, and fangs—each impact erupted blinding sparks and shockwaves of gangqi.

His movement was fluid as a swimming dragon, weaving through the monster's furious assault, while simultaneously countering with the exquisite techniques of the 'Bodhi Sky Fighting Sword,' striking repeatedly at the weak joints between the monster's scales.

In terms of physical strength, Chen Mu's 'Three Cauldrons Hardening Body' foundation was rock-solid—no less formidable than this beastly monster, artificially enhanced by pills!

For a time, above, human and serpent shadows entwined, sword-gang and claw shadows crossed—so fast they left only afterimages.

Chen Mu grew fiercer with every strike, fully unleashing all he had learned.

Sometimes, the righteous, blazing sword qi of the 'True Martial Exorcising Sword Art' burst from the Sunken Long Jian—specialized against evil, searing the monster's scales into charred, peeling fragments!

Sometimes, he drew water from the Dahe River below, condensing it into a thirty-zhang-long azure 'Water Great Blade,' driving it with the 'Ninefold Wave Force,' delivering relentless, cascading slashes!

Sometimes, he again unleashed the 'Crimson Water Dragon Slaying Dao,' transforming water and fire into roaring dragons that harassed and struck from every angle!

Sometimes he switched back to close-range combat with the 'Bodhi Sky Fighting Sword,' targeting the monster's meridian nodes and scale seams.

Fiery heat, vast water, razor-sharp swords…

Divergent forces, utterly distinct, came effortlessly to Chen Mu's hands, shifting fluidly, forming a flawless net of attack that completely enveloped the half-snake monster!

At first, the half-snake beast could still retaliate with brute force and defense—but under Chen Mu's relentless, unpredictable storm of strikes, its wounds multiplied, scales shattered and fell off in large patches, foul blood drenched its entire body, its movements slowed, its aura plummeted rapidly.

Finally, under Chen Mu's ultimate strike—a fusion of the 'Bodhi Sky Fighting Sword's' essence and the Sunken Long Jian's sharpness—he pierced through the monster's thickest heart scale.

'Ugh—!'

The half-snake monster let out a piercing, agonized final shriek, brimming with endless resentment and malice—its massive body froze rigid.

Crack! Crack! …

Fine cracking sounds emerged from within its body; its hardened scales, radiating outward from the chest wound, fractured like shattered porcelain, spreading countless cracks across its entire form.

The next instant—

Boom!!

With a muffled roar, the monster's massive body could no longer withstand the explosion of internal and external injuries—it shattered violently, exploding into countless foul-smelling chunks of blood, flesh, broken bone, and organs, like a horrific rain of gore, scattering everywhere and splashing down into the churning, muddy yellow river below, instantly swallowed and swept away by the waves, leaving only a shocking patch of dark red on the surface, quickly diluted away.

【Corpse detected. Collect?】

'Yes!'

……

Hoo...

Chen Mu slowly exhaled a long breath of turbid air, and the boiling qi and blood and surging true essence throughout his body gradually settled.

One against five, facing a carefully planned ambush, he not only emerged unscathed, but with his newly broken-through realm and formidable overall combat power, he counter-killed every one of the incoming enemies here!

He savored every detail of that fierce battle just now — the control of strength, the switching between different techniques, the grasp of timing, the application of conceptual domain…

Chen Mu's inner realization deepened further.

Life-and-death combat was indeed the best way to temper oneself, consolidate one's cultivation, and unleash one's potential.

At this moment, he felt that his mastery and fusion of all his own strength had advanced another layer — perfectly harmonious and unobstructed, like an extension of his own arm.

The foundation of the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, after this bloody battle, had been polished to be even more solid and stable.

"Time to check the cards."

Chen Mu's lips curled upward as he took out the five cards he had picked up and inspected them one by one.

True Essence Card! True Essence Card!

Soul-Boosting Card!

Skill Card!

Memory Card…