Chapter 306: Awakening of the Si Jiao Shou

Lin Xuan gripped the Long Sword in his hand, his gaze as sharp as a blade. With a flash of movement, he dashed to the left side of the Si Jiao Shou, unfurling a sweep of sword light to strike directly at its forelimb. However, the monster reacted with extreme agility, its heavy tail lashing out violently and forcing Lin Xuan back with a whistling wind. "This guy's speed is even faster than I imagined!" Lin Xuan felt a secret shock in his heart, yet he did not reveal the slightest bit of cowardice.

Wang Zhenqiu had already leaped onto a giant rock high above, forming seals with both hands and shouting, "Fire Dragon Flame Burst!" Before the words had even faded, a mass of scorching flames surged from his palms, rushing toward the face of the Si Jiao Shou like a roaring, crimson giant dragon. The Si Jiao Shou tilted its head and roared, and its entire body was instantly covered in a layer of frost-like cold air, freezing the flames in mid-air. With a "Bang!", they shattered into a sky full of debris.

"As expected of a Tier 3 demonic beast, this kind of crowd-control ability is truly troublesome." Xiao Qing frowned slightly. She quickly circled to the rear, condensing a dense green glow of life force in her hands. "Let's first see if we can exhaust its energy." As soon as she finished speaking, the green light split into countless fine threads, flying rapidly to entangle the body of the Si Jiao Shou. These rays of light appeared soft and harmless, but upon contact, they began to rapidly drain the opponent's stamina.

"Roar—" The wounded Si Jiao Shou appeared even more violent, its two scarlet eyes filled with anger and murderous intent. It suddenly leaped into the air, its massive body pressing down like a small mountain, crashing into the ground with a deafening impact. The powerful shockwave even caused the entire ground to tremble. Thick dust rose into the air, blurring everyone's vision.

Lin Xuan quickly assessed the situation and shouted loudly, "Xiao Qing! Watch the defensive range! I will pin it down from the front and buy you time to set up the Array!" His voice was firm and powerful, remaining clearly audible amidst the chaotic battle.

"Got it, don't worry." Xiao Qing responded, while continuing to manipulate those strange rays of life force to firmly bind the movements of the Si Jiao Shou. Although it managed to struggle free from a portion of them each time, she relied on her nimble footwork to never be under any real threat.

Wang Zhenqiu took advantage of the chaos to jump off the giant rock and came to Lin Xuan's side, whispering, "This thing is trickier than any demonic beast we've encountered before; dragging it out like this isn't a solution. If we're going to give it a go, do you have any ideas?"

Lin Xuan nodded and pondered for a moment, his eyes flickering with a resolute expression. "Use that plan, right now. Your Art of Techniques will coordinate with my feint attack, and we'll see if Xiao Qing can use this time to complete the final setup. As long as it succeeds, it won't have any chance to escape."

"Can do, but the risk isn't small." Wang Zhenqiu grinned, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes. "But it's also the playstyle that suits us best."

The two nodded in tacit understanding and immediately split up to act. Lin Xuan raised his sword and met the Si Jiao Shou again, his movements fierce yet exceptionally precise; every strike was aimed at further consuming its stamina rather than dealing a fatal blow. He deliberately exposed flaws, baiting the Si Jiao Shou into several frantic counterattacks, yet he relied on his extraordinary dodging skills to narrowly avoid them every time. Such provocation caused the enemy to completely ignore the hidden danger behind it.

At the same time, Wang Zhenqiu had already begun to cast a new Art of Techniques. He spread his arms and his lips moved incessantly; the surrounding temperature rose sharply, even causing the scene to appear distorted. The Si Jiao Shou seemed to sense the anomaly and turned abruptly, attempting to attack him, only to discover that a deep green ring of light had suddenly appeared beneath its feet.

"Hehe, took the bait." Xiao Qing's voice came from afar, clear and tinged with a bit of cunning. She flipped her wrist, pointed her finger at the center of the light ring on the ground, and shouted, "Binding Chains!"

In an instant, countless thick, vine-like chains erupted from the ground, tightly binding the four limbs of the Si Jiao Shou and spreading toward its entire body at a speed visible to the naked eye. The beast struggled desperately, yet the more it struggled, the tighter the restraints became, as if they were about to swallow it whole.

Lin Xuan saw this scene, a look of satisfaction appearing in his eyes. Without hesitation, he seized the opportunity to leap forward, his Long Sword thrusting directly toward the heart of the Si Jiao Shou. Just as the sword tip was about to reach its target, the monster suddenly opened its blood-red maw and released a strange wave of energy, which forcibly deflected Lin Xuan's attack.

"Not good!" Lin Xuan stumbled as he landed, watching the changes in the situation opposite him with vigilance.

Sure enough, the power that had just been suppressed by the Seal was actually showing signs of recovery. A suffocating pressure gradually radiated out, enveloping the entire field. Wang Zhenqiu's expression also became grave. "Damn it, it's breaking through our restrictions..."

Xiao Qing gritted her teeth to maintain her casting state, struggling to resist the opponent's pressure, with fine beads of sweat forming on her forehead. "Don't add to my trouble, just let me stall for five more seconds!"

"There won't be five seconds." A hoarse, low roar interrupted her words. The next instant, a pitch-black spike erupted from the chest of the Si Jiao Shou, expanding in the blink of an eye into black armor that covered its entire body. Its transformed appearance was chilling: its already robust and terrifying body had become even more massive, every scale exuding a cold, sinister luster, and blade-like structures extended from the ends of its limbs.

Lin Xuan increased the force in his sword-gripping hand slightly and reminded them in a low voice, "It seems we let it complete its evolution; it's going to be even harder to fight now. Everyone, adjust your state and prepare to welcome the final battle."

However, before the three of them could launch another offensive, the Si Jiao Shou had already acted first. It let out a shriek that shook the valley, then suddenly accelerated and lunged toward the group, kicking up monstrous amounts of rubble and dust along the way. This time, its speed was much faster than before, reaching a level of danger where it whistled past their ears.

Xiao Qing was forced to interrupt her casting and retreat from her position, barely managing to dodge the first wave of attacks; meanwhile, Lin Xuan relied on his keen insight to roll directly to the side, taking the opportunity to slash out a sheet of sword Qi in an attempt to curb the enemy's movement trajectory. But the result remained worrying—the newly evolved Si Jiao Shou had a terrifyingly high tolerance for damage, and even Lin Xuan's all-out sword strike only managed to slice through its outer armor.

Instead, Wang Zhenqiu seized the gap to throw out his final trump card: a paper scroll covered in mysterious Runes ignited, immediately forming a cage composed of raging flames. "Suppress!"

The Si Jiao Shou was trapped inside, violently slamming against the surrounding barriers. Although it failed to escape immediately, as time passed, those walls forged from pure-yang raging fire were gradually disintegrating. The situation worsened once again.

At the critical moment, Xiao Qing finally completed the preparations for her Array activation. She closed her eyes slightly, a complex emotion appearing at the corners of her mouth. "Lin Xuan, Zhenqiu, take a step back and leave this special method to me. I hope it works... otherwise, we'll have no choice but to fight to the death."

Hearing these words, the other two looked at each other, both understanding what level of desperation this implied. But they trusted their companion's ability, so they chose to believe.

And so, when the next move was played, the world itself fell silent...

"If this fails too, we really need to seriously consider the problem of running away," Wang Zhenqiu said half-jokingly, but behind it was a very real sense of crisis.

Lin Xuan just patted his sword hilt and laughed, "It's not time to give up yet. Even if I lose, I'm going to play for my life and fight it for a few more rounds first!"

Xiao Qing couldn't help but laugh out loud upon hearing this. "Hey, hey, don't go adding burdens on your own, okay? Just watch with peace of mind. If it doesn't work, I wouldn't mind slipping away together."

"Hey, hey, hey—"