Sword Demon leaned closer to John and whispered, “Should we strike and kill this woman? She can summon snakes and magical beasts from the desert, so she must be an accomplice.”
John thought for a moment before replying, “Hold off for now. Let’s see what she’s really up to.”
Rustle…
The surrounding sand surged, and the temperature suddenly spiked. A heatwave swept through the air, warping everything in its path.
Boom!
A deafening roar sounded as flames erupted into the air. The surroundings seemed to transform into a fiery mountain, with sand and dust swirling everywhere. Massive, crimson giant snakes slithered out, charging toward John and his companions.
They were eight-star magical beasts, fire giant serpents.
John and Sword Demon’s faces grew grim as they immediately positioned themselves in front of the two women and Cand-Dragon. Endless sword lights and flashes from Sword Demon illuminated the air, surrounding the fire giant serpents and desert gray serpents.
Hiss…
The pained hissing of the serpents echoed in the air. Even the mighty fire giant serpents couldn’t withstand the two warriors’ onslaught. Many of the massive snakes were cut in half, writhing in agony.
“You bastards, I’ll see just how strong you really are!” The old woman muttered fiercely under her breath, her eyes bulging with rage. Her pupils shifted into vertical slits, exuding a cold, murderous intent.
The fire giant serpents and desert gray serpents around them seemed to respond to her call. They grew even more frenzied, surging up from the sands in a constant wave.
John and his group felt the pressure mounting as they fought to fend off the swarm of snakes.
Fortunately, their strength was formidable. Cand-Dragon, Ice Talker, and Tracy were capable of holding their own against eight-star magical beasts.
John and Sword Demon were even stronger, possessing the power of nine-star warriors.
However, the two did not reveal their full strength. They continued to feign difficulty, battling against the oncoming serpent horde with strained expressions.
Avis, the weakest, kept to the back of the group, staying safe behind his stronger companions.
As time passed, the bodies of giant serpents piled up around them, but the group remained full of fight, their strength unshaken.
Watching from the side, the old woman gritted her teeth at the sight of the dead serpents. After a moment’s hesitation, she finally chose to compromise.
John and his companions were far too powerful. With just these desert gray serpents and fire giant serpents, they stood no chance of being killed.
Buzz!
The air trembled, and once again, a series of buzzing sounds emerged from her mouth. The relentless wave of snakes, which had been surging forward without fear, quickly retreated like a receding tide.
All that remained around them were the corpses of the serpents.
“Retreating?” Cand-Dragon observed the giant snakes swiftly withdrawing, and a sense of relief washed over her.
“Master, let me clean up the battlefield!” Avis said, his eyes shining with excitement as he gazed at the piles of snake corpses. He eagerly offered to clear the area.
The magic cores of these snake-type magical beasts could boost his strength.
“Masters,” the old woman approached with a flustered expression and spoke quickly, “We should leave this place as soon as possible. Such a commotion could very well attract the thousand-year snake. That would be very dangerous.”
The group remained unmoved.
“The thousand-year snake?” John turned to look at the old woman, his tone indifferent. “I’ve heard that the thousand-year snake is full of treasures. Its heart, for example, can increase all four basic attributes by one million points. We’d be more than happy to encounter one.”
The old woman’s eyelids twitched slightly, and a flash of murderous intent flickered in her eyes, but she quickly suppressed it. “Masters, the thousand-year snake is incredibly strong. You wouldn’t stand a chance against it.”
“Is that so?” John’s lips curled into a faint smile as he vaguely guessed the woman’s true identity.
This old woman must be the very thousand-year snake that the adventurers had been searching for and hunting.
He hadn’t expected her to be so bold, to transform into a human form and actively lure adventurers.
“Let’s keep moving.” John spoke after the others finished clearing the battlefield.
He wanted to see what this old woman’s true intentions were and chose not to expose her just yet.
“Masters, this way.” The old woman glanced around to orient herself and continued leading the way.
The yellow sand swirled in the air, obscuring the sky and sun, and the vast desert around them seemed endless. Even their mental energy was affected, making it difficult to tell which direction they were heading.
John didn’t understand how the old woman had managed this.
He had a growing sense that if they were to get lost in this desert, it might be nearly impossible to find their way out.
The group pressed on, struggling against the swirling yellow sand.
Before long, the winds died down, and the landscape around them was nothing but undulating sand dunes.
“Masters, we’re almost there,” the old woman said, her face lighting up with a hint of joy.
“Almost there?” Cand-Dragon furrowed his brows, soaring into the air to survey the surroundings. All he could see were endless sand dunes stretching out in all directions.
He turned to the old woman, his tone cold. “Old hag, you’re not trying to trick us, are you? There’s no city here.”
“Of course not. We just need to climb over the next sand dune,” she said with a faint smile, trying to reassure them. She quickened her pace.
The group grew wary, even Tracy noticed that something was off with the old woman.
“Kid, did you sense anything?” Sword Demon leaned in closer to John and asked in a low voice.
John shook his head, indicating that he hadn’t noticed anything unusual.
Soon, the old woman led them to the highest sand dune. All around them was still a vast expanse of yellow sand.
Before they could speak, the old woman hurriedly said, “Masters, we’re almost there, ah…”
With a sudden cry, she slipped and began sliding down the sand dune.
“Careful!” Tracy froze for a moment and instinctively reached out to grab her.
“It’s a trap!” John reacted instantly, but by the time he tried to stop her, it was already too late.
Whoosh!
The old woman suddenly transformed into a giant gray-brown snake. Her tail wrapped around Tracy with lightning speed.
Rustle…
The yellow sand shifted, sinking down, devouring the group.
It was quicksand!
John’s figure blurred as he grabbed Tracy’s wrist. His sword, United Sword, materialized in his hand, and he swung it toward the snake’s tail.
Whoosh!
Another snake tail shot out of the sand, wrapping around John, dragging him forcefully back toward the quicksand.
Not only that, but Sword Demon and the others were also ensnared by several snake tails that shot out from the sand, pulling them under.
A suffocating pressure gripped them as they fell rapidly, but soon, the surroundings opened up, and they crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
Hiss…
The sound of hissing echoed around them.
John took in his surroundings and immediately felt a chill run down his spine.
They were in a city buried beneath the yellow sand, and all around them were giant gray serpents.
“Ah! Old man!” Tracy cried out in fear, quickly hiding behind John.
“Masters, welcome to my Sand Dune City!” A soft, eerie voice echoed through the air. The massive gray snake shifted again, transforming back into the old woman, then into a young woman in gray robes. However, her eyes were still the same, eerie vertical slits.
“We trusted you, and you wanted to harm us!” Tracy angrily confronted her.
“Heh heh.” The woman sneered coldly, “You are humans, and I am a serpent demon—naturally, we are mortal enemies. Besides, you’ve slaughtered so many of my descendants!”
As she spoke, she flicked out a long, forked tongue, and her chilling vertical pupils gleamed with a hypnotic light.
John stared at her and said in a flat tone, “If I’m not mistaken, you must be the thousand-year snake, right?”
“Thousand-year snake? Heh heh.” The woman laughed cruelly, slightly spreading her arms in a proud manner. “These snakes beneath your feet are the thousand-year snakes. As for me, once I Devour you, I’ll break through to become a ten-thousand-year serpent demon. Now, attack!”
At her command, the giant gray serpents around them suddenly lunged forward, roaring as they charged toward the group.
John didn’t dare to be careless. These thousand-year snakes were all at the eight-star level, and the woman herself was at the peak of eight stars, her strength rivaling Sword Demon’s.
“United Sword Domain!” John shouted in fury, his sword intent humming with power, as the force of laws surged and locked down the entire area.
“Hmph, human. Useless. You are nothing before me!” The woman sneered contemptuously, waving her hand as countless gray ribbons shot out, wrapping around John and the others.
Thud…
The sword and blade energy flickered, but for a moment, they couldn’t sever the strange gray ribbons.
“It’s snake skin!” Sword Demon warned, his expression grave as he lunged at the woman.
“In this yellow sand, no one can defeat me,” the woman said without the slightest panic, raising her hand as endless yellow sand surged, morphing into various weapons that relentlessly struck the group.
Boom! Boom!
The space trembled, the yellow sand whirled, and sand cascaded down from above.
Immediately, Sword Demon was knocked off balance, his appearance disheveled and awkward.
“This is your World-in-Hand!” He noticed something amiss and began eyeing the woman warily.
Her power was no less than his own, and she, too, possessed the strength of a nine-star warrior.
He turned to John and said, “Kid, let’s attack together.”
“Alright.” John immediately placed Tracy and the others into World-in-Hand—the gray serpents were simply too powerful for them to handle.
Then, a fierce sword beam howled through the air, pushing back the surrounding gray serpents. John and Sword Demon teamed up, charging toward the woman.
Endless blade beams and sword slashes intertwined, destroying everything in their path.
Despite the two of them attacking in unison, the woman didn’t falter in the slightest.
On top of that, gray serpents continued to ambush them from the sides, forcing John and Sword Demon to split their attention.
Sword Demon gritted his teeth in frustration. “Kid, this woman is too tricky. Stop holding back your strength.”
John sighed in exasperation and replied, “Do you think I can fully unleash my power in this cramped space?”
Sword Demon paused, then looked up at the yellow sand cascading down like a waterfall. He immediately understood. “Then we’ll break through.”
“No need. We just need to destroy her World-in-Hand,” John said, raising United Sword high. Chaos Force surged, and an overwhelming, world-shattering aura emanated from him.
Sword Demon was puzzled. He remembered that John had used this move before, but hadn’t it been to repair a World-in-Hand? Could he actually destroy it?
“Fool, you think you can destroy my World-in-Hand?” The woman scoffed, seeing John’s movements, and charged toward him with lightning speed.
Without hesitation, Sword Demon stepped forward to block her path.
“Creation and Destruction!” John roared, raising his longsword high and delivering a powerful strike.
Whoosh!
A terrifying sword beam screamed through the air. Wherever it passed, fierce winds surged, the space shattered, and endless chaotic currents erupted, devouring everything around them.
“Huh?” The woman’s face twisted in fear as she clearly sensed that her World-in-Hand was being destroyed.
This human… could he really destroy her World-in-Hand?
