I dove down towards the snake, with a destabilized pod, I barely was able to dodge a chomp from its massive jaws as I bypassed it.
I increased my speed, with my pod throttling, desperately to gain distance and velocity. The cultivators behind me followed after and I was forced to get out of the path towards the next city as my pod looked like it was dying.
I drove the pod into a nearby cliff ridge where I stopped it there then I left the pod. The small ridge was halfway through the canyon wall, it had enough space for me to place the pod and move about a bit freely.
My token began sending me signals that it didn't detect me inside the pod anymore. If I were to move away from the pod or stay away from it for a long time, I'll be eliminated from the race.
"Fucking sons of a bitches!" I cursed.
"X, come out," I called and he came out with weapons at the ready.
Soon the cultivators that were chasing me came at me.
"He's trapped, he can't escape! Get him!" the guy said.
I cursed as I realized what they wanted.
They Saint Crystal of course, he was the only one I didn't have him swear an oath, and now my secret was revealed.
I should have been more decisive. No wonder those main characters killed everyone they saw. It is brutal, it is savage, but at the same time efficient.
Suddenly, a cultivator came over and noticed the stuff happeneing, but he seemed that he didn't seem to be wanting to be a part of this, so he accelerated away and left.
I knew who this was it was the same cultivator who arrived right after me yesterday. Meaning that a few more cultivators were soon to come.
"Hurry take him down!" the guy said.
"You'll never leave this place alive!"
"Nor will you, X come out!" I spoke and my puppet showed up. It readied its weapons for the battle. And this made the rest of the cultivators wary.
"Don't worry, he can't kill us, he'll be executed! Destroy his pod to eliminate him," he said.
'Ah, so he is counting on the fact that this is a no-kill planet.'
Cornered against a cliff I couldn't move far from the pod otherwise it'll be destroyed and I'll lose the race, I can probably fix it, but I doubt that if it is fully destroyed that I can do much.
Fuck.
Suddenly, the cultivators began attacking. And I and X could only protect the pod while defending against the attack.
I pulled several canisters and threw them forward creating explosions in the air full of poisonous substances.
However the cultivators didn't seem too worried, they all swallowed several pills and continued fighting.
That fucker already informed them that I can use poison. Shit.
I cursed
More attacks came my way which I deflected using my own Spatial Law understanding, but the damage to the area I was in increased. With the potency of their assault I'm bound to mess up.
"X, make I rain!" I spoke, and he pulled out two minigus.
The minigun barrels began spinning and slugs of lead shot forward they weren't enough to kill a high level cultivator but the bullet barrage was enough to suppress them from attacking.
Bullets pierced through their pods damaging them, causing them to 'sweat'.
The snake in the distance seemed to notice our presence and began approaching us.
"Hurry!" he spoke. "We need to take his bag!"
"We can't, the monsters are getting closer!" another replied.
the traitor then cursed and said, "Just destroy his pod, he won't be able to leave this area due to the monsters, we'll come back later and take the bag from his dead body!" he said.
Just as he finished his words. A couple pods came fast towards me.
"What's going on here?" spoke Liang Yu.
"Shit…" the traitor spoke cursing.
He then nodded towards her, and then cultivators immediately opened fire.
"XUE LIU! YOU DARE!" a cultivator form Liang Yu's party spoke up.
And then a battle issued between the two groups.
I looked at my pod, there was no way I can make it work, so I have to earnestly join the battle.
However, it seems that I was too preoccupied with the pod to notice a presence right next to me.
Someone had teleported right next to me and was about to stab me, I dodged by the skin of my teeth, and that was enough time for him to place a hand on my pod. And blow half of it away.
My wrath reached the limit as I pulled Creeping Demise and sent it towards the cultivator, who just grinned and teleported away.
Creeping Demise wasn't a simple weapon, however, as it curved at a ninety-degree angle elongating and chasing after the escaping cultivator, he didn't even notice when the sword had already arrived next to him and cut off his arm.
"AHHH!" the cultivator screamed in pain as he saw his cut hand falling to the lava.
"Xue LIU you bastard dare raise your hand against members of your sect!"
"You always treated me like I was some degenerate bastard, you all deserve to die here!" he said.
"It is forbidden to kill, what kind of explanation are you going to give to the elders when we go back!"
"That is if you go back!" he said and then threw something towards Liang Yu's group.
It was a talisman it had an inscription on it, and my eyes opened wide when I realized what it was.
"DODGE!" I shouted as fast as I could but was too late.
A massive formation opened up from the talisman, it looked like a giant ball that covered the entire group of Liang Yu's group.
This formation wasn't that hard to unlock or disable but it would take me a lot of time to do so. His purpose was to trap them and kill them with a borrowed knife.
The massive serpent was approaching fast.
"Let's go," Xue Liu said as he departed fast.
"They'll all die here, we can retrieve the bag later, enjoy your last moment!" he said as his group moved forward.
I jumped towards the skies against my better judgment of leaving this place. I slammed my hand against the formation.
Inside it was a panic-stricken Liang Yu who was using a treasure to try and break the formation.
"Don't break it!" I said, "Trust me!" I said.
It would have been an absurd thing to say, especially since I was a stranger to them. they wouldn't just trust someone blindly. But she knew that even with that treasure in her hands she wouldn't be able to break the formation in time.
The massive serpent opened its mouth and was preparing to shoot a powerful fireball spell towards the formation.
I then slapped my second hand on the formation again, not to weaken it, but to reinforce its function. This was a sealing formation, but with a couple of changes, it could become a defensive formation.
"USE YOUR QI! PROTECT YOUR BODIES!" I shouted. Then slapped my hand for the third time against the formation, reversing its function. And finally, opened my mouth and spat a powerful emerald fire around the formation.
It now looked like a giant green fireball.
It was my Veridian Heart Flame.
The massive flame coated the formation and then came the impact.
A massive destruction force collided against the formation and the entire valley shook from the impact.
The fire from the fireball spread out scorching the walls of the valley, melting it. Even for me as an alchemist, it was still hot.
The Veridian heart flame did its best to tone down the heat from the serpent, but I couldn't guarantee the life of the group inside the formation.
I increased the release of my Veridian flame to consume the fireball and was about to lose this battle.
So I spat another poison, the Breath Sealing Poison, to further dampen the effects of the fire.
It worked and the massive heat began decreasing. However, cracks began appearing on the formation.
"Brace for impact!" I shouted and they did.
The cultivators inside the formation used all their power and treasures to protect themselves before the barrier broke and all of us were sent flying.
I managed to stabilize myself first and realized that most of the cultivators were too hurt to help themselves out of this mess.
A couple were falling towards the lava, unconscious and scarred heavily by the flames.
X didn't need me to order him before he shot down grabbing a couple of cultivators, while I went towards Liang Yu and another cultivator.
With all four of them saved from the lava I had to get up, but the stupid snake wasn't done with us.
I hurriedly pulled them up and placed them next to my destroyed pod.
Then turned toward the snake.
You little cunt. Time to make you into a fucking purse!