Chapter 73: Dire Situation

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Dire Situation

For a moment, Long Ning simply stared at it, as though her mind couldn’t quite process what she was seeing.

’...When did that happen?’

Long Ning slowly raised her head and looked at the enormous snake.

The beast was staring right back at her, its crimson eyes gleaming with unmistakable amusement.

Then its mouth curled upward.

...It was grinning.

Long Ning froze.

Although its expression looked grotesque on a snake’s face, there was no mistaking the mockery in those blood-red eyes.

The beast had been watching her struggle and enjoy herself the entire time, waiting for her to lower her guard.

"...You bastard."

She finally understood.

This thing had been pretending to be weaker than it really was, deliberately allowing her to believe she had the upper hand.

And she had fallen for it.

Long Ning gritted her teeth and tried to summon her spiritual energy again, but the pain in her abdomen made her vision swim.

"...!?"

Something was wrong.

Her spiritual energy was moving far more slowly than it should, as though an invisible force were obstructing its flow through her meridians.

No matter how hard she tried to circulate it, the energy responded sluggishly, barely gathering around her body.

Long Ning’s expression changed.

’Wait... Is this poison?’

She looked down at the dark scale embedded in her abdomen.

A faint, sickly purple hue had begun spreading outward from the wound, staining the surrounding skin.

Her heart sank.

The scale hadn’t merely pierced her flesh.

It had delivered poison directly into her body.

’That cunning bastard!’

Now she understood why the snake had deliberately allowed her to land several clean hits.

It had been waiting for her to become careless enough to let her guard down, then used the opportunity to strike her with a poisoned scale.

And with her spiritual energy growing increasingly sluggish, every passing moment made her situation worse.

Long Ning clenched her fists, trying to keep herself calm.

’I need to get away from here...’

But before she could even take a step back, the enormous snake began advancing toward her, its crimson eyes fixed on its prey.

Then the enormous snake suddenly lunged.

Its massive body surged forward, and its jaws snapped toward Long Ning with terrifying speed.

Long Ning’s expression changed as she hurriedly raised her arms to defend herself.

"Get lost!"

Purple lightning flickered around her fists, but the moment she tried to gather her spiritual energy, its sluggish flow disrupted the technique.

The lightning barely formed before it fizzled out.

Her eyes widened.

Before she could react, the snake’s tail swept across the ground.

BOOM!

Long Ning barely managed to cross her arms in front of her chest before the tail struck her.

A sharp crack rang out as the impact sent her flying backward.

She crashed through several bushes before slamming into a tree, shaking its branches violently.

"Khak!"

Blood sprayed from her mouth.

She dropped to the ground, one hand clutching her abdomen while the other struggled to support her weight.

Pain spread through her body, and her vision blurred for a moment.

"Damn... it..."

She tried to stand, but her legs trembled beneath her.

The poison was spreading faster than she had expected, further weakening her control over her spiritual energy.

The snake slowly turned toward her, its crimson eyes filled with the same mocking amusement.

Long Ning gritted her teeth and forced herself to raise her guard, but her arms felt unbearably heavy.

The snake seemed to notice her weakening condition.

It let out a low hiss before raising its enormous head, its crimson eyes gleaming with anticipation.

Then, without warning, it struck again.

Long Ning’s pupils contracted.

She tried to dodge, but her sluggish spiritual energy made her movements noticeably slower than before.

The snake’s head swept past her guard and slammed into her side.

BAM!

Her body lifted off the ground before crashing against the dirt.

She rolled several times, leaving a trail of blood behind her.

"Ugh..."

Long Ning struggled to push herself up, but her arms gave way beneath her.

The purple hue around her wound had spread farther, and even breathing was becoming difficult.

For the first time, fear crept into her heart.

She had always relied on her strength to overcome her opponents.

Even when facing stronger enemies, she could usually find a way to fight back.

But now, her spiritual energy was barely responding, her body was badly injured, and the poison continued to spread.

The snake slithered closer, dragging its massive body across the ground.

Long Ning stared at its approaching head, her face pale.

"Damn it... Am I really going to die here?"

_

_

_

Behind the boulder, Chen Lei swallowed nervously.

"Brother Li..." he whispered, his voice trembling. "Shouldn’t we do something?"

Wang Hun and Zhang Zhao exchanged uneasy glances.

Neither of them dared to move.

The beast’s aura was now fully revealed, and it was at the peak of the Ninth Stage of Qi Refinement.

Even Long Ning had been reduced to this state.

Charging in recklessly would be no different from throwing their lives away.

Li Jian remained silent, his gaze fixed on the wounded woman and the approaching snake.

His expression was calm, but his mind was already weighing their options.

’If we leave her here, she’ll probably die. But if we intervene, we might... end up joining her.’

He quickly assessed the situation.

The demonic beast was at the peak of the Ninth Stage of Qi Refinement.

Even Long Ning, a genius who had reached the same cultivation stage, had been overwhelmed after falling into its trap.

As for himself, he was only at the Fifth Stage of Qi Refinement.

Wang Hun and Zhang Zhao were weaker still, while Chen Lei’s defensive technique had only reached its first stage.

Even if the four of them worked together, the gap between their strength and the beast’s was simply too great.

’If we fight it head-on, we’ll probably all die here.’

Li Jian’s eyes narrowed as he considered their available techniques.

Wang Hun’s swordsmanship could threaten an opponent through speed and sharp attacks, while Zhang Zhao’s needles were useful for targeting weak points.

Chen Lei could withstand some punishment, but against a beast at the peak of Qi Refinement, his defense might not hold for long.

And none of them possessed the strength to overpower the snake the way Long Ning had.

Even if they somehow managed to injure it, there was no guarantee they could kill it before someone got seriously hurt.

’No. Fighting it directly is out of the question.’

Li Jian wasn’t afraid of taking risks, but he had no intention of throwing away his life for nothing.

If they wanted to save Long Ning, they needed to find another way.

His gaze shifted between the wounded woman and the enormous snake.

’There has to be a weakness we can exploit...’

Just as Li Jian was considering whether they should retreat, he noticed something unusual.

The snake’s movements seemed slower than before.

At first, he thought it was simply being cautious after revealing its true strength.

But the more he observed it, the more he realized something was wrong.

Its enormous body occasionally twitched, and the scales around its head were cracked in several places.

Even the demonic aura surrounding it, though still intimidating, seemed less stable than when it had first erupted.

Li Jian’s eyes narrowed.

’Wait a minute... Is it weakening?’

He recalled the moment Long Ning had unleashed her Purple Lightning Fist.

The attack had struck the snake’s head directly, unleashing enough power to shake the entire forest.

Although the beast had pretended to be badly injured, the damage from that punch had been real.

Perhaps the snake’s act of playing weak had allowed it to catch Long Ning off guard, but that didn’t mean it had escaped unscathed.

Li Jian carefully observed its movements again.

The snake was still powerful, but its reactions seemed slightly delayed.

Its attacks also lacked some of the force they had displayed earlier.

’So Long Ning’s last attack actually did quite a bit of damage.’

A faint glimmer appeared in Li Jian’s eyes.

The gap between them was still enormous.

Even weakened, the snake could easily kill any of them if they made a mistake.

But if it had already suffered serious internal injuries, then their chances might not be as hopeless as he had initially thought.

Li Jian’s expression grew thoughtful.

’We still can’t fight it head-on. But if we can take advantage of its weakened state... there might be a way.’

After a moment, he finally made up his mind.

There was also something he wanted to test.

He had been curious about it for a while, and this situation might provide the perfect opportunity.

Besides, if he managed to save Long Ning, he might earn a substantial amount of Favor Debt from a genius like her.

More importantly, she might become another hidden card in his hand, one that could help him deal with Zhao Ming.

And if he failed... well, it wouldn’t be him that would suffer.

With that thought, Li Jian turned toward his three companions.

Chen Lei, Wang Hun, and Zhang Zhao were still hiding behind the boulder, their faces tense as they watched the snake approach Long Ning.

None of them seemed eager to draw the attention of a beast capable of killing them with a single strike.

Noticing Li Jian looking at them, the three turned their heads.

He smiled kindly.

"Brothers, I might have a way... to save that woman."

The moment those words reached their ears, Chen Lei felt a strange chill crawl up his spine.

Wang Hun’s smile stiffened, while Zhang Zhao instinctively swallowed.

For some reason, Li Jian’s gentle smile made all three of them feel a sudden wave of goosebumps.

They slowly exchanged glances, all sharing the same thought.

’’’Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this?’’’