Shen Jingyuan and Yao Qianci exchanged a glance and slowly nodded.
Back then, when this Xiushe attacked the Luoxian Sect, it threw the entire sect into utter chaos.
If not for the Luoxian Sect's grandmaster exhausting his cultivation to fight desperately alongside seniors from other sects, it wouldn't have been suppressed beneath the forbidden grounds.
Over the years, although the Xiushe occasionally rioted, it had never stepped half a foot out of the forbidden grounds.
For some unknown reason this time, the confinement array actually malfunctioned, allowing it to escape.
Just in case, Qu Qing had already summoned all the sect's experts who could make it over.
No matter what, they could not let this Xiushe destroy the Luoxian Sect's thousand-year foundation!
In the valley where everyone's attention was focused, the Xiushe that had been lying there for a long time finally showed some movement.
A faint blue fluorescence lit up at the Xiushe's seven-inch weak point.
At first, it was only the size of a starlight, then it slowly grew brighter and larger, until it emitted a glow the size of a fist.
This light began to spread across the Xiushe's body. Wherever it covered, the charred scales began to restore, the snake blood began to coagulate, and the wounds began to heal.
In just a little over a dozen breaths, the once lifeless and dying Xiushe had recovered a bit of vitality!
Seeing this, Yuan Shu, who was in the crowd, raised an eyebrow.
If her senses weren't wrong, this cold and gloomy power seemed to be the Profound Yin Flower!
It was just a pity. If this Profound Yin Flower were integrated into the Hehuan Divine Tree, it would definitely elevate the divine tree to a higher level.
Just as the Xiushe slowly stood up, floating in the air and looking up at the tribulation clouds above.
Within the tribulation clouds that had been brewing for nearly the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a dark lightning flashed.
The lightning tore through the sky, and immediately after, the ninth heavenly thunder crashed down with world-destroying might!
Arcs of electricity like dark snakes exploded with blinding light, illuminating the entire mountain-protecting grand array.
The roar shook the mountain peaks, sending rubble tumbling down, as the heavenly thunder struck the Xiushe right in its vital spot.
With an extremely shrill hiss that abruptly cut off, the massive figure fell heavily to the ground like a kite with a broken string.
The surroundings of the valley were dead silent, and countless tense gazes stared fixedly at the center of the lightning tribulation.
It wasn't until the billowing black smoke slowly dissipated that the massive figure of the Xiushe was finally revealed to everyone.
Xiushe?
No, that pitch-black mass in the valley no longer looked like a Xiushe at all.
It looked like a lump of rotting meat that had been carbonized and roasted, with not a trace of vitality left in its entire body.
A pitch-black mass, completely motionless.
Overhead, the churning tribulation clouds had begun to shrink.
Obviously, this lightning tribulation for a fierce beast taking human form only had nine strikes, just as Yuan Shu had said.
With the nine strikes over, whether it lived or died depended entirely on the tribulation-crossing beast's own fortune!
"Is it dead?"
Someone in the crowd voiced their surprise and doubt.
Qu Qing and Shen Jingyuan exchanged a glance and dashed into the valley to check the situation.
Everyone watched intently.
"Crack!"
A crisp cracking sound came from the Xiushe's body.
Just as Qu Qing and the other two approached the Xiushe's corpse, the originally lifeless Xiushe suddenly moved!
"Did it successfully cross the tribulation?"
Qu Qing cried out in horror, his expression changing drastically. "Form the array!"
With that command, Shen Jingyuan and Yao Qianci behind him immediately took action.
Three dazzling pillars of spiritual energy condensed together and blasted toward the Xiushe!
Right at this moment, the charred Xiushe suddenly leaped up from the ground and fiercely met the spiritual energy pillars!
"Crack! Crack!"
The sound of bones breaking rang out. The Xiushe's body was sent flying, crashing heavily into the ground not far away.
The snake's body was almost broken in two!
"Is it dead or not?"
Seeing this scene, the three people's expressions changed slightly, and they couldn't help but ask.
"Not dead, but not far from it!" Qu Qing said. "Take its life while it's weak. Attack!"
The two didn't waste any more words and cooperated with Qu Qing to attack.
Within their line of sight, a few more holes were added to the Xiushe's ghastly body.
But strangely, no blood flowed from those holes. Like dried roasted flesh, there were no traces of life left.
Even so, the Xiushe continued to fight.
The crowd watched dumbfounded as chunks of flesh were sliced off the Xiushe, yet it seemed to feel no pain and kept on fighting.
"No way, it can still live like this?"
"It's an unkillable roach. It took so many attacks from the sect leader and it's still not dead?"
"What a powerful Xiushe, what a formidable fierce beast. No wonder it had the guts to cross the lightning tribulation to take human form!"
Whispers rose one after another from the crowd.
Now that the deterrence of the lightning tribulation was gone, many people even squeezed forward a bit, wanting to see the battle between this heavily injured, dying Xiushe and the sect leader's trio.
Yuan Shu stood in the crowd, being pushed forward by the throng of people.
In the chaos, she didn't know who pushed her.
Yuan Shu stumbled out from the push. When she turned her head to look, she only saw a white robe turning to leave.
At the same time, the Xiushe was sent flying by a palm strike from Qu Qing, coincidentally landing not far from Yuan Shu.
As if sensing something, the Xiushe suddenly raised its head. Its stiff head turned, and its unfocused gaze suddenly locked onto Yuan Shu in the crowd.
Yuan Shu instinctively felt that things were bad.
But before she could react, the Xiushe suddenly ignored the attacks from Qu Qing's trio behind it and lunged fiercely toward Yuan Shu!
Its charred snake tail wrapped around Yuan Shu. Even though a section of its tail was broken off by the pursuing trio, it still fled at an extremely fast speed.
Yuan Shu frowned and instinctively raised her hand, about to summon a high-level rune.
Suddenly, the Hehuan Divine Tree within her body lit up with a bright light.
At the same time, a sudden mental attack slammed fiercely into her sea of consciousness.
"Hiss!"
Yuan Shu grimaced in pain and gasped. Before she could process what was happening, she fell unconscious.
...
"Mmm... ah... mm..."
A dim space.
Yuan Shu furrowed her brows tightly. Her entire body felt as if it were entangled by something; she couldn't muster any strength, yet she couldn't break free either.
It was like drowning, or sinking into quicksand. She couldn't touch the sky or the ground, yet it was so unbearable that she couldn't help but let out trembling sounds.
Wherever her fingertips glided, it felt cool and jade-like, with fine, dense textures.
Between her lips and teeth, there seemed to be a faint taste of the Profound Yin Flower.
...
"Hiss..."
It seemed like a long time had passed before Yuan Shu woke up, rubbing her groggy head. Her entire body ached uncomfortably as if she had been crushed by boulders.
No way, she actually still had wet dreams?
Upon realizing this, Yuan Shu found it a bit unbelievable.
After all, when she was in the Hehuan Sect, she had never lacked companions.
Rather than dreaming, it was better to just do it directly.
She hadn't had a dream like this in a very, very long time.
Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Yuan Shu turned her head, only to find that she had arrived at the familiar snake nest in the Xiushe's cave.
The snake nest, padded with Water Essence Grass, was as soft as a bed.
She rubbed her slightly uncomfortable temples and glanced around.
She noticed that the charred body of the Xiushe was lying quietly not far away, completely motionless.
Yuan Shu raised an eyebrow, got up, walked over, and reached out to touch it. Only then did she realize that this guy was ice-cold to the touch and had been dead for quite some time!
Right at that moment, an unfamiliar mental fluctuation appeared in her sea of consciousness.
Yuan Shu frowned and sensed it carefully.
Then, realizing something, she abruptly lowered her head, her gaze falling on the remains of the Xiushe before her.
Was this... the mental link of the Xiushe?
