38: Chapter 38 Spirit Beast Divine Power

At the same time, the Flying Purple Nether Scorpion soared into the air from Li Changqing's shoulder, turning into a swift black-purple afterimage as it pounced directly toward a two-zhang-long, Tier One Middle Stage Green-scaled Snake.

Its scorpion tail trembled slightly, and several points of highly condensed purple-black toxic light shot out. The moment they contacted the mist barrier spat out by the venomous snake, they dissolved and dispersed instantly, like boiling snow meeting a scorching sun.

The Flying Purple Nether Scorpion's momentum did not decrease. With a flap of its wings, it dived above the snake's head like a meteorite falling to the earth. Its tail needle, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound of tearing wind, pierced precisely into the weak gap between the scales beneath the fleshy crown. The massive body of the Green-scaled Snake twitched violently a few times before stiffening, slowly sinking into the dark bottom of the swamp.

It regarded all poisons as nothing, moving through the overwhelming tide of snakes as if entering an uninhabited territory. At this moment, hundreds of Green-scaled Snakes were slithering and gathering, the rustling sound of their scales rubbing together intertwining with their hissing breath, merging into a scalp-numbing tide of deathly sound.

Hovering in mid-air, the Flying Purple Nether Scorpion held its head high and its chest out. Its throat and chest cavity began to vibrate in a strange rhythm, causing the surrounding air to ripple with visible waves. This was by no means an ordinary insect chirp.

At first, it was just an extremely low, almost inaudible hum. This sound was not transmitted through the eardrums but directly penetrated matter, turning into wisps of invisible ripples that seeped deep into the consciousness of the snake swarm below.

Several Green-scaled Snakes that had already reached Rank froze suddenly, their heads beginning to tremble uncontrollably.

Immediately after, a second cry rang out, its pitch suddenly rising, clear and resonant like jade striking stone. This sound possessed actual penetrative power, causing the dry leaves in the swamp to move without wind and shatter one after another. What the soundwaves contained was not a simple physical impact, but pure and condensed Divine Sense power, which transformed into countless fine and sharp "spiritual spikes" that swept toward the snake swarm.

The third cry was also the first time Xiao Hei had unleashed its innate Divine Ability with full force since its Breakthrough to Tier One Late Stage. It opened its scorpion mouth, and a pillar of sound mixed with various energies erupted with a boom.

This cry was no longer just sound, but a materialized storm of Divine Sense. Wherever the storm passed, space seemed to warp slightly, and the snake swarm beside it suffered a devastating blow.

The venomous snakes on the outer perimeter seemed to be struck by an invisible giant hammer, black blood seeping from their seven orifices as they instantly went limp and died. The snakes in the middle layer fell into complete chaos and madness, biting and tangling with one another, because their fragile spiritual senses had been completely shattered and torn apart by the soundwaves.

Even the few ranked Green-scaled Snakes with slightly deeper cultivation and spirituality rolled in agony under this direct attack on their Divine Soul. The fierce light in their eyes quickly dissipated, eventually turning hollow and dull as their life force withered away.

The cry lasted for about three breaths before stopping abruptly. A brief silence returned to the swamp. Looking around, within a ten-zhang radius of Xiao Hei's position, the ground was covered with snake corpses showing no signs of life, and the lingering resonance of the Divine Soul shock hung in the air for a long time.

Xiao Hei returned to Li Changqing's shoulder. With its full-force activation of its innate Divine Ability—Soul Devour, a single strike had killed over a hundred ordinary Green-scaled Snakes, nine Tier One Early Stage Green-scaled Snakes, and three Tier One Middle Stage Green-scaled Snakes.

With this strike, the front of the surging snake tide was forcefully cleared into a fan-shaped area, littered with soulless snake corpses, directly reducing the low-tier Green-scaled Snakes by thirty percent.

The subsequent offensive of the snake swarm stalled, and the originally dense sense of oppression was greatly weakened.

"Excellent!"

Li Xuanzhou cheered. His hand Seals changed rapidly as he cast several Talismans, blocking the retreat of three Tier One Late Stage Green-scaled Snakes. The other Cultivators of the Li Family also seized the opportunity. While the snake swarm was in chaos, the team coordinated tacitly, weaving sword light, Talismans, and Magical Artifacts into a net, quickly slaying the three Tier One Late Stage Green-scaled Snakes.

With the death of the three Green-scaled Snake leaders, the remaining swarm became leaderless and gradually retreated, disappearing into the toxic swamp. The Li Family members did not pursue them further.

The battlefield instantly fell quiet, save for the faint chirping of insects in the distance of the toxic swamp and the sizzling sound of toxic blood corroding the ground nearby. Everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief but maintained their defensive formation. Li Xuanzhou quickly inspected the battlefield, and after confirming that not a single Green-scaled Snake remained alive, he said to everyone:

"Huahang, you and Changle are in charge of guarding the surroundings. The rest of you, start collecting Materials. Move quickly; the thick scent of blood here is a deadly attraction for Yao Beasts."

Li Xuanzhou walked over to the corpse of one of the Tier One Late Stage Green-scaled Snakes. He carefully examined the crimson fleshy crown on its forehead, and after confirming it was intact, he nodded slightly.

"The venom gland and forehead crown are intact, and the snake tendons and skin are also of considerable value. This Family hunting mission can be considered a complete success."

As he spoke, he took out a specially made jade box from his Storage Pouch. With practiced skill, his spiritual knife sliced precisely into the gaps between the scales, completely stripping the venom gland and forehead crown, placing them into the jade box to be Sealed. He then processed the relatively tough back scales and extracted the snake tendons, the entire process being fast and quiet.

Because the bodies of these three Red-scaled Snakes were simply too large, their Storage Pouches could not possibly hold them. Only a Storage Ring could completely contain such massive bodies.

Therefore, apart from collecting the key parts of each ranked Green-scaled Snake, he could only dismantle the flesh and blood of the three Tier One Late Stage Green-scaled Snakes, packing more than half of it into his Storage Pouch.

Li Changqing also felt it was a great pity to waste so much venomous snake meat. After filling two spare small Storage Pouches with Tier One Late Stage Green-scaled Snake meat, he could only let Xiao Hei open its belly and eat as much as it could.

Time passed slowly. Just as they were about to finish processing the Green-scaled Snakes, Li Huahang, who was on guard, suddenly whispered, "Movement to the southeast, more than one, and they are very fast."

Li Xuanzhou did not stop his hands, and his Divine Sense silently spread out. After a moment, he said in a deep voice, "It's a pack of Fire Poison Spiders. It seems they were drawn here by the scent of blood. The Green-scaled Snakes are mostly processed anyway, so there's no need to tangle with them. Evacuate immediately."

The members of the Li Clan acted immediately, quickly packing up the remaining high-value Materials.

Li Xuanzhou threw several Fireball Talismans toward the direction from which the Fire Poison Spiders were likely to attack. The Talismans exploded with a roar, the flames and shockwaves temporarily disrupting the peace of the toxic swamp and hindering the speed of the advancing Fire Poison Spiders.

Keeping a tight formation, the team retraced their steps and quickly vanished into the miasma, leaving behind only the snake carcasses gradually swallowed by the mud, and the scent of blood and scorching heat slowly drifting through the air.

By the time they walked out of the Poison Miasma Forest, the sun had already set. Everyone took off the wet cloths covering their mouths and noses, panting heavily, their faces covered in mud.

Seeing that the low-tier Talismans in his Storage Pouch were almost depleted, Li Xuanzhou couldn't help but think to himself: It seems the three Tier Two Talismans requested from the Family won't be needed this time. It couldn't be better to complete the mission without having to use our trump cards.

Even though the Li Family was a Talisman Making Family, Tier Two Talismans were still relatively precious resources. Among the Li Family's three Foundation Establishment Cultivators, the Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator, Li Xuance, only enjoyed cultivation and Body Tempering, and was the only existence in the Li Family whose cultivation and Body Tempering had both broken through to Tier Two.

The remaining Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivator, Li Xuanji, was currently the highest-ranked Talisman Maker in the Li Family, being a Tier Two Medium Grade Talisman Maker who supported most of the Li Family's Tier Two Talisman production. Clan Chief Patriarch Li Huaping had only become a Tier Two Low Grade Talisman Maker in recent years, so his output and quality of Talisman Making were not high.

Therefore, every Tier Two Talisman saved was a gain, especially since the beast tide was imminent, and the price of Tier Two Talismans had almost doubled compared to a few years ago.

Currently, the price of a single Tier Two Low Grade Talisman was already close to one hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and even the price of Tier One Talismans had risen by thirty to forty percent in recent months. Now, a Tier One High Grade Talisman could be sold for nearly five Low-Grade Spirit Stones.