255: Chapter 255 Annihilation!

He secretly kept a wary eye out.

As he advanced alongside Jia Shan, his pace quietly slowed, and he instinctively took a small half-step back.

He opened up a microscopic distance between himself and Jia Shan.

This tiny gap might not matter much in a fierce melee.

But when responding to a sudden crisis, it could mean the difference between life and death.

Soon, Jia Shan and Qin Yan once again closed in on the main body of the Vine Evil Spirit.

The black flower bud drooped, and the black mist was listless, as if it were at the end of its tether.

“Attack!”

Jia Shan growled, raising the heavy shield in his hand and smashing it fiercely against the Evil Spirit's torso!

Qin Yan's long spear erupted with a dazzling golden light, terrifying penetrative power condensing at the spear tip as he thrust straight at the Evil Spirit's root!

“Bang! Chiii—!”

The sounds of heavy impact and tearing rang out; the already dim black mist was blasted into a violent churn, scattering in all directions.

Under the pincer attack from both inside and out by the three of them, the black mist on the Evil Spirit's body became visibly thinner and more transparent.

Its twisted torso flickered like a candle in the wind, unstable and dimming.

It looked as though in just a few more moments, this powerful Third Grade Limit Evil Spirit would be completely crushed and reduced to nothingness!

The dawn of victory in sight caused the tight string in Qin Yan's heart to loosen slightly.

A hint of doubt even surfaced: “Could it be... I really overthought things?”

However, at that very instant—

A sudden change occurred!

The black flower bud that had been drooping as if withered suddenly reared up at an incredible speed and snapped open!

“Chii-la—!”

The screech of the petals tearing through the air made one's scalp tingle!

The flower bud that was just about to bloom instantly transformed into a terrifying, bottomless giant maw, its edges lined with fine, serrated teeth!

The giant mouth opened, its diameter spanning a full ten feet.

It was enough to swallow both Jia Shan and Qin Yan at the same time!

Even more terrifying was its speed!

The moment the bud opened, it turned into a blurry black afterimage, carrying a suffocating fishy wind and a terrifying suction.

At a speed far exceeding any previous attack, it lunged down to devour Jia Shan and Qin Yan!

Jia Shan only felt the sky darken above him as an indescribable, foul-smelling wind hit him in the face, instantly stripping him of his five senses.

He didn't even have time to make any effective defensive or evasive maneuvers.

His vision was completely swallowed by boundless darkness before he could even let out a cry of alarm.

The man, along with his shield, instantly vanished into the giant maw of the flower bud, his fate unknown!

Although Qin Yan had been prepared, his mind still trembled violently, shocked by this sudden and horrific assault!

The moment the bud opened, he clearly 'captured' the terrifying blood-qi fluctuations that erupted as the giant mouth snapped shut!

Estimated blood-qi explosive power—around 350 calories!

Perhaps even higher!

This number made Qin Yan's heart turn cold.

Even if he used the theoretical upper limit of eighty-one Spear Auras from his Perfection in the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Spear,

combined with Blood Gang and Spear Light, his maximum instantaneous explosive power could only reach around 347.4 calories!

It was still a notch inferior to the opponent's lethal swallow!

Meeting it head-on was definitely not a wise move.

Fortunately, he had remained vigilant and noticed the moment the flower bud moved strangely.

As the giant mouth of the bud descended, Qin Yan's footwork had already activated, and his figure retreated explosively toward the side and rear!

He didn't even have time to shout a warning to Jia Shan—in that split second, any extra movement or distraction could have resulted in him being buried in the flower's mouth as well.

However, the flower bud was simply too large; even though Qin Yan's reaction was lightning-fast and he retreated quickly,

the edge of the giant mouth still acted like a massive black guillotine, sweeping toward his waist with a fierce wind!

There was no way to dodge!

A cold light burst from Qin Yan's eyes as he swung his long spear!

ink trace drew a subtle arc.

The spear tip flickered with gold and red light, precisely scraping past the inner wall of the flower bud's edge, which was covered in barbs!

Chii-la—!

Sparks flew in all directions!

The massive force transmitted through the spear shaft made Qin Yan's arm go numb and his blood-qi churn.

But he also used this counter-shock force to accelerate his retreat again, narrowly escaping the range of the flower bud's giant mouth.

He landed steadily on the ground five meters away.

Standing with his spear, his chest heaved slightly.

However, before he could even catch his breath, an even more astonishing scene occurred!

A blood-red whip shadow, like blood-colored lightning falling from the highest heavens,

without any warning, with even faster speed and stronger momentum, lashed down fiercely from directly above the black flower bud!

“Blood Hell · Soul-Binding Strangle!”

Su Liuli's clear and cold voice rang out.

The dark red long whip now erupted with a solid, five-foot-long blood-colored Whip-glow!

Wherever the whip passed, the air distorted, seemingly letting out a shrill wail!

The power of this lash, its instantaneous blood-qi intensity, was in Qin Yan's perception only a hair's breadth inferior to the flower bud's swallowing strike just now!

Moreover, that was a five-foot Whip-glow!

It meant that Su Liuli's attainment in whip techniques had already reached an extremely terrifying height!

This woman had hidden herself so deeply!

“Crack—Kacha!!!”

The blood-red five-foot Whip-glow struck solidly in the center of the black flower bud's top! A crisp cracking sound followed!

Starting from the spot on the top where the Whip-glow struck,

the black flower bud suddenly split open with a massive crack several feet long and deep enough to see 'bone'!

Thick, foul-smelling black liquid gushed out from the crack like a fountain!

The flower bud let out a silent, agonized shriek.

Its entire massive body trembled violently and curled up!

“What are you standing there for?!”

Su Liuli's cold voice came from above.

She glanced at the somewhat dazed Qin Yan below and flicked her wrist.

The crimson long whip once again transformed into a sky full of whip shadows, like a blood-colored rainstorm, enveloping the heavily damaged and crack-ridden black flower bud!

“Attack with everything while it's heavily injured! Once the bud breaks, the Evil Spirit will surely die!”

Qin Yan instantly snapped back to his senses, suppressing the overwhelming shock in his heart and his wariness of Su Liuli's hidden strength.

In a life-or-death moment, there was no room for overthinking!

“Kill!”

The long spear in his hand erupted with golden light, thrusting fiercely into the hideous crack on the flower bud where black juice was frantically gushing out!

Su Liuli did not stop either; the blood-red long whip drew strange and tricky arcs in the air.

Blood-light flickered at the tip of the whip as she continuously lashed and sliced at other parts of the flower bud,

expanding the results of the battle and interfering with its self-healing.

Surprisingly, the defense of this seemingly terrifying flower bud was much more fragile than Qin Yan had expected.

Under their joint, tempestuous attack—with Qin Yan's Spear Light churning and exploding deep inside the crack like a drill,

and Su Liuli's blood-red whip shadows constantly tearing and peeling from the outside—the giant black flower bud was soon riddled with holes, its black juice drained dry.

Finally—

“Rumble!!!”

A duller and louder explosion than any before rang out!

The entire eastern main vine shook violently along with it!

The massive black flower bud, along with the torso connected beneath it, exploded violently!

It turned into countless fragments and even thicker black ash.

Like a rain of death, they drifted and fell.

Thus, the Third Grade Limit Vine Evil Spirit of the east—exterminated!