Deep within the chasm, two "aged" hook serpents had been slumbering. Drawn by the scent of blood, they awakened immediately and barred the way forward.
These two hook serpents were far more massive than those emerging from the red mist, measuring several dozen zhang in length. Their scales were pitch-black like ink, each one extraordinarily thick, with an uncanny sheen rippling between them that made them resemble flood dragons.
Lifting their heads out of the chasm, four massive scarlet eyes locked onto Luo Xingnan and his companions. Over half of their bodies remained concealed in the yin energy, their tails churning through it to stir up fierce gales and billowing waves.
Seeing these two roadblocks, Luo Xingnan and the others felt their hearts sink, their faces changing drastically.
Middle Demon Spirit stage!
When they were merely pursued by the hook serpents from behind, the group had not panicked too much. Even if they could not defeat them, escaping was not difficult. So long as they made it back to the cave, relying on the terrain alongside two experts like Luo Xingnan and Sheng Yuanzi, there was a fair chance of turning the tables and slaughtering the beasts.
Now, however, none dared entertain such thoughts any longer. A swarm of frenzied hook serpents, containing at least two great demons at the middle Demon Spirit stage, possessed power that completely surpassed their own.
"Run, quickly!" someone shouted in desperation.
Not daring to pause for an instant, the cultivators attempted to break through the encirclement.
Yet the hook serpents were even faster.
*Hiss...*
Two gaping maws opened simultaneously, spewing twin billows of deep red—even slightly blackened—crimson mist. It expanded in a flash into an immense red wall, sweeping toward them at an astonishing speed.
At the same time, two black shadows surged out from the depths of the chasm. The snake tails snapped upward with uncanny agility, transforming into colossal whips that lashed toward them with ferocious force.
A blast of gale-force wind rushed at their faces.
Fortunately, Luo Xingnan and Sheng Yuanzi commanded absolute authority over their subordinates, and their formation had not fallen into disarray. Seeing the threat, they immediately ordered everyone to form a defensive array.
"Form the array!"
With Luo Xingnan's roar, spiritual power erupted from every cultivator, coalescing into an enormous shield of light that blocked the front.
As a result, their flight was forced to slow, but there was no helping it.
Beasts of the middle Demon Spirit stage were on the same level as Luo Xingnan and Sheng Yuanzi. Moreover, one look at the two hook serpents' demonic bodies showed they were exceptionally formidable, and the tail hooks were bound to be lethally venomous.
They did not dare withstand the tail strikes with their flesh alone.
The red mist swept over, causing an ear-grating sizzling noise to erupt across the light shield. The mist was actually capable of corroding the shield—clear proof of how virulent its venom was. Fortunately, the barrier held firm, preventing any of it from seeping inside.
Yet the incoming snake tails proved far harder to resist.
Due to the forks, four tails struck out, crashing into the light shield almost simultaneously with brutal force.
*Boom!*
The light shield shook violently. Paleness crept across the cultivators' faces, terrified by the hook serpents' monstrous strength.
The hooks on the tails gleamed with a chilling gleam and nearly pierced straight through the shield. Thanks to its sturdiness, it was not breached, but the hooks coming within inches still broke out a cold sweat on the two cultivators at the very front of the formation.
"Bind them!"
Before the shaken crowd could recover, they heard the shouts of Luo Xingnan and Sheng Yuanzi. Hurriedly channeling their spiritual power once more, they dissolved the forward shield, turning it into countless cords of light that reached out like tentacles to wrap tightly around the serpents' tails.
These cords of light were remarkably tough, binding the tails securely. The hook serpents struggled violently, snapping countless cords, yet for the moment could not break free.
*Roar!*
Roaring in fury, the hook serpents abandoned their tails and lunged forward with their heads.
Yet compared to their tails, their heads were far less agile. Though the red mist was venomous, corroding through everyone's protective spiritual power would still require time.
"Go!" Sheng Yuanzi bellowed.
The opportunity was fleeting.
Without needing Sheng Yuanzi's reminder, everyone understood the dire stakes. The hook serpents behind them had also gone mad, pressing hot on their heels and already within arm's reach. If they did not break through now, death was their only fate.
In this dire crisis, each cultivator brought forth their finest tricks, their escape lights streaking like lightning.
Right then, Yu Kong, concealed in the shadows, shifted slightly.
At the same time, Yu Kong's voice transmission reached Qin Sang's ears. But before Qin Sang could respond, he heard Yu Kong bark an urgent, contradictory command.
"Don't move!"
Before the words had even faded, cries of shock and fury erupted from the battlefield in the distance.
Immediately after, Qin Sang saw it too.
From the sky full of red mist, another hook serpent suddenly burst forth from the pack. Its size was not the least bit inferior to the two slumbering within the chasm!
Only when it charged out of the red mist did the cultivators realize its presence.
Aside from the two dormant in the chasm, there was actually a "younger" hook serpent among the low stone mountains, and it was likewise at the middle Demon Spirit stage.
Three middle Demon Spirit stage hook serpents!
*Whoosh!*
A long serpent tail whipped up a hurricane, sweeping inward as its dark shadow blotted out the sky.
Luo Xingnan and Sheng Yuanzi, who had fled the fastest, were the largest targets. Forced back by the sudden appearance of this hook serpent, they were thrown into utter disarray, to say nothing of the others. The scene devolved into total chaos.
Before anyone could regain their footing, the other two hook serpents broke free of the light cords. The three mighty beasts unfurled their long bodies, coiling in the air to form an airtight encirclement, glaring down hungrily at the cultivators trapped in the middle.
The fleeting chance of escape had slipped through their fingers.
The next instant, the red mist rolled in.
*Boom!*
The battle erupted in a flash. Red mist surged and serpent shadows rolled, almost completely swallowing the figures of the cultivators.
The furious roars of cultivators and the hisses of the hook serpents tangled together, indistinguishable from one another.
Before long, a cultivator managed to fight his way to the edge of the mist with great difficulty, only to have a tail hook thrust through his chest from behind. Amid a bloodcurdling scream, he was torn limb from limb, hooks reeling back with severed arms and mangled flesh.
There were three hook serpents at the middle Demon Spirit stage alone, and an unknown number at the early Demon Spirit stage, while the cultivator side had only two middle Foundation Establishment experts in Luo Xingnan and Sheng Yuanzi.
Worse still, provoked by the scent of blood, all of the hook serpents had plunged into frenzy, fighting with complete disregard for their own lives.
Whenever a cultivator fell, they were torn apart by the hook serpents, making it impossible to tell how many had already perished inside.
A considerable number of hook serpents were also slain by the cultivators' counterattacks. Every so often, a serpent's carcass plunged from the air, equally mangled beyond recognition, as the maddened serpents did not even spare their own kin.
By now, the stench of blood had grown nauseatingly thick, fueling the hook serpents' savagery even further.
The red mist hung heavy, hiding the shifting tides of battle, yet so far not a single person had managed to break through. Screams rose and fell in horrifying succession, chilling the hearts of any who listened.
If this continued, would everyone die here?
Watching from afar, Yu Kong and his companions were equally appalled.
Yu Kong had not anticipated that so many middle Demon Spirit stage hook serpents were hidden here either. After a moment's contemplation, he quietly rose from his hiding spot.
"Move!"
Upon hearing Yu Kong's transmission, Qin Sang rose softly to his feet, following Yu Kong in a wide detour to bypass the heart of the clash. Taking advantage of the fact that all the hook serpents had been drawn away by Luo Xingnan's group, they quietly crept toward the opposite bank of the chasm.
Chapter 290