The great snake's seven-inch vital spot was struck, its soul invaded. It hissed in agony, thrashing like an eagle fallen into the water. Its massive body writhed, crushing everything in its surroundings into dust.
Everything in sight was chaos.
The sound was enough to cause a splitting headache.
The little book spirit drooped its head, lying weak on Xu Xian's forehead. "Master, I can't hold on anymore... I'm so sleepy... I'm going to sleep... You better not die..."
Before it could finish its words, it drifted into slumber.
Its tiny body dispersed into wisps of invisible aura, sinking into the crown of Xu Xian's head.
Xu Xian gripped Wait.
He didn't dare linger for a moment, taking advantage of the giant snake's violent thrashing to retreat.
Even as his head rang incessantly...
The sky spun. The earth shook.
His body felt limp and weak, like he was heavily intoxicated and could collapse at any moment. Still, he forced himself to maintain his breath as he sprinted backward.
It wasn't just the mental shock of the Little Book Spirit's strike.
The sixteen swords of Green Lotus Transforms into Qi had also hollowed out his body.
It left his sea of qi unstable for the time being.
Indeed, he was injured.
Unlike his previous external wounds, this was an internal injury. If he didn't leave now, he truly would lose his life.
Though the old saying went, "take their life while they're down," and now was the absolute best time to slay the great snake, Xu Xian possessed self-awareness. Even if this great snake's vital spot had truly been sliced open, he might not be the one capable of finishing it off.
However, the great snake's strength was far more formidable than Xu Xian had anticipated.
After a brief moment of disorientation, it quickly locked onto him. With a hiss, the towering snake head smashed down toward Xu Xian.
Its bloody maw hung wide, its teeth as sharp as blades.
The snake's saliva splashed down like a tide crashing against the shore.
It was foul-smelling, pungent, and corrosive. It scorched his skin with a searing heat. If Xu Xian didn't possess a sword body, that spit alone might have been enough to finish him.
"Little Grand-Uncle, watch out! Get away!"
He was already weak and his speed was slow; there was no way he could dodge.
Fortunately, the great snake was still in a daze. As it lunged, it misjudged the distance and smashed violently into the ground behind Xu Xian.
Boom!
The entire ground shook three times as a massive crater appeared out of thin air.
Although Xu Xian wasn't hit directly, he was so close that the blast of dust and violent wind sent him flying.
He flew hundreds of meters through the air. After hitting the ground, he rolled and scrambled, stumbling—quite by chance—directly out of the great formation. At that very moment, thanks to Xu Xian's distraction...
The great formation fully merged.
"Seal!"
The instant the formation was sealed, the great snake lunged again. Its massive body was like a small mountain.
It smashed down from the sky, only to slam headfirst into the formation barrier.
Seeing its prey so close—the same ant that had just bitten it—how could it let the matter rest? Driven by its beastial instincts, it began to slam into the great formation frantically.
Boom!
Boom!!
Boom!!!
Every impact brought a thunderous roar, like springtime lightning echoing from afar, each strike louder than the last.
The entire formation barrier rippled like water, wave after wave.
Yet, the currently barely-awakened Xiushe, despite being in the beast king stage, only knew how to use brute force.
For the time being, it had no way of dealing with the formation barrier before it.
It was true that absolute strength could break all laws, but if one relied solely on brute force to break a formation, that strength would have to be an astronomical amount.
Clearly, the Xiushe wasn't that strong yet.
And Nangong Ning wasn't that weak either. Especially after her modifications, the strength of this formation far exceeded its original state.
As the formation merged, Nangong Ning remained seated on the ground, continuously channeling spirit energy into the formation flags beneath the moonlit sky.
Ruan Zhong finally had his hands free. He immediately flickered over to Xu Xian, picking him up from the ground and shaking him frantically.
"Little Grand-Uncle!"
"Little Grand-Uncle!"
"Are you okay, Little Grand-Uncle? Don't scare me..."
"You better not die!"
"Cough, cough!" Xu Xian coughed violently, casting a weary glance at Ruan Zhong and saying weakly, "If you keep shaking me, I don't know if I'll die from the snake, but I definitely won't survive you."
Ruan Zhong hurriedly let go.
The others also breathed a secret sigh of relief.
"That's great, as long as you're okay. You scared us to death just now. That's a beast king stage beast! You just rushed in like that... thank goodness you're alright..." Ruan Zhong rambled.
Xu Xian spat out some bloody water and began to slowly breathe, circulating his energy to steady his spirit. He said calmly, "I admit, there was an element of gambling. Clearly, I won."
Everyone went silent.
What kind of time was this to be cracking jokes?
Little Grand-Uncle's heart truly was huge.
They couldn't understand him, nor could they see through him...
The great snake was still going mad, its collisions growing heavier and faster.
While maintaining the great formation, Nangong Ning said, "Junior Brother Ruan, I'll handle things here. You take Little Grand-Uncle and the others and break out."
"Can you hold it?"
Nangong Ning replied, "This snake's intelligence is currently no different from a third-grade ferocious beast. It has the demonic power of a king beast but doesn't know how to wield it; it only knows brute force. I can manage for now. You all take the children out first and get word back to the sect immediately. The Southern Borders are no longer safe. Once you break through, head straight back to the sect..."
Originally, Ruan Zhong should have stayed behind to help her hold off the Xiushe.
But now, since the Black Armor Cavalry of Yecheng had arrived, Min Zhan must be here as well.
And it was obvious that the other side wanted them all dead.
After all, if Min Zhan wanted to live at this point, he had to make this secret disappear.
And only the dead kept secrets.
Therefore, it would be impossible for Little Grand-Uncle and the others to break out on their own.
With Ruan Zhong added to their strength, they might have a chance.
With enemies on both sides, they had to split their forces.
Furthermore, if Yecheng had rebelled, there was no guarantee that the other cities surrounding Yecheng hadn't joined in as well.
In her memory, the twenty cities of the Southern Borders were closely connected, not just in trade but through deep private ties.
In the current situation, they had suffered because of their negligence and fallen into a trap.
They had to be cautious from here on out.
However, for the seven of them, leaving Nangong Ning behind alone felt wrong. They were torn, struggling to make a choice...
"Don't dawdle! Don't let Junior Brother Song die in vain!" Nangong Ning practically snarled.
Ruan Zhong gritted his teeth, no longer hesitating.
"Fine!"
He pointed to the giant bamboo raft and said to the five disciples, "Load all the children onto the raft!"
The five didn't dare delay.
They began to place the infants from the ground onto the bamboo raft.
The babies' cries were still loud and piercing, a constant wailing, but fortunately, the sound of the giant snake hitting the formation was even louder, drowning them out.
Feng Shisan looked at a baby girl who had stopped breathing, his expression pained. "This one... is dead too?"
Ruan Zhong gritted his teeth. "Worry about the living. Leave the dead behind."
"Alright!"
After a night of turmoil, of the three thousand infants, at least several hundred had already perished.
This was unavoidable.
In a life-and-death struggle, with so few of them, they simply couldn't look after everyone.
Soon, the infants who still had breath were all moved onto the bamboo raft. To ensure they wouldn't fall off or be crushed together, Ruan Zhong used his spirit energy to form threads, securing them firmly.
With one hand, he lifted the bamboo raft above his head and gazed out of the valley. The shouts of slaughter were still present, and though they were subsiding, they had not yet stopped.
"Let's go!"
The five followed. Before leaving, Xu Xian looked first at the great snake, then at Nangong Ning, and said, "Take care!"
Nangong Ning forced a smile. "Little Grand-Uncle, you as well!"
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