Yun Qingxue barely managed to pull Daise out of harm’s way as the Black Pythons attacked, her fingertips once again shimmering with a faint green glow.
The light gathered at her fingertips, slowly forming a swirling green vortex.
The Black Python, having missed its initial strike, turned its blood-red eyes back toward Yun Qingxue and lunged again.
The vortex of green energy in Yun Qingxue’s hand grew larger and larger. After a few seconds, she flung it toward the frenzied Black Python.
“Go!” she shouted. The green vortex hit the ground and instantly transformed into a raging whirlwind, sweeping toward the Black Pythons with tremendous force.
Beads of sweat trickled down her delicate face, while waves of agonizing pain wracked her body, nearly suffocating her.
Gritting her teeth, Yun Qingxue forced herself to stay upright, her eyes locked on the approaching Black Pythons. Though the whirlwind didn’t send them flying, it stripped away their scales!
It seemed the enhanced poison she had applied to Daise was taking effect.
Now, every Black Python in sight bore patchy, scale-less patches on their bodies.
Yun Qingxue managed a pale smile, but her legs wobbled beneath her.
“You little brat! You think this can stop us? Today, we’ll tear you to pieces!” The Black Pythons, their scales falling off due to the poison, didn’t even feel the pain.
After the whirlwind passed, they continued slithering rapidly toward Yun Qingxue.
“Hissss—” A’Dai flicked his tongue incessantly, and the venomous snakes he had summoned seemed to receive some command, relentlessly crawling toward the Black Pythons.
“Ah—!”
A sudden scream erupted from the Black Python horde. Amid the group charging toward Yun Qingxue, one of them suddenly thrashed wildly, its flailing body even knocking into several of its kin.
Soon, the entire Black Python assault force descended into chaos, each one seemingly struck by some unseen torment, their massive bodies convulsing uncontrollably.
Yun Qingxue felt the pain in her body lessen slightly, though her face remained deathly pale, and her vision blurred from the earlier agony.
Even through the haze, she could still discern the reason for the Black Pythons’ sudden frenzy.
It was the small venomous snakes!
With their scales stripped away, the Black Pythons’ exposed flesh was no longer impervious to attacks. The tiny snakes summoned by A’Dai could now sink their fangs deep into their bodies.
While the Black Pythons were nearly invincible when intact, they weren’t venomous snakes themselves and thus lacked the natural resistance to poison that true serpent spirits possessed.
After a bout of violent thrashing, the Black Pythons gradually collapsed, motionless…
Yun Qingxue exhaled deeply, a sense of survival washing over her.
“Hissss—” A’Dai continued flicking his tongue, directing the summoned snakes to retreat the way they had come.
The rustling sounds soon faded, leaving only Yun Qingxue and her companions in the cave, surrounded by the corpses of snakes and pythons of varying sizes.
“Hissss—”
The eerie glow in A’Dai’s eyes faded, his serpentine pupils returning to their usual clever, dark gleam.
He slithered excitedly toward the scattered Black Python corpses.
“Hissss—”
Stopping at the vital spot of one Black Python, A’Dai turned his head and flicked his tongue eagerly at Yun Qingxue.
Frowning, Yun Qingxue walked over, slightly out of breath, and crouched beside him.
“Hissss—”
A’Dai’s round little eyes darted between Yun Qingxue and the Black Python’s vital point.
Daise, curious about A’Dai’s behavior, approached as well, accompanied by the ten-tailed fox, Liuli.
Liuli’s dark, grape-like eyes also fixated on the Black Python’s vital spot, and she couldn’t resist licking her lips.
“Hissss—” A’Dai looked at Yun Qingxue expectantly.
“There’s an inner core here? Something valuable?” Yun Qingxue ventured.
A’Dai and Liuli both nodded vigorously.
Yun Qingxue extended her hand, her fingertips conjuring an invisible blade. She carefully sliced open the Black Python’s vital spot.
A’Dai immediately wriggled inside through the incision.
Moments later, he emerged, his tail coiled around a pitch-black pearl—the Black Python’s inner core.
His beady black eyes fixed on Yun Qingxue, he lifted his tail slightly, as if offering it to her.
Yun Qingxue reached out, and A’Dai placed the black core in her palm, staring at her with hopeful anticipation.
Frowning, Yun Qingxue understood A’Dai’s intent even without words—he wanted her to swallow the Black Python’s core!
Clearly, A’Dai had noticed her weakened state and sought to replenish her energy.
Staring at the black pearl-like core, then at the grotesque corpses around her, Yun Qingxue felt her stomach churn. She hesitated, unable to bring herself to consume it raw…
“Chirp chirp—” Liuli’s furry little head nudged forward, her dark eyes fixated on the core in Yun Qingxue’s hand. Suddenly, she snapped her jaws and swallowed it whole.
“Hissss—!”
A’Dai glared at Liuli indignantly. Stupid fox! That core was meant for their master!
“Chirp… whimper…” Sensing A’Dai’s displeasure, Liuli lowered her head and let out a guilty whine.
Yun Qingxue, however, sighed in relief. Though A’Dai’s intentions were good, and the Black Pythons deserved their fate, the idea of consuming an inner core was something she… wasn’t ready to accept yet.
“Hissss—” A’Dai shot Liuli a disdainful look before slithering toward another Black Python. He turned back, his eyes brimming with expectation once more.
Now understanding his meaning, Yun Qingxue moved more reluctantly this time.
Still, under A’Dai’s hopeful gaze, she eventually sliced open the second Black Python’s vital spot.
A’Dai burrowed inside as before and retrieved another black pearl-like core.
“Hissss—”
This time, instead of offering it to Yun Qingxue, he swallowed it right in front of her.
After consuming the core, A’Dai continued staring at her.
With a sigh, Yun Qingxue waved her hand, sending out multiple invisible blades simultaneously.
“You wretched girl! I’ll kill you!”
Just as Yun Qingxue unleashed her attack, one of the supposedly dead Black Pythons suddenly sprang back to life, its gaping maw lunging at her without warning.
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