Chapter 77: Another 'Beast Pet'!
"Bi She, that little girl is indeed powerful, but there's no need for you to be this afraid, is there?"
Seeing Bi She act like a mouse seeing a cat, Lü Man found it embarrassing.
To be honest, she was surprised that Zi Yan had the bloodline of a Dragon Clan, but she was even more ashamed of Bi She's reaction. As a Sixth-Tier Magical Beast, even if the opponent's bloodline was powerful, there was no need to be this afraid, right?
As Lü Man spoke, the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor's movements slowed. He secretly glanced at the icy-faced Zi Yan, shivered violently when her gaze swept over him, and then leaned close to Lü Man, whispering, "Lü Man, let's go. That girl is extraordinary. The power of her bloodline is too terrifying, unlike anything I've ever seen. I can't even use my full strength in front of her. Let's just leave. The target has already appeared, we'll go back and inform the others to come. Besides…"
He paused, glancing at Lü Man's injured shoulder, the meaning self-evident.
To put it simply, the situation was tricky, and they needed to retreat quickly!
Taking a deep breath, feeling the throbbing pain in her shoulder, and seeing Bi She's terrified state, she knew this target would be difficult.
Lü Man reluctantly glanced at Qing Lin, still unwilling to give up. This was the Green Snake Three-Flower Pupil! If she brought her back to the Heavenly Serpent Mansion, it would be a great achievement. She still wanted to try.
If force wouldn't work, then she would try diplomacy.
While Lü Man and Bi She were dithering, Zi Yan had already grown impatient. A thick purple halo swirled around her large dragon claws, and a massive purple-gold dragon spear slowly materialized.
"Take this!"
Wielding the spear, Zi Yan's Dou Qi wings flapped behind her, quickly closing in on the two. Her Dou Huang aura was fully displayed, and the spear in her hand, carrying immense power, smashed fiercely towards the person and the beast.
"Wait—!"
Seeing Zi Yan make a move, Lü Man, who still wanted to negotiate, cried out anxiously, but Zi Yan ignored her.
"Bi She, if you don't want to die, attack!"
Seeing this, Lü Man gritted her silver teeth, her palm rapidly gathering Dou Qi, and she roared at Bi She beside her.
Lü Man's words startled Bi She awake. Feeling the oppressive force from above, the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor forcibly suppressed the fear in his bloodline. All eight wings vibrated, and his massive body instantly appeared beside Lü Man. He violently swung his snake tail, and the terrifying power it contained actually caused the space to distort slightly.
Perceiving the terrifying power of the snake tail, Zi Yan remained fearless. She held the spear in her right hand and extended her left, striking at Lü Man, intending to fight two against one.
"Bang—!"
A huge tremor sounded. At the moment of impact, the space where they collided seemed to be torn open with tiny black cracks.
The terrifying energy storm stalemated for a moment before exploding in the sky. The violent energy explosion could be faintly heard even from a thousand meters away.
The moment of the explosion, a ripple of energy spread out from the blast, instantly forcing both sides to retreat rapidly.
Feeling the broken scales on his snake tail, a cold sweat appeared on the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor's face. At the same time, Zi Yan, feeling a tingling in her arm, laughed loudly, "Again, again!"
"Wait, let's talk!"
Seeing this, Lü Man hurriedly pulled the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor back, calling out. Her eyes fixed on Jiang Yun, knowing that the transcendent young man was the one who could make decisions.
Zi Yan frowned, glancing at Jiang Yun inquiringly. Although she really wanted to beat the two of them down, what if Jiang Yun had other ideas?
Seeing this, Jiang Yun's Dou Qi wings vibrated behind him, bringing Qing Lin to Zi Yan's side. He looked at Lü Man and asked, "What do you want to talk about?"
Seeing that Jiang Yun was no longer shouting to fight and kill, Lü Man's eyes lit up, and she said excitedly, "Since this young man knows we are from the Heavenly Serpent Mansion, he should know the importance of that little girl to us. We won't harm her; instead, we will cultivate her with all our might!"
Jiang Yun nodded. The original story didn't mention that the Heavenly Serpent Mansion wanted to completely bind Qing Lin by having her marry the Mansion Lord's son. They did provide Qing Lin with a good growth environment, but Jiang Yun felt that, apart from the Dou techniques and cultivation methods left by the previous generation of Green Snake Three-Flower Pupil, the resources the Heavenly Serpent Mansion could offer were still inferior to his own.
As a quasi-Eighth-Rank Alchemist, no one in the Northwest Continent could surpass him in this aspect.
"Qing Lin, what do you think?" Jiang Yun looked down at the girl tightly clinging to his arm, asking softly.
Under the expectant gazes of Lü Man and Bi She, Qing Lin didn't even glance at them. She giggled, "I want to follow Big Brother Jiang Yun and Big Sister Zi Yan forever!"
Hearing the latter part of the sentence, Zi Yan finally withdrew her sidelong glance, satisfied.
Seeing Qing Lin's answer, Lü Man grew anxious and spoke hurriedly, "Little girl, only in the Heavenly Serpent Mansion can your talent be fully developed. After you come to our Heavenly Serpent Mansion, you can be directly appointed as a Saintess and inherit the position of the next Mansion Lord."
"Our Heavenly Serpent Mansion is also a first-class power in the Northwest Continent."
No matter how eloquently Lü Man spoke, Qing Lin remained unmoved. In the end, she even took the opportunity to bury her head in Jiang Yun's embrace, looking like she wasn't listening.
Seeing this, Lü Man felt somewhat disheartened. She glanced at Jiang Yun and Zi Yan, her eyes suddenly lighting up, and she continued her persuasion, "Qing Lin, both of your companions are exceptionally talented individuals, cultivating extremely fast. If you don't have a good inheritance, I'm afraid you won't be able to keep up with them. You wouldn't want to be unable to help them in the future, would you?"
Hearing Lü Man's words, Qing Lin's expression shifted, and for the first time, a hint of wavering appeared on her face. Yes, Big Brother Jiang Yun and Big Sister Zi Yan were already Dou Huangs at such a young age. Could Qing Lin keep up with their pace?
"Don't scare Qing Lin. Xiao Yun is a Seventh-Rank Alchemist and will soon be a Eighth-Rank Alchemist. Does your Heavenly Serpent Mansion have a Eighth-Rank Alchemist?"
Seeing Qing Lin about to be swayed, Zi Yan immediately became displeased. With a hint of pride in her brows, she scoffed.
"Grade 8… Alchemist?!"
Lü Man looked at Jiang Yun in shock. A Seventh-Rank Alchemist was already enough for the Heavenly Serpent Mansion to treat with utmost sincerity, let alone a Eighth-Rank Alchemist. An Alchemist of that level could probably wipe out the Heavenly Serpent Mansion with a wave of his hand.
Seeing Jiang Yun's tacit acknowledgment, Lü Man gasped. The other party was really a Eighth-Rank Alchemist!!!
Even if he wasn't, he was at least a Seventh-Rank Alchemist Master, which was enough for the Heavenly Serpent Mansion to treat seriously. At this moment, Lü Man felt the status of an Alchemist for the first time.
Compared to Lü Man, Bi She understood even more clearly the preciousness of Alchemists in the world of Magical Beasts. This was almost a talent unique to the human race.
Excluding the low-tier Magical Beasts that lacked reason, Alchemists were very popular in the circles of high-tier Magical Beasts. Sometimes, a single pill could be worth years of their own arduous cultivation.
After all, one option was to cultivate slowly, while the other was to directly advance after consuming a pill. These high-tier Magical Beasts, no less shrewd than humans, naturally knew which to choose.
Just like him, Bi She, even though he was a Sixth-Tier Magical Beast comparable to a human Dou Huang expert, he still couldn't transform into human form due to his bloodline.
Qing Lin, in Jiang Yun's arms, also looked at Jiang Yun in surprise. She had never known that Big Brother Jiang Yun was so amazing.
"Now you can rest assured, right? Your Big Sister Zi Yan eats so much, and Big Brother can still afford to feed her. You're just one more!" Jiang Yun raised his hand and gently ruffled Qing Lin's head, saying softly.
"Mm!" Feeling Jiang Yun's gaze, Qing Lin's face flushed, and she hid in Jiang Yun's embrace.
"Hmph—" Jiang Yun's words naturally displeased Zi Yan. Who ate too much?
Well, maybe a little too much, but she also tried hard to find medicinal ingredients!
"In that case, we shall take our leave first. We apologize for any disturbance, and we hope Master will forgive us!"
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Lü Man gave up. She and Bi She bowed respectfully to Jiang Yun.
Although they were at a disadvantage, who told the other party to have the bigger fist?
"You can go, but it has to stay!"
Just as the person and the snake were about to leave, Jiang Yun spoke, his gaze fixed on Bi She.
Seeing this, Zi Yan raised her spear again, blocking their retreat.
"This…"
"Does Master intend to…"
Seeing this situation, Lü Man seemed to realize a possibility and turned pale with fright. Bi She was even more terrified.
Jiang Yun smiled without speaking, his gaze quietly fixed on Bi She, as if looking at a prey.
Recalling the records of the Green Snake Three-Flower Pupil within the Heavenly Serpent Mansion, that the Green Snake Three-Flower Pupil were the bane of all snake-type Magical Beasts, capable of forming a one-sided, compulsory connection with them and absorbing their Dou Qi for cultivation, a chill ran down Bi She's spine.
"You want to enslave me!!!"
At the critical moment of life and death, Bi She no longer cared about Jiang Yun's identity and roared at him.
"You won't succeed!"
"You have no choice!"
With a tender shout, Zi Yan was the first to attack Lü Man. She had always disliked this alluring woman, who dared to flirt in front of Xiao Yun. It was unforgivable.
"Roar—!"
With an angry roar, black flames suddenly surged out from Bi She's body, seemingly endless. Finally, above his head, they condensed into a similarly massive black energy Eight-Winged Black Serpent.
"I don't care if you're an Alchemist or not! If you want to enslave me, then you can die!"
With a violent flick of its massive tail, the Eight-Winged Black Serpent, entirely condensed from eerie black flames, shot out fiercely, carrying a nearly terrifying force, and charged towards Jiang Yun and Qing Lin.
Looking at the giant snake shadow emanating a tyrannical aura, Jiang Yun's expression remained calm. He then quickly formed a series of strange hand seals, and as his seals changed, the temperature around him suddenly soared!
"Five Ring Flame Expelling Technique!"
This famous Dou Technique of Venerable Tian Huo, Jiang Yun had already thoroughly studied, but this was the first time he displayed it in front of others.
As a noble Alchemist, with bodyguards present, how could he possibly make a move himself? (Zi Yan: Bodyguard?)
As Jiang Yun's hand seals changed, a pure white flame slowly rose from his palm.
The Undying Holy Flame surged forth, then rapidly expanded, undergoing a strange wriggling, and after a moment, it transformed into a white giant dragon, roughly ten zhang in size.
The original Five Ring Flame Expelling Technique required five types of flames to condense into five fire spirits: wolf, leopard, lion, tiger, and flood dragon.
When all five spirits appeared, they could form the Five Ring Flame Array, whose power was extremely terrifying.
However, after Jiang Yun's improvement, he only needed one type of flame to condense more fire spirits and form a grand array. That power would be enough to incinerate seas and evaporate the sky.
With the appearance of the fire spirit, the temperature of this world suddenly soared. The surrounding space suddenly fluctuated violently, and the originally calm world energy also became extremely turbulent as if drawn by something.
"This is an Heavenly Flame…"
"You actually possess an Heavenly Flame—!"
Feeling the changes in the world and the terrifying might of the giant dragon, Bi She suddenly let out a startled cry, looking at Jiang Yun in extreme fear.
He never expected that not only did the other party possess Dou Huang strength at such a young age, but he also carried such a rare treasure of heaven and earth as an Heavenly Flame.
"Roar!"
A low roar emanated from the fire spirit's mouth, and then the flame giant dragon charged towards the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor. The white flames formed a massive line of fire, cutting across the sky.
"You won't succeed!"
Feeling the terrifying might of the giant dragon, Bi She gritted his teeth and roared. Just as everyone thought he was about to fight to the death, Bi She actually turned and fled, his huge wings vibrating rapidly, seemingly breaking through their limits.
"Can you escape?"
Seeing this, Jiang Yun sneered. In the distance, lines of light suddenly appeared, outlining mysterious array trajectories. The lines intersected and intertwined, and in a short time, a very intricate and complex light array formed in the sky!
"Bang—!"
Bi She crashed into the grand array, his head throbbing with pain, but the array didn't even ripple.
"Roar!"
Before Bi She could recover, a roar sounded from behind him. The ferocious giant dragon, carrying flames that filled the sky, swept in and launched a fierce attack on Bi She.
"Bang—!"
Looking at the fallen Bi She, covered in numerous burn marks, Jiang Yun could even smell burnt flesh. It was only due to the tenacious vitality of a Sixth-Tier Magical Beast; otherwise, Jiang Yun estimated that a Fifth-Tier Magical Beast would probably be utterly dead by now.
Glancing at the fallen Bi She, Jiang Yun turned his gaze to Lü Man, who was still being beaten. At this point, she was in a precarious situation. If not for her decent movement technique, she would have long been taken down by Zi Yan.
Seeing Jiang Yun's gaze sweep over her, Lü Man's expression tightened, and she was momentarily distracted.
"Still daring to be distracted!"
Seeing this, Zi Yan naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity. With a reprimand, the long spear in her hand showed no pause, striking fiercely at the opponent's chest.
"Bang—!"
The terrifying force shattered her internal organs. Lü Man spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood, quickly took out bottles of pills, and without caring about their grade, swallowed them all at once.
Forcibly gathering her breath, her Dou Qi wings vibrated rapidly, and she fled into the distance without looking back.
"Trying to run!" Seeing the other party flee, Zi Yan immediately became displeased. Victory was in sight, and it was time to collect the spoils, but the other party was trying to escape. How could this be?
The purple light on her Dou Qi wings intensified, and she quickly chased after Lü Man.
Jiang Yun glanced at the situation. With Zi Yan's strength, he wasn't worried that she would suffer a setback.