The Tier-4 Ice-Eye Serpent possessed keen intelligence—far beyond a mere beast.
It remembered.
It harbored vengeance.
Not long ago, this human had trespassed into its outer territory. An insult.
It had pursued him, only to be thwarted, injured, and forced to retreat by the Spirit Spring's violent surge.
Had the spring not demanded its presence, it would have hunted the intruder to the ends of the earth.
And now?
The human dared return.
Fury ignited within the serpent's glacial mind.
Its first strike wasn't at the greatest threat—the violet-robed elder—but at Lin Feng.
Pure malice.
Did such a vengeful creature forget Lin Feng simply because it now engaged the larger group?
Impossible.
It charged the elder's party because crushing Lin Feng required no true effort.
A flick of its tail would suffice.
The massive tail whipped through the air—a blur of ice-blue scales and crushing force.
Lin Feng's brief hope vanished.
"Damn it!!"
He hurled himself backward, arms crossed defensively before him. True essence surged into the Spirit Light Bracelet at his wrist.
"Huummm—CRACK!!"
A golden barrier shimmered into existence… and shattered instantly under the tail's impact.
Light exploded. The shield held for less than a heartbeat before disintegrating.
Too sudden. Too fast.
The tail struck his crossed forearms with world-ending force, then slammed into his chest.
Lin Feng twisted desperately in mid-air.
Protect Xiaoqiu.
His body became a projectile.
Hurled backward three times faster than he could ever move.
He smashed into the cavern wall.
"THUD!!!"
Stone cratered inward.
Lin Feng embedded himself into solid rock—a human-shaped imprint, dust and debris raining down.
Cartoonish in form. Agonizing in reality.
Pain screamed through every nerve.
Only the protective enchantments woven into his robe saved him. Without it, his bones would be dust.
Comparing his flesh to the Tier-4 serpent's body was like matching an eggshell to a mountain boulder.
Surviving the blow was a miracle.
"HISSSSS!!!"
The serpent's enraged shriek pierced Lin Feng's ringing ears.
Explosions followed—BOOM! KRA-KOOM!—mingled with human shouts and the cavern's violent tremors.
The battle against the elder's group raged.
They're fighting… It's distracted… Maybe—
"I'll gouge your lungs out!!"
Lin Feng's half-formed thought died as terror seized him.
The barrel-thick tail reared back… and lashed towards him again.
Amidst the chaos of battling two Golden Core cultivators and their followers…
The serpent remembered him.
Finishing off this "crushed insect" was but a trivial flick of its tail.
Lin Feng hung trapped in the stone.
Every muscle shrieked. Every bone felt fractured.
He couldn't move a finger. Couldn't gather true essence. Couldn't reactivate the bracelet.
Hopelessness washed over him, cold and final.
"This is it…"
His mind numbed. Face grey.
No last surge of strength. No hidden trump card.
Only the shadow of death, descending as the ice-blue tail filled his vision.
Tap.
A touch on his shoulder.
Absurd. Impossible. He was fused into solid rock.
A dying hallucination?
Then—a powerful grip clamped his right shoulder.
A fierce yank backward.
"Vvmmmm…"
A low hum vibrated through his bones.
Orange light flooded his vision. Stone seemed to flow past him like water.
Disorientation.
Then clarity.
He was being pulled through solid rock!
"KRA-THOOM!!!"
The serpent's tail struck the wall where he'd been embedded.
The rock face where he'd lain exploded outward in a shower of debris.
The orange light surrounding him flared violently, rippling like disturbed water.
"Hngh!"
A pained grunt came from behind.
A second hand seized his left shoulder.
The backward surge accelerated.
Within seconds, the cacophony of battle faded.
The crushing tremors ceased.
The orange glow stabilized.
The last sound Lin Feng registered was the serpent's infuriated, baffled roar… then silence.
"Haaahhh…"
A long, shaky exhale echoed behind him.
The hands on his shoulders released their grip.
He stopped moving.
The entire rescue spanned mere heartbeats.
Lin Feng sagged, gasping, pain and disbelief warring within.
He forced his trembling legs to hold him, turned slowly.
His rescuer stood bathed in the soft, steady orange light emanating from a palm-sized, intricate artifact in his right hand. The light formed a protective dome around them.
The man wiped sweat from his forehead with his left sleeve, offering a weary grin.
"Heh. Told you I'd find you, didn't I?"
Lin Feng stared, eyes wide with shock.
"You?! Swordsman?!"
The man who'd pulled him from the jaws of death was the very same enigmatic wanderer he'd only just met—the Swordsman!
The sword usually cradled in his arms was gone, likely sheathed or stored.
"How… How are you here?" Lin Feng stammered, a whirlwind of questions forming—When did you arrive? How did you evade the elder's Divine Sense? How did you hide from the serpent? How do you move through stone? Why… save me?
The Swordsman gestured upward with his chin, the orange artifact in his hand pulsing faintly.
"Followed the Loong family. Long story."
He scanned the solid earth surrounding their glowing bubble, his expression turning focused.
"Explanations later. We need distance. Now."
True essence flowed from him into the artifact.
The orange dome hummed softly.
Like an elevator ascending through bedrock, it carried them smoothly upward, away from the chaos below.