Chapter 43 – The Fang, the Orchid, and the Oriole
The Serpent's Challenge
The Bone-Scaled Serpent uncoiled, its ivory plates clattering like stone on stone. Each rune etched into its scales glowed faintly, and as it hissed, the ravine shook. Late Core Formation—far beyond what ordinary disciples should face.
Lin Xuan planted the Blackstorm Pike into the ground, lightning shivering up the shaft. "We'll use everything we've gained. No holding back."
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Unleashing New Arts
Bai Liang – Azure Sky Severing Saber Art
Original form: A single heavy cut that compressed qi into a sharp edge, breaking defenses with brute force.
Upgraded form: Lin had elevated it to Heaven-tier. Now, when Bai's saber fell, it drew down streaks of azure light from the very sky. Each swing no longer simply cut flesh—it sheared through qi itself.
He charged first, saber screaming downward. The strike didn't just glance off the serpent's scales; it split a glowing rune across its armor, sending cracks spidering outward. The serpent recoiled, its hide finally challenged.
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Junior Sister Mu – Flame Controlling Scripture
Original form: Allowed precise flame manipulation in pill refinement and combat, useful but limited.
Upgraded form: Heaven-grade precision fused with explosive force. Flames now answered her will as extensions of her body, forming shapes and strikes with terrifying speed.
She hurled a talisman into the air, flames gathering into the wings of a phoenix. The construct screamed downward, slamming into the serpent's midsection. For the first time, the beast shrieked in pain.
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Lin Xuan – Heavenstorm Lance
Original form: A thrust imbued with elemental qi, devastating but linear.
Upgraded form: At Mastery, Lin's thrusts bent space itself. The spear tip blinked across short distances, appearing where the serpent least expected, lancing through cracks Bai had carved and igniting them with fire and lightning.
Lin's strike pierced the serpent's shoulder, sending arcs of energy dancing across its body. Smoke hissed from the wound, flesh scorched beneath shattered bone scales.
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The Hidden Hunters
As the three pressed their assault, another presence lingered at the ravine's edge.
A squad of black-clad cultivators crouched in silence, their leader smiling faintly.
"The mantis hunts the cicada," he murmured, eyes fixed on the disciples' desperate battle. "And we are the oriole behind. Let them bleed against the beast. When the serpent falls, the Heart Orchid will be ours."
They waited like wolves, their eyes glowing faintly in the gloom.
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The Struggle Intensifies
The serpent thrashed, tail whipping with force that shattered boulders. Wen barely deflected a blow that would have caved in three disciples at once. Lin's Aegis of Shifting Skies flared, turning earth-solid to blunt the tail's momentum, but even then the impact numbed his arms.
"Keep the pressure!" Lin barked. "Break the runes—its scales are bound by them!"
Bai's saber fell again, azure arcs splitting rune after rune, each strike weakening the serpent's spiritual armor. Mu followed, her phoenix flame exploding into molten shards that clung like napalm. The beast's movements grew erratic, its fury mounting.
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The Turning Point
Finally, Lin's spear blinked through space one last time, the Heavenstorm Lance driving clean through the serpent's throat. With a convulsive shudder, the massive beast collapsed, its coils smashing trees flat.
The ravine shook as silence settled—then the compass pulsed, bright as a sun. The Heart Orchid glowed in the shattered earth, its petals releasing waves of life essence so pure the disciples felt their wounds knitting as they breathed.
Relief flickered through the group. They had survived.
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But the Oriole Moves
A slow clap echoed from the ridge above. The black-clad leader stepped forward, flanked by his cultivators.
"Well fought," he drawled, eyes locked on the Heart Orchid. "You've saved us the trouble of slaying the beast. Now, hand over the prize, and perhaps we'll let you leave with your lives."
The disciples' grips tightened on their weapons. Exhausted, battered, but unbroken, they raised their blades and cauldrons once more.
Lin Xuan stepped forward, lightning dancing faintly at the tip of his spear.
"Then you'll find," he said coldly, "that we don't hand over what we've bled for."
The next battle was about to begin.