Of course, Qian Yuelong and her friends weren't stupid; they were doing parkour in the forest.

In mid-air, Wei Ming, who was still outwitting and outmaneuvering the Purple Scale Serpent King, used a claw. The sharp claws tore open the already bloody corner of the eye socket, leaving a winding trail of blood on the dark purple scales near the eye socket. After struggling for a long time, the Purple Scale Serpent King finally broke free from what had been pressing down on it, and its nearly 30-meter-long body plummeted straight down.

"唳——!"

Wei Ming folded his wings and accelerated his descent.

In mid-air, the Purple Scale Serpent King rolled over its abdomen, which was even more swollen than the rest of its body. Unable to see anything, it opened its blood-red maw and, following its survival instinct, spat out a large mouthful of purplish-black venom upwards.

Anyway, it won't be harmed by spraying itself with its own venom.

Its flesh and blood are filled with its own snake venom.

Wei Ming dodged the venom attack by sidestepping, realizing something was wrong. He watched helplessly as the Purple Scale Serpent King turned in mid-air, letting out a sharp roar, and crashed through several thick, outstretched tree branches like a small cannonball before falling into the forest.

On the other side, the swarm of snakes, which had been relentlessly chasing Hao Xuan and Qu Yuanyi, paused for a moment, received some kind of signal, and then began to move even more frantically, decisively abandoning the two human soul masters who had invaded the snake nest, and gathering towards the location of the snake king.

Hao Xuan and Qu Yuanyi exchanged a glance, then quickly turned around to go and support Wei Ming.

"Oh no, Teacher Wei made a mistake."

Qian Yuelong, who had been able to see the Purple Scale Serpent King escape from the Peng Claw with her expanded spiritual power, frowned and braked suddenly, scraping a straight line on the ground.

Hu Liena and the others also came to an abrupt stop.

Yan clicked his tongue and looked at Qian Yuelong with a bad expression: "That's bad. The Purple Scale Serpents are very vengeful. Unless we kill all the Purple Scale Serpents or kill the Serpent King directly, their attacks will not stop."

Seeing that Wei Ming had gouged out two of Qian Yuelong's eyes, she paused, looked at her teammates waiting for her decision, and let out a soft breath, saying, "I will use the fourth soul ring I have chosen to kill the Purple Scale Serpent King."

"Captain, what are you saying? Didn't you say we're comrades? How can we just stand by and watch another comrade go into danger alone? I'll go with you. My first and second soul skills can assist you!" Xu Yu was the first to disagree.

Hu Liena also drew her sharp dagger, her expression full of disapproval: "Yuelong, you're being too polite. Xu Yu is right, as a team member, how can we let you take risks alone?"

Xie Yue spread his five fingers slightly and grasped his Martial Soul Moon Blade: "Although our soul power cultivation is not as good as yours, there is strength in numbers and we can help you cover for us."

"Yes, let's go together!" Yan clenched his left fist and punched his right palm.

Zhang Ping and Sun Chuantao also made their stance clear.

Seeing that none of Hu Liena and the others had backed down, 886 let out a soft exclamation: [Host, I didn't expect them to be so cooperative.]

'It's strangely good.'

Qian Yuelong smiled and made a final decision: "Okay, let's go together." At worst, she would first indiscriminately send a wave of souls away from their bodies, kill the Purple Scale Serpent King, and then use the "Divine Blessing" to call back their souls.

The six nodded in unison and followed Qian Yuelong toward the crash site of the Purple Scale Serpent King.

On Wei Ming's side, the Purple Scale Serpent King, whose eyes had become terrifying blood holes, was fleeing through the forest.

Snake-like spirit beasts actually have limited eyesight. They mainly rely on flicking their tongues to collect scent particles from their surroundings, and then use other organs connected to the brain's nerves to obtain the scent of their environment or prey.

Therefore, blinding them is not their fatal weakness.

Wei Ming acted precisely because he saw this, first stripping the Purple Scale Serpent King of its external vision.

However, this Purple Scale Serpent King was more intelligent and cold-blooded than they had imagined.

The purple-scaled snakes that were knocked unconscious by a slap were alright, but the ones that were still conscious went completely berserk.

Summoned by the Serpent King, the Purple Scale Serpents charged at them in droves, using every trick in the book to try and entangle their pursuit, turning themselves into serpentine obstacles and dragging them down with their lives.

Several times, Hao Xuan couldn't control his strength and slapped the snake pancake that lunged at his neck into a bloody mess.

After more than a dozen rounds, even Qu Yuanyi, a defensive Soul Saint who could slay several Purple Scale Snakes with a single punch, was extremely annoyed by the snakes' selfless attacks.

They intended to kill the snake, but only one; they didn't want to wipe out the entire snake population!

Hao Xuan looked at Wei Ming, who was among them, with a worried expression. Wei Ming was constantly activating his Martial Soul True Body and also had to allocate his soul power to form a protective membrane to defend against the venomous blood of the Serpent King. Hao Xuan was anxious.

The downside of hunting spirit beasts and turning them into spirit rings is that...

You cannot use offensive soul skills at will.

If things go wrong, given Wei Ming's Soul Douluo-level cultivation, he might just smash the Purple Scale Serpent King to death. The only option is to maneuver around it and capture it alive.

When Qian Yuelong and the others arrived, what they saw was a snake and a person chasing each other through the winding forest, almost like afterimages.

"This speed is too fast. We need to corner it or restrict it for a while." Yan frowned.

Qian Yuelong's gaze darkened slightly, as her mental strength could keep up with the Purple Scale Serpent King's movement speed, but her physical hardware had not yet reached that level.

"It definitely needs to be stopped first."

Even if it's just for a few seconds.

The pink and white silk flowers adorning her hair swayed gently in the wind, and the vines rooted in the ground began to stir, sensing Qian Yuelong's thoughts.

"Bang! Bang!"

Thick, sturdy thorns burst forth from the ground, twisting their bucket-like roots. Their emerald green skin was covered with menacing thorns that formed high walls around the plants. Sensing the dramatic change in its surroundings, the Purple Scale Serpent King charged forward with its momentum, its hard scales colliding with the equally hard and venomous thorns of the plants.

Unfortunately, the snake suffered a second injury to its already injured head, specifically to the area around its eye sockets.

The pain and the invasion of the unfamiliar toxins caused the Purple Scale Serpent King to let out a shrill howl. Driven by its survival instinct, it immediately spat out a large mouthful of freshly produced, highly venomous snake fluid.

The corrosive venom of the snake was poured onto the menacing, emerald-green vines. The hard, poisonous thorns decayed rapidly, like a punctured foam board, losing all vitality and turning into withered, yellowish-brown drooping branches.

Following the Serpent King's signal, the purple-scaled snakes hissed and gathered around the edge of the thorny wall, pacing anxiously and flicking their tongues.

Other purple-scaled serpents, with a thousand years of cultivation, stood like knights protecting the purple-scaled serpent king, who was writhing in pain.

All of this happened in just a few seconds.

"Yuelong? What's going on?"

"Zhang Ping, Yan, protect Xu Yu. The rest of you, charge with me and cover me!"

Qian Yuelong interrupted Wei Ming, quickly gave the order, and sprang from her spot like an arrow, rushing into the swarm of snakes.

Wei Ming's expression changed slightly upon instantly understanding Qian Yuelong's plan. After a half-second of thought, he also relayed the cooperation command to the other two teachers: "Xuanzi! Yuanyi! Cover Qian Yuelong as she prioritizes killing the Purple Scale Serpent King!"

"good!"

—A side note—

I'll finish writing this overnight and update it at the end of the month.

This chapter is the update for the 30th. I'm cramming during the day and night. Then I'll take leave for exams on the 1st and 2nd, and I'll be back on the 3rd!

(End of this chapter)