"Boom..."
Deep in the valley, tremors resounded, accompanied by tumbling rocks and the roars of monstrous beasts.
As the distance closed, four enormous rock pythons covered in hard, gray-black rock armor were seen writhing and weaving wildly among the rocks, chasing after a nimble, ghostly figure ahead.
The figure dodged left and right, weaving and shifting between the four giant pythons' frenzied attacks.
The rock python's attack power is undeniably strong. Each tail whip creates a distinct whooshing sound, and when it hits the ground, it can create a crater half a meter wide. In addition, it can spew out a putrid yellow venomous mist with terrible corrosiveness.
In terms of strength and aggression, the rock python was clearly far superior to Shen Yunhao, and in terms of speed, it was on par with him and not at a disadvantage.
Even so, no matter how the four rock pythons surrounded and blocked him, or how much poisonous mist they spewed, Shen Yunhao always managed to avoid fatal attacks by the slightest margin at the critical moment, using extremely strange steps.
Occasionally, the rock python's venomous mist would spread out, accidentally injuring each other, and hissing white smoke would emanate from the corrosive scales.
However, they seemed oblivious to pain, their scarlet vertical pupils filled only with rage, their eyes fixed on Shen Yunhao's leaping figure from beginning to end.
Not far away, Ning Yuyao stood quietly on a protruding rock, her hands tucked into her sleeves, her cool gaze following the figure that was flying up and down in the arena.
The girl's face showed no worry or tension, only a calm scrutiny and a subtle appreciation.
Clearly, Shen Yunhao has been using these Soul Condensation Realm rock pythons as "sparring partners" for quite some time now.
Ning Yuyao's emotions also changed from initial fear and anxiety to a sense of normalcy and acceptance.
It was Shen Yunhao's own idea to use these fierce but unintelligent rock pythons to hone his Lingbo Sword Steps.
The reason is quite simple.
Although Ning Yuyao is incredibly strong, as a young wife, she ultimately cannot bring Shen Yunhao the same sense of life-or-death pressure and deadly threat during sparring as a real enemy.
These rock pythons, however, are different.
They possess high cultivation levels and formidable combat power. Their attacks are purely instinctive, fearless, and tireless. The oppressive aura they exude far surpasses that of Ning Yuyao, who only strikes once.
Fortunately, although these rock pythons possessed the cultivation level of the Soul Condensation Realm, they had no intelligence and their fighting style was simple. Compared to true Soul Condensation Realm demonic beasts or human cultivators, they were much less threatening. This gave Shen Yunhao the courage to dance on the edge of a knife and hone his skills.
"Buzz! Buzz!"
Just as Shen Yunhao was fully focused, his figure dodging the three intersecting streams of poisonous mist at an extremely tricky angle, and preparing to change position again, the identity jade pendant at his waist suddenly flashed with a rapid light without warning!
The sudden light momentarily distracted Shen Yunhao, causing him to freeze in place.
"Sizzle—!"
A thick, rotten yellow toxic mist, like a poisonous dragon, swept past his left shoulder!
Although the Vast Ocean Heart automatically protected its master, and the warm blue water light instantly spread and dispelled the corrosive poison gas, the already somewhat damaged clothes on Shen Yunhao's body still had a fist-sized hole corroded in the left shoulder.
"Holy crap!"
Shen Yunhao gasped, no longer daring to be distracted. He activated the Lingbo Sword Step with all his might, his figure turning into a blur as he narrowly escaped the encirclement of the four rock pythons. With a few leaps, he retreated to the valley entrance and reunited with Ning Yuyao.
The rock python behind him seemed to have suddenly lost sight of its target, its eyes becoming blank, but it still instinctively searched for Shen Yunhao's figure throughout the valley.
Outside the valley entrance, Ning Yuyao was also momentarily flustered by what had just happened. She was relieved to see that Shen Yunhao was unharmed and gently scolded, "Brother Yunhao was too careless!"
Shen Yunhao chuckled and scratched his head, saying, "It's nothing, it's nothing. I've been injured more than once or twice. It's just a pity about these clothes; I don't even have a change..."
Ning Yuyao glared at him irritably, but didn't pursue the matter further, and instead took off the jade pendant.
Below where the points were originally displayed, a line of clear small text appeared:
"Participants with 15,000 points or more must gather at the Xuanlei Pavilion within one day. Those who fail to arrive by the deadline will be considered to have forfeited and will not be eligible to participate in the final competition of the third stage!"
Seeing this, Shen Yunhao raised an eyebrow. "The third phase has started ahead of schedule? There are only fifty people left? It hasn't even been a month..."
Based on the dates, there are three days left until the end of the second phase!
Ning Yuyao didn't speak, but only frowned slightly.
It hasn't even been a full month, but the number of people who still own the jade pendant has already dropped to below fifty, and the competition is even fiercer than they imagined.
"Let's pack up and get ready to go..."
Putting away the jade token, Shen Yunhao stretched lazily. "I'll go back to the cave to tidy up a bit..."
But when he stepped out again, his gaze swept across the valley, and he froze.
The four Soul Condensation Realm Rock Pythons that had been so ferocious and relentlessly chasing him just moments before were now all lying on the ground, their massive bodies motionless.
And on their heads, there was a huge bloody hole in the eye socket!
Apart from that, no other injuries were observed.
Clearly, they were all killed with a single blow!
Extremely short time, extremely high efficiency...
Shen Yunhao opened his mouth and turned to look at Ning Yuyao beside him.
The girl wiped the blood from the Cloud Frost Sword and explained in a low voice, "For a soulless body, death is either liberation or release..."
Shen Yunhao remained silent for a moment, then raised his hand to rub the girl's head and chuckled softly.
"I just think... my wife is amazing..."
I thought that with persistent efforts, the gap between the two would continue to narrow.
But now... Shen Yunhao has finally given up on this idea completely.
...
Xuanlei Pavilion, this magnificent building standing in the center of the secret realm, is no longer silent.
When Shen Yunhao appeared, more than a dozen figures had already gathered in the huge square in front of the pavilion.
Compared to the hundreds of people who gathered at the start of the second phase, those who are standing here now are all elites among elites.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Shen Yunhao and Ning Yuyao did not appear together.
Looking around the arena, I saw quite a few familiar faces.
On the Guanghan Palace side, besides Ning Yuyao, only Yao Xiangxue, Guan Yingying, and... Wu Yun'er, who stood beside Guan Yingying and seemed somewhat silent, remained.
After seven days apart, Wu Yun'er seemed to have lost some weight. The arrogance in her eyes remained, but her flamboyant and unrestrained nature seemed to have subsided, replaced by a more composed demeanor.
She clearly saw Superman Qiang in the crowd as well. Her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, and she habitually raised her smooth chin, gave a soft snort in Shen Yunhao's direction, and then quickly looked away, no longer looking at him, nor making any attempt to strike up a conversation.
Shen Yunhao shook his head and smiled bitterly.
It seems that the aftereffects of that day's "mischief" are still unfolding.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
