Wang Hao thought to himself: You really did come for the benefits. Isn’t your Li family also just looking for a backer for your clan’s younger generation? But such words couldn’t be spoken aloud; some things, if said openly, would cause everyone to lose too much face.

Chu He wore an apologetic expression. “It was my fault. I apologize to you all. Since everyone agrees, let’s set off quickly.”

Everyone nodded and then headed towards the swamp area.

Qi Refining cultivators, lacking protective Gang Qi, couldn’t stay too long in a miasma-filled place like a swamp. However, the group had their own methods—some swallowed detoxifying pills, while others used magical artifacts to emit a shielding light—so the journey, though perilous, was ultimately safe.

When the four arrived at the area where the venomous serpent’s lair was located, they became even more cautious. For cultivators, demon beasts were treasures from head to tail; their materials were an important cultivation resource. Conversely, for demon beasts, a cultivator’s body was a potent tonic; their essence blood could even promote a demon beast’s advancement. This was often the motivation behind demon beasts attacking humans.

Snake-type demon beasts were inherently low in intelligence. Faced with cultivators, their instinct was simply to devour them. Therefore, the four decided to first deploy a formation near the lair, then have Chu He act as bait to lure the serpent out.

Chu He cultivated earth-attribute techniques and was Proficient in the Earth Escape Technique, which particularly countered the venomous serpent. Moreover, since everyone was doing this for his benefit, it wouldn’t look good if he hid behind others while they took all the risks.

Seeing the sun high in the sky and noon approaching, they prepared to act immediately. Chen Qing handed two formation disks to Wang Hao and Li Derong, respectively. She herself would control the main formation disk. Additionally, there were eight formation nodes that needed to be placed by them in the corresponding eight directions.

Wang Hao observed his system map. Unfortunately, only the immediate surrounding area was unlocked, so he couldn’t see much useful information.

With everything ready, Chu He nodded to the group, deliberately made some noise, and headed straight for the serpent’s lair. The other three hid, quietly waiting for the beast to enter the trap.

Wang Hao suppressed his nervousness. He had faced and even slain second-order demon beasts before. Now he was stronger and had more trump cards. Yet, his hands still tightly clutched several spirit talismans, ready to flee at the first sign of real danger—after all, he only had one life.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of dull thuds sounded. Wang Hao looked into the distance and saw a massive ink-black serpent, over ten zhang long and as thick as the mouth of a vat, surge into the air. It shook its head, appearing furious at having its pleasant dreams disturbed.

True to his years as a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, Chu He didn’t panic. Instead, he launched several spells consecutively at the beast, causing the newly awakened serpent to stumble.

The venomous serpent roared angrily and spat a stream of ink-like substance at Chu He. Unhurried, Chu He condensed several earthen walls in front of himself before activating his Earth Escape Technique and sinking into the ground.

The earthen walls, corroded by the ink, collapsed instantly, but Chu He wasn’t behind them. The venomous serpent paused briefly in confusion before launching several attacks at the spot where Chu He had disappeared, blasting the earth apart thoroughly.

Meanwhile, Chu He had already fled far away. Upon reappearing, he threw several spirit talismans at the serpent to draw its aggro.

Enraged further, the serpent lashed its tail and charged fiercely towards him.

Only then did Chu He start heading towards the trap. Having created distance earlier, even though the serpent was faster, he still entered the formation area first.

As Wang Hao and the other two poured spiritual power into their formation disks, an earthen-yellow grand formation rose from the ground. It launched wave after wave of attacks, continuously striking the serpent.

Trapped inside, the venomous serpent roared again. A layer of ink-black spiritual light manifested over its body, blocking the formation’s attacks.

This Four Symbols Formation was more adept at trapping enemies. While it could slay first-order demon beasts, its offensive power was too weak against a second-order one.

Thus, all four summoned their magical artifacts and jointly attacked the encircled beast.

Chu He continuously formed hand seals, hurling powerful earth-attribute spells at the serpent.

Li Derong wielded her long yellow silk ribbon, restricting the serpent’s movements and occasionally seizing chances to lash out with it. Wang Hao didn’t choose his sword this time but instead took out his newly acquired Fan Tian Yin—the Sky-Overturning Seal.

Under Wang Hao’s infused Spiritual Power, the twelve spirit pearls embedded on its four sides glowed brightly. The Fan Tian Yin grew with the wind until it was the size of a house, smashing down heavily onto the venomous serpent.

Chen Qing focused on controlling the formation to prevent it from being broken by the beast’s struggles.

Under their combined assault, the spiritual light shield around the serpent finally couldn’t hold. Its light dimmed, and the protective shield instantly dissipated.

However, success was still far off. Second-order demon beasts possessed formidable physical bodies; even without their protective spiritual light, it wouldn’t be easy for four people to kill it.

Li Derong seized the moment. Swinging her long ribbon, she coiled it around the serpent’s vital point—seven inches below the head! Chen Qing took out a seed-like magical artifact and threw it. The seed took root upon landing on the serpent, transforming into numerous vines that coiled up along its tail.

Chu He and Wang Hao didn’t idle either. Taking advantage of the serpent being restrained, they landed solid blow after blow on its body. Even with a second-order beast’s thick hide, blood flowed freely from their attacks.

The venomous serpent roared furiously once more, opened its maw wide, and spewed out accumulated ink from within its body, attacking all four of them at once.

This ink was highly toxic and corrosive. If it touched them, even if it wasn’t immediately fatal, they would lose their combat ability instantly.

Fortunately, the formation was there. Chen Qing cast a spell seal towards her formation disk. Inside the barrier, wind and clouds churned violently, and a torrential downpour began. The ink, diluted by the rainwater and blocked by the clouds, posed no threat to them.

Wang Hao felt relieved. He poured more Spiritual Power into the Fan Tian Yin. The seal pressed down even more heavily. Unable to bear the weight, the serpent’s body suddenly sank lower.

Chu He immediately struck repeatedly at the beast’s open wounds.

The venomous serpent whimpered painfully, fear flashing in its eyes. It released waves of spiritual light all over its body, violently breaking free from the control of the two binding artifacts and snapping the vines all around it.

Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, Li Derong hurriedly retracted her ribbon just in time to avoid sharing the fate of the vines.

But while breaking free, the serpent was also hit several times by the others’ attacks. Its body staggered, and under the suppression of the Fan Tian Yin, it sank a bit further into the mud.

Li Derong put away her ribbon and took out a flying sword. Manipulating it, she slashed at the serpent’s weak flank, leaving a long gash on its vulnerable belly.

“Brother Wang, please retract your artifact. If the serpent is crushed to pulp by your seal, it won’t be worth anything!”

The Qing Yuan Sect only required killing the demon beast to complete the task; they didn’t need the corpse. The cultivators could still exchange it for spirit stones.

“Alright.”

Wang Hao retracted the Fan Tian Yin, formed hand seals, and released a fire dragon. This was from his recent practice of the Essence Fire Three Transformations. Since his time with the technique was short, he could only manifest one form, but he intended to test its power.

The fire dragon coiled and attacked the venomous serpent. Under the scorching heat, the serpent’s skin emitted wisps of white steam.