[Fifth Day, Early Morning, In front of the County Bank Vault]
"It should be here."
Vivian looked at the vault door engraved with the Libra (Scales) pattern. Even though she didn't know what was inside.
However, the invisible temporal fluctuations in front of the vault, and the subtle, weird aura in the air,
All made her feel that they had touched upon the 'truth' of Longevity Island.
If they could open the vault door now, they might learn everything that happened here, as well as the way to leave.
"Kong, take that item out."
"Mm."
As Chen Kong took out the Golden Chrysanthemum they had finally obtained yesterday, the Libra pattern on the vault door instantly reacted.
Amidst flashing golden light, the temporal barrier in front of the vault door began to fluctuate.
"Sure enough, there's a certain balance between this Golden Chrysanthemum and the power of death pervasive on this island, and the early morning is the crucial node for the island's spacetime convergence."
Witnessing the seal in front of the vault door lift with his own eyes, Mi Yao couldn't help but speak out.
Vivian nodded, looking seriously at the gold-colored vault door, as if she could see something through it.
A moment later, Vivian spoke: "Let's go. I feel like something... might be waiting for us behind this door."
With that, Vivian pushed open the vault door.
Boom.
With a heavy dragging sound, the vines surrounding the vault door slowly peeled away.
Then, a spacious vault hall appeared before everyone.
A massive, giant Libra scale was suspended in the center of the vault hall, with its two ends holding up something distinct.
Everything was exactly the same as when Tendo and the others arrived here not long ago.
But just as the three, Chen Kong, Mi Yao, and Vivian, were walking towards the giant Libra scale, a blurry black shadow flashed in the corner of the vault.
"Careful!"
Mi Yao was the first to react, decisively pulling Chen Kong and Vivian by the shoulders and retreating backward.
Bang!
The instant the three backed up, a huge creature suddenly burst out of the vault floor.
It was an enormous, unknown serpent-like creature, its body completely covered and woven from countless vines.
A giant purple rose grew on its head, with dark red light flickering in its stamen, seemingly suggesting something.
"Be careful, this thing is not simple."
Looking at the massive creature before them, Mi Yao reached for the game console at his waist.
Vivian, beside him, shared the information she had detected.
"Its Star Energy fluctuation is at the peak of Tier 3, and the flower on its head contains a massive amount of 'Death Qi'."
Chen Kong nodded, and the Void Weaver silently appeared in his hand.
Although he wasn't sure of the massive creature's origin... it clearly harbored ill intentions.
Because he felt distinct killing intent in the creature's eyes.
"Roar!"
Without any warning, the Corrupted Vine Giant Serpent, sensing the intrusion, suddenly let out a low growl.
Then, it raised its head, and the petals on its crown suddenly opened like a Venus flytrap, revealing densely packed spikes inside.
These were 'teeth' mutated from vines.
The next second, dark-green, putrid-smelling corrosive fluid sprayed out like a torrential rain.
Without any hesitation, the three retreated at the speed of light.
The fluid landed on the ground where the three had just been, causing the stone slabs to sizzle and smoke, leaving behind pitted marks.
"Mi Yao, contain it head-on, try to keep its attention."
"Chen Kong, find a chance to circle around the back. The core of its stamen must have a defensive blind spot."
In a flash, Vivian stated her plan.
Mi Yao didn't waste words.
He took a step forward, and the screen of the game console in his hand suddenly lit up.
Immediately after, the game console reformed into a pixel-art style long-handled war hammer. The hammer head gleamed with a heavy metallic luster, clearly weighing a considerable amount.
Taking advantage of the gap while the giant serpent was spraying fluid, Mi Yao leaped to the middle section of the serpent's body, raising his hammer high.
The vine entanglement there was loosest; it was the giant serpent's joint.
Bang!
The war hammer slammed down with a whooshing sound, denting the serpent's body. A dozen vines snapped instantly, and green fluid sprayed out.
But before he could pull back, the giant serpent suddenly whipped its tail, lashing out at Mi Yao like a steel whip.
He hurriedly blocked with the war hammer, but the tremendous force sent him flying, crashing hard against the cavern wall. A sweetness rose in his throat, and he spat out blood.
Damn it! This thing's strength definitely exceeds that of a normal Tier 3.
Feeling the churning blood and qi inside him, Mi Yao knew he couldn't handle this creature alone.
Fortunately, he wasn't fighting solo; he had two helpers.
Almost at the exact moment Mi Yao was forced back by the giant serpent, Vivian seized the instant the serpent's attention was drawn by Mi Yao. Her mechanized joints made a faint 'click' sound, and her body transformed into a silver-grey blur, rapidly climbing along the wall.
Her Seconds Hand Rapier spun between her fingers, aimed at the gap below the rose stamen—the vines there were thinnest, the channel for core energy delivery.
Seconds Hand Rapier - Stab!
The silver-white rapier shot out like a meteor, accurately piercing the vine gap and sinking half an inch into the stamen.
"Hiss!"
Feeling the sharp pain, the giant serpent let out a piercing shriek. The petals on its crown suddenly snapped shut, firmly clamping down on Vivian's rapier.
Then, it vigorously swung its head, attempting to fling Vivian against the nearby wall to crush her.
Fortunately, Vivian let go in time and leaped into the air, before returning to the top of the giant serpent's head.
Otherwise, just the force of that impact alone would have left her severely injured, if not dead.
However, more troublesome than its raw power was another of the giant serpent's characteristics, which Vivian found extremely difficult to deal with.
Where she had stabbed, a large number of tender buds suddenly sprouted from the wound.
These buds grew rapidly at a visible rate, instantly filling the wound. Even the blade of the Seconds Hand Rapier was enveloped by the new vines.
Troublesome...
Vivian pulled hard on the rapier, but found that the blade was firmly locked by the vines, and she couldn't pull it out at all.
Simultaneously, the giant serpent turned its head, and the rose petals opened again, this time aiming directly at the defenseless Vivian.
"Be careful!"
Chen Kong decisively fired. Star Energy bullets continuously hit the petals, forcing the giant serpent to briefly halt its attack.
He took the opportunity to rush to Vivian's side, using the Dreamweaver in his left hand to replicate a Seconds Hand Rapier identical to Vivian's, and sliced through the vines wrapped around Vivian's original blade.
"Let's go!"
Chen Kong took Vivian and decisively distanced themselves from the giant serpent.
However, the giant serpent clearly had no intention of giving them a moment's respite.
Gazing at the two who suddenly retreated, its body suddenly split into dozens of slender vine tentacles, snaking towards them like poisonous snakes.
The ends of the vine tentacles were barbed; being entangled would certainly result in torn flesh and blood.
At the same time, dark red energy began to gather in the rose stamen, its glow intensifying.
Although they didn't know what it was doing, a sense of unease welled up in Chen Kong and the others.
In the nick of time, Mi Yao gritted his teeth, injecting all his remaining Star Energy into his game console.
The next second, countless pixel chains appeared from all directions, wrapping around the giant serpent's body, briefly restricting its movement.
A good opportunity!
Vivian's eyes sharpened. Her right mechanized arm suddenly disassembled and reassembled into a small energy cannon, the muzzle aimed at the stamen core.
Boom!
A pale purple energy beam shot out, accurately hitting the stamen on the giant serpent's head.
The exaggerated energy instantly exploded at the center of the stamen. The rose petals were mostly blown away, exposing the throbbing dark red core inside.
Seeing this, joy appeared on the faces of Chen Kong and Mi Yao.
Undoubtedly, if they destroyed that thing, they could completely defeat this behemoth before them.
However, their smiles lasted for only a second before instantly vanishing.
The exposed core suddenly emitted red light, and the jar storing a large amount of life force on the Libra scale behind it suddenly released a massive amount of green light, illuminating the giant serpent's body.
In a short while, new vines grew at an even faster rate from the destroyed petals on the giant serpent's head.
Not only did a complete rose flower re-form in just a few seconds, but the flower's size was also larger and more menacing than before.
"No, we can't fight a battle of attrition. We must find a way to solve it in one go."
Exaggerated size, terrifying strength, incomparable vitality...
No matter how they looked at it, engaging in a battle of attrition against this kind of creature meant the three of them had no chance of winning.
However, before Chen Kong and the others could act, the giant serpent, having recovered, became even more ferocious.
Its body split into even more tentacles, simultaneously spraying corrosive fluid and dark red energy projectiles.
Facing this large-area attack, even though the vault's internal space was considerable, the three were quickly cornered.
"This can't go on!"
Looking at the still-raging giant serpent, constantly closing in on them,
Chen Kong suddenly spoke: "Mi Yao, can you use that move again? Can you temporarily restrain its movement, even for just three seconds!"
Without a word, Mi Yao decisively pressed his game console to the ground, placing both hands on the screen.
Bang!
Green pixel blocks quickly spread along the floor, coiling up the giant serpent's body, eventually forming a chain that tightly wrapped around the rose stamen, temporarily fixing the core in place.
"Only two seconds! Hurry!"
Chen Kong seized the fleeting opportunity, gripping the Void Weaver with both hands and injecting all his Star Energy into the gun barrel.
Dreamweaver - Blood Flame!
Blood-red flames condensed into a bullet, which Chen Kong fired accurately like a meteor, precisely hitting the flower bud core on the giant serpent's head.
Boom!
As the Blood Flame bullet exploded, fierce blood-red flames quickly began to burn wildly, using the giant serpent's life force and Star Energy as fuel.
This undoubtedly caused significant trouble for the giant serpent.
After all, this Blood Flame, capable of absorbing life force and Star Energy to grow stronger, clearly countered it.
If Chen Kong's Blood Flame had been the authentic version belonging to his sister, Chen Xing,
Then, just by relying on the Blood Flame's properties, they would only need to constantly dodge; they could exhaust this eerie giant serpent to death.
As it was now, the Blood Flame could only inflict pain and some damage, but it couldn't truly put the giant serpent in mortal danger.
Because the speed at which the Blood Flame consumed life force was completely unmatched by the giant serpent's own regeneration speed.
However, Chen Kong hadn't expected this single shot to finish it. The true killing blow... was not from him.
"Vivian, now!"
Vivian understood immediately, squeezing out all the backup energy from her mechanized body. The energy cannon emitted a dazzling purple light.
Then, an even more exaggerated energy cannon blast than before suddenly appeared.
Almost simultaneously, the pixel chains on the giant serpent's body shattered, and it regained movement.
But attempting to dodge now was too late, as Vivian's giant energy blast had already arrived at its head.
Boom!
The massive energy blast exploded on the giant serpent's head, blowing a horrifying bloody hole in the purple stamen.
Seeing this, hope flashed in the eyes of the three, wishing this shot would end the battle.
But the next second, the giant serpent's shriek plunged them into despair.
Although the giant serpent was severely injured, its regeneration ability was simply terrifying.
Not only did the wound on its head quickly regenerate at a visible speed, but the dark red core also seemed bigger and brighter than before, showing no sign of injury.
Then, it opened its massive mouth and lunged at Chen Kong, who was closest.
The vines in the serpent's mouth condensed into a sharp 'spear' that suddenly shot out, aimed directly at Chen Kong's heart.
It was so fast that Chen Kong couldn't evade. He could only watch as the vine spear struck.
In this critical moment, Mi Yao suddenly lunged, pushing him away.
The vine spear hit Mi Yao's shoulder hard, piercing through his tactical uniform and drawing a plume of blood.
"Mi Yao!"
"Don't worry about me..."
Mi Yao gritted his teeth, shoving the game console that had dropped to the ground into Chen Kong's hand.
"This is my stored Star Energy ultimate, the 'Slowing Seal Talisman.' It can temporarily slow down its speed and regeneration ability."
His face was as pale as paper, and blood continued to stream from the wound on his shoulder. He had clearly lost the ability to fight.
Chen Kong took the game console and pressed the ultimate button without hesitation.
In an instant, green Star Energy erupted from the game console, transforming into a huge rune that enveloped the giant serpent.
The rune flashed, and the giant serpent's movements suddenly became sluggish. The regenerating vines also slowed considerably.
Without any hesitation, Chen Kong abandoned conventional shooting methods. The Blood Flame in his left hand condensed into a demonic blade. Imitating his sister Chen Xing's movement, he slashed at the giant serpent.
Chi!
The Blood Flame demonic blade easily penetrated the vine defense and plunged into the flower stamen core.
The effect of cutting flesh and burning flames caused the giant serpent to let out an agonizing shriek. Its body twisted violently, violently knocking Mi Yao aside.
Vivian rushed forward at the speed of light, pulling Mi Yao to a safe area, quickly stopping the bleeding and bandaging his wound.
At the same time, Chen Kong gripped the hilt tightly, injecting more Blood Flame into the giant serpent's core.
He could feel the Blood Flame frantically devouring the giant serpent's dark red energy.
Coupled with Mi Yao's 'Slowing Ultimate,' the Blood Flame's life-draining speed actually surpassed the giant serpent's recovery speed.
Victory was within reach!
But just at this critical moment, the rune's light began to fade. The slowing effect... was about to disappear.
Not good!
Chen Kong's heart tightened. He tried to intensify the Blood Flame's burning effect.
But the giant serpent suddenly erupted, wrapping its body around him in an apparent attempt at mutual destruction.
The immense pressure caused his bones to crackle. The air was squeezed out of his lungs, and his vision began to darken.
"Chen Kong!"
Vivian cried out anxiously.
Just then, a dazzling golden and pale green light suddenly burst from the top of the pit.
That was Enit's energy of Gluttony and Tendo's vector control!
The two beams of energy intertwined in a spiral and slammed down like a meteor, striking the stamen of the Corrupted Vine Giant Serpent precisely.
Boom!
The violent explosion instantly pulverized the giant serpent's head. The dark red core turned to ashes in the light.
The vines wrapped around Chen Kong instantly lost strength. He fell to the ground, gulping for air.
He looked up at the ceiling, which had a large hole blown into it. Besides the relief of surviving a disaster, he felt an unspeakable confusion.
What just happened?
What was it that suddenly saved him?
-----------------------------------------------
I handpick only the finest and most captivating novels for you. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon HongMengZi