Su Muqing tossed Tong Lesheng onto the rooftop of the vehicle. Then, she raised her hands, conjuring gusts of wind that blew the approaching poisonous creatures towards the Saintess. She also seized the opportunity to hurl several lightning bolts in her direction.
The others, lacking Su Muqing's wind, lightning, and thunder abilities, could only use their swords and blades to hack at the relentless stream of poisonous creatures crawling out.
The Saintess of the Thousand Poisons Cult was naturally not unskilled. The young woman dodged Su Muqing's attacks several times with uncanny agility.
Su Muqing was somewhat surprised. She attributed her profound and pure internal energy cultivation to the augmentation of her space. But this woman, appearing to be around her age, how could her internal energy be so deep?
The Saintess was also astonished by Su Muqing's martial prowess. She couldn't fathom how someone so young could be so formidable. Had she also practiced some unique martial art? Was that why her appearance had changed?
Seeing that Su Muqing had the upper hand, the Saintess felt indignant. The flute music grew faster and the pitch higher. Her face began to age at an alarming rate.
By the time wrinkles covered the Saintess's face, a python thicker than a barrel's head emerged from behind her.
The giant python contorted its body like a spring. It opened its cavernous mouth, revealing fangs as thick and long as a small child's arm.
With a "swoosh" and a foul stench, it charged towards Su Muqing and her companions.
Lu Yuzhi raised his long sword and leaped forward, blocking the python's attack. His sword struck the serpent's body, sounding like it hit metal. Not only did it clang, but it also snapped his sword in two.
Seeing Lu Yuzhi's weapon break, Su Muqing threw a powerful lightning bolt at the python. The serpent's scales were blown askew by the blast.
After a few moments of stillness, the python shook its scales and charged towards Su Muqing.
Su Muqing drew a high-powered stun baton, leaped up, and stepped onto the python's body. She forcefully jammed it into the serpent's vulnerable spot.
The python, electrocuted, gaped its mouth, emitting a silent scream towards the sky. In agony, the serpent thrashed violently. Su Muqing lost her footing and tumbled down its body.
Lu Yuzhi discarded his broken sword and leaped up, catching the falling Su Muqing. He then rolled with her on the ground a few times.
Unable to utilize his internal energy, Lu Yuzhi's movements were noticeably slower. To protect Su Muqing, his reaction was slightly delayed while dodging. Consequently, his back was fiercely whipped by the serpent's tail, causing him to spew a mouthful of blood.
"Big Brother Lu!" Su Muqing was splattered with blood.
Seeing the python charge again with its gaping maw, she could even see a thick gullet at its throat.
Su Muqing quickly retrieved her energy-absorbing ring. She then aimed it at the gaping mouth and directed her energy through its gullet.
A "sizzling" sound emanated from the python's mouth. The tender flesh within was struck by electricity, and a section of its protruding gullet was instantly blown off.
In pain, the python opened its mouth, spitting out the severed section of its gullet along with a pool of black blood. The small poisonous creatures and wild grass on the ground were corroded upon contact with the black blood.
The energy seemed to act like a living entity, rapidly drilling into the python's body through the severed opening. Tormented, the python let out a serpentine cry, inaudible to humans, which scared away the other small poisonous creatures.
Leng Ren and the others quickly hurried towards Su Muqing and her companions, carrying Lin Rongrong and the little one. The python writhed on the ground in agony, its thick body twisting into knots. Soon, the smell of charred meat filled the air.
"Black Mountain King!" The Saintess, seeing the python's pained expression and smoke rising from its mouth, rushed over and frantically blew her flute at it.
However, no matter how she played, the python lay limp on the ground, gradually losing all response. Her greatest weapon had been killed by that woman, the woman she detested the most, the beautiful one.
The Saintess's gaze towards Su Muqing was filled with a murderous intent. "You people, new white ones! How dare you kill my Thousand Poisons Cult's sacred beast, the Serpent King! I will make you pay!"
After venomously finishing her declaration, the Saintess picked up her flute and began to play again. Fortunately, no snakes, insects, rats, or ants emerged this time.
Just as everyone thought the giant python was dead, it began to emit a bright blue glow. Its body seemed to inflate, growing thicker and thicker!
Su Muqing frowned, sensing something was amiss. At that moment, System 217 in her mind issued a warning! "Warning, warning! Detecting a powerful explosion imminent. Host, please take immediate cover in the space."
As soon as 217 finished speaking, a blinding white light erupted. Everyone felt a powerful energy surge towards them. The little one began to cry inconsolably.
Su Muqing shouted, "Close your eyes!"
Then, just as the energy within the python reached its breaking point before exploding, Su Muqing, tightly holding Lu Yuzhi with one arm, waved her other hand. She brought the people and the carriage behind her into the space to take cover.
The moment everyone disappeared, with a "hiss... bang...", the over-inflated python instantly disintegrated into dust.
The Saintess also sensed something was wrong and stopped playing her flute, intending to fly to the trees to observe. However, she was a step too slow. The powerful energy released by the exploding python knocked her several meters away.
Su Muqing saw that the people who had entered the space, apart from the crying little one, had all obediently kept their eyes closed. They likely had no idea they had entered another dimension!
After the rain of flesh and blood outside gradually dissipated, Su Muqing put a gas mask on the little one. She then instructed everyone not to open their eyes for a while, to avoid injury from the python's poisonous blood. After that, she led them out of the space.
Outside the space, the areas affected by the python's bloody remains were all corroded and blackened. A heavy, foul stench permeated the air.
Su Muqing used her energy ring to collect the remaining diffused energy. Then, she used her Gale skill to direct the corrosive blood and flesh still on the ground, along with the corpses of the smaller poisonous creatures, into a large pit. Only after completing these tasks did she allow everyone else to open their eyes.
Perhaps the combined toxicity of the giant python and the smaller creatures was simply too severe. Even though Su Muqing had done her best to clean the surrounding environment, shortly after Lin Rongrong and the others opened their eyes, they felt a severe foreign body sensation and intense burning pain in their eyes. Soon, the whites of their eyes turned blood-red, showing clear signs of poisoning.
Su Muqing quickly took out a drop of spiritual spring water, diluted it, and gave each person a small sip. The remainder was used to wash their eyes. Only then did everyone feel less discomfort.
After so much commotion, the group was exhausted and hadn't even had a meal. Worse still, they seemed to have attracted a major problem.
In truth, Su Muqing and her companions felt unfairly treated. They couldn't be blamed for attracting trouble; they were simply traveling peacefully on their way when trouble found them.