"Die!"
Lin Mo opened his mouth, his gaze sharp like lightning, staring at the massive serpent's cold eyes, as large as a physalis. He tightly grasped the hilt of the Xuanyuan Sword with both hands, and decisively plunged the sword tip into the serpent's icy left eye.
Puchi!
Arcs of electricity danced along the blade of the Xuanyuan Sword. Due to Zhen Yuanzi's attack, the serpent's head was in a state of shock, unable to close its hard eyelids in time, allowing the sword tip to abruptly pierce into the crimson cold eye, causing blood to gush forth.
The power of thunder and ice-cold energy from the Xuanyuan Sword swept into the giant serpent's head, wantonly destroying muscle and cellular tissue.
It must be known that, like all Fierce Beasts, the Sky-reaching Snake has incredibly tough external defenses, yet its internal tissues remain exceedingly fragile.
The sharp True Yuan and power of thunder instantly minced the cellular structures within the serpent's head into pulp.
Sss!
Roar!
Hrngh!
The serpent struck by the Xuanyuan Sword immediately became listless, its crimson eyes losing their shine.
"Boom!"
The massive serpent head fell despondently onto the sea surface, with water splashing dozens of meters high, as if a giant crater had been smashed into the tranquil sea. But quickly, the surrounding seawater filled it back in.
The remaining heads let out a shrill, furious roar, almost shattering the entire space.
"The Sky-reaching Snake is enraged, its power will go berserk. Mr. Lin, we need to leave immediately!" Zhen Yuanzi's expression changed abruptly as he immediately transmitted a message.
Lin Mo furrowed his brows slightly, knowing that hunting the Sky-reaching Snake with Zhen Yuanzi would be difficult. He immediately nodded, but in an instant, condensed a golden claw in the void, reaching into the dead serpent's eye to grab a fiery red object.
"Alright, let's leave immediately."
Lin Mo nodded.
The floating Demon Souls could not resist at all, being directly shattered into fine powder.
Zhen Yuanzi, feeling heartache, quickly recalled the Soul Flag, collecting all Demon Souls back into the Soul Banner.
Just as they were about to leave, suddenly,
An incredible attraction surged from below, causing Lin Mo and Zhen Yuanzi to look down in amazement.
A massive underwater vortex appeared on the sea surface, emanating that terrifying pull.
In front of this huge vortex, even the colossal Sky-reaching Snake seemed like a mere toy.
"This force is so strong, we can't resist it!"
Zhen Yuanzi's face changed dramatically.
Lin Mo also furrowed his brows deeply. The Sky-reaching Snake let out low, angry roars that even carried traces of fear.
But in the face of this enormous vortex, it was utterly powerless.
Moments later, the Sky-reaching Snake, Zhen Yuanzi, and Lin Mo were simultaneously sucked into the underwater vortex.
The clouds that had gathered in the sky disappeared along with the Sky-reaching Snake, gently dissipating in the sky. Strands of golden light shone once again upon Duwu Island, as the world returned to a canvas of blue. And after continuing for several seconds more, the vortex abruptly returned to calm. The sea breeze caressed the water's surface, stirring a pattern of waves. No one would have thought that moments earlier, this place resembled an apocalypse, having gone through a brutal battle.
"The vortex earlier—"
"That person and the serpent, they've both vanished."
On Duwu Island, the sun was shining, a cool breeze blowing, leaving only the traces on the rocks, fallen trees, and the massive craters to prove that everything discovered earlier was real, not a dream, nor just the environment.
"Dad, did the hero get eaten by the big snake?" a seven- or eight-year-old boy asked tearfully, looking at his father nearby.
"Heroes don't die. He'll definitely come back." The father gazed at his son, a determined look in his eyes.
Indeed, when the Sky-reaching Snake first appeared, Lin Mo had time and opportunities to escape. However, he was afraid the Sky-reaching Snake would attack the humans on Duwu Island, which is why he resisted it, angered it, and led it to the open waters to fight.
"A hero won't die."
"Right, we all believe he'll return."
Many people shouted, their hearts warmed and touched, not believing Lin Mo was dead.
Everyone was enveloped in a heavy, sorrowful atmosphere, crying, shedding tears, yet they still held strong beliefs that the hero would return.
As time ticked on, someone had already called back home.
The next day, as dawn barely broke with slivers of light, three white ships came into view on the horizon, slowly approaching Duwu Island.
Two hours later, the three cruise ships anchored ten nautical miles from the island, launching small inflatable boats to start retrieving the island's tourists.
Amidst this, on one of the white ships, a woman in a gray business suit, with short hair cut to ear-length, was eagerly writing in a notebook, waiting for the first rescued passenger to board the rescue ship.
The mysterious disappearance of the Carnival cruise had become Huaxia's biggest news. Upon learning a tourist had dialed the cruise company, this female journalist named Gu Jing pulled all connections to qualify to accompany the rescue team.
"Is the camera battery ready? This is exclusive news; we'd better not mess it up," Gu Jing turned to glance at the cameraman behind her.
"Don't worry, Sister Gu. I brought extra batteries and two cameras. Absolutely no problem," the male cameraman gestured confidently.
"That's great." Gu Jing's face was filled with excitement.
Finally, the first passenger was brought aboard, a young girl.
"Quick!" Gu Jing dashed over in high heels towards the girl, with a professional smile on her face: "Hello, I'm a journalist for Palm New Media. My name is Gu Jing. May I interview you?"
The young girl wore a dejected expression, red-eyed, merely casting a cold glance at Gu Jing before walking away.
"This..." Gu Jing seemed a bit embarrassed.
If the person didn't want to be interviewed, there was nothing she could do. She couldn't force someone into an interview.
As the second rescued passenger boarded, Gu Jing faced another closed door. That person was also downcast, not even speaking to her.
"What's going on with these people..." Gu Jing arched her willow leaf eyebrows slightly, having gone through much trouble to come with the rescue team through family help, hoping not to leave empty-handed.
Unrelenting, she approached anyone she saw boarding, aiming to show a kind and approachable demeanor.
"Are you a journalist?" A woman with a child finally spoke up.
"Yes, I work for Palm New Media, and my name is Gu Jing. I want to interview you. Could you tell me why the cruise ship went missing and how you ended up here?" Gu Jing beamed a bright smile.
"Alright, I can tell you."
The woman nodded.
The two moved to a quiet place. After listening to the woman, Gu Jing was utterly shocked.
With Spiritual Energy awakening, the New Human Plan wasn't secret anymore, and even Monsters weren't novel, but
The woman just mentioned an island-sized giant snake?
And a hero who saved them.
"Oh, I have some videos here. Would you like to see them?" The woman produced her phone.
"Yes, of course!" Gu Jing nodded eagerly.
More wonderful things to come tomorrow.