Chapter 264: Killing the Small Monster

Moreover, when Yun Huizhou’s blade struck the large monster’s body, it produced the sound of clashing metal. He failed to cut through the creature’s hide at all; although he didn’t directly break its defense, he did leave a deep mark upon those scales.

Yet even that could not hide the fact that this large monster was invulnerable to blades and spears.

Yun Huizhou’s blade was not the kind of weapon one could buy anywhere; it was ranked third among the Ten Great Precious Blades of the martial world. The masters of the top two blades were both Transcendent experts.

Furthermore, Yun Huizhou was not relying on mere brute force when he struck. He was a genuine super-first-class expert, possessed of formidable internal energy.

The small monster was unwilling to leave the water, merely entangling itself with Lian Li at the water’s edge.

On Yun Huizhou’s side, he constantly blocked the large monster to prevent it from approaching the surface of the underground lake. The two battlefields were separated by a considerable distance.

As the transparent lotus disappeared, the small monster indeed fixed its gaze on Lian Li and lunged toward him.

After a brief exchange, Lian Li realized he could not forcibly break the small monster’s defense in a short amount of time, but he was equally unwilling to let the stalemate continue.

His gaze shifted to the small monster’s head, specifically to the wound previously opened by Yun Huizhou’s blade.

Although only a few hours had passed, the wound had already begun to heal. It was no longer a mess of mangled flesh but had grown a new layer of granulation tissue.

However, the scales that protected the flesh had not yet grown back.

Having made his decision, Lian Li concentrated all his techniques on the wound atop the small monster’s head.

Under the frantic assault on its weakness, the small monster soon found itself unable to hold its ground. Gradually, it retreated further and further, eventually reaching the center of the underground lake.

Lian Li did not pursue it into the depths. Instead, he turned around to join Yun Huizhou in dealing with the large monster.

Unlike the small monster, which had been previously injured by Yun Huizhou and left an opening to exploit, the large monster was fighting Yun Huizhou on equal terms.

Lian Li bypassed the front and appeared at the upper right of the large monster, seeking an opportunity to strike.

Because the large monster’s attention was entirely focused on Yun Huizhou, it never expected Lian Li to have already repelled the small monster and come for a sneak attack. Caught off guard, it was nearly struck in the eye by Lian Li’s whip, which carried the full force of his internal energy.

Unable to dodge in time, it could only snap its eyes shut. There were scales on its eyelids as well, but they were horny scales—finer and softer, with defensive power far lower than the scales on its body.

Struck by Lian Li’s whip, the defense was not broken, but the eyeball felt the impact and, more acutely, a piercing pain that shot straight to its brain.

It hissed loudly, turning its head to charge in Lian Li’s direction. However, it had forgotten its original opponent.

Yun Huizhou was far more difficult to deal with than Lian Li.

While Yun Huizhou could not break the large monster’s defense elsewhere for the time being, he could certainly pierce the defense of its eyelids.

Just as the large monster was enraged by Lian Li and turned to kill him, Yun Huizhou’s blade arrived.

His weapon was a Yanling blade, not the wide Nine-Ring blades often seen in old plays and dramas.

The slightly upturned tip of the blade directly pierced the defense of the large monster’s other eyelid, stabbing straight into the eye.

Instantly, the large monster let out a shrill cry, its tail sweeping horizontally toward Yun Huizhou.

Yun Huizhou withdrew his blade and raised his arm to block, but he was knocked back several meters by the massive force.

Meanwhile, the large monster had already opened its remaining undamaged eye, which happened to be facing Lian Li’s direction.

It could sense that between the two humans, Lian Li was the “soft persimmon.” Thus, it stopped tangling with Yun Huizhou and charged straight at Lian Li.

Knowing this monster was a creature capable of going head-to-head with Yun Huizhou, Lian Li naturally would not face it directly. He nimbly dodged the monster’s snapping, giant maw.

That giant mouth bit down on a rock, instantly crushing the basketball-sized stone to pieces.

Lian Li was startled; he certainly didn’t think his body was harder than a rock. Seeing the large monster actually abandon Yun Huizhou—who held the Youxia Fruit—to chase him, Lian Li could only push his movement techniques to the limit, shifting and leaping between the boulders.

From time to time, he found an opening to strike back at the large monster with his whip.

In the water, the small monster moved again. At some point, it had swum near Lian Li’s side, waiting for an opportunity.

Just as Yun Huizhou was about to attack the large monster again to rescue Lian Li, the small monster emerged from the water once more, heading toward Lian Li.

It was just like before when it and the large monster had tried to pincer Yun Huizhou, only this time, it intended to pincer Lian Li.

However, it was destined to be disappointed.

Last time it attacked Yun Huizhou, the one blocking it was Lian Li, who could not break its defense for the time being.

This time, it was attacking Lian Li, and the one blocking it had become Yun Huizhou, who could break its defense with a single strike.

Furthermore, it had lunged onto the shore once again.

Almost at the same moment it lunged forward, Yun Huizhou appeared beside it.

Seeing the wound on the small monster’s head that Lian Li had whipped open again, Yun Huizhou no longer hesitated. His sharp blade and blade-qi once again struck the small monster’s wound.

This time, it was not a simple matter of inflicting a wound; he intended to slice off half of the small monster’s head.

Sensing danger, the small monster tried to flee, but it was too late.

Although it was not far from the water, the one blocking it was not Lian Li, who was only slightly stronger than it, but Yun Huizhou, who was far more powerful than him.

Blood sprayed out. Yun Huizhou used his internal energy to block the spray, preventing the blood from splashing onto his clothes.

As for the small monster, less than half of its head had been sliced off. It died without even making a sound.

Yun Huizhou did not linger, turning immediately toward the large monster that was still pursuing Lian Li.

Lian Li had already taken out the transparent lotus again, clutching it in his hand. The large monster’s movements in attacking him clearly became hesitant.

But it was not as wary as the small monster had been; it kept trying to find various angles to bypass the hand holding the lotus to strike at Lian Li.

Realizing this, Lian Li naturally would not let it have its way, keeping the transparent lotus positioned between himself and the large monster.

No matter which direction or angle the large monster came from, he unerringly kept the transparent lotus blocked between them.

By the time Yun Huizhou finished off the small monster and arrived, the large monster had already used its long body to encircle Lian Li.

The transparent lotus could only block one direction; the large monster’s body in other directions could attack Lian Li without any scruples.

Realizing the cleverness and insidiousness of this monster, Lian Li naturally would not stand idly inside the circle.

He brandished his whip, mobilizing all his internal energy to create an airtight defense, then spun and flew upward, leaping out of the large monster’s encirclement.

The large monster pursued from below. Lian Li glanced back, then twisted his body mid-air, pointing the lotus directly at the large monster’s head.