Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

However, Yin Tianzheng’s smile soon vanished.

Because Yin Tianzheng discovered that Lin Hao, who had been in the deep pit below, had suddenly vanished without a trace.

His face froze, and he looked as if he had seen a ghost.

He was, after all, a cultivator at the Seventh Layer of Soul Gathering Realm. He had been staring right at the pit, yet he had somehow completely missed Lin Hao’s disappearance!

This was an utterly terrifying realization.

And while he was still in a daze, the attack he had launched shot toward the eight-clawed Fire Serpent like a bolt of lightning.

It was as if the eight-clawed Fire Serpent had eyes in the back of its head. Two of its eight claws moved.

CLANG!

In the next instant, sparks flew as a crisp, clear sound rang out.

Everyone saw that a longsword was now clamped between two of its giant claws.

A moment later, a trickle of fresh blood dripped down the blade of the longsword—a shocking sight.

Seeing this, the crowd no longer had the mind to wonder why Lin Hao had vanished. They were all stunned by the Fire Serpent.

The strike had just torn through the air, and they knew in their hearts that none of them could have accomplished such a feat.

Without a doubt, that was the attack of a Martial Artist at the Seventh Layer of Soul Gathering Realm!

The power of a strike from a Martial Artist at the Seventh Layer of Soul Gathering Realm was immense, yet the Fire Serpent had only suffered a minor flesh wound. It was a terrifying thought!

It was no exaggeration to say that this Fire Serpent was capable of sweeping through the entire Ancient Road.

However, in the next moment, their thoughts came to a halt as looks of utter despair appeared on their faces.

They watched as the Fire Serpent flung the sword from its claw and charged right at them.

PFFT! PFFT!

The sword was unbelievably fast. It pierced through three Martial Artists in a row, and without losing any momentum, it shot into a distant mountain.

And the Fire Serpent itself was not much slower than the sword.

It leaped forward, and while its body was still in mid-air, its claws were already striking.

All eight claws struck simultaneously, and not a single one missed. Each claw now held the corpse of a Martial Artist!

Then, with a flick of its claws, the Fire Serpent sent the eight corpses smashing violently against the surrounding mountain walls, obliterating them until not even bone fragments remained!

BOOM!

And that wasn’t all. While still in mid-air, the Fire Serpent opened its cavernous, bloody maw and spewed a torrent of scorching flames.

Those who were too slow to escape were turned to ash before they could even utter a sound.

Where the Martial Artists had just been standing, a deep, pitch-black crater now scarred the ground.

The incredibly hard Celestial Meteorite was like paper before the serpent’s flames!

The Fire Serpent was enraged, and these Martial Artists of the Soul Gathering Realm were like dry grass before it, fit only for slaughter!

An enraged descendant of an ancient beast; Soul Gathering cultivators were but weeds before it.

The survivors, faces etched with despair, wished they had been born with two more legs.

"Split up and run!" someone shouted, and the crowd scattered in all directions.

In that moment, they completely forgot that one was not supposed to wander aimlessly on the Ancient Road.

But in the face of this beast, even those Martial Artists who did remember would have scattered without a second thought.

If they didn’t scatter, there was absolutely no chance of survival under the Fire Serpent’s claws.

Meng Ru and the other two women were also in the crowd. For the moment, they were safe; holding hands and supporting one another, they were not the slowest of the bunch.

They couldn’t help but feel a surge of relief, thankful that Lin Hao had helped them increase their cultivation earlier.

Just then, Lu Diewu, who was on the outside of their group, felt a powerful force shove her. She was abruptly torn away from the other two, her body stumbling backward.

The force was so strong it nearly pulled Meng Qing and Meng Ru off their feet as well.

Lu Diewu’s eyes widened. She saw it clearly now—she had been pushed by another Martial Artist.

"Diewu!" Meng Qing and Meng Ru’s eyes widened in horror as they cried out in unison.

But in the next instant, Lu Diewu’s body was engulfed by the flames spewing from the eight-clawed Fire Serpent.

"Sister, it was him!" A rage she had never felt before burned in Meng Ru’s eyes.

The next moment, they both took off after the man.

They were going to avenge Diewu!

But just then, they both stopped dead in their tracks.

A massive impact sound echoed from behind them.

They turned to see a figure drifting toward them out of the void. Who else could it be but Lu Diewu?

And behind Lu Diewu, the eight-clawed Fire Serpent that had been relentlessly pursuing them was being held back by someone.

"Diewu!"

The next moment, the two of them threw their arms around a stunned Diewu.

"This... this feels so real..." Diewu murmured, as if in a dream.

"You silly girl, you’re perfectly fine," Meng Qing said, pulling away from Diewu, tears of joy streaming down her face.

"I’m alive? The Fire Serpent... Brother-in-law!" Diewu froze, finally snapping back to reality, then whipped around.

At that moment, all three women saw it. A streak of light was zipping back and forth in front of the Fire Serpent. Amidst an unending series of explosive sounds, the beast was held in place, unable to advance even half a step.

Someone was fighting the Fire Serpent!

The three women didn’t need to guess who it was.

They stopped, and the other Martial Artists who had been fleeing for their lives also gradually came to a halt. They turned to look back, and all of them were dumbfounded.

Someone was actually fighting the Fire Serpent head-on!

The person was so fast that even when the Fire Serpent attacked with all eight claws, it couldn’t land a single hit.

Not only that, but the Fire Serpent would also suddenly spew scorching flames.

Those flames, which could incinerate anything and made even Celestial Meteorite seem as fragile as paper, had absolutely no effect on the person’s speed.

Lin Hao!

At this point, even without seeing his face clearly, they all knew who it was.

Lin Hao was fighting the Fire Serpent and had actually managed to stop it. The scene left everyone utterly shocked.

’Lin Hao definitely has a priceless treasure! Maybe he really can kill the Fire Serpent. But I won’t let him get what he wants! Everything he has is mine. I’ll take the Fire Serpent’s life—and his!’ Yin Tianzheng’s eyes glinted, his gaze fixed on the rapidly moving streak of light.

Marquis Mo shared Yin Tianzheng’s thoughts.

Marquis Mo couldn’t believe that Lin Hao was capable of holding back the Fire Serpent all by himself. Realizing the gap in power between them only made him want Lin Hao dead even more.

"If Lin Hao can actually kill the Fire Serpent, we should stop antagonizing him." Standing beside Marquis Mo, Yunxi seemed to guess his thoughts and offered this word of caution.

Yunxi possessed the Royal Beast Taming Body. She likely understood the terror of the Fire Serpent better than anyone else here. If Lin Hao could truly kill it, then she would have no right to compete with him.

"What?!" Marquis Mo couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

He knew Yunxi. Given her proud and arrogant nature, Lin Hao’s past actions against her were enough to warrant his death a thousand times over. If she could tolerate this, it could only mean one thing: she genuinely believed she was no match for Lin Hao.

Just as Marquis Mo’s mind was racing, he heard Yunxi speak again. "The Fire Serpent is not so easily dealt with. I know what I’m doing."

Marquis Mo looked at Yunxi, only to find her staring intently at the battle ahead.

There, Lin Hao was locked in a fierce battle with the Fire Serpent.

In just that short amount of time, the area had already become a death zone.

The flames from the Fire Serpent had cut off the path forward, carving out what looked like a massive canyon from a distance.

The canyon was still expanding, and fiery clouds churned in the void above, rumbling like thunder.

After watching for a moment, a smile suddenly appeared on Marquis Mo’s face.

He had noticed that the eight-clawed Fire Serpent was completely unharmed. It seemed Lin Hao’s efforts were all for naught.

However, a moment later, his expression changed.