Chapter 2674: Six-Winged Demon Snake? Just for Show!
Illusory Snake Sect, mountain gate.
Dozens of people were gathered at the entrance, speaking in low voices, expressions all different—some excited and eager, others with grim faces, silent and withdrawn.
Carson Flores swept his gaze over everyone and asked in a low voice, "The Bloodkill formation is extremely dangerous. Is everyone here participating of their own will?"
Samir Coffey replied via sound transmission, "The Illusory Snake Sect has been declining year by year. Disciples in the Great Land Supreme Immortal Realm aren’t that many. A lot of them are afraid of dying in the killing game and don’t dare to go to war. It took quite some effort to scrape together twenty spots. There are definitely people here who are unwilling and resentful. Nothing to be done about it—orders from the Sect are as vast as the heavens; there’s basically no refusing them."
"The two of you replacing two of the slots is actually helping the Illusory Snake Sect. They can send two fewer people and agonize two people less."
Carson Flores gave Samir Coffey a sideways glance. "You’re only in the Carp Dragon Realm and always act alone. Before you met us, you’d already decided to join the killing game. Aren’t you afraid of running into a Superior Grade Great Land Supreme Immortal?"
Samir Coffey answered casually, "If I can’t beat them, I’ll run. If I want to escape, even a Superior Grade Great Land Supreme Immortal won’t be able to stop me."
Carson Flores asked in surprise, "So you’re going with the same style as me now? Do you have some powerful life-saving Divine Skills or a magical treasure?"
Samir Coffey snorted. "Who doesn’t have some life-saving trick? You think you’re the only one?"
Carson Flores curled his lips. "Still putting on airs, huh..."
Before Carson Flores could finish speaking, he suddenly sensed a ferocious aura descend from the sky, abruptly enveloping everyone.
Carson Flores jerked his head up and saw a black giant snake fly out from between the distant mountain ridges. It had no feet, but on its back there were three pairs of wings like those of a bat.
This black giant snake was enormous, easily comparable to a Dark Ancestral Dragon. The moment it appeared, that overwhelming aura surged over like a tidal wave, making everyone’s heart jolt, as if they were being stared at by a vicious beast, a suffocating terror pressing down on them.
The black giant snake flapped its wings, its body moving like a swimming dragon as it shot toward them. Only when the giant snake drew close did Carson Flores notice that on the flat top of the black snake’s head, there was actually a scrawny old man in black robes sitting cross-legged. He sat there as if he and the giant snake had already become one. If you didn’t look carefully, you simply wouldn’t notice him.
"Sect Master!"
"The Sect Master actually came in person!"
"Is the Sect Master leading the team this time?"
Carson Flores sized up the scrawny old man a few times, then asked Samir Coffey via sound transmission, "That’s the Illusory Snake Sect’s Sect Master?"
Samir Coffey replied, "Yeah, Sect Master Garlan Parrish. That Six-Winged Demon Snake is the Sect’s Mountain Guardian Demon Beast. It has a name—Black Mountain."
Carson Flores was slightly surprised. "A Demon Beast?"
Samir Coffey explained, "The Illusory Snake Sect traces back to the Giant Sand Demon Snake of the founding Ancestor, but that Giant Sand Demon Snake is already dead. The current Sect Master Garlan Parrish encountered this Six-Winged Demon Snake in the West Prison, managed to capture it, then spent quite some time taming it and brought it back."
He paused, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes. "The Giant Sand Demon Snake was extremely hard to tame. The current Sect Master doesn’t have the heaven-defying power of the founding Ancestor, so he could only grab a Six-Winged Demon Snake to make up the numbers and dress up the Sect’s facade a bit."
"This Six-Winged Demon Snake is a Demon Beast, vicious by nature, but when it was captured it was still young, so its descent into madness wasn’t too deep yet, and its intelligence hadn’t been fully wiped out. The Sect Master raised it all the way to now, and that’s how we got today’s Mountain Guardian Demon Snake. It can bully low-level cultivators, but if it really runs into a Peak Great Land True Immortal, and this Six-Winged Demon Snake dares rush up... it’ll probably get skinned and have its tendons pulled, its flesh chopped up to make snake soup..."
Carson Flores almost couldn’t hold back a laugh. He quickly pressed his lips together, clenched his teeth, and forced himself to endure it.
Even if you joined the Illusory Snake Sect just to learn the Sand Dragon Illusion God Technique and don’t have much affection for the Sect, to mock your own Sect’s Mountain Guardian Demon Snake like this—calling it window dressing and saying it’ll get caught and stewed into snake soup—that’s a bit much.
The Six-Winged Demon Snake named Black Mountain descended from the sky, its terrifying aura sweeping out, stirring up a howling wind from nowhere, thick with a strong bloody stench.
Elder Roderic Tate cupped his hands. "Sect Master!"
Garlan Parrish, sitting cross-legged, swept his gaze over the crowd and asked calmly, "Is everyone here?"
Roderic Tate replied respectfully, "Aside from the Saint Heir, everyone else has already assembled."
Garlan Parrish nodded, his expression calm, as though he had no joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness at all. His voice was also stiff and even, without the slightest emotion.
"Eolan will meet us directly at the destination. Since everyone’s here, come up. Let’s not waste time."
"Yes!"
Roderic Tate turned and instructed everyone, "We’re riding Black Mountain to the Bloodkill Domain. Get on. Remember, once you’re on its back, don’t move around randomly, and absolutely do not touch or attack Black Mountain. Otherwise, bear the consequences yourself."
"Yes!"
Roderic Tate waved his hand. "Get on!"
Only after Carson Flores saw that almost everyone else had gone up did he finally leap into the air, flying toward the head of the enormous Six-Winged Demon Snake.
The top of the Six-Winged Demon Snake’s head was flat and quite spacious, easily large enough to hold several hundred people.
Just as Carson Flores had barely taken off, that Six-Winged Demon Snake—which had been lying there motionless—suddenly jerked its head up and turned its body. Its huge, indifferent twin pupils locked onto Carson Flores and stared fixedly at him.