Chapter 127: The Great Battle Against the Golden-Armored Serpent King

This underground expanse stretched over a hundred miles beneath the mountain, riddled with tunnels leading to other sectors, through which golden-scaled snakes slithered in and out.

The moment Yi Tian and his companions arrived, they drew the immediate attention of the nearby serpents.

Hiss! Hiss!

The golden-scaled snakes instantly transformed into streaks of golden light, lunging toward Yi Tian, Yi Li, and the others. Their speed was like the wind, crushing small stones beneath them as they surged forward.

"Everyone, act independently! If you cannot hold your ground, retreat at once to avoid being surrounded!" Yi Tian cautioned his team.

The five members of the Samsara Squad understood the urgency of the situation. Even within this snake den, should their True Essence be exhausted, they would surely be overwhelmed, facing mortal peril.

The six of them leaped into the air, moving in different directions to evade the immediate reach of the snakes.

However, when Yi Tian descended toward a small tree laden with a ripe Golden Scale Fruit, he had barely dropped within ten feet of the ground when several snakes launched themselves upward like golden arrows, initiating a frenzied assault.

Yi Tian delivered a thunderous punch. His scorching Sun True Essence erupted, tearing the snakes into charred fragments as countless pieces of mangled flesh rained down.

Just as Yi Tian was about to touch the ground, an even larger golden-scaled snake, significantly longer than the others, lunged from the vicinity of the fruit tree. It was faster and more formidable.

Yi Tian slashed at it with his palm, leaving a deep wound on its body. With a sharp recoil, the snake whipped away. Yi Tian continued his onslaught, slaughtering a multitude of snakes before finally securing the Golden Scale Fruit into his ring.

He then began to scavenge the area systematically. The six members of the Samsara Squad moved across the underground space, pocketing one Golden Scale Fruit after another.

From time to time, Yi Tian encountered mutated snakes in areas where the fruit grew densely. These creatures were far more powerful, showing signs of nearing the rank of intermediate-level ferocious beasts. Fortunately, possessing the Human-stage cultivation allowed Yi Tian and his team to tread through the air, sparing them from being trapped on the ground. They only engaged in combat when harvesting the fruits.

Even so, they fought hundreds, perhaps thousands of skirmishes. Every encounter involved being swarmed by masses of snakes, causing their reserves of True Essence to deplete rapidly.

As Yi Tian moved from place to place, he began to feel a sliver of doubt. At least ten percent of the fruits in this den were ripe—over ten thousand in total. Why had none of the snakes consumed them? It was highly irregular.

A sense of foreboding washed over him.

At that moment, at the far end of the underground cavern, a pile of rubble began to tremble violently. A fifty-foot-long golden-scaled snake emerged. Its entire body shimmered with golden light, and its golden scales appeared divine; a fleshy crest sat atop its head. It was the Golden Scale Serpent King, the only intermediate-level ferocious beast in the den.

The other snakes, rarely exceeding twenty feet in length, paled in comparison.

Hiss...

The Serpent King let out a mysterious sound upon seeing the intruders pillaging its fruit. Instantly, every snake in the cavern received a command. Their attacks became desperate and suicidal, with endless waves of reinforcements pouring in, forcing the team to remain airborne.

Then, the Serpent King made its move.

It surged through the air like a cloud-riding deity, hurtling toward Yi Shan, who was closest. It struck like a golden divine weapon.

"Come then!" Seeing the King charging at him, Yi Shan was not afraid, but exhilarated. "Wilderness Fist!"

He unleashed his formidable Wilderness Heaven Technique, a strike capable of cleaving mountains and shattering stone.

*Boom!*

The impact of Yi Shan’s fist against the Serpent King’s body caused the massive creature to pause. However, the blow left only a shallow dent in the King's scales. The Serpent King, feeling only a dull ache, grew colder in its gaze and renewed its assault.

Yi Shan did not falter. He engaged the King in a fierce duel, his Wilderness Heaven Technique exploding against the creature's hide in a spray of golden light. Yet, each time, the King’s tail lashed out like a whip, sending Yi Shan flying. His protective aura crumbled; even after refining two Blood Bodhi fruits, Yi Shan’s flesh began to split under the force of the blows.

Seeing Yi Shan in danger, Yi Hong and Yi Li rushed to intervene. From afar, Yi Feng drew his precious bow, pouring his strength into the Sun-Shooting Heaven Technique. A brilliant arrow of True Essence pierced the void, striking the King’s neck and creating a bloody hole.

But the arrow shattered immediately after. While it had managed to pierce the scales, it failed to inflict any further damage.

"How is this possible?" Yi Feng stood dumbfounded.

His arrow was potent enough to pierce the scales of a peak intermediate-level beast, yet the Serpent King's defense was so immense that he had only caused a minor wound—and that at the cost of nearly thirty percent of his total True Essence.

While Yi Feng was still reeling, Yi Tian fired his own arrow. A terrifying radiance struck the King’s head, exploding into a mist of blood, yet it only carved a three-foot-long gash.

The others joined the fray, wielding their artifacts and unleashing blade auras and sword qi that spanned dozens of feet. All they could manage were white marks upon the King's hide.

"It has forged a Body of Golden Scales," Yi Tian shouted to his team as he rushed forward to join the melee.

This King had consumed the majority of the fruits in the den, hardening its massive body into an impenetrable shell capable of resisting even top-tier low-grade artifacts.

Within a few breaths, Yi Tian reached the front lines. The six members of the Samsara Squad engaged in an unprecedented battle. Although their techniques were terrifying, the King’s defense was absolute. They realized that even if they exhausted their True Essence, they might not succeed.

They shifted to close-quarters combat, hoping to bypass the scales and strike at the creature's internal organs. Even a body of golden scales could not protect the viscera entirely. They sought to extinguish its life from within.

The Samsara Squad utilized the Divine Shift technique, granting them the upper hand in mobility. They could teleport directly in front of the King to strike.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

Their earth-shaking attacks only caused the King to vibrate, sustaining minor internal injuries.

They had to remain vigilant against the King’s tail, which lashed out with the flexibility and force of a top-tier artifact whip. One touch was enough to shatter their auras and bruise their bodies. Yi Shan, having taken the brunt of the hits, no longer dared to clash head-on, relying instead on the Divine Shift to evade.

The Serpent King’s body was incredibly resilient and swift, moving like lightning. Several times, it nearly swallowed Yi Feng and the others whole, turning the battle into a desperate struggle for survival.