Volume 3 Chapter 55

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Volume 3 Chapter 55: Three Tails

"Senior Brother Xu, didn’t you always pride yourself on being open and aboveboard? Hiss… Didn’t you often lecture me about it ten years ago? Hiss… Why are you resorting to such a despicable sneak attack today?"

Ten yards away, Nangong Qingshan’s sinister face bore a mocking grin, his long, thin snake tongue flickering as he spoke.

Xu Qingfan did not respond, unable to reply at this moment; any defense would only disgrace himself further. He focused on the tail that had appeared behind Nangong Qingshan, his expression grave. He still had no idea how Nangong Qingshan had evaded his Divine Sense and used a decoy to withstand his attack.

Seeing Xu Qingfan remain silent, the mocking smile on Nangong Qingshan’s face deepened, and the fine green scales on his face bunched up, making him look even more frightening and grotesque.

Amidst mocking laughter, a green aura stirred behind Nangong Qingshan, rapidly condensing and then forming into two tails just like before. Now, with a total of three green serpent tails behind him, they swayed and undulated, making Nangong Qingshan appear even more like a terrifying demon escaped from the depths of hell.

However, as the three serpent tails appeared, a slight strain finally showed on Nangong Qingshan’s previously composed face, as if three tails were his limit.

"Now, it’s my turn to attack."

After the three tails emerged, with a light chuckle from Nangong Qingshan, they suddenly extended in length, swiftly spiraling towards Xu Qingfan.

What kind of sorcery is this?

Watching in shock as these three serpent tails instantaneously grew so long, and hearing the sharp, piercing sound as they attacked him, Xu Qingfan was in awe and couldn’t help but think.

At the same moment the tails attacked, Xu Qingfan let out a cold snort, his fingers weaving, as countless iron cattail leaves appeared before him, forming a shield formation around him.

Then, Xu Qingfan channeled his Spirit Qi into his defense artifact, "Green Spirit Arm Shield," and instantly, a green dragon surged forth, circling around Xu Qingfan’s body. Although it seemed to move slowly, it protected every inch of him without flaw.

Nangong Qingshan’s three serpent tails were incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, they covered the ten-zhang distance. Just as Xu Qingfan finished casting his defense, the tails were upon him.

Just now, Nangong Qingshan’s snake tail was sharp enough to cut Xu Qingfan’s thigh from a great distance. Although he now had to focus on controlling three snake tails, their power remained undiminished.

The iron cattail leaves were counted as Xu Qingfan’s strongest defense apart from the "Green Spirit Arm Protector," but they were completely ineffective against the snake tails, as if made of paper. The snake tails easily pierced through them with no resistance.

Even though the iron cattail leaves seemed endless as they appeared before Xu Qingfan, like endless sheets of thin paper, they ultimately could not stop the sharpness of the snake tails. Only one snake tail was blocked by countless iron cattail leaves, while the other two, slightly slowed, still charged fiercely towards Xu Qingfan.

Watching the two approaching snake tails, Xu Qingfan frowned slightly. Although he anticipated the power of Nangong Qingshan’s snake tails, he hadn’t expected them to be so incredibly sharp.

However, Xu Qingfan wasn’t worried. He still had the "Green Spirit Arm Protector," which was several times stronger than the iron cattail leaves. Its defense was notable even among high-level Human artifacts.

Still, Xu Qingfan felt a bit regretful. If his right leg hadn’t been injured earlier, he could have used his swift and agile movements to temporarily dodge the snake tail attacks. Although he couldn’t completely avoid them, if he could force Nangong Qingshan to expend much effort and focus in controlling the tails, their power would naturally decrease, making it much easier for Xu Qingfan to defend against them.

But now Xu Qingfan’s right leg was severely bleeding, and after stopping the bleeding, his right leg felt numb, making any further thoughts pointless.

As Xu Qingfan expected, although the snake tails were frighteningly powerful, the "Green Spirit Arm Protector" had impressive defense. When they collided, Xu Qingfan was pushed back three steps by the powerful impact, and the protector’s glow dimmed slightly, but it still managed to hold the snake tails at bay.

After the first round of defense, Xu Qingfan adapted and understood the piercing strength of the snake tails. The subsequent defense became much easier as the snake tails outside the "Green Spirit Arm Protector" couldn’t harm Xu Qingfan at all, reaffirming his correct decision to trust Old Beggar in crafting the artifact.

Although the "Green Spirit Arm Protector" is a high-level Human Level defense artifact, its power is not much weaker than a low-level Earth Level defense artifact.

When this artifact was initially crafted, Old Beggar wasted more than half of Xu Qingfan’s materials, but with artifacts, quality matters more than quantity, so thinking back now, it was well worth it.

Nangong Qingshan seemed eager to kill Xu Qingfan but didn’t consider his own capabilities. His strength was insufficient to control three serpent tails for the attack. The power of the two serpent tails currently attacking Xu Qingfan is clearly weaker than the one that earlier scratched Xu Qingfan’s right leg, and the third tail is still blocked outside by the numerous iron cattail leaves.

Moreover, Nangong Qingshan controlled the serpent tails from a distance of ten yards, significantly consuming more Spirit Qi than Xu Qingfan. So if Nangong Qingshan were truly calmer than he was ten years ago, he would have withdrawn this attack and prepared other strategies.

Just when Xu Qingfan thought the outcome of the attack was certain, he looked towards Nangong Qingshan ten yards away and found that, upon realizing his assault was hindered, Nangong Qingshan showed no anger or frustration. Instead, his eyes carried an increasingly inscrutable look. Although aware that his three serpent tails couldn’t threaten Xu Qingfan, he continued the attack persistently.

"What is he really thinking? Could he have other plans?"

While using the "Green Spirit Arm Protector" to fend off the attack of the two serpent tails, Xu Qingfan remained secretly vigilant.

Just as Xu Qingfan heightened his guard, he again felt a surge of danger like when he was injured. At the same time, the two serpent tails outside the "Green Spirit Arm Protector" intensified their attack dramatically, a world of difference from their previous mild attempts.

Almost instinctively, Xu Qingfan quickly retreated backward, not caring about the threat from the two serpent tails fiercely attacking him.

Xu Qingfan instinctively sensed that the upcoming attack might pose a much greater threat than the two snake tails.

Sure enough, just as Xu Qingfan stepped back, the ground beneath him suddenly shattered again, and a green snake tail burst out, rapidly striking towards his chest.

Although Xu Qingfan had heightened his alertness ahead of time, his speed was significantly affected due to an injury to his right leg. Previously, it was only grazed, but this time, even though he avoided major damage, the recovering leg was pierced right through by the snake tail.

Blood flowed from the wound where the green snake tail went through his leg, immediately staining the tail red.

Why is there another snake tail?

Looking at the green snake tail through his right leg, Xu Qingfan felt a mix of pain and confusion.

It was the same snake tail, emerging from the ground, and apart from the more severe injury, it was exactly the same as before.

Given his combat experience, Xu Qingfan shouldn’t have fallen for the same trick twice, and initially, he was cautious about potential attacks from below.

However, when he saw Nangong Qingshan using three snake tails to attack simultaneously, Xu Qingfan momentarily let his guard down.

Though Nangong Qingshan’s strength increased drastically after his transformation, Xu Qingfan assessed that his power surpassed that of a late-stage Lingji Stage cultivator but did not reach the level of a Condensed Core Stage cultivator.

In reality, if Nangong Qingshan possessed the power of the Condensed Core Stage, Xu Qingfan wouldn’t withstand even three moves, and there would be no need for all these tactics and schemes.

Judging by the power of the serpent tails, even if Nangong Qingshan had special means to control them, at most he could command up to three serpent tails for attack, so Xu Qingfan was not worried about attacks from underground anymore.

Thinking of this, Xu Qingfan glanced at the snake tail blocked outside by the iron rush, only to find it had turned into an ordinary blue ice shard, now falling to the ground and shattering into pieces without anyone controlling it.

"Still fell for it." Seeing this, Xu Qingfan let out a faint bitter smile, thinking helplessly.

The moment Xu Qingfan was injured, the attack from the other two serpent tails outside the "Green Spirit Arm Protector" became even more ferocious, rapidly dimming its glow and shrinking its defensive range drastically. Yet in the end, Xu Qingfan managed to endure the pain in his right leg, intensifying the flow of Spirit Qi into the "Green Spirit Arm Protector," gradually stabilizing its precarious defense.

But Nangong Qingshan’s tactics were far from exhausted.

Just as Xu Qingfan poured an immense amount of Spirit Qi into the "Green Spirit Arm Protector," neglecting his internal defense slightly, the serpent tail that pierced his right leg did not retreat immediately after success. Instead, it continuously transmitted a biting cold into Xu Qingfan’s body, and caught off guard, his entire lower half was instantly frozen, particularly his right leg, now covered by thick frost.

Moreover, after crippling Xu Qingfan’s lower half, this cold did not stop there; it swiftly spread towards his upper body.