Chapter 195: Chapter 194: Jiang Zuo VS Jiu Xi

"I’ve found them."

A faint smile touched Jiang Zuo’s lips, and he headed in Jiu Xi’s direction.

After countless years, he was finally going to face Jiu Xi.

After all these years, he could finally kill her.

Regardless, in Jiang Zuo’s eyes, Jiu Xi was just a disgusting, twisted creature. Something like her could not be allowed to live.

The grudges of a past life would be settled in this one.

And it would be today.

Jiang Zuo had found them using the Heart-piercing Snakes, so he was well aware they had already discovered the creatures.

But Jiang Zuo didn’t care. It made no difference to him whether they guessed someone was controlling the Heart-piercing Snakes.

Here, even with them using the authority of a Saintess or Candidacy Saintess, killing them would be difficult for him—but only slightly.

He had already used some Heart-piercing Snakes to set up a Trapping Array at the exit from the fifth floor to the sixth. Even if Su Qi wanted to come up, it wouldn’t be easy.

Heart-piercing Snakes were incredibly durable; breaking the Array by force would not be easy.

As for dismantling it properly, that would be even harder.

The ever-thickening Mist, however, was unexpected. Even Jiang Zuo couldn’t find its source. This anomaly was strange.

But this was the crucial moment to kill Jiu Xi. He wasn’t too concerned about the anomaly; he would just counter whatever came his way.

Should anything unexpected happen, he could still borrow the power of the Array. He didn’t think anything could affect him significantly.

But as he walked on, Jiang Zuo suddenly stopped.

He frowned in surprise. The Mist was so thick that they had lost their way.

Or rather, the Heart-piercing Snakes had lost their way.

’This is not good.’

The Mist didn’t affect him much, but it clearly affected the Heart-piercing Snakes.

Meanwhile, Su Qi was also shocked. "Senior Sister, the Mist has gotten even thicker! Did something go wrong?"

Jingyue said, "Let’s fall back for now. I have a feeling something bad is about to happen on the sixth floor. Fortunately, everything is fine below."

Just then, Su Qi looked at Jingyue in surprise. "Senior Sister, did you just say something?"

She had seen Jingyue’s mouth move but had heard no sound.

The same was true for Jingyue; they could see each other, but could no longer hear each other’s voices.

Jingyue then used her authority to communicate with Su Qi. "Can you hear me now?"

"I can hear you, Senior Sister. What is this Mist? Why can it block our senses?"

Su Qi worried they would be completely blinded next.

Jingyue replied, "Use your authority to sense your surroundings. It still works. I feel danger beginning to close in."

An insignia appeared on the back of Su Qi’s hand. She used the Array’s power to sense her surroundings and was relieved to find she could still perceive things, albeit vaguely.

If someone were to approach, she wouldn’t be completely blind to them.

This situation was truly dangerous.

Just as they were rapidly retreating toward the seventh floor, Jingyue suddenly yanked Su Qi away from where she stood.

In the next instant, a swarm of Heart-piercing Snakes covered the spot.

Su Qi exclaimed in surprise, "Heart-piercing Snakes?"

Jingyue nodded, her expression turning serious. "It seems someone is controlling the Heart-piercing Snakes. If I’m not mistaken, it’s the one who was fishing for the Yin Yang Fish."

Su Qi asked, "Friend or foe?"

Jingyue looked at Su Qi and smiled faintly. "What do you think?"

Su Qi understood. "I’ll give it my all. You should rest for now, Senior Sister."

Jingyue sighed. "I wish I could help, but my old wounds have flared up. If I just had a few more days, I would have been fully recovered."

Su Qi took a few steps forward and heightened her senses. Sure enough, a vague presence appeared in her perception.

She could feel their presence, but nothing more.

Her opponent wasn’t releasing the slightest trace of an aura, making them easy to overlook.

On Jiang Zuo’s end, he had been about to resume his search when, a moment later, the two women stumbled right into the area covered by his Heart-piercing Snakes.

The moment he locked onto their position, Jiang Zuo launched his attack.

Unfortunately, they dodged it. ’Looks like these two are no ordinary Cultivators,’ he thought. ’Not so easy to kill.’

Fortunately, Jiang Zuo learned from his Heart-piercing Snakes that one of them seemed ready to challenge him.

The other appeared to be injured and was hiding in the back.

Jiang Zuo then tossed a coin. He wanted to confirm which one was the Saintess.

He had never seen Jiu Xi in this life, so a direct identification might be inaccurate. But he had seen the Saintess before, so there would be no problem with the accuracy.

Soon, Jiang Zuo received an answer that satisfied him.

The injured one hiding in the back was the Saintess.

It made sense. She had indeed been heavily injured during the battle against the Blood Demon.

Now, there was nothing holding Jiang Zuo back.

He began commanding the Heart-piercing Snakes to attack Jiu Xi.

But just as Jiang Zuo was about to attack, he froze. He immediately commanded the Heart-piercing Snakes to move him from his spot and form a Protective Shield in front of him.

The next moment, a massive attack erupted from the ground, striking right at Jiang Zuo’s position.

BOOM!

The massive attack slammed into the Heart-piercing Snakes.

If it weren’t for the snakes’ durability, Jiang Zuo would have been left in a rather sorry state.

He wasn’t too surprised, though. Jiu Xi had never been a pushover. Jiang Zuo never expected to be able to kill her instantly.

Afterward, Jiang Zuo had the Heart-piercing Snakes form an Array. A longsword materialized from within it and shot straight toward Jiu Xi’s position.

Using the Array, Jiu Xi quickly sensed the sword’s approach. It was powerful, definitely stronger than her own abilities.

But she was fearless.

The insignia on the back of her hand began to flicker incessantly. A thread emerged from the void and bound the sword. But just as she was about to use the sword to counterattack...

Jingyue’s voice suddenly cut in. "Defense."

Without a second thought, Su Qi threw up a Defense.

Then, with a BANG,

an arrow shot toward Jiu Xi. If not for her swift Defense, it likely would have pierced her heart.

Jingyue then said, "Focus on attacking. I’ll watch for his attacks."

Su Qi nodded and prepared to counterattack.

Jiang Zuo, however, was a little surprised. ’So Jiu Xi actually blocked my arrow. It seems she has some combat experience.’

But Jiang Zuo didn’t intend to waste time on shock.

His preparations were nearly complete. It was time to send Jiu Xi on her way.

Opposite him, Jiu Xi was also ready.

Jiang Zuo could feel her power now; it was strong enough to pierce the Mist’s restrictions. It was immense. It seemed she could borrow a great deal of power from the Array.

Behind Jiang Zuo, a massive number of Heart-piercing Snakes began to swarm frantically, a powerful energy fluctuation condensing within them.

When the energy behind him was ready, Jiang Zuo waved his hand, and streaks of light shot out.

These beams of light held immense power. As they flew out, the very Mist began to roil, as if it were about to be split apart.

Jiu Xi, for her part, met the attack with a cold stare. Several threads swirled around her, each containing immense power. When the beams of light appeared, the threads shot forward to meet them.

Jingyue warned, "Remember to keep your Defense up. He’s even stronger than we anticipated."

Su Qi nodded. "If this is all he has, I’m not worried."

The next moment, their powers collided, and the confrontation instantly reached a fever pitch.