After a brief stop, the Tempest Hunter Squad hit the road again. But Gordon Gu wasn’t in a great mood—especially when he heard the others praising Jason Stone. It just made him feel worse, because he could tell his position as captain was starting to feel shaky.
If Jason Stone knew what he was thinking, he’d probably just laugh and say, "Kid, you’re overthinking it!"
An hour later, the two SUVs turned off the main highway onto a country road, finally parking at the foot of a steep hillside.
Gordon Gu warned everyone, "From here on, it’s all mountain paths. Stay sharp—there are plenty of mutant beasts in the wild."
Everyone nodded, then quickly used their movement techniques to follow Gordon up the slope.
The mountain trail was tough, and with the constant threat of mutant beasts lurking around, their pace was slow. At this rate, they’d probably reach the mission site after six o’clock.
Along the way, they did get ambushed by some low-level mutant beasts, but thankfully no one got hurt.
Finally, at a quarter past six, the squad arrived outside the valley where the sixth-tier mutant serpent was supposed to be.
Gordon Gu lowered his voice, "Let’s rest for fifteen minutes. Ryan Lin, you stand guard for everyone—I’ll go scout the valley alone."
"Let me be the one to stand guard," Jason Stone offered.
"Then I’ll trouble you, Jason." Gordon Gu glanced at him, then carefully slipped into the valley.
A sixth-tier mutant serpent was already as strong as a second-stage Transforming-Gang warrior, and every mutant beast had its own special abilities. No one dared slack off—they all sat down to adjust their breathing.
It wasn’t long before Gordon Gu came back, but his face looked grim.
"What’s up, did something change?" Jason Stone asked, though he’d already used his Clairvoyant Vision to scan the valley. There really were sixth-tier mutant serpents inside—but not just one. There were two.
From Gordon’s perspective, the Tempest Hunter Squad could probably handle one sixth-tier mutant serpent. But two? That was a different story.
After hesitating, Gordon Gu lowered his voice, "There are two sixth-tier mutant serpents inside—one male, one female. This won’t be easy."
"I think I’ve got an idea," Jason Stone said, looking thoughtful.
"What’s your idea?" Gordon Gu asked quickly.
"We lure one away, take out the first, then go after the second!"
Gordon’s eyes lit up. "That’s actually a solid plan. But luring the serpent is risky—who should do it?"
"I just joined the squad, so I’m not used to everyone’s fighting style yet. My teamwork’s probably not up to par, so let me handle luring the serpent," Jason Stone volunteered.
"Let’s wait until everyone’s finished adjusting their breathing before we decide," Gordon Gu said.
"That works too," Jason nodded, though he couldn’t help thinking Gordon was a bit fake.
Fifteen minutes later, everyone finished adjusting their breathing. When Gordon Gu told them there were actually two sixth-tier mutant serpents in the valley, everyone’s expressions soured.
"Captain, what do we do now?" Hong Ran asked, clearly not willing to give up.
Gordon Gu glanced at Jason. "Just now, Jason suggested a plan. I think it’s pretty workable. Jason, why don’t you explain it?"
Jason nodded. "We can send one person to lure a serpent away. The rest of us focus on killing the other, then take out the second one together."
"Ha, that’s a great idea!" Hong Ran said enthusiastically.
"Yeah, that’ll work. Jason’s really clever!" Mona Li chimed in.
Gordon continued, "Jason also offered to lure one of the mutant serpents himself. What does everyone think?"
Hearing this, everyone looked thoughtful. In the Tempest squad, Jason Stone and Gordon Gu had the highest cultivation. A sixth-tier mutant serpent was about as strong as a second-stage Transforming-Gang warrior—and if it used its abilities, it could even rival someone at the third stage. So really, only Jason or Gordon could handle the luring job.
But Gordon was the captain and needed to coordinate the fight, so that left Jason as the only real choice.
Once they realized that, no one objected.
"Alright, everyone hide. I’ll head into the valley and lure one of the mutant serpents out!"
After the others hid themselves, Jason strode toward the valley.
The valley was long and narrow. One mutant serpent lay deep inside, while the other occupied a cave in the central cliff.
Jason decided to go after the one in the cave.
He quickly reached the center of the valley, stomped his right foot, and sprang up onto the edge of the cave in the cliff wall.
The sixth-tier mutant serpent was massive—at least seventy or eighty meters long.
Honestly, Jason could’ve killed the serpent with a single sword strike, but he didn’t want to reveal his true power just yet.
He picked up a fist-sized rock, poured true essence into it, and hurled it into the cave.
Bang!
The rock smashed into the sleeping serpent’s head, jolting it awake. The pain made it furious, and its blood-red eyes—big as lanterns—instantly locked onto Jason standing at the cave mouth.
Bang!
Jason threw another rock, this time slamming it into the serpent’s body.
That did it—the mutant serpent was completely enraged.
But right after throwing the rock, Jason leapt down into the valley and sprinted toward the exit, using his movement technique to escape.
Boom!
There was an echoing rumble from inside the cave, and then a giant shadow burst out. Spotting the tiny figure already dozens of meters away, the mutant serpent roared and charged after him.
Don’t let its massive size fool you—the mutant serpent was incredibly fast.
So, man and serpent—one chasing, one fleeing—quickly reached the mouth of the valley.
But when they got there, the serpent stopped, as if it didn’t want to leave its territory.
Bang!
Seeing this, Jason threw another rock, nailing the serpent again.
That hurt—and it made the serpent even angrier.
So the mutant serpent finally lunged out of the valley, jaws wide, snapping at Jason.
But it missed completely.
Bang!
Jason, now twenty meters away, threw yet another rock and hit the serpent.
"Damn, this thing just won’t quit!"
The mutant serpent roared furiously, silently vowing not to return to its lair until it swallowed that pesky human.
Jason led the mutant serpent farther and farther away.
Gordon Gu’s eyes flashed with admiration, but he quickly barked, "Move out!"
In a blur of motion, the eight squad members darted out from both sides of the valley entrance and raced inside.
A few minutes later, Jason had already led the mutant serpent seven or eight li away.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.
The relentless mutant serpent was overjoyed and lunged at him with its jaws wide open.
Too bad—it missed again.
In the next instant, Jason appeared atop the serpent’s head and unleashed dozens of heavy punches. The mutant serpent was left dizzy and helpless, roaring in frustration but unable to do a thing.
After playing with the serpent for a while, Jason ended it with a single punch.
He thought for a moment, then hoisted the serpent’s corpse and started toward the valley. But after just a few steps, several figures came racing in his direction—they looked like they were in some kind of deadly chase.
But when Jason got a good look at the person being chased, he was genuinely surprised. Wow, what a small world—he’d come out here for a simple mission and ended up running into her, being hunted.