Blood gushed endlessly from the wound like a fountain, instantly dyeing the ground red and filling the air with a thick stench. The Nether Viper was severely wounded by Evan Chu’s attack, but as Evan broke through its body, the massive serpent tail swept toward him, sending him flying dozens of meters away.
That strike was probably the Nether Viper’s reflexive retaliation from pain, and its force was overwhelming—Evan felt as if his entire body had been shattered, and he couldn’t help but spit out several mouthfuls of pale-gold blood.
Faye Knox, shocked to see Evan struck, hurried to where he’d fallen. Checking his injuries, she found that half the bones in his body were already fractured—his condition was extremely serious.
"Wife, don’t worry, I won’t die so easily. You haven’t become my woman yet! That Nether Viper will probably die soon too—my attack was enough to take its life." Evan forced a smile at Faye as he spoke.
At the same time, he frantically circulated his wood element to heal his wounds. As for Faye, he wasn’t entirely sure he could win her over; after all, Netherworld girls were different from humans, and if she got angry she might go all out against him.
Still, Evan wasn’t too worried—he had Luna, his sword spirit, as his guardian, so there shouldn’t be any danger.
"You really are a freak. Even hurt like this, you still have the energy to joke around. If you die, you deserve it!" Faye glared at Evan, not knowing how to deal with this human boy—her feelings were a mess.
Right now, the Nether Viper was still writhing its massive body. Evan’s strike was tremendously powerful, hitting its seven-inch weak spot, and the destructive force of the five elements plus lightning was immense. Now, the viper was clearly at death’s door.
It couldn’t understand how a mere human could injure it, and now its life was in danger. It wanted to escape but was powerless—most of its blood had already drained away, its life fading, eyes filled with unwillingness and regret.
Although Faye had exhausted much of her Nether-power, her injuries weren’t severe. Seeing the Nether Viper’s state in the distance, she was shocked: "This guy’s attack is actually that strong—stronger than my heaven-grade martial skill. Unbelievable."
After about half a stick of incense, the Nether Viper struggled once more before finally going still. Faye used her spiritual sense to check and found the giant beast was already dead, while the boy beside her—whose face had been deathly pale—now looked ruddy, leaving her astonished.
Just as she was about to speak, Evan said first, "Go cut open the viper’s head. There’s a huge Phantasite inside. I still need some time to recover, so this heavy labor is all yours for now. If you want me to do it, you’ll have to wait a bit longer."
"How do you know its Phantasite is in the head? With injuries this bad, you shouldn’t be able to recover for at least ten days to half a month. Don’t try to trick me." Faye looked at Evan suspiciously.
"Why would I lie to you? Once you get the Phantasite, we can leave. Of course, I have some questions for you too. When the time comes, I hope you’ll answer honestly." Evan replied seriously.
Faye looked at Evan, judging he wasn’t lying. "Fine, I’ll trust you this once. If you’re lying, you’ll regret it!"
With that, she flew straight to the viper’s corpse. Seeing the ground soaked in serpent blood, she couldn’t help but frown—this was definitely no ordinary manual labor.
She drew her black longsword and hacked at the viper’s head, only to find it was as tough as iron. Her sword, a divine weapon that could cut through steel like mud, barely left a mark—even though she hadn’t used much Nether-power, it was still bizarre.
If she couldn’t break open the viper’s body, it would be truly embarrassing—especially in front of that little thief. Gritting her teeth, Faye poured the last of her Nether-power into her sword, determined to split the viper open.
A sword-light over two meters long flashed from her blade. She thought she’d finally succeed, but the sword only left a shallow groove—she still couldn’t cut through.
Faye felt a bit hopeless. Now she was completely drained, her face even paler, and she was left feeling utterly exhausted.
"Just what kind of monster is this? Even dead, its defenses are terrifying. Looks like I’ll have to wait until my Nether-power recovers before I can get its Phantasite." Faye said helplessly.
Not caring how Evan was recovering, Faye found a clean spot, took out Netherstones, and began absorbing them. Soon she was completely immersed in cultivation.
Evan was also rapidly healing his injuries. Seeing Faye focus on restoring her Nether-power, he grew anxious—the heavy stench of blood here could easily attract other savage monsters. If they didn’t get the Phantasite soon, both of them would be in danger.
"Luna, check the area within a hundred li for any Ghost Clan cultivators or monsters. I still need to recover a bit longer. I can’t believe the viper’s attacks were this strong—even with my current defenses, I ended up this badly hurt." Evan said to his sword spirit.
"Don’t worry. If any Ghost Clan monsters show up, I can handle them. Besides, you’re recovering well—another hour and you’ll be fine. You should absorb some Starstones now; if danger comes, you’ll have enough Chaos Dragon Force to grab that Netherkin girl and escape." Luna replied.
Evan agreed that Luna made sense. He took out a Star Crystal from his storage ring to absorb its energy—at this critical moment, he couldn’t afford to be stingy. Only Star Crystals could quickly restore his Chaos Dragon Force.
Splitting his focus, Evan used the wood element to heal while absorbing Stellar Power from the Star Crystal. An hour later, his injuries were basically healed and his Chaos Dragon Force was restored to about twenty percent.
Faye was still deep in cultivation. Evan walked up to the viper’s corpse, examined its body, and chuckled, "This guy really is trouble—even dead, it’s still so tough."
He drew the Frostbane Sword and unleashed an Earthsplitter slash infused with all five elements. This blow was far stronger than Faye’s earlier attempt—the Frostbane Sword was a divine weapon, far superior to her sword, and it bit deeply into the viper’s flesh... (One more update tonight)