The next morning, the golden sun rose over the horizon.
Some cultivators discovered that a gigantic creature had suddenly appeared in the central plaza of Immortal Maple City, lying there motionless as if already dead.
"What is that?"
A few cultivators worked up the courage to approach, then cried out in surprise, "What a huge snake!"
The snake was bright red all over, faintly tinged with gold, stretching a hundred zhang long. At its thickest, it was several times wider than a water bucket.
"Wait, this giant snake isn't dead yet!"
Suddenly, one cultivator with a stammer let out a terrified scream and bolted out of the plaza. Seeing this, the others quickly followed, fleeing in panic.
But after running some distance, one cultivator instinctively looked back and saw the giant snake still lying motionless in the center of the plaza, not chasing after them at all.
He shouted, "Don't run, everyone! The snake isn't chasing us!" Then, feeling a bit puzzled, he stared at the one who'd claimed the snake wasn't dead and said, "Zack Yang, are you sure you saw it right? Maybe it's just a dead snake?"
Zack Yang, who had insisted the giant snake wasn't dead, loudly argued, "No way! I saw it clearly—when that snake just glanced at me, I felt a chill all over!"
"How about we go check again?" someone suggested.
"Alright!"
So the five Foundation Establishment cultivators each summoned their magic treasures and cautiously approached the giant snake.
Ten steps.
Nine steps.
Eight steps.
They got closer and closer to the giant snake, their hearts pounding in their chests. Fortunately, the snake still didn't move at all.
Finally, they reached the snake's massive head.
Suddenly, all five of them widened their eyes—the giant snake's eyes were perfectly round, radiating a chilling, penetrating glare.
"Oh crap! The snake really isn't dead—run!"
Although they couldn't tell what realm this serpent demon had reached, its sheer size meant it was at least at the Golden Core stage. No one knew why it was lying there.
While his four companions fled in terror, Zack Yang stood rooted to the spot as if his feet had grown into the ground. His eyes fixed on the serpent's belly, where two enormous wounds could be seen.
News of the giant serpent in the city plaza quickly spread, and more and more cultivators gathered to see for themselves.
An old cultivator stared at the giant serpent for a while before saying, "This must be the true body of Gaius the Serpent King!"
"What?"
As soon as he said that, a wave of cultivators recoiled in shock.
"Elder Huang, are you sure? The Serpent King was already captured by Young Master Song—how could he show up here?" a yamen officer asked suspiciously. A single night was enough for many details to spread.
Although Ian Song hadn't announced his name, he had registered for an identity token at the yamen yesterday and left his image behind, so his identity was no longer a secret.
"I'm old, but my eyes aren't failing yet!" the old cultivator replied confidently. "I've heard that the Serpent King was originally a red chain serpent from Black Sky Forest, and only reached his current level after a stroke of fortune!"
After hearing this, the crowd inspected the giant serpent and found it really was a super-sized red chain serpent.
"Elder Huang, if you're sure this is the Serpent King, then why do you think he's here?" the yamen officer pressed.
The old cultivator paused, seeming to realize something, then exclaimed excitedly, "If I'm not mistaken, Young Master Song wants to let the citizens of Immortal Maple City deal with the Serpent King themselves!"
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then their faces lit up with delight.
This time, the Serpent King led five hundred thousand demon cultivators to attack the city, inflicting massive damage on Immortal Maple City. If not for Young Master Song's sudden intervention, the whole city might've been destroyed. So everyone harbored deep hatred for Gaius the Serpent King.
"Let me give it a shot!"
A Nascent Soul cultivator strode up to the Serpent King and swung a spirit blade down with full force.
Clang!
With a loud crash, the spirit blade struck the Serpent King's body but failed to inflict any real harm, leaving only a faint scratch on his scales.
Seeing this, the Nascent Soul cultivator flushed with embarrassment, then unleashed his full zhenyuan and struck again.
Clang!
With another thunderous crash, he still couldn't break through the Serpent King's defenses.
"Heavens, this Serpent King is insanely tough!"
Seeing this, everyone secretly marveled and felt grateful—if Young Master Song hadn't captured the Serpent King, who could possibly stand against him?
Soon, an Out-of-Body cultivator arrived and tried to break through the Serpent King's defenses, but still couldn't do it.
"Hmph, maybe I can't kill him, but I can still insult him!"
A Golden Core cultivator suddenly grabbed a chamber pot and smashed it onto the Serpent King's body. The pot burst open, instantly releasing a foul stench.
"You ant! I'll kill you!"
Inside, Gaius the Serpent King roared with fury—a mere Golden Core cultivator dared to splash urine on him.
"Ha! Well done!"
Someone laughed and praised him, and soon, more cultivators got inspired and brought all sorts of filth to dump on the Serpent King.
In just half an hour, the Serpent King's body was buried under a mountain of disgusting trash—even blood-stained cloth from women's monthly cycles stood out among the mess.
As for the Serpent King, he was nearly driven insane with rage.
In a private room of a teahouse not far from the plaza, the whole scene could be seen clearly through the window.
Lila Li glanced at the Serpent King buried under filth and, half amused and half exasperated, said, "Husband, isn't this a bit much? He's still a Fusion-stage demon king. Maybe it's better to just kill him outright!"
As she spoke, a hint of worry flickered in Lila Li's eyes.
Ian Song caught the worry in her eyes and replied, "That guy caused over a hundred thousand casualties in Immortal Maple City last night. Killing him outright would be letting him off easy. As for the others, you don't need to worry—they wouldn't dare betray me!"
Lila Li was worried that Ian's demon subordinates might resent this treatment.
But she didn't know that all those Fusion-stage demon followers had been enslaved by Ian's Puppet Mastery Divine Art and couldn't rebel. After consuming huge amounts of Cold-Spirit Pills, his spiritual power had grown terrifyingly strong.
By evening, Phoenix Grace City's lord received an urgent message from Immortal Maple City: the Serpent King was attacking and the city was on the verge of collapse—they begged Phoenix Grace City to send experts to help.
Phoenix Grace City was a middle-tier city, home to no less than three Fusion-stage experts.
After receiving the message, the city lord immediately called a meeting of the upper echelon. In the end, they decided the city-guard general would lead ten late Soul-Split cultivators to reinforce Immortal Maple City.
Fusion-stage experts could use blink teleportation, so in just one hour, Phoenix Grace City's city-guard general arrived at Immortal Maple City with his team.
After last night's battle, Immortal Maple City's city lord, city-guard general, and prefect were all dead, and more than half the guard army was lost. Now, a sixth-rank official from the yamen was in charge, directing the remaining city guards and officers to rebuild the shattered walls.
"I am Wayne Ling, city-guard general of Phoenix Grace City! Where is Immortal Maple City's city lord?"
Wayne Ling, the city-guard general of Phoenix Grace City, called out in a booming voice.