The Mandala Snake quickly darted through the yellow smoke, but it wasn't successfully hypnotized. As a top-tier poison itself, its resistance to toxins was far greater than that of an ordinary soul beast. It only slowed down slightly.
Luo Sanpao had fired all three of his 'shots', and his body had noticeably shrunk. There was no time now to feed him radishes to replenish his strength.
The two soul rings returned to the Great Master's body, with soul power light faintly shimmering all over. He pushed his speed to its absolute limit, pulling Tang San along as they leaped and dashed forward like shooting stars, hoping to escape the Mandala Snake's pursuit.
The Great Master knew the habits of Mandala Snakes very well. These ferocious soul beasts had one flaw: they were impatient. If they couldn't catch their prey after a short while, they would often give up.
However, the Mandala Snake they had encountered today was exceptionally persistent. Perhaps it had been enraged by Luo Sanpao's fart and the realgar powder, as it chased relentlessly after the Great Master and Tang San, its speed astonishingly fast. It was rapidly closing the distance.
"Luo, block it for a moment." Upon the Great Master's command, Luo Sanpao's chubby body twisted around and charged at the Mandala Snake, trying to obstruct its advance with his own body.
But this Mandala Snake was not only incredibly fast, it was also abnormally sharp in its reactions. It twisted its body, dodging Luo Sanpao's charge, and simultaneously bit him.
"Luo luo—" Luo Sanpao let out a miserable cry, his body falling toward the ground. The Great Master waved his hands, and Luo Sanpao's body instantly turned into a streak of purple light, merging back into his own body.
A sense of utter desolation filled the Great Master's heart. Memories of his entire life flashed through his mind. He wanted to ask the Heavens, why was his life so unlucky? Why? Why on earth? And he had even dragged young Tang San into this.
Just as despair was nearly overwhelming the Great Master, and he could even feel the chill from the Mandala Snake's venomous fangs, he suddenly felt a movement from Tang San, whose hand he was holding. He turned his head to see Tang San's left hand sweep across the Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlit Night at his waist. Without looking back, Tang San flung something behind him.
A thick white radish shot out with a whoosh, striking the Mandala Snake squarely with a puff. The soul beast, which had been on the verge of launching an attack, was momentarily stalled, creating a bit more distance between them.
Locating a target by sound was merely a basic skill within the Tang Sect; of course Tang San knew it. What followed left the Great Master utterly stunned. He saw Tang San's left hand repeatedly sweep past his waist and then flick backward, launching white radishes one after another. Though they lacked the force to truly injure the Mandala Snake, they consistently blocked its body just as it was about to catch up.
Incredible accuracy.
The Great Master noticed that each time Tang San threw a radish, his left hand had the thumb curled inward, palm facing down, with the other four fingers held together and extended forward. The motion was simple and effective. Though a trace of panic showed on Tang San's young face, he didn't seem truly terrified.
In Tang San's previous life, anyone in the jianghu could have named this technique. It was an entry-level method from the Tang Sect's hidden weapons manual: the Flinging Arrow. It used the momentum of the arm's swing to launch hidden weapons. While it wasn't the most refined technique, it was extremely effective right now.
Twenty jin of white radishes were a fair amount, but the speed at which Tang San flung them using the Flinging Arrow technique was not slow. Before long, the stockpile within the Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlit Night was exhausted.
This was now a life-or-death moment. Tang San knew very well what it meant to be entangled by such a massive soul beast that possessed strength, speed, and formidable venom. This was no longer the time to hide his abilities.
He suddenly let go of the Great Master's hand, his body spinning in midair. His left hand raised, and a black streak silently shot out like lightning. The Sleeve Arrow, painstakingly crafted, was finally unleashed for the first time.
Tang San's eyes had now turned completely purple. With the aid of his Purple Extreme Demon Eye, he could clearly see every movement of the Mandala Snake.
The Mandala Snake reacted even faster than Tang San had anticipated. The Sleeve Arrow was aimed at its left eye, but the snake's airborne body twisted with incredible speed, its head dipping to dodge the vital spot. However, the Sleeve Arrow was too fast, and it still struck the snake's body.
Clang! A clear, sharp sound rang out as sparks flew from the hard scales of the Mandala Snake. The intense pain made it let out another series of strange, guttural croaks.
Tang San silently lamented. The Sleeve Arrow relied on a mechanical mechanism; its speed and power were adequate, but it lacked subtlety. It could only attack in a straight line, which was a common drawback of mechanism-based hidden weapons. Still, the Mandala Snake's defense had surprised him. His three Sleeve Arrows were forged from Iron Mother, and the mechanism's launching force was extremely powerful, yet they had failed to truly harm this soul beast.
The Mandala Snake was thoroughly enraged. Every scale on its body lit up simultaneously, with a faint yellow glow covering its dark green scales. Its speed surged dramatically, and in what seemed like a single instant, it was lunging at Tang San.
Tang San had let go, but the Great Master's momentum had already carried him over ten yards forward. All of this happened in the time of a flash of lightning. It was now too late to save Tang San.
At this critical moment, Tang San's mind became astonishingly calm. He circulated his Mysterious Heaven Skill throughout his body. This orthodox, high-level Daoist internal energy now brought him to a state where his mind was as still as water. Watching the Mandala Snake's gaping maw lunging towards him, he felt no panic. His right hand flipped, and the short sword the Great Master had given him was already in his palm.
(End of Chapter)