In the pitch-black night sky, a colossal demon beast slowly materialized, its mountain-like mass radiating a crushing, suffocating pressure. It bore a massive head that looked utterly grotesque and terrifying, with a gaping maw wide enough to swallow an entire hill. Inside that cavernous mouth grew hundreds upon hundreds of crimson tongues, each one capable of shooting out at terrifying speed to snare prey and drag it back for consumption. Though each tongue was only as thick as an arm, they were incredibly tough and nearly impossible to sever — and even if one was cut, the Nether Lamp Giant Beast could instantly regrow countless more.
One by one, crimson ghosts were snatched up by those whipping tongues and swallowed into the Nether Lamp Giant Beast's belly.
These crimson ghosts were nothing more than prey to the Nether Lamp Giant Beast.
The crimson ghosts scattered and fled in all directions. Just then, a sharp scream rang out — from a distance,
"Xiao Xue, watch out!"
Nie Li cursed inwardly and quickly fused with his Tiger Fang Panda, his body rapidly transforming.
"Lu Piao!" Xiao Xue cried out desperately. The slimy, sticky tongue was wound tightly around her thighs, arms, and chest, making her feel as though she were about to suffocate. A putrid stench assaulted her senses, and her vision began to blur — the smell seemed to carry some kind of hallucinogenic substance. After one brief struggle, her entire body went limp.
The sharp claws of the Crimson Blood Demon Leopard slashed down with a wet tearing sound, severing the tongue that held Xiao Xue. Then, with Xiao Xue in his arms, Lu Piao dove back toward the ground.
The Nether Lamp Giant Beast roared in fury, and with a series of wet, squelching sounds, thousands upon thousands of new tongues sprouted from its mouth, lashing out toward Nie Li and the others.
"Lu Piao, get the others out of here — leave this to us!" Nie Li opened his mouth and spat out a Light-Dark Qi Burst. One black and one white sphere of energy rocketed toward the Nether Lamp Giant Beast.
BOOM!
The black and white spheres detonated inside the Nether Lamp Giant Beast's mouth, instantly shredding hundreds of tongues into fragments that rained down like confetti.
Meanwhile,
"Thanks," Wei Nan said, still shaken. If Du Ze hadn't been so quick, he would've been done for.
"Everyone, be careful! Watch each other's backs — don't get separated!" Du Ze shouted urgently. With this many people together, even if someone got snatched by a tongue, the others could help. But if anyone got separated, they'd be in real trouble.
Everyone ran for their lives, and they were just about to escape the Nether Lamp Giant Beast's reach.
Fused with his Tiger Fang Panda, Nie Li and
Xiao Ning'er, fused with the Wind Thunder Sky Sparrow, was wreathed in crackling lightning. Countless arcs of electricity transformed into blades of light that slashed down relentlessly, striking the tongues and blasting them to smithereens.
Lu Piao, Du Ze, and the others burst out of the Nether Lamp Giant Beast's attack range one after another.
Just then, a tongue suddenly wrapped around Xiao Ning'er's foot and yanked her backward through the air. Startled, she immediately lashed out with a bolt of lightning, shattering the tongue to pieces. But in that split second of hesitation, several more tongues came snaking toward her.
Tongues coiled around Xiao Ning'er's feet, thighs, wrists, arms, waist, and chest. A crushing sensation of suffocation washed over her as she felt her body growing weaker by the second. The form of the Wind Thunder Sky Sparrow flickered and vanished from her body, and she was involuntarily dragged toward the Nether Lamp Giant Beast's gaping maw.
"Am I going to die?" Xiao Ning'er let out a soft sigh. Images flashed through her mind — ever since she'd come of age, she'd been fighting against her betrothal, never once experiencing true happiness. It wasn't until she'd met Nie Li that she'd finally understood the meaning of life.
A cascade of moments spent with Nie Li flashed before her eyes. Xiao Ning'er closed her eyes and let a gentle smile grace the corner of her mouth. Even if those happy times had been brief, she felt content — she had no regrets.
"Ning'er, hold on!" Seeing Xiao Ning'er being dragged away, Nie Li immediately lunged forward, rushing toward her.
"Nie Li..." Du Ze and the others, who had already escaped the Nether Lamp Giant Beast's attack range, started charging back in.
"Don't come in — wait for us outside! I'm fine!" Nie Li called out urgently. If Du Ze and the others rushed in and got into trouble, there'd be no way Nie Li could save everyone.
Trusting in Nie Li, Du Ze hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "We're pulling back — be ready to back Nie Li up at any moment!" Watching Nie Li's retreating figure, Du Ze silently prayed that Nie Li would be all right.
"You bastard — if you want to hurt Ning'er, you'll have to go through me first!" A cold glint flashed through Nie Li's eyes as his Soul Sea churned violently within him. Waves of Soul Power converged and rapidly coalesced into two spheres — one black, one white — inside his mouth. They were roughly twice the size of his normal Light-Dark Qi Burst.
Double Light-Dark Qi Burst!
Nie Li roared as the two spheres orbited each other and shot off into the distance.
BOOM!