"Come on then!"
Dugu Feng shouted again.
The Dark Gold Three-Headed Bat King dived once across the air, circled, and perched back onto the cliffside. It shrieked sharply twice, as if to say: "You come here!"
The other bats echoed their leader, circling the cliffside restlessly.
"Hahaha!"
Dugu Feng laughed.
Clearly, they didn't dare leave their nest for long, nor approach the blazing heat above the blood pool.
If not for his mere Spirit Grandmaster-level cultivation, with limited soul power, he would have blasted them down one by one with his Jade Phosphor Twelve Fingers.
Forget it! so long as they didn't come for trouble, he wouldn't waste his efforts on them.
Besides, if they really dared, the poison surging around him would be enough to make them suffer!
Dugu Feng ignored the swarm, pressing forward.
An hour passed.
The bats had long disappeared from sight.
Then, the second trial of Hell Road revealed itself, the Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Serpent.
"Gua-gua!"
Strange cries echoed.
A massive serpent over ten meters long slithered into view. Nine crimson lumps protruded from its head and back, like scarlet mushrooms.
Such a bizarre form.
Dugu Feng could have simply flown past.
But unlike the bats, this serpent was useful.
Its inner core, its venom, they were both treasures for him.
"I want to see whose poison is stronger!"
The Jade Phosphor Dragon Serpents beneath his feet surged forward.
One darted from the front, the other from the flank.
In size, they were no less imposing than the Fiery Sun Serpent. And they could fly.
Their bodies flickered, half-real, half-illusory, closing the distance in an instant.
"Guaaa!"
The serpent roared.
A fiery-red jet of venom spewed forth, heat and stench spreading rapidly.
The Fiery Sun Serpent's fire poison.
Dugu Feng answered with dozens of violet finger strikes, spreading into a misty cloud.
Within the poisonous haze, the Dragon Serpents flashed and lunged.
Three against one, two of them airborne.
What will you fight me with?
Dugu Feng smirked coldly.
A thud resounded as the serpent twisted its bulky body along the narrow Hell Road, trying to evade.
But its massive frame was an easy target.
One crimson lump on its back was torn open by the Dragon Serpents, their venom dripping into the wound.
Poison versus poison.
Meanwhile, Dugu Feng's Jade Phosphorus Crimson Venom and Violet Venom seeped in relentlessly.
The serpent finally unleashed its ultimate move.
It couldn't outmanoeuvre them. If it continued this way, it was doomed!
Nine protrusions along its body suddenly burst, releasing streams of molten-gold fluid.
The jets fused midair into a blazing crimson-gold orb.
Its inner core.
The Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Serpent had revealed its essence.
"Let's see whose core is stronger!"
Dugu Feng roared, spitting out two green pearls.
Both expanded to fist-size and slammed forward.
The three spheres collided—red-gold against emerald-green—locked in a triangular standoff, neither giving way.
Dugu Feng's eyes glowed violet as he guided his Dragon Serpents' assault.
Opportunity came. One Dragon Serpent flashed, clamping onto the serpent's back.
"Crush!"
From Dugu Feng's arms erupted massive pincers, it was his external spirit bone!
Three-meter-long claws snapped down viciously.
The screech of metal on stone grated on his ears.
The serpent's scales were terrifyingly tough—his strike failed to split it in two.
Worse, the external spirit bone drained his soul power rapidly.
But then he realized—his pincers had barbed tips.
They had already punctured the hide, leaving small holes.
Perfect.
Violet-green toxins surged through the spikes, seeping directly into the serpent's flesh.
"Guuaaa… wuuhhh!"
The Fiery Sun Serpent thrashed wildly, its enormous body rearing up, spraying fiery venom in all directions.
Dugu Feng leapt onto his Dragon Serpent, soaring aloft, while the other continued tearing into its foe.
"This is its final struggle!"
Above, his pearls pressed harder—the emerald glow overwhelming the red-gold.
Below, mixed venoms spread like wildfire.
"Boom!"
The serpent collapsed heavily, upper body smashing into the ground.
Its inner core shot back, desperate to re-enter its body and purge the toxins.
"No chance!"
Dugu Feng's twin pearls intercepted, pinning the core midair.
Moments later, the serpent ceased all movement.
"Heh, still my poison is the deadliest."
Dugu Feng grinned in satisfaction.
The Dragon Serpents and his pearls had done their part—three forces combined to bring down this powerful beast.
He cast a pitying glance at the corpse. Sorry, but you're too valuable to let go.
With a wave, the crimson-gold inner core fell into his hand.
A strange impulse urged him to swallow it whole.
Tang San had given this very inner core to Ma Hongjun in canon, letting him condense his seventh spirit ring.
The energy within was massive.
But Dugu Feng restrained himself, storing it away. His body couldn't handle such raw power.
Next came the serpent's flesh.
Its gall bladder, its meat—everything was a treasure!
After resting and restoring his soul power, he used his pincers to carve clean slabs of serpent meat, storing them carefully.
Feeding the Dragon Serpents some pearls in reward, he set off once more.
Now, only the third trial remained.
But he already knew that this final trial was nothing but the blood pool's heat and the eruption of evil qi within the body.
Yet his own killing intent was pure, stripped of corruption.
The third trial was already behind him.
Ahead lay the ultimate reward.
The Domain of the God of Slaughter was within reach!
Standing atop the Jade Phosphor Dragon Serpents, Dugu Feng surged forward, blood pounding with anticipation!