Chapter 96

Shang Xia's body was filled with the flow of the Two Instruments' primordial energy, a gentle and cool breath that instantly woke him from the awe of the Fourth Heaven entity.

"What are you still standing there for? Run!"

Shang Xia's roar, infused with his Two Instruments' primordial energy, nearly tore his throat, leaving a metallic taste of blood in his mouth.

However, his roar was extremely effective.

Many of the martial artists at the Martial Realm were the first to react, followed by more martial artists who had been stunned by the primordial energy serpent regaining their senses.

The crowd surged down Tongyou Peak in a frenzy.

The primordial energy serpent appeared to be hovering above the crowd, but the true form of this Fourth Heaven entity was clearly still a considerable distance away.

Although the manifestation of primordial energy by a Fourth Heaven entity was incredibly powerful, this primordial energy serpent clearly could not make a second move in a short time.

After the initial shock was mysteriously dispelled by Shang Xia, it bought the crowd time to escape.

During this process, Shang Xi and Yun Yifei had already left Shang Xia's side.

When Shang Xia noticed they were gone and turned back, he saw the two of them, along with Deng Kuo, had reached the rear of the group, joining Wu Tinghai and another Martial Realm martial artist. The five of them seemed to have formed a patrol formation.

They were going to take the rear and protect everyone!

Not only Shang Xia, but many others had seen their actions.

Everyone silently watched their actions, no one spoke to stop them, and no one spoke to thank them.

This was a tradition that had been formed since the founding of Tongyou Academy, under the leadership of Chancellor Ke Chongxue: in times of crisis, the strongest would step forward to buy time for others to escape!

The rest had to suppress all emotions in their hearts and use all their strength to escape, not letting the sacrifices made by the fallen go to waste!

Shang Xia kept looking back, he saw the five Martial Realm martial artists take their positions.

He saw their primordial energies intertwine, forming a clear field of primordial energy on the spot.

He saw their martial wills coordinate.

He saw them draw their weapons...

The primordial energy serpent suddenly let out a deafening roar, and under the control of its true form, the primordial energy serpent opened its massive mouth again, ready to dive down on the fleeing crowd.

At that moment, the combined full-force attack of the five Martial Realm experts suddenly erupted, forming a massive primordial energy fist from below. Its palm was a long ribbon, its thumb a short hammer, its index and middle fingers two willow-leaf sabers, its ring finger a bronze staff, and its little finger a bone arrow as white as jade.

Boom—

A loud explosion accompanied the burst of primordial energy. The fist, which combined the full essence and spirit of the five Martial Realm experts and their weapons, struck the lower jaw of the primordial energy serpent diving down from the sky.

The primordial energy fist instantly exploded, the six weapons scattered in the air, and the five Martial Realm experts, who had taken their positions, collapsed to the ground as if all their energy had been drained.

The primordial energy serpent didn't even have time to roar; its massive head instantly reared up, even tilting backward, causing the entire body of the primordial energy serpent to fall backward.

At that moment, three figures suddenly shot out from the crowd fleeing toward Tongyou Peak.

These three instantly reached the five collapsed Martial Realm experts, pulling and dragging them, and rushed toward Tongyou Peak.

Two of these three were also Martial Realm experts.

Previously, because the patrol formation only required five people, these two had not participated but had been lurking nearby, ready to rescue the exhausted five at this moment.

But the two Martial Realm experts didn't expect that another person would also rush over, and his speed was only slightly slower than theirs.

This person was none other than Shang Xia, whose cultivation was only at the Second Heaven!

"What nonsense, who told you to come back?"

One of the Martial Realm experts immediately flew into a rage, shouting at Shang Xia.

Shang Xia didn't argue; he bent down, put his aunt Shang Xi on his back, and ran.

After learning the uneven steps, his speed had become extremely fast, and with the explosive burst, his short-term speed could even rival that of a Martial Realm expert.

Of course, this was only for a short time; over a longer period, he couldn't compare to a Martial Realm expert.

The two Martial Realm experts didn't have time to scold him further; each grabbed one person by the collar and hurriedly fled toward Tongyou Peak.

At this point, the crowd was only about seven or eight miles from Tongyou Peak, and seeing what was happening behind them, they all cheered.

However, at that moment, the primordial energy serpent, which had been knocked down, slowly raised its massive body again.

The huge snake head lowered, and the previously dull snake eyes now seemed to flash with a cold light. The rapidly flickering snake tongue made a hissing sound, as if piercing the void, fully displaying its enraged madness!

There were no more Martial Realm experts to stop it this time!

"Run! It can't eat everyone at once. As long as you enter the five-mile range of Tongyou Peak, the protective formation will protect you!"

A Martial Realm expert, holding Wu Tinghai by the collar and grabbing Yun Yifei by the collar, shouted loudly.

The primordial energy serpent seemed to be gathering its strength; the massive primordial energy head was accelerating its dive, and the fleeing crowd seemed to be at the mercy of fate.

Shang Xia, carrying Shang Xi, was running with all his might, but the two Martial Realm experts, each pulling two people, soon passed him and ran ahead.

Shang Xi, though exhausted, was still conscious and couldn't help but chuckle: "Nephew, I rarely see you do something so impulsive. How about it, regret it now? We're probably going to be eaten by the snake today."

The wind pressure from the primordial energy serpent's dive was becoming increasingly heavy.

However, Shang Xia remained silent, running forward with all his might, seemingly oblivious to the danger behind him.

At this critical moment, a cold sword light pierced the sky from a distant point behind Shang Xia, striking the primordial energy serpent's vital point.

The primordial energy serpent, which was diving down, suddenly paused, opening its mouth to roar, but no sound came out.

At the same time, a crisp whip crack echoed through the air, and Liu Qinglan's voice seemed to ring in the ears of every Tongyou Peak martial artist: "What a big snake! Just right to extract its sinews; my Seven Sinew Whip can become an Eight Sinew Whip!"

"It's Instructor Liu!"

"Instructor Liu is back, we're saved!"

The many martial artists fleeing toward Tongyou Peak felt a great weight lifted from their hearts, and many even stopped to turn and look back.

"Look, there's an ice sword stuck in the primordial energy serpent's vital point!"

"That's the technique of the Sutra Pavilion's supervisor, Shang Lubing, who used it against a Fourth Heaven entity from the Four Spirit Mountain!"

"Supervisor Shang seems to have another identity..."

"Why worry about that? That's not our concern!"

Shang Xia also turned to look and saw the primordial energy serpent slowly dissipating in the sky.

In the sky several miles behind him, the intermittent whip shadows of Instructor Liu Qinglan and the icy sword light of Shang Lubing, enveloped in the primordial energy of heaven and earth, formed a massive shadow hundreds of feet tall.

Under their combined attack, accompanied by a bone-chilling roar, the serpent seemed to become even more frenzied, and the primordial energy of heaven and earth was once again enveloped, causing the primordial energy serpent to reappear in the sky, seemingly confronting the two Fourth Heaven martial artists.

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and get back to Tongyou Peak!"

Instructor Liu's stern voice echoed, and the martial artists, who thought they were safe, quickly realized and continued their run toward Tongyou Peak, this time with much more composure.

When the martial artists reached within five miles of Tongyou Peak, many of them immediately collapsed on the ground.

Returning to Tongyou Peak before the beast tide, they had been fighting and fleeing all the way, and most of the martial artists had already exhausted their primordial energy, relying on sheer willpower to keep going.

With the sudden absence of the threat to their lives, they could no longer hold on and collapsed one by one.

Shang Xia also put Shang Xi down. After this period of recovery, Shang Xi's primordial energy was still depleted, but she had enough strength to walk on her own.

"Don't worry about me, go find the two Chiyun beasts first. Those forty or fifty mutated rain swallows are very important; see if we can bring them into Tongyou Peak!"

Ignoring her own weakness, Shang Xi's first order was for Shang Xia to quickly retrieve the mutated rain swallows.

Shang Xia, supporting Shang Xi, smiled and said, "Don't worry, Aunt, the thunderbird has already returned!"

Shang Xi's spirit immediately lifted, and she whispered, "Find a way to get the mutated rain swallows to nest in Tongyou Peak, and if possible, on Pinxin Peak!"

Just as Shang Xi finished speaking, the sky behind them suddenly brightened!

The martial artists quickly turned to look and saw that far in the sky, first, four-colored rays of light spread across the sky, and then, the four-colored rays of light suddenly retracted, and the towering primordial energy serpent in the sky was silently severed in two!