Techniques and Dao

Chapter 74 The Power of the Spirit Serpent
Seeing this, Tai Shang Xiao Jun thought to himself: This Sun Xiaoming is not old, but he is very harsh in his insults!

But then he realized that Jin Fanyin's Six Ding Six Jia formation was not a big problem, and his heart, which had been hanging in mid-air, was finally at ease.

"Xiaoming, say less! Don't provoke her." Jin Fanyin's voice came from the other end. "And there's something else, her name is Mingyou, not Chang'e..."

"Oh, I thought only Chang'e could control the moon. Looks like I didn't do my homework." Sun Xiaoming stuck out his tongue and patted his forehead.

At this moment, the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation began to slowly rotate beneath the feet of the "HOPE" team, and a golden light shield slowly rose outside the entire Daoist Academy, forming a protective barrier.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun breathed a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, there is still the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation as a defensive barrier."

Seeing the protective barrier from above, Mingyou said to the man in black beside him, "These formations may not be broken by beasts alone. Xuanwu Spirit Serpent, I'll have to trouble you."

The man in black stretched his limbs: "Finally, it's my turn. This snake hasn't had a proper workout in thousands of years!"

“Spirit Serpent, we haven’t known each other for long, and I owe Mingyou nothing,” Mingyou said. “After all, the Academy of Arts and Sciences is full of powerful enemies. Regardless of victory or defeat, you have already done enough.”

"The Serpent doesn't really understand human relationships. But it does know that many people spend their entire lives just to prove they're a fool," the Serpent laughed. "Rather than being trampled underfoot and wasting thousands of years like the Black Tortoise, what's wrong with me, the Serpent, being a fool again? Besides, don't underestimate me."

The man in black stretched and floated several meters forward on black smoke. With a flip, he transformed into a giant black-gold serpent, which then grew larger and larger. The serpent was covered in golden magic spells until its size was almost the size of the entire Magic Academy!
Although many disciples had seen the spirit serpent during the Xuanwu Festival, it was shrouded in smoke at the time and did not reveal its true form. This time, seeing the Xuanwu spirit serpent soaring in the stratosphere, tens of thousands of disciples gasped in astonishment.

Many people's weapons began to tremble slightly, and the enemy's formation was unprecedented, giving the Shudao Academy a great sense of pressure.

At this moment, on Xuanwu Divine Mountain, Dao Ling Xingjun, who had been keeping his eyes tightly closed, slightly opened them and looked at the Xuanwu Spirit Serpent in the sky. Unable to intervene and assist the disciples of the Academy, he could only sigh, "This is a boundless immortal incantation that manifests the laws of heaven and earth. I anticipate that the disciples of the Academy will face a fierce battle against an ancient divine beast. I hope that each formation can do its utmost to support each other and overcome this calamity!"

The Xuanwu Spirit Serpent flicked its bright red tongue, emitting a chilling hiss, and pounced straight towards the Magic Dao Academy like a dark lightning bolt that blotted out the sky!
No sunlight could be seen on the distant horizon.

Night fell silently.

Looking up from the stratosphere, the originally bright moon appears so pale, and countless strange beasts can still be seen constantly surging into the atmosphere around it.

"Conical Golden Light Formation! Follow me to meet the Black Tortoise Serpent!"

Having just gained a brief respite, Immortal Master Jueguang quickly led his disciples to regroup.

Under dozens of waves of attacks from the monstrous beast army, the disciples of the Daoist Academy, who were originally capable of fighting against thousands single-handedly, were also left with numerous wounded. Unable to bring the Nine-Turn Rejuvenating Pill to the mortal realm, the only recourse for the injured disciples was to use magical arts to heal them. However, the battle was urgent, and the number of disciples skilled in medicine was limited, leaving no time for sustained treatment and recovery; the number of wounded was steadily increasing.

At this moment, the cone-shaped golden light array at the forefront of the battle line had less than 30% of its combat power remaining. The battle was extremely stalemate, and it had become a close-quarters melee with the alien beasts, with no distinction between friend and foe.

Immortal Master Yu Ran, positioned to the right and rear of Immortal Master Jue Guang, was flying across the battlefield on a crane. Seeing the dire situation on Immortal Master Jue Guang's side, he muttered to himself, "Immortal Master Jue Guang's cone-shaped golden light array has been severely damaged and may not withstand the attack of the spirit serpent. Xuanwu is the god of water, and Immortal Master Huo Lei's Arrow-shaped Blazing Fire Array is likely to counter it. A head-on confrontation might result in a draw. However, I fear the spirit serpent's magic power is profound, and Immortal Master Huo Lei alone has little chance of winning. It seems the only option is to mobilize our disciples to provide support and disrupt the spirit serpent's attack rhythm from the flank."

At this moment, Tai Shang Xiao Jun used the Thousand-Mile Transmission Technique to say to Immortal Master Yu Ran: "Immortal Master Yu Ran, once your Fish Scale Ice Formation is far away, I'm afraid the Heaven-Covering Earth-Bearing Combined Formation will be attacked by a concentrated force of strange beasts. Why don't I lead the disciples of the Crane Wing Heavenly Annihilation Formation to go and catch them off guard!"

Master Yu Ran said, "This method is excellent! My formation is already entangled in the battle. Supreme Lord, you should first lead your disciples to distract the spirit snake. If it becomes too difficult to hold on, I will lead my formation to provide support!"

"Received! Everyone, follow me!" Tai Shang Xiao Jun shouted, riding his sword and leading thousands of disciples directly upwards into the stratosphere.

At that moment, the enormous Xuanwu spirit serpent charged into the stalemate-filled cone-shaped golden light formation. Just as the disciples in the formation were astonished, the serpent's tail suddenly swept across, unleashing a deafening explosion centered on the serpent.

The cone-shaped golden light formation formed by thousands of disciples was caught off guard and shattered like an iron barrel. In the instant the sky darkened, the disciples of the Xi Academy and tens of thousands of strange beasts were scattered and blown away like shrapnel, suffering incalculable losses. The Immortal Master Jueguang, who was located in the center of the formation, also disappeared without a trace!
The cone-shaped golden light formation collapsed instantly, pushing the following Arrowhead Fire Formation to the forefront of the battlefield. The Fire and Thunder Immortal Master immediately mobilized his forces: "Disciples, do not entangle with the strange beast any longer! The spirit serpent's power is unfathomable! We must deal with the spirit serpent with all our might!"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun, who was originally heading towards the foremost cone-shaped golden light array, saw that the array before him had been breached by the spirit serpent. Before he could even pound his chest in grief, he saw the Fiery Arrow Array directly exposed to the spirit serpent. He had no choice but to immediately rush to support the Fire and Thunder Immortal Master. At this moment, a giant silver sword shot into the sky from below him. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be composed of tens of thousands of precious swords.

As expected, Jin Fanyin, who was located in the Academy of Arts and Sciences, had repaired the guqin and once again used the Guangling San to perform the sword control technique.

Jin Fan plucked a string from the zither, raised his hand and pointed at the Xuanwu Spirit Serpent, and the giant sword plunged straight into the serpent's face.

"Add more fire! Samadhi True Fire!" The Fire Thunder Immortal stroked his thick beard and led his disciples in chanting thousands of fire control techniques. A fire dragon flew up from the Arrowhead Fire Array, swirling around the silver giant sword, instantly turning the tens of thousands of silver swords crimson with flames.

Faced with the incoming fiery red giant sword, the spirit snake widened its eyes, opened its blood-red maw, and let out a roar. The sword was actually held in mid-air by the roar.

The giant red sword moved back and forth in the air. Jin Fan in the Six Ding Six Jia Formation rapidly changed the sound of the zither strings, and the giant sword also began to spin rapidly with the sound of the zither, as if it wanted to break through the invisible defensive barrier formed by the roar of the spirit snake.

Just as the stalemate reached its climax, Tai Shang Xiao Jun's Crane Wing Heavenly Annihilation Formation arrived from the right. Instantly, thousands of spirit talismans flew out from the formation, raining down on the side of the spirit serpent. The spirit serpent was fully focused on fighting the giant sword, never expecting Tai Shang Xiao Jun to suddenly appear as a "Cheng Yaojin" (a character from a Chinese folktale who unexpectedly intervened).

With a bang, the serpent's head was attacked by the talisman, like being punched in the side. The serpent's eyes darted towards Tai Shang Xiao Jun. As its attention was diverted, the fiery red giant sword broke through its defenses and plunged straight into the serpent's face. The serpent could only shake its head awkwardly, the sharp giant sword carving a deep gash in the scales on the side of its head.

Enraged, the serpent twisted its body and let out another sharp roar, instantly tearing the surrounding prayer lanterns to shreds. The disciples of the nearby Arrowhead Fire Formation and Crane Wing Heavenly Annihilation Formation were also shaken by the sound wave, bleeding from their seven orifices and falling off the lanterns.

"Quickly cover your ears!" Tai Shang Xiao Jun shouted, tightly covering his ears with his hands.

Jin Fanyin, attacking from a distance, never stopped. Below, the second giant sword in the Six Ding Six Jia Formation rose into the air, thrusting towards the spirit serpent!

The serpent was caught off guard by the second wave of attacks. The giant sword encountered no resistance whatsoever and flew to the serpent in the blink of an eye. Just when everyone thought the giant serpent was about to be severely injured, an unbelievable scene unfolded before their eyes.

The enormous black-gold serpent suddenly transformed into a cloud of black smoke, and the giant sword instantly pierced through it. The serpent vanished into thin air, surrounded by the immortals.

Although the serpent was nowhere to be seen, the giant sword struck the Netherworld, who was behind it, by sheer chance. But before anyone could react, five ribbons flew out from behind the Netherworld, tightly binding the giant sword. Like a shredder, sparks flew everywhere, and the giant sword was shredded into pieces.

"Quickly, find the giant snake!" Master Huo Lei scanned the area, searching for any trace of the giant snake.

Suddenly, a shout came from above: "Oh no! The Academy of Arts and Sciences!"

Fire Thunder Immortal Master looked down and gasped in shock. The spirit serpent had used the technique of teleportation to appear directly in front of the Heaven-Covering Earth-Supporting Array of the Daoist Academy. This move struck straight at the heart of the matter, catching everyone off guard! Even if they had also used teleportation, the Supreme Lord and Fire Thunder Immortal Master, who were far above the stratosphere, didn't have time to recite their incantations.

In that extremely critical moment, Immortal Master Yu Ran, who was closest to the Heaven-Covering Earth-Supporting Array, also noticed the danger, but it was too late for him to lead the disciples of the Fish-Scale Ice Array to the rescue. In that fleeting moment, Immortal Master Yu Ran leaped up, like a ray of light shining into the gap between the Xuanwu Spirit Serpent and the Daoist Academy. At that moment, even an extra barrier gave the main array more hope.

To stop the moon's attack, the extremely fragile Heaven-Covering Earth-Supporting Array must be protected. Once the main array is destroyed, even defeating the Xuanwu Spirit Serpent will not be able to stop the behemoth that is the moon. At that time, the out-of-control moon will inevitably trigger a catastrophic disaster that destroys both the Earth and the moon.

The spirit serpent that appeared before the Heaven-Covering Earth-Supporting Combined Formation did not pause for a moment before revealing a pair of steel teeth that gleamed coldly in the face of the exposed formation.

With a deafening roar, it unleashed tens of thousands of sharp, icy blades from its mouth, the thickest of which were as tall as buildings. These gigantic ice pillars cascaded down, heading straight for the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

At the same time, Immortal Master Yu Ran was already surrounded by a storm of icy arrows. He placed a prayer lamp on each foot and chanted, "Stop in all directions!"

Countless icy arrows suddenly stopped in mid-air. Immortal Master Yu Ran raised his hands to support himself, using all his strength, but the skin on both sides of his arms cracked from the pressure.

The serpent's power was ultimately beyond the reach of either a human or an immortal. A sharp shard of ice pierced through Immortal Master Yu Ran's magical defenses, stabbing straight into his chest. Immortal Master Yu Ran's immortal energy weakened, and he was struck by the ice repeatedly! He fell from the sky with a thud!
(End of this chapter)