The Demon King is back, leading adorable kids on an adventure around the world!

The underground river grew wider and wider, and the sound of the water grew louder and louder.

The group walked along the riverbank for a while, and then a huge underground lake appeared ahead.

The water was as calm as a mirror, reflecting the glowing moss overhead, and the light shimmered on the surface.

"Stop for a moment." Nian Nian raised her hand, signaling the group to stop.

Xiao Xiao stopped as well, looking down at the water, her brows slightly furrowed.

"There's something underwater." She closed her eyes, sensed for a while, and then opened them.

"Many living creatures are hiding in the silt at the bottom of the lake."

As soon as he finished speaking, a string of bubbles rose to the surface of the water, followed by seven or eight pythons as thick as water buckets leaping out of the water.

Its entire body was bluish-black, with a dark red stripe on its head, and it lunged straight at the people on the shore, its tongue flicking out.

These pythons were all at the peak of the Golden Core stage to the early stage of the Nascent Soul stage, and they were extremely fast. With a flick of their tails, a wave of water would crash down.

"Kill!" Ye Qianxue was the first to rush forward, her Ice Soul Sword flashing coldly as she slashed at the vital spot of a python.

The sword blade pierced three inches into the flesh, and snake blood splattered out, but the python did not die immediately. Instead, it turned around and bit Ye Qianxue's arm.

Ye Qianxue stepped back to dodge, and then struck again with her sword to sever the snake's head.

The others each took turns fighting a smaller python against two martial arts students.

The two cooperated fairly well, one drawing the opponent's attention while the other attacked. Although it was strenuous, they managed to hold on.

Luo Qiqi stepped on the tail of a python and pressed down hard.

The snake struggled violently, causing her to stagger forward two steps, but in the end, Qianqian struck its head with her palm, freezing it in place.

With each thought, he slashed a snake, the Taiyi Sword piercing its vital spot. He pulled it out and immediately moved on to the next one, his movements swift and decisive.

But there were too many of them, and they were all thick-skinned and tough. Even after killing several, new ones kept emerging from the lake.

Xiao Xiao was standing at the back and saw two students who had been hit by the snake's tail and were lying on the ground unable to get up.

One of them had a gash in his chest, and blood was seeping out.

She ran over quickly, squatted down, and placed her hand above his wound.

A pale green light shone from her palm, seeping into the wound. The bleeding quickly stopped, and the skin and flesh at the edges began to close up.

The student glanced down at the wound and was taken aback: "So fast?"

"Don't move." Xiao Xiao pressed down on his shoulder. "Your bone is a little cracked too. I'll treat it together."

She switched hands and pressed on the shoulder of another wounded soldier.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, both of their injuries had basically stabilized.

She stood up, dusted off her hands, and continued to stare at the lake.

After killing two more pythons, Ye Qianxue sheathed her sword and retreated, slightly panting and her wrist trembling a little.

"The quantity is incorrect; someone is controlling them."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Xiao looked towards the center of the lake, where a dark shadow was slowly rising. It was enormous, much larger than the pythons from before.

The dark shadow in the middle of the lake finally emerged from the water.

Nine heads, nine snake heads, rose from beneath the lake's surface, each as thick as a water vat.

The grayish-green scales were covered with moss and mud, as if they had been submerged at the bottom of the lake for many years without moving.

Nine pairs of yellow eyes opened simultaneously, their pupils shrinking to a vertical line, all staring at the people on the shore.

"Early stage of fusion." Nian Nian gripped the Taiyi Sword tightly.

The nine heads of the hydra opened their mouths at the same time, emitting a low hiss. The sound was very low, but it made the whole cave vibrate.

It suddenly moved, and its nine heads launched an attack from nine directions simultaneously.

Some sprayed poison mist, some sprayed water jets, and some even opened their mouths to bite. They coordinated extremely quickly, leaving no gaps.

Ye Qianxue unleashed an ice wall with her Ice Soul Sword, blocking the two water arrows; half of the ice wall shattered.

Li Mengmeng's sword formation protected several students, but the formation was corroded by the poisonous mist, and its spiritual light dimmed considerably.

Xiao Jin revealed part of its dragon form, its tail sweeping across and deflecting the two snake heads.

Luo Qiqi pressed her palms to the ground, and an earthen wall rose up, blocking her way. The snake's head crashed into it, and the earthen wall cracked but did not break.

Nian Nian drew her sword and charged towards the hydra's main body. The Taiyi Sword shone brightly as she slashed at the central head.

The blade struck the side of the snake's head, breaking off several scales, but the wound was shallow.

The hydra was in pain, and its other eight heads turned towards her at the same time, hurling poisonous mist and water jets at her all at once.

Niannian dodged most of the attacks, but was still grazed on the shoulder by a wisp of poisonous mist, which corroded a hole in her clothes and left her shoulder skin red and purple.

"It's poisonous." Nian Nian frowned, pressed her shoulder, and stepped back.

Xiao Xiao immediately ran over and pressed down on her shoulder. The green light seeped in, and the purple quickly faded away.

"Take it slow, we can't outlast you." Ye Qianxue stood in front of Nian Nian, looking at the Hydra.

"Its spiritual power is greater than all of ours; we can't outlast it in a long time."

Li Mengmeng's sword formation had begun to shrink, protecting the students more tightly, but the edges of the sword formation were constantly thinning under the continuous erosion of the poisonous fog.

Luo Qiqi patted the earthen wall three times, and her breathing became noticeably heavier.

Luo Qianqian stood beside her, constantly using illusion magic to disrupt the attack rhythm of the three snake heads, but this also greatly depleted her concentration.

After Xiao Xiao healed her shoulder, Nian Nian stood up again, holding the Taiyi Sword horizontally in front of her.

After staring at the nine heads of the Hydra for a while, he turned to look at Little:

"Miss, can I use your enhancement item?"

She paused for a moment, then nodded:

"Yes, but I'll feel exhausted for a while after using it."

She raised her hand, and emerald green light surged from her palm, wrapping around Niannian like vines and spreading from her arm to the sword.

Niannian's aura rose a notch, stepping from the peak of the Void Refinement stage into the early stage of the Body Integration stage.

"That's enough." Niannian didn't say anything more and rushed out.

This time she didn't test her; the tip of the Taiyi Sword shone with an even brighter light than before.

The sword energy condensed into a long, silvery-white line, slashing straight towards the snake's head in the center.

The other eight heads of Hydra intercepted simultaneously, unleashing a deluge of poisonous mist and water jets.

Niannian didn't dodge; she cleaved through the poisonous mist with her sword. The water arrows hit the sword and bounced off, making a clanging sound.

She pierced through all the obstacles and plunged her sword into the center of the snake's head between its eyebrows.

A silvery-white sword light emanated from inside the snake's head and then exploded from behind.

The head shattered instantly, and snake blood mixed with bits of flesh splattered all over the ground.

The Hydra's roar changed tone, and the remaining eight heads simultaneously lost their rhythm.

Luo Qiqi seized the opportunity and erected an even higher earthen wall, blocking two of the snake heads for a moment.

Little Gold rushed forward and delivered a finishing blow, gouging out the eye of the left-side head.

Ye Qianxue slashed at the snake's head on the right with her sword, the blade plunging halfway into it.

After landing, Nian Nian didn't stop. She leaped up again, and the second and third swords fell in succession, each aimed at a snake's head.

After the eight sword strikes, all nine of Hydra's heads shattered.

Its massive body crashed into the lake, splashing water everywhere. The lake surface rippled for a long time before slowly calming down.

Nian Nian landed, bent her knees slightly, stood still, and stared at the water.

Only after confirming that the hydra had not resurfaced did he release the Taiyi Sword and rub his shoulder, which had been corroded by the poisonous mist.

The skin there has fully recovered, with only a slight redness.

Xiao Xiao leaned against a rock, sweat beading on her forehead. She looked a little weak, but seeing that Niannian was alright, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked up at Niannian's back, then looked down at her own palms, lost in thought.

"Pull it up!" Nian Nian shouted to the crowd as she turned around.

Xiao Jin jumped into the lake and spent some time dragging the Hydra's corpse to the shore.

The creature was enormous. Although its nine heads were shattered, its body remained intact. A section of its snake body, nearly thirty or forty feet long, lay across the shore, its scales covered with water plants and mud.

Xiao Xiao walked over, squatted down, pressed on the snake's belly, and then looked up and said:

"The beast core is still there."

She dug out a fist-sized, dark green bead from the snake's belly. Its surface had fine lines, like snake scales.

Niannian took it and looked at it, then told Xiaoxiao to keep it for now.

The group sat down to rest on the rocks on the shore.

Xiao Jin paced back and forth beside the corpse, tapping the snake's belly with his finger:

"This snake meat has a high energy content; it should be quite useful when refined into pills."

"Then let's refine it," Niannian said. "We have a furnace and the materials, it's all ready-made."

Xiao Xiao set up the alchemy furnace, cut a few pieces of meat from the snake, cleaned them skillfully, and added a few spiritual herbs she had gathered along the way.

I refined two batches: one for Qi and Blood Pills and the other for Body Refining Pills. Both are useful for those below the Refinement stage.

Several students with lower strength each took a few pills and consumed them on the spot. Their complexions improved significantly, and even the one who had been injured earlier felt less tightness in his chest.

While cleaning up the battlefield, Xiao Xiao found a black object in a patch of mud next to the Hydra's lair.

She squatted down to look at it, and then poked at it with her hand; it looked like a section of lotus root.

It was dark, with a rough surface, and neither emitted light nor smell; it was about the same color as the surrounding mud.

But she touched it and didn't rush to leave.

"What's wrong?" Niannian came closer.

"This thing is a bit strange." Xiao Xiao looked at it from all angles.

"It's not rotten. This whole area of ​​silt is stagnant water, and there are no plants around. It's the only one that hasn't rotted, and it's alive."

Niannian picked it up, wiped off the mud on the surface, and the exposed part was indeed black.

Nothing special, but she put the lotus root into her storage ring, planning to show it to Luo Tian when she got back.

They also collected a lot of other spiritual materials, and several ancient spiritual herbs were scattered around the hydra's lair.

There were also some ores and jade fragments, which were divided up by everyone.

The snake meat was also cut into large chunks and stored in a storage ring, to be kept for personal use or taken back to the sect disciples.

After everyone finished packing, they walked along the underground river for several miles and found a dry spot on higher ground to stop and spend the night.

Xiao Xiao sat down against the stone wall, closed her eyes, and rested quickly.

Niannian sat not far away, the Taiyi Sword resting on her knees, staring blankly at the moss above her head.

On Luo Tian's side, the soul of the withered tree emanated from his sea of ​​consciousness and condensed into a phantom figure standing in front of Luo Tian.

Luo Tian looked up at him:

"Has your soul recovered?"

Venerable Kumu bowed slightly: "I have fully recovered, thank you, Your Excellency."

He paused, then looked at Luo Tian:

"Your Majesty, are you really not worried about the little princess and the others going to the secret realm for training?"

Luo Tian leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the clouds outside the window:

"To become stronger, you have to experience life and death."

She possesses an innate Daoist physique and is blessed with good fortune; what is there to worry about?

The Venerable Drywood did not speak again, but he did not leave either.

A breeze was blowing in from the sea outside the window, and the shadows of the trees swayed slightly on the window frame.