Azure Heaven Saber
Chapter 996 - 996 12 The Mystery of the Great War

Chapter 996: Chapter 12: The Mystery of the Great War Chapter 996: Chapter 12: The Mystery of the Great War “This Ghostly Soul Snake is unlike any other.”

The Cloud Piercing Arrow trembled all over, with cold sweat streaming down his forehead. After swallowing a few pills and bandaging his injury, he cautiously chose his words and replied, “That must be a Ghostly Snake that has undergone Demon Transformation, and it’s not of a low level either.”

“Ah? Ghostly Soul Snakes can undergo Demon Transformation too? Are you serious?”

“I can scarcely believe it myself, but it is a fact. What’s there to doubt.”

Gasping for breath, the Cloud Piercing Arrow leaned against a nearby rock and said, “I was lying in wait over there, fully alert to the front, circulating my cultivation throughout my body, shielding it to ensure utmost preparedness…”

As an archer, how could he be unaware of the perils within the mountains and forests?

At such critical moments of danger and warfare, even a small insect bite, a minor distraction, could lead to disaster.

Though his cultivation was profound, almost to the point where all evils could not invade, the habit of vigilance was still ingrained in him.

The man in black with the masked face grew even more puzzled.

If so, why was he still bitten?

The Cloud Piercing Arrow sighed deeply.

“Just now, when I saw you all return safely, I let out a sigh of relief and retracted the arrow from the bow.”

The muscles on the Cloud Piercing Arrow’s face twitched as he said, “It was probably at that moment that I felt a numbness at my ankle.”

The leader of the black-clothed, masked men involuntarily twitched the muscles at the corner of his eye.

How long could it take to retrieve an arrow? A flick of a finger, a blink of an eye, or a mere instant?

“And at that time, although I was somewhat relaxed, I hadn’t yet withdrawn the protective spiritual energy from around my body. I was still in a state of full defense. Otherwise, the injury from the poison would have been far more severe.”

Taking in a deep breath, the Cloud Piercing Arrow’s eyes filled with fear: “This time, I was lucky to have saved my own life.”

“…”

The man in black with the masked face fell silent.

He nearly lost a whole leg and still said he was lucky. That luck… was beyond comparison!

“It really was good luck,”

said the Cloud Piercing Arrow, with a smile uglier than crying: “The moment I felt uneasy, because that numbing sensation had already spread to my knee the instant I felt it.”

“You know, at our level of cultivation, we’ve habitually set up spiritual energy locks at all major joints in the body. These locks prevent unnecessary and irreparable injuries, and the higher the cultivation, the more one fears death, which applies even more so to cultivators like us.”

“Yes.”

“Yet the spiritual energy lock at my knee joint wasn’t able to hold for even a moment. It delayed the poison for less than the blink of an eye before it was completely breached.”

“And then… then I swiftly cut off my own thigh with a single stroke.”

The Cloud Piercing Arrow continued with lingering fear on his face: “I did it without even looking, purely on instinct. After I cut it off, I didn’t stop the bleeding with my energy immediately; I just moved over here. And then… I just watched as the leg completely corroded and melted before you arrived… leaving a massive hole in the ground.”

“Look… it’s still corroding. How poisonous must it be! Among the deadliest poisons in the world, this one truly deserves its reputation! A poison that even a cultivator from Cloud Top cannot withstand!”

The two looked at the still hissing and smoking pit beside them, their facial muscles involuntarily twitching with the fear still present.

“Shouldn’t I be grateful? Had my reaction been even slightly slower… the moment the poison reached the root of my thigh, I would have ended up just like that hole,”

said the Cloud Piercing Arrow, his forehead covered with a dense layer of cold sweat.

“Where is the snake then?”

“I didn’t see it…”

“You didn’t see it?!” exclaimed the man in black with the masked face, unable to conceal his shock.

With the Cloud Piercing Arrow’s level of cultivation, to be bitten and so severely injured without even seeing the snake?

He had thought that the snake was already killed by the Cloud Piercing Arrow.

“I didn’t see it! From beginning to end, not even a shadow.”

The Cloud Piercing Arrow’s tragic smile deepened: “That’s why I’m telling you… this Ghostly Soul Snake is beyond our comprehension, and by a large margin at that! The so-called Demon Transformation is just the most conservative assessment I can make based on what I know!”

“…”

The man in black with the masked face was at a loss for words.

“There’s actually such a Ghostly Soul Snake in the world!”

It ignored the spiritual energy defense, bit with a single quick strike, and then immediately left.

“Wait, aren’t Ghostly Soul Snakes supposed to have barbed teeth… How could it be so neat?”

“That… I really don’t know. Maybe it’s a rare species among the Ghostly Soul Snakes that can defy all expectations with its extreme poison and deadly potency…”

The Cloud Piercing Arrow sighed: “With my current situation, I must leave right away to return and urgently ask our leader for some Life Creation and Nurturing Water, which is what I truly need now.”

“Have you prepared all of your other belongings?”

“It’s enough, more than enough.”

The Cloud Piercing Arrow sighed again, pulled out an arrow from his quiver, and handed it to the man in black with the masked face: “Keep this arrow with you.”

“Okay!”

The man in black received the arrow, treasuring it as he placed it securely within his Space Ring.

He knew the purpose of this arrow.

Deterrence!

As long as he brandished this arrow at any time, feigning a shot, he could create the illusion that the Cloud Piercing Arrow was still around, which would be enough to deter others.

After all, the Cloud Piercing Arrow was threatened by the Heavenly Sword Cloud Palace and could not kill anyone.

So they would all deter each other, using the opponent’s tactics against them, fitting well with the current situation.

Believing that once this arrow was revealed, those from the Heavenly Sword Cloud Palace would not dare be too presumptuous, at least they would have to have some reservations.

Suddenly, a figure gracefully descended from the sky.

The eyes of the Cloud Piercing Arrow and the others simultaneously showed a look of veneration.