Chapter 9: Silver Snake Fruit

  Iron Bull, with a body like an iron tower, his entire body bursting with veins, his aura erupting wildly. The momentum of the Eight-Star Warrior was fully released. Facing the second-tier demon beast, Iron Bull did not show any disdain, instantly releasing all his combat strength.

  As a two-star warrior, Kong Lin did not choose to launch a surprise attack. Instead, he stood behind Tie Niu, took out a longbow with a completely green body, and saw his fingers tightly pinching the bowstring, slowly pulling it back, as if the bow weighed over a thousand catties and was difficult to pull.

  "Boom."

  Iron Bull clashed with the Tiger Lion Beast in mid-air, unleashing a fierce hand-to-hand combat. The air was filled with the piercing sounds of explosions, caused by the rapid punches that created shockwaves. It was imaginable how powerful and fast Iron Bull was.

  "Drink." Another intense collision, a figure burst out, retreating four steps on the ground, leaving behind heavy footprints. Iron Bull wiped away a thread of fresh blood from his mouth, looking at the Tiger Lion Beast which had only retreated one step, revealing a bloodthirsty expression. It seems that against a second-tier demonic beast, Iron Bull's strength was still insufficient to cause it harm.

  "Roar." As if thoroughly enraged, the tiger-lion's eyes had turned a deep red, and with another furious roar, it pounced again.

  "Iron Bull, move aside." Kong Lin roared, and his hand, which had been storing energy for a long time, released the bowstring. "Bang." A piercing sound rang out, and a spatial rift that was almost invisible to the naked eye suddenly appeared in mid-air, shooting towards the direction of the Tiger-Lion Beast like lightning.

  "Roar." Sensing the oppressive force of this blow, the Tiger-Lion Beast's body, which had leapt into the air, suddenly froze and retreated backward. But the speed of this arrow was apparently beyond that of the Tiger-Lion Beast; all that could be heard was a dull thud, as the beast's skull burst open. Iron Bull's full-strength physical attack hadn't harmed it in the slightest, yet Empty Lin had easily shot and killed it with a single arrow, revealing its terrifying power.

  From the empty forest to shoot and kill the tiger lion beast, it only took a few seconds. Jiang Heng looked at the fallen tiger lion beast and finally reacted from his stunned state. The attack of a strong warrior was indeed fierce. Thinking back to that one arrow earlier, he estimated that if he had been hit even once, he would have been seriously injured or killed.

  "Jiang Hao, Xiao Yu, see that? Iron Bull is good at close combat, while Kong Lin excels at long-range attacks. Iron Bull will wear down the opponent, while Kong Lin will build up momentum and wait for the perfect moment to deliver a fatal blow." Tieshan explained.

  "Haha, this beast's skin is really tough." Tieniu scratched his head and said with a silly expression.

  "It's only you perverts who can engage in close combat with monsters. By the time you reach the level of a War Master, I don't know if your body will be even harder than theirs." Kong Lin said with disdain.

  "Brother Iron Bull, if I'm not mistaken, you're a natural-born god of strength?" Zi Feng said with a smile.

  "Yeah, I was born with more strength than others, that's why mom named me Iron Bull." Iron Bull said with a smile.

  "Alas, what a pity. This one doesn't have a beast core." Mu Chen held a small knife and rummaged through the exploded skull, but found nothing.

  "Haha, this is nothing, the Tiger-Lion Beast is one of the most common second-tier magical beasts, and they like to live in groups. We're lucky to have encountered a lone one," said Tie Shan.

  "Alright, this is not a place to stay for long. The monsters are very sensitive to the smell of blood. Let's hurry up." Iron Mountain continued.

  As we ventured deeper, the surrounding trees grew denser, blocking out the sky, and gigantic trees hundreds of meters high were everywhere to be seen. From time to time, a distant roar could be heard, reminding everyone that this place was full of danger.

  The crowd moved quickly, stopping from time to time to identify the direction, avoiding perceived dangers. After all, some powerful magical beasts were not what they wanted to encounter. Walking and stopping like this, they also saw some precious medicinal materials along the way, with a bountiful harvest.

  "Silver Snake Fruit." The swallow pointed ahead and cried out.

  Only in front of the grass thicket, a silver fruit the size of an egg emitted a tempting fragrance, which was exactly the medicine Jiang Hao needed.

  "Jiang Hao, do you need this medicine?" Tie Shan asked with a smile, seeing the longing in Jiang Hao's eyes.

  "Ah, I just happen to need it, but it seems like there's only one." Jiang Hao was taken aback.

  "If you need it, I'll just pick some for you. Stop dawdling." At this point, Purple Feather jumped out and ran towards Silver Snake Fruit.

  "Where there's a silver snake fruit, there must be a silver snake." Iron Mountain hastily shouted as he saw Purple Feather running over.

  But it seemed to be too late, just as Purple Feather's hand was about to touch the Silver Snake Fruit, a palm-sized silver snake suddenly darted out from its base and opened its small mouth to bite towards Purple Feather.

  "Ah!" Zi Yu exclaimed, clearly caught off guard by the silver snake's attack, and stood frozen in place, forgetting to dodge.

  "Move aside." A figure flashed over at a critical moment and pushed open the small Yu who was standing still.

  It wasn't until then that everyone reacted, realizing that the one who had rushed over was Jiang Huan. They saw him push Xiao Yu aside, pick up a dagger and fling it out with a "whoosh", striking the silver snake that was flying towards them head-on, splitting it in two.

  "What?!" The sudden and unexpected turn of events left everyone in a cold sweat.

  "Xiao Yu, are you alright?" Jiang Huan wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned to face Xiao Yu, who was lying on the ground.

  "Ah!" Xiao Yu was still clearly reeling from what had just happened.

  "Xiao Yu, Jiang Hao, are you two alright?" asked Zifeng and Tienshan hastily, their eyes filled with concern.

  "Jiang Hao, little brother, you've saved Xiao Yu's life again this time. Thank you." Zi Feng patted Jiang Hao's slightly stiff body and said in a deep voice.

  "Jiang Hao, I didn't expect that this stage demon beast Silver Snake would be easily cut off by your dagger?" Tieshan said in surprise, looking at the two segments of Silver Snake on the ground.

  "Cough!! Cough!!" Jiang Hao suddenly coughed violently, and his hand holding the dagger finally relaxed.

  "Thanks to your dagger this time, Uncle Zifeng. You gave me the dagger and I used it to save Little Yu. It seems like everything was predestined." Jiang Hao shook his head and put away the dagger.

  "I didn't expect you to have such a temperament at such a young age, your future prospects are boundless." Zifeng looked at Jiang Huan with unreserved admiration.

  "Jiang Hao, thank you. This is the Silver Snake Fruit for you." At this moment, Xiao Yu was completely devoid of her usual arrogance and impulsiveness, quietly walking up to him, handing over the Silver Snake Fruit, and then under everyone's astonished gaze, she kissed Jiang Hao on the lips.

  "Ah." As if conditioned reflexively, Jiang Hao's face suddenly turned bright red, extending all the way to his neck.

  "Haha." The crowd looked and burst out laughing, never expecting that Jiang Heng, who had just faced the demon beast with an unchanged expression, also had a shy side.

  "Jiang Hao, you little scamp, how old are you now? You've already learned how to be a hero and save the beauty!" Mu Chen laughed.

  Jiang Hao rolled his eyes, calmed down the turmoil in his heart, and explained with a hint of embarrassment: "Zi Yu helped me pick the fruit, I couldn't just watch her get hurt, it's nothing really." As he spoke, he took out a wooden box and put the silver snake fruit inside.

  "Alright, alright, no need for explanations. We all know what's going on." Yanzi glanced at Jiang Huan and Zi Yu with a knowing look in her eyes.

  Tie Shan picked up the body of the Silver Snake, although it was only a first-class demon beast, but not commonly seen. The Silver Snake was parasitic on the roots of the Silver Snake Fruit, and this one was so small that it must have been in its juvenile state, which is why Jiang Huan's dagger could easily split it into two pieces. If it were an adult Silver Snake, it would be comparable to a second-class demon beast, and it wouldn't be so easy to deal with.

  "This silver snake itself is also a precious medicinal material, so, it can't be wasted." Tieshan said.

  The crowd teased Jiang Huan for a while, then continued on their way. The further they went in, the more rugged the road became. According to Tie Shan's explanation, they should be at the halfway point up the mountain by now, and going forward would become extremely steep. Along the way, Xiao Yu and Jiang Huan didn't exchange a word, and everyone else just thought they were still young, that after seeing more things, they would get used to it.

  After walking for several hours, they encountered some second-tier magical beasts along the way. To save time, Purple Wind chose to take action. These second-tier magical beasts were powerless in his hands. In the end, Purple Wind simply released his aura and scared those blocking magical beasts into fleeing in a sorry state.

  A deep and seemingly bottomless valley appeared in front of them, and Iron Mountain pointed to the other side of the valley, saying: "Ahead is the forbidden zone of the entire Demon Beast Mountain Range. I reckon only a high-ranking expert like Purple Wind can enter it. There are many high-level demon beasts inside, so we can only go around the valley."

  "I can feel a powerful aura." Zi Feng's face was solemn as he gazed at the opposite side, saying lightly, "It seems we can only go around it."