The sky full of blood miasma and grayish-brown mud dust intertwined wildly, transforming the canyon floor into an isolated chaotic prison.
Lin Wuxie's ears were filled with the desperate cries of confused rogue cultivators and the thunderous roar of various Gu effects exploding blindly.
Yet amid this extreme chaos, he moved like a starving wolf that had finally caught the scent of blood, pouncing precisely toward his prey.
ROAR—!
No technique, no defense.
Lin Wuxie completely ignored the Blood Jade Python's death throes—wild thrashing capable of shattering boulders—and ignored the venomous blood corroding his flesh like strong acid.
His entire body slammed into the Python's exposed vital point like a cannonball fired from a barrel.
This powerful physique, repeatedly tempered by his incomplete Food Path until it surpassed human limits, erupted with terrifying obsession in this moment.
His hands transformed into pitch-black claws, like two brutal iron pincers, welding themselves desperately into that massive wound unprotected by reverse scales!
HISSSS—!!!
Feeling the fatal agony from its vital point, the Blood Jade Python released an extremely shrill scream.
Its massive mountain-like body thrashed and twisted wildly through the pond and scattered rocks, trying to shake off and crush this human ant clinging to its back like a maggot on bone.
But Lin Wuxie's hands seemed to have grown roots.
His fingernails snapped off, his arm muscles tore from overexertion, even his shoulder blades cracked under the giant serpent's rolling pressure.
Yet he refused to let go!
Like a human-shaped sea-calming needle, he used an extremely brutal, almost self-destructive method to forcibly "anchor" the Blood Jade Python's wildly thrashing massive head and vital point at the mud pit's edge.
"What a mad dog. This anchor point is perfectly set."
In the shadows less than thirty meters from the mud pit.
Lin Mu, who had been covering his eyes and crying for help just moments ago, had now quietly lowered his hands.
On that mud-smeared face, those dark eyes showed no blindness from poison miasma irritation—only cold clarity taken to the extreme.
In this dust field where everyone had become blind, Lin Mu with his Blood Scent Gu perspective was the sole chess master.
"Time to close the net."
Lin Mu moved.
He didn't choose a straight charge. Instead, using the residual falling momentum from his earlier leap down from the tall tree canopy, the Earth Ring Body in his aperture roared into reverse operation.
Earth Path—heavy, stable, commanding gravity.
His entire body rose like a silent meteor, then traced an extremely concealed arc through mid-air, descending from above, precisely dropping into the most chaotic core blind spot.
A celestial descent, a phantom's fall.
No unnecessary words, no flashy Primeval Essence effects.
BOOM!
Lin Mu's feet, borrowing that terrifying downward momentum, stomped precisely onto the exact center of the Blood Jade Python's skull!
This thunderous stomp drove the Python's head—already too weak from severe injuries to lift—deep into the black mire.
Simultaneously, Lin Mu's right index and middle fingers pressed together.
The Iron Leaf Gu, already refined to the extreme by peak Primeval Essence, transformed into a cold, dark blue-black gleam.
Following the seven-inch flesh gap that Lin Wuxie had torn open with both hands, it cut in at an extremely tricky, vicious angle!
Shhhhk—!
Like a hot knife through butter.
With no scales blocking it, this iron leaf cut through the Blood Jade Python's spine unimpeded, precisely shredding its massive heart that had been frantically pumping blood.
The violent serpent's entire body suddenly went rigid.
Those cold vertical pupils filled with venom and malice completely scattered in that instant. The massive vitality that had supported its dominance was cleanly severed by Lin Mu's precise strike.
"Now!"
Lin Mu's eyes were quick, his hands quicker, without a moment's hesitation.
In that extremely brief instant when the Blood Jade Python's life was extinguished, its will as a host completely dissipated, and it lost control over the parasitic Gu within its body—
Lin Mu's left hand was already pressed against the shattered horn on the giant serpent's head.
From his palm, peak ink-green Primeval Essence gushed out, transforming into an extremely powerful suction force.
"Come out!"
Swoosh!
A beetle covered entirely in jade-green patterns—extremely withered and dormant from the earlier frenzied expenditure—was forcibly pulled from the giant serpent's flesh chamber by this Primeval Essence!
Rank 2—Jade Tendon Gu!
This supreme defensive counter-damage Gu that had wiped out the sixteen-person alliance and given Lin Feng endless trouble fell so easily into Lin Mu's palm, then was unceremoniously drawn into the depths of his aperture.
Treasure secured—this place must not be lingered in!
But Lin Mu wasn't swept away by wild joy. His meticulous mind had prepared for cleanup in that split second.
"Scramble it."
Lin Mu's gaze was cold, his fingers twitching slightly.
The Iron Leaf Gu still lodged deep in the serpent's vital point began wildly shredding under his Primeval Essence control inside the serpent's wound!
The sharp blade minced the flesh chamber where the Jade Tendon Gu had parasitized, along with the surrounding meridians, into a blurry meat paste reeking strongly of Iron Leaf Gu aura.
At this moment, the blinded rogue cultivators and Medicine Hall disciples on the periphery had nearly all thrown Iron Leaf Gu and various hidden weapons into the mud pit while scrambling for points.
Lin Mu's operation seamlessly shifted the blame for "destroying the spoils" onto that mob of skill-spammers.
"Go!"
Having done all this, Lin Mu grabbed the back collar of Lin Wuxie, who was nearly unconscious from backlash and severe injuries.
Just as he prepared to use the Dust Escape Gu's cover to quickly slide back to the battlefield's edge—
His peripheral vision suddenly caught an unusual color in the depths of the mud pit.
Because the Blood Jade Python's frenzied thrashing before death had completely churned up the bottomless black pond.
Among the black, rotting sludge that surged up, a palm-sized, entirely pitch-black bone plate lay quietly.
That bone plate bore no mud stains. Even soaked in the surrounding blood and venom, it emanated an extremely faint yet ancient and profound Dao mark fluctuation.
"This aura... something's wrong!"
Lin Mu's heart lurched.
He had seen various Rank 1 Gu materials and felt the pressure of Rank 2 experts, but the aura emanating from that bone plate made him instinctively feel a suppression originating from his very soul.
That was absolutely not something a Rank 2 demonic beast could nurture!