Reeking wind assaulted the senses, nauseating.
That viper phantom condensed from Rank 2 Primeval Essence opened its gaping maw, its shadow instantly enveloping Lin Mu's entire body.
The surrounding ink-green poison fog seemed to transform into viscous glue, firmly adhering to his limbs, making his prized "Earth Ring Body" feel unbearably heavy at this moment.
"Slippery little worm, let's see how long you can roll."
Green Snake's cold voice was like a judge pronouncing a death sentence.
He had clearly lost patience, no longer wanting to watch this mouse struggle in the mud for amusement.
As his hands formed seals, that viper phantom was no longer a simple bite—its entire body began expanding, twisting, emanating a heart-palpitating destructive aura.
This was a guaranteed kill.
Lin Mu rolled miserably in the mud. Every breath felt like swallowing red-hot charcoal.
Since transmigrating, this was the first time he directly faced a Rank 2 expert's targeted hunt.
Too strong.
This wasn't merely a gap in total Primeval Essence, but comprehensive attribute suppression.
Green Snake's casual strike required him to rack his brains and exhaust his stamina to dodge; yet his opponent's Killer Move was a blanket destructive strike.
Even if he revealed all his trump cards now and forcibly broke through with the Dust Escape Gu, with Blood Scent Gu disabled and vision blocked, his chances of victory were probably less than ten percent.
Moreover, once he exposed methods that shouldn't belong to a Rank 1 Middle Stage, even if he survived, what awaited him would be endless reckoning from the clan.
"So tired... really so tired."
Lin Mu gasped, feeling his lungs about to burst. Was this the sorrow of the weak? Before absolute power, all schemes and struggles were like a joke.
"Die!"
Green Snake pointed with his finger.
The massive viper phantom descended with momentum to corrode everything, completely sealing off all Lin Mu's escape routes.
At this moment, Red Mud Gu's defense had long shattered, and Earth Ring Body's burst had been used to its limit.
No way to avoid it.
However, beneath that face seemingly full of terror and covered in mud, the light in Lin Mu's lowered eyes had never extinguished.
He hadn't given up yet.
In the instant before death descended, his gaze was like that of a dying starving wolf, frantically scanning his surroundings, calculating every variable he could use.
Finally, his vision fixed on a spot three steps to his left.
There, the blinded Lin Tong, wildly waving his arms at the poison fog's edge, crying for help, was bumbling about like a headless fly.
Fate was so ironic—in his panicked desperation, he had coincidentally stumbled into Lin Mu's fatal killing zone.
"Sacrificial pawn."
These three words flashed through Lin Mu's mind. No hesitation, no guilt, only survival instinct.
Just as the viper phantom bit down.
Lin Mu didn't retreat but suddenly lunged sideways.
It seemed like panicked evasion, but that mud-covered hand gripped Lin Tong's collar like an iron clamp with precision.
"Brother Lin Tong, help me block this!"
He thought silently, exerting force.
Borrowing the last trace of Earth Ring Body's explosive power, Lin Mu twisted his waist and abdomen, viciously yanking that still-wailing companion in front of himself, directly blocking him beneath those terrifying fangs.
"Who?! Young master?! Is that you?"
Lin Tong's entire body shook when grabbed. Blinded, he had no idea what was happening and thought Lin Feng had finally acted to save him.
His face showed wild joy as he desperately clutched Lin Mu's arm, crying out loudly:
"Young Master, save me! I have merit! I scouted the path with merit!"
That voice was full of hope and gratitude.
However, all that answered him was Lin Mu's push, cold to the extreme, and the reeking wind descending from above.
"Splurch!"
The massive poison snake phantom swallowed Lin Tong's upper body in one gulp.
"Ahhh—!!!"
The scream lasted only half a breath before abruptly stopping.
How terrifying was a Rank 2 Killer Move's power?
The intense corrosive venom instantly melted Lin Tong's flesh and bones into a pool of foul-smelling, bubbling bloody water, along with his unfinished words claiming merit, all rotting in the mud together.
Borrowing this brief instant of obstruction.
Lin Mu released his grip, rolling and crawling backward, escaping the fatal attack range by the narrowest margin.
"Huff... huff..."
He lay on the ground, covered in Lin Tong's splattered blood and foul corrosive fluid, his skin sizzling from burns, as wretched as a demon crawling out of hell.
But he had survived.
Trading a companion's life for his own.
"Oh?"
Green Snake made a sound of surprise, clearly not expecting this little worm to be so ruthless as to use a companion as a shield.
"Ruthless enough. Unfortunately, do you have another shield?"
Green Snake smiled mockingly, raising his hand again.
This time, Lin Mu didn't give him the chance to cast leisurely.
He didn't continue fleeing but instead, borrowing the rolling momentum, charged like a cannonball toward the defensive line behind Lin Feng and Ah Zhong.
"Slap!"
A hand covered in blood and mud fiercely grabbed Lin Feng's spotless bright silver leg armor.
Lin Feng was concentrating fully on staying alert. Startled by this sudden action, he looked down about to rebuke, but met a pair of eyes that made his soul tremble.
Those eyes were full of bloodshot veins, filled with madness, violence, and a kind of all-or-nothing determination.
"Lin Feng!!"
Lin Mu released a hoarse, crazed roar. Though not loud, it stabbed into Lin Feng's ears like a sharp knife:
"What are you still waiting for?! Waiting to die?!"
He pointed at the nearby pool of still-bubbling bloody water—Lin Tong's final trace:
"Lin Tong is already dead! I'm next! If I die, who will be your eyes? Who will lead you out of this poison fog?!"
This was forcing the king's hand.
Lin Feng looked at the pool of bloody water that was Lin Tong at his feet, then at Lin Mu before him who looked like a demon and was pressing him for answers.
His pupils contracted violently, his heart feeling as if someone had squeezed it hard.
He felt death's chill and understood Lin Mu's meaning: if they didn't fight desperately now, everyone would truly die.
This collateral branch member he'd always treated as a tool had revealed fangs more vicious than the Demonic Path at the edge of life and death.
"Hehe..."
The poison fog churned. Green Snake's dead-fish eyes looked over again, carrying cat-and-mouse mockery. "Infighting? Tsk tsk, truly spectacular."
He approached step by step, the viper phantom behind him condensing again, this time with even greater pressure than before.
"Ah Zhong."
Lin Feng gritted his teeth, his expression terribly grim.
His hand slowly reached into the innermost pocket of his clothing, where lay his final trump card as a direct descendant, bestowed by the clan elder before departure.
"Buy me three breaths of time."